chaff, doubting not that wheat would grow. In the small rural church of Hilton, of which the ruins still remain, the congregation had assembled, among whom was Johnston. Douglas was addressing the people; and, perhaps, in preaching to the times, expressed some sentiment which gave offence to Hilton. Suddenly the latter rose from his seat, drew his sword, and marched up to the pulpit. He seized hold of the clergyman, and dragged him down. Douglas was slightly wounded, and some blood was shed. The preacher was filled with indignation, and, giving vent to his feelings on the spot, he prophesied against him the prophecy of Elijah against Alab" In the place where thou hast done this, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." Time rolled on; Douglas, getting into trouble with the government, had retired to Holland, and Johnston had forgotten the prophecy. It happened one winter, that the Earl of Home had gone to London, where he tarried long; and his lady, to relieve her solitude, had invited some of her friends to spend the Christmas holidays with her at Hirsel. Among these were the Laird of Hilton, and his neighbour the Laird of Ninewells-the latter, it may be remarked, was ancestor to the celebrated David Hume. These two were playing one evening at cards with Mr William Home, the earl's brother, and sheriff of the Merse. The sheriff had bad luck; he lost a great deal of money, and he felt as men generally do on such occasions. Some high words passed, reflections were thrown out, and in this humour they separated for the night. Hilton had retired to bed, when suddenly the sheriff entered his room, with a candle in one hand and a drawn sword in the other. He called on the sleeper to rise and give him satisfaction. As Hilton was getting up from his bed, Home ran him through the body with his sword, and gave him several other severe wounds. In the mean time, Ninewells, who slept in an adjoining chamber, hearing the noise, came to see what had happened, but was stabbed by the sheriff as he entered the room, and instantly expired. The murderer, who had horses at command, immediately fled. Johnston lingered for a few days, and died. His remains were put into a temporary coffin, to be conveyed to Hutton Hall for interment. On their way to that place, the persons who were intrusted with them being overtaken by a storm of snow, stopped for a while at Hilton. The coffin, for greater decency, was put into the church, where the men waited until the storm should abate. In a short time, they were surprised to observe blood flowing from the coffin on the ground. The dogs that accompanied them ran forward to the spot, and in spite of all efforts to prevent them, fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel Douglas. Many other tales connected with this old house our that they will not support the fatigue of a journey to any space forbids us to narrate; nor can we now describe distance, although they are well packed in wet canvass Such is the scarcity of the popularity which the last proprietors enjoyed in bags filled with moistened moss. the speckled leech, that it is with difficulty they are now the neighbourhood, their connexions with other distinguished families, and that gradual diminution of procured; and although there has been for years a pre judice against the green, they are the only species that their lands, which marks their history like that of so can now be obtained, and that at an enormous price, many others of our old gentry. "As is the race of being sold in the London market at L.8 per thousand, leaves, so is that of men," says the great poet of when they formerly could be purchased for 10s. and 12s. Greece. The philosopher will acquiesce in the wisThis high price, added to the scarcity, has caused a dom of that arrangement of the social system by most astonishing falling off in the demand; and on an which generation succeeds to generation, and family average, the annual importation from Hamburgh and to family; and he will perceive how necessary the Paris is not more than 3,000,000 to 4,000,000-as the change of property is for maintaining the health and hospitals and other institutions are only enabled to use energy of a great and free nation. But however para- them but in cases of the greatest necessity, where bleedmount the views of reason and utility ought to be in ing by the lancet would not be so efficacious. Nothing such considerations, there are feelings of melancholy can be of more general use than the leech in a surgical interest connected with particular instances, which it point of view, as it can be applied with the greatest is good to cherish. Thus, amidst the "glory of Hey-safety to the parts affected, and it is deeply to be ladon Hall devastated," and the desolate beauty of its mented that it is so near becoming extinct. The mode grey walls and neglected park, whence have passed of men, women, and children, who entered with their of taking the leech used to give employment to thousands for ever the warlike prowess of the Homes, and the bare legs into the gentle running streams, and disturbing gaiety and elegance of the Johnstons, it is well to re- the water with a stick, these blood-suckers soon attached flect that families, no less than individuals, have here themselves to their bleeding legs, when they were inno continuing city or place of abode. And salutary stantly placed into jars. Many attempts have been thoughts will be suggested by the contrast between made to propagate them in reservoirs, but without effect, the changes of many-coloured life which such a spot as they will not breed except in marshy grounds and unhas seen, and the goodly spectacle still presented by disturbed running waters. The mortality among the its noble trees, its green fields, and its beautiful river. peasantry who are engaged in the leech fishery is very But it is needless, in the vein of sentimentalism, to great; not so much from the constant loss of blood, but the effects of exposure in the unhealthy swamps, thereby regret the barbaric splendour of the feudal times, or the one-sided civilisation of the ages that followed. causing agues and premature death. The one and the other have passed away, never to return. Ancient families may fall, splendid houses may sink into ruins, and the cherished memorials of the past may yield to the plastic influence of the spirit of the times; but the spread of knowledge among the people, the social progress of the great mass of the community, commercial enterprise, manufacturing skill, wise and salutary laws, science, art, and peace these form the glory of our age, and the earnest of still brighter days. IMPORTATION of Foreign LEECHES INTO BURYING ALIVE. Not many years since, in St Petersburg, a young nobleman who had squandered his fortune found his sister, to whom he had applied to relieve his wants, not in the least inclined to sacrifice her patrimony to his taste for dissipation. As he considered himself her heir, he determined to destroy her, and, with this view, found means to give her a draught, which was probably intended to kill, but only produced a deep sleep. The news, through his means, being publicly circulated that she was dead, he prepared, with all the external show of the deepest sorrow, for her in[From the Medical Times, November 19.] terment. The arrangements being completed, the Ir is not generally known, that the leech trade is one of corpse, as is the custom, was placed upon the altar, very great extent in this country, and few people are and the priest was already in the act of pronouncing aware from whence this most useful amphibious animal is the last blessing, when one of her friends, who was procured, to supply the great demand that is made for it passing through the place, and had been informed of by private patients, as well as the public medical institu- her death, went into the church