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The open space before the building is called the Place de Grêve. It is here that all executions took place, and it was here that, during the revolution, the guillotine was almost permanent; its earth was moistened with the best and most illustrious blood of France. We believe that executions are now no longer tolerated within the French capital; a piece of ground without the walls has been allotted for this purpose.

In Felibien's History of Paris, there is a singular ceremony recorded as being observed in former times on the Place de Grêve, and, as the work is not common, it may amuse our readers. We need not premise that, since the revolution, the custom has ceased.

the river. In later times this association | tried and executed, along with three and |
is mentioned as the Mercatores aquæ twenty other monsters, who suffered at
Parisiaci, having the additional privilege the same time. A recapitulation of the
of laying an impost upon all commodi- scenes which have occurred within this
ties brought to the city by water. They building would present many curious and
were governed by officers selected from tragic events in connexion with the vari-
their own body, which appears to have ous revolutions of the French capital, but
consisted of the principal inhabitants. our limits will not allow us. We will
Thus far, once established, the transition merely mention the last memorable oc-
to the modern municipal constitution will currence within its walls, which is of
be easy, with its mayor, provost, sheriffs, recent date-no later than 1830-when
and other officers, who had the care of the present ruler of the French received
the internal police of the city, and of the the crown at the hands of a self-consti-
river, but possessed no judicial authority. tuted government, whose nominal chief
As at present constituted, the munici- was Lafayette; when the so often named
pality of Paris consists of twelve mayors programme was submitted to him, by
(one to each of the twelve divisions of the which France was henceforward to be
city), assisted by two deputy mayors, governed by "a monarchy surrounded by
who, including the prefect of the depart- republican institutions."
ment, form a municipal body of thirty-
seven persons. They have various func-
tions assigned to them: including the
general police of the city, cleansing and
lighting. They have to perform the cele-
bration of marriage, it being, since the
revolution, considered merely as a civil
contract. They keep also the registers
of births and deaths, and many other
duties, but have no judicial jurisdiction.
The chief of the municipality being the
prefect, the Hotel de Ville is assigned to
him. The wood-cut at the head of our
paper is a representation of this building;
it was erected from the designs of Dome-
nique Boccadora, an Italian from Cortona.
The style of architecture is not unpleasing,
and the principal façade is not without
merit. The foundation was laid in July,
1533, and terminated in 1606. Previous
to the revolution there was over the en-
trance an equestrian statue of Henry IV.,
an alto-relievo in, bronze upon black mar-
ble.
It was placed there by the cele-
brated and patriotic Francois Miron, Pre-
vot des Marchands, to whom Paris is
indebted for many of its useful establish-
ments. It was destroyed during the re-
volution, and is now re-emplaced by a
basso relievo in plaster. During the re-
volution the interior was despoiled of
every ornament and every inscription
that had any connexion with monarchical
government. There remains little else
worthy of attention, except it be a bronze
pedestrian statue of Louis the Fourteenth,
by Coysevox, which is considered to be
rather a fine production, notwithstand-
ing that, being dressed a la Grecque, the
artist has given it a full court wig. Within
its walls many of the worst and darkest
scenes of the revolution were acted.
was in one of its chambers that Robes-
pierre, that disgrace to human nature,
was seized; he resisted, and his jaw was
shattered by a pistol shot. He was then
thrown on a table, where he lay for two
hours weltering in his blood, a most hide-
ous spectacle, subject to the execrations
and howlings of an infuriated populace.
He was removed from thence only to be

It

"The magistrates of the city having ordered a large heap of faggots to be piled up in the centre of the Place, the king, attended by his court, came in procession, and set fire to it. The earliest notice we have of this ceremony is of the year 1471, when Louis XI. performed it, probably in imitation of his royal predecessors. His example was followed by nearly all his successors. Henry IV. and Louis XIII. seldom failed to observe it. Louis XIV. performed it but once, in 1648. This ceremony, called the feu de la Saint Jean, was celebrated with much pomp and expence. In 1573, it was performed by Henry III. in the following manner:-In the centre of the Place de Grêve was erected a pole sixty feet high, having numerous cross pieces of wood, to which were attached five hundred bundles of brush-wood, two hundred faggots (cotterels), and at the bottom ten loads of timber, with much straw. There was also a barrel and a wheel, probably containing combustible matter. The sum of forty-four livres was expended for crowns and garlands of roses; a large quantity of fireworks of all kinds were discharged; and, to keep the populace in order, there were present 120 archers, 100 arbaletriers, and 100 arquebusiers. To the pole was fixed a basket, containing two dozen cats and a

