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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th January 1851, Edition 2 of 3, Page 3, Boxxso DAT.-Mr. Whirlegigwas amons; the ...

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      Of The Alison School Rather With Alisorr...

      ; toJjtop 25 , 1851 . THE NORTHERN STAR . I i i ^^^^^ "'"* "" ' * IMail '"** M , ll , IMIIW " ia , lw *™ ^ - ^ ¦ .

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      Ti] Throw Away Tee Apple. "What "Wiiat I...

      TI ] THROW AWAY TEE APPLE . "What "Wiiat is all this talk about ? "WIa TyTa sach clatter , noise , and rout ? "Willi What in reason means that shout , And din and prattle ? Disci Discord is a noisy thing , Etidl Endless sorrows it will bring , Cast Cast from ye the tainted thing-Throw away the apple . Won Would ye -win a nation ' s blessing ? Won Would ye make life worth possessing ? Thei Then unto the goal be pressing , In . bonds of amity ; Kin Kindly urging on each other , Eqr Equal each , and dear as brother , Au Au ill-feelinga strive to smother , And work in unity .

      Cai Can ye gain jour hearts desire , By By calling names In Tengefcl ire , Am And flinging at each other mire , To please the enemy ? H e Se laughs at all your silly pranks , Be Be hails division in your ranks , jj ] jbjl jts promoters win his thanks , Instead of enmity . Hi He who bawls the loudest—know , II He Ls freedom ' s deadliest foe . T The patriot ever would forego , Causes of dissension ; " S Nor would he stir up heated blood , C Or in jur 6 in a fitful mood , i A cause so holy , just and good , By angry contention .

      i "Gmte , and form one mighty band , i from hill to dale , from strand to strand , Tf vou would free your fatherland , And with despots grapple ! If successful yon would be , If you'd leave your children free , If you'd win the Tictory , Throw away the apple . Edwis Gui .

      How To Cosfess. I&. Lia Little Boy Of Mo...

      HOW TO COSFESS . I & . liA little boy of mongrel breed—! rhelhe fruit of Protestant and Catholic seed'To To mother s Church an inclination had ; ' . BuBul father vsAo mass would force the lad ; TfelYet still the boy to church on Sunday stole , AnAnd evidene'd a wish to save his soul . At At length , one Sunday morn itcame to pasa TLThe father dragg'd the struggling boy to mass—51 The zealous Papist helped to force him in , Ai And begged the priest to pardon all his sin . * ' : *' $ o , by the mass , " says he , " we cannot bless Ifilfor pardon , till the culprit first confess . " " " Well , " savstheboy , " supposing I am willing , W What is your charge V "I'llcharge you . hut a shilling . " * ' "ilust all men pay , and all men make confession ?" < ' < Tes . every one of Catholic profession . "

      "" And who do you confess tol" " Why , the dean . " " "Does the dean charge you ? " " Tes ; above thirteen . " « « 'And do yonr deans confess ! " " Yes , hoy , they do ( Confess to bishops—and pay smartly too . " 1 Do bishops , sir , confess , 1 pray to whom ? 1 Why , they confess , and pay the Pope of Rome . " *• Wei ! . " savs tbe boy , " all this is mighty odd" But does * the Pope confess ? " " Oh I yes ; to And does God charge the Pope ? " " 3 So , " quoth the priest ; « .,.,. « God charges nothing . " " Oh ! then , God ' s the be 3 f ' , , -,,-He is able to forgive , and always willing ; I shall confess to God and save my shilling .

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      England As It Is—Political, Social And I...

      England as it is—Political , Social and Industrial , in the middle of the nineteenth century . By William Johnson , Esq ., Barrister at Law . 2 vols . Murray . A title such as the above ongnt to indicate a work of a very comprehensive character , and one . too , exceedingly difficult of performance . To draw the picture of England as it is , would involve contrasts of the most startling and diversified description , —p ictures which statistics fail to convey any idea of to the mind ,

      and averages include only to hide and obscure . To obtain anything like a correct view of the subject , what varied lights and shades must mingle in it and be worked up into a harmonious whole . In the same chapter , if not upon the same pages , must stand , side by side , the highest honours which the state can bestow and the deepest degradation into which so-< aety p lunges its victims—the most enormous wealth whichavarice , or greed , or frau d , or fair commerce , ever piled up into a heap , and the sgualidesi poverty clothed in rags and wretchedness . We must have painted , in varied

      colours , that glorious empire upon which the gun never Bets , and the dominion of the starving needlewoman in her wretched , bare garret . ° Diadems and coronets must sparkle from out its typography in close companionship with the uncombed hair that hides the unwashed brows of those who know not where to lay their heads . The extremes of civilisation must be there too . St . James ' s and St . Giles ' s must show themselves in all their magnificence of squalor , fair ladies , —too fair for the sun to shine upon , or the rude wind to breathe over , stepping from their luminous

      houses to their splendid carriages , mustfigure apon the same stage as the pale , emaciated factory girl , breathing the " devil ' s dust of a cotton factory , and the sun-browned , hardiianded country woman , toiling in the farmer ' s field . Tender young lordlings in satin and feathers , must look you in the face , in company with the dirt-begrimed young trapper from the far below ground mines . Aristocratic masses , smelling at odoriferous bouquets , must rub shoulders with the flower girl , wending her wa v through the wet , dirty , misty morning to the market , to buy flowers to vend and

      in the streets at noonday . These Each as these must be the dramatis persona in the great life drama of England , as it is properly written—and what far extremes of intellect as well as of condition must mingle there , too . The meditative genius of a Wordsworththe far-looking spirit of a Tennyson—the deep research and earneatstudy of a Farraday , seen by the same light as the acnteness of the London pickpocket—the sharp slangified mind of a cabman—the heavy stupidity of a Hampshire boor—and the mental darkness of the eleven thousand and odd pauper lunatics which

