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ofthe Alison school, or rather witb Alis...
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JfOettJ*. *4f foett_t.
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THROW AWAY THE APPLE. •ffliafc i3 all th...
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HOW TO CONFESS. A little boy of mon-rrel...
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sewem
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England as it is—Political, Social and I...
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Excursions and Adventures in New Routh W...
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Bu&Uc &tttuwmi*m0.
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SURREY. A new version, or rather a secon...
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OUIt XATIVE LAND. Tbe artists who combin...
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qUEBS'B THEATRE. The performances at thi...
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Patent Inventors' Law Reform League.—A p...
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Boxixg Day.—-Mr. Whirlegigwas amon-; the...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Ofthe Alison School, Or Rather Witb Alis...
_frtouABY 25 , 1851 . _^ THE NORTHERN _ER , _w { _^ , _' . _•¦ ' ' - , ¦ ——
Jfoettj*. *4f Foett_T.
_JfOettJ _* . * 4 f _foett _ t .
Throw Away The Apple. •Ffliafc I3 All Th...
THROW AWAY THE APPLE . ffliafc i 3 all this talk about ? Why such clatter , noise , and rout ? ffhat ia reason means tbat shout , And din and prattle ? Discord is a noisy thing , -gndles 3 sorrows it will bring , Cast from _Je *** e tainted thing—Throw awaj the apple . Wo uld ye win a nation ' s blessing ? ¦ ffould ye make life worth possessing ? Then unto the goal be pressing , In bonds of amity ;
Kindlv urging on each other , Equal _eacti , and dear as brother , AU ill-feelings strive to smother , . And work in unity . Can Te gain yonr hearts' desire , By calling names in vengeful ire , i _ d * __* n « nng at each other mire , To please the enemy 1 He laughs at all yonr silly pranks , He hails division in yonr ranks , And its promoters win his thanks , Instead of enmity . He who bawls the loudest—know , He n fr eedom ' s deadliest foe . The patriot ever would forego , r Causes of dissension ;
_* or would he stir np heated blood , Or injure in afitfulmood , A cause so holy , just and good , By angry contention . Unite and form one mighty band , From hill to dale , from strand to strand , If vou would free yonr fatherland , And with despots grapple If successful yon would be , If you'd leave your children free , If vou'd win the victory , Throw away the apple . Edwis Gill .
How To Confess. A Little Boy Of Mon-Rrel...
HOW TO CONFESS . A little boy of _mon-rrel breed—The fruit of Protestant and Catholic seed-To mother ' s Church an inclination bad ; But father unto mass would force the lad ; Yet still the boy to church on Sunday stole , And eridene'd a wish to save his soul . At length , one Sunday morn it came to pass Tbe faiber dra * rg * d tbe struggling boy to mass—Tbe zealous Papist helped to force bim in _. And begged the priest to pardon aU his sin . "So , by the mass , " says he , " we cannot bless Sor pardon , till the culprit first confess . " " * t * t'eli , " says the boy , " supposing I am willing , What is your charge ? " " 1 * 11 charge you but a
shilling . " "Must all men pay , and all men make confession V " _Tes , every one of Catholic profession . " "And who do you confess to ! " " Why , the dean . " "Does the dean charge you ? " " les ; above thirteen . " "And do your deans confessF' "Tes , boy , tbey do Confess to bishops—and pay smartly too . "Do bishops , sir , confess , 1 pray to whom ?" " Why , they confess , and pay the Pope of Rome . " ¦• W ell . " says the boy , " all this is mighty odd"Bot does the Pope confess ? ' " On 1 yes ; to God . " __ „
And does God charge the Pope V "So , quoth the priest ; ** -.., _„ . ' God charges nothing . " " Oh ! then , God's the lie is able to forgive , and always willing ; I shall confess to God and save my shilling .
Sewem
_sewem
England As It Is—Political, Social And I...
