THE HALIFAX DECEMBEll 3, 1842. Price One Penny, Anil 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 controvcrsal 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, toe 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 AREOPAQITICA. TO ADVERTISERS. In a former announcement, it was stated that Advertisements could not be received at our printer's later than Thursday noon; but as it is desirable to extend the time, we have trans- ferred our advertisements from the first to the fourth page, by which alteration we shall be enabled to receive the favours of our advertising friends until Thursday evening. Our fourth page will, we believe, bo a very good situation for advertisements ; for there are very few of our readers, we imagine, who do not dwell, with more or less pleasure, on the poetry and scraps to which that page is usually devoted. The principle upon which the business of the " Fiee Press" is conductcd by our printer, is that of low prices and no credit. Our charges for advertisements are— One to three lines,. 2s. Od. I Including the gov- Four to six 2s. 6d. > ernment tax of Seven to nine 3s. Od. j Is. 6d. and so on in proportion to the number of lines- LOCAL DOCUMENTS. ON THE RECENT CENSUS, AND THE VITAL STATISTICS OF HALIFAX AND SKIRCOAT. A Lecture delivered to the Members of the Halifax Mechanics' Institution, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1842> by Wm, Alexander, M. D., President of that Insti- tution. { Continued from our last.) It is well known that mortality and the average duration of life differ materially in town and country, and in a Metropolis and a provincial Town, as for instance, the deaths occurring in London in the year 1838 were found to be 1 in 36 or 28 per 1000 of its inhabitants, whilst in Halifax for the same year only 1 in 42.6 or 23 and nearly five tenths per 1000 died. In like manner the relative mortality of the same city differs in the various districts to the extent occasionally of more than ten deaths per annum, in 1000 of its residents, as in the Unions of St. James, City, and the Strand, when compared with those of Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, and Bermondsey. The neighbourhoods of Whitechapel, Shoreditch, and St. Giles, appear to be the most sickly ; and Hackney, Camberivell, and St. George's, Ilanover Square, the most healthy parts of the Metropolis. As a general proposition it may be affirmed that the mean duration of life in town and country districts amounts on the average to a difference of about 17 years, the mor- tality as 144 to 100. By the Registration we may learn all these sorts of facts, and in juxta- position to the nature of the fatal diseases, there are columns for the other illustrative circumstances, such as the age, sex, and condition of life of the parties. The salubrity of one place may thus be compared with another, either with respect to one particular disease, as consumption for example, or to fatal maladies generally,- In England the pro- portion of town population exceeds that of any other country in Europe, Belgium excepted; and sanitary precautions have not kept pace with their recent un- exampled increase, or we should scarcely find typhus 55 per cent more fatal in towns than in the country, nor perhaps the excess of death from consumption to amount to 24 per ccnt in a given number of persons thus relatively situated. In like manner, the diseases principally affecting children, appear to be twice as fatal in the one locality as the other, and very ma- terially augment, and, perhaps, partially explain, the excessive mortality observable in towns. The propor- tion of deaths at advanced ages has been greatest in the Counties of Devonshire, Dorset, Wilts, and Corn- wall, and least in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham. The deaths of children under a year old have been most numerous in the mining districts of Staffordshire, and Shropshire, and in the towns. Out of every 1000 deaths recorded as occurring in Leeds and its suburbs, 447 were of children under three years of age, whilst in the North Riding the proportion was but 253 ; and in 1838, more than one fifth of all the deaths registered in England and Wrales, was of infants under one year old. In the years 1837 and 38, 27f per cent of the total deaths were found to be owing to diseases of the res- piratory organs, and 18 per cent to consumption, which was 8 per cent more fatal to females than male. Nevertheless the mean duration of life in females is longer than in males. These are some of the results already arrived at, by the national registration, but of course an average of a series of years is more to be relied on than calcu- lations founded upon any isolated year or two, since epidemics are apt to prevail occasionally, and greatly augment mortality during limited periods. Thus for instance 2000 children died in London from Hooping Cough in 1838, though probably not half that number we'e carried off during the last year from this com- plaint. With us at Halifax, affections of the Brain, infla- mation of the Lungs, and the eruptive class of disor- ders sweep off our children ; whilst pulmonary con- sumption is the great scourge of adult life ; the mor- tality from this cause amounting in 1840 to one in 8 of the whole of the deaths of that year, and old age to 1 in ten. It must be admitted that in very minute medical inquiries involving some point of special pathology, the registration as now conducted is open to some ob- jection, inasmuch as the causes of death are often re- corded on the mere authority of the parties giving in- formation to the registrar. This appears to me to be the only defect of the act, but still the facts are of the utmost value when the object is to determine the general character of the diseases prevalent in various parts of the kingdom, and to estimate the influence of outward causes in the production of fatal maladies. For instance, it had been alleged that the cotton factory system was productive of great deterioration to the health, and a fruitful source of consumption and scrofula. Mr. Noble, of Manchester, at the late meeting of the British'Association, read a paper on this supposed influence in developing consumption, which in no measure confirmed the statement as to the undue prevalence of these diseases in districts affording Factory employment, and Manchester in particular. It was found, indeed, in Manchester and Salford, that although the general mortality very far exceeded that of the County of Essex, a purely agri- cultural county, for example, yet the deaths from consumption in particular were actually fewer, in proportion to the relative number of deaths, in the former than the latter, being as 3 in 19 in the one case, and 4 in 2J in the other. Ia Cnmbridgesliire, Huntingdonshire, and South Lincoln, every fifth death was from consumption, altho' as