      go to swell the population of this mighty kingdom . Take as an illustration of what might oe done with such a theme , the single example of a cargo of cotton leaving a slave state of America , reaching an English port , making its : way to the factory , and thence spreading in fabrics through the land , and returning over seas in another form to the soil from which it sprang . Think of that cotton , not merely as woven up into febrics , but woven up with the welfare—the very lives and existences—the hopes , joys , sorrows , and despair of millionsas forming part , not only of the web which comes from the machine , but the web of humanity itself . Let it introduce ns to slaves denied a riffht to their persons , and slaveholders surfteedem

      roundedby the very air of ^ . perpetuating a stigma upon the name of civihsation-to theroutfh hardy sailors who bring it across the ocean , and the rich merchant who owns the vessel-to the wealthy Dock Company who receive itinto their warehouses , and the fanne d poverty-stricken labourers who bear it tmtner from the hold-to tho operative passmg from his cellar or garret to the mill , and to tne lordly manufacturer in his palace-mansion , reaping his annual harvest of thousands , from his thousands of " hands . " Such a theme has init , history . poetry , science , romance , and reality ; and such a subject , handled with adequate knowledge , and fitting powers of expression would , while it instructed and amused , thrill through the hear ts of men .

      In thinking , however , of what ought to be « * , and what might be performed , we are forgetting Mr . Johnson ' s England as it ts , which does not , by any means , realise our idea . Indeed we do . not know how . by any possibility it could , for ^ Mr . Johnson is a Tory

      England As It Is—Political, Social And I...

      of the Alison school , or rather with Alisorr ian tendencies , and has , as may be expected , all the prejudices of his class . Unlike reformers who think the past well over—the present with its miseries only as a prelude to a happier future—but Tories of the same school as Mr . Johnson , invert that order of thought . They dislike the present it is true , but they dread the future still more , and looking upon the past by the light of memory , much as a traveller sees a mountain from " a distance , with its ruggedness softened down , aud a halo thrown over its barrenness " , they would leave what is , and shrink from what is Inf tlin Alicnri cntinnl *** . —« xl ; jt . a i ;

      to be , to return to what has been , and never can be again . This feeling must necessaril y mar such a work as the present , by giving it a false colouring . Besides this too , Mr . Johneoh ^ s book fails from the nature of its . construction . He has a taste for statistics , but does not seem to have the ability to make their results evident ; he appears to want political acumen sufiicient to enable him to take a wide and statesmanlike view of the subject , and his social knowledge of the masses wants that intimacy so necessary to give the appearance of life and reality to his social pictures . Beyond this too , there is another defect . The work

      can scarcely be called a continuous one—it is rather a series of essays bearing some relation to the subject . The author himself says , in his preface , that the book originated "in a design of writing letters to a friend upon the Continent , in order to make him acquainted with the present state of England . ' * We can easily imagine how letters to a friend might be very instructive without treating of matters extremely interesting to an exclusively English audience .

      We do not mean , however , to convey an impression that England as it is is entirely uninteresting or unworthy of attention . Statistics , when properly considered , always contain the germs of correct conclusions of some value ; " letters to a friend " must often contain thoughts worth consideration , and the opinions—aye , even the prejudices of a Tory , may be worth thinking about . Tory opinions contain some elements of truth—truth misapplied—which maybe madeuseful to the masses , and we gain something by being able to look at our position from the point of sight occupied by an antagonist . At the very least , we procure some knowledge of what are likely to be the tactics of our opponents and that is an advantage not to be lightly estimated .

      As an exemplification of the mind of the writer , and of his class , we take a few extracts . The first is a picture of an aristocratic solicitor —of directing the consciences , and , at the same time , serving the interests of Tory clients : — . ¦ Having become confidential advisers in questions where property is concerned , they are often called upon in respect to disagreements , doubts , suspicions , and other domestic troubles , where a calm impartial judgment is required and perfect secrecy may be depended upon . Some of them might tell very strange histories of confidences no less strange ; for your solicitor is the only man who is enabled bv his professional conscience so to identify

      himself with his " principal" that he will make nothing known that is confided to him professionally , no matter what interests beyond those of his client may be concerned . If some man or woman —it may be of rank or wealth—having committed some great offence , goes to confess to the parson of tho parish , the rev . gentleman may probably deem it his bounden duty to call in the police , or to inform the injured party , as the case may be . Not so'the solicitor . He advises , soothes , and lays down the doctrine of discretion , which he considers applicable to the circumstances . Solicitors are the priests of the Kumen Prudentia , and thereby many of them become very important and very rich .

      As regards morality , the same inconvenience or evil belongs tothe system in which they are the prime movers , as does to the system of acting by trustees , or any other representation of the interests of an individual by persons who are not representatives ofhis conscience . I am far from saying that respectable solicitors take no account of what a man is in honour and conscience bound to do , as well as inlaw as in prudence . They generally consider what is becoming to a man in the station which be occupies and in the circumstances with which he has to deal . Following that rule , they cannot set aside the obligations of honour and conscience . But passions and affections and generous emotions

      are the natural auxiliaries of conscienciousness , especially when it is to be exercised among persons connected by Wood or affinity ; and these the solicitor keeps * at a distance . He may give a cold opinion as to what might be considered generous , but bis business is to advise what is prudent , and to keep his clients on their guard against emotion . And this is another reason why so much is committed to confidential solicitors ; for great or rich personages are glad of an . escape from the disturbance of what they call" a scene , " meaning thereby any occurrence ia which the passions or feelings are strongly moved ; and they take refuge from such agitation under the cold shade of professional advice . It is , moreoter , but too true , that while the eminent professional adviser will generally , if

      left to himself , either do , or recommend to be done , that which is reasonable and becoming under tbe circumstances , yet he is not so independent but that he will yield himself in some degree to be the instrument of his employer ' s anger , or enmity , or prejudice , if the employer be rich and insist upon tbat course being taken . Whatever he does will of course be done in a respectable manner , and with due regard to professional rules ; but many things which are harsh and domineering , and even unjust , may be done in this way ; and tbe proud and unfeeling man of wealth will not find much difficulty in obtaining even the most eminent aid to carry out hia views , if be be willing , as he generally is , that a decorous and formal manner shall pervade the proceedings , however severe in their substance and cruel iu their intention .

