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The Halfax Free Press

07/01/1843

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The Halfax Free Press

Date of Article: 07/01/1843
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Volume Number:     Issue Number: XIX
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TIE HALIFAX JANUARY 7, 1843. No. XIX. Price One Penny, And now the time in special is, by privilege, to write and speak what may help to the f urther discussing of matters in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his two ontrovcrsal faces, might now not unsignificantly be set open: and though all the winds of doctrine ivere let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we d » 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 AKEOPAGITICA. MUSIC, ITS ORIGIN AND ITS USES. Music must have been tbe gift of God. Man did not communicate to theextended wire its vibrations- Man did not give to tbe surrounding air its undula- tory motion— Man did not organize the ear to such exact reponsiveness, or the brain to such acute sen- sibility of what the ear conveys. Man could not have made music, had God not intended it. The power was his, and the gift was his— Man has possession, and thinks it his own. It administers to his pleasures — its buys him applause of men— it feeds his unhal- lowed passions, drives away thought, and helps to make him happy, in forgetfulness of what he is, and is to be. For these purposes, the worldly parent, if she find this talent in her child, takes possession of it — expends upon it no small portion of another talent committed to her keeping— and occupies with it a fourth or sixth, or an eighth part of her children's years of youth— perhaps the only years that ever will be theirs— and her heart never misgives her that she has perverted the gift, or defrauded the Giver of this talent. The Christian mother follows her example, though not with the same motive. The talent is now divested of all unhallowed purposes and dangerous effects. It is acquired without vanity, and used without ostentation. Instead of leading the young performer into company, to exhibit herself for ad- miration, it now contributes to make the excitement of mixed society unnecessary, by supplying her with innocent amusement at home. Never let the listener be supposed to say a word against the use that is made, in such families, of this delightful talent— the evening recreation of a well- spent day— the home festival of domestic cheerfulness and affection— or the solace, pehaps, of some anxious, lonely hour. I be- lieve that Music stands thus in many families, entirely divested of every injurious application, and adminis- tering to one part of the Creator's purpose— the hap- piness of man. But I do question if it is made any- where, so much as it might be, subservient to the other— the service and honour of the Giver— or even to the first, in the best and highest sense of the word To consider it first in private. Do we not all know how difficult it is to keep God always in our thoughts, to cultivate perpetual intercourse with Him in our hearts, and to hare before us such an abiding sense of his presence, as to be our guardian at once from danger and from sin ? To do this is the prevailing desire— at least I suppose so— of every Christian bosom ; and yet, while surrounded with things sen- sible and earthly, it is the most difficult task we have to perform. If Music is the resource of our lighter hours, might it r. ot be the means of bringing God into our thoughts, rather than of driving him out of them by the introduction of other images ? If it be the solace of our sadness, might it not better serve the purpose, by bringing together, with its soothing melody, the remembrance and images of joy yet un seen, and hopes as yet unrealized; in which, rather than in the mere physical impression of the sound upon our outward organs, the mind might forget, or find a sedative for, its anxieties ? Might not Music by those who like, be had recourse to, for these ex- press purposes, wherever the bosom seems to need it ? If Music, under some of its forms, is calculated to excite the passions and intoxicate the spirits, it is, in others, eminently calculated to allay and pacify— to soften and subdue them. I believe it is capable of exercising a permanent and essential influence on the character, in awakening the gentler dispositions of the mind, and putting to rest the more turbulent. I should, in this persuasion, be extremely anxious to cultivate a love of Music in young people, whether they play themselves, or not, and be very sorry if they showed a dislike to it. I would make it a part of their education with this view, and lead them to this use of it. To still the stormy