fox, which were destined to be burnt alive-pour faire plaisir à sa Majesté. To the cries of the cats was added the noise of various instruments. The magistrates of the city, bearing yellow wax tapers, advanced in procession towards the pile, and presented to the king a taper of white wax, ornamented with red velvet, with which his majesty set it on fire. When the wood and the cats were consumed, the king entered the Hotel de Ville, where a collation, consisting of cakes, tarts, and sweetmeats, was prepared. The people carried off the ashes and burnt wood in the belief that they would bring good luck.

"Louis XIV. having appeared only once, the attendance of the king was discontinued, and the ceremony in after times lost much of its splendour. Latterly, the prevot des marchands, the sheriffs, and municipal body, came in procession, set fire to the pile, and then immediately retired.”

T.

ADDRESS TO THE KING OF SPAIN,
FROM THE INHABITANTS OF CUBA,
FOR SLAVE AMELIORATION.
WHEN it is remembered that the Spanish
Colonial laws particularly favour the acquire-
ment of liberty; and that, in Cuba, the num-
ber of free labourers are to the bondmen as at
least three to five, we shall appreciate this re-
presentation by the municipality, consulado,
and patriotic Society of the Havanna, on the
21st of July, 1811, for the amelioration of
slavery, with a view to its utter extinction in
that Colony, as one of the most valuable con-
cessions ever made, on the part of practical
and experienced men, to the cause of negro
freedom, and as a full and satisfactory answer
to all the misrepresentation of our colonists,
respecting the practicability, or advantages,
of free labour in our sugar colonies.

"In all that relates to changes to be introduced into the condition of the servile class our fears are less excited as to the diminution

of agricultural wealth, than for the safety of the whites, so easily compromised by imprudent measures. Those who elsewhere accuse the municipality and consulado of an obstinate resistance, forget that, from the year 1799, these same authorities have in vain proposed that the state of the blacks in the Island of

more,

Cuba should be taken into consideration. Still we are far from adopting maxims which the nations of Europe, that pride themselves most in their civilization, have regarded as irrefragable; for instance, that without slaves there can be no colonies. We declare, on the contrary, that without slaves, and even all the difference would be in the amount of without blacks, colonies CAN EXIST; and that produce. But, if such be our firm persuasion, profits in the more or less rapid increase of we ought also to remind your Majesty, that a social organization into which slavery has been once introduced as a constituent, cannot be changed with immediate precipitation. We trary to moral principles to drag slaves from are far from denying that it was an evil conone continent to another; that it was an error in politics not to listen to the complaints which Ovanda, the Governor of Hispaniola, made

against the introduction of so many slaves among a small number of freemen; but since these evils and these abuses are already inveterate, we ought to avoid rendering our situation, and that of our slaves, worse, by the employment of violent measures. That which we ask, Sire, is conformable to the wish expressed by one of the most ardent protectors of the rights of humanity, by the most decided enemy of slavery; we wish with him that civil laws should deliver us at once from the ABUSES and DANGERS OF IT."-Humboldt, Statistics of Cuba, vol. i. pp. 329–331.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
OF THE CLASSICS.

No. III.

EPIC POETS.-HOMER AND VIRGIL.

will be read in such a disposition of mind as
can receive the intellectual improvement de-
rivable from them, and, at the same time, as
little coincide, or be infected with their moral
spirit, as in the present age we venerate their
mythological vanities.

In the meantime, one cannot believe that
any man, who seriously reflects how absolutely
the religion of Christ claims a conformity of
his whole nature, will, without regret, feel
himself animated with a class of sentiments,
of which the habitual prevalence would be the
total preclusion of Christianity.

And it seems to show how little this religion is really understood, or even considered, in any of the countries denominated Christian, that so many who profess to adopt it never once thought of guarding their own minds, and those of their children, against the eloquent seductions of so opposite a spirit. Probably they would be more intelligent and vigilant if any other interest than that of their professed religion were endangered. But a thing which injures them only in that concern is sure to meet with all possible indulgence.