with the intention tions that abound in this metropolis, and throughout Great of pressing one farewell kiss on her cheek previous to Britain. In former years, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and the interment. Hastening to the coffin, she seized other fenny counties, were able to supply the demand; her hand, and found it rather flaccid, but not rigid. but since the letting of blood by means of the lancet has been partially exchanged for the more efficacious appli- felt some natural warmth on it. She therefore deShe then touched her cheek, and imagined that she The part of this story which relates to Daniel cation of the leech to the injured parts, they have been Douglas and his prophecy rests only on popular tradi- entirely exhausted. At the conclusion of the peace with sired that the ceremony should be postponed, to try tion; but the murder of Johnston is fully related in France, in 1815, several dealers and speculators visited if her friend might not be recalled to life; but her a letter written at that period by the steward of Lord Paris, where they found leeches were easily to be obtained, request was refused, and neither the brother nor the Derwentwater to his lordship in London, and has and at a moderate price. The herbalists and apothecaries priest would listen to her solicitations, but, on the also been particularised in "Law's Memorials." The who supplied the hospitals, used then to purchase them contrary, ridiculed her suggestions, and treated her as writer of that work adds the following note:-"Before in small quantities from the conductors of the Diligences an insane person. In the hurry of her feelings, and his death, he [Mr Home, the murderer] is said to coming from Niort, Tours, Orleans, St Quentin, and other in the anxiety of the moment, she hastily threw her have returned to Scotland, smitten with remorse, and parts of the interior, not as an article of commerce, but self into her carriage, and drove to the neighbouring anxious to obtain pardon from a near relation of John-only sufficiently to meet their demands. The arrival of seat of government. Here she found a hearing, proston's, then residing in Edinburgh. This gentleman, Englishmen in the French capital soon excited their sus per persons were appointed to accompany her to inin the dusk of the evening, was called forth to the picions that money was to be made; and the conductors vestigate the affair, and she returned back with all outside stairs of the house, to speak with a stranger market with John Bull. At that time they charged only from the day before, and the inhuman brother had were soon on the qui vive, that they might make a good convenient speed. But the lady had been buried muffled up in a cloak. As he proceeded along the 10 or 12 francs per thousand, leaving themselves a good already taken possession of her property, while there passage, the door being open, he recognised the murprofit, as they were able to procure them from the peaderer, and immediately drawing his sword, rushed santry at 5 or 6 francs. There are various species of leech were hosts of priests and crowds of suborned witnesses towards him, on which the other nimbly leapt down -the grey or sangsues grises, commonly called the ready to attest that the unfortunate woman was really from the stairs into the street, and was never again speckled, the green, and the black. The first was the dead; and as among the Russians it is accounted seen in Scotland." Lord Fountainhall states, that only one much in use, being the same species as that for- heinous impiety to disinter a corpse, the desire of the the unhappy man was killed in the wars abroad. His merly caught in England, although the green are equally generous friend to satisfy herself, by ocular demonstraname has been omitted from the account of the family as good; but the bite being more acute than the speckled, tion, of the truth or falsehood of her suspicions, for a in the peerage. there was a prejudice against them. The black, or horse long time experienced the most violent opposition. leech, was strongly depreciated by medical men, as it is At length, from some circumstances which transmation: that species is never used either in England or suspicion of the case, and determined on opening the considered rather venomous, and sure to cause inflam-pired, the commissioners of inquiry conceived some grave, when it was discovered that the lady had been buried alive, as her face was much lacerated, and imThe brother and a priest were then taken into cuspressions of her nails were found on the coffin-lid. tody, confessed their crime, and underwent the punishment they so richly deserved.-Binns on Sleep. The sisters of the last proprietor of Hutton Hall were distinguished beauties in their day, some fifty years ago. There were four of them. One was Mrs Oswald of Auchencruive, the subject of Burns's "Wat ye wha's in yon town?" and of whom a portrait has been introduced into the work entitled "The Land of Burns." Like many ladies of that period, they were distinguished for their equestrian skill, and for their zeal in fox-hunting. Of the true Diana Vernon school, these qualities did not impair their grace, their delicacy, and their wit. They all made good marriages. On the wedding-day of one of them, Lady Baird of Saughton, a tragical incident occurred, which must have thrown a mournful shade over the marriage festivities. The bridegroom had not arrived before the appointed day, and when on the morning he came to the other side of the Whitadder, which it was necessary for him to cross, the river was in flood. To ford it would have been attended with the utmost danger; but the wedding was not to be delayed. A rope was attached to a boat, which was held by persons stationed on the bank. Four domestics of the establishment entered the boat, with directions to shout if there was any danger, when they would be Immediately drawn to land. They had rowed to about the middle of the stream, when those on shore imagined that they heard the signal which they had directed to be made. They pulled the rope; but whether from the force of the stream, or from some other cause, the boat upset, and the four men were drowned. The story is still current in the neighbourhood, as one of the many instances that show how, in the midst of life, we are in death. market was, on an average, annually from 8.000.000 to OTHER IRONS IN THE FIRE. Mrs B desired Dr Johnson to give his opinion of a new work she had just written; adding, that, if it would not do, she begged him to tell her, for she had other irons in the fire, and in case of its not being likely to succeed, doctor, after having turned over a few of the leaves, "I she could bring out something else. "Then," said the advise you, madam, to put it where your other irons are.” A NEW USE FOR SLAVE-SHIPS. vidual who rejoices at the downfall of slavery, that out of It is a fact, which must be gratifying to every inditwenty-six Wesleyan chapels in Sierra Leone, the rooftimbers, the flooring, and other wood-work of twenty is composed nearly exclusively of slave ships, which have been taken by her majesty's men-of-war on the coast, and condemned by the Mixed Commission Court.- Sierra Leone Watchman. CORN-STALK MOLASSES. By taking off the ear of corn early, the farmers in Incorn-stalk in considerable quantities-two gallons from diana (America) are enabled to make molasses from the eight of juice. They are about to try the experiment for sugar.