England as it is—Political , Social and Industrial , in the middle of the nineteenth century . By _WnxiAMJoHKSOS , Es _ ., Barrister at Law . 2 vols . Murray . A title _sneb as the above ought to indicate a work of a very comprehensive character , and one , too , exceedingly difficult of performance . To draw the picture of England as itis , would involve contrasts of the most startling . and diver-afied description , —pi-tores which statistics fail io convey any idea of to the mmd , and averages include only to hide and obscure . To obtain any tiling like a correct view of the subject , what varied lig hts and shades must
mingle in it aud he worked np into a harmonious whole . In the same chapter , if not upon the same pages , most stand , side by side , the highest honours which tbe state can bestow and the deepest degradation into which society plunges its victims—the most enormous wealth whichavarice , or greed , or fraud , orfair commerce , ever piled up iuto a heap , and the _squalidest poverty clothed in rags and wretchj edness . We must have painted , in * rarie _ fa-lours , that glorious empire upon which the [ saa never fiefs , and the dominion of the SBtarring needlewoman in her wretched , bare [ garret . Diadems and coronets must sparkle [ from out its typography in close companion ship with the uncombed hair that hides the mnwashed brows of those who know not where
o lay their heads . The extremes of _eivilisaion must be there too . St . James's and St _Jiies _' s must show themselves in all their maglificence of squalor , fair ladies , —too fair for he sun to shine npon , or the rude wind to reathe over , stepping from their luminous _ouses to their splendid carriages , must figure pan tbe same stage as the pale , emaciated ictorygirl , breathing the " devil ' sdust '" ' of _i cotton factory , and the sun-browned , hardlanded country woman , toiling in the farmer ' s ield . Tender yonng lordlings in satin and ¦ athers , must look you in the face , in com-> any with the dirt-beg rimed young trapper rom the far below ground mines . Aristocratic
lasses , smelling at odoriferous _fcouguets , mst rub shoulders with the flower girl , wendig her wav through the wet , dirty , misty lorning to the market , to boy flowers to vend _nthe streets at noonday . These and snch s these must be the dramatis _personam in the _[ reat life drama of England , as it is properly ¦ _ritteu—and what & r extremes of intellect as ell as of condition most mingle there , too . 'he meditative genius of a Wordsworthhe far-looking spirit of a Tennyson—the deep Bsearch and earneststudyof aFarraday , seen y the same light as the acnteness of the Lon-! _on pickpocket—the sharp _slangified mind of . cabman—the heavy stupidity of a Hampbire boor—and the mental darkness of the
leven thousand and odd pauper lunatics which o to swell the population of this mighty kingom . Take as an illustration of what might e done with such a theme , the single example fa cargo of cotton _leawng a slave state of _America , reaching an English port , making s way to the factory , and thence spreading in ibrics through the land , and returning over easin another form to the soil from which it prang . Think of that cotton , not merely as wen np into fabrics , but woven up with the elfare—the very _lires _& n _& existences—the opes sorrowsand despair of
millions—, oys , , s forming part , not only ofthe web which Mnes from themachine , bntthe web of humaitv itself . Let it introduce ns to slaves denied ¦ ri ght to their persons , and slaveholders surotwded by the very air of freedom , perpetuat-B g a stigma npon the name of civilisation— -to _trough hardy sailors who bringit across the _ce" « i , and the rich merchant who owns the essel—t o the wealthy Dock Company whoiree _* _* _* _* e itiuto their warehouses , and the famished
_werty-stricken labourers who bear it thither rom the hold—to the operative passing from is cellar or garret to the mill , and ta the idl y manufacturer in his palace-mansion , _^ ping his annual harvest of thousands , from is th ousands of "hands . " Such athemehas _iit , history , poetry , science , romance , and re-* " } " ; and such a subject , handled with adelate knowled ge , and fitting powers of _expresj ° n would , while it instructed and amused , Mill through the hearts of men .
. In thinking , however , of what ought tobe [ one , and what might be performed , we are _^ getting Mr . Johnson ' s Eng land as it is . r * rick does not , by any means , realise our -tea- Indeed we do not know how . by any _Ability it conld , for Mr . Johnson is a Tory
England As It Is—Political, Social And I...
ofthe Alison school , or rather witb Alisonlan 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 npon the past by the light of memory , much as a traveller sees a mountain from a Ofthe _AtiSQU BChool . Of _rafbpr with A i ;» nn
distance , with its _ruggedness softened down , and a halo thrown over its barrenness , they would leave what is , and shrink from what is 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 . Johnson ' 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 sufficient to enable bim to take a wide
and statesmanlike view ofthe 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 Bome relation to the subject The author himself says , in his preface , that the book originated " in a design of writing letters to a friend npon 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 exclusivel y English audience .