With respect to religious parents and preceptors, whose children and pupils are to receive that liberal education which must inevitably include the study of these great works, it will be for them to accompany the youthful readers throughout, with an effort to show them, in the most pointed manner, the inconsistency of many of the sentiments, both with moral rectitude in general, and with the special dictates of Christianity. And, in order to give the requisite force to these dictates, it will be an important duty to illustrate to them the amiable tendency, and to prove the awful authority, of this dispensation of religion. This careful effort will often but partially prevent the mischief; but it seems to be all that can be done.

ACQUIRED INSTINCTS OF SOME ANI

MALS BECOME HEREDITARY.

Ir is, undoubtedly, true that many new habits and qualities have not only been acquired in recent times by certain races of dogs, but have been transmitted to their offspring. But in these cases it will be observed, that the new peculiarities have an intimate relation to the habits of the animal in a wild state, and, therefore, do not attest any tendency to departure to an indefinite extent from the original type of the species. A race of dogs, employed for hunting deer in the platform of Santa Fé, in Mexico, affords a beautiful illustration of a new hereditary instinct. The mode of attack, observes Mr. Roulin, which they employ, consists in seizing the animal by the belly, and overturning it by a sudden effort, taking advantage of the moment when the body of the deer rests only upon the fore legs. The weight of the animal thus thrown over is often six times that of its antagonist. The dog of pure breed inherits a disposition to this kind of chase, and never attacks a deer from before while running. Even should the latter, not perceiving him, come directly upon him, the dog steps aside, and makes his assault on the flank, whereas other hunting-dogs, though of superior strength and general sagacity, which are brought from Europe, are destitute of this instinct. For want of similar precautions, they are often killed by the deer on the spot, the vertebra of their neck being dislocated by the violence of the shock.

IF, then, such works do really impart their own spirit to the mind of an admiring reader, and if this spirit be totally hostile to that of Christianity, and if Christianity ought really, and in good faith, to be the supreme regent of all moral feeling, then it is evident that the Iliad, and all books which combine the same tendency with great poetical excellence, are among the most mischievous things on earth. There is but little satisfaction, certainly, in illustrating the operation of evils without proposing any adequate method of contending with them. But, in the present case, I really do not see what a serious observer of the chaA new instinct has also become hereditary racter of mankind can offer. To wish that the in a mongrel race of dogs, employed, by the works of Homer, and some other great authors inhabitants of the banks of the Alagdalona, of antiquity, should cease to be read, is just as almost exclusively in hunting the white-lipped vain as to wish they had never been written. pecari. The address of these dogs consists in As to the far greater number of readers, it restraining their ardour, and attaching themwere equally in vain to wish that pure Chrisselves to no animal in particular, but keeping tian sentiments might be sufficiently recol- Virgil's work is a kind of lunar reflection of the whole herd in check. Now, among these lected, and loved, to accompany the study, the ardent effulgence of Homer, surrounded, dogs some are found which, the very first time and constantly prevent the injurious impres- if I may extend the figure, with a beautiful they are taken to the woods, are acquainted sion, of the works of pagan genius. The few halo of elegance and tenderness. So much with this mode of attack; whereas, a dog of maxims of Christianity to which the student more refined an order of sentiment might have another breed starts forward at once, is surmay have assented without thought, and for rendered the heroic character far more attrac-rounded by the pecari, and, whatever may be which he has but little veneration, will but tive, to a mind that can soften as well as glow, his strength, is destroyed in a moment. feebly oppose the influence; the spirit of Ho- if there had actually been a hero in the poem. mer will vanquish as irresistibly as his Achilles But none of the personages intended for heroes vanquished. It is also most perfectly true, take hold enough of the reader's feelings to that as long as pride, ambition, and vindic- assimilate them in moral temper. No fiction, tiveness, hold so mighty a prevalence in the or history of human characters and actions, character and in the nature of our species, will ever powerfully transfuse its spirit, with they would still amply display themselves, out some one, or some very few individuals of though the stimulus of heroic poetry were signal peculiarity or greatness, to concentrate withdrawn, by the annihilation of all those and embody the whole energy of the work. works which have invested the worst passions, There would be no danger, therefore, of any and the worst actions, with a glare of gran-one's becoming an idolater of the god of war deur. With or without the infections of heroic poetry, men and nations will continue to commit offences against one another, and to avenge them to assume an arrogant precedence, and account it, and laud it, as noble spirit-to celebrate their deeds of destruction, and call them glory-to idolize the men who possess, and can infuse, the greatest share of an infernal fire-to set at nought all principles of virtue and religion in favour of some thoughtless, vicious mortal, who consigns himself in the same achievement to fame and perdition-to vaunt in triumphal entries, or funeral pomps, or bombastic odes, or strings of scalps, how far human skill and valour can surpass the powers of famine and pestilence; men and nations will continue thus to act, till a mightier intervention from heaven shall establish the dominion of Christianity. In that better season, perhaps the great works of ancient genius

