for me to reach Glasgow before the opening of the meeting, if I took a forenoon train the next day from Liverpool, I resolved to profit by the accident, to visit an old acquaintance of mine who resided in one of the suburbs of the city, and from whom I had frequently received, and as often been obliged to decline, a warmly hospitable invitation.

I knew his house was not large, and his establishment I presumed to be on a strictly bachelor scale; but having lived a good deal about the world for many years, I can accommodate myself with ease to any circumstances into which I find myself thrown; and I own that I thought more of the pleasure of seeing and conversing with my old friend, than of the slight disturbance which my unexpected arrival might cause in his household. On arriving at the station, therefore, I engaged a fly, and set out at once for Dr Blackburn's house. The way was long, and dark, and dreary'-if Miss Rosie will forgive me a parody on her favourite poet-we rattled through innumerable streets, and wandered along a devious course in a wilderness of semi-detached dwellings' and 'suburban villas,' which seemed to have no end. At length we reached a small, but substantial house, standing somewhat back from the high road in a garden, which was surrounded by a high brick-wall; and on sending in my card, Dr Blackburn at once appeared at the entrance-door, with a hearty greeting, and a warm invitation to me to enter. The first few minutes were occupied by my explanation of the circumstances which led to my unexpected intrusion; and it was not till my portmanteau was deposited in the hall, and the flyman had driven away, that Dr Blackburn's old servant was able, after sundry mysterious winks and nudges, to attract his master's attention, and draw him to one side.

After a few words spoken in a low tone, Blackburn turned to me with a laugh, in which, however, there was a shade of embarrassment. Why, Brunton,' he said, here is Stevens reminding me, with a face of horror, that there is positively not a vacant corner in the house. There is a trial for poisoning, of great professional interest, going on at the assizes, and Aand G―, whom you must remember, are staying with me to attend it, and they occupy the only two spare rooms which the house contains'- I interrupted him by saying that it was of no consequence, I would spend the evening with him, and return to the railway hotel for the night. 'Impossible,' he exclaimed. 'You are fully two miles from the station; and how could you convey your impedimenta? We are far beyond the region of perpetual cabs here. No, no; we shall manage a shake-down for you; though I shall not be able to make you as comfortable as I should like to see a friend whom I have so long wished to have under my roof.'

A few instructions in a stage-aside to Stevens-in which I heard the words 'camp-bed,' 'a large tub,' and 'laboratory'-and Blackburn turned, and ushered me into the large, low, but comfortable and well-lighted dining-room, where his two guests were still sitting at the table. A portion of the well-cooked dinner was soon heated and set before me, and we sat conversing on many subjects of interest to us all, till a late hour. When we rose to separate for the night, Blackburn recommenced a series of apologies for the rough lodging he was obliged to give me, which I with difficulty cut short by assuring him of my indifference on the subject. He then took a lantern from the servant, and opening a side-door, led the way across a paved yard surrounded by outhouses, and through a small shrubbery beyond, to a detached building; which, from having been an apple-room or some dependency of the garden, he had converted into a laboratory and museum. He unlocked the door with a key which he carried in his hand, and we entered a

good-sized room, the walls of which were hung all round with curtains of green stuff, concealing shelves loaded with various chemical preparations and studies in anatomy and natural history.

Blackburn was a retired physician of considerable local celebrity; but being in independent circumstances, he had for some time relinquished the duties of his profession, and devoted himself to the sciences that are more immediately in connection with it. Chemistry and anatomy had led him, on to mineralogy and geology; and entering warmly into the controversy excited in the scientific world about that time by the appearance of a very remarkable work on the lastnamed science, he had been devoting his leisure for some months before the time I am now speaking of, to the composition of a pamphlet, to be entitled Comparative Anatomy in the Paleozoic Ages, which was to give the world some ideas of his own on the subject. It was thus he accounted to me for various uncouth forms, models in miniature of the gigantic plesiosauri and pterodactyles of geology, which dangled from the ceiling, and cast grotesque shadows on the whitewashed upper part of the walls. A large table had been hastily cleared to receive my dressing apparatus; and Blackburn handled with something of regretful tenderness a number of human skulls, collected to furnish evidence in support of some theory regarding the origin of the varieties in the human race, which had been disrespectfully cast by Stevens, in the course of his hospitable preparations for my comfort, into a corner of the room, where they lay grinning upon a heap of other bones, both fossil and recent, which were awaiting the collector's leisure to be classified and arranged in order on the shelves. We fell into conversation on the subjects suggested by these evidences of my friend's favourite studies, and some time elapsed before he left me for the night, promising to send his servant to call me at an early hour in the morning.