-Literary Gazette, Column for the Boys. A YOUNG HERO. ABOUT eighty years ago, there lived a little boy in Ireland, of the name of Volney Beckner, whose heroic conduct deserves to be commemorated, as a model for young persons. Volney was born at Londonderry, in 1748; his father having been a fisherman of that place, and so poor, that he did not possess the means of giving his son a regular school education. What young Volney lost in this respect was in some measure compensated by his father's instructions at home. These instructions chiefly referred to a sea-faring life, in which generosity of disposition, courage in encountering difficulties, and a readiness of resource on all occasions, are the well-known characteristics. While yet a mere baby, his father taught him to move and guide himself in the middle of the waves, even when they were most agitated. He used to throw him from the stern of his boat into the sea, and encourage him to sustain himself by swimming, and only when he appeared to be sinking, did he plunge in to his aid. In this way young Volney Beckner, from his very cradle, was taught to brave the dangers of the sea, in which, in time, he moved with the greatest ease and confidence. At four years of age, he was able to swim a distance of three or four miles after his father's vessel, which he would not enter till completely fatigued; he would then catch a rope which was thrown to him, and, clinging to it, mount safely to the deck. When Volney was about nine years of age, he was placed apprentice in a merchant ship, in which his father appears to have sometimes sailed, and in this situation he rendered himself exceedingly useful. In tempestuous weather, when the wind blew with violence, tore the sails, and made the timbers creak, and while the rain fell in torrents, he was not the last in manœuvring. The squirrel does not clamber with more agility over the loftiest trees than did Volney along the stays and sail-yards. When he was at the top of the highest mast, even in the fiercest storm, he appeared as little agitated as a passenger stretched on a hammock. The little fellow, also, was regardless of ordinary toils and privations. To be fed with biscuit broken with a hatchet, sparingly moistened with muddy water full of worms, to be half covered with a garment of coarse cloth, to take some hours of repose stretched on a plank, and to be suddenly wakened at the moment when his sleep was the soundest; such was the life of Volney, and yet he enjoyed a robust constitution. He never caught cold, he never knew fears, or any of the diseases springing from pampered appetites or idleness. Such was the cleverness, the good temper, and the trust-worthiness of Volney Beckner, that, at his twelfth year, he was judged worthy of promotion in the vessel, and of receiving double his former pay. The captain of the ship on board which he served, cited him as a model to the other boys. He did not even fear to say once, in the presence of his whole crew, "If this little man continues to conduct himself with so much valour and prudence, I have no doubt of his obtaining a place much above that which I occupy." Little Volney was very sensible to the praises that he so well deserved. Although deprived of the advantages of a liberal education, the general instructions he had received, and his own experience, had opened his mind, and he aspired, by his conduct, to win the esteem and affection of those about him. He was always ready and willing to assist his fellow-sailors, and by his extraordinary activity saved them in many dangerous emergencies. An occasion at length arrived, in which the young sailor had an opportunity of performing one of the most gallant actions on record. The vessel to which Volney belonged was bound to Port-au-Prince, in France, and this voyage his father was on board. Among the passengers was a little girl, daughter of a rich American merchant; she had slipped away from her nurse, who was ill and taking some repose in the cabin, and ran upon deck. There, while she gazed on the wide world of waters around, a sudden heaving of the ship caused her to become dizzy, and she fell over the side of the vessel into the sea. The father of Volney, perceiving the accident, darted after her, and in five or six strokes he caught her by the frock. Whilst he swam with one hand to regain the vessel, and with the other held the child close to his breast, Beckner perceived, at a distance, a shark advancing directly towards him. He called out for assistance. The danger was pressing. Every one ran on deck, but no one dared to go farther; they contented themselves with firing off several muskets with little effect; and the animal, lashing the sea with his tail, and opening his frightful jaws, was just about to seize his prey. In this terrible extremity, what strong men would not venture to attempt, filial piety excited a child to execute. Little Volney armed himself with a broad and pointed sabre; he threw himself into the sea; then diving with the velocity of a fish, he slipped under the animal, and stabbed his sword in his body up to the hilt. Thus suddenly assailed, and deeply wounded, the shark quitted the track of his prey, and turned against his assailant, who attacked him with repeated lounges of his weapon. It was a heart-rending spectacle. On one side, the American trembling for his little girl, who seemed devoted to destruction; on the other, a generous mariner exposing his life for a child not his own; and here the whole crew full of breathless anxiety as to the result of an encounter in which their young shipmate exposed himself to almost inevitable death to direct it from his father! The combat was too unequal, and no refuge remained but in a speedy retreat. A number of ropes were quickly thrown out to the father and the son, and they each succeeded in seizing one. They were hastily drawn up. Already they were several feet above the surface of the water. Already cries of joy were heard: "Here they are, here they are-they are saved!" Alas! no-they were not saved! at least one victim was to be sacrificed to the rest. Enraged at seeing his prey about to escape him, the shark plunged to make a vigorous spring; then issuing from the sea with impetuosity, and darting forward like lightning, with the sharp teeth of his capacious mouth he tore asunder the body of the intrepid and unfortunate boy while suspended in the air. A part of poor little Volney's palpitating and lifeless body was drawn up to the ship, while his father and the fainting child in his arms were saved. Thus perished, at the age of twelve years and some months, this hopeful young sailor, who so well deserved a better fate. When we reflect on the generous action which he performed, in saving the life of his father, and of a girl who was a stranger to him, at the expense of his own, we are surely entitled to place his name in the very first rank of heroes. But the deed was not alone glorious from its immediate consequences. As an example, it survives to the most distant ages. The present relation of it cannot but animate youth to the commission of generous and praiseworthy actions. When pressed by emergencies, let them cast aside all selfish considerations, and think on the heroism of the Irish sailor boy- Volney Beckner. GAS LIGHTING. which it is made to pass through a series of rollers, by which it is compressed, the felting being effected by an alternating motion of the upper rollers, while the cloth receives the requisite heat and moisture from steam rollers. The cloth, after passing a second time through this machine, is transferred to a third, where it is farther compressed by rollers, which work in a bath of soap and water, by which it is so thoroughly cleansed, that the time required for beating it in the fulling-mill is very short compared with that required for woollen cloth. After these operations, the cloth is susceptible of any degree of finish that may be required, and this by the ordinary methods. The manufacture is peculiarly fitted for carpets, horse-cloths, and such fabrics as pilot coats, and it can be made at a much less cost than woven cloth. - Newspaper paragraph. issuing from perforations in pipes placed between the FRENCH LABOURERS. From my daily habit of riding or walking through