before, at- tended by a greatly reduced rate of general mortality. In like manner, when contrasted with Birmingham and Liverpool, the result was favourable to a factory population, and the number of deaths from this par, ticular cause, when compared with the whole of the deaths occurring in Manchester, the same rate as is found in London. Still it might be said that Factory cases, perhaps, furnished an undue preponderance of those who die annually from consumption at Manchester, but Mr. Noble's calculations disprove this also, for, estimating one sixth of the population between the ages of 15 and 40, as engaged in factory labour, he found scarcely a sixth of the Deaths from this specific cause occurring in persons who had been thus em- ployed. Dr. Arrowsmith, during the discussion which followed, vouched for the accuracy of Mr. Noble's data, and the general conclusion appeared to be that manufactures and factory labour, however they might tend to waste the energies in other respects, do not manifest it in consumption. The registration now in operation will prove of more and more value, as it advances over a more extended period of time, and, together with the decennial census, will enaole us to learn many facts of considerable importance in thepracticeof medecinc, and throw much light upon what has hitherto been the " opprobrium medicorum," the causes, proximate and remote, of many of those maladies we are called upon to contend with and remove. The researches of medical science have already served materially to lessen both the frequency and severity of epidemic diseases ; and plans are now in course of develope ment which, if effectually carried out, will stiil further contribute to diminish the high rate of mortality observable in crowded towns, arising from insalubrity of atmosphere. Of tlie efficacy of Dr. Jenner's discovery, I may state, that of 95 patients admitted to the small pox hospital of Glasgow, in the year 1837, ( a year during which the deaths of that place, from all causes, amounted to 1 in 25, or 40 per 1,000 of its inhabitants,) 55 had apparently been vaccinated, and 40 never had this operation performed, in the former of which number no death occurred. The annual rate of mortality, in large towns, is capable, humanly speaking, of great reduction; and, under Providence, of human control. At present it is found, on an average, to amount to 2.7 per cent, whilst that of the more scattered country popu- lation is but 2 per cent, a difference, however, in the mean duration of life, as already observed, nearly equal to that between 37 and 50 years. Moreover, great discrepancy exists between the different localities in the same cities, not satisfactorily explicable by the prevailing habits and modes of life in each, as exemplified in the metropolis, where the mean length of life is from 25 to 30 years in the East districts, whilst in the North and West the people live, on the average, to between 40 and 50 years of age. But so long as the working classes are suffered to live in cellars, as in Liverpool to the extent of one- fifth of their entire number, and in Manchester to 12 per cent.,— houses permitted to be built over drains and water- courses,— lanes and alleys to be without sewers, and stagnant cesspools to vitiate the air,— the shut- up and filthy thoroughfares incapable of ventila 2 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. tion, emitting their noxious exhalations, and polluting the adjacent atmosphere,— so long, I say, mnstwe be visited by disease and death, to the extent of from 5.0 to 60 per cent, more than in the open country,— so long will one half the children born in Leeds, Man- chester, and Glasgow, die before they have attained their 13th year, whilst in some rural districts, one half of such do not die before the age of 36. The rate of mortality is thus found to be influenced by the density of the population, and by the compara- tive state of comfort or indigence in any given district generating effluvial poison, those parts of towns selected by tbe upper classes for residence being usually better cleansed and ventilated, the unhealthful tendency being counteracted by artificial agencies, and thus the mortality in towns may be said to increase with the intensity of their population, and correspondingly fall with the diminution of the pre- valence of the causes to which its excess is attributed. Historical records furnish us with ample materials iu which are presented the evils to which I have alluded, for in cities so circumstanced when visited by the plague or the sweating sickness, as it was familiarly called, an almost indiscriminate destruction followed, now happily unknown. More cleanly habits, and the adoption of airy, better ventilated and drained streets and dwellings, in the more wealthy districts, have served to isolate in some measure such epidemics, if not altogether confcr an entire immunity in modern times from such visitations. Although the mortality of our towns increases the general national mortality by 44 per cent, beyond what it is in the country, yet we bear a favourable comparison with other European states in this respect, some of which are as follows :— Years. Per Cent. Prussia 1820 34 2.80 France 1317- 36 . 2.52 Sweden 1810- 29 2 46 England and Wales.... 1838- 9 2.17 exclusive of the stiil- born ; and I am inclined to be- lieve that the continental cities afford po advantages to invalids in search of health, except in some few classes of diseases where temperature is all in all, and then only admissible in the winter season. On the whole, the probability of human life in England has much improved of late years, and life assurance offices can afford easier terms of premium than in any other conntry in Europe. The industry and intellK gence which have created large towns, have likewise provided an amelioration to the evil tendencies inse- parable more or less from [ the aggregation of the masses in very limited spaces, and are still further capable of reduction. The Cliinatorial Seasons have probably for many centuries remained much the same. That our winters have been shorter and less rigorous does not invalidate that proposition. But there has been a striking change in the relative mortality of the seasons in our own country, from what was observed and recorded by our early medical authors. Summer is now our healthiest, winter the most fatal season of the year, and such has been the case for upwards of a century, though the order of salubrity at Rome, and the towns situated on tbe shores of tbe Mediter- ranean, remains as described by Celsus. Poisonous effluvia are not suffered to engender disease in our towns to the same extent as formerly, nor marsh miasma to induce ague in the country during the Sum- mer and Autumnal months,— and herein is the solu- tion of the problem as to the change observed in tbe relative mortality