eye of the Highlander. But had the English army been treble the number, he would have hailed the disparity with pride, for former success, former dispersion of troops double their own in force, had, in common with every Highlander, impressed him with the idea that the wild onset and irregular mode of warfare used by the clans, rendered them irresistible. It was not the wide array, not the glittering of the fixed bayonets in the sun, nor the sound of a hundred drums, as rolling forward they seemed offering defiance to the foe,-it was not these that could strike terror to the brave heart of the Highlander; but as once more he glanced hastily over the position of the prince's army, and beheld with horror the whole clan of M'Donald stationed on the left wing, his eyes glared from their sockets, and with a wild cry of warning he dashed over the intervening space. and another of those deadly blows, that were fast strewing his enemies around him; till, exhausted by loss of blood, rather than vanquished by force, Duncan M'Intosh sank upon one knee, and, receiving the thrust of a bayonet, ex| pired, with the name of his prince half-breathed upon his lips. THE TRUCK SYSTEM AND THE That cry was lost in the roar of cannon, and when M'Intosh, with the gestures of a maniac, and vociferating the words of the sybil, Fight wi' men we may, but wi' Heaven we daurna!' rushed into the ranks and threw himself amongst the foremost of his clan, the bloody conflict had already begun; the murderous artillery of the English poured its destructive fire along the Highland ranks, and line after line were stretched upon the heath, until no longer able to endure the sight of their slaughtered comrades, with the wild yell of hearts thirsting for revenge, the brave M'Intoshes broke from the centre of the line, and rushing forward, mingled hand to hand with the enemy. They were followed by the Atholmen, Camerons, Stuarts, Frasers, and M'Leans, and thus a general and nearly simultaneous charge had been made along the whole of the Highland line. There was but one exception. The M'Donalds, dissatisfied with their situation, and looking upon it as an evil omen, refused to advance. In vain were the Duke of Perth's endeavours to appease their wrath; in vain his entreaties that by fighting with their characteristic bravery they would make the left wing equal to the right. Vain even his appeal to the feel-pect that these shall be of good quality, bought under ings of clanship, so dear to the heart of a Highlander, and the promise, that from this day he would assume for ever the surname of M'Donald. They were induced to discharge their muskets, and advance a few paces, but the blighting belief in the fatal omen was upon them, and no prayers or entreaties could shake them from their le thargy. THE numerous railways and other public works, com- Not so the other clans. The howl of the advance, the scream of the onset, the thunders of musketry, were mingled occasionally with shouts of Craid Eilachie, Tullochard, Ardchoile, Clairnish, and Caruna Cuin, the slogan or war-cry of their different chiefs, while their dauntless courage, worked upon by despair, assumed the aspect of madness, rather than the cool and determined bravery for which hitherto they had been proverbial. Regardless of the fire of the artillery, they flung themselves upon and cleared the first line of the enemy. The strong band that had opposed them were swept irresistibly from the field, but they had given way only when every bayonet was bent, and every hand reeked with the blood of their brave foe. Brief and dearly purchased had been the success of the doomed clans. The first line of the enemy they had indeed dispersed, and they continued their impetuous advance upon the second. But it is well known that the deadly fire then poured upon their ranks almost annihilated the brave, and till now overpowering band, and that, submitting at length to destiny, they turned and fled; all save one man, who with gigantic strides still advanced upon the enemy, and though desperately wounded, encountered with his single arm the onset of a party of dragoons. Pushed to desperation, with the strength and energy of despair, he parried the successive thrusts of the assailants, and while the resistless strokes of the claymore dealt destruction on his foes, he continued, by the rapid and skilful use of the target, to protect his own life. The disregarded shout of the English officer-Save that brave fellow! Spare his life!' was answered by the piteous cry of Ochon, ochon, my prince!' which he incessantly repeated, and by another every advantage the employer may possess, and furnished to his workmen at the cost price, without any profit whatever. Honestly carried out, and with a single eye to the benefit of those for whose use it is intended, the one branch might be conducted at least without indecency or injury to health or morals; while the other, as an arrangement between employer and employed, might be of the highest possible value to the latter. Alas for human nature, however, the reverse of all this is the case. The writer of this article has had opportunities of witnessing the working and effects of this system, as now, it is to be feared, too generally practised, and the impression made upon his mind was of a nature not to be