the retired parts of this country, I am, to a certain extent, able to speak of the situation of the labouring poor. It is, in one respect, superior to that of my own countrymen; inasmuch as, should the cow be wanting, the large garden-plot and the pig are pretty general among them. Their wages, it is true, are lower than those of and thus the account is balanced. They make their the English labourers; but then their wants are fewer, articles of food go much farther than an English labourer does; and what they do gain by their daily labour is never wasted in intemperance, but spent on their families, for the real necessaries of life. I am told that some of their employers give them cider to drink in harvest; but I confess I have never seen them supplied with it. A French labourer, however, having made his repast of either soup or coffee, is not tormented with thirst, as those of our country are, after eating solid and exciting to be found in a French labourer's cottage, is too true, food. That occasionally the extremities of indigence are and there is much suffering from severe weather; so much so, I am informed, that it is not unusual to see several entire families huddled together in one house, to avail themselves of the animal heat emanating from their own bodies. The children of the labouring poor appear to me to be better dressed than those of our own country. -Nimrod Abroad. THE CROPPING SYSTEM IN FRANCE. According to the Parisian journals, it appears that the wholesale dealers in human hair have had a most suc cessful harvest this year, not less than 200,000 lb. weight having been procured. Brittany is the province of France in which the traffic is mostly carried on, and all the fairs are regularly attended by purchasers, both male and female. The Breton peasants have particularly fine hair, and generally in great abundance; their beautiful tresses they are perfectly willing to sell; and it is no uncommon sight to see several girls sheared one after the other like sheep, and many others standing ready for the shears, with their caps in their hands, and their long hair combed out and hanging down to their waists. Every successive crop of hair is tied up into a whisp by itself, and thrown into a large basket, placed by the side of the operator. The highest value given by these abominable hair-merchants for a fine crop of hair is twenty sous, but the more frequent consideration is a gaudy but trumpery cotton handkerchief, worth about sixteen sous. The profit thus netted by these hairmongers must be enormous.-Newspaper paragraph. NAPOLEON'S COMPASS. A small compass has lately been offered for sale to the The Drummond light, the Gurney, or Bude light, and the Boccius light, exclusive of the "Light of All Nations," are the Great Lights of the Age. The first is the oxyhydrogen, the union of oxygen and hydrogen gas on lime, oil, a jet of oxygen being introduced by means of a very and at a very high temperature. The second is the oxypeculiarly shaped conical jet into the centre of an ordinary oil-wick flame; this was perfected, we believe, under the auspices of the Trinity Board, having been intended to be used in light-houses; and we have heard it designated to that view by a high authority, as an arrangement affording the greatest possible amount of light in the smallest possible space. The third is a coal-gas light; and of this we make the chief mention. This light, of course, is no recent discovery; it was known so long ago as 1688; but since then, what an increase of knowledge of the properties of coal-gas has been gained, and what great mechanical improvements have been arranged for its combustion! Of the latter character is the Boccius light, or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, the Boccius gas-lamp. The one set up opposite Northumberland House, crowned with ugliness, consists of three ringburners, large, lesser, and less, perforated so thickly with holes, that the flames form, as it were, three leaves of light; these are protected from the lateral currents of air by a glass screen, and are thrown down and around by a metallic reflector. The illuminating power is very considerable. Contemplating the vast establishments, in the present day, for the manufacture of coal-gas-the French government by a Chevalier Auriol, to which a numerous improvements for its thorough combustion, mechanical and chemical, of the latter especially-Lowe's curious history is attached. This little instrument, which naphthalised gas, the perfection of artificial light-we is in a plain gilt case, and of English manufacture, was cannot help reverting to the extent of the knowledge of XVI., by a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton. It appears first sent, with other astronomical instruments, to Louis to the Royal Society, May 12, 1688, by Mr John Clayton, to the Dauphin, who had it with him in prison, and while gas and its properties, as mentioned in a letter addressed that it was afterwards given by the unfortunate monarch rector of Crofton, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, and contrasting the bladders of 1688 with the gasometers of there gave it to a faithful dependant who had tried to assist 1842. Speaking of the thunder in Virginia, and its dread-him to escape. This party had been at school at Brienne ful effects, the writer says "I have been told by very with Napoleon, and accompanied him to Egypt. There serious planters, that thirty or forty years ago, when the he happened to show the little compass to Napoleon, who country was not so open as now, the thunder was more admired it, and it was accordingly presented to him. fierce; and that sometimes, after violent thunder and Napoleon, on returning to France, and having become rains, the roads would seem to have perfect casts of brim- emperor, being, as is well-known, superstitious, set great ning, for the air to have a perfect sulphureous smell. perial crown engraved on it, and made use of it in his Durst I offer my weak reasons, when I write to so great in St Helena; and then, either considering it as a useless stone; and it is frequent, after much thunder and light-value on the instrument; had the letter "N" and his imcampaigns, and never parted with it until his captivity masters thereof (meaning the Council of the Society), I should here consider the nature of thunder, and compare it talisman, or as the best means of acknowledging the diswith some sulphureous spirits which I have drawn from interested kindness of the party, he presented it to coals, that I could no way condense, yet were inflammable; Madame Auriol. Marshal Soult is now in treaty with nay, would burn after they passed through water, and the Chevalier d'Auriol for the purchase of it, with the that seemingly fiercer, if they were not overpowered other objects preserved in the Hotel des Invalides, as view of placing this royal and imperial relic among the therewith. I have kept some of this spirit a considerable having been about the person of Napoleon.-Newspuper time in bladders; and though it appeared as if it were only blown with air, yet if I let it forth, and fired it with a match or candle, it would continue burning until all Mention is farther made of gas in another paper, about were spent."-Derham's Miscel. Curiosa, vol. iii., p. 290. the year 1691, sent by the same writer to the Royal Society; and we do not remember seeing these remarkable facts mentioned by any writer on the subject.