We do not mean , however , to convey an impression that England at itis is entirely uninteresting or unworthy of attention . Statistics , when properly considered , always contain tho 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 au 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 npon 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 tbem might tell very strange histories of confidences no Ies 3 strange ; for your solicitor is the only man who is enabled by bis professional conscience so to identify
himself with his " principal" that be will make nothing known that is confided to htm 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 tbe parish , the rev . gentleman may probably deem it his tiounden 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 , whioh he considers applicable to tbe circumstances . Solicitors are the priests of the _Xumen Prudentia , and thereby many of them become very important aud very rich .
As regards morality , the same inconvenience or evil belongs to the system in which they are the prime movers , as does to tbe system of acting by trustees , or any other representation of tbe interests of an individual by persons who are not representatives of his conscience . I ara far from saying that respectable solicitors take no account of what a man is in honour and conscience bound to do , as well as in law aa in prndence . They generally consider what is becoming to a man in the station which he occupies and in the circumstances with which he has to deal . Following that rule , they cannot set aside the obligations of bonoar and conscience . But passions and affections and generous emotions
are tbe natural auxiliaries of conscienciousnes 3 , especially _whsn it is to be exercised among persons connected by blood or affinity ; and these the solicitor keeps at a distance . He jnay give a cold opinion as to what might be considered generous , but his business is to advise what is prudent , and to keep bis clients on their guard against emotion . And tbis is another reason why so much is committed to comfidential solicitors ; for great or rich personages are glad of an escape from the disturbance of what they call " » scene , " meaning thereby __ _5 OCCUTTOree in wirier , the passions or feelings are Strongly moved ; and they take refuge from such agitation under the cold shade of professional advice . It is , moreover , but too true , tbat 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 the circumstances , yet he is not so independent but tbat 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 token . Whatever he docs will of course be done in a respectable manner , and witb due regard to professional rules ; but many things whicb 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 his views , if he be willing , as he generally is , tbat a decorous and formal manner shall pervade the proceedings , however severe in their substance and
cruel in their intention . This is not only useful as showing the character of aristocratic solicitors , but also as evidencing the advantages which the rich 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 obli ged 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 conld not justify to their own hearts . The rich , man is iu a different position . He refers everything to "his solicitor , " and is thereby enabled to throw off as it were , the feelings of onr common humanity , for he knows welftbat 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 mora ] injustice and cruelty may beperpetrated by a deputy , 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 ofthe day , it is quickness of thought and _readinesi 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 , but who cannot bring themselves to write to-day that which might as well be written to-morrow . On tho other band , they who write best cannot write off hand . Tbey ponder the matter , and tbe thoughts which occur to tbem tbey are able to lay np in store , and deliberately to arrange in the best order . Men who give much of their attention to the events of the day , find their _rejections thereon to evaporate even faster than those events shift their
posttion and change their colour . Harassing as the workof the daily " journalist may appear , and as it no doubt really is , it is tbat which prima , facie appears the greatest hardship of the task—namely , tbe necessity for writing off-hand—that makes it from day to day a practicable tbing . Besides being a grand and standing excuse for all sorts of mistakes , it is the very life of the cause . For the most part , the journalist writes under immediate impulse , supplied either by the news of the day or the remark s of some rival journal , which _impulse quickens some spring of utterance , whether by svmDathv . indignation , suggestion of supplementary matter , or what not Let any topic , however only wiit a few days to grow cold , and it would be recured to _7 as I sheer task , which the writer would scarcely hare patience to encounter .
The talent ofthe writers for the press , great as it und oubtedly is , is of a very peculiar character . Itisnot the sort of talent 1 _™™** J men who write quires and weighty books which live in the literature of the world It « more alike to that species of capability
England As It Is—Political, Social And I...
which fi gures 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 day may press upon his notice . He must have a stock of knowledge read y at the instant , to bring to _j i fiIther for eIucidat _* on or for illustration ; and he roust have a power of arrangement , not perhaps ofthe best or _themostsystematickind , wlnV - S fim _,-no -. _„ _.. ,, , _,. _-....