through the inspiration of the Eneid, even if
a larger proportion of it had resounded with
martial enterprise. Perhaps the chief coun-
teraction to Christian sentiments which
should apprehend, to an opening susceptible
mind, would be a depravation of its ideas con-
cerning the other world, from the picturesque
scenery which Virgil has opened to his hero
in the regions of the dead, and the imposing
images with which he has shaded the avenue
to them. Perhaps, also, the affecting senti-
ments which precede the death of Dido might
tend to lessen, especially in a pensive mind,
the horror of that impiety which would throw
back with violence the possession of life, as if
in reproach to its great Author, for having
suffered that there should be unhappiness in a
world where there is sin.

Some of our countrymen, engaged of late in conducting the principal mining associations in Mexico, carried out with them some English greyhounds, of the best breed, to hunt the hares which abound in that country. The great platform, which is the scene of sport, is at an elevation of about nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the mercury in the barometer stands habitually at the height of about nineteen inches. It was found that the greyhounds could not support the fatigues of a long chase in this attenuated atmosphere, and before they could come up with their prey they lay down gasping for breath; but these same animals have produced whelps which have grown up, and are not in the least degree incommoded by the want of density in the air, but run down the hares with as much ease as the fleetest of their race in this country,

The fixed and deliberate stand of the pointer has, with propriety, been regarded as a mere modification of a habit, which may have been useful to a wild race accustomed to wind game, and steal upon it by surprise, first pausing for an instant in order to spring with unerring aim. The faculty of the retreiver, however, may justly be regarded as more inexplicable, and less easily referrible to the instinctive passions of the species. M. Majendie, says a French writer in a recently published memoir, having learnt that there was a race of

dogs in England which stopped and brought back game at their own accord, procured a pair, and, having obtained a whelp from them, kept it constantly under his eyes, until he had an opportunity of assuring himself that, without having received any instruction, and on the very first day that it was carried to the chase, it brought back game with as much steadiness as dogs which had been schooled into the same manœuvre by means of the whip and collar.

Such attainments, as well as the habits and dispositions which the shepherd's dog, and many others, inherit, seem to be of a nature and extent which we can hardly explain by supposing them to be modifications of instincts necessary for the preservation of the species in a wild state. When such remarkable habits appear in races of this species, we may reasonably conjecture that they were given with no other view than for the use of man and the preservation of the dog, which thus obtains protection.-C. Lyell. Principles of Geology.

PROSPECTS OF THE ABOLITION
CAUSE.

WE are induced to insert the following article from the "Christian Advocate,' knowing as we do the quarter from which it came, and feeling perfect confidence in the general correctness of its statements.

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efficacy of the stimulus depends as much upon
its frequency as upon its specific force.
all remember the ingenious cruelty which ter-
minated its victim's life by the incessant fall
of a single drop of water on the forehead. We
have no wish to cut short their days; but we
have no objection thus to excite our represen-
tatives to a little Anti-slavery madness.

A BEAU OF THE FOURTEENTH
CENTURY.

fifty, or even one hundred, who have ingeni- |
ously contrived to involve their purposes in
that dexterous ambiguity of language which
will leave them at liberty to vote with the
weather-vane without breaking a word of pro-
mise. In spite of all the energy of the Agency
Committee, it has been found impossible to
keep out all anti-slavery pretenders of this
class. It follows from this that, even in the
teeth of Ministers, Mr. Buxton would com-
mand, if not a majority, at least a minority so
formidable as to shake them in their seats; but,
inasmuch as all the weather-cocks would infal-
libly follow the impulse given by such an un-
expected display of strength, we are inclined
to think that, even against Government, Mr.
Buxton would achieve a triumph, if the contest
turned upon the question of compensation;
for, independently of anti-slavery principle,
there is not a Radical in the house, from
Hume to Cobbett inclusive, who, in such a
division, would not side with us. But, in fact,
we anticipate no conflict of the kind. We
only advert to its possibility, to found upon it
a caution to his Majesty's Ministers. By en-
tangling the simple proposition of "immediate
abolition" with any qualifying or compensa-
tory appendages, they may array against them-must occasion to a man of the world, by the
selves, not only the West India body (now, to John Arundell's wardrobe, when setting out,
account which Adam Merimult gives of Sir
be sure, of very little consequence in the house, in 1380, on a warlike expedition against
or out of it), but all the pledged Abolitionists,
and all the pledged or unpledged Radicals; apparell of cloth of gold or tissue.”—Strutt's
but if, on the contrary, they boldly assert the
principle, without incumbrance of any kind,
we venture to predict that, on no question
which can come before parliament, will they
unite such a vast majority of every colour and
shade of political principle!