      This is not only useful as showing the character of aristocratic solicitors , but also as evidencing the advantages which therich have in contending with the poor ; a poor man will find solicitors generally very unwilling to act as the keepers of his conscience . With a reasonable chance-of payment they will carry into effect the letter of the law , but most poor men are obliged to be the keepers of their own consciences . They are compelled to let their passions , sympathies , and feelings direct their every movement , and sometimes they shrink from taking

      advantages which they could not justify to their own hearts . The rich man is in a different position . He refers everything to " hissolicitor , " and is thereby enabled to throw off as it were , the feelings of our common humanity , for he knows welfthat tbe solicitor—while he does everything in a legal and professional , and respectable , and therefore " becoming " manner , will not let sympathy or feeling creep in ; and thus many acts of moral injustice and cruelty may beperpetratedby adeputy , without casting any conventional stigma upon the real actor . -

      The following remarks too , upon writers for the newspaper press deserve notice : — As to the writers of original articles on the events of the day , it is quickness of thought and readiness of expression on paper which chiefly fit them for their office . There are men who can write , and with great force , too , when they must write , bat who cannot bring themselves to write to-day that which might as well be written to-morrow . On the other hand , they who write best cannot write off hand . They ponder the matter , and the thoughts which occur to them they are able to lay up in store , and deliberately to arrange in the best order . Men who give mnca of their attention to the events of the day , find their refections thereon to evaporaie even faster than those events' shift their

      position and change their colour . Harassing as the work of the daily journalist may appear , and as it no doubt really is , it : is that which prima facie appears the greatest hardship of the task—namely , the necessity for writing off-hand—that makes it from day to day a practicable thing . Besides being a grand and standing excuse for all sorts of mistakes , it is the vecy-ufe-of the cause . Forthemost part , tbe journalist writes nnder immediate impulse , supplied either by the news of the day or the remarks of some rival-journal , which impulse quickens some spring of utterance , whether by sympathy , indignation , suggestion of supplementary matter , or what not . Let any topic , however , only wait a few days to grow cold , and it would be recurred to as a sheer task , which the writer would scarcely have patience to encounter .

      The talent of the writers for the press , great as it undoubtedly ia , is of a very peculiar character . It is not the sort of talent possessed b y men who write quires and weighty ; books , which live in the-literature of the world . _ It js more -alike to that species of capability

      England As It Is—Political, Social And I...

      which figures best upon the platform . The writer upon the press must be ready at any moment to write upon any subject which his employers or the events of the dav may press upon jus notice . He must have a stock of knowledge ready at the instant , to bring to bear either for elucidation or for illustration ; and he must have a power of arrangement , not perhaps of the best or the mostsystematickind , but of sucha nature as will enable him to state __• t * I

      his point clearl y and without confusion . Such men are found , and the public owe them a debt of gratitude ; for , whether they be right or wrong , they so far systematise and simplify every topic they hear of , as to render its farther and more deliberate di » cu » sion possible , and at the same time they do tbat which is most desirable—namel y , giro a body and form to the opinions of those whom the newspaper press at large represents .

      One more extract and we have done . Mr . Johnston clearl y estimates—and the opinion , whether it come from Whig , Tory , or Radical , is true , and therefore valuable—he clearly estimates the great vice of the age , in its want of earnestness , and its bowing down to successful frauds , time honoured conventionalities , and respectable shams of all kinds . This want of earnestness especially , is an injury to all parties , and more especially to the party of the people . No man ever did any great work without being thoroughly earnest and sincere ; but , now men of all classes are found who laugh in their sleeves at public virtue , when public virtue appears to be opposed to private interest ; and that self-devoting enthusiasm which all real benefactors of their kind have

      possessed , is scoffed at in tbe private coteries as a folly , while , in the face of the world , a surreptitious and feigned admiration is accorded to it . The nineteenth century would probably raise a monument to the memory of a second Curtius , who should leap into the gulf to save his country ; but the men of the nineteenth century , or , at all events , a larger number of them , would regard him as a lunatic for his pains : —

      In short , the people , such as one ordinarily meets , arc as incapable of good conversation as of singing Greek verses to a lyric accompaniment . With such persons , when a man has nothing to say which he really does think , because such matter would be unsuitable , he may escape the awkwardness and the c-hill of silence by some remark calculated to dissipate dullness , and to preserve the spirits from sinking into torpidity . Again , it may be said that life cannot be a continual study of wisdom , though it ought never to degenerate into mere folly . The man who can think only in that superficial way which serves tho turn of a conversationist , is not indeed worthy of much consideration , hut we should

      not undervalue the power of throwing aside the severer habits of reflection and tossing the ball of lighter thought in animated talk . But the truth is , that conversation such as Mr . Taylor describesthat is , easy , graceful , clever , and sparkling conversation , with bits of knowledge tossed to and fro in it—is , if not very rare , at least not very common , even in the circles of the highest pretension . There is plenty of lightsomeness , plenty of sarcasm ; but gracefulness , cleverness , arid bits of knowledge , even of the superficial kind , are only to be met with on fortunate days or nights . The conversation one too often hears , and the manner which accompanies it , are not merely vain and unprofitable , because

      wanting in depth and earnestness , but directly and unquestionably pernicious , because fraught with a sneering spirit which feeds pride , and puts humble truth out of countenance . " And there are smiles by shallow worldlings worn , To grace a lie or laugh a truth to scorn . " Mr " . Eliot Warburton , in his book called The Crescent and the Cross , describes a visit to the island of Delos in his usual picturesque and striking manner , and adds—The island has been very little visited , and there appears to be a wide field for research amongst its varied relics . Our party was a

