TIE IALIFA NOVEMBER 12, 1842. FREE PRESS. No. XI. Price One Penny, And now the time in special is, by privilege, to write and speak what may help to the further discussing of matters in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his two controversal faces, might now not unsignificantly be set open : and though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing.— MILTON'S AREOPAGITICA. ADVERTISEMENTS. S. DENTON, Tailor and Woollen Draper, begs to inform his Friends and the Public that he has received the present Fashions, with his usual Stock of Winter Goods, consisting of Waterproof Beavers, Tweeds, Pilot Cloths, with every other description of Goods, suitable to the Tailoring and Woollen Drapery businesses. S. D. in returning thanks to his Friends for their past favours, earnestly begs a con- tinuance of the same, assuring them nothing shall be want- ing on his part to give satisfaction as to'cheapness, quality of material, and elegance of style. The best London Hats from the most approved makers. 2, Corn Market End, Halifax. TO THE TRUSTEES UNDER THE IMPROVEMENT ACT FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF HALIFAX. GENTLEMEN,— As the resignation of Mr. MICHAEL GARLICK, your present Clerk, has now placed that Office at your dis- posal, allow me most respectfully to announce to you that I am a Candidate for the situation he has so long occupied in connexion with you. Of my qualifications, you will no doubt form an opinion without any special reference on my part, and, perhaps, with more satisfaction to yourselves than a statement of my own might produce. Should you consider me worthy of your support, the favour of your Vote , and Interest will be highly esteemed. If elected to the office, I shall endeavour to discharge its duties to the best of my ability. I am, Gentlemen, Your most obedient Servant, JOSEPH COCKIN HOATSON. West Hill, Halifax, Nov. 3, J 842. THE ESSAYIST. ON A PREACHING " GUARDIAN: " He is a man, take him for all in all, I ne'er shall look upon his like again." 1 imagine it will be acknowledged, on all hands, that a true chronicle of public events, with a fair and honest representation of all parties and individuals concerned, would be a most valuable acquisition to the reading public of every town having institutions aud offices to maintain from the public purse,— whether by voluntary or compulsory payments. In the hope of securing so desirable an end, ardent and long continued struggles have been made, to obtain cheap newspapers. Cheapness, however, is not the only requisite ; for, in many instances this very cheapness fosters an evil which over- balances the good, by opening a way, and affording facilities to needy, ignorant, violent, and base adventurers, who. are thereby enabled to live upon, and to riot in, the mischief and misunderstandings they create. Persons who would never have been known beyond the pre- cincts of a country school, who would never have risen above the office of usher in some such establish- ment, have made themselves notorious by setting up business as news- mongers, and having adopted the title of Editor, imagine themselves qualified and fully entitled to regulate all public affairs, and to dictate every movement in society. From tbe moment of his self- inauguration, each individual adopts the plural pronoun, and from that auspicious era, regards himself as a multitude. His humbler neighbours must henceforth court his favour, or suffer all sorts of annoyance; they must buy his paper, or be the butt of his malevolence and misrepresentation, his petty taunts and false accusations.- They must be maligned, ridiculed, abused, and have all sorts of folly and falsehood palmed upon them,— nay, he robs them of all honourable intentions, and holds them up to scorn and contempt; having first dressed them in his own garb to suit the occasion. Perhaps a specimen of a more reckless character, and composed of baser materials than the " Halifax Guardian " does not make its appearance in any part of the world; except America and the West Indies, where truth and fairness are known to be of no consideration. It is well we have other sources of information, and much higher standards of morality, or we might expect to sink in the scale of society, as tbe Americans have done by such means.— The in- habitants of Halifax are as unfortunately situated in this respect, as the Americans. A one- sided and prejudiced view is taken of nearly every question ; and although we are well aware how necessary it is to add to, or take from, almost every statement, yet it is difficult to ascertain the exact and proper quantity. I have read, with mingled feelings of disgust and contempt, the late weekly effusions of virulence and falsehood contained in the miscalled " Guardian " of Halifax. Nothing can be more vile and base than the attempts which are continually put forth to create a bad feeling in the town, against the present acting Trustees, for deeds done, and business neglected, by their predecessors. An article on the subject of the search for water, in the last week's " Guardian," contains more falsehood, misrepresentation, and personal abuse, than could have been expected, judging from the writer's submissive conduct at the meeting. He complained of the Trustees granting the sum of three hundred pounds to carry on the search, yet he neglected to raise his voice against it at the meeting, — he sajs there is nothing but dissatisfaction at the result; and yet, instead of mentioning this dissatis- faction, he appeared to sanction the grant as cordially as any Trustee,— gentleman I had like to have said ; — reserving his vituperation and venom for sale. Nothing could he say gratis ;— no advice, no caution, no warning could he offer at a time when a reply might have proved him to be no oracle. He seemed to know he was not in the pulpit, where, safe from reply, he can talk away with some volubility, although his speech be as devoid of reason, as his writing is of truth. The new arrangement of electing committees to carry into effect the orders of the Trustees, has now been in operation nearly three years, during which time these committees have paid much attention to the general business of the Trustees, to the state of the funds, and also to the very large amount of long due but uncollected rates. They found many individuals owing rates for six, eight, and some more than ten years. They also found that great numbers of warrants had been obtained from the magistrates, but had not been served upon the parties ; and against several they found that more than one warrant had been issued, while others owing large amounts, had been allowed to stand over. A few who had been visited had paid small sums on account, others had not paid anything, several had removed out of the town, and many were dead. It appeared that large sums of money had