Our readers may rely on our assurance that, before the Easter recess, Government will fix a day for the introduction of their Colonial measures; but it is not probable that the discussion itself will take place before May. Mr. Buxton, it may be expected, will It is with great satisfaction that we avow to withdraw his notice of motion, which now our readers our own confident persuasion that stands for the 19th inst.; but, of course, not Government will proceed in a way strictly conwithout a distinct promise that the ministerial formable to our wishes; that, let the West bill will be brought forward at some definite India body prove compliant or refractory, it period, and will be of such a satisfactory char-will make no difference; immediate abolition acter as to justify him in resigning the parliamentary conduct of the cause into the hands of Government. The West India body have not yet arrived at any decision as to the terms which are reported to have been proposed to them. The precise nature of these terms is unknown. It is not improbable that they have reference to some scheme of compensation by loan, as a douceur for their acquiescence in the ministerial plan. If such is the case, we can tell both parties to the negociation that they are "reckoning without their host." Not one penny of compensation will the country give-no, not the tithe of a penny-till the injury sustained becomes matter of experience, not of speculation; and, even in that case, we shrewdly suspect that Ministers must take Cobbett into pay to carry them through. Compensation indeed! No, no. We will neither be mortgagees of cart-whips, nor buy the equity of redemption in thumb-screws and iron collars. But it is needless to argue on speculative premises. We know not, and we care not, what may be the purport of the West India negociation with Downing-street; but this we do know, that, if it is desired to carry immediate abolition by a coup-de-main, Ministers cannot do better than tack to the measure a plan of compensation! The anti-slavery strength in the lower house consists, as we believe, of about two hundred members, who are pledged up to the hilts to immediate unqualified emancipation; of one hundred and fifty more who have trimmed their pledges to suit their avowed liaisons with the party in power; and to these may possibly be added another

will be proposed and carried; in what form, or
by what means, has not hitherto been dis-
closed, either to the West Indians or to the
Abolitionists; but both are aware that this is
the present determination of the Cabinet; and,
upon that understanding, we are very ready,
for our part, to leave all plans and provisoes to
their wisdom and responsibility. Such were
the feelings with which the deputation that
waited on Lord ALTHORP from Aldermanbury
quitted Downing-street; and such will, we
trust, be the general feeling of the country;
but it must not in any degree tend to subdue
the public anxiety into a self-complacent in-
activity. The House of Commons is a second
Laputa; gentlemen there stand in constant
need of ear-flappers. Their constituents, then,
must keep them awake by incessantly jogging
their memories about the promises of last
autumn. It will be of infinite service to remind
our representatives, by frequent letters, signed
by as many as possible of their most influential
supporters, that they are expected to be at
their posts, and strenuously to advocate that
measure, whatever it may be, which is most
unequivocal and decided in favour of the slave.
It would greatly promote the interests of the
cause, if such electors as act upon this sugges-
tion would also give themselves the additional
trouble of informing the Anti-slavery Commit-
tee that they have done so. It should be recol-
lected that, even if signed only by one or two
individuals, such ear-flapping letters should
still be sent, because a great many electors,
members of the same constituency, may hap-
pen to write unknown to each other; and the

He wore long pointed shoes, fastened to his knees by gold or silver chains; hose of one colour on the one leg, and of another colour on the other; short breeches which did not reach to the middle of his thighs, and fitting so as to disclose the shape; a coat, the one half white, the other half black or blue; a long beard'; a silk hood buttoned under his chin, embroidered with grotesque figures of animals, dancing men, &c., and sometimes ornamented with gold and precious stones! This dress was the top of the mode in the reign of Edward III. We may in some measure guess at the expences which the dress of the times

France. He had "two and fiftie new suits of

Customs, &c.