passions, to soothe the irritated feelings, to elevate the sensual mind, and re- call to seriousness the dissipated mind, would be a use of Music acceptable indeed to Him who wills nothing so much as the holiness of his creatures, and their restoration to the likeness of his spotless purity. There are many who feel Music thus, and for this desire it. And I dare say there are more listeners than one, who, coming into musical society after a day of hurried occupation, or anxious thoughtfulness, have hoped, amid the concord of sweet sounds, to compose their agitated spirits, and elevate their earth- bound thoughts; and by the aid of Handel or Mozart, have been very near succeeding, when a noisy Italian bravura, or a flippant French madrigal, has put an end to their hopes, and almost to their patience. In family devotion, Music might be made far more useful and delightful than it is ; though I am aware that in some families it is so used. Perhaps it might be made of more importance. The younger part of the family, on whose Music so much is expending, might be led to consider it as their especial care, and one of the chief objects of the instruction they are re- ceiving. How beautiful and how invaluable, in a young mind, is the habit'of referring everything they receive, or do, to some higher end than that of tem- poral advantage or transient gratification ! In our public service, the Musical department is indeed deplorable. Our psalms are solemn prayers, or devout praises, as much addressed to Heaven as any part of the services. As such it is difficult to understand why the minister is not responsible for the performance of this, as well as the remainder of the holy ministration ; that it should seem to be the business of the clerk, an illiterate always, and gene- rally not a pious man, awd perhaps some dozen idlers, his companions, on whose taste and feeling ii to depend this part of our devotions. The congre- gation may join— it is true,— that is, they may if they can ; but I must confess that, from the choice of tunes, or the method of execution, it is not always possible. I doubt not there is in every village, parish, or congregation, Musical talent enough, and dearly enough purchased, to make melody meet to be offered as prayers in the courts of the Most High; to in- struct those who are willing to be taught, especially the children— and why not others of the poor, their neighbours and dependents ?— no unfavourable op portunity of teaching them to feel and understand this part of the service. And if, under the sanction and direction of the minister, the charge of the psal- mody were thus put into their bands— of course, I do not mean the public charge, but the choice of the Music— without preventing any one from joining, think they might defy the clerk and his companions to destroy their harmony. Perhaps our female friends will say that this rests not with them— they cannot assume a charge not offered them. But I can imagine a case in which the minister, whose approbation was necessary, would be their father, or their well- known friend ; or where their rank and influence in the parish would secure a glad compliance, should the proposal come from them. And then how potent his example! Success- ful and approved in one congregation, it would come to be earnestly solicited in another ; and the ladies might, as in most cases they ought to, wait the re- quest. But even when the direction of the singing is not in their hands, but conducted on the present system, we still do not see how the musical ladies of a congregation could better use their expensive ac complishment, than by teaching the children of the schools and others of the poor to join with feeling, correctness, and moderation ; by which the clerk might be even yet outsung. For the rest, if it be thought that I have been dreaming, instead of listening, and, mindless of what is daily before my eyes and in my efjrs, have let magination range in things that have no reality; if it be said that Music is an innocent plaything of man's secular taste, in which we may expend as much time aswe please, and need render no account, it being only intended for our amusement;— I think that such an opinion is contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture, to our condition on earth, and preparation for eternity ; and I believe that God will sometimes vindicate his purposes in all that he has created material or intellectual, and convince us that he gave us all the powers we have, for better uses than we have made of them. When the children of Zion were captives in Babylon, they hung their harps upon the willows, and forgot their country songs : how could they sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? Their hearts were unstrung and