but of such a natnre as will enable him to state 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 to pic they hear of , as to render its further and more deliberate discussion possible , aud atthe same time they do that which is most desirable—namely , give a body and form to the opinions ofthose whom the
newspaper press at large represents . One more extract and we have done . Mr . Johnston clearly estimates—and the opinion , whether it come from Whi g , Tory , or Badieu . 1 , 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 . Tbis want of earnestness especially , is an injury to all parties , and more especially to the party of the people . No man ever did any groat 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 the private coteries as a folly , while , in the face of the world , a surreptitious and feigned admiration is accorded to it . The niueteenth 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
paras : — In short , the people , such as one ordinarily meets , are as incapable of good conversation as of singing Greek verses to a lyric accompaniment . With such persons , when a man bas nothing to say which he really does think , because such matter would be unsuitable , he may escape the awkwardness and tbe chill 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 the turn of a conversationist , is not indeed worthy of much consideration , but 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 snch 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 , and bits of knowledge , even of the superficial kind , aro only to be met with on fortunate days or nights . The conversation one too often hears , and tbe 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 Tht 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 tbat 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 hahit or affection of the English : a lightsome indifference—a kind of disdainful carelessness which tbey 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 tbe ermine , bad 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 advocate of popular influence , and always contended that great weight should he given to . the wisdom and tHe will ofthe 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 ofthe wisdom of the government , " & c . The government of 1812 was a Tory government , which accounts for the learned Lord's peculiar opinion of tbe wisdom of the people in thinking well of it on that occasion , aud for his method of expressing that opinion . The jesting , flippant , and contemptuous tone of remark , is very frequently applied to tbe 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 tho insipidity
of civilised life . They will not take the trouble to set an example of belter conduct . They will not themselves substitute good sense , moderation , cordiality , and politeness , for the pomp , ceremony , affectation , and vain glory of which tbey are conscious , but they go on with the crowd , and " sneer 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 so 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 wliich 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 real ft / is . "
Excursions And Adventures In New Routh W...
Excursions and Adventures in New Routh Wales . By John Henderson , Esq . London Shoberl . Much as has been said and written about that great _SouthernContinentwhichis preparing to become the future scene ofa 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 approp riate 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 horneaud reliable accounts of Australia are accordingly both welcome and useful .
Mr . 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 tbe subject , to tell over again that which was already known ; but thero is much that is new , and there is such an air of evident truthfulness and sincerity about it that it at once gains our confidener * .
We shall take but little notice of the wolffounded complaints which here , as elsewhere , we find reiterated about Government blunder-
Excursions And Adventures In New Routh W...
ing and mismanagement ; those things , however , are passing away . The Government , whether prompted by pique , or spite , or a sense ot justice— -we are inclined to think the former , is on the point of withdrawing the mass ofthe troops from those colonies and leaving them to their own resources , and of course to their own control ; for without soldiers it will be of coarse impossible to coerce them into submission to commands to which they do not feel iucliued to yield a willing obedience . Dr . Laing told the Colonial Secretary that he had for three ...
years been " knocking at the 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 be treated kindly , justly , and generousl y , or we may have another Young _Republic m the far south , near enough to our overgrown Indian possessions to be 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 remed y in their own good time , as they assuredly will , we turn to those portions of the book which relate to life in the colonies ; and first we take au extract describing Port Macquarrie , 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 < * « pdd for what arc called ''specials ; " that is , special _orjent ' _emen-convicts , and for invalids . Here may be seen gallant naval and military officers ,
eloquent parsons , learned lawyers , acute and once opulent bankersand merchants , " et id gems ' omne . " There is also a sprinkling of aristberaoy—of brothers and sons of lords , right honourables , baronets , & e ., and some claiming such titles or succession to tbem for themselves . From these aro found all grades , down to tho London Jew and the Tipperary murderer . Those who claim tbe name of " special" are better off than , and often placed above , their fellows ; the authorities forgetting or discarding the admirable apothegm of the ancients — "fiat justitia , ruat ccelum . '" Where circumstances favour them , they are assigned to their wives , or made constables , jailers , wardsmen 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 Blaves for their keep , but in general they are not of much use . I have seen lawyers and hankers 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 be useful ; and I well remember a gentleman pointing out to me bis best shepherd , and stating that he had formerly been a notorious London pickpocket .