THE SCOTTISH THISTLE.

in

THIS ancient emblem of Scottish pugnacity, with its motto, Nemo me impune lacesset, is represented of various species in royal bearings, coins, and coats of armour, so that there is some difficulty in saying which is the genuine original thistle. The original of the national badge itself is thus handed down by tradition:-When the Danes invaded Scotland, it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy the pitch darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day; but, on one occasion, the invaders resolved to avail themselves of this stratagem, and, in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his naked foot upon a superbly pricked thistle, and instinctively uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assault to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with terrible slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland.

BUONAPARTE'S LAST WISH.

O bury me deep in the boundless sea,
Let my heart have a limitless grave;
For my spirit in life was as fierce and free
As the course of the tempest's wave.
And as far from the reach of mortal control

Were the depths of my fathomless mind;
And the ebbs and flows of my single soul

Were tides to the rest of mankind.
Then my briny pall shall engirdle the world,
As in life did the voice of my fame;
And each mutinous billow that skyward curl'd
Shall to fancy re-echo my name.
That name shall be storied in record sublime,
In the uttermost corners of earth;
And renowned, till the wreck of expiring time,
Be the glorified land of my birth!
O! bury my heart in the boundless sea,
It would burst from a narrower tomb,
Should less than an ocean my sepulchre be,
Or if wrapt in less horrible gloom.

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THE above engraving represents the very beautiful situation of Monghyr, a celebrated town and fortress of the province of Bahar, in British India, about 300 miles north-west of Calcutta. It is situated on the south side of the river Ganges, which is in this part very wide, and in the rainy season forms an immense expanse of fresh water. The town, as distinct from the fortress, consists of sixteen different bazaars or market-places, scattered over a space of about a mile and a half long and a mile wide, and contains a population estimated at about 30,000. This place was visited by the late Bishop Heber in an excursion up the Ganges, from whose journal we extract the following description :

"Monghyr, as one approaches it, presents an imposing appearance, having one or two extremely good European houses, each perched on its own little eminence. The ghât afforded a scene of bustle and activity which I by no means expected. As we approached the shore, we were beset by a crowd of beggars and artisans, who brought for sale guns, knives, and other hardware, as also many articles of upholstery and toys. They looked extremely neat, but, as I meant to buy none, I would not raise expectation by examining them. There were also barbers in abundance, conspicuous by their red turbans, one of whom was soon retained by some of my dandees, who sat down one after another on the green bank, to have their hair clipped as close as possible, as became aquatic animals. A juggler, too, made his appearance, leading a tall brown goat, almost

MONGHYR, HINDOSTAN.

as high as a Welsh poney, with two little brown monkeys on its back. In short, it was the liveliest scene which I had encountered during the voyage.

"I arrived early, and was therefore for some time a prisoner in my boat, exposed to the teazing of various applicants for custom. As it grew cool, I walked into the fort, passing by a small but neat English burying-ground, fenced in with a wall, and crammed full of those obelisk tombs which seem almost distinctive of European India. The fort occupies a great deal of ground, but is now dismantled. Its gates, battlements, &c., are all of Asiatic architecture, and precisely similar to those of Khitairgorod of MosCOW. Within is an ample plain of fine turf, dotted with a few trees, and two noble tanks of water, the largest covering a space of a couple of acres. Two high grassy knolls are enclosed within the rampart, occupying two opposite angles of the fort, which is an irregular square, with, I think, twelve semicircular bastions, and a very wide and deep wet moat, except on the west side, where it rises immediately from the rocky banks of the river. On one of the eminences of which I speak is a collection of prison-like buildings; on the other, a very large and handsome house, built originally for the commander-in-chief of the district, at the time that Monghyr was an important station, and the Mahrattas were in the neighbourhood; but it was sold some years since by the government. The view from the rampart and the eminences is extremely fine. Monghyr stands on a rocky promontory, with the broad river on