tuneless as their harps. But when they returned to Jerusalem, doubtless they strung the chords afresh, and learned anew the for- gotten Music, and sung again the song that Moses taught them, the psalms their kings and prophets left them. So should the corrupted world return to the God it has forsaken, and the knowledge of Him be established in all the earth, and sin and Satan be ex- pelled from it. This talent, and every other, will find the use for which it was intended— will be made to subserve the holiness, as well as the happiness, of man,— and, before all things, the glory and worship of tbe Lord. How shall we think, then, of a long misuse ? Or, if we never see a time when the earth shall be the Lord's, and the fullness of beauty with which he filled it to be recovered from corruption— should we not, as individuals, restored ourselves, en- deavour to restore everything to the holy purpose of its first creation ? A VISIT IN PROSPECT. Madame D'Arblay, ( better known as MissBurney, the author of " Evelina,") in her " Diary," relates that, amongst the visitors at Streatham, the seat of Mrs. Thrale, were Mr. Crutchley and Mr. Seward, two gentlemen of fortune, at once proud and mis- anthrophic, yet generous withal; and she gives a laughable instance of the ingenuity with which they could at least affect to be vastly different from other folks. We transcribe the scene for the amusement of our readers. There passed, some time ago, an agreement between Mr. Crutchley and Mr. Seward, that the latter is to make a visit to the former, at his country- house in THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 Berkshire ; and today the time was settled ; but a more ridiculous scene never was exhibited. The host elect and the guest elect tried which should show least expectation of pleasure from the meeting ; and neither of them thought it at all worth while to dis- guise his terror of being weary of the other. Mr. Seward seemed quite melancholy and depressed in the prospect of making, and Mr. Crutchley abso- lutely miserable in that of receiving, the visit; yet nothing so ludicrous, as tbe distress of both ; since nothing less necessary than that either should have such a punishment inflicted. I cannot remember half the absurd things that passed; but a few, by way of specimen, I will give. " How long do you intend to stay with me, Seward?" cried Mr. Crutchley; " bow long do you think you can bear it ?" Oh! I don't know; I sha'n't fix; answered the other : " just as I find it." " Well, hut— when shall you come ? Friday or Saturday ? I think you'd better not come till Saturday." " Why, yes ; I believe on Friday." " On Friday! Oh! you'll have to much of it. What shall I do with you ?" Why, on Sunday, we'll dine at the Lyells. Mrs. Lyell is a charming woman ; one of the most elegant creatures I ever saw." " Wonderfully so," cried Mr. Crutchley : " I like her extremely,— an insipid idiot! She never opens her mouth but in a whisper : I never heard her speak a word in my life. But what must 1 do with you on Monday ? Will you come away ?" " Oil ! no ; I'll stay and see it out." " Why, how long shall you stay? Why, I must come away myself on Tuesday." " Oh ! I sha'n't settle yet," cried Mr. Seward, very drily. " I shall put up six shirts, and then do as I find it." " Six sliirts !" exclaimed Mr. Crutchley; and then, with equal dryness, added,—" Oh! 1 suppose you wear two a- day." HANDS AND FEET. A Dialogue. HANDS. Now, cousin feet, as we have lived so many years iu amity, what do you think if we were to converse a little together, on our past conduct ? FEET. I hate to think of what is past. I hate to talk of what is past. I always like to look forward. HANDS. So far you are a philosopher. FEET. Yes. I'm descended from a celebrated sect. The Peripatetics were all pedestrians. HANDS. But a little conversation can do us no harm. FEET. Proceed. HANDS. You recollect that I once stole a pair of shoes for you. FEET. What then ? HANDS. You walked off with them. FEET. Or rather, ran off; for, if I had not, you would have been caught in manner, as the lawyers say. HANDS. But you never stole a pair of gloves for me. FEET. But I was fettered for the gloves you stole for yourself. HANDS. And I was handcuffed for the shoes I stole for you. FEET. Didn't I kick the fellow that handcuffed you? HANDS. And didn't I cuff the fellow that fettered you ? FEET. So far we acted like sworn brothers. I hope you dou't forget that I was put in the stocks for the bottle of brandy you stole. HANDS. That bottle was for our throat,— our common friend. FEET. I am afraid our poor throat will pay for all at last. HANDS. Away with your predictions ! You say you like to look forward. You should sometimes look behind vpu, FEET. No. I leave that