been lost through their neglect. The committee ordered schedules to be made out to ascertain the real state of affairs. From these schedules it was found that more than five thousand pounds were owing in rates that were due, and likely to be obtained; independent of the large sums lost by the circumstances above enumerated, and also by the statute of limitation. Now, the candid Editor was fully acquainted with all these facts; he liaviDg attended the meeting at which reports were read containing every particular. He, however, makes no remark upon this state of affairs ; he neither praises the committee for their labours, no censures any body else for rendering such labour indispensably necessary. All his anathemas, his scorn, and affected contempt, are reserved for the men who have toiled in this service, for the good of their fellow- townsmen. Notwithstanding the large amount of unpaid rates, and the four hundred pounds expended in the search for water, besides building the house and sheds on Gibbet Hill, and several other improvements effected in the town during the last three years, the Trustees have paid several hundred pounds towards the old debt. The Editor knew all this, and yet, for vile party purposes, he misrepresents all the facts of the case, and then forsooth calls himself our " Guardian." The first objection taken is on the illegality of borrowing too much money on the rates. The party he abuses have borrowed none; they are only guilty of paying. His friends have borrowed the money— the men he has styled " needy Trustees," and whom he has often complimented for their polite and gentle- manly conduct; while, at the sametime, he designated their opponents " bears and brawlers," no doubt meaning by the " polite gentlemen," cunning foxes, and by " bears and brawlers"— watch- dogs,— animals remarkably noisy when thieves are about. He tells us the new bye- laws proposed by the com mittee " will prevent peculation;" his friends, how- ever, have had no hand in suggesting them, and are likely never to thank those who have. What a pity the " bears and brawlers," ^ he noisy watch- dogs, did not speak out sooner, and prevent the peculation and the money borrowing of the " needy Trustees," who have been always distinguished for politeness and gentlemanly conduct. His second objection is, that the search for water is out of the township, and that the local act gives jurisdiction in the township only. The act, however does not contain one single clause forbidding the purchase of other springs, but expressly authorizes such purchase. The Editor would perhaps wish to recommend an act for Halifax to extend as far beyond the limits of the township, as his lucubrations extend beyond the boundaries of truth and fairness. The first of these objections would have been better timed during the Haugh Shaw Lane mania; because a great deal more money was owing then, than is owing now; and every one but himself will allow the present search for water to be as much a public work, as the widening of Haugh Shaw Lane ; yet he gave us many learned dissertations to prove the reasonableness and justice of that outlay, He. will remember how he abused, and ridiculed, and falsely reported, those who opposed it. Perhaps he may also call to mind that a pamphlet was published by his op- ponents of that time, to prove the outlay to be illegal, on the very ground of too much money being then owing upon the rates. Possibly he may recollect many, as he thought, brilliant articles in favour of the said improvement; maintaining the justice, legality, and desirableness of the proposed alteration ; and on the folly, madness, and vulgarity of those, who thought then, as he pre- tends to think now. On the former occasion the money borrowed war- to serve a party; what is expending now, is laid out to 2 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. serve the public,— to procure water, not to be given to favourites, but to be sold to customers. Although he labours hard to convict the committee on the water search, of sslfishness, and other base motives, yet he is obliged to acknowledge that every propo- sition they have laid before the general body of trustees, has been unanimously agreed to; that not- withstanding his mighty efforts to prove and expose the sinister designs of the committee, they still con- tinue to be entrusted with all the money they ask for. If his preaching be no more effectual than his writing, we may exclaim in the touching language ofEugenius " Alas! poor Yorick 1" The money, however, now laid out upon this offensive business of procuring water, is not borrowed, but comes from a surplus fund, arising from water rents; how, then, could it be more legitimately expended than in procuring a better, more constant, and more abundant supply ? Would not our " Guardian " be better employed in persuading the people to pay up their arrears of rates, than in advising them to refuse to do so, and furnishing them with legal quibbles for evasions If he wished to act honestly towards the committee, and to tell the truth to the ratepayers, he would inform his readers that only a two shillings rate had been proposed by the committee,— that they had been con- stantly lessening the debt out of this two shillings rate, and that their predecessors had created the debt with an income arising out of a two- and- sixpenny and sometimes a four shillings rate. Had he been honest, there can be no doubt he would have taken care, some time or other, to state these facts. The difference of management will appear clear to every reflecting mind. A large debt has been con- tracted with a two- and- sixpenny and with a four shillings rate; and the same debt considerably lessened by a two shillings rate, besides the enormous amount of five or six thousand pounds of outstanding arrears, and four hundred pounds laid out in search for water. How would the matter have stood, if, for the last ten years, the street rates had been collected as promptly as the poor rates ? Why, the debt would now have been entirely paid off. Did the borrowers of our great debt institute any inquiry into the sub- ject of arrears, or investigate the conduct of the officers they appointed to watch over the collection of the rates ? No ; this business was left entirely to the paying party of the Trustees— the very party who are now blamed and abused, no doubt for doing so, by the man who has dubbed himsflf " Guardian," and who apparently imagining our town's people too careless to> think, and to ignorant to reason for themselves,, has therefore taken upon himself the task of thinking and reasoning for them ; pretending to guard1 them against imposition, to help them out of difficulties, and even to instruct them in the abstruse science of the law The lawyers boast of an axiom relative to their pro- fession, and which they drink as a toast on