-Literary Gazette. NEW MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH. At the last meeting of the Society of Arts, a very interesting communication was made on a new process of the manufacture of cloth by felting, in which all the proand cloth of much greater dimensions can be produced. cesses formerly effected by manual labour are performed, The bat of wool is formed by means of a travelling apron, 37 yards in length, which receives the thin slivers of wool from the carding machines; which process is continued until the slivers are accumulated, one upon another, throughout the whole length of the apron, in sufficient numbers to give the degree of substance necessary for the purpose for which the cloth is intended. The bat is then cut and transferred to a machine called a "hardener," in paragraph. HUGE WIRE ROPE. informs us that he saw landing on the quays there, from A friend of ours, who has just returned from Antwerp, a vessel arrived from Newcastle, a huge coil of wire rope, which excited much astonishment. It was stated to be 5300 yards in length, and to weigh twelve tons, and he understood that it had been purchased by the Belgian government for the celebrated inclined plane on the railway from Antwerp to Liege. It is with pleasure that we record this instance of the superiority of British manufacture, as we understand that wire ropes are also manufactured in Belgium, and have only lately been inMessrs Newall and Co. of Gateshead, and is the longest troduced into this country. This rope was made by and strongest rope ever made. Mr Newall is a native of Dundee. A rope made for the Glasgow railway, of hemp, is not so long as the one referred to by nearly half a mile.-Dundee Courier. LONDON: Published, with permission of the proprietors, by W. S. ORR, Paternoster Row. Printed by Bradbury and Evans, Whitefriars. CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF "CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE," 66 NUMBER 570. THE FUTURE. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1842. Many believe or half believe in this form of divination, who deny all others. Many striking instances AN inclination to pry into the future seems to be as could be adduced. For example, a widow lady resinatural to man, as it is for him to look back to, and dent in Edinburgh, where she was the delight of a dwell with a mournful interest upon, the past. And brilliant literary circle, spent an evening in the commany have been the efforts made, and means adopted pany of her friends previous to the day when she was and put faith in, for bringing before us and realising to pay a visit to a nobleman in the country. Though the events as yet buried in the womb of time, parti- apparently quite well, she left her friends with descularly those which bear upon our own individual in-ponding language upon her lips, saying that she would terests. The superstitions and quackeries which have thus been set on foot amongst mankind, present no exalted view of our common nature; but we must not be too ready, on this account, to overlook them. In history, they take an important place amongst moving and influencing causes, from the days of Roman augury down to modern fortune-telling. The disregard paid by a Roman naval commander to the omen of the sacred chickens refusing to eat, and his throwing them contemptuously into the sea, proved the cause, by dispiriting his forces, of his losing a battle; and Montaigne tells us that the predictions circulated in favour of Charles V. in Italy, actually terrified a French commander, who had seemed an honest man, out of his allegiance to his own king; and, by inducing him to revolt, nearly caused the loss of an immense number of fortresses to the enemy. Nor must we overlook that, though the well educated are generally exempt in our days from these follies, there are still a vast number of persons who either fully believe in the possibility of ascertaining future events by supernatural means, or at least have not their minds quite made up to the opposite conclusion. The most prevalent form of this delusion is that of common fortune-telling, the mention of which almost induces us to recall what has just been said with respect to the educated classes; for we believe the fact is, that there never is wanting in London or Paris a seer, male or female, who is in the receipt of a large income entirely drawn from the pockets of the wealthy. The present practitioner in the latter capital is a Madame Normand, who not only tells those who come before her in person of many wonderful things, but, after the manner of another class of pretenders, transmits fortunes by post, a due fee having previously been transmitted to her. We have been assured, upon excellent authority, that a very large proportion of the trade of this mystic personage is with the English of the upper classes who visit Paris. It seems almost absurd to enter into a reasoning against such delusions; but we shall merely adduce the pointed argument which has been urged against the reality of all such pretensions to supernatural knowledge; namely, that, if it were real, the possessor of it might be expected to turn it to account in fund speculations, an obviously more rapid and efficient means of acquiring wealth than taking guineas from weak people of fashion. After such examples of credulity, the faith which serving maids place in gipsies is not to be wondered at, however much it may be deplored. It may be sufficient at present to point out to them the absurdity of expecting fortune from persons who are themselves so little blessed with it as to be in rags and beggary; how easy it is to promise where there is no personal obligation to fulfil the promises how much reason there is to suspect only an interested motive in such promises; in one word, the Vicar of Wakefield's answer to his daughter on being told that she had given her half-crown to a vagrant who foretold her marrying a squire, "You fool, I would have given you an earl for half the money!" There is still a considerable inclination to believe that a presentiment, or vague consciousness of coming evil, occasionally arises in the minds of individuals. never see them again. In about a fortnight, they A reference from dreams to future events is per- PRICE 1d. our mind when awake, according to the ordinary laws of dreaming. We know, awake, that the friend is dangerously ill, and have probably imaged the event of his death. This recurs in sleep, with only this change, that the event is supposed to have happened. Or it may even be, that the idea of a probably fatal termination to the illness has only occurred in sleep, for such processes of reasoning are within the powers of the mind in that state. The only difference between the conclusion drawn awake and that in the dream is, that, in the latter, the event comes before us generally in a more decided manner, with images which we shrink from in our ordinary moments, and thus makes a greater impression upon us. On the other hand, the knowledge of an event not looked for, and which does not come within the ordinary range of probability, may at a rare time be acquired through the medium of a dream; but this can only be considered as a mere casual coincidence. Thus, we may dream of a person being drowned whom we did not know of even being at sea. This may turn out to be true, and we then conceive that something supernatural has happened, not taking into account that there are innumerable dreams portending similar events which prove not to be true, excite but a momentary sensation in the dreamer himself, and are soon forgotten. In the dreams of even a healthy person, everything seems confused and distorted, and hardly a night passes but we connect things together in our dreams in such a manner as we never do in our waking moments. We find ourselves in familiar conversation with people we never saw, and who are totally out of our sphere. We find ourselves in a church, and see persons in the pulpit the most unlikely to take their station there. It is not surprising that, amongst the infinite variety of improbable circumstances continually presenting themselves, it may happen, at a rare time, that a real event quite unlooked for may be announced to us. The kind of vaticination called Second Sight-the