to my heels. HANDS. In all our transactions, I never betrayed you. FEET. Do you mean to say that I betrayed you ? HANDS. Remember tbe great snow. FEET. True, I was traced ; and we were caught. Didn't I assist you, however, to scale the wall ? HANDS. You did ; and to swim the river. FEET. Yes ; and to climb the tree. HANDS. Don't talk of trees. Trees have been fatal to gentlemen of our profession. FEET. And will be so, I fear. Since you have touched on old sores, it has not escaped your memory, I believe, that, before you entered on your present line of life, you signed a warrant of attorney, by which you got us all,— hack, belly, and bones, into a stone doublet. HANDS. It was in that very stone doublet I learned all my tricks. FEET, I wish you could unlearn them ; but that, I- see, is impossible. Let me advise you now, in future, to avoid all attorneys, and warrants of attorney ; and if ever you are called upon to put your mark to any bond, bill, or note, let it appear on the left side. Though it may not be so honourable a post as on the right, yet you'll find it a less dangerous one. HANDS. True ; but I am surprised you should presume to give advice to your betters ! FEET. Betteis'. I am descended, Mr. Hands, from the ancient family of the Legs. You are, it is true, de- scended frjm the proud family of the Arms. Both have bled in the cause of their country ; and when yours could no longer sustain the fight, mi/ i<? diave borne them off the tented field in safety. I know the Sjrindleshanks claim kindred as a branch of my ancestors ; and they are a disgrace to it. We are proud, however, to acknowledge our obligations to Mr. Deputy Oak, a sound race,— tbe pride of Old England, and the glory of Chelsea College. HANDS. Come! come! Our ancestors are equally illus- trious. But, in point of education !— I can write. FEET. And I can leave my mark. Hasn't forgery brought many a man to the gallows ? HANDS. And hasn't one false step often done the same ? — A truce; a truce !— Let us forget all that is past. Let us act in concert in future. FEET. With all my heart ! I'll engage that you'll never attempt to put any plan into execution that you won't find me at the bottom of it. If you have a horse, arm my heels, and you'll outstrip the wind : or, if you trust to me, you'll find that I'll leave our pursuers far behind. CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. [ From Dickens's American Notes.] Tney are by nature frank, brave, cordial, hospit- able, and affectionate. Cultivation and refinement seem but to enhance their warmth of heart and ardent enthusiasm ; and it is the possession of these latter qualities in a most remarkable degree which renders an educated American one of the most endearing and most generous of friends. I never was so won upon as by this class; never yielded up my full confidence and esteem so readily aud pleasurably as to them ; never can make again, in half a year, so many friends for whom I seem to entertain the regard of half a life. These qualities arc natural, I implicitly believe, to the whole people. That tliey are, however, sadly sapped and blighted in their growth among the mass; and that there are influences at work which endanger them still more, and give but little present promise of their healthy restoration, is a truth that ought to be told. It is an essential part of every national character to pique itself mightily upon its faults, and to deduce tokens of its virtue or its wisdom from their very exaggeration. One great blemish in the popular mind of America, and the prolific parent of an innumer- able brood of evils, is universal distrust. Yet tbe American citizen plumes himself upon this spirit, even when he is sufficiently dispassionate to perceiv the ruin it works; and will often adduce it, in spite of his own reason, as an instance of the great sagacity and acuteness of the people, and their superior shrewd- ness and independence. * * * Another prominent feature is tbe love of " smart " dealing, which gilds over many a swindle and gross breach of trust; many a defalcation public and private ; and enables many a knave to hold up with the bees, who well deserves a# halter— though it has not been without its retributive operation, for^ this smartness has done more in a few years to impair the public credit, and to cripple the public resources, than dull honesty, however rash, could have effected in a century. The merits of a broken speculation, or a bankruptcy, or of a successful scoundrel, are not gauged by its or his observance of the golden rule, " Do as you would be done by," but are considered with reference to their smartness. I recollect on both occasions of our passing that ill- fated Cairo on the Mississippi, remarking on the bad effects such gross