all public occasions, namely " The glorious uncertainty of the law." Our " Guardian," however, who considers himself the personification of wisdom, knows nothing of uncertainties on any subject. He has in this case, like a true lawyer, taken both sides of the question' and exerted his abilities to the utmost; maintaining the most opposite opinions. He will no doubt, as matter of business, plead the privilege of a hireling in both cases, and be ready to declare in pulpit language, that the " labourer is worthy of his hire,' and that he, like a good servant, is willing to adopt the advice given to the soldiers, by a brother preacher " be content with your wages." I will offer no further comment upon these facts; but leave the town's people to form their own opinions of an Editor, who is ever ready to write on either side of any question, to suit his party. I cannot but think that his week- day and sabbath- day effusions form so glaring and disreputable a contrast, as entirely to destroy the value of both, and render him an objec! utterly despicable in the estimation of all honest men and real Christians. OBSERVER. EXERCISES, REVIEWS, AND ACTION* No. VII.— IRELAND. " When a larger country holds a smaller in a legis- lative union, it clearly ought to do one of two things — either make the union comfortable to the smaller country or quietly give it up. All else is tyranny - f and tyranny does not last ; and what does not last is sure to fall.— Exercises, vol. ii, p. 430. So said Col. Thompson in 1833, and so we have no doubt would he say in 1842; but tyranny is ever blind and heedless of admonition. There was a legis- lative union between Holland and Belgium, and Hol- land would neither make the union comfortable, nor quietly give it up, nor did she heed the admonition of such monitors as Col. Thompson, so one fine morn- ing the brave Belgians took the matter into their own hands, and made the Orangemen scamper. There are more analogies than one in the relationship which subsisted between Holland and Belgium, and that which subsists between Great Britain and Ireland. In both cases did the dominant party take the name of Orangemen ; in both cases was the ruling nation Pro- testants, and the ruled Catholics; but , the Dutch Orangemen never ventured so far as to take the churches and the endowments of the Belgians away from them, and substitute their owu " heresy," as the British have done in Ireland. Well! it will finish some day; " tyranny does not last, and what does not last is sure to fall." There is one important reason why it cannot last, which is, that the British nation, or certainly all tbe better part of them sympathise with the oppressed Irish nation, and not with the English aristocracy. Let us hear Col. Thompson's opinion on this point: — " Two thirds of the British people believe the ob- jects for which Ireland is deprived of law to be de- cidedly opposed to their own immediate interests. They not only do not believe in the necessity hut they believe against it; they believe that if the truth were told, the necessity would be the. other way."— Vol. ii, page 431. Again— " The ministers are possibly mistaken in thinking there is as little feeling out of doors for Ireland, as in the houses where the liberties of the country are made and unmade. The English people have viewed the Irish as their fellow labourers, and in fact the turning- point in their reform. Numbers of them are filled with recollections of Irish gallantry and Irish good fellowship; things are not where they were, when an Irishman was a hobgoblin of the stage, a sort of Helote, whether in the higher or lower classes, pro- duced to flatter English superiorities. The ministers had forgotten tbe steam- boats, when they went back to Tory times for precedents. They overlooked the host of Irish writers who had as effectually linked the feelings of Englishmen with the merry misery of the Irish peasant, as with the grave endurance and stoutre- sistance of the Scotch. The strong and general feeling in England is, thatalllrish misery springsfrom wrongs. Those who have seen Ii eland know it; and those who have not, take their word."— Vol. ii, p. 427. Of course he does not advise the oppressed Irish to attempt a rash or premature resistance. He says— ' The theory of resistance has not been so often discussed without coming to a pretty general arrange- ment on the circumstances which justify it. For a weak nation to resist, is a fault, and, therefore, a crime. This connexion of things piay not hold good invariably, but it is the allowed theory of political re- sistance. But how foolish is that government which puts itself into the category of injustice in reliance on its strength."— Vol. ii, p. 420. His ideas of the relative power of the combatants in the event of resistance may be collected from what follows— " The military situation of Ireland is probably nearly this,— That if a contest were commenced in which free access was given to the relative strength of the two parties, the shock from the organized force actually in the hands of her assailants, would be such, as Ireland would have no physical chance of resisting. But if anything should happen to blunt the operation of that first shock, and give Ireland one clear year for preparation at home and for the operation of cool reflection in the masses of the English people,— the chance of ever overpowering Ireland by force would be just where that of over- powering America is ;— the Honourable Napper Tandy or any body else, might put on his bag and small sword when he pleased and prepare for presenting himself at the English court as Mr. Adams did."— Vol. ii. p. 420. The safest and most effectual mode for achieving their liberty, he considers to be a hearty co- operation with the movement party in England, a course which will be the more clear for our Irish brethren, now that their great leader can no longer feel it necessary to hold back through fear of damaging a Whig Government. It is well known that the author of the the Exercises and the Irish leader took a very different view of the degree of support to which at one period the Whig government was fairly entitled, but we think there is now not likely to be any difference of opinion as to tbe course ivhich the friends of liberty in both countries should pursue. If the Irish are wise, they will not despond ; still less break off communion with the cause of freedom in England. We are all in the same net, and there is nothing to be done but gnaw a mesh asunder where we can; without asking whether Jew or Greek is to have the instant benefit. There is no use in getting into a passion with a nation ; there are good and bad in all, and the good do the best they can, and the bad the worst. Strength is in union,— and in the eschew- ing that basest of all policies, tbe true test of enemies in disguise, which props up one evil by discanting on the non- removal of another. Drive the pick- axe wherever it will go best and farthest. He that shakes slavery in the West Indies, gives it a push in the half- way house of Ireland; and commercial freedom at Liverpool, will react on the equality of creeds throughout the empire."