      large one , and consisted moreover entirely of English , a circumstance which , I know not why , is always fatal to research , or even to reflection : a scoffing spirit inevitably prevails ; and whether on the mountain of Parnassus , or in the valley of Jehoshaphat , our countrymen seem to think that everything is unreal except themselves and their sandwiches : this is the very triumph of objectivity . I do not know what " the triumph of objectivity" means , but for the rest , I think Mr . Warburton has justly described the ordinary outside habit or affection of the English : a lightsome indifference—a kind of disdainful carelessness which

      they do not really feel—is aimed at by almost all who desire to assume the tone of high society . The present Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench , who succeeds in everything he attempts , and who , before he assumed the ermine , had attained the position not only of a Cabinet Minister and a Peer of Parliament but also of a popular author , achieved his literary success by a happy attention to this prevailing taste for contemptuous gaiety of manner . Although in his capacity of politician he was an adtrocate of popular influence , and always contended that great weight should be given to the wisdom and the will of tne multitude , yet' in his capacity of author , when writing the life

      of Lord Eldon , he says , " The recent victory of Salamanca , a renewed cry against Popery , and a plentiful harvest , which had , as usual , given the people a high opinion of tho wisdom of the government , '' & c . Tho government of 1812 was a Tory government , which accounts for the learned Lord's peculiar opinion of the wisdom of the people in thinking well of it on that occasion , and for his method of expressing that opinion . The jesting , flippant , and contemptuous tone of remark , is very frequently applied to the habits and circumstances of the speakers themselves . Men seem to regard themselves as the sport of a fate which they despise . They who have run the round

      of fashionable dissipation sneer at the insipidity of civilised life . They will not take the trouble to set an example of better conduct . They will not themselves substitute good sense , moderation , cordiality , and politeness , for the pomp , ceremony , affectation , and vain glory of which they are " conscious , bnt they go on with tbe crowd , and jsneer at what the crowd is doing . They talk of " stale civilisation , " ridicule those who are " pinioned at dinner tables , " " stuck up in ball-rooms , " or living in a round of formal ceremony and " utter respectability , " while an humbler , more genuine , and more simple life than this , is no less scorned , if it be unaccompanied with great expense or the ability to be greatly expensive .

      We have bestowed bo much space on this book—not so much for its own merits" as on account of our sympathy with the views of the author , because it assumes to treat of a great subject , in which all must be interested , and because it is just possible that the hints thrown out as to what might be done , may prompt some apostle of the people to give us "England as it really is . "

      Excursions And Adventure ' S In Iv«C Rou...

      Excursions and Adventure ' s in iV « c Routh Wales . By John Henderson , Esq . London Shooed . Much as has been said and written about that great Southern Continentwhichis preparing to become the future scene of a great Anglo-Saxon community—a republic , we suppose—we may say , much obviously remains to be written about it ; for while the surplus labour population of this country is eagerly seeking , by emigration , among other means , to find a position in which toil shall ensure something like an equitable share of what toil produces , the subject must be one of unflagging interest .

      We do not advocate emigration as the appropriate remedy for the evils of the country and the time ; we believe , that with unemployed labour and uncultivated land in abundance , England has more of the real elements of undeveloped wealth at her command than a second California could supply her with ; but , at the same time , prompted by the pressure of the times partly , and partly by that adventurous and migratory spirit which characterises the Anglo-Saxons , many of kindred blood will seek to rear up in other lands that prosperity which seems to be denied to them at homeand reliable accounts of Australia are accordingly both welcome and useful .

      Sir . Henderson ' s work appears to be a particularly reliable one , and to result from his personal experience amid the scenes which he describes , rather than from reading . Indeed he seems , from a want of knowledge of what has been before written upon the subject , to tell over again that which was already known ; but there is much that is new , and there is such an air of evident truthfulness and sincerity about it that it at once gains our confidence

      . . . We shall take but little notic © of the wellfounded complaints which hera , as- elsewhere , we find ' reiterated about GrOT ' dromeut WDJider

      Excursions And Adventure ' S In Iv«C Rou...

      ingand mismanagement ; those things , how ev er aro Passing away . Tho Government , whether prompted h y pique , or spite , or a seuse ot justice—we aro inclined to think the former , is on tho point of irifclidrawing the mass of the troops from those colonies and leaving them to their own resources , aud of course to their own control ; for without soldiers it will be of course impossible to coerce thorn into submission to commands to which they do not feel inclined ~ n f a willin obedience . Dr . Laing told tbe Colonial Secretary that he had for three

      years been "knockin g atthe gate of Futurity , tor the president of the United States of Australia . " The soldiers once away , the knocking may be responded . The Australians must either bs treated kindl y , justly , and generously , or we may have another Young ltepublic in the far south , near enough to our overgrown Indian possessions to bo troublesome and the " unnat ' ral old parent , " as the Yankees call the mother country , may become a household word in the South as well as in the West .

      Leaving these matters then to work their own remedy in their own good time , as they assuredl y will , we turn to those portions of the book which relate to life in the colonies ; and first we take an extract describing Port ftfacquarrie , from which we find that there are gentlemen even among convicts , who are as much favoured among the odious and profane mob of common criminals , as happens among more civilised communities : — Port Macquarrie , ever since it ceased to be exclusively a penal settlement , has been used as a depSt for what are called " specials ; " that is , special or ^ rentfemen-convicts , and for invalids . Here may be seen gallant naval and military officers ,

      eloquent parsons , learned lawyers , acute and once opulent bankers and merchants , " et idgenus omne . " There is also a sprinkling of aristocracy—of brothers and sons of lords , right honourablos , baronets , & c , and some claiming such titles or succession to them for themselves . From these are found all grades , down to the London Jew and the Tipperary murderer . Those who claim the name of " special" are better off than , and often placed above , their fellows ; the authorities forgetting or discarding the admirable apothegm of the ancients ~ "fiatjustitia , matc « lum ! " Where circumstances favour them , they are assigned to their wives , or made constables , jailers , wavdamen of the prisoners '

      barracks , overseers , or store-keepers of road parties , & c . Some of them , as well as many of the invalids , are lent out to settlers , who thus obtain slaves for their keep , but in general they are not of much use . 1 have seen lawyers and bankers tending sheep , soldiers and parsons acting as Stockmen , and gamblers and pickpockets filling the capacity of hut-keepers ; but it is not to be expected that they will be found well adapted to a mode of life so different from that to which they have been accustomed . It is wonderful , however , how soon some of'them learn to he useful ; and I well remember a gentleman pointing out to me his best shepherd , and stating that he had formerly been a notorious London pickpocket .