easily effaced. In a secluded pastoral district, a considerable distance from the bustle of ordinary life, stands a cluster of huts, the walls of which are built of the turf which has been stripped from the surface on which they are erected. One long barn-like building is roofed with tiles; and, on looking in, we found it stored with picks, shovels, wheel-barrows, and the other implements used in the operations going forward out-doors. It seemed to be partially occupied also as a wright's shop. A joiner's bench, a scanty assortment of the commoner sort of joiners' tools, some wood-shavings and scraps of timber, showed that here, at least, the mending part of the business was performed; and on moving round the bench to examine some implements of rather peculiar construction, I happened to stir the shavings, which were there collected in a considerable heap, when, screeching with its whole might, out rushed a slip ov a pig,' nearly half grown, and, in its hurry to gain the door, it almost overset me. Before I had re This article has already appeared in the Witness newspaper. The writer obligingly handed us a copy of it at the time he sent it but for the circumstance that the printing of the INSTRUCTOR is to the Witness, and it would have appeared in our columns sooner always three or four numbers in advance of its publication. The subject is one to which public attention cannot be too promptly and our correspondent, we know, is not likely to speak from superdirected; the sooner existing evils are inquired into the better, ficial information, or take up false impressions. 1 covered from the start the brute had given me, a screech from a child, in its very loudest fortissimi, instantly followed by the soothing voice of its Irish mother, told me that this sterile and dreary waste was, in part at least, colonised by our neighbours of the Green Isle, who had not failed to carry along with them their usual domestic attendant. There, to be sure, stood the mother, a fine dark-eyed and handsome woman, lively and frank in her manners, with much of the graceful modesty of her countrywomen, of whom she was as favourable a specimen as one might desire to see. But oh the dwelling she occupied It was a large and open apartment, the yet living grass in the inverted turf of the walls vainly stretching forth its long blanched and feeble stalks into the unwholesome atmosphere within-the very image of sickness and disease, and a melancholy type of the effect of such an atmosphere on its occupants. The floor was plashy and muddy; and the moisture from a recent shower was still dripping from the roof of broom and sods into every part of the dwelling. Fronting the door was a range of six beds, in two tiers, each a-top of the other, formed mostly of pieces of roofing nailed together with the utmost economy of labour and material. The rough front posts were sunk in the floor at the one end, and at the other fastened to the coarse and frail joisting of the roof. Curtains there were none; and the space was entirely open from the head of the beds at the one extremity of the apartment to the foot at the other; leaving an open thoroughfare-like space all over each of the three beds in both tiers. It seemed to be the finest contrivance in the world for affording a full view and free communication along the whole range. The good woman told me, with the greatest possible simplicity, how she, and her husband, and their child, occupied the lower bed next the fire-how the one overhead, and the two in the centre, were occupied each by two boys, who were employed at the works along with her own manhow a man and his wife had taken the next lower one only the day before-and how she could have let the one above it to another man and his wife, but her stock of blankets was required for the beds already occupied, although she expected soon to be able to buy more; and that she had lost her intended lodgers from the want of them. The adjoining hut was altogether of a different character, and contrasted strongly in all respects with the one I had just quitted. It was occupied by a sort of ganger or foreman and his wife, both English people, without children, and everything about it told of the tidy comfort so habitual to their country. A corner was boarded off as a sleeping room; the walls were wholly plastered, or covered with boards or mats, with the latter of which the roof was screened; and the whole house had an air of snugness, warmth, and comfort, gratifying in such a situation to look on. The table, at which two young English labourers who boarded with them were at tea, was covered with a clean white cloth, and, along with bread and butter, there was a beautiful piece of bacon and a dish of fresh water-cresses before them. The wretchedness and squalor which characterised the neighbouring dwelling were here banished out of doors. The sleeping arrangements, to say the least of them, were not suggestive of the almost beastly grossness of the other; and industry and decent self-respect seemed to have made as much of it as the place was capable of. A third was occupied wholly by men; and, much as I have seen and heard of the bothy system,' I have never known anything to compare with this den. The little that was in it was in a state of the most disgusting dirt and disorder. The