— Vol. ii., p. 429. Nothing can be clearer than that the interest of those who are tyrannized over both in England and Ireland is the same, and that their true policy is to make common cause— the same men who make gagging bills for the Irish are those who lock up the. food of the English, the same sect that takes the tythe and the Church rate from the Irish Catholic takes them from the English Dissenter, and if there be gain to be made by a fraud, or an oppression practised on his weaker neighbour, the enemy cares not on which side the Irish channel it may be. It has been con> tinually the effort of the author of the Exercises to arouse the inhabitants of this side the Channel to the common interests they have in preventing op- pression on the other side. In his admirable paper in favour of Catholic Emancipation ( the Catholic State Waggon], published in 1830, speaking of the proposed disfranchisement of the Irish forty- shilling freeholders, he says :— " If the people of England see tbe votes of the forty- shilling freeholders taken away for using them,, then the vote of every man in England may be taken away for the same reason; election . is become a puppet- show, and the House of Commons Punch and Judy."— Vol. I, p. 6. s " If the people of England see unmoved the Irish freeholders deprived of their freehold for using it, they sign the death warrant of the little power they have to protect themselves; and of all their hopes of increasing it."— Vol. 1, p. 7. And shortly after the publication of that article, he devoted a separate paper to the subject of the Forty- shilling Freeholders of Ireland, wherein he says, " Remember that henceforth for ever, when some bloated abuse shrieks under the axe of a just majority, when it cries for mercy in the grasp of the finisher of the law, and stammers out the words " vested interests" in its terror — no answer but one arise from the assembled crowds,—" The Forty- shilling Freeholders!" Ye gave no mercy ;. why should ye have any ? When the question was of the vested rights of 200,000 men, given solemnly by ancient compact, and exercised for the noblest purposes that any compact could have in view ; these were as straw and stubble before your ardour to destroy— and why should the people's friends, in the hour of their strength and triumph, regard your antiquity of injustice and precedents of wrong.'' " When Ireland had sunk into a concealed civil war between the many and the few, the existence of the Forty- shilling Freeholders could bring forward able defenders of the poor man's rights, and amalga- mate the feelings of the noble with the injuriesof the peasant. Go to, now, and destroy all this. Tell the peasant he shall stand on one side of the ditch, and the constitution on the other ; but wonder not if he he seen breast high upon his passage, and if the next news of him be upon the crown of your defence." Vol. 1 ,, p. 86 and 87. The time is very auspicious for the disfranchised liish to agitate their claim for admission within the pale of the constitution, now that a similar claim is made by the unenfranchised millions of England and Scotland. A " Union" between the disfranchised Irish and the unfranchised English and Scotch is the best sort of " Union " and one which we should certainly not wish to see " repealed ;" for we think neither of the parties concerned would seek a divorce. But as to a permanent " Union " between the oppres- sor and the oppressed, as easily might we expect a cordial " Union" between oil and water. COADJUTOR. * In future, the articles communicated by " Coadjutor,'' will not appear as Letters, but as Essays,— the form in which they were originally intended to be printed. ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK.— After four years'labour, the repairs of the astronomical clock at Strasburg are completed. In this curious piece of mechanism, the revolutions of the sun, the moon, and the planets, are marked down with scientific exactness. Seven figures represent the days of the week, each appearing in its turn on the day allotted to it. The four ages came forward to strike the quarters, and the skeleton Death strikes the hours. At noon, the twelve Apostles advance in succession to bend down before the figure of our Saviour, who gives them the benediction. At the same moment, a cock claps his wings and crows three times. It is said to be one of tbe most curious pieces of clock- work in Europe. THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 OUll LETTER BOX. THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF SOLID LEARNING. To the Editors of the Free Press. GENTLEMEN,— I see in your " Free Press" of Oct. 29, a few statements signed " D. Mackintosh." The first I wish to notice is " the Manchester Mechanics' Institution has become really extinct;" this, I say, is a gross falsehood, " that is, converted into a news room and place of boisterous amusement;" this is false, also ; " only four out of 2,000 standard works in the library are, at an average, read ; while formerly nearly the whole of them were carefully perused ;" this appears to me to be something like a falsehood, also. When I look into the report for last year, that is the eighteenth annual report for the year ended on the 25th of February, 1842, I find that, in that year, the deliveries of books from the library for reading have been 36,792, which is an in- crease of upwards of 3,500 on the circulation of the previous year. The average circulation at the present time is about 1,400 per week. This looks like any thing rather than the decline of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution. The reading room, which continues to be a favourite resort of the members, is supplied with the following periodicals:— 10 quarterly, 25 monthly, 3 fortnightly, 7 weekly. The library, at the close of the year, contained 6,092 volumes, which are classed as follows:— Pure Sciences, 368 volumes. Mixed Sciences, 1,922. History, 1,335. Polite Literature, 2,422. Parliamentary reports, 21. Pamphlets, bound up, 26. The number of subscribers to the institution is 1,100. The total number of lectures for the year were fifty four. The Mutual Improvement class had forty- seven meetings, and 33 papers read. The Secretary of the Natural History department reports that that branch continues to meet regularly, once a fortnight, and that several very interesting papers have been read, during the year. He further states that several of the members have, of late, contributed articles to the botanical and entomological periodicals, which is a