We have heard much of wild life in 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 witb , and assimilate themselves to : —• These sawyers and their mates are a strange , wild set , comprising in general a good proportion cf 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 felling , squaring small timber , and digging pits , shoulder tlieir axes and saws , and with a _sledgo or dray-load of provisions , proceed to Bome solitary bush , where they make a little " gunya " or hut , wiiha few sheets of bark , and commence operations . They labour very bard , stripping to the waist in the hottest summer days ; but tbey 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 bave any kind of vegetables , but they invariably indulge in flour of the finest quality . The timber ia only squared with the saw into large logs , and - is left atthe 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 wa * - _* , 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 cent , 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 , < fcc ., ) they start off to tbe nearest public house , ( perhaps a distance of forty miles . ) there to remain till thoy have spoilt every farthing , often exceeding thirty Or forty pounds , when they return once more to tho bush , in order to resume as before _ttw same labour . They are certainly the most improvident set of men in the world , often eclipsing in recklessness , misery , and peculiarity of character , the woodcutters of Campeachy , and the lumberers of the Ohio and Mississippi . In riding along somo 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 , shut out 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 thero are 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 i 3 well known that men have been
killed on these occa-ions ; and I have been assured that in lonely places one or two sawyers havo combined to make away witH anothev in order to share the fruits Of his toil . Their usual carelessness of money , when they havo 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 , one ot them actually used a pound note as wadding for his powder and shot * , au application to which tho bank would doubtless have no objection . These extraordinary habits aro attributable to several causes : the depraved and degraded class to which most of the sawyers belong ; their loneliness and seolusion , being cut off during their . whole time from any chance of good advice , or example ; and the comparatively hign p : iy for their work , together with the largo 6 ums whioh they receive atone time . "
As a companion picture to the bush sawyers , we extract , as a companion scone , a picture of the forest on fire : — In the end of winter , or at the beginning of spring , it is _ Bual to burn large portions of tho 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 natires , sometimes in hunting , at others by accident , from the dropping of sparks from their fire-sticks . The fire runs very speedily along the ground , the dry grass and withered leaves eatchine
like tinder . Tbe growing trees are not injured by it , but all the dead ones , both standing and fallen , burn very readily ; and the constant falling of the former , as the fire eats through them at the base , ahd 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 tho 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 we were looking at it , it dissolved in myriads of sparks . Sometimes a tall 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 _adeBcription ofthe dangers , as well as the hardships of the bush . Emigrants havo sometimes _daugerousnei ghbours in the shapeof the _eacttped convicts ; and the concurring testimony of all those who have written upon Australian mat-
Excursions And Adventures In New Routh W...
ters , agrees in describing tho natives as a treacherous , faithless , cowardly race , fcarinrto face the whites except when in overpowering force , but ever ready to rob and murder when an opportunity presents itself . Surely such a place , with such a population , is not a terrestrial paradise—a little heaven upon earth . It may bo 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 mako 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 .
Bu&Uc &Tttuwmi*M0.
_Bu & Uc _& _tttuwmi * m 0 .
Surrey. A New Version, Or Rather A Secon...
SURREY . A new version , or rather a second copy , of " Belphegor , the Mountebank , " altered for tlie Surrey audience into " Belphegor , the Itinerant , " was prc ' - _Bentwl at this theatre on Monday night . As this drama—another of tho numerous adaptations from the French—has been already noticed , it will not be necessary to go over tlie same ground again , tho moreespccially as the trans-Thames version presented no novel features . It belongs to a class of dramas abundant recently in France , in which nobility of sentiment , united to proletarian _miscrv , is all sideand cool refined
on one , cruelty , in conjunction with wealth and social position , on tbe other . The progress of tbe 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 . _Creswiok , who impersonated Belphegor , and Miss Cooper , whorepresented his wife . Both of them sustained thenparts with considerable power and vigour , and in the more trying scenes wero greeted with a hearty applause . The unity of tho piece was better preserved at tbo " Surrey"than at the " Adelpbi , " there being no underplot , as represented at tlie former , to _distrtjet the attention of tbe audience from tho main issue , It was entirely successful .
Ouit Xative Land. Tbe Artists Who Combin...