only wonderful thing about which, is its being local to the Scottish Highlands-may be disposed of much in the same manner. Men of imaginative character and melancholy temperament, living in a solitary manner, and brooding over their own thoughts till the mind gets into a morbid state, announce that they see visions of tragical occurrences happening, or about to happen; as, for instance, the perishing of a friend in a distant boating excursion, or the funeral of one now in perfect health. A very common form of such visions is the person referred to, with a shroud more or less drawn up towards his head. Probably such visions are in many instances as real as they are alleged to be, but only so in the natural manner now familiar to medical men. It is now perfectly understood that, in particular diseased conditions of the mind, its notions take the form of actual objects of sense, or appear as a picture before the eyesight. Such is probably the explanation of most cases of alleged second sight. The realisation of the vision is probably an occurrence of the same rarity as the realisation of a dream, and to be accounted for in the same manner. We hear only of the lucky hits, but never of the much more numerous failures. Having now discussed all the false modes of looking into the future, let us inquire what are the true, and how far we may really, by sound inferences, calculate upon what is to come. It may be pretty safely set down as a general proposition, that man, in possession of his ordinary powers, only divines or supposes the future by the light which he derives from experience. From the regularity and perseverance of certain occurrences up to this time, he presumes that they will continue to occur, and considers them, therefore, as certain. Some which occur with less unvarying regularity, he considers as probable; some of still less constancy of occurrence, he deems only possible. Thus there are the Certain, Probable, and Possible. In short, as to those probabilities which approach to certainties, we are allowed to look but a short way forward. This is particulary the case with respect to the weather, as to which there are so many methods of prognostication. We have, at the most, but a few hours' certain indication of changes as to temperature The Certain are again of two kinds, Definite and In- or moisture, and often no time at all. To plan out definite. The motions of the heavenly bodies, which the seasons for years, or even for months, has never can be exactly measured, and the very eccentricities yet been attempted upon principles acknowledged to of which are regular within a certain range, are ex-be scientific. There is nothing wonderful in guesses amples of Definite Certainties. So, also, are the divi- occasionally proving true; but this is the most that has sions of time into days, lunar months, and years, been done. Even the barometer, though unerring in and the periodical recurrence of seasons, which flow indicating the existing condition of the surrounding from those motions. The term certain, it may be re- atmosphere with regard to moisture, gives but a short, marked, is only comparative. Man is not, strictly and for the most part uncertain, notice of the future. speaking, certain of any of these events; for anything Sometimes we have a very low state of the glass, with he can tell, the whole of the sidereal motions may hardly any change in our own locality; though we stop to-morrow. But, as compared with any know- afterwards learn that there have been storms and ledge we have of (for example) the weather of to-earthquakes elsewhere. Still, this is rather an indicamorrow, the anticipation of the phenomenon of sun- tion of the present than the future. rise may be held as a certainty. While the recurrence of seasons is, as a general fact, a definite certainty, it is indefinite also, because no one can be sure of the exact time when any season is to commence or end. Other examples of Indefinite Certainties are presented in the destruction and reproduction of animal and vegetable life. We know that all living things will die, but we cannot say when with certainty. In our times, however, though the termination of the individual life remains as indefinite as ever, diligent observation and calculation have enabled us to form tolerably accurate conclusions with regard to the average duration of life amongst men and women, and this knowledge has been applied to various useful purposes. The next class of future events is the Probable, which is a very large one, since a vast number of the common affairs of life supply matter for it. A great proportion of probable events come so near the certain, that, in the ordinary course of things, men must treat them as such. For example, in proposing to travel by a stage-coach, we deem the event of our arrival at our destination so certain (though it is only probable), that we never scruple to pay our fare beforehand. What we here mean by Possible is the reverse of Probable, and might rather be termed Improbable, since it is an exception to the ordinary course of probability. An event happening, which we reckon merely possible, but improbable, may be, or rather in general must be so, from our ignorance of minute circumstances connected with it. For instance, a person may set out on a day's journey, apparently in good health, thus rendering his accomplishing the journey highly probable. half-way by illness, we call this stop an improbable occurrence; while, if we were fully acquainted with the state of his health, the delay might be reckoned rather probable than improbable. But here we must act upon our limited knowledge, and it would be quite absurd to do otherwise. If the journey we have mentioned was a highly necessary one, and the traveller himself not aware of any approaching ailment, it would be improper to tell him to put it off, merely because it was possible he might be stopped by illness. This acting upon ordinary probability need not be dwelt on, as it is almost the whole business of our life. There are cases, however, where it would be imprudent to act upon probability; for possibility, though ranked as improbability, must always be taken into account in looking forward to what is to come after, for it will sometimes take place when we least think of it, and it may be seriously injurious if it overtake us unprepared. A ship-master, in traversing a wide ocean where there was no intermediate port at which to stop, would be much to blame if he had not provision for his ship's company during what may be called an improbable length of voyage. When we discover afterwards that he has been stopped If the minor or least probable be of much greater importance than the major or most probable contingency, it is then the former we chiefly look to in our calculation. For instance, if, in the case of some adventure, our total ruin were to be in the proportion of one to ten, and a partial gain in the opposite proportion, few people would like to run the risk. But, reverse matters, and suppose, as in the case of the lottery, the minor or least probable was a great gain, and the major a small loss, few would object to such a chance; still, as in the other instance, it would be the improbable to which our attention would be directed. The Scripture expression, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," would, for a ready apprehension of its meaning, be more correct if thus paraphrased, The race may not be to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. For probability is in favour of swiftness and strength, though, in the course of providence, cases may happen otherwise. Making the best of contingencies is a great part of the business of life. In using the experience of the past as a guide to a knowledge of the future, great care is necessary, for fallacies beset the inquirer on every hand. Physicians of the most