dishes were unwashed, and one man lay in bed of sore throat, which he attributed to wet feet, and sleeping in bedclothes which had been soaked by the rain dropping from the roof. His pulse was upwards of 100, bis tongue foul and sore, and to me he appeared to labour under a bad fever. Another hut was built against the edge of a perpendicular rock, evidently with a view of economising the materials. The rock within was wet and mossy, and the smoke oozed out at an opening on its edge in the roof, leaving an open space, upright from the porritch-pot, which was on the fire, to the sky above. In this place there was one bed for the husband, his wife, and an infant; and some broken straw, mixed with broom, in a corner, for the repose of three ragged urchins, who were sharing a slice of very dark-coloured bread with a young pig, which seemed to enjoy the privilege of the dormitory in common with the rest of the family. The woman complained that the season had been unhealthy since she came to the place, and did not think the air agreed with her. She and one of her children had been laid up from fever; the children had all had sore throats, and their stomachs did not agree with the mate. Some of the neighbours had had small-pox, and there were always some of them laid up from bowel complaints. She and her husband and children had been in the house for several months, and when the work was done, hoped they would get another place as good, for, 'barrin' the faver and the like o' that, there had not been much the matter wi' them. The place, she said, was far from coals, and difficult of access, and fire-wood being scarce, they sometimes suffered a good deal from cold. The minister, the doctor, and the schoolmaster, she told me, all resided in —, and she and her neighbours were equally out of the reach of the ministrations of either. It was now beginning to rain, and the good woman having kindly invited me to wait till the shower was over, I waited till it set in a regular wet evening. It happened, however, to be pay-day; and on looking out and observing a crowd collecting about the doors to receive their pay for the bygone month, I again took shelter, in the hope of getting some one to escort me to- a distance of several miles. I was desirous, moreover, to see the men paid, and presently had my desire gratified. Having seen the accommodation provided under the one branch of the system, I was now to witness an interesting part of the other-that of a settlement under the truck system. In one of the central huts, a strong and substantial boarding, from the front to the back of the hut, formed it into two apartments. The outer one of these was occupied partly by lumber, shop-casks, several unopened barrels of herrings, casks of butter, and some other articles still in bulk. The other was the shop proper, to which the first served as a sort of warehouse or cellar. Round the whole shop were ranges of coarse shelves, loaded with the various articles in request-cheese, bread, bacon, canisters of tea, coffee, and snuff, an immense roll of tobacco, boots, shoes, and a variety of other articles; while all round the floor of the apartment were sacks of meal and flour, a large cask of sugar, another of salt, another containing red herrings, and one nearly half-full of butter. Hung up on pegs there were gay plush vests, closely studded over with white mother-of-pearl buttons; moleskin trousers; and an ample supply of smock-frocks, gaudily and fancifully embroidered. On one bundle of these I observed, in addition to the other decorations, a cross neatly worked on the breast. At a small table, which did duty as a counter, but from which the shop articles had been removed, sat a sharp, decent-looking, elderly man, with pen and ink, and the store account-book open before him. Inside, and at right angles to the table, was placed a broad board, at which presided a man, with a large quantity of silver, some copper, a bundle of banknotes, and a book containing the account of the men's time, and the sums due to each. A man was placed in charge of the outer door, and another at that within, to call and admit the men in turn for their pay. The process of paying then commenced; but what struck me as being odd and suspicious, was, that strict care was taken to admit only one at a time; and I could not avoid remarking also the care that was taken that what passed within should not be overheard by those without. The first man brought in, was told that there was £2:5:4d. due to him; the storekeeper instantly adding, that he had had £1:8:9d. from the shop, which being quickly deducted by the paymaster, the balance of 16s. 7d. was handed to him. The poor man scratched his head, looked stupid and sheepish, and asked, first, how many days' work he had been paid for, and on being told seventeen days, insisted that there was a balance of three-fourths of a day due to him at last settlement, and that his claim since was for seventeen days and a half. This was pointedly contradicted on the other side; and after some attempt at debate, the poor fellow, unskilled in the art of settling only one thing at a time, and jumping too quickly from one subject to another, declared that the goods he had had from the shop could not possibly exceed £1, and was beginning to lose his temper, when he