sufficient proof of the zeal and proficiency of the members in this department of science. The Chemistry class held 33 meetings, and had 10 papers read. The lecture room department cost the institution, for the year ending February, 1842, the sum of £ 257 4s. 2d and in addition to this they had 18 lectures delivered gratuit- ously. But as I am now taking up too much space in your paper, and the above is referable to nothing since February last, I will refer D. Mackintosh to a paragraph in the Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, for the 5th of November, in that paper he may see his Statistical FACTS noticed, and something said on the proceedings of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution, up to the present time. What the newspapers did formerly for the British Association I know not. All that I can say is that I have now before me a newspaper which has 21 whole columns appropriated to the proceedings of that As- sociation at Manchester. In these columns 1 find a paper ( by Mr. J. Travis Clay, one of the members of the Halifax Philosophical Society) given at some length, on the occurrence of boulders in the valley of the Calder. If the Halifax Philosophical Society have only lectures once in seven years, I must beg D. Mackin- tosh, to excuse them, as nothing less than some great AURORA BOREALIS or something much brighter will attract their notice. Three of these lights hare ap- peared lately. Mr. D. tells ns that science is now fairly expelled from the fashionable world. I will conclude this note by telling him that science is now got so far before him that 7 believe he has lost sight of it altogether, or to speak more candidly, I would say, that he never got sight of it at all. I am, Yours Respectfully, SAMUEL GIBSON. Hebden Bridge, Nov. 9th, 1842. SECOND LETTER FROM " A SPECIAL" To the Editors of the Halifax Fne Press. GENTLEMEN,— I have been advised not to answer Isaac Tomkins' epistle which appeared in last week's Press, but to consider it as unworthy of notice. I will, however, with your permission, sa" a few words relative to it, not that it calls for, or wcrtliy of, any remarks, but that I consider it as mucv my duty to expose a pretender to literature and knowledge, as I should consider it such to expose any other impostor. I did, certainly, when I wrote my first letter, give Isaac credit for some sense, however small the stock ; but, when " the Ass opened its mouth, and spake," this delusion vanished. He says thatjhe never argues with folly ; now I do; ergo, I will have a word with him. I consider that, as extremes meet, the fool and the philosopher are next door neighbours in the circle of human life. I like certainly to argue with a phil- osopher, when I can ; but if I cannot meet with one, give me a fool. I like not your mongrel breed, half way between philosopher and fool. Men of this stamp have too much of the mule in their disposition ; they are neither horse nor ass ; possessing neitherthe sprightliness of the one, nor the diverting stupidity of the other. In preference to such, let me argue with folly. Let, then, the mighty Isaacus put on his coxcomb; I would speak with this " learned Theban.'' I do not wonder that he wrote the " Plug Plot," nor ' hat he answered my former letter. It was natural, for, — " All fools have still an itching to deride, And fain would be upon the laughing side," But I do wonder that his defence should be so feeble, and yet so desperate. He has taken up a two- edged sword, with which, in his furious and ungainly efforts to reach his imagined enemies, he has cut off hisown head. He says that in writing the " Plug Plot" he " did not intend to give offence to any one." Indeed ! —" I threw stones at your windows, ' tis true, but, I did not intend to break them." O! learned judge! A Daniel come to judgment 1 He did not do any harm, I allow; I never said that he did ; but why I Because he could not. He is like a fangless serpent, having all the will, but not the ability to injure any one. I wonder that so learned and important a personage should condescend to illumine the " Free Press" with his shining. Let him, for the future, seek a medium more worthy of him. Iuuderstand that he occupies the elevated and honourable situation of principal correspondent, in Halifax, for the " Leeds Times." Now this is as it shouldbe ; it is his propersphere; let, him still continue to supply this spotless and scrupulously moral paper, with his inimitable " Ward's End " reports, and his still more unapproachable " Sketches of local char- acters." " Sweets to the sweet." I understand that Isaac hesitated to answer my letter, for fear that he should increase the- circulation of the Press, and thus put money into the purses of the proprietois 1 Hear this, ye peacock- tailed powers of egotism and self esteem ! Hear this, and worship ! I'am sorry that I must decline the offer of his Cobbett, as l am already supplied ; but I can with safety recommend it to my friends, as I am persuaded that it is as good as ever; having been very little used. As I do not intend to rival Isaac's epistle, in length at least, I must come to a conclusion ; but, previous to so doing, I would tender a bit of sage advice. Respected friend Isaac, do not think that I am in a passion ; I could not be iu a passion with thee ; thou art too innocent. Then " lend me thine ears." Or, rather, keep thine ears, as, without them, thou wouldst not he a fair specimen of thy species. But listen to me. Thou art too young a calf to go to grass; if thou trustesttothy foraging powers, thou wiltstarve; therefore return to thy mother's milk. Do not part with thy orammar; books were made to read. Study thy grammar, if it be but to appease the shade of its insulted author. As bad spelling has a very " un- scientific" appearance ; for the future, take care to write with a better pen. Good bye, Isaac ; I will not touch the sore place again ; and, if thou wilt but keep thy teeth close, thou mayest, at a future period, psss for a wise man, and, in time, even qualify thyself for the office of bill sticker. Yours Most Respectfully, A SPECIAL. Halifax, Oct. 26th, 1842. A young lady being asked to subscribe for the " Lady's Book," replied that she had already agreed to take a lady's companion. THE FLIGHT OF SWALLOWS.— The power of flight which the acuminated structure of its wing confers upon the swallow, is immense. Who is not familiar with this " faithful harbinger and companion of flowery spring," and has not marked its sudden sweeps, accomplished with the speed of light ? Wilson calculates that, in ten years,— and many of our small birds are known to live longer,— the swallow, occupied each day for ten hours, at an average rate of flight of a mile a minute, would pass over, in the course of its life, " two millions oue hundred and ninety thousand miles, or upwards of eighty times the circumference of the globe !" PORTRAIT PAINTING.