OUIt _XATIVE LAND . Tbe artists who combined their talents to produce for tbo '• Gallery of Illustration " the diorama of the Overland route , whicli was one of the "lions " last year , bave again come together to paint a moving picture illustrative of the 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 pies , horses , and cows , are consigned to tho especial faculty of Mr . Jlerring . As compared with their former productions , tbey 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 tho subjects of the picture aro now so well selected that if they do not teach , they answer another purpose by appealing to a national sentiment . Thero is scarcely a situation that an Englishman would _iiamo as
typical of his rural aspect that is not represented in the new diorama , and all are treated with a poetic . il feeling and a propriety of combination which render the whole exhibition most attractive : the dioramic changes of light being employed always effectively , never without discrimination . To range the views acoording to Bome sort of category , and also probably to associate them with the poetof rural description , tho exhibition is divided into four parts , each of whioh is devoted to a season , commencing with an allegorical figure , which appears in the atmosphere above the landscape , and then gradually melts away . The 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 tbe diorama some pieces of illustrative music , very judiciously selected by Dr . Rimbault , are played on the piano , and at marked points poetical extracts were read by Mr . F , Vining .
Quebs'b Theatre. The Performances At Thi...
qUEBS'B THEATRE . The performances at this elegant little theatre commenced tbis week with a new drama , written by G . Dibdin Pitt , Esq ., tbe 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 the truism that nobility of nature by far exceeds nobility of rank . The language is good , the situations picturesque , and the « u s en scene excellent . Tbo Wolf ( or outlaw ) was admirably represented by Mr . E . Green , whose acting on the recital of bis 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 . Ho will , no doubt , prove a great acquisition . Mr . Bigwood played a serious , but subordinate , part well , and Mr . Dean appeared quite at home in tho part of Taffy Tumbletoddy . Tho chaste and graceful acting of Mrs . C . Boy ' , and tho easy style of Miss F . Hamilton , are too well known to require comment ; we always hail their appearance with the certainty that the _jaarts assigned them will be 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 tho entertainments closed with the highly successful Christmas Pantomime , which still continues its _s-icccssM career .
Patent Inventors' Law Reform League.—A P...
Patent Inventors' Law Reform League . —A public meeting of this body was held on Monday evening at the Coopers' Arms , Clerkenwell-close _' R . Ellis , Esq ., was called to the chair , and in a lengthy speech pointed out the defects ofthe prosent state of the law , and the means proposed by tbe League for thoir remedy . —Several gentlemen , inventors of patented articles , demonstrated tho amount of individual loss they had sustained by the present P _. itent 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 tho Society of Arts . — Messrs . Mavity and Wheeler approved of the objects of the society , but impressed upon the meetinff
the necessity of directing their attention to the amendment of the whole legislative system of tlie 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 the Chairman , adjourned until Thursday next _. Tub Crieff Debating Club . —This club held their annual wire * on the evening of Tuesday the 14 th inst ., in the Weaver ' s-ball , which was crowded to excess . After the company were served with tea and fruit , John Gow _, chairman , opened the intellectual part of the proceedings by giving an eloquenfc and graphic history ofthe club , pointing to the progress many had made since they had become members of this intellectual and political
institute . Peter Gow next addressed tho 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 tho 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 . The sound of the coming revolution was already making despots tremble , and with it would como 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'Sab 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 meoting that many of the impediments were placed in the way by the people themselves . The proceedings were brought to a close with an eloquent address by James _M'Ainsh , on the rights of women ; his ready wit and sarcastic hits atthe lords of tho creation , made himafavourite with the ladies . The intervals were agreeably filled up with Bongs and recitations , and the company separated , resolved to meet some other night . This society has an extensive library , in which there are works by the most talented democratic writers of the age .