of the seasons in modern times. Particular classes tff diseases are found to prevail ' a different regions, and at different seasons. An un- broken and continued series of observations will de- monstrate to what extent such is thecase, and lead to investigations as to the causes of such phenomena, and the laws by which they may be governed. The march of epidemics, except Influenza and Hooping Cough, would appear to be little affected by the changing seasons. Not so however with sporadic diseases which are much regulated by temperature ; affections of the Head and Chest being most fatal in the cold months, and those of the Bowels during the warmer season. A reduction of temperature is oftentimes fatal to the infirm and aged, the air of whose apartments should never he suffered to fall below 40 of F. Th « autumn of 1840 was colder than the two preceding years, and the mortality of the diseases influenced by a reduced temperature was proportionably raised. In like manner, when the temperature rises above the mean of the year and place, then diarrhrca, thrush, and dysentery carry off their victims. It is ascertained that the temperature of the springs of a place furnish a tolerably fair index as to the mean annual state of the air, but it has been urged that the mean temperature of the month of October does the same thing. The mean annual temperature of London during the last ten years appears to have been 50.5 ; and the average quantity of rain to amount to 24 inches. For Halifax, lam not in possession of any re- turns, but have reason to believe the mean annual temperature to be about 49 and that of the winter months ten degrees lower. I was prepared with ample materials illustrative of the facts which form the prominent topics already introduced to you. Had time admitted, it would have been my endeavour to show, first, the extent and nature of the causes in operation tending pre- maturely to destroy the lives and impair the energies of thousands inhabiting densely crowded parts of cities ; secondly to demonstrate, by the track which epidemics usually take, how a horde of poor half famished, ill conducted, and badly lodged people in a neighbourhood constitute a prolific source of con- tagion aud pestilence to those around them, among whom an average of 8 per cent, of sickness it is estimated constantly prevails ; thirdly, to point out the classes and ranks of life principally infected with fatal maladies and the respective mortality found in each, wherein it would be discovered that the upper classes enjoy a comparative immunity from disease, and a much longer average duration of life than their more helpless neighbours, even when resident in the same town; fourthly, to prove that a foul atmosphere is the unvarying effect of the several combined causes to which excessive mortality must be remotely ascribed,— that the poisoning in fluence of these malarious gases, when collected and condensed by cold and pressure, is capable of proof by direct experiment upon inoculated animals, or when in a highly concentrated essence, of destroying life on its application, and that according to the in- tensity of these distilled exhalations and the predomi- nance of putrescent animalized or vegetable com pounds, would be the type and character of the result- ing disease; and finally had I not to compress my matter within due limits, it might have been interesting to examine the ordinary range of generated effluvia, and the conditions of the human body most favourable to the absorption of the virus. Happily, at Halifax we are not visited in any very marked manner by the evils to which I have adverted. Situated upon an altitude of about 400 feet above the level of the sea, and encompassed with hills, we are more exposed to atmospheric vicissitudes,— to the puryfying influences of high winds ventilating our courts and alleys, and to a greater fall of rain than is experienced by many towns of larger dimensions. Moreover our drainage, from the town being built upon an inclined plane whose declination or fall varies from 2 to 3 inches to the yard, is thus naturally more perfect than some others. There is much room for improvement however, in this respect, and as a prac- tical man, I will, if the time permits of it, just point out a few sanitary measures which have suggested themselves, being unwilling to declaim and find fault without offering my humble views as to a mitigation, if not an adequate remedy for the evil. • As already stated, the increase of population, during the last ten years, in the district comprising the Halifax Poor Law Union, amounts to 19,276, being 21j per cent, in the decennial period, or an annual addition of nearly 2,000 persons. At this ratio of increment, the numbers in the union might be expected to be doubled in little more than 40 years. The estimated population and registered mortality in the union, during the last four years of the term, I found to be as is here represented .— HALIFAX UNION. which is about that of the West Riding generally, if we except the Northern or agricultural part of it, but it bears an unfavourable comparison with the whole of England and Wales, which appears to be 1 death per annum in 51 persons. The respective rates for the township of Halifax I find to be as follows : — TOWNSHIP OF HALIFAX. Year. 1838 Population. 18,531 Deaths. 434 Births. 662 Relative Mortality. 1 in 42,6 1839 18,981 506 714 1 — 37.5 1840 19,431 484 663 1 — 40.1 1841 19,881 429 685 1 — 46.3 1 in 44.5 1 — 42,9 1 — 43.1 1 — 38.5 The annual average of the 4 years is thus 1 death in 41.6 of the inhabitants, which contrasts favourably when compared with Bradford, our neighbour, which appears to be 1 in 37.3, but whether for one year or the average of the whole registration series, as in my calculations, is not stated in the general report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population, just published, from which I quote. I have elsewhere already stated, that on an average 450 persons are annually added to the town's popula- tion, and by ascertaining the excess of births over the number of deaths, I learn tbe actual increase to arise from 217 births, and 233 strangers. The respective rates of Skircoat were as follows — TOWNSHIP OF SKIRCOAT. Relative Year. Population. Deaths. Births. Mortality. 1838. 