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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th January 1851, Edition 1 of 3, Page 3, m nemeujs.

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      Untitled Article

      THROW AWAY THE APPLE . ^ tis alHWs talkalxrat ? ¦ rrhv eucU clatter , noise , and ront ? ir , " tin reason means that shout , " And din and prattle ? Uncord is a noisy thing ? " . jess sorrows it will bring , r ' from je the tainted thingta Throw away the apple . trnnld « win a nation ' s blessing ? ^ ja tc make life worth possessing f Sen uko the goal be pressing ia In bonds of amity ; r jjt urging on each other , pniiai cacu , and dear as brother , ill i , i-feelings strive to smother , ' * And work in unity . r , ve "ain your hearts' desire , * r ckSfM i > 3 mes ' « nSeful . " " » XU flin-ing at each other mire , Auunuu a Topleasetheenemy ? ire hnffhs at all your silly pranks , Be taib division in your ranks £ j its promoters win fan thanks , A Instead of enmity . He who bawls the loudest-know , jle i > freedom's deadliest foe . The patriot ever would forego , * Causes of dissension ; Sor wouW he stir up heated blood , Or injure in afitful mood , A cause so holy , just and good , By angry contention . Tnite , and form one mighty band , Prom hill to dale , from strand to strand , If von would free your fatherland , And with despots grapple ' ; ifinccessful you would be , | if you'd leave your children free , If you'd win the victory , Throw away the apple . Edwin Gill _ . _ -:. _

      Untitled Article

      iglandasitis—Political , Social and Industrial , in the middle of tlie nineteenth century . By William Johxsox , Eso ^ ., Barrister at Law . 2 vols . Murray . title such as the above ought to indicate a irk of a very comprehensive character , and e . too , exceedingly difficult of performance , ? draw the picture of England as it is , -would rolve contrasts of the most startling and rersified description , —pictures which staitics fail io convey any idea of to the mind , id averages include only to hide and obscure . 3 obtain anything like a correct view of the

      Jject , what varied lights and shades must ngle in it and he worked up into a harmoras whole . In the same chapter , if not upon i same pages , must stand , side by side , the ; hest honours which the state can bestow d the -deepest degradation into which soty plunges its victims—the most enormous alth whichavarice , or greed , or fraud , or fair nmerce , ever piled up into a heap , and the lalidest poverty clothed in rags and wretchness . We must have painted , in varied ours , that glorious empire npon which the d never sets , and the dominion of the

      irr ing needlewoman in her wretched , hare irn-L Diadems and coronets must sparkle 3 in out its typography in close companionip with the uncombed hair that hides the washed brows of those who know not where lay their heads . The extremes of civilisam must he there too . St . James ' s and St . iles ' s must show themselves in all their magficence of squalor , fair ladies , —too fair for £ sun to shine npon , or the rude wind to eathe over , stepping from their luminous inses to their splendid carriages , must figure ion the same stage as the pale , emaciated

      tory girl , breathing the " devil ' s dust ' * of : otton factory , and the Bun-browned , hardnded country woman , toiling in the farmer ' s Id . Tender young lordlings in satin and tthers , most look you in the face , in comay with the dirt-begrimed young trapper nn the far below ground mines . Aristocratic isses , smelling at odoriferous bouquets , 1 st rub shoulders with the flower girl , wendg her way through the wet , dirty , misty Wiling to the market , to buy flowers to vend | the streets at noonday . These and such [ these must be the dramatis persona ? in the eat life drama of England , as it is properly Stten—and what far extremes of intellect as Ell as of condition must mingle there , too .