— Genius is chiefly exerted in historical pictures ; and the art of painters of portraits is often lost in the obscurity of the subject, but it is in painting as in life;— what is greatest is not, always best. I should grieve to see Reynolds transfer to heroes and to goddesses, — to empty splendour and to fiction, that art which is now employed in diffusing friendship, in renewing tenderness, in quickening the affections of the absent, and continuing the presence of the dead.— Dr. Johnson. OUll CHATTER BOX. The following paragraph appears in the " Man- chester Chronicle and Salford Standard," of Saturday, Nov. 5th, and refers to some statements made, in our col imns, by Mr. D. Mackintosh:— Mechanics' In- stitution.— We have seen, in a paper published at Halifax, a statement, signed ' D. Mackintosh,' who, we believe, is a lecturer on geology, that ' the Man- chester Mechanics' Institution has become really ex- tinct,— that is, converted into a news- room and place of boisterous amusement. Only four out of 2,000 standard works in the library are at an average read, while formerly nearly the whole of them were care • fully perused.'— Upon what authority this statement has been made, we are at a loss to understand; but we have no hesitation in declaring that it is utterly false in all its parts. At the very last lecture given in the institution, no less than 1,100 persons attended, which looks like any thing rather than the extinction of the institution. There are 1,000 subscribers to the institution, and the library contains 6,100 volumes, the average circulation of which is 200 per day. Some years ago, the debt upon the institution was between £ 11,000 and £ 12,000 ; but by the vigorous exertions of the directors, this was lately reduced to £ 3,000 which now, remains as a mortgage upon the building, and arrangements have been made, within these few days, for paying off£ 500 of this sum. The library, we may add, is well selected; and, in reference to another statement by D. Mackintosh, we may mention that it never contained the nov el of Jack Sheppard." The witless blockhead who wrote " The Miser's Marriage," has as little knowledge of poetry, as he has either of decency or orthography. Philo- honour has come to hand. We are of opinion that sufficient space has already been devoted to the suhject of his letter, and, therefore have not in- serted it. X is informed that it is not our intention to issue the " Free Press" in monthly or quarterly parts, nor in any other way thin in weekly numbers. " Lines to England " want careful revision. One line of the third stanza wants a syllable, which lias probably been omitted in transcription ; the con- cluding line is also- faulty. Perhaps the writer will revise his piece, and remove these blots. " Lines addressed to Mr. C-——, on his leaving England for a foreign shore," shall be inserted. VOCAL MUSIC.— We are aware of the fact mentioned by Musicus, that an Association for the encourage- ment of Vocal Music has been formed in this town ; but we cannot insert his paragraph, because it would come under the denomination of " news." Of course Mr. Oestreicher will be the teacher engaged by the Association. A Charade, by " Tobias Colliertopping;" and another by D.; are among the accepted articles. " Premonstrator," " A new way of paying Debts," and several others, shall be noticed in our next. Another communication from " Isaac Tomkins," and a note from his " Messenger," came too late for this number., Answers to the Local Charades in our last number From Trimmingham, to Skireoat moor, Where asses often bray, sir, And thenee down to the Piece Hall door. If you should daily stray, sir :— You will not in your rambles see, ( Whatever the variety ;) A more degraded ass than he Of Plug Plot notoriety ! P. P. " I have a very foul stomach," said Dick, after having devoured a turkey, two chickens, and a wild duck, for his Christmas dinner \ REASONS FOR LEARNING TO SING.— The celebra- ted William Byrd, the author of Non nobis Domine, gave the following very forcible reasons for learning to sing, in a scarce work published in 1598, entitled, " Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Pietie." —" First.— It isa knovvledgeeasilie taught and quickly learned when there is a good master and an apt scholar. Secondly.— The exercise of singing is delight- ful to nature, and good, to preserve the health of man. Thirdly.— It doth strengthen all parts of the heart, and doth open the pipes. Fourthly.— It is a singular good remedie for a stuttering and stammering in the speech. Fifthly.— It is the best means to preserve a perfect pronunciation, and to make a good orator. Sixthly.— It the only way to know when Nature hath, bestowed a good voice ; which gifts is so rare that there is not oue among a thousand that bath it; and in many that excellent gift is lost because they want an art to express nature. Seventhly.— There is not any music of instruments whatsoever, comparable to that which is made of men's voices, when the voices are good, and the same well sorted and ordered. Eigthlv.— The better the voice is, the meeter- it is to honour and serve God therewith ; and the voice of. man is chiefly to be employed to that end.— OmWc spirilus laudet Dominum." THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. POETRY ORIGINAL. EPISTLE TO ISAAC TOMKINS. BY SIDROPHEL SEESTAR, ONE OF HIS CHIEF ADMIRERS* " Though you have tried that nothing's borne With greater ease than public scorn; That all affronts do still give place To your impenetrable face, That makes your way through all affairs, As pigs through hedges creep with theirs; Yet, as ' tis counterfeit and brass, You must not think ' twill always pass; For all impostors, when they're known, Are past their labour, and undone." Butler's Hudibras. Hail, Isaac Tomkins, gentleman or saint! Hail, hero dubb'd in literary paint! Hail, " leather head," or wooden heart, or both! Hail, beau ideal of wisdom, ' pon my oath ! Now, Isaac Tomkins, mark thee, lad; beware! Thy wit and wisdom may become a snare; And cause thee in thy bright career to falter, And get thy neck into some worthy halter. I've seen thee labouring'neath the brave tea- pack; Like donkey labouring ' neath o'erloaded sack, Which, winking, said " I like not life, this way Kick'd off the load, and turn'd him round to bray. Saying, " I like it not, my worthy fellows: Those who want labour's gilt may blow the bellows," Braying, did I say, Isaac ! Ah! my lad ! Thy braying's turn'd seme simple mortals mad. And why it should ' tis strange, as ' tis thy nature,— Donkeys are known by this, their leading feature. Oh ! Isaac, Isaac, thou must go to prison, As each rogue should " wot prigs wot isn't hisn:"—. For robbing Punch, and robbing the bright Sun j And of brave Specials making special fun. They say thou once didst steal a lion's hide ; And don it on, and wag thy tail in pride ; And every one ran scampering from thy way, Expecting a loud roar, which proved— a bray ! Which hearing, all exclaimed " let that not pass; The thing we thought a lion, isr-? an ass ! Stop, stop the sawney, in his race of pride; Tear off the borrow'd, show the real, hide. A vile pretender, void of power or sense;— Too weak for harm, too mean to give offence. Give him a feed,—' twill do the creature good. The thing's so poor, it's braying out for food." Oh ! Isaac, Isaac ; great men sometimes fall; And little ones, we know, are seldom tall; Though they should borrow stilts, to take the town, Sooner or later they come tumbling down ; And, in their fall, prove that which is most true,— Originality is— something new! Bear thy reverse with patience all thine own; Donkeys they say are patient as a stone !