I locked the door as soon as my friend retired, and then made a fresh examination of the somewhat singular apartment which had been hastily prepared for my reception: and in order to make what I am going to relate more intelligible, I will describe the room as it then appeared to me. It was nearly square, and, as I have said before, of considerable size. One of the sides was formed by the high brick-wall of which I have spoken as surrounding my friend's house; and from this wall, which may have been about fifteen feet high, the roof sloped gradually, till, at the opposite side of the apartment, the space between the roof and the floor was not more than nine feet. The room was not ceiled, but the rafters and beams were whitewashed, as well as the space left at each end between the green curtains which covered the walls all round, and came close to the roof, where it was lowest, and the gradually increasing height of the walls. The door was in the centre of one end of the room; opposite to it was a large open chimney, with a raised slab of stone supporting dogs for burning wood, on which was now heaped a brightly glowing pile. At one side of this cheerful fireplace stood a large tin-bath full of water; and on the other, a small camp-bed was spread with the freshest and whitest of linen. My portmanteau, and the table spread with my dressing - apparatus, occupied a third corner; and the fourth contained the heap of bones and skulls already mentioned. A large leather-covered arm-chair, and an old-fashioned spiderlegged table before the fire, completed the furniture. After making my preparations for the night, the fire looked so temptingly cheerful, that, my mind being occupied with the subjects we had discussed during the evening, I could not resist seating myself in the arm-chair, and indulging in a little half-drowsy meditation. By and bye, however, the atmosphere of the room became rather oppressive; the fire, heaped up by hospitable hands, gradually drew from the bones and

life. I seemed almost by force to recall my scattered senses; and the room being now perfectly dark, I succeeded by slow degrees in gliding from the bed to the floor, while my tormentor, apparently satisfied with the revenge it had taken, curled itself up in the very place I had just quitted, and slept-at least so I conjectured from the cessation of its restless movements, and now and then a heavy grunt, or snort, which bore a humiliating likeness to a human snore.

The hours which followed were among the longest I ever remember to have passed. In slipping from my bed, I had so entangled myself with the sheet, that I found it would be impossible to move without disturbing my horrible neighbour: the wound in my temple smarted, and my head ached severely, and I could not repress an occasional shudder, half of cold, and half of nervous excitement, which ran through me like a convulsion. Every time this occurred, I expected my enemy to wake; but the long, dark, weary hours dragged on, and he still appeared wrapped in slumber.

At length, with joy and thankfulness which I will not attempt to describe, I perceived a faint light, like a gray mist, steal over the black darkness around me. It was near the end of October, and I remembered that the sun did not rise much before seven o'clockconsequently, that it was probably now not far from six, and I might reasonably expect before long to be released from a situation which was all but intolerable. I was summoning my best energies to my aid, and considering what means I could adopt to get the door open before I should be overpowered by the creature, which I felt sure would spring at me as soon as I moved, when I heard voices in the garden, and in another moment some one loudly knocked at the door, and implored me to open, for God's sake, if I was alive.

The creature started up at the sound, made one furious rush at the opening of the curtain, which now let in a streak of decided daylight; and at the same moment the crash of broken glass, and a succession of wild piercing cries announced that it had missed its leap, and fallen into the hands of its captors. I confess that at this moment of release from the horrible fate which had been impending over me for so many hours, I felt my strength of mind and body at once give way, and became completely insensible.

When I revived, I found myself stretched on the bed, the chill morning air blowing in from the open doorway-the door having been wrenched from its hinges -and poor Blackburn, with a face of the deepest anxiety, bending over me with some powerful stimulant. Oh, thank God, thank God!' he exclaimed, as I endeavoured to rise and speak to him. Keep quiet, my dear fellow; do not move or speak; only look at me, if you are in your senses.' In a few minutes, I could not only look, but speak, and assure him that I was practically but little the worse for the unpleasant night I had passed; but he would scarcely listen to me, and kept on repeating: "The satyrus! the wild man of the woods! the most fierce and relentless of animals! -how can you have escaped with life?'