      p meditative genius of a Wordsworthje far-looking spirit of a Tennyson—the deep search and earnest study of a Farraday , seen Fihe same light as the acuteness of the Lonm pickpocket—the sharp slangified mind of cabman—the heavy stupidity of a Hampire boor—and the mental darkness of the even thousand and odd pauper lunatics which > to swell the population of this mighty kingto . Take as an illustration of what might ? done with such a theme , the single example f a cargo of cotton leaving a slave state of jnieriea , reaching an English port , making ' way to the factory , and thence spreading in pries through the land , and returning OTer ( as in another form to the soil from which it

      rang . Think of that cotton , not merely as ) vea up into fabrics , but woven np with the ilfare—the very lives and existences—the » pes , joys , sorrows , and despair of millions—1 forming part , not only of the web which mes from the machine , but the web of humatv itself . Let it introduce us to slaves denied ri ghi to their persons , and slaveholders sur"" ided by the very air of freedom , perpetuat-S ^ stigma upon the name of civilisation—to ! rough hardy sailors who bring it across the lean , and the rich merchant who owns the issel—to the wealthy Dock Company who re-5 ve it into their warehouses , and the famished iverty-stricken labourers who bear it thither

      D the hold—to the operative passing from s collar or garret to the mill , and to the r manufacturer in his palace-mansion , aping his annual harvest of thousands , from s thousands of " hands . " Such a theme has } r h'sfory , poetry , science , romance , and re-} l 7 ; and such a subject , handled with adel 3 te knowled ge , aad fitting powers of expres-Dn ( would , while it instructed and amused , Ml throug h the hearts of men . 151 thiuking , however , of what ought to be ) ne j and what might be performed , we are getting Mr . Johnson ' s . England as it is , tosh does not , by any means , realise our ^ Indeed we do not know how , by any ' -ability it could , for Mr . Johnson is a * Tory

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      of the Alison school , pr rather with Alison-^ itfi ™ * ' * £ may be « P «* ed , aU the prejudice * 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 * * £ 2 ^ &sEp ^

      looWupon the past by the light of memory , much as a traveller sees a mountain from ' a 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 . Johnboh ' 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 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 he very instructive without treating of matters extremely interesting to an exclusively English andience . ¦ ¦ '•

      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 madeusefulto 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 est imated .

      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 disagreement ? , doubts , suspicions , and other domestic troubles , where a calm impartial judgment is required and perfect secrecy may he depended upon . Some of them might tell very strange histories of confidences no less strange ; for your solicitor is the only man who ia enabled by his professional conscience so to identify

      himself with his " principal" that he will make nothing known that ia confided to him professionally , no matter what interests beyond those of bis client may he 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 the 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 Numen Prudentia , and thereby many of them become very important and very rich .

      As regards morality , the same inconvenience or evil belongs to the 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 of his 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 in law as in prudence . 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 honow and conscience . But passions and affections and generous emotions

      are the natural auxiliaries of conscienciousness , especially wh ? n it is to be exercised among persons connected by blood or affinity ; and these the solicitor keeps at a distance . He may give a cold opinion as to what might be considered generous , but his 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 comfidential solicitors ; for great or rich personages are glad of an escape "from the disturbance of what they call" a scene , " meaning thereby any occurrence in which the passions or feelings are strongly moved ; and they take refuge from such agitation under the cold shade of professional advice . It is , moreoier , 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 the circumstances , yet he is not so ipdependent but that he will yield himself in some degree to be the instrument of his employer's ar . ger , or enmity , or prejudice , if the employer be rich and insist upon that 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 uujust , may be done in this way ; and the proud and unfeeling man of wealth will not find much difficulty in obtaining even the most eminent aid to carry out his views , vf he be willing , as he generally is , that 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 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 "his solicitor , " and is thereby enabled to throw off as it were , the feelingB of our common humanit y , for he knows well that the solicitor—while he

      doe 3 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 beperpetrated by a deputy , without casting any conventional stigma upon the real actor . The following remarks too , npon 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 , but

      who cannot bring themselves to write to-day that which might as well he 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 ud in store , and deliberatel y to arrange in the best order . Men who give much of their attention to the events of the day , find their refections thereon to evaporate even faster than those events shift their posi . tion and change their colour . Harassing as thfe wor * of the daily journalist may appear , and as it no doub * . really w , it is that which primti facie appears the greatest hardship of the task—namely for

      the necessity 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 very life of the cause . For the most part , the journalist writes under immediate impulse , supplied either by tbe news of tbe day or the remarks of some rival journal , which impulse quickeii 3 some spring of utterance , whether by sympathy , indignation , suggestion of supplementary matter , or what not . Let any topic , however , onlv wait a few days to grow cold , and it would be recurred to as a " sheer task , which tbe writer would scarcely have patience to encounter .