was told to be off-that there was not time to trifle with him all night; and the inner door-keeper, who, during the discussion, kept constantly nudging him on the elbow, at last, half in jest, half in earnest, pulled him out by the sleeve. The same process, with some exceptions and variations, was repeated with the others. Many admitted the correctness of the account of the time and wages, but all, with- | out exception, pled guilty only to a part of the shop accounts. One sharp fellow had a sort of pass-book, which he wished to compare with the account charged against him; but he was told to call upon the store-keeper at another time, and he would explain every thing. In this way the greater number of the men were paid before I left; and certainly what I saw gave me a very strong and decided impression of the wisdom of admitting only one at a time, and in preventing the possibility of anything in the shape of a debate, in which the creditor could have the benefit of the counsel or countenance of his fellowworkmen. Here, then, were both hut and truck systems in full operation. The huts and their occupants were, I believe, a fair average of their respective classes, and as regarded the male part of the population, indispensably necessary for the completion of the extensive works in which their occupants were engaged. But were these fit habitations for human beings? I answer decidedly, No! And it is no sufficient answer to say that they might have been improved, as was done by the English family I have spoken of, whose situation necessarily secured to them the preference over the others in respect of accommodation; and still less is it a sufficient answer to say, that those who were dissatisfied might leave them. The fact has been ascertained that empty sugar barrels will find tenants; and society has clearly an interest in the protection of those who, whether from ignorance, necessity, or recklessness, expose themselves to evils and dangers from which society is at last the sufferer. Here is a colony of men, women, and children, in a position in which their health must unavoidably suffer; and the fever which lays one of the denizens on his back, equally with the degraded and demoralised habits which the system goes to produce, entail the ultimate burden of both on society, who, whether in a pecuniary shape, or by the spread of discase, or by the brutalisation of her members, is sure to be the sufferer. If, then, the community is burdened by the sickness, or injured by the vices, or punished by the infection, emanating from such sources as I have described, it is bound on every account to adopt the needful measures to avert or counteract them. The remedy for a large portion of these evils lies with the legislature. In every act of parliament passed for the construction of public works which require the erection of huts for the accommodation of the workmen, a clause ought to be inserted, making it imperative on the sheriff of the county, before any hut in connexion with such works shall be inhabited, to cause it to be inspected by a medical officer, at the expense of the proprietors of the works, and to grant a certificate as to each hut, declaring that it contains the requisite amount of accommodation for a specific number of individuals, and may, with regard to health, be safely occupied. A board, containing a copy of the certificate, should be hung up in a conspicuous part of the hut, and if any hut were occupied without such a certificate, or with a greater number of inhabitants than it has been certified fitted to accommo date, the proprietors should be liable in a penalty recoverable at the instance of the public prosecutor on the evidence of any two witnesses. A medical man should be appointed to inspect weekly the whole dwellings and inmates, and to report to the sheriff or fiscal the condition of each house as to cleanliness, and that it may or may not still be safely occupied; and specifying every case of disease or illness from which the patient has been confined to bed for upwards of twenty-four hours. There does not seem any serious hardship in all this, and the increased comforts which it would afford, might be repaid by the workmen. Medicine and medical attendance could be furnished, even in the most remote situation, at something about threepence per head per week; and the cost, whatever it might be, might be retained directly from the pay of the workmen. The rapid increase of the hut system is spreading its disease, vice, and brutality over the land, and, either by this or some similar means, calls for immediate prevention. The remedy for the truck system again is in the hands of the labourers. The inferior and in frequent instances unwholesome goods supplied to them from the stores at 15 to 20 or 25 per cent. above the ordinary prices, is just so much deducted from their weekly earnings. If a man's pay be 15s. per week, and if out of that sum he pay 2s. 6d. a-week more for his necessaries than they can be bought for at the ordinary market price, his wages are thereby reduced to 12s. 6d., and the attempt to make him believe that he receives 15s., is a mere blind and deception, so long as he allows his employer to mulet him of the difference between the price of goods furnished from the store, and the prices for which