extensive practice admit that medicine is still in an imperfect state. Acute diseases, such as fevers, are often assuming new appearances, where experience is completely set at naught. Even diseases, which are pretty uniform in their symptoms, affect different constitutions so variously, that the same treatment proves beneficial to one person and hurtful to another. It appears from the whole inquiry, that it is given to man to have but an obscure perception of the future; and this is only consonant with that wise benevolence which reigns over all mundane things; for it is easy to see, that it would not be well for man to anticipate future events too clearly. There are, however, some of the probable class of events which he may, without any great effort, calculate upon, and which it is only a duty to provide for. From our experience of the past, we know what are the necessities and duties to which we may in certain circumstances look forward; as, for instance, if we marry, we may presume that there may be a family to support; or, if we incur a debt, that the creditor will in time be claiming its payment; and for these contingencies every wise and good man will be anxious to be prepared. Vaticination upon events of this order may, therefore, be considered as laudable; and it may safely be said, that if the one half of the attention had been paid to them which has been bestowed in divining who is to be the future spouse, or whether life is to be crowned with fortune, there would have been much less misery in the world. SKETCHES IN NATURAL HISTORY. THIRD ARTICLE. NORTH AMERICA, the next division of the globe whose found in other continents, but, for the most part, peculiar to America as species. They consist principally of the Canadian otter, the sea otter, raccoon (remarkable for a singular instinct of eating nothing which has not previously been dipped in water), badger (very distinct from our own animal of that name), the taxels, several kinds of martens, in particular that which yields the sable of commerce (M. Zibellina), a fur which, with other good qualities, has the peculiar one of lying in any direction in which it may be turned; various weasels, squirrels, marmots, foxes, wolverines, the beaver, and the Canadian lynx. Of the latter, about 9000 skins are annually obtained by the Hudson Bay Company, and an immense number of many of the others; yet, such is the prolificacy of these animals, and the extent of the country over which they range, that there is little chance of the supply becoming exhausted. Nearly allied to the martens are the skunks, a tribe exclusively American, and pre-eminently distinguished by the intolerable fetor they emit when irritated or pursued. The intensity of this odour is described as being almost incredible; if a single drop of the liquid producing it fall on any article of dress, it is rendered quite useless, as no washing will remove it, and the stench is diffused throughout the whole house. Several singular animals, allied to the mole, occur in America, particularly the shrew-mole, the long-tailed mole, or star-nose, and Forster's shrew. Our European field mouse is represented by an analogous species, the mus leucopus. A rather remarkable kind of porcupine, the urson of Cuvier, the coendous, the sousliks, a kind of marmot with cheek-pouches, no fewer than sixteen species of lepus or hare (of one of which, the American hare, no fewer than 25,000 have been killed in a single season at one of the stations of the Hudson Bay Company), the musk rat, and the neotoma of the Rocky Mountains, are a few others of the more remarkable smaller quadrupeds peculiar to North America. The Rocky Mountains are inhabited by a large and strong-bodied sheep, which has been thought well fitted for being introduced into this country, and also by a goat of a peculiar species. Of the other ruminants, one of the most conspicuous is the stately Canadian stag or wapiti (the elk of the Anglo-Americans), which is one-fourth larger than our stag, and inhabits all the temperate regions; similar to it is the C. occidentalis, found in the north-western countries. The Virginian stag is less than ours, but more elegantly formed; its name indicates its chief locality, although it occurs over a considerable portion of the continent. It is remarkable for its enmity to the upon it with its fore-feet, then bounding away, and rattlesnake, which it kills by suddenly stamping returning again to the attack, till the reptile be completely disabled. The prong-horned antelope inhabits the hills and open plains around Hudson's Bay, as well as the banks of the Columbia; its northern range being about the 53d degree. The long-tailed and the black-tailed deer, are two other species deserving of being named. Such are a few of the more characteristic quadrupeds of this continent; many others deserving of notice of course occur, but of these some of the more remarkable, such as the puma, or American lion, as it is called, have their chief seat in South America. To the North American birds, of which the catalogue is very rich, we can devote only a few sentences. The most remarkable and characteristic animal of Perhaps the most noticeable in the more northern the northern regions is the musk ox, or ovibos, which, regions is the grouse family, of which about a dozen as the latter name implies, combines, to a certain ex- peculiar species inhabit the fur countries. The most tent, the properties of the ox and sheep. It congre- important of these is the cock of the plains, which gates in small herds, and is scarcely ever seen to the has long and sharp-pointed tail feathers, giving it the south of the 70th degree. In most of the icy regions appearance of a pheasant. The Turkey buzzard, which it frequents, grass or herbage of any kind is but very common in the United States, the great Caliscanty, and it therefore feeds chiefly on lichens-fornian vulture, nearly the size of the condor, numeplants of low organisation, and capable of existing in rous kinds of Falconidae, the great cinereous owl, and almost any climate. The flesh of this animal is well the arctic horned owl, claim precedence among the acflavoured, but highly impregnated with the odour of cipitrine birds; the king-bird, remarkable for its bold musk. Regarding the elk, or moose deer, as distinct and pugnacious disposition, the mocking-bird, so celefrom the elk of Europe, it forms one of the most con- brated for its power of imitating almost any sound, spicuous quadrupeds of the northern parts of this the American robin (very different from our own docontinent. It frequents swampy ground, assembling, mestic bird), the blue-bird, the Baltimore bird, which at certain seasons, in small herds. Its northern limit constructs an elegant pensile nest, and the tanager, is nearly where the southern range of the musk ox are among the best known of the passerine tribes. terminates; but it formerly extended far to the south, The common turkey occurs in profusion over a conalthough now, receding before the advancing tide of siderable portion of this continent, and another population, it is never seen but to the north of the splendid species has been discovered in Honduras. great lakes. There is some reason to suppose, that The two latter may be considered the most characthe reindeer of North America is specifically distinct teristic birds of North America. No fewer than sixtyfrom that of Europe and Asia: at all events, two eight different species of birds are peculiar to Mexico well-marked varieties exist of this invaluable animal, alone. one of which is named the caribou deer. The prairies stretching from the base of the Rocky Mountains, still support immense herds of bisons (Bos Americanus), although the rifle has extirpated these singular looking animals from many of their former haunts. The grizzly bear, familiarly called "Caleb" by the hunters, by