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

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      which figures best upon the platform . The writer upon therms must be ready at any ZSL « Up ° n an 3 T subject which his employers or the events of the day may press Sul i n ° , He mu 8 t haTe * stock of KrtP f ? the inBtant » t 0 brin S 5 KS ? X elucidation ° r ^ illustration ; and he must have a power of arrangement , no S ? T . l l beBtOTth ^ o 8 tsystel , atick nd , f tUrewil 1 enable the

      h ?« jf \ ? , himt <> ^ te his point clearl y and without confusion . Such S ^ J ° ^ ? P »™» - o « them a debt of gratitude ; for , whether they bo right or wrong , they so far systematise and simplify every topic they hear of , as to render its - fui ther and more deliberate diacussion possible , ana at the same time they do that which ia most desir able—namel y , give a bod y and torm 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 trauas , time honoured conventionalities , and respectable shams of all kinds . This want of earnestness especiall y , is an injury to all parties , and more especiall y to the partv of the people . Ao man ever did any great work without being thoroughl y earnest and sincere but of

      , now , men 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 a ? 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 a 3 a lunatic for his

      pains : — In short , the people , such as one ordinarily me ? t 0 , are as incapable of good conversation as of singing Greek verses to a lyric accompaniment . With such persons , when a man ha 3 nothing to say which he really does think , because such matter would be unsuitable , he may escape the awkwardness and the 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 ttudy 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 , bat 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 , and bits of knowledge , even of the superficial kind , aro only to he met with on fortunate days or nights . The conversation one too often hears , and the manner which accompanies it , are not merely vain and unprofitsible , because wanting in depth and earnestness , but directly and unquestionably pernicious , because fraught w ' ith 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 advocate of popular influence , and alwayscontended that great weight should be given to tbe wisdom and tlie will of the 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 the wisdom of the government , " &c . The 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 tbe pomp , ceremony , affectation , and vain glory of which they 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 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 . "

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      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 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 Bame 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 iu other lands that prosperity which seems to be denied to them at homeand reliable accounts of Australia are accordingly both welcome and useful .

      Mr . Henderson ' s work appears to be a particularly reliablo 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 whut has been before written upon the subject , to tell over again that which . was already kuown ; but there is much that is new , and there is such an air of evident truthfulness and sincer ity about it that it at once gains our confidence .

      ne shall take but little . notice of the wellfounded complaints which here , as elsewhere , we find reiterated about Government blunder-

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      mg and mismanagement ; those things , hw-J £ w PaSSDg aWay « Th 0 Government , i « r , r" ^ r nclmed to thinktlie foriner , Soon Sets' ^ p *™*** ** ™* « tv& thpif nS 6 COlOmeS aDd l 6 a ™ g them to 2 X 5 t T ' ofcou ™ to their own Tni f ; with 0 Ut aoldiers ifc will be of course 2 K ??! Ti them int 0 mbmtafcrnto commands to which they do not feel inclined L rl ; n « ngObedience ' - Laingtold the Colonial Secretary that he had for three ? or thfp -r khlg atthe S « f 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 SS ?* I T ha « fcer Young 2 SSi V ,- 8 Outh > near enough to our overgrown Indian possessions to be

      troubleome ^ ana 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 assuredly will , We turn to those portions of the book winch relate to life in the colonies ; and first we take an extract describing Port Macquarne , from which we find that thero 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 depot ^ for what are called " specials ; " that is , special ov ^ entfemew-convicts , and for invalids . Here may be seen gallant naval and military officers , eloquent parsons , learned lawyers , acute and once opulent bankersand merchants , " et idgenus omne . " . Thero is also a , ' sprinkling of aristocracy—of brothers and sons of lords , right honourables , baronets , &c , and some claiming such titles or succession to them for themselves . Prom these aro 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 — "fiat justitia , mat ccclum ! " Wh ere 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 slaves for their keep , but in general they are not of much use . I 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 wonderfnl , however , how goon some of them learn to be 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 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 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 threo