the same articles can be otherwise obtained. But the mere reduction of wages from 15s. to 12s. 6d. by dealing at the store, is not always the worst of the evil. His choice of necessaries for his daily wants is limited to what is to be found in the shelves of the store, never of the first quality, sometimes bad, and not unfrequently unwholesome-articles often unsuitable to his wants, and which he takes, not because he prefers them, but because he has no other to choose from. This is the position of the labourer under the truck system, and a most unfortunate one it is; and if it were a position from which there was no escape, he would deserve and obtain the sympathy of the community. But the want of unity, and the want of confidence in each other, are here, as in other matters, the bane of the out-door labourer; and his employer, availing himself of these circumstances, under the bait and pretext of high wages, mulcts him at will. His payments of once a-month, in place of once aweek, besides operating, as they frequently do, as a most grinding and cruel oppression, force him into transactions with the store; and, besides other disadvantages, confine and compel him to the purchase, not of what he requires or wishes, but of what he can get. In such circumstances, the adage of two at a bargain no longer holds; for the purchaser must take what his employer chooses to provide, and at the price he chooses to dictate. That matters are not in every instance conducted in this fashion, I am well aware. I happen to know many contractors who would scorn, under any circumstances, or on any pretext, to clip the stipulated pay of the poor man; but I have never heard of an instance where the truck system is in operation, of the store-keeper failing to lay on a given per centage upon his prices beyond those of the shops. The labourers therefore should refuse employment from all masters who shall refuse to comply with some such condition as the following:-That every article for the store shall be purchased at the sight of a committee of the workmen, who shall fix the selling prices, keeping in view the loss that may arise from waste, or from the perishable nature of the article, or other circumstances. The payment of the store-keeper should be from a tax imposed on all those having the privilege of obtaining goods from the store, and would be conveniently retained along with that for the medical officer. The accounts should be balanced periodically, and any surplus which might accrue be applied to reduce the price of some necessary article, such as bread or meal, which should then be distributed at a low price, in an equal proportion, to all having right to it. But whatever the arrangements might be, it should be necessary, as a fixed principle, from which there should be no departure, that the employer should have no benefit. He need never have any loss; and if he found loss was likely to arise on any given article, he would be under no necessity to purchase it, and that is his protection. If the want of the article be inconvenient to the men, let them find it for themselves; or if he shall provide it for them, seeing he is to have no profit, he should clearly have no loss. Let it be distinctly and openly understood, that the employer provides certain necessaries for the purpose of enabling him to keep men together to earry forward his works, but that in doing so the wages of the men are not to be diminished for what is merely a mutual convenience. Let there be no artificial necessities created, by which men are driven, or compelled, to deal with the store, either by the payment of wages being refused beyond the usual weekly period, or by any other means the employer limiting his profits to what he may fairly and legitimately derive under his contract; aiding the men by his means and credit, in obtaining the necessaries of life under the most favourable circumstances, and at the lowest possible price. He is properly and unavoidably the sole judge of the amount of remuneration to be given to his workmen. Let him fix that according to his own pleasure and sense of justice; and if he shall attempt to outstretch his power, the regulating principle of supply and demand, even without the aid of public opinion, will, in the present state of the market at least, soon set him right. Let the men, on the other hand, stedfastly refase employment from all contractors and others who shall refuse to enter into some such arrangement as we have suggested, and the evils of the truck system will be no more heard of. THE FLOWER-GIRL OF THE PONT NEUF. I WAS Crossing the Pont Neuf at the moment when a porter belonging to the Bank of France, pretty well tired of the weight he carried (it was a bag containing nine thousand francs in silver), stopped to rest himself by leaning against the parapet wall of the bridge; but at the moment he did so, his valuable load, either from awkwardness or carelessness, slipped out of his hands and fell into the Seine, which is very deep just at that spot. Never shall I forget his look of despair. He made a movement as if to jump over: and I believe would have effected his purpose, but for the presence of mind of a girl, a little delicate looking thing of about sixteen, a violet-seller, who, clasping her arms around him, cried for help, which in an instant was afforded. Myself and some others seized him; he struggled with us desperately. 