"I thank God that it is so,' I replied earnestly; for truly it has been only the hand of His protection that has guarded me. But where did the creature come from, and how did you discover that it had paid me a

history, and that I have a small collection in the garden here, gave me the brute a few days ago. I had him chained in an empty stable; and last night, after shewing him to A and G- I must have missed the lock of the door, and turned the key without shutting it. The man who feeds and attends to my animals came as usual about six o'clock this morning; and finding the stable empty, at once gave the alarm. We traced his footsteps across the mould of the garden, to the window of this room, which to our consternation we found open. You may fancy to what a pitch my fears increased, when on knocking at the door the fierce brute flew out of the window, and, catching its foot on the iron stanchion, fell to the ground. It was overpowered, not without some ugly bites and scratches; and we then forced open the door of this room, fully prepared to find your mangled body. Nothing was to be seen but the empty bed, and a large stain of blood on the pillow; but we soon found you, insensible, and as I at first thought dead; though a little examination sufficed to shew that you had received no mortal injury. I cannot express my thankfulness. But your escape is a perfect marvel to me; and as soon as you are rested and refreshed, you must give me an account of what happened.'

Before long, I was seated at a cheerful breakfasttable, and making up as best I could for the wear and tear of my constitution during the last few hours. By the time I reached Glasgow, there remained little outward trace of my night's adventure, except a very disreputable black eye, which, for my character's sake, I was forced to cover with a patch; but I will own that many nights elapsed before my sleep ceased to be disturbed with frightful visions, or I could get rid of the sight of a grinning, fiendish face, which always started out of the darkness when I closed my eyes. Indeed, to this day I do not think I ever hear mention made of Liverpool without remembering the very uncomfortable night I passed, in my first and last visit there, more than ten years ago.

PROGRESS OF CO-OPERATION. THEORETICALLY, the mode in which we are supplied with food and other articles of necessity and comfort is faultless. Private individuals, without any view to the convenience of the public, but actuated solely by interested motives, undertake the supply of the articles in constant demand; merely adding to the cost-price the remuneration they demand for their trouble, and a fair proportion of the expense they are at, in shops, assistants, &c., in conducting their business. These individuals being numerous, act as a check upon each other; for their competition must necessarily be in excellence of quality, in moderation of price, in all things that can make services of the kind acceptable; and so the public are supplied with the best of everything at the lowest price, and with no more trouble than that of selecting their tradesmen.

This is the theoretical view of the subject: the practical one is a little different. We find in practice that the competition is not in regard to realities but appearances; and when this is the case, of course the palm is achieved by those who can deceive best. The gracious public must be made to imagine that they obtain a good article at a low price; and as these two things are incompatible, the article must be so skilfully adulterated as to seem good while it can be profitably sold cheap. Whether this is the fault of the dealers or the public is of no consequence: the fact stands all the same, and it throws discredit upon the whole competitive system.

Another system, our readers are aware, has been tried by various bodies of the working-classes-a system in which the motive-power is co-operation instead of competition; and there is now before us a paper which was partially read before the Social Science meeting at Birmingham, giving the results of the experiments of two of these co-operative bodies.* One of these, the People's Co-operative Flour-mill, we described at large on a former occasion.† We mentioned that the proximate cause of its establishment at Leeds in 1847 was the high price of flour and its excessive adulteration; the millers combining to keep up the price of their manufacture without regard to the rises and falls of grain in the market. Under these circumstances, the working classes of the locality determined, at a public meeting, to purchase and manufacture for themselves, and thus to obtain 'pure flour at as near prime cost as possible.' It is interesting to observe the course of the experiment since then, which in fact has been so uniformly and triumphantly successful as to go a great way of itself in demonstrating the soundness of the principle. The shares were at first a guinea each, but were afterwards raised to nearly fifty shillings. The flour was sold at first at cost-price, but a profit is now added; the advantages were at first confined to the members, but the public is now admitted to share: the business for the first five years never exceeded L.27,000 in the year, and has since then increased to L.72,000.

The existing trade could not stand unmoved before this new competitor. The price of flour was reduced, and adulteration, before excessive, became unknown in Leeds. In order to judge of the price of so fluctuating an article, this rule will suffice: that when grain is sold at so many shillings per quarter, flour will remunerate at the same number of half-pence per stone of fourteen pounds. Thus, when corn is 60s. per quarter, flour can be sold with a profit at sixty half-pence, or half-a-crown per stone. When the Society's flour was sold at about cost-price, it was still 1d. below the reduced marketprice, and saved the purchasers L.2000 a year. Even now, when it is sold at a remunerating price, governed by the markets, it is never above the half-penny per stone to the shilling per quarter, but often below that

rate.