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both sides, beyond one of which the Rajmahal hills are visible, and the other is bounded by the nearer range of Curruckpoor. The town is larger than I expected, and in better condition than most native towns. Though all the houses are small, there are many of them with an upper story, and the roofs, instead of the flat terrace or thatch, which are the only alternations in Bengal, are generally sloping, with red tiles of the same shape and appearance as those which we see in Italian pictures. They have also little earthenware ornaments on their gables, such as I have not seen on the other side of Rajmahal. The shops are numerous, and I was surprised at the neatness of the kettles, tea-trays, guns, pistols, toastingforks, cutlery, and other things of the sort which may be procured in this tiny Birmingham. I found afterwards that this place had been, from very early antiquity, celebrated for its smiths, who derived their art from the Hindoo Vulcan, who had been solemnly worshipped, and was supposed to have had a workshop here. The only thing which appears to be wanting to make their steel excellent, is a better manner of smelting, and a more liberal use of charcoal and the hammer. As it is, their guns are very apt to burst, and their knives to break,precisely the faults which, for want of capital, beset the works of inferior artists in England. The extent, however, to which these people carry on their manufactures, and the closeness with which they imitate English patterns, show plainly how popular those patterns are become amongst the natives."

MACHINERY.

THE chief distinction between man in a rude, and man in a civilized state of society is, that the one wastes his force, whether natural or acquired, the other economizes, that is, saves it. The man in a rude state has very rude instruments; he therefore wastes his force the man in a civilized state has very perfect ones; he therefore economizes it. Would you not laugh at the gardener who went to hoe his potatoes with a stick, having a short crook at the end? It would be a tool, you would say, fit only for children to use. Yet such a tool was doubtless employed by some very ancient nations; for there is an old medal of Syracuse which represents this very tool. The common hoe of the English gardener is a much more perfect tool, because it saves labour. Could you have any doubt of the madness of the man who would propose that all iron hoes should be abolished, to furnish more extensive employ to labourers who should be provided only with a crooked stick cut out of a hedge? The truth is, if you, the working-men of England, had no better tools than crooked stieks, you would be in a state of actual starvation. One of the chiefs of the people of New Zealand, who, from their intercourse with Englishmen, had learnt the value of tools, told Mr. Marsden, a missionary, that his wooden spades were all broken, and he had not an axe to make any more; his canoes were all broken, and he had not a nail or a gimlet to mend them with; his potatoe grounds were uncultivated, and he had not a hoe to break them up with; and that, for want of cultivation, he and his people would have nothing to eat. This shows you the state of a people without tools.

But you would perhaps make a distinction, which we have endeavoured to show you is a worthless one, between tools and machines. There are many who object to machinery, because, having grown up surrounded with the benefits it has conferred upon them, without understanding the source of these benefits, they are something like the child who sees nothing but evil in a rainy day. We have mentioned the people of New Zealand, who live exactly on the other side of the globe, and who, therefore, very rarely come to us; but when they do come, they are acute enough to perceive the advantages which machinery has conferred upon us, and the great distance in point of comfort between their state and ours, principally for the reason that they have no machinery, while we have a great deal. One of these poor men burst into tears when he saw a rope-walk; because he perceived the immense superiority which the process of spinning ropes gave us over his own countrymen. Another of these people, and he was a very shrewd and intelligent person, carried back to this country a small hand-mill for grinding (corn, which he prized as the greatest of all earthly possessions.

And well might he prize it! He had no machine for converting corn into meal but two stones, such as were used in the remote parts of the highlands of Scotland, some years ago. And to beat the grain into meal by these two stones (a machine, remember, however imperfect) would occupy the labour of one-fourth of his family, to procure subsistence for the other three-fourths. The ancient Greeks, three thousand years ago, had improved upon the machinery of the hand-stones, for they had hand-mills. But Homer, the old Greek poet, describes the unhappy condition of the

slave who was always employed in using this
mill. The groans of the slave were unheeded
by those who consumed the produce of his
labour; and such was the necessity for meal,
that the women were compelled to turn these
mills when there were not slaves enough taken
in war to perform this irksome office. There
was plenty of labour then to be performed,
even with the machinery of the hand-mill;
but the slaves and the women did not consider
that labour was a good in itself, and therefore
they bitterly groaned under it. By and by,
the understanding of men found out that water
and wind would do the same work that the
slaves and the women had done; and that a
large quantity of labour was at liberty to be
employed for other purposes. You perhaps
think that society was in a worse state in con-
sequence. We will tell you exactly in what
respects society gains, and what you gain as
part of society, by the abolition of hand-mills,
and the use of wind-mills and water-mills for
grinding corn.

ground by hand, would pay double what he pays now that it is ground at a mill. He pays 10d. for his quartern loaf now; he would pay 20d. then.