— Donkeys! If that be true, why, even in thee, Patience won't show originality. Oh ! Isaac, luckless Isaac, lack- a- day ! Thou might'st have been a lion, wise ones say; But that by nature thou wert born an ass ; And such for lions may not,— shall not pass. Pretence is seldom worth,— noise seldom sense ; A wise man never wills to give offence: A well- bred man is well- bred every where ; And ignorance is folly without fear. Most animals have some peculiar mark, Which savans know them by, even in the dark ; And such is thine, for, be it night or day, We know thee well by thy peculiar bray, One word at parting, Isaac, I would say. I've seen strange changes on time's chequered way :— Seen great men sink to nothing; poor ones rise; And pettifogging fellows cause surprise: Stupid, dull mortals, aping to be fine ; Sporting the wit of others,— strive to shine: Retailing as their own another's joke,— Boasting of riches stol'n from other folk, Isaac, spurn all sueh meanness! Don't thou do it. Depend, whoever does may live to rue it. Don't steal another lion's bide, I say; Or for the right set off on the wrong way. When thou didst so, Isaac, poor foolish lad ! Thou sham'dst thy country, kindred, and thy dad. He might be honest;— thou art not quite so. Thy literary " priggings" plainly show. Leave off such ways, my literary prig. Let learning keep her own, and thou thy, wig. Put thy poor brains no longer on the rack; Resume thy walking stick and thy tea- pack. Therefore, my prig, whatever others say; Stars cannot shine out of their natural way. Isaac, if thou should'st wish on me to call; Inquire in Sloane- street, ( Tilt- a- ninny all.) My man will show thee to his room, the kitchen; The proper place for chaps like thee to pitch in. Assembled there, the Specials then shall hear, Down on thy knees, thy recantation- prayer. Then, nincompoop, superlative and pure, Thy next step will be quick to the back door;— Thy seat gf honour then my foot will greet, And promptly land thee in the open street; The laughing boys cry out, " hail, Isaac Tomkins, " Three cheers my lads, for the great chief of bumpkins." Tilt- a- Ninny all, Sloane- street, Liverpool. LIFE AND DEATH— To die or live requires little courage; the inhabitants of the forests can do both To die or live becomingly requires much fortitude- Great is the human being who can do either. It should be remembered that the one is a consequence of the other-— Literary and Pictorial Repository. COOL.— A fellow with a torn shirt entered an editor's room in Wall- street, and thus saluted him : ** Are you the individual that? s to furnish copy for to morrow's paper?" The editor bowed. " Then fork out— for I'm one of the gentlemen that's ready to set it up."— American Paper. * These lines were received on Friday evening, the 21st ult., from a gentleman who had not then read Isaac Tom' kins's letter to the " Free Press," OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A thing of Shreds and Patches." SHERIDAN AND HIS SON TOM.— Tom Sheridan, when a lad, was one day asking his father ( the cele- brated Richard Brinsley) for a small sum of money- Sheridan tried to avoid giving any, and said, " Tom, ou ought to be doing something to get your living. At your age my father made me work. My father always—" " I beg your pardon, sir," interrupted Tom : " I will not hear your father compared with mine." You mustn't smoke here, sir," said the captain of a North River steam- boat to a man who was smoking among the ladies on the quarter deck. Mustn't, hey 1— why not?" replied he, owning his capacious mouth and allowing the smoke lazily to escape. " Didn't you see the sign— all gentlemen are requested not to smoke abaft the engine?" " Bless your soul, that don't mean me— I'm not a gentleman not a bit of it. You can't make a gentleman of me no how you fix it." So saying, he sucked away, and " took the responsibility." Professed historians, such as Herodotus, Tkuci- dydes, and others of far less name, occupy their own field of utility, and are indeed indispensable to us. We would not breathe a thought to bring them into any comparative contempt. Yet they cannot do that for us, which the works, partly of poets, but yet more of orators, do ;— let us into the busy heart of society, and show us the inward springs by which the machine then moved on.— Eclectic Review. Hour glasses were invented in Alexandria in 240, and introduced at Rome 158 years before the Christian era. Alfred measured time by the burning of a candle, which probably suggested the idea of selling by auction by inch of candle. There is no truth in men," said a lady, in company; " they are like musical instruments, which sound avarietyoftunes." " In other words, madam," said a wit, " you believe that all men are lyres." A gentleman being ill, and advised by a friend t0 take advice, said, " he believed Dr. C would be well as any one else." " By no means," said his friend, " Dr. C is a quack ; send for Sir Henry H , he is one of the faculty." " With all my heart," replied he, " though the only difference that I could ever see between a regular physician and a quack, is, that you die under one, and the other kills you." TAXATION.— According to a table published in 1833, in R. M. Martin's " Taxation of the British Empire," it appears that the proportion of taxation to the population was then £ 3 5s. 7d. per head in Eng- land's. 8d. per head in Wales, £ 2 3s. 2d. in Scotland, and lis. 2d in Ireland. The most heavily taxed part of the British empire was Honduras, where it was £ 3 8s. 6d. per head ; and the most lightly taxed was Prince Edward's Isle, where it was 2s. 2d. A DISTINCTION AND A DIFFERENCE.— A poor poet, whose parlour is next to the sky, met a rich friend in Broadway, a few days since. " How do you do ? asked the poet. " I have a rheumatic affection," said the gentleman. " I have a room- attic- affection, too, rejoined the poet. The smart rejoinder procured an invitation to dinner,— American Paper. THE GREATEST MAN.