4858 109 170 1839 4972 116 201 1840 5086 118 185 1841 5201 135 202 The Annual Average of Deaths to Population being as 1 in 42.2. We thus in each of the latter cases, find a higher mortality than that of the Union, the numerical re- sults beir. g 1 in 47 ; 1 in 41; and 1 in 42 respectively. The rate for the rural township of Skircoat is consi- derably greater than might have been anticipated, though perhaps not inexplicable were I to refer to the books at the Infirmary, that District having supplied me with a more than ordinary number of fatal Con- sumptive Patients, leading me to infer the prevalence of that complaint to an unusual extent in that locality. The above Tables I have constructed from materials favoured me by the Superintendent Registrar and his Assistant, Mr. Crowther, and calculations made upon the Census of 1831 and 1841 respectively. They are designed to show, first, a close appoximation to the actual population of the Halifax Union, and the two townships in the years quoted, each registration year commencing on the first of July, and terminating with the 30th of June following; secondly, to con- trast the number of Births and Deaths, and to com- pare and apportion the rate of increase from this, which we have found as regards Skircoat is the prin. cipal source of its additional Population, amounting to nearly two- thirds, whilst in Halifax more than one- half our increase is derived from strangers; and thirdly, we may learn the actual number of Deaths, and their proportion to the living in any giveu year, or the mean rate observable during a series of four years, in each instance. With regard to the extent to which noxious physi- cal agencies operate on our mortality in the poorer districts, I have not yet precisely ascertained from the Registration records; and tbe books at the Infirmary, being confined to a limited number only of that class of Patients resident therein, do not furnish me with the necessary information. But when leisure does admit of a more extended inquiry into the relative mortality observable in the different divisions of the town, I shall doubtless find an excess of Deaths attri- butable to certain local circumstances capable of alle- viation, and open a wide field of investigation as to the specific causes of them, and their appropriate remedies, [ To be concluded in our next.) Relative Year. Population. Deaths. Births. Mortality. 1838 103,232 2,097 3,692 1 in 49.2 1839 105,159 2,349 3,927 1 — 47.7 1840 107,087 2,353 3,855 1 — 45.5 1841 109,015 2,187 3,797 1 — 49.8 Average of the 4 years, 1 in 47,3; GOOD HINT.— The celebrated Abernethy said— " I tell you, honestly, what I think is the whole cause of the complicated maladies of the human frame; it is their gormandizing, and stuffing, and stimulating the digestive organs to excess, thereby creating irri- tation. The state of their minds is another grand cause— the fidgetting and discontenting themselves about that which cannot be helped— passions of all kinds ; malignant passions and worldly cares pressing on the mind, disturb the central action, and do a gr ® 8t deal of harm." THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 THE ESSAYIST. EXERCISES, REVIEWS, AND ACTION. No. X.— COMPLETE SUCCESS ! " llhua pleased Almighty God tocrown herMajesty's arms in China with Complete Success."— Lord Stan- leg's Letter to the Lord Mayor. A large party of Europeans were crossing the de- sert, and after. several days' incessant travelling, they halted for rest and refreshment. Suddenly, they were attacked by a troop of Arab Tartars, who fell upon them, sword in hand, slew a large number, including the wives of some British officers, and the children in their arms, burnt the tents, seized upon the camels, and the valuable wares with which the camels were ' aden, the watches, purses, and pocket- books of the gentlemen, and the jewels of the ladies, and would consent to spare the lives of the remainder of the party, only on condition of receiving a solemn pledge, and written undertaking, that a further large pay- mentshould be transmitted on a distant day ; for the fulfilment of which some of the party should remain in the bands of the Arabs, as hostages ; and, in de- fault of payment, their lives were to be forfeited. The Arabs rode away with their booty, congratula- ting each other 0: 1 their " Complete Success," and 3houting " There is one God, and Mahomed is his prophet 1— Great is the Lord, he hath delivered infi- dels into our han^ a.— Praised be his name." When occurrences like these are related, men shud- der at the recital, and pique themselves on being " Christian" and civilized, and not as these Mahom- medans anl barbarians. And wherein consists the difference ? We have attacked the unoffending Asia- tics— we have put them to death by the sword and the musket— set lire to | their houses— plundered their stores— extorted from them, under threat of extermi- nation, instant payment of several millions of dollars, and insisted 0: 1 receiving an undertaking and security for the payment of a further sum at a distant period. We boast of our " complete success," and an official document, signed by my Lord Stanley, ( ex- driver of the Derby- dilly, and now one of the conductors of the Peel omnibus) is published to the effect that " It has pleased Almighty God to crown her Majesty's arms in China with complete success!" As though " Almighty God," the Lord of Heaven, was like a Lord Stanley, or any other similar lord of earth, and could be pleased with robbery and murder. Let us see the sort of " complete success" which has, with the assistance of " Almighty God," crowned " her Majesty's arms." " The dead and wounded of the enemy ( although most of them had been catried away) were lying about in all directions, no attention whatever being paid to the latter. Already had the houses and shops been broken open, and the most valuable property ( as teas, bales of silk, pens, & c.) was scattered about like rub- bish. All the houses which were supposed to have any connection with the government or government officers, were either burned or being burned."— Let- ters from Tchan Keang, July 30th, 1842. " I never saw such loss of life and property as took place here; we lost officers and men enough, hut it is impossible to compute the loss of the Chinese, for ndien they found they could stand no longer against us, they cut the throats of their wives and children, or drove them into wells and ponds, and then destroy- ed themselves; in many houses there were from eight to twelve dead bodies, and I myself have seen a dozen women and children drowning themselves in a small pond the day after the fight. The whole of the city and suburbs are a mass of ruins ; whole streets have been burnt down."— Letter from Chin Keang Foo, 18 thAug. " A great number of those who escaped our fire committed suicide, after destroying their families. The loss of life has been, therefore, appalling ; and it may be said that the Mantchao race m this city is extinct."