      pairac-, companied by one or two men for felling , squaring small timber , and digging pits , shoulder their axes and saws , and with a sledge or dray-load of provisions , proceed to somo solitary bush , where they make a little " gunya" or hut , with a 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 sunar . 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 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 w ^ , 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 , &c ., ) 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 aa

      before the same labour . They are certainly the most improvident set of men in the world , often eclipsing in recklessness , misory , and peculiarity of charactor , the woodcutters of Campeachy , and the lumberers of the Ohio and Mississippi . In riding along some path leading through a brush , and bewildered and lost amid the various and endiess 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 M 3 dirty and forbidding wife , or mistress , probably a ticket-of-leaye woman , or emancipist . If there are any children , which is occasionally tho case , they are in the last staae

      of squalor and filth , their palo 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 billed 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 , i 3 well

      exemplified by an instance which fell within my owu observation . Out of a spirit of bravado , or "flashness " as it is called , one of them actually used a pound note as wadding for his powder and shot ; an 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 sawye » belong ; their loneliness and seclusion , being cut off during their whole time from any chance of good advice , or example ; and the comparatively high pay for their work , together with the large sums whioh they receive at one 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 ; is usual to burn large portions of the grass on the run , by which means when there is ram , 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 huntingat others b

      , y accident , from the dropping of sparks from their fire-sticks . The fire runs very Bpeedily along the ground ,, the dry grass and withered leaves catching like tinder The growing trees are not injured by it , but all the dead ones , both standing and / alien ' burn 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 neeessary , to ride througll the forest . The ground is scorcbinelv hot . th « hnrsps

      are startled by the vehement flames and the crashing timber , and it is quite uucertain that tbe withered giant hanging over your head will not fall across your path , and annihilate you . One of these ZZTvf ° rai > " as t 0 a W roach thc Nation befoie we were aware , and seized on the men's gunya , which it burned to the ground . The bottom ? £ -nf eing T ered wi - th dry grass , fovsleeping on , the interior becamo instantly one mass of flame and though we soon pulled off the s heets of bark and knocked it down , the 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 throush the dark niaht

      . ke a tall mllar of fire , not blazmg , 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 . 8 Our space will not allow us to venture upon adescription of the dangers , as well asthe hardships ot the bush . Emigrants have sometimes dangerousnei ghboursintliesliapeoftheescaped convicts ; and the concurring testimony of all those who have written upon Australian mat-

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      ters , agrees in describing the natives as a treacherous , faithless , cowardly race , fearing to face the whites except vhcu in overpowering force , but ever ready to rob and murder when an opportunity presents itself . Surely such a place , with such apopulatiou , 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 bo driven by necessity to face the rudeness , roughness , vice , and dangers of tho Australian Continent .

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      SURREY . A new version , or rather a second copy , of " Belphegor , the Mountebank , " altered for t ' . e Surrey audienceinto" Belphegov , the Itinerant , " was prosented at this theatre on Monday night . As this fifcT ^™ ? ° , umerous adaptations from the trench-has been already noticed , it will not be necessary to go ovor the same ground again , tho more especially as the trans-Tlmmes version presented no novel features . It belongs to n class of dramas abundant recently in France , in which nobiity of sentiment , united to proletarian misery , is all sideand cool refined

      on one , cruelty , in conjunction with wealth and social position , on the other . The progress of the plot gives birth to a few scenes of great power and high pitch , which could not fail to meet tne applause of any audience . Tho woi » ht of the action devolved upon Mr . Creswick who ? mpersonated Bctphegor , and Miss Cooper , who represented bis wife . Both of them sustained their parts with considerable power and vigour , and in the more trying scenes were greeted with a heai-tv applause . The unity of the piece was better pre " - served at the "Surrey"than at the "Adelphi , " thero being no underplot , as represented at the former , to distract the attention of the audience from tho mam issue . It was entirel y successful

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      OUR NATIVE LAND . The artists who combined their talents to produce for tho " Gallery of Illustration " tho diorama of the Overland route , which was one of the " lions " last year , have again come together to paint a moving picture illustrative of tbe 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 the especial faculty of Mr . Herring . As compared with their former productions , they conio before tlie public with tho disadvantage that they do not so much Instruct their spectators , the principle oi such exhibitions having hitherto been that of making people see upon canvas what they would have little chance of beholding in reality . But tho subjects of the picturearo now so well selected that if they do not teach , they answer another purpose by ap . pealing to a national sentiment . There is scarce !)

      a situation that an Englishman would name as typical of his rural aspect that is not represented in the now diorama , and all aro treated with a poetical 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 tho views according to Borne sort of category , and also probably to associate them with the poet of rural description , the exhibition is , divided into four parts , each of which 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 the progress of the 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 . P . Viuing .