deceits must have when they exploded, in generating a want of confidence abroad, and discouraging foreign invest- ment; but I was given to understand that this was a very smart scheme by which a deal of money had been made ; and that its smartest feature was, that they forgot these things abroad in a very short time, and speculated again as freely as ever. The following dialogue I have held a hundred times:—" Is it not a very disgraceful circumstance that such a man as So- and- So should be acquiring a large property by the most infamous and odious means, and, notwithstanding all the crimes of which he has been guilty, should be tolerated and abetted by your citizens ? He is a public nuisance, is he not ?" " Yes, sir." " A convicted liar?" " Yes, sir." " He has been kicked, aftd cuffed, and caned ?" " Yes, sir." " And he is utterly dishonourable, debased, and profligate?" " Yes, sir." " In the name of wonder, then, what is his merit ?" " Well, sir, he is a smart man." In like manner, all kinds of deficient and impolitic usages are referred to the national love of trade; though, oddly enough, it would be a weighty charge against a foreigner, that he regarded the Americans as a trading people, The love of trade is assigned as a reason for that comfortless custom, so very prevalent in country towns, of married persons living in hotels, having no- fireside of their own, and seldom meeting from early morning until late at night but at tbe hasty public meals. The love of trade is a reason why the literature of America is to remain for ever unprotected ; " for we are a trading people, and don't care for poetry," though we do, by the way, profess to be very proud of our poets; while healthful amusements, cheerful means of recreation, and wholesome fancies must fade before the stern utilitarian joys of trade. These three characteristics are strongly presented at every turn, full in the stranger's view. But tbe foul growth of America has a more tangled root than this ; and it strikes its fibres deep in its licentious press. Schools may be erected, east, west, north, and south ; pupils be taught, and masters reared by scores upon scores of thousands ; colleges may thrive,, churches may be crammed, temperance may be dif- fused, and advancing knowledge in all other forms walk through the land with giant strides ; but while the newspaper- press of America is in, or near, its present abject state, high moral improvement in that country is hopeless. Year by year it must and will go back ; year by year the tone of public feeling must sink lower down ; year by year tbe congress and tbe senate must become of less account before all dfcer. t men ; and year by year the memory of the great fathers of the revolution must be outraged more and more in the bad life of their degenerate child. THE PLUMAGE OF BIRDS. The varied hues which adorn the plumage of birds, however pleasing to man's senses, were nut given merely for his gratification. That, we have no in- clination to deny, was one object, but there were others, and to the birds themselves more important, purposes to be served. Some species required especial means of protection from the piercing ken of their stronger enemies ; while others had to be pro- vided with especial nwSans of procuring their food. Both these objects have been effected by peculiaritie of colour. The best mode of protecting an animal from the attacks of tbe carnivorous or raptorial tribes, is ob- viously to render it as little conspicuous as possible. Imagine a lark, whose habit is to be much on the ground, coloured scarlet, and it would be an object to which the attention of every passing hawk would THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 % e immediately and fatally directed. Resembling, however, the clod of earth on which it sits, the lark rests in comparative security. For the same reason, most species of animals re- semble in colour their indigenous locality. " The wood- snipe," says Mr. Blyth, in bis edition of White's Selborne, " is of the exact tint of the dead leaves over which it runs ; the snipe, that of the marsh ; and the rail, that of coarse and decaying vegetation in the ditch." The colour of the ptarmigan, in summer, closely resembles the hue of the locality in which it is placed ; but, in winter, when the ground is covered with snow, the same colour, so far from being a pro- tection, would render the bird a very conspicuous object. Nature lias provided for the emergency; and, in autumn, the plumage of the ptarmigan gra- dually changes, so that, when winter clothes the fields in white, the bird may vie, in unsullied purity, with the snow on which it treads. It might be difficult, perhaps, for one who had been admiring, in a museum, the brilliant plumage of a number