_MitiTU Force of the United States . — The enrolled militia ofthe United States reaches tho number of 2 , 000 , 000 , a tolerably large army . Pennsylvania has a greater number of enrolled militia than any other State , whicli shows that , as the above number is , all those capable of bearing arms are not returned by the different States , The roturns from official sources arc as follows ' . —Mam , __ 4 , C 60 ; New Hampshire , 27 , 007 ; Massachusetts , 101 , 789 ; Vermont , 23 , 915 ; Rhode Island , 13 , 658 ; Connecticut , 57 , 719 ; New York , 261 , 452 ; New _Jprsey , 39 , 179 ; Pennsylvania , 270 , 070 ; Delaware ,
9 , 229 ; Maryland , 48 , 864 .-, 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 , 88 , 629 ; Ohio , 176 , 455 ; Indiana , 53 , 988 ; Illinois , 120 , 219 ; Missouri , 61 , 000 ; Arkansas , 17 , 137 ; Michigan , 80 , 017 ; Florida , 12 , 122 ; Texas , 10 , 770 ; Wisconsin , 32 , 203 ; District , of Columbia , 1 , 249 .-New York Tribune . _PESSios .-Her Majesty has placed upon the civil list for _ioOayearthe widow of Mr . Sturgeon , of Manchester , upon which a pension was lately conferred , but which he lived so short a time to enjoy
V
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Boxixg Day.—-Mr. Whirlegigwas Amon-; The...
Boxixg Day . — -Mr . Whirlegigwas amon- _; the visitors at the palace—the gin-palace— on Boxing-day . Loti'tiax Egos . —Among recent importations into Southampton were _fliirteen cases of Egyptian eggs brought by a steamer from Alexandria . _GiiatSTMAs Fest ivities . —rhe Clown at Ashley ' s has been entertaining a distinguished circle ( luring the holidays . _° Two _DiFFiCTOttttt . —There aro two difficulties of life-men are disposed to spend more than tlicy can attord , and to indulge mwe luan lbey cau en „ dure . What _asijui _, has as many heads as there are days in the year ?— ' The Reader of an Almanack " on the hrst of January . An Irish gentleman having a small picture-room , several _pewons desired to see it at the same time . " Faith , gentlemen , " said he , " if you all go in , it will not hold vou . "
Praise is seldom paid with willingness , even to _incontrstible merit ; and it can be no wonder tbat he who calls for it without desert , is repulsed with universal indignation . Mr . DuNt ' p visited bis " uncle" on Christmas F _. vr , at the hitter ' s "little box" in the New Cut , where Mr . Dunup pledged the cup of friendship ( a silver one ) that was given him by his godmother . " Mv daughter , why do you look . it the moon so much ? inquired a mother of her daughter , a youn ? I dy just entering her sixteenth year . " Why , ma . they say there ' s a man in it , " was the innocent reply . A _gkave 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 "like it better if he could have steady employment . I' r
A negro minister once observed to his hearers at the close of his sermon , as follows . — " My very obstinacious brethren , I find it ' s no more use to preach to you , than it is for a grasshopper to Wear knee-buckles . " Phonography . —The following is a literal copy of a letter sent to a medical gentleman -. — " Cev—Yole oblige * ne if yole kum un ce me , 1 have a Bad Kowld , am Hill in my Bow Hills , and have lost my Happy Tight . " _, They have suspended a clergyman at Lowell for being engaged to two girls at the same time . —He should have heen permitted to marry thero , then he would have suspended himself . —Granville Journal . The Russian Emperor . —The old superstition , that no Russian Emperor could sit upon the throne more than twenty-five years , has been disproved in the por .-on of the present Emperor . Tho _tirearyfive years expired on the 1 st ult .
Obstinacy . — " 1 * 11 go if I see fit ! " was the exclamation of Mrs . Tweezers , as her husband demurred at her attending a ball ; "I'llgo if I see fit . "— "Very well , then ; you'll see fits if you go 1 " was the crusty reply . Thwackins , the 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 , by the proper authorities . —Punch . "Fathkr , mo 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 whore you married Anno Domini , in 1 S 35 , and that isn ' t mother , for her name was Sally Smith . "
The Church and State Gazette slily remarks , that "the great Smithfield cattle show had . its usual millions , of visitors from tbe 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 , s \ tV said a beautiful young lady , angrily , to a stranger , at a party , an evening or twosinee . "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 ? '' Women who love their husbands always He on tho right side , for an obvious reason—to wit , that they cannot lie on the wrong one .