— Sir Hugh Gough's Despatch. Of course those who committed self- destruction, were only induced to do so in order to avoid the hor- rid barbarities practised by their conquerors. Her " Majesty's Arms," the lion and the unicorn, are no unapt symbols of the wild and bloody cruelties of war. No wonder, therefore, that the poor Chinese should rush upon any other mode of destruction, rather than that of falling into such " arms." One of these letters gives an instance of the pacific disposition of the natives, and of the petty larceny which is practised upon them. " The natives are very kind to us, and have been so all along. They occasionally bring us presents of vegetables, and their vegetables are very fine. They have excellent brinjals, French beans, celery, and cucumbers, & c.; for these they will not take pay- ment, unless it be a slip of paper with ' British pro- tection' upon it, which they are all very glad to get." — Letter from Tchan Keang, July 30. Now1, no one will imagine for a moment that the poor Chinese bring their first fruits and their offer- ings as a mark of gratitude for the kindness done to them in burning their houses and slaughtering their friends and relations. Of course, these provisions are given through fear and intimidation, and it would be idle for them to receive payment, knowing that the money would instantly be demanded. So her Majesty's arms, which in England are employed for the unhallowed purpose of locking up American flour and Dantzic wheat, are said, by my Lord Stanley, to be stretched out to Asia, to steal French beans, cucumbers, and celery; and heaven is said to be in league with petty larceny '. A free translation of the proverb " Heaven helps those who help them- selves," would be an equally appropriate vindication of a breach of the eighth commandment. If it was necessary that my Lord Stanley should introduce su- pernatural agency, it would have been far more de- corous that he should have said " It has pleased the god Mercury to crown her Majesty's arms with com- plete success." The sin of breaking the third com- mandment would not then have been supiir- added to to the breaches of the sixth and eighth, and as Mercury was said to be the god of thieves, his assist- ance would have been more in character. The authorof the " Exercises" seems to have fore- seen the course events would take. He said— " You will see the robber ministry asking the ap- plause of the country, because their robberies have been successful. Just as the ancient chieftian counted the heads of the captured cows, and appealed to them in proof that right was on his side. And as the serfs that waited on him called these " his glorious suc- cesses," so you will see deed3 for which the hang- man were the fitter rewarder, pronounced honour- able by your representatives in parliament assembled," — Exercises, Vol. VI. p. 63. Not less indignant was he that religion and the ministers of religion should be prostituted to coun- tenance such base transactions. Speaking of the moral and religious training of the people, he says— " They have been educated in the belief that there was no national morality,— that the world was a field of plunder, in which he was most glorious who took most,— that in fact, to take nothing, was a sign of baseness and chicken- heartedness, which could not be looked over. Religious instruction dame in aid ; many of us were brought ; up in the persuasion, that we were God's peculiar people, and that to smite the Amalekites in the shape of any foreign nation that could be found, was doing God service. Hypocrites and knaves were always at our elbow, ready to inti- mate that every foul act of slaughter was a portion of some great scheme of Providence."— Vol. V. page 421. Do we not hear every Sunday at church, " There is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, oh I God?" " And all this that Messrs. Pike and Puck in the city may drive their carriages on robbery and blood. Why are the common people to be lie nest,— why are we the vulgar to obey the command ' Thou shalt not steal,' and 1 Thou shalt do no murder,' when our betters show us these are only cobwebs to catch the little knaves and let the great ones through ? Have the clergy remonstrated ? Not they ; for who knows but a score of perpetual curacies may be founded on the bones of heathen women and children at Canton ? But they will cant like whipt bawds about something coming ' to swallow us up quick' if the consequence of national viliany should descend on us in the shape of danger to the establishment."— Vol. V. page 36. His appeal to the better sense of the more moral and intelligent poition of the community is very good— " Honest industrious people, who murder not, neither do you steal, cultivate a proud sense of the difference heaven has made between you, and those who un- happily have the direction of your fortunes : re- membering always that this will not be eternal, but the contempt with which you view your inferiors in morals, in honesty, and in true wisdom, must end ere long in setting you beyond their reach."— Vol. VI. page 64. May that day speedily arrive. May the spread of right principles be such that the nation will demand, as essential qualifications in their governors, clear I rinciples, wisdom, and sound morality, instead of cant, trickery, humbug, and expediency. AN ADJUTANT. MACHINERY, like the rain of heaven, is a present blessing to all concerned, provided it comes down by drops, and not by tuns together ; and anything which prevents its free and expanded operation has an effect of the same kind as would be produced if the rain should be collected into water- spouts. It remain--, therefore, to be seen what laws and human institutions have done towards securing the free diffusion of the advantages derivable from God's gift of ingenuity to man. And here the first thing apparent in our own country is, that the aristocracy have made a law that no use shall be derived from it at all. They have determined by Act of Parliament that men may invent as many machines as they think proper, but shall not be allowed to sell the produce, or, which comes to the same thing, shall riot be allowed to sell for what is wanted in return. The whole misery about machi> nery— every atom and fragment of suffering, alarm, and wretchedness, directly or indirectly consequent thereon,— is the pure and necessary results of the gross fraud and half- witted idiotic cruelty perpetrated by the majority of the landlords upon the rest of their own order, and of the community.