      We have heard much of wild life m the backwoods of America . The solitary trapper , the rough hunter , the pioneer of the forest , have been over and over again described , but as like circumstances always produce like results , we find the same features , perhaps a little exaggerated , in the Australian ** bush . " Here is a picture of a portion of the labourers whom our emigrants are , we suppose , to mingle with , and assimilate themselves to : — These sawyers and their mates are a strange , wild set , comprising in general , a good proportion of desperate ruffians , and sometimes a few runaways , they themselves commonly being ticket-ofleave men , or emancipists . Two or three pair ,

      accompanied by one or two men for foiling , squaring small timber , and digging pits , shoulder their axes and saws , and with a sledge or dray-load of provisions , proceed to some solitary bush , where they make a little " gunya " or hut , with * few sheets of bark , and commence operations . They labour very hard , stripping to the waist in the hottest summer days ; but they live in extreme abundance , and indeed , wastefulness , though their fare is but simple , consisting only of salt beef , damper , tea and sugar . From their migratory habits , they are unable to have any kind of vegetables , but they invariably indulge in flour of the finest quality . The timber is only squared with the saw into largo logs , and is left at the pit ; a new pit

      generally being dug , when all the trees in the immediate vicinity of their former one have been felled and squared . After working for two or three months in this wif , these men will go down the river to receive their wages , or " have a settlement , " as they call it . Though , generally , from one hundred to two hundred per cunt , is charged by their employer on the rations and clothes supplied to them , they have always a large amount to receive , on getting which ( invariably , in . the shape of orders , & o ., ) they start off to the nearest public house , ( perhaps a distance of forty miles , ) there to remain till they have spent every farthing , often exceeding thirty or forty pounds , when they return once more to the bush , in order to resume as

      before the same labour . They are certainly the most improvident set of men iu the world , often eclipsing in recklessness , misery , and peculiarity of character , the woodcutters of Campeachy , and the lumberers of the Ohio and Mississippi . Ia riding along some path leading through a brush , and bewildered and lost amid the various and endless mazes of cedar tracks , one will often stumbb upon a miserable cabin , shutout from the genial rays of the sun , instinct with life in the shape of gigantic mosquitoes and other vermin , and inhabited by a lonely sawyer and his dirty and forbidding wife , or mistress , probably a ticket-of-leave woman , or emancipist . If there aro any children , which is occasionally tbe case , they are in the last stage

      of squalor and filth , their pale and emaciated features already showing that fever and ague—the demons of these bushes—have begun their work with them . When rum is brought to these abodes of labour and wretchedness , and a few sawyers are convened , then begin the scenes of riot and mischief . It is well known that men hare been killed on these occasions ; and I have been assured that in lonely places one or two sawyers have combined to make away with another in order to share the fruits of his toil . Their usual carelessness of money , when they have it , is well

      exemplified by an instance which fell within my own observation . Out of a spirit of bravado , or ' flashness " as it is called , ono of them actually used a pound note as wadding for his powder and shot ; au application to which the bank would doubtless have nO objection . These extraordinary habits are attributable to several causes ; the depraved and degraded class to which most of the sawyers belong ; their loneliness and seclusion , being cut off during their . whole time from any chanco of good advice , or example ; and the comparatively high pay for their work , together with the large sums which they receive at ono time . "

      As a companion picture to the bush sawyers , we extract , as a companion scene , a picture of the forest on fire : — In the end of winter , or at the beginning of spring , it ia usual to burn large portions of the grass on the run , by which means when there is rain , and vegetation progresses , young and succulent grass is obtained ; and by doing this in proper succession , and at proper intervals , one need seldom be without a small supply of such pasturage . Large tracts of country are also frequently burned by the natives , sometimes in hunting , at others' by accident , from the dropping of sparks from their fire-sticks . The fire runs very speedily along tho ground , the dry grass and withered leaves catchinsr

      like tinder . The growing trees are not injured by it , but all the dead ones , both standing and fallen , bura very readily ; and the constant falling of the former , as the fire eats through them at the base , and the superincumbent weight makes them topple over , sounds like quick and distant peals of thunder . At such a time it is by no means safe , though it may be sometimes necessary , to ride through the forest . The ground is scorchingly hot , the horses are startled by the vehement flames and the crashing timber , and it is quite uncertain that the withered giant hanging over your head will not fall across your path , and annihilate you . One of these fires spread so rapily as to approach the . station before we were aware , and seized on the men ' s

      gunya , which it burned to the ground . The bottom of it being covered with dry grass , for sleeping on , the interior became instantly one mass of flame , and though we soon pulled off the sheets of bark , and knocked it down , tho clothes , rations , and everything else in it were destroyed . At night , the appearance of the forest was very grand , the dead timber everywhere being in a blaze . One tree , in particular , stood gleaming through the dark night , like a tall pillar of fire , not blazing , but at a red heat , till all at once , while wo were looking at it , it dissolved in myriads ef sparks . Sometimes a tail hollow tree will burn in the inside , and throw up a cloud of smoke from an aperture at its top , giving it a very singular appearance .

      Our space will not allow us to venture upon adescriptionof the dangers , as well asthe hardships of the bush . Emigrants have sometimes dangerousneig hboursintheshapeof the escaped convicts ; , and the concurring testimony of all those who have written upon ' Australian mat "

      Excursions And Adventure ' S In Iv«C Rou...

      tf * h agrees in describing the natives as a treacherous , faithless , cowardly race , fearing to f ^ e the whites except when in overpowering fotfle , but ever ready to rob and murder when au opportunity presents itself . Surely such a place , with such a population , is not a terrestrial paradise—a little heaven upon earth . It may be true that food there will always follow labour ; but emigration should be left to those adventurous spirits , whose natures prompt them to seek for excitement : and there is no reason that those who only want just laws to enable them to make their own future , and that of England , a happy one , should be driven by necessity to face the rudeness , roughness , vice , and dangers of the Australian Continent .