A Temperance Man . — " Elder , will you have a drink of cider ? " inquired a farmer of an old temperance man , who was spending the evening _sthishouse . "Ah , hum—no , thank ye . " said the old man , "_ never drink liquor of any kind , ' specially cider ; but if you call it apple juice , I reckon I'll take a drop . " Robinson Cuusok ' s _Islanb . —The Chilian government lias granted a contract to a company For the settlement and cultivation of the island of Juan _Fernandez , so welt known as the abode of Alexander Selkirk , the prototype of Robinson Crusoe , wHh the exclusive privilege of occuping it for a specified term of years . A Caution . —An old lady has 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 _&& ample , but unfortunately she swallowed about fib CM drops , and in a few moments she was dead .
A New Pill . —We like the "' new pill , " which a _distinguished physician lias just invented . This invaluable remedy for nielaucholy 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 great virtues . So says the Woomecktt _i'rttriPt , Curing Colds . —Of all means , fasting is the most effectual . Eat nothing whatever for two days , nnd the cold will be gone , provided you are not confined to the bed—because by _takinj ; no carbon into the system by food , but consuming that surplus wliich caused the disease by breath , you soon carry oft' 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 .
Mi / iuai . Aid . —The race of mankind would perish did they _wase 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 broier of the dying , we cannot exist without mutual aid ; all , therefore , that need aid have a right to ask it from their fell w mortals ; none who boh ) the power of granting aid can refuse it without guilt , — Sir Walter Scott . A Reason . — " The best and most conclusive reason for an effect , tbat I ever remember to ha veheard , " writes a Western correspondent , " w _. _- . s _j-iveti by a ' one-idea' Dutchman , in reply to a friend , who remarked : — ' Why Hans , you have the most feminine cast of countenance I have ever seen . ' ' Ob , yaw , ' was the reply ; 1 know de reason for dat ; mine mode vas a voman '"
Rather Green . —A verdant young man from the country recently attended a concert , one of the principal features of which was a violin solo by a _distin « _guisbed 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 the chap played his fingers up a little too near the bridge to look well . " _Junny Lind in A Fix . — The editor of tho Spring field Republican , who has been fo hear Jenny Lind , tells the followiog * . — " 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 . The next day she said site 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 teas to be seen . " "Man is a Foot ou Physician at Forty , " I have frequently heard in various parts of England . Dr . Cheyne ' _s words are : — " I think every man is a fool ov physician at thirty years of age ( tbat 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 , prevent or 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 . _Eveey niVEB 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 . __ _Icf , notwithstanding these great deposits , the Italian hydrographer , Manfredi , has estimated that , it the sediment of all rivers on the globe were _sprcail equally over the bottom of the ocean , it would require 1 , 000 yearB to raise its bed one foot . Marvels of the _Cobmsh Minbs . —Some of the mines are truly grand undertakings , f he Consolidated mineB , the largest of the Cornish group , employ upwards of 3 , 000 persons . Vno of its engines pumps water from a direct depth of 1 , 000 feet , the _wei-rht of the pumping apparatus alone being upwards of 500 tons ; the pumping rod is 1 , 740 feet lou ? , and it raises ahont 2 , 000 , 000 gallons cf water in a week , from a depth equal to five times the height of St . Paul ' s .
Dos ' t _b-A-jM-BLE . —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 _fov acquaintancis . Add to a vigorous determination a _clieetMapmt ' _, ft reverses come , bear tbem like a philosopher , and get rid of them as soon as you can . Poverty is like a panther ; look it steadily in the face , and it will turn from you . Mortality is Londos . —The estimated population of the metropolis , for 1819 , was 2 , 206 , 076-3 , 032 , 630 males , and 1 , 173 , 460 females . Among this number ,
the mortality in 1850 has b _* en in the gross , 43 , 579 , or one death in forty-five ol the population . Of these the deaths of males were 24 , 449 , and of females 24 , 130 , being a proportion of one . in forty-two foi' _tto _^ former , and of one in forty-eight for the _lu- _'fjK Tae " . ' " _^ mortality amonc specified ages has been-, _/^ -: _J [ ° "if > i age ot 0 to 15 , 21 , 371 , or one in twenty ,- # r . _ly _' ot the- ¦ _^; /> whole population at that age by the cen _& _smrWl : ; _-. frrra the age of fifteen to sixty , 10 , 305 ] or- _?**•«* * * . . ,., ' .. eightv four * , and from sixty and upwards ., _lOratjS , or one iii eleven of those livingat thatpenOd'Of life , . . , -
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Citation
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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/ns3_25011851/page/3/
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