— Col. Thompson, POETRY. ORIGINAL. THE IVY. BY THOMAS CROSSLEY, AUTHOR OF " FLOWERS OF E30R," Subjects I perchance might choose, Nobler, lovelier, and sublimer, For the ever- fitful muse, fhan this bold and fearless climber,— Yet I greet thee, Ivy tree, Ever true, yet ever ranging; Ever bound, yet ever free, Never false, and never changing! What old Time hath seemless made, Crazy cot, or ruin'd tower, There thy beauty is display'd, Forming still a shadowy bower. Oh, I greet thy waving bough, Wheresoe'er its tendril ranges; Embiem of true friendship thou, For the Ivy never changes! Ovenden, near Halifax. To Ihe Publisher of the Free Press. The following Charade has frequently been proposed, but yet remains unanswered. If any of your ingenious cor- respondents can furnish a satisfactory solution, I hereby authorise you, Mr. Publisher, to present the solver with a dozen copies of the " Free Press," on the day and date on which his or her answer shall be published. TOBIAS COLLIERTOPPING, His X mark. Sir Hillary charged at Agincourt— Sooth ' twas an awful day ! And tho' in those old times of sport The raftlers of the camp and court Found little time to pray— ' Twas said Sir Hillary utter'd there, Two syllables, by way of prayer. My first to all the brave and proud, Who see to- morrow's sun; My next with its cold and quiet cloud To those who find their dewy shroud Before the day be done : My whole to those whose bright blue eyes Weep when a warrior nobly dies. CHARADE. " Gentle lady if thou'lt be mine A happy and joyous life thou'lt lead; Tears shall never dim thine eyne, Nor care on thy cheeks' bright glory feed ; Jewels costly, rich and rare, Shall gem thy bosom and deck thine hair, Thou shalt dwell in lofty state, Beautiful youths shall on thee wait; And if thou should'st sadden, or cease to smile, Heavenly music shall pain beguile." Much more he said, with many a burst Of Love, as he wooed her to be my FIRST ; But she listened coldly, and said him nay ; And Sir Rodolph spurred his steed away : But there was one in his glittering train, Who often- times looked back again, And his pulse it quickened— his bosom burned. For the lady's looks were on him turned. He felt that hee eyes to his own had beckoned, And he soon forgot he was but my SECOND. There is mirth in the castle hall to- day ; And wine- cups clatter, and trumpets bray; And knight, anadarne, and mighty lord, Are ranged around the festive board : For the gentle lady hath made MY SECOND MY WHOLE,— though once he was lowly reckoned; But coffined is proud Sir Rodolph's breast; And as he lay dying, he hath eonfest That he wickedly, basely, with ruthless hands, Had torn this castle and these broad lands Frsm the mother of him, who now in pride Sits that lovely maid beside. And oft as along the hill- girt Rhine, The fading sunbeams softly shine, MY WHOLE looks down from his castle's height On plain and forest. With fond delight, He looks on his lady's eyes of blue And whispers the tale of love the true ; And she gladdens his heart with . her soft sweet smile, And he thinks that the earth is heaven the while! D. THE BED OF HONOUR.—" I like not such grin* ning honour as Sir Waiter hath," said Falstaff: " give me life, which if I can save, so ; if not, honour comes unlooked for, and there's an end." Butler says of the bed of honour " He that is valiant, aud dares fight, Though drubb'd. can lose no honour by't. Honour's a lease for lives to come, And cannot be extended from The legal tenant =—' tis a chattel Not to be forfeited in battle. If he that in the field is slain, Be in the bed of honour lain, He that is beaten may be said To lie in honour's truckle- bed." In Farquhar's Comedy, " the Recruiting Officer," Sergeant Kite describes this bed with great humour, though with less wit than Butler. " That is a mighty large bed," says Kite, " bigger by half than the great bed of Ware. Ten thousand people may lie in it together, and never feel one another." MY FEELINGS.— Stephen Kemble went to rehearsal one day at York without his coat. The manager asked what had become of it. " Sir," said he, " the landlord of the house where I was reading the London paper charged ine double for my ale. I told him he had cheated me, and would not pay him. He seized me, and pulled otF my coat; so, rather than submit to his extortion, I came away without it." " But, Mr. Kemble," said the manager, " walk through the streets without your coat!"—" But," said Stephen, " pay sixpence for my ale " But, your roat, Mr. Kemble!" " Curse my coat, Sir; think ofc feelings I"" THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A thing of Shreds and Patches." WHISTLING QUALIFICATION.— An old lady in Cheshire, whenever she hired a servant, ashed him if he could whistle. On being requested by a friend to explain the cause of such a singular question, she replied that when her footman went down to draw ale, she always made him whistle until he returned, by which means she insured his sobriety. EXPERIENCE.— Until we have seen some one grow old, our existence seems stationary. When we feel certain of having seen it ( which is not early) the earth begins a little to loosen from us. MODERN EPICUREAN EXPLOITS.— Europeans may justly lay claim to the merit of having been most in- strumental in conveying the different animals and vegetables most useful as articles of diet from one country to another. From Europe and Asia they have carried our common ruminants, and fowls, corn, sugar, rice, tamarinds, tea, coffee, some spiees, oranges, and many other vegetables, to America and Australasia. They have brought back from America in return, the turkey, maize, potatoes, manihot, the pine- apple, & c., and transported them to differ- ent regions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, where the climate and soil are fitted for their exist- ence and growth. They have thus conferred a great benefit on the human race in general; for the more com) letely this interchange is carried out, the more will the means for nourishingthe body be multiplied, which is the best way to improve its condition.— Dr. Truman on Food. A rich Fellow of a College in Cambridge, after favouring Sir Isaac Pennington with a list of his ma- ladies, inquired what he should take. " I should recommend you to take advice," was the reply. FEARFUL ODDS.— Corvisart, a French physician of some celebrity during the latter portion of the last century, was once lamenting, in company, the pre- mature death of Dr. Backer. " It was not, at all events, for want of medical aid that he died," said he, " for in the last days of his illness we, Halle, Portal, and myself, did not quit him for an instant." " Alas 1" interrupted the Abbe Sieyes, " what could he do against three of you ?" FLATTERERS OF NOBILITY.— Though this noble- man is a stranger to generosity ;— though he lakes twenty opportunities in a day of letting his guests know how much he despises them ;— though he is possessed neither of taste, wit, nor wisdom ;— though incapable of improving others by his conversation, and never known to enrich any by his bounty; yet for all this, his company is eagerly sought after. He is a lord ; and that is as much as most people desire in a companion. Quality and title have such allure- ments, that hundreds are ready to give up all their own importance,— to cringe, to flatter, to look little, and to pall every pleasure in constraint, merely to be among the great; though without the least hopes of improving their understanding, or sharing their generosity. They might be happy among their equals ; but those ate despised, for company where they are despised in turn.