      3£Uwic &Mtt0*Miitt0.

      3 £ uWic & mtt 0 * miitt 0 .

      Surrey. A New Version, Or Rather A Secon...

      SURREY . A new version , or rather a second copy , of " Belphegor , the Mountebank , " altered for the Surrey audience into " Belphegor , the Itinerant , " was presented at this theatre on Monday night . As this drama—another of the numerous adaptations from the French—has been already noticed , it will not be necessary to go over the same ground again , tho more especially as the trans-Thames version presented no novel features . It belongs to a class of dramas abundant recently in France , in which nomhty of sentiment , united to proletarian misery , is all on one side , and cool refined cruelty , in conjunction with wealth

      and social position , on tho other . The progress of the plot gives birth to a few scenes of great power and high pitch , which could not fail to meet the applause of any audience . The weight of the action devolved upon Mr . Creswick , who impersonated Belphegor , and Miss Cooper , who represented his wife . Both of them sustained their parts with considerable power and vigour , and in the more trying scenes were greeted with a hearty applause . The unity of tho piece was better preserved at the "Surrey"than at the " Adelphi , " there being no underplot , as represented at the former , to distract the attention of the audience from the main issue . Ife was entirely successful .

      Our Native Land. The Artists Who Combine...

      OUR NATIVE LAND . The artists who combined their talents to produce for the " Gallery of Illustration " the diorama of the Overland route , which was one of the "lions " last year , have again come together to paint a moving picture illustrative of tho rural life of England , with the costumes of a century back . Messrs . Grieve and Telbin lay the foundation of landscape , the humanities are the work of Mr . Absolon , and pigs , horses , and cows , are consigned to tho especial faculty of Mr . Herring . As compared with their former productions , they como before the public with the disadvantage that they do not so much Instruct their spectators , the principle of such exhibitions having hitherto been that of making people see upon canvas what they would hare little chance of beholding in reality . But the subjects of tho picture aro now so well selected that if they do not teach , they answer another purpose by appealing to a national sentiment . There is scarcely

      a situation that an Englishman would name as typical of his rural aspect that is not represented in the new diorama , and all are treated with a poetical feeling and a propriety of combination which render the whole exhibition most attractive : the dioramio changes of light being employed always effectively , never without discrimination . To range the views according to some sort of category , and also probably to associate them with the poetof rural description , the exhibition , is divided iato fo \ tt warts , each of which is devoted to a season , commencing with an allegorical figure , which appears in the atmosphere above tho landscape , and then gradually melts away , Tho treatment of the subject is excellent throughout , whether we regard the formation of the groups , the propriety of the tone , or the finish of the landscape details . During tho progress of the diorama some pieces of illustrative music , very judiciously selected by Dr . Rimbault , are played on tho piano , and at marked points poetical extracts were read by Mr . F . Vining .

      Queen's Theatre. The Performances At Thi...

      QUEEN'S THEATRE . The performances at this elegant little theatre commenced this week with a new drama , written by G . Dibdin Pitt , Esq ., tho author of the Bottle , entitled The Welsh Wolf ; or , the Lily of Snowdon . The piece is full of interesting and exciting incidents , and the moral pointedly illustrates tho truism that nobility of nature by far exceeds nobility of rank . The language is good , the situations picturesque , and tbe mis en scene excellent . The Wolf ( or outlaw ) was admirably represented by Mr . E . Green , whose acting on the recital of his own and his sister's wrongs was painfully exciting . Cadwallo , a very interesting part , was sustained by Mr . Fitzwilliam , a young man possessing a good figure , fine voice , and clear enunciation , and

      apparently a good knowledge of stage effect , qualifications , essentially necessary , for a good actor . He will , no doubt , prove a great acquisition . Mr . Bigwood played a serious , but subordinate , part well , and Mr . Dean appeared quite at homo in the part of Taffy Tumhletoddy . The chaste and graceful acting of Mrs . 0 . Boyce , and the easy stylo of Miss F . Hamilton , are too well known to require comment : we always hail their appearance with the certainty that the parts assigned them will bo well sustained . We purposely refrain from giving the plot , in the hope that our readers may have an opportunity next week of judging for themselves . A laughable farce followed , and the entertainments closed with the highly successful Christmas Pantomime , which still continues its successful career .

      Patent Investors' Law Eeform Leaows,—A P...

      Patent Investors' Law Eeform Leaows , —A public meeting of this body was held on Monday evening at tho Coopers' Arms , Clerkenwell-close . R . Ellis , Esq ., was called to the chair , and in a lengthy speoch pointed out tho defects of the present state of the law , and the means proposed by the League for thoir remedy . —Several gentlemen , inventors of patented articles , demonstrated the amount of individual loss they had sustained by tho present Patent Laws , showed tho necessity of an efficient system of registration , and explained the difference between the remedy proposed by the League and that proposed by the Society of Arts . — Messrs . Mavity and Wheeler approved of the objects of the society , but impressed upon the meeting

      the necessity of directing their attention to the amendment of the whole legislative system of the country . —A resolution approving of the objects of the Patent Law Reform League was then adopted , and the meeting , after passing a vote of thanks to tho Chairman , adjourned until Thursday next . The Crieff Debating Club . —This club held their annual soiree on the evening of Tuesday tbe 14 th inst ., in the Weaver's-hall , which was crowded to excess . After tho company were served with tea and fruit , John Gow , chairman , opened the intellectual part of the proceedings by giving an eloquent and graphic history of . the club , pointing to the progress many had made since they had become members of this intellectual and political