But if the system of grinding corn by hand were a very recent system in society, and the introduction of so great a benefit as the watermill had all at once displaced the hand-grinders, as the spinning machinery displaced the spinning-wheel, what must become, you say, of the one hundred and fifty men who earned the £15 a-day, of which sum the consumer has now got £14 10s. in his pocket? They must go to other work. And what is to set them to that work. The same £14 10s. ; which, being saved in the price of flour, gives the poor man, as well as the rich man, more animal food and fuel; a greater quantity of clothes, and of a better quality; better furniture, and more of it; domestic utensils; and books. To produce these things there must be more labourers employed than before. The quantity of labour is, therefore, not diminished, while its productiveness is much increased. It is as if every man among us had become suddenly much stronger and more industrious. The machines labour for us, and are yet satisfied without either food or clothing. They increase all our comforts, and they consume none themselves. The hand-mills are not grinding, it is true; but the ships are sailing that bring us foreign produce; the looms are moving that give us more clothes; the potter, and glass-maker, and joiner, are each employed to add to our household goods; we are each of us elevated in the scale of society; and all these things happen because machinery has diminished the cost of production.-Results of Machinery.

Labour is worth nothing without results. Its value is only to be measured by what it produces. If in a country where hand-mills could be had, the people were to go on beating grain between two stones, you would pronounce them fools, because they could obtain an equal quantity of meal with a much less expenditure of labour. You have perhaps a general prejudice against that sort of machinery which does its work with very little human assistance; it is not quite so certain, therefore, that you would agree that a people would be equal fools to use the hand-mills when they could employ the wind-mill or the water-mill. But we believe you would think, that if flour could drop from heaven, or be had like water by whoever chose to seek it, it would be the height of folly to have stones, or hand-mills, or watermills, or wind-mills, or any machine whatever DESTRUCTION OF THE LIBRARY OF for manufacturing flour. Do you ever think of manufacturing water? The cost of water is only the cost of the labour which brings it to the place in which it is consumed. Yet this admission overturns all your objections against machinery. You admit that it is desirable to obtain a thing with no labour at all; can you therefore doubt that it is desirable to obtain it with the least possible labour? The only difference between no labour and a little labour, is the difference of the cost of production. And the only difference between little labour and much labour is precisely the same. In procuring any thing that administers to his necessities, man makes an exchange of his labour for the thing produced, and the less he gives of his labour, the better of course is his bargain.

To return to the hand-mill and the watermill. An ordinary water-mill for grinding corn will grind about thirty-six sacks a day. To do the same work with a hand-mill would require 150 men. At two shillings a-day, the wages of these men would amount to £15, which, reckoning six working days, is £90 a week, or £4680 a-year. The rent and taxes of a mill would be about £150 a-year, or ten shillings a working day. The cost of machinery would be certainly more for the hand-mills than the water-mill, therefore we will not take the cost of machinery into the calculation. produce, therefore, thirty-six sacks of flour by To hand we should pay £15; by the water-mill we should pay ten shillings: that is, we should pay thirty times as much by the one process as by the other. The actual saving is something about one-half of the price of the flour in the market; that is, the consumer, if the corn were

BUDA.

IN 1526 Soliman II. invaded Hungary, and totally defeated the Christian army at Mohacz, led by Lewis II. He is smothered in a ditch as he flies. The Turks take Buda and Pest; and ravage all Hungary, carrying off 150,000 slaves. Fortunately for Christendom, a revolt in the Asiatic provinces, occasioned by a rumour of the sultan's death, calls the victor home, and prevents his completing the conquest of Hungary.

Literature sustained an irreparable loss at Buda, by the destruction of the library collected from the reliques of Constantinoplitan science, by Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, and placed in a magnificent tower, wherein thirty secretaries were constantly employed in transcribing and collating manuscripts. These unhappy volumes, doomed to a second bondage to Ottoman barbarism, were weighty bosses. Cardinal Bozmanni in vain now torn to pieces for their rich bindings and tempted the captors to relinquish their prize, with the offer of 200,000 pieces of imperial coin. The learned Obsopaeus was more fortunate; he bought of a private soldier a manuscript, what proved to be "The Ethiopics of Heliodorus." From this, in 1584, he printed the first edition of that curious work.

Lambecius says that, having been sent by what might remain of the library, he was not the Emperor Leopold, in 1665, to examine permitted to enter the room till after much delay and difficulty; that he found there about four hundred printed books, of no value, scattered over the floor, and covered with filth and dust.-Andrew's History of Great Britain.

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