— Goldsmith. The Bangor Whig says—" A Yankee in Boston has set up a one- horse thrashing machine for the con- venience of parents and guardians having unruly boys. He'll ' lick ' an urchin like thunder for fonrpence. Small ' licks ' done for two cents, only, and the most entire satisfaction warranted.' Somebody will be starting a penny opposition, and ' lick ' creation." LATENT ENERGIES CALLED INTO ACTION.— Great occasions seem always to call forth great minds ; and that greatmind which is best adapted to the necessities and to the character of the age, springs at once to the first rank. STEAM NAVIGATION.— The archives of Salamanca contain an account of the successful result of impell- ing a vessel by steam, in 1543. The inventor was Don Blasco de Garray; and the experiment was made in the roads of Barcelona, in the presence of the Emperor Charles V. and his Court. AN INDEPENDENT AMERICAN BOOTMAKER.— I wanted a pair of boots at a certain town, for I had none to travel in, but those with the. memorable cork soles, which were much too hot for the fiery deeks of a steam boat. I therefore sent a message to an artist in hoots, importing, with my compliments, that I should be happy to see him, if he would do me the polite favour to call. He very kindly re- turned for answer, that he would " look round" at six o'clock that evening. I was lying on the sofa, with a book and a glass of wine, at about that time when the door opened, and a gentleman in a stiff cravat, within a year or two on either side of thirty, entered, in his hat and gloves, walked up to the looking glass ; arranged his hair ; took off his gloves; slowly produced a measure from the uttermost depths of his coat pocket; and requested me in a languid tone, to " unfix" my straps. I complied, but looked with some curiositv at his hat, which was still upon his head. Tt, might have been that, or it might have been the heat— but he tool; it off. Then he sat him- self down on a chair opposite to me ; and, leaning forward very much, took from the ground, by a great effort, the specimen of metropolitan workman- ship which I bad just pulled off— whistling pleasantly as he did so. He turned it over and over ; surveyed it with a contempt no language can express; and inquired if I wished him to fix me a boot like that ? I courteously replied, that provided the boots were large enough, I would leave the rest to him ; that if convenient and practicable, I should not object to their bearing some resemblance to the model before him ; but that I would be entirely guided by, and would beg to leave the whole subject to, his judgment and discretion. " Vou an't particular about this scoop in the heel I suppose then?" says he ; " we flon't foller that here." I repeated my last observa tion. He looked at himself in tbe glass again ; went closer to it. to dash a grain or two of dust out of the corner of his eye ; and settled liis cravat. All this time, my leg and foot were in the ail. " Nearly ready ?"" I inquired. " Well 1 pretty nigh," he said, ' keep steady." I kept as steady as I could, both n foot and face : and having by this time got the dust out, and found his pencil case, he measured me, and made the necessary notes. When he had finished, he fell into his old attitude, and, taking up the boot again, mused for some time. " And this," lie said, at last, " is an English boot, is it ? This is a Lon- don boot, eh?"—" That, sir," I replied, " is a London boot." He mused again, after the manner of Hamlet with Yorick's skull; nodded his head, as who should say, " I pity the Institutions that led to the production of this boot 1" rose ; put up his pencil, notes, and paper— glancing at himself in the glass, all the time— put on his hat, drew on his gloves very slowly, and finally walked out. When he had gone about a minute, the door re- opened, and his hat and his head re appeared. He looked round the room, and at the boot again, which wa3 still lying on tbe floor; appeared thoughtful for a minute; and then said, " Well! Good arternoon." " Good afternoon, sir," said I ; and that was the end of the interview. • Dickens's American Notes. Nonsense, when earnest, is impressive, and some- times takes vou in. If you are in a hurry, you occa- sionally mistake it for sense.— D'Israeli the younger. Socrates, having had a box on the ear, in the „ arket- place, observed,—" This is the grief, that a man knows not when to come out with his helmet on." AN EVENING SCENE.— Time wore away, and the dav died. It was one of those stern, sublime sunsets, wliich is almost the only appearance in the north in which nature enchanted me. I stood at the window, gazing on the burnished masses that, for a moment, were suspended, in their fleeting and capricious beau- ty, on the fair horizon. I turned aside, and looked at the rich trees, suffused with the crimson light, and ever and anon irradiated by the dying shoots of a golden ray. The deer were stealing home to their bowers; and I watched them till their golden and glancing forms gradually lost their lustre with declin- ing twilight. Tbe glory had now departed, and all grew dim. A solitary star alone was shining in the grey sky,— a bright and solitary star.— D'Israeli the younger. A man, whose head had been deeply cut in a fool- ish fray, went to a surgeon to have his wound dres- sed. The man of plasters searched whether the brains were injured, and not easily ascertaining whe- ther they were or no, the fellow said, " Do you think I, that so rashly entered into a brawl, have any brains ?" Aim at perfection in every thing, though in most things it is unattainable : howe- er, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it, than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.— Chesterfield. The bumps raised on a man's head by a cudgel, are now called/ ray- nological developements. There appears to be a greater desire to live long than to live well. Measure by man's desires, he can- not live long enough: measure by his good deeds, and he has not lived long enough : measure by his evil deeds, and he has lived too long .— Zimmerman. He that calls a man ungrateful, sums up all the evil that a man can be guilty of.— Swift. CRITICISM.— He who would shun criticism, must not be a scribbler; and he who would court it, must have great abilities or great folly.— Monro. Man is to man all kinds of beasts ; a fawning dog, a roaring lion, a thieving fox, a robbing wolf, a dis- sembling crocodile, a treacherous decoy, and a rapa- cious vulture.— Cowley. If we did but know how little some enjoy of the great things they possess, there would not be much envy in the world.— Young. INFLUENCE OF NAMES.— With the vulgar and the learned, names have great weight: the wise use a writ of inquiry into their legitimacy, when they are advanced as authorities.— Zimmerman. The improvement of the understanding is for two ends; first, our own increase of knowledge; se- condly, to enable us to deliver and make out that knowledge to others.