      institute . _ Peter Gow next addressed the meeting on the rising progress of total abstinence , and in his own interesting way , traced the temperance movement from the period when the celebrated Mr . Turner first coined the word teetotal , up to the present time . David Scrimgeour then delivered an address on past and passing events . He advised the people not to lose heart , although reaction was in the ascendant , for its triumph would be short . Tho sound of the coming revolution was already making despots tremble , and with it would corns the dawn of freedom to injured Europe . George M'Gibbon , at great length , reviewed the history of Scotland , and exposed , with pitiless severity , the character and conduct of aristocrats and kings ; his only surprise was , that they were not now relics

      of the past . James M'Nab and David Philips followed with addresses on history , and intemperance ; the first appearance of these young men was highly creditable . James Taylor , in an able speech , pointed out the barriers to progress , and reminded the meeting that many of the impediments wore placed in the way by the people themselves . The proceedings were brought to a close with an eloquent address by James M'AinsU , on the rights of women ; his ready wit and sarcastic hits atthe lords oftho creation , made himafavourite with tho Indies . The intervals were agreeably filled up with songs and recitations , and the company separated , resolved to meet some other night . This society ha » an extensive library , in which there are works by the most talented democratic writers of tho age .

      Militia Fobcb op the United States . —The enrolled militia of the United States reaches tho number of 2 , 000 , 000 , a tolerably largo army . Pennsylvania has a greater number of enrolled militia than any other State , which shows that , asthe above number is , all those capable of bearing arms are not returned by the different States . The returns from official sources are as follows : —Mam , 44 , W ; New Hampshire , 27 , 907 ; Massachusetts , 101 , 789 ; Vermont , 23 , 915 ; Rhode Island , 13 , 058 ; Connecticut , 57 , 719 ; New , York , 261 , 452 ; New Jersey , 39 , 179 : Pennsylvania , 276 , 070 ; Delaware

      9 , 229 ; Maryland , 48 , 804 ; Virginia , 124 , 202 ; North Carolina , 79 , 448 ; South Carolina , 55 , 209 ; Georgia , 57 , 312 ; Alabama , 44 , 331 ; Lousiana , 438 , 348 ; Mississippi , 45 , 335 ; Tennessee , 74 , 252 ; Kentucky , 83 , 629 ; Ohio , 176 , 455 ; Indiana , 53 , 988 ; Illinois , 120 , 219 ; Missouri , 61 , 000 ; Arkansas , 17 , 137 ; Michigan , 60 , 017 ; Florida , 12 . 122 ; Texas , 10 , 770 ; 'Wisconsin , 32 , 203 ; District , of Columbia , l , 2 id .-New York Tribune . Pension . —Her Majesty has placed upon the civil list for Ao 0 a year the widow of Mr . Sturgeon , of Manchester , upon which a pension was lately cor . , ferred , but which ha lived so short a time to enjoy

      Moxmm.

      moxmm .

      Boxxso Dat.-Mr. Whirlegigwas Amons; The ...

      Boxxso DAT .-Mr . Whirlegigwas amons ; the visitors at the palace—the gin-palaee—on By . \ in « -day _ Eotptian Egos . —Among recent importations into Southampton were thirteen cases of Egyptian , egjfs brought by a steamer from Alexandria . Christmas Festivities . —The Clown at Ashley ' s has been entertaining a distinguished circle during the holidays . * Two Difficulties . —There aro two difficulties o £ life—men are disposed to spend more than they can afford , and to indulge more than they can endure . What animal has as many heads as there arS days w the year ? - •« The Reader of an Almanack , " on the nvst of January . An Irish gentleman having a smallpicture-room # several persons desired to see it at the same Umef " Faith , gentlemen . "saidhe , "ifyou aUgoin . it will not hold you . " b '

      Praise is seldom pa ; d with willingness , even to incontestible merit ; and it can be no wonder that he who calls for it without desert , ia repulsed with , universal indignation . Mr . Dimt'P visited his " uncle" on Christmas Eve , at the latter ' s "little box" in the New Cut , where Mr . Dunup pledged the cup of friendship (» silver one ) that was given him by his godmother . " Mr daughter , why do you look at the moon so much ? inquired a mother of her daughter , » young lddyjust entering her sixteenth year . " Why , ma , they say there ' s a man in it , " was tho innocent reply . A gbave digger , who exercised his vocation in a country town , was asked how he like the business ? He replied that he liked it pretty well , but should " use ; t better if he could have steady employment !"

      A neoro minister once observed to his hearers at the close of his sermon , as follows :- "My very obsttnacioUB brethren , I find it ' s no more use to F » ch to you , than it is for a grasshopper to wear Phonography . —The following is a literal copy oE a letter sent to a medical gentleman : — " Cer—Yole oblige me if yole kum un ce mo , I have a Bad Kowld , am Hill m my Bow Hills , and have lost my Happv Tight . r They , have suspended a clergyman at Lowell for being engaged to two girls at the same time . —Ha should have been permitted to marry them , then he would have suspended himself . —Granville Journal . Tub Russian Emperor . —The old superstition , that no Itussian Emperor could sit upon the throne more than twenty-five years , has been disproved ia the person of the present Emperor . The twentyfive years expired on the 1 st ult .

      Obstinacy . — "I'll go if I see fit ! " was the exclamation of Mrs . Tweezers , as her husband demurred at her attending a hall ; " I'll go if I sea fit . "— "Very well , then ; you'll see fits if you go ! " , was tbe crusty reply . Thwackins , thk well-known beadle , transacted business at all the public departments in the evening , and at about eleven p . m ., having forgotten his own station , he was temporarily admitted into that of the police , hy the proper authorities . —Bunch . _ "Father , aid you ever have another wife besides mother ?"— " No , my boy ; what possessed you to ask such a question ?"— " Because I saw in the old family Bible where you ! married Anno Domini , in 1833 , and that isn't mother , for her name was Sally Smith . "

      The Church and Slate Gazette slily remarks , that "the great Smithfield cattle show had its usual millions , of visitors from the Queen and her ladies in plain merino dresses , to tradesmen ' s wives and daughters in brocade silks and jewels , " A Compliment . — " For what do you wink at me , sir ? " said a beautiful young lady , angrily , to a stv & t \ gw , atap !\ rty , an evening or two since . "I beg pardon , madam , " replied the wit , " I winked as men do looking at the sun—your splendour dazzled my eyes . " Loving Wives . —Dr . A . Hunter said , that women who loved their husbands generally lie on their right side . What did he mean by " generally ? * ' Wbmea who love their husbands always lie on tho right sidc for an obvious reason—to wit , that they cannot lie on the wrong one .