of the tropical species, to beligve that their variegated feathers could furnish means of con- cealment ; yet such is undoubtedly the case. In our inclement country, the vegetation is comparatively plain and unvariegated in its hues; and the same character marks the birds whose haunts are amongst our copses and trees : but the face of nature wears a very different aspect in warmer climes. There, the earth brings forth, in abundance, its richest treasures; — the trees are laden with golden fruit;— flowers, whose loveliness surpasses our highest conceptions, strew every path ;— and the entire vegetable kingdom is decked in its brightest ornaments. If we can imagine a scene such as this, and the whole glistening beneath tlie rays of a vertical sun, we shall then understand how the ornaments which render tropical birds so remarkable in our museums, ect, in the midst of surrounding splendour aud brilliancy, as means of concealment. That certain peculiarities of colour are of great importance in enabling some species to obtain their food, will, we think, be evident from a few examples. Professor Rymer Jones relates that a piscatorial friend of his, when dressed for bis favourite amuse- ment, always appeared in a sky blue coat and white trousers, which he termed " sky fashion," and was of opinion that this dress was the best adapted to conceal him from the fishes. The Professor says,— " shortly after this conversation, walking through a collection of aquatic birds, I was rather startled to find that they almost all wore blue coats and white waistcoats;— almost all of them were dressed ' sky fashion.' If you look at the heron and seagulls, you will find blue coats and white waistcoats upon them What could the induce the fish to come within reach of the heron ? Were it visible, they would go in all directions ; but, on account of its colour, they are not able to perceive its presence " The fishes look up to the heron, which, having the sky for its back- ground, is best concealed from their observation, by its plumage being " sky fashion." The bee- eaters [ meropidce) furnish us with some very curious adaptations of colour to their mode of capturing prey. A Brazilian species has the plumage entirely dark, with the exception of some white feathers on its breast, bearing a sufficient resemblance to tlie white petals of a flower, to decoy the bees in tlieir scarch for honeyed blossoms, The bird, thus provided with admirable powers of attraction, rests quietly on some twig, until its winged prey, darting towards their supposed booty, arc seized with sudden velocity. Another instance, of a similar character, is afforded by the blue- bellied bee- eater of Africa, whose bright crimson throat, surrounded by the herbage of the tree on which it is perched, presents an appearance of a most lovely flower. Some species are provided with beautiful crests, evidently for the same object. Thus, in the royal tody, of Brazil, ( mepalophua rerjius,) the feathers are so disposed that they radiate from the hinder part of head, and form a semi- circle,, resembling the half of a full- blown syngenesious flower; the size of the crest being enormous in proportion to that of the bird, and having a very splendid appearance. The grand colour of the feathers is of the richest chestnut- red, and at the tip of each there is a spot of velvet- black,| margined with steel- blue, which is separated from the red by a stripe of rich orange. That the effect of this flower- like appendage should not be impaired, the plumage of the body of the bird is exceedingly plain. We can readily imagine that some of our readers will regard it as impossible that insects do thus mis- take the colouring of birds for flowers. Observation, however, would remove the doubt. A small piece of white paper, laid on the grass, will attract the cabbage- butterfly, us it slowly flies over a garden ; and a coloured object, by no means more resembling a blossom than the feathers of these birds, will, in like manner, draw aside bees and other insects. POETRY. ORIGINAL. THE SPIRIT OF LIGHT. BY CHARLES YOUNG. The world steals away from the finger of night, As a dreamer awoke by the music of light. Like the first spell of hope she is magical now,— Bliss sits like the first dream of life on her brow. She comes laughing and singing, and gladsomely gives Heart- stirring expression where happiness lives. Over sea, earth, and heaven, thro' the wide welkin bright, A deep welcome greets thee, sweet Spirit of light! O Spirit I O beautiful Spirit! thine eye Hath unlock'd the proud gates of the eastern sky, Which timedly ope as a secret; and thou Comest forth with the sun on thy peerless brow. In chrystal sheen and elysian dyes, Thy course is over the burning skies; Which form thy temple's