— Locke. What has pleased, and continues to please, is likely to please again. Hence are derived our rules of art; and on this immovable foundation they must for ever stand.— Sir J• Reynolds. ANGER.— To be angry is to revenge the faults of others upon ourselves. GAINSHOROCGH, THE PAINTER.— This eminent artist was fond of music, and wanted only persever ance to become a musician. He was allowed, by his sober friends,— professors of music, to have an apti ttrde for all instruments; although his scientific friend, Jackson, of Exeter, wrote freely upon what he was pleased to consider the painter's foible. Mr. Jackson's playful account is as follows :—" Gainsbo- rough's profession was pain tins -, music was his amuse- ment : yet there were times when music seemed to be his employment, and painting his diversion. As his skill in music has been celebrated, I will, before I speak of him as a painter, mention what degree of merit he possessed as a musician. When I first knew him, he lived at Bath, where Giardini had been exhi- biting his then universal powers on the violin. His excellent performance made Gainsborough enamoured of^ that instrument: and conceiving, like the servant maid in the Spectator, that the music lay in the fiddle, he was frantic until he possessed the very instrument which had given him so much pleasure; but seemed surprised that the music of it remained behind with Giardini. He had acarcely recovered this shock, for it was a great one to him, when he heard Abel on the viol- di- gamba. The violin was burg on the willows. Abel's viol- di- gamba was purchased; and the house- resounded with melodious thirds and fifths, ' from morn till dewy eve.' Fortunately, my friend's pas- sion had now a fresh object,— Fischer's hautboy. The next time I saw Gainsborough, it was in the cha- racter of King David. He had heard a performer on the harp, at Bath :— the performer was soon left harpless. In this manner he frittered away his musi- cal talents ; and, though possessed of ear, taste, and genius, he never had application enough to learn his notes. He scorned to take the first step ; the second was, of course, out of his reach ; and the summit be- came unattainable." There is no use of money equal to that of benefi- cence. Here the enjoyment grows on reflection ; and! our money is most truly ours, when it ceases to be in our possession.— Mackenzie. How DOES CHEAP BREAD PRODUCE HIGH WAGES .'— When food is cheap, the industrious classes clothe themselves, and the increased demand in the home market produces great manufacturing and com- mercial prosperity; more hands are required, and, to obtain them, higher wages are given. On the other hand, when food is dear, the whole of the wages of the working classes are expended in pro- viding it for their families, and their demand for manufactures ceases ; our exports are increased, and foreign markets are glutted with the very goods which should have clothed the wives and families of English workmen, and have made their homes comfortable ; and this glut of foreign markets with British manu factures, consequent on a diminished home consump- tion, is experienced, not because the unusual quantity thus pressed upon them is absolutely more than they want; but, because the restrictive policy of our com- mercial laws does not freely admit into our markets their corn, or sugar, or coffee, & c., which being all that foreigners have to offer in payment for our goods they are not able to purchase our fabrics to the ex- tent of their need. Ruinous forced sales of them abroad ate therefore effected, at a loss, that our mill- owners may obtain quick remittances, and continue to pay the operatives their weekly wages; bank ruptcies follow, mills stop, operatives are without employment, or work only half time; and conse- quently wages fall, or, what comes to the same thing, their weekly earnings are diminished, ' the unem- ployed operatives, having pawned everything, are driven, in destitution, from their cottages, which are left without tenants, No additional buildings are wanted. Masons, bricklayers, plumbers, joiners, and painters are, therefore, thrown out of work. No new mills are erected, no machinery is required. Me- chanics, foundry- men, labourers at iron works miners and their tool makers, are also deprived of employment, Sqoe- makers, hatters, tailors, shop- keepers, and lastly, bread bakers and dairy farmers lose their former customers, and become themselves victims of the all pervading evil. A scarcity of bread and dear food sinks them, too, into the miserable ranks of the non- producers, to augment the swelling numbers of dependent, pauperized consumers. Indeed" it is an invariable rule, that, if the parties producing any article of common consumption have political power to limit, bylaw, the supplyof that article, they will raise its price in the market to the extent of their wicked - privilege which will diminish the consumption, not only of the article rendered dear by the operation of the law expressly enacted to extort for it a high price; but also, of all other things in proportion, and, therefore, will contract and depress every other trade, as experience shows the corn laws to have done.— L. Heyworth. ADVERTISEMENTS. TO BE SOLD, a fquantity of REMNANTS of PILOT CLOTHS,' BEAVERS, and other Goods suitable for Charitable Purposes Also, a small stock of BLANKETS, PRINTED DRUGGETS, and FINE GOODS, all of which will be sold . very low. Apply to Mr. JOHN BARRACLOUGH, Manufacturer, Lister- Lane. LE'STER HOUSE, NO. 1, Northgate End, Halifax. Esta blished for the Sale of all kinds of the best and cheapest Stockings, Knitting Worsteds and Yarns, Gloves and Ready made Shirts, & c. Women's Stockings and Gloves, Men's Stockings and Gloves, Children's Stockings ? and Gloves, in great variety.— Men's Merino and Lambs' wool under- Shirts, Drawers, and Pantaloons, much cheaper and superior to Flannels— Many qualities of men's cotton and linen ready made shirts, shirt- fronts, shirt collars, stocks, and braces. —- Purcnasers are respectfullylinvited to try the Le'ster House where there is kept an extensive assortment of Stockings and Gloves.— Elastic wool under shirts and drawers, recom- mended as a § ure preventive of rheumatism and gout.—. Every article belonging to the hosiery business, and par- ticularly suitable for the present season, is sold at astonish" ing low prices, at the Le'ster House, No. 1, Northgate End, Halifax. JAMEb WHEWALL, Proprietor. November 25th, 1842. TO THE TRUSTEES UNDER THE IMPROVEMENT ACT FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF HALIFAX. GFDTTLEMEN,— 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 ofyour 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. 3,1842. HALIFAX:— Printed and Sold, for the Propretors, at the General Printing Office of H, Martin, Upper George Yard,