'Let me go!et me go!' cried he; I am ruined for ever. My wife, my children, what will become of you?' A multitude of voices were raised at once, some to console, others to inquire; but above the rest were heard the clear and silver tones of the violet-girl:- My friend, have patience, you have lost nothing.' 'Nothing, said you!' 'No, no; I tell you no. Let some one run for the divers; there is no doubt they will succeed in bringing it up.' 'She is right,' resounded from a number of voices, and from mine among the rest; and in an instant half-a-dozen people ran to fetch the divers. Those who remained exerted themselves as well as they could to solace the poor porter. One brought him a small glass of liqueur; another, a little brandy; a third, some cau de cologne; and four or five presented the grand specific, sugar and water. The little violet-girl had been before all the rest in administering a cordial; and perhaps hers was the most efficacious a glass of pure water, which she held to his trembling lips and made him swallow. Drink,' she said, 'drink it up, it will do you good.' Whether it was the water, or the kind and sympathetic manner with which it was offered, that relieved him, I know not; but certainly one of the two had its effect, for his looks grew less wild-he burst into a passionate fit of weeping, and, by degrees, became composed enough to make his acknowledgments to the spectators who had shown such interest in his misfortune. The divers soon came, and one of them descended without loss of time. Never did I witness such anxiety as the search excited; if the fate of every one present had hung upon the success, they could not have testified greater interest in it. He soon reappeared, bringing up-not the bag of silver, but a small iron box. It was instantly broken open, and found to be full of twenty-franc pieces in gold; they were quickly counted, and found to amount to nearly twelve thousand francs, about four hundred and fifty pounds sterling. There were three divers, who, overjoyed at their good fortune, speedily divided the prize among themselves; and directly afterwards another descended in search of the porter's bag. This time he returned with it in triumph. The poor fellow could scarcely speak when it was put into his hands. On coming to himself he cried with vehemence, God reward you! You know not what good you have done. I am the father of five children. I was formerly in good circumstances, but a series of misfortunes reduced me to the greatest distress. All that I had left was an irreproachable character, and that procured me my present situation. I have had it but a week. To-day I should, without your help, have lost it. My wife, my children, would have been exposed to all the horrors of want; they would have been deprived of a husband and a father; for never, no never, could I have survived the ruin I had brought upon them! It is you who have saved us all; God will reward youhe alone can.' While he thus spoke, he rummaged his pockets, and drew out some francs. This is all I have, 'tis very little; but tell me where you live, and to-morrow- Not a farthing,' interrupted they, with one voice; and one of them added, Stop a bit, let me talk to my comrades. They stepped aside for a moment; I followed them with my eyes, and saw that they listened to their companion with emotion. We are all of a mind,' said he, returning with them. Yes, my friend, if we have been serviceable to you, you have also been the cause of our good fortune; it seems to me that we ought to share with you what God has sent us through your means. My companions think so too, and we are going to divide it into four equal shares.' The porter would have remonstrated, but his voice was drowned by the acclamations of the spectators. Generous fellows!'-Much good may it do you!' The same luck to you,' resounded from every mouth. There was not one present but seemed as happy as if he or she were about to participate in the contents of the box. The money was divided, and, in spite of his excuses, the porter was forced to take his share. The generous divers went their way; the crowd began to disperse; but the porter still lingered, and I had the curiosity to remain, in order to watch his motions. He approached the little violet-girl. Ah! my dear,' cried he, what do I not owe you? But for you it had been all over with me. My wife, my little ones, must thank you.' Ma foi! it is not worth mentioning. Would you have had me stand by and see you drown yourself?' But your courage, your strength! Could one have expected it from so young a girl? There is no want of strength where there is good will.' And nobody ever had more of that. Give me six of your bouquets, my dear, my children are so fond of violets, and never have they prized any as they will do these.' She twisted a bit of thread round six of her fairy nosegays, and presented them to him. He deposited them carefully in his bosom, and slipped something into her hand; then, without waiting to hear the acknowledgments which she began to pour forth, took to his heels as if his bag had been made of feathers. The girl looked after him with pleasure sparkling in her eyes. What will you take for the rest of your nosegays?' said