      A Temperance Was . — " Elder , will you have & drink of cider ? " inquired a farmer of an old temperance man , who was spending the evening at his house . "Ah , hum—no , thank ye . " said the old man , "I never drink liquor of any kind , ' specially cider ; but if you call it apple juice , J reckon I'll take a drop . " Robinsos Crusoe ' s Island . —The Chilian government has granted a contract to a company for the settlement and cultivation of the island of Juan Fernandez , so well known as the abode of Alexander Selkirk , the prototype of Robinson Crusoe , with the exclusive privilege of occuping it for a specified term of years .

      A Caution . —An old lady lias been killed at Leeds by incautiously " tasting " essential oil of almonds . Her neice had bought two pennyworth for confectionery ; she tasted it , and the aunt followed her GX * ample , bnt unfortunately she swallowed about fif ' . cw drops , and in a few moments she was dead . A New Pill . —We like the ' 'new pill , " which m distinguished physician has just invented . This invaluable remedy for melancholy is made of" fun and fresh air , in equal proportions , and is to be taken with cold water three times a day . " Having used this article for the last five years , we can vouch for its ? reat virtues . So says the Woonsocket Patriot .

      Curing Colos . —Of all means , fasting is the moat effectual . Eat nothing whatever for two days , and tho cold will be gone , provided you are not confined to the bed—because by taking no carbon into the system by food , but consuming that surplus which caused the disease by breath , you soon carry off the disease by removing the cause . And this plan of fasting will be found more effectual , if you add copious water drinking to protracted fasting . Mutual Aid . —The race of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other . From the time that the mother binds the child ' s head , till the moment that some kind assistant wipes the damp from the brow of the dying , we cannot exist without mutual aid ; all , therefore , that need aid hare a right to ask : it from their fellow mortals ; none who hold the power of granting aid can refuse it without guilt . — « S ( V IfaZter Scott .

      A Reason * . — " Tho best and most conclusive reason for an effect , that I ever remember to have heard , " writes a Western correspondent , " was given by a ' one-idea' Dutchman , in reuty to a friend , who remarked . — ' Why Hans , you have the most feminine cast of countenance I have ever seen . ' Oh , yaw , * was the reply ; I know de reason for dat ; mine moder vas a voman ! " Rather Green . —A verdant young man from tha country recently attended a concert , one of the principal features of which was a violin solo by- a distinguished performer . After the performance was concluded , the young gent was asked by his female cousin how he liked Mons . — - ' s fiddling ? He replied , " that itwas tollybul good—but he thought tho chap nlaved his Sneers up a little too near the bridge to look well "

      Jenny Lind in a Fix . —The editor of the Spring field Republican , who has been to hear Jenny Liad , tells the following : — " When Jenny first appeared at the Ladies' Ordinary , at the Irving , she had no comb in her hair , while every other lady wore a comb . Tho next day she said she wished to dress like American ladies , and went to dinner with a comb in her head . On glancing up and down the table , not a comb was to be seen . " "Man is a Fooi on Physician at Forty , " I have frequently heard in various parts of England . Dr . Cheyne ' s words are : — " I think every man is a fool or physician at thirty years of age ( that is to say ) , by that time he ought to know his own constitution ; and unless he is determined to live an intemperate and irregular life , I think he may , by diet and regimen , preventer cure any chronic disease ; but as to acute disorders , no one who is not well acquainted with medicine should trust to his own skill . —Notes and Queries .

      Evkry RiVEB , carries down mud , sand , or gravel to the sea . The Ganges brings more than 700 , 000 cubic feet of mud every hour ; the Yellow River , in China , 2 , 000 , 000 ; and the Mississippi still more . ^ et , notwithstanding these great deposits , the Italian hydragrapher , Manfredi , has estimated that , if the sediment of all rivers on the globe were spread equally over the bottom of the ocean , it would require 1 , 000 years to raise its hed one foot . Marvels of the Cornish MisBS .-Some of the mines are truly grand undertakings ^ fhe Consolidated mines , the largest of the Cornish group , eraploy upwards of 3 , 000 persons . One of its engines pumps water from a direct depth of 1 , 600 feet , the weight of the pumping apparatus alone being upwards ) of 600 tons ; the pumping rod is 1 , 740 feet long , and it raises about 2 , 000 , 000 gallons cf water in a week , from a depth equal to five times the height of St . Paul ' s .

      Don ' t liRUMULE . —He is a fool that grumbles at every little mischance . Put the best foot forward is an old and good maxim . Don ' t run about and tell acquaintances that you have been unfortunate . People do not like to have unfortunate men for acquaintances . Add ; to a vigorous determination a cheerful spirit ; if reverses come , bear them like a philosopher , and get rid of them as soon as you can . Poverty is like a panther ; leok it steadily in the face , and it will turn from you .. Mortality in Londos . —The estimated population of the metropolis , for 1849 , was 2 , 200 , 076-1 , 032 , 630

      males , and 1 , 173 , 460 females . Among this number , tbe mortality in 1850 has been in tho gross , 48 , 579 # or one death in . forty-five , ol the . population . Of these the deaths of males were 24 , 440 , and of females 24 , 130 , being a proportion of one in forty-two forthe former , and of ono in forty-eight for the latter . The mortality among specified ages has been , from tha age of 0 to 15 , 21 , 371 , or one in twenty-seven of the whole population at that age by the census of 184 i ; from the age of fifteen to sixty , lftoto , or one ia eighty four ; and from sixty and upwards , 10 oS 2 , or one in eleven of those livin g at . that period of life ,

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 25, 1851, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_25011851/page/3/