much the largest land species of his tribe, and the most formidable of the American carnivora, has his principal seat among the Rocky Mountains, although examples have occurred as far south as Mexico. The American black bear, and the barren ground bear, are the other species; but it is doubted by many whether the latter be more than a variety of the first mentioned. Of the numerous reptiles found in this continent, the rattlesnake and syren may be mentioned as the most distinctive. South America possesses every imaginable attribute favourable to the existence of an extensive and diversified system of animals. This may at once be inferred from its geographical position, and its general physical aspect and properties. But even when every allowance is made for these, the reality is found greatly to transcend the highest expectation. It is difficult for one who has never been out of Europe, and especially for an untravelled native of Britain, to form an adequate conception of the teeming exuberance of rege *The fur of the common mole is set vertically in the skin, by which it has no grain or particular direction-an admirable provision for enabling it to run backwards and forwards in its gal The districts of North America so well-known as elevated regions of the Andes. The harpy, or de- table and animal life in some of the tropical portions lemurs, are confined to these islands; so also are several small bears, of gentle and playful disposition, called sun-bears. They produce also several large spotted cats, of which the tiger-cat of Sumatra may be mentioned as an example. Not a few small marsupials occur in the Moluccas and New Guinea. Sumatra and Java have each a peculiar kind of rhinoceros; and there are not a few peculiar species of small deer and antelopes; among the latter, the best known is the cambing-outan, or antelope of Sumatra. Of the numerous and very remarkable birds which frequent these islands, we can only mention the most characteristic group; namely, the superbly plumed birds of Paradise, which consist of many different kinds, all of them of very rich colours, and presenting singular developments of some portion or other of their feathery covering; and the cassowary, the largest species of bird, next to the African ostrich. The great island of Madagascar, while presenting some analogy in the character of its animals to the opposite coasts of Africa, may be said to have a zoology in some measure its own. It is the sole residence of the lemurs, which are numerous in species, and appear to replace here the monkey tribe, which are said not to exist in this island. The structure of the aye-aye is so peculiar, that systematists have had great difficulty in assigning it a proper place in their arrangements. The insects and lower animals of this comparatively little known island, appear to be even more peculiar than the quadrupeds. The preceding details (although necessarily limited, considering the extent of the subject) will enable the reader to determine what groups of animals are most strikingly characteristic of the different quarters of the globe. FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. SOME time since, a little article was given on the subject of Familiar Quotations-that is to say, on lines and phrases known to everybody, yet of unknown origin. A few additional examples have since occurred to us. For instance, how often do we use, and see used, the phrase of "Though last, not least," the alliterative aptitude of which is peculiarly tempting. It occurs in literature, for the first time we believe, in Shakspeare, being addressed by Lear to his youngest daughter, the unflattering Cordelia. "Now, our joy. Although the last, not least," says the aged king. After all, when her father was tion from honesty and rectitude, might, we think, so markedly fond of her, Cordelia, without any detrachave been a little more warm in her expressions of filial affection. But this is a digression. Caymans, or alligators; dragonets, which are huge lizards with caudal crests, often attaining a length of six feet; and boas, of enormous dimensions, are among the most remarkable of South American reptiles. New Holland, with the adjoining island of Van Diemen's Land, is, in many respects, one of the most remarkable portions of the globe. The peculiarity of its vegetable productions is well known; in most cases, they are altogether sui generis, having little resemblance to those of any other region. A like peculiarity is observable in its animal productions, scarcely one of which are common to it with any other country. Almost the sole indigenous mammalia consist of marsupial animals, varying in size from nearly the dimensions of a wolf to those of a small mouse. Most of them bear a considerable resemblance to each other, and the number of different species is very great; probably not less than a hundred. Of these the best known are the kangaroos, the largest of which is the great kangaroo (Macropus giganteus); but the most quoted, though the poet, we imagine, only put into In Young's tragedy of Recenge occurs a line much common is Bennett's kangaroo, called the brush kan-pointed form an idea previously shadowed forth by garoo in Van Diemen's Land, which is much esteemed others. The line is as an article of food, and its skin used for making boots and shoes. The thylacinus is not unlike a large dog, and is called by the colonists of Van Diemen's Land the tiger, hyæna, and zebra-wolf; it preys on kangaroos and other small animals: and the ursine dasyure, which somewhat resembles it, and is invariably called the deril by the colonists, is very destruc- Collet, in his curious book entitled "The Relics of tive to sheep and poultry. Many of the smaller marsupials are exactly like the flying squirrel, and are, in Literature," tells us that these lines were, on one ocfact, so denominated. The wombat is a lumpish, in-casion, the subject of a heavy wager at Bootle's Club. active animal, which burrows in the sand, and feeds The scholars present were all of opinion that the lines were from Butler's Hudibras, and twenty to one was on roots and grasses; the echidna is covered with laid in support of that side of the question. Dodsley, arbiter, but he ridiculed the idea of consulting him on the noted publisher and writer, was referred to as the the subject, saying, "Every fool knows that the couplet is in Hudibras." George Selwyn answered, Pray, sir, will you be good enough, then, to inform ship's very humble servant, in what canto they are to an old fool, who is, at the same time, your wise worbe found?" Dodsley turned to the volume, but he searched with no better success: and, at last, the sage could not find the passage; on the next day he bibliopole was obliged to confess, that "a man might without being absolutely a fool." In reality, the lines be ignorant of the author of this well-known couplet, spines like a hedgehog, which it resembles, but it has The most characteristic bird of this great island is nearest continental land. Perhaps every one of the "Beyond all Greek, beyond all Roman fame." Still more frequently is the following couplet seen in writings, and heard in conversation: "For he that fights and runs away, May live to fight another day." occur in a small and obscure collection of Miscella- "For those that fly may fight again, Scylla and Charybdis are allusions almost as com- "Shunning Charybdis, you on Scylla strike." But the line is to be found in an obscure writer of Latin verse, by name Philip Gualtier, who flourished in France in the sixteenth century. Familiar to every one is the fine thought in Benjamin Franklin's epitaph on himself, in which he compares his condition, when dying, to that of a work about to undergo a republication at the hands of its great author. Franklin was not the first, however, to use this simile. He had before him two epigrams, |