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

      appa-, rently 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 nppoared quite at home in tho part of Taffy Tumbletodily . The chaste and graceful acting of Mi-3 . C . Boyce , 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 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

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      Boxisg Day . -Mv . Whirlegig was among tho visitors at ths psloce-the gin-palace-on Boxing-day . . e , VVN' liG ° s- —Among recent importations pi , iZ u . were thirteen cascSHf KeypWaa eggs brought b y a steamer from Alexandria . l ... Wn ^ ^ ! » KB .-Tue Clown at Ashley ' s SehoKs aiD 1 Dg a d ^^ euUlied circle during liJ n ° ? TT -7 Thcre arc two ^ cullies of life-men are disposed to spend more than they canafford , and to indul ge more than they in , S What asimai has as many heads as there are days in the year ? - ' The Reader of an Almanack " on the nrst of January . '

      Ax Irish gentleman having a small picture-room , several persons desired to see it at the same time " Faith , gentlemen , " said he , " if yon all co in , it will not hold you . " Praisk is seldom paid with willingness , even to incontestible merit ; and it can bo no wonder that he who culls for it without desert , is repulsed with universal indignation . Mr . Du . vi'p visited his " uncle" on Christmas Eve , at the laiter ' s "little box" in the New Cut , where Mi-. Dunup pledged the cup of friendship ( a silver one ) that was given him by his godmothi'r . My daughter , why do you look at thc moon so much ? inquired a mother of her daughter , a young 1 dyjust entering her sixteenth year . " Why , ma , they say there ' s a man in it , " was tba inncoent reply .

      A grave digger , who exercised his vocation in a Mft !? ? . ^ how he like the business ? -li e it beni ? F ' Ved U W * we ! 1 - I ) 1 U 8 l ' 0 llld menl ' . ' ° ave sU > ady m ^ m rti" r ° iT- Utor Once ollsemd t 0 W » hearers at the close of his sermon , as follows :- " My very obBtinaoions brethren . I find it ' s no more use to KbuK" ti 8 f 0 r a & raSslw PP tr t 0 ^< = " PnoNooRAPHT .-The following is a literal copy of a letter Rent to a medical gentleman :- " Cer-Yole oblige to if yole kum un ce me , I have a Bad Kowld , Sht " ln niy Hills > and have losfc my llappy They iiavu suspended a clergyman at Lowell for being engaged to two girls at the same time .-llo should have been permitted to marry them , then ha would have suppended himself . —Granviilc Journal .

      The Russian Kmi-eroh . —The old superstition , that no Russian Emperor could sit upon the throne more than twenty-five years , has been disproved in the person of thc present Emperor . Tko twentyfivo 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 ball ; " I'll go if I sea fit . "— "Very well , then ; you'll see fits if you go !" was the crusty reply . Thvvackins , tiib 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 th « police , by the proper authorities . —i ' joic / t .

      _ "Father , did you ever have another wife besides mother ?"— " No , my boy ; what possessed you to ask such a question ?"— Because 1 saw in the old family Bible where you ' married Anno Domini , in 1835 , and that isn't mother , for her name was Sally Smith . " The Church and State Gazette slily remarks , that "the great Smilhfield 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 . " t Compliment . — " For what do you wink at me , sir ? " said a beautiful youn ? lady , angrily , to a stranger , at a party , an evening or two since . "I beg pavdon , madam , " replied the wit , " 1 winked aa 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 lie on the right side , for an obvious reason—to wit , that they cannot lie on the wrong one . A . Temfrranck Max . — " Elder , will you have a drink of cider ?'' inquired a farmer of anold temperance man , who was spending the evening f . t his house . "Ah , hum—no , thank ye , " said the old man , " I never flrink liquor of any kind , ' specially ciiler ; but if you call it apple . jiiice , I reckon I'll take n drop . " Robinson 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-. —Ah old lady has been killed at Leeds by incautiously ' ¦ tasting " essential oil of almonds . Her neice hail bought two pennyworth for confectionery ; she tasted it , and the aunt followed her IX ? ample , but unfortunately she swallowed about til C 6 Q drops , and in a few moments she was dead . A New Fill . —We like the '' new pill , " which a distinguished physician lias just invented . This invaluable remedy for melaucholy is made of" fun and fresh air , in equal proportions , and is to be taken with cold wnter three times a day . " Having used this article for the last five years , we can vouch for its eveat virtues . So savs the Woonscdct Ritriot .