The following are the general results of this interesting experiment as given in the pamphlet in an address

to the members:

1st. Flour was abominably adulterated in Leeds before we began, and you know we have been supplied with a perfectly pure article from our mill, no adulteration being ever permitted.

2d. You know that the price of flour often bore no natural ratio to the price of corn, but that dealers advanced the price of flour at their pleasure; and you know that since our operations we have steadied the markets, and reduced the scale-charge for flour at least 1 d. to 2d. per stone below the millers' previous charges.

3d. You know that the original members never paid more than 21s. each, so that 3270 members' subscriptions would come to L.3433, 10s.; and you know that you have withdrawn bonuses to the amount of L.5937, 11s. 8d., or L.2508, 10s. 8d. more than was ever paid in; and your directors now hereby declare to you, that by valuation of mill, fixtures, and stock,

The Economic and Moral Advantages of Co-operation in the Provision of Food, instanced in the People's Flour-mill Society at Leeds, and in the Rochdale Co-operative Pioneers' Store. Leeds: Green.

+ See Journal, No. 51, for December 1854.

up to July 1, 1857, your capital amounts to the sum of L.9083, 5s. 3d. above the said bonuses.'

The other experiment of the kind has been tried at Rochdale, and with a result quite as satisfactory. with the same object, as the one at Leeds; but here It commenced in 1844, from the same causes, and it began with groceries, and extended seriatim to butcher's meat, flour, coal and potatoes, clothing, drapery, shoes, clogs, hats, &c. 'Wages being generally paid at Rochdale on Friday and Saturday evenings about seven o'clock, it is a perfect wonder to see the numbers of well-dressed working-men and their wives walking quietly into the grocers' shops, where, beginning at the left-hand counter in No. 1 department, they senting the money, and then move on to No. 2, and so are supplied with goods, pay, get their tickets repreon to the eighth or ninth shopman; then into the butcher's shop, the flour, the potato, and the clothing rooms. On Friday, the 27th September, at half-past seven in the evening, I stood and counted sixty-five people in the grocery store, twelve in the meat and flour, and five or six in the clothing shops; and I was people purchasing at one time, who take their turns in informed they have sometimes more than one hundred the order of attendance. The purchases average fifteen to sixteen shillings per week per member, clothing being about one to twelve in amount, as compared to food.' From the net profits of this Society-called the Rochdale Pioneers' Co-operative Store-2 per cent. is set aside for the means of intellectual improvement. They have a library of 1600 or 1700 volumes, free to the members, and a news-room partially free. They have purchased a considerable part of the property they occupy. They make no display in their shopwindows, spend nothing in advertising, buy and sell for ready money, and instead of being in want of funds, have more than they know what to do with.

In 1844, the amount of the society's funds was L.28; In 1845, the in 1856, it had increased to L.13,000. In 1845, the profit was L.33; and in 1856, it was business done was L.710; in 1856, it was L.63,197. L.3922, or 35 per cent. on the capital.

The advantages of the co-operative system are numerous. It gives its members better goods for their money, because, instead of having any inducement to adulterate, or manufacture superficially, its interest is Its customers being ready, waiting for supply, there is no risk of overstocking; quite the other way. it has no need, therefore, of publishing that it will get rid of its winter goods at any sacrifice to make room for its spring stock; and being under no necessity of laying baits for patrons, it spends nothing in plate glass, gilding, chandeliers, or puffing advertisements. Dealing for ready money, it has no bad debts, and no law expenses. All who know intimately,' says the pamphlet, the habits of the working-classes, know food and clothing on credit. Once tied fast to the what a fearful evil the practice is of purchasing their shopkeeper, then follows, as a rule, high prices for bad articles; the food is adulterated, and the clothing inferior; poverty is thus made poorer, and to debt is canker and a curse. What, then, must be the benefits often added law, and pauperism naturally follows, a well by the poor to be so great an evil, and yet felt to of a complete change of the habit of credit? known be so hard to get rid of when once formed. And yet this change has been effected by these societies. The transactions of the managers of the Leeds and Rochdale societies are all, both buying and selling, on readynever out of debt, who crouched to the shopkeeper, and money principles. As a consequence, those who were dreaded the bailiff, are now fearless and clear of all incumbrance: they are consequently independent, and feel morally as well as socially elevated. Able to lay out their money to the best advantage, their houses become better furnished, and cleaner; their food is