I, going up to her. "Whatever you please to give me,' cried she, with vivacity; 'for that good man's money will burn my pocket till I get home to give it to my mother. Oh: how glad will she be to have all that, and still more so when she knows why it has been given me.' The reader will easily believe that my purchase was speedily made; the good girl's purse was something heavier for it; and I had the pleasure of thinking that I had contributed, in a small degree, to reward the goodness of heart which had so unequivocally been displayed by the little nosegay girl of the Pont Neuf. THE ROBIN A TEACHER. As often as I hear the robin-redbreast chant it as cheerfully in September, the beginning of winter, as in March, the approach of the summer, why should not we (thinks I), give as cheerful entertainment to the hoary frosty airs of our age's winter, as to the primroses of our youth's spring? Why not to the declining sun in adversity, as, like Persians, to the rising sun of prosperity? I am sent to the ant, to learn industry; to the dove, to learn innocency; to the serpent, to learn wisdom; and why not to this bird, to learn equanimity and patience, and to keep the same tenor of my mind's quietness as well at the approach of the calamities of winter as of the spring of happiness? And since the Roman's constancy is so commended, who changed not his countenance with his changed fortunes, why should not I, with a Christian resolution, hold a steady course in all weathers? and though I be forced with cross winds to shift the sails and catch at side-winds, yet skilfully to steer and keep on my course, by the cape of good hope, till I arrive at the haven of eternal happiness?Warwick. BIBLICAL CURIOSITY. The 21st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra contains every letter of the alphabet, and is the only one thus distinguished And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of Heaven shall require of you, it shall be done speedily.' A HINDOO FAMILY. Under the cool shade of that wide-spreading banian-tree, which shoots forth its tendrils and multiplies its pillared branches, an avenue around the parent stem, you will perceive a Hindoo family. The party consists of a man, his wife, and youthful daughter; their baggage has just been removed from the back of that weak and hungry-looking ox. It is about ten o'clock, and a meal has been prepared by the mother and daughter. The husband and father having pulled off his turban and upper garments, till his body is bared to the waist, he eats his solitary breakfast; neither wife nor daughter is allowed to partake with him. As soon as he has finished his repast, his daughter brings the ox's saddle, on which he lays himself down to sleep. The mother and daughter are then at liberty to take the portion which has been left for them: nor are they discontented; it is the universal custom of their people, and they have known no other. It was not, however, their lot to find rest when their scanty meal was finished. Though just come off a journey, they were busily employed in preparing the ingredients for the afternoon supply; firewood was first to be gathered. The fireplaces are of simple, or rather rude preparation; two oblong holes in the ground containing the lighted wood, over which the cooking vessels are placed. The whole stock of culinary utensils consists of four earthen pots or chatties, and a brass pot. This last is an important part of the Hindoo's kitchen apparatus; it is used for drawing water and drinking from; as brass is almost the only material which can be used without violating their superstitious usages, since it admits of being cleansed, even although it has been touched by the impure saliva. Plates and dishes find a substitute, in the Hindoo kitchen, in the leaf of the Indian fig-tree. This leaf is of a thick and glutinous quality, and when dry and pinned together with bits of straw or thorns, it forms a substantial plate, off which I have myself taken my food. The turmeric, the tamarind, the cocoa-nut, the garlic, and red pepper, with other condiments, compose the mixture provided by these females for the dinner of their sleeping lord; and now they, one or the other, lie down to indulge the almost universal custom, and take their forenoon sleep. When the sun has gone down from his meridian, they will rise and make preparations for resuming their journey.-Massie. HOME. The dearest spot on earth to me Is home, sweet home.' There's something ever charming there, Is home, sweet home. At home, sweet home. Oft my ardent wishes rise For home, sweet home- To home, sweet home, Since memory 's purest pler sures spring More beauteous than home. Oh, may I truly look to heaven And may a foretaste now be given There, dearest friends, soon may we be, J. Y. Printed and published by JAMES HOGG, 122 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh; to whom all communications are to be addressed. Sold also by J. JOHNSTONE, Edinburgh; J. M'LEOD, Glasgow: W. CURRY, jun. & Co., Ireland; R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, London; W. M'COMB, Belfast; G. & R. KING, Aberdeen; R. WALKER, Dundee; G. PHILIP, Liverpool; FINLAY & CHARLTON, Newcastle; WRIGHTSON & WEBB, Birmingham; A. HEYWOOD and J. AINSWORTH, Manchester; G. CULLINGWORTH, Leeds; and all Booksellers. |