      Curing Colds . —Of all means , fasting is She most effectual . Eat nothing whatever for two days , a ; : d the cold will be gone , provided you arc 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 bo 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 have a right to -ask it from their fellw mortals ; none who ' hold the power of granting akl can refuse it without guilt . -. Sir Walter Scott .

      A Reason' . — " The best and most conclusive reason for an effect , that 1 ever rememlier to have heard , " writes a Western correspondent , " was given 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 . ' ' Oh , yaw , ' was the reply ; I know de reason for dat ; mine modtr vas a voman ! " Rather Greex . —A verdant young man from tho country recently attended a concert , one of tho 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 Mon 8 . * s fiddling ? Ue replied , " that it was toilybul good—but he thought the chap played his fingers up a little too near the bridge to look well . "

      Jenny Lind isj a Fix .- The editor of the Spring , field Republican ; , who has been to heap JeaMy Lind , tells the following : — " When Jenny first appeared at the Laities' Ordinary , at the Irving , she limi no comb in her hair , while every other lady worn a comb . The next day she said she wished to dress Hkn American ladies , and went to dinner with a comb iu her head . On glancing up and down the table , not a comb was to bs seen . " "Man'is a Fool or Fhtsician at Forty , " I have frequently heard in various parts of England . Dr . Cueynu ' 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 , 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 . —iVoies and Queries .

      Every river carries down mud , sand , or gi avel to the sea . The Ganncsbrings more than 700 , 000 cubic feet of mud every hour ; the Yellow River , in China , 2 , 000 , 000 j and the Mississippi still more . Yet , notwithstanding these great deposits , the Italian hydrographer , Manfredi , has estimated that , if tlic sediment of all rivers on the globe were sproai ! equally over the bottom of the ocean , it would require 1 , 000 years to raise its bed one foot . Marvhlb op the CoRKisrt Mixes . —Soran of the mines are truly grand undertakings ^ The 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 fed , the weight of the pumping apparatus alone btiu ? upwards of 500 tons j the pumping rod is 1 , 740 feetlon ? , and it raises about 2 , 000 , 000 gallons ci" water in a week from a depth equal to five time 3 the height of St ' Paul's .

      Don t GauMBi-B . —Heis a fool that grumbles at every little mischance . Put the best foot forward ia an old and good maxim . Don't run about und tell acquaintances that you have heen unfortunate . 1 eople do not like to have unfortunate men for acquamtanc' 8 . Add to a vigorous determination a cheerful spirit ; n reverses come , bear them like a philosopher , and get rid of them as soon as yon can . overty is like a panther ; look it steadily in the face , and it will turn from you . Mortality inLondos . _ T 1 i 8 estimated population ot the metropolis , for 1819 , YraB 2 . 206 . O 76-l . O 32 . fian

      males , and 1 , 1 / 3 , 460 females . Among ihis number , the mortality in 1850 has bven in the gross , -13 , 579 , or one death in forty-five of the population . Of these the ilnaUi 3 of males were 24 , 4-19 , and of females 24 , 130 , being a proportion of one in forty-two tor the former , and of one in forty-eight for the latter . The mortality amoH » specified ages has beets , tV : m tlio age of 0 to 15 , 21 , 371 , or one in twenty-sev-. n of tlie whole population at that age by the census . of ,. l 841 . ; from the age of fifteen to sixty , lC , 3 Cf >; -ior one iu eighty four ; and from sixty and upwaruV . -10 . 682 , or one in eleven of those living at that perioiS , ' . of life * ..