— The greatest man is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution : who resists the sorest temptations from within and with- out ; who bears the heaviest burden cheerfully ; who is the calmi st in storms ; and whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is the most unfaltering.— Channing. CONFIDENCE.— Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, was asked for confidence in the ministry of 1766, towards whom he entertained feelings of forbearance rather than of respect. He said, their characters were fair enough, and he was always glad to see such persons engaged in the public service; but, turning to them with a smile, very courteous but not very respectful, he added,—" Confide in you 1 Oh ! no. You must pardon me, gentlemen. Youth is the season of credulity. Con fidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom." SONG- BIRDS.— The voice of birds is interesting to every one. There are few who have not derived pleasure from the songsters of the grove. How delightful is the fine melody of the thrush, as, seated on the high branch of some lofty tree, he welcomes the orb of day with his powerful notes: and how exquisite are the strains of the lark, which, ascendin towards the blue vault of heaven, seems to pour forth a full harmony of praise at the footstool of the Eternal! Nature is a temple of Deity, and the feathered creation its choir. The powers of voice in birds are very great, and surpass those of any other animals. The crowing of a cock may be heard at a far greater distance than the shout of a man, even had he the lungs of aStentor. Where the competitors are so numerous, it would be difficult to determine the species whose melody is the sweetest. Of course, much would depend upon taste, and not a little, perhaps, upon early associations. Common consent, however, seems to have assigned the pre- epjinent station amongst English birds to the nightingale, whose strains, there can be no doubt, owe something to their being produced at the " witching hour" when all others are silent. But even the nightingale must give place to the mocking- bird of America, whose power of song, as described by Wilson, is almost incredible. " In bis native groves," says that eminent ornithologist, " mounted on the top of a tall bush, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises pre- eminent over every com- petitor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompani- ment." Butthe most astonishing part of the mocking- bird's endowments is its power of imitating the voices of other species. The cackling of hens, the. melody of the song- thrush or blue- bird, the shriek of the bald eagle, and the notes of many other birds, are all mocked with astonishing accuracy. " Even birds themselves," says Wilson, " are frequently imposed upon by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates; or dive, with precipitation, into thedepths of thickets, at the scream of what they suppose to be the sparrow- hawk." THE PLEASURES OF STUDY.— It is a fine thing to know that which is unknown to others ; it is still more dignified to remember that we have gained it by our own energies. The struggle after knowledge, too, is full of delight. The intellectual chace, not less than the material one, brings fresh vigour to our pulses, and infinite palpitations of strange and sweet suspense. The idea that is gained with effort, affords far greater satisfaction than that which is acquired with dangerous facility. We dwell with more fondness on the perfume of the flower that we have ourselves tended, than on the odour which we cull with carelessness, and cast away without remorse. The strength and sweetness of our knowledge depend upon our own minds. It is the liveliness of the ideas that it affords, which renders research so fascinating, so that a trifling fact or deduction, when discovered or worked out by our own brain, affords us infinitely greater pleasure than a more important truth obtained by the exertions of another.— D'Israeli the Younger. A WHEELING ARTICLE.— Going to dinner the other day, we saw a little codger, about two years old, sit- ting in a wheelbarrow and trying to wheel himself. It struck us that many people in this world are often caught in the same act, and we shall always think— hereafter— When we see a business man trusting every thing to his clerks, and continually seeking his own amusements— always absent from his counting- house, and yet expecting to get along, he's sitting in a wheelbarrow, and trying to wheel himself' When we see a professional man better acquainted with every thing else than his profession, always starting some new scheme, and never attending to his calling, his wardrobe and credit will soon designate him as sitting in a wheelbarrow, and trying to wheel himself. When we see a farmer with an over- abundance of " hired help," trusting every thing to their management, his fences down, implements out of repair, and land suffer- ing for want of proper tillage— too proud or too lazy to off coat ' and go to work— he's sitting in a wheel- barrow, trying to wheel himself. When we see a me- chanic run half a square every day to borrow a news- paper, and may be have to wait ten or fifteen minutes before he can get it, we shall suspect that the time he loses would soon pay the subscription, and consider him sitting in a wheelbarrow, and trying to wheel him- self. When we see a man busily engaged in circula- ting scandal concerning his neighbour, we infer that he is pretty deep in the mud himself, and is sitting in a wheelbarrow, and trying to wheel himself cut.—• Wheeling Gazette. COOL PHILOSOPHY.—' Tis in vain to regret a mis- fortune when ' tis past retrieving, but few have phi- losophy or strength enough to practise it. A famous physician ventured five thousand guineas upon the South- Sea project. When he was told at Garraway's that it was all lost, " Why," say he, "' tis but going up five thousand pair of stairs more." Coals were first discovered at Newcastle in 1234, but did not come into general use in London lill 1400. Fires from coal and tallow candles came into use in the same century. Tallow candles were first made in England in 1280. WON'T ANSWER.—" I have tried several shops in different places," said a green- grocer to his friend, " and not one of them will answer." " I don't wonder at that," rejoined the other ; " but the most likely shop to answer, I think, is a tongue* shop." A tavern- keeper in Charing- cross, who opened an oyster- shop as an appendage to his other establish- ment, was upbraided by a neighbouring oystermonger as being ungenerous and selfish. The former replied, " And would not you have me sell fish ?" People should not look sour at a dinner table. Every body ( lo'es not like pickles— even at dinner. HALIFAX:— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General George Yard.