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      Patent Ixventor 3 Law Reform Leaqus . —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 of tho present state of tho law , and the means proposed by the League for their remedy . —Several gentlemen , inventors of patented articles , demonstrated the amount of individual loss they had sustained by the present Patent Luws , showed tho necessity of an efficient system of registration , and explained tho difference between the remedy proposed by tho League and that proposed by the Society of Arts — Messrs . Mavity and Wheeler approved of the objects of the society , but impressed upon the meetine

      tne necessity of directing their attention to the amendment of the whole legislative system of the country . —A resolution appvoving of tho 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 . Tim Crikff Debating Club . —This club held their annual soiree on the evening of Tuesday the 14 th inst ., in the Weaver ' s-hall , which was crowded to excels . After the company were served with tea and fruit , John Gow chairman , opened tho intellectual part of the proceedings by giving an eloquent and graphic history of tho 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 tho celebrated Mr . Turner fir 9 t coined the word teetotal , up to the present time . David Scrimgeour then delivered an address . on past and passing events . He advised the people hot to lose heart , although reaction was in the ascendant , for its triumph would be short . The sound of tho coming revolution was already making despots tremble , and with it would come 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 kin « s ; his onl

      y 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 were placed in the way by the people themselves . Tho 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 the creation , made him a favourite with the ladies . The intervals were agreeahly filled up with son "s and recitations , and tho company separated , re solved to meet some other nigbt . This society has

      an extensive library , in which there are works by the most talented democratic writers of thc age . Militia Force of 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 , as tho above number is , all those capable of bearing arms are not returned by the different States . The returns from official sources are as follows : —Main , 44 , 060 ; New Hampshire , 27 , 907 ; Massachusetts , 101 , 789 ; Vermont , 23 , 915 ; Rhode Island , 13 . C 5 S ; Connecticut , 57 , 719 ; New York . 261 , 452 ; New

      Jersey , 39 , 179 ; Pennsylvania , 270 , 070 ; Delaware , 9 , 229 ; Maryland . 4 S . S 64 ; Virginia , 124 , 202 ; North Carolina , 79 , 443 ; South Carolina , 55 , 209 ; Georgia , 57 , 312 ; Alabama , 44 , 331 ; Lousiana 438 , 348 ; Mississippi , 45 , 335 ; Tennessee , 74 252-Kentucky , S 3 , 629 ; Ohio , 176 , 455 ; Indiana . 53 988 ' Illinois , 120 , 219 ; Missouri , 61 , 000 ; Arkansas ' 17 , 137 ; Michigan , 00 , 017 ; Florida , 12 122 Tms ' ffK : £ ^^* s K ^ SttStS ^{

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      ^ uaby 251851 . _ THE NORTHERN STAR , . ^ === m- _ l _

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      ^ —^ BOW TO CONFESS . A little boy of mongrel breedfae frnit of Protesfeint and Catholic seed-To mother ' s Church an inclination had ; jm father unto mass -Kould force the lad ; let still the boy to church on Sunday stole , And evidenced a wish to save his soul . At lengtb , one Sunday morn it came to pass The father dnurgM the struggling boy to mass—The zealous Papist helped to force him in , Ar . d begged the priest to pardon all his sin . ! " > o , by the mass , " says he , " we cannot bless « or pardon , till the culprit first confess . " V' Well , " snys the boy , " supposing I am willing , Wuat is Tour charge ? " "I'll charge you but a shilling . " "Must alt men pay , and all men make confession ?" " Te ? , every one of Catholic profession . " "And who do you confess to ! " " Why , the dean . " " Does the dean charge you ? " " Yes ; above thirteen . " "And do your deans confess ! " "Yes , hoy , they 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 . " •¦ Well . " say 3 the boy , " all this is mighty odd—1 " But does the Pope confess ? " " Oh 1 yes ; to I God . "

      And does God charge the Pope ? " " > o , " quoth the priest ; Gud charges nothing . " " Oh I then , God's the best ; 3 e is able to forgive , and always willing ; [ iliall confess to God and save my shilling . "

  • 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/vm2-ncseproduct1610/page/3/