mighty dome, ' Till the Spirit of night again may come, The dark Spirit of night has been and gone— And the chaste stars have follow'd him one by one, A- down the far East in a flood of gold, The sweet tale of thy first- born love is told ; Whilst Beatity sits on each blossom and flower, To watch the still dawn of thy natal hour; An d her wings are spread to journey with thee, Where man cannot reach ; btit where God may be. O Spirit! O beautiful Spirit! thy shrine Is a treasury where lingereth an essence divine, Whose sanctified pureness is shadow'd in thee, The visible language of deity. ' ' Deep, deep is thy glory; deep, deeper thy spell. Dost thou image the. Soul of man ere he fell, Or the Souls of the angels which wait at thy home, Or the Souls of the bless'd when redemption is come ? Morn follows thy footstep, like Love on the wing Of Ecstasy bearing its heart's offering ; And the hills climb to meet thee like spirits which bear To heaven their first offering— an offering of prayer. The sea rolls in liquified diamonds the while, And the earth rivals heav'n in the flash of thy smile. The forests unveil their deep mantles of green, And thy bright eye is laughing where darkness hath been. O Spirit! Eternity's birth place ! thy brow Speaks of it. At thy fountain, when death is laid low, May I drink till my soul in its fulness of thee, Takes the form of thyself— life— light— purity : And drinking— for ever grew brighter and brighter, As day fed by sunbeams grows lighter and lighter ; As the world leaps to life at the soft call of light, May we greet thee sweet Spirit! where day knows no night SELECTED. THE TWELVE MONTHS OF MAN'S LIFE. The following singular lines are said to have been printed in the reign of Henry VII. in a Sarum black letter missal. J ANUARIUS. Thefyrst six yeres of mannes byrth and aege May well be compared to Janyure For in this moneth is no strengeth nor courage More than in achylde of the aege of six yerc. FEBRUARIUS. The other six yeres is like February In the end thereof beguyneth the Sprynge That tyme ehyldren is moost apt ana redy To receyve chastysement nurture and lernyngt\> - MARTI US. March betokeneth the six yeres followynge Arayeng the erthe with pleasaunt verdure That season youth thought for nothynge And without thought dooth his sporte and pleasure.. APRILIS. The next six yere maketh four and twenty And figured is to joly Aprill That tyme of pleasures man hath most plenty Fresh and louying his lustes to fulfyll. MAIUS. As in the moneth of Maye all thyng is mygth: So at thirty yeres man is in chyef lyliing Pleasaunt a! nd lustie to every mannes sygth In beaute and strengthe to women pleasyng. JUNIUS. In June all thyng falleth to rypenesse And so dooth man at thirty- six yere olde And studyeth for to acquyre rychesse And taketh a wyfe to keepe his householde. JULIUS. At forty yere of aege or elles never Is ony man endewed with wysdome For than forgth his myght fayleth ever As in July dpth every blossome. AUGUSTUS. The goodes of the erthe iS gadered evermore In August so at forty- eight yere Man ought to gather some goodes in store To susteyne . lege that then draweth nerc. SEPTEMBER. Let no man thynke for to gather plenty Yf at fifty- four yere he have none No more than yf his barne were empty In September when all thecorne is gone. OCTOBER. By Octobre betokenyth sixty yere That aege hastely dooth man assayle Yf he have outgh than it dooth appere To lyve quyetly after his travayle. NOVEMBER. When man is at sixty- six yere olde Which lykened is to bareyne Novembre 1- Ie waxeth unweldy sekely and cold • Than his soule helth is time to remember. DECEMBER. The yere by Decembre taketh his ende And so doeth man at threescore and twelve Nature with aege wyll hym on message sende Tho'tymc is come that he must go hymselve. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A thing of Shreds and Patches." PURCKLL, THE COMPOSER.— Purcell's first essay in dramatic music was made at the age of nineteen. An eminent teacher of dancing, of the name of Piiest, who was the composer of the ballets performed at court, and had a taste for the stage, wished to get up a private dramatic performance by his pupils. He got Tate, a poet of some reputation, to write a little opera, called Dido and Eneas, and l'urcel to set to music, The piece was represented by some of the young persons who attended Priest's school, before a select audience of their relatives and friends ; and the Music, notwithstanding the disadvantage of its performance by a set of juvenile amateurs, was found so beautiful, and was so much talked of, that it at- tracted the attention of the managers of the theatres, and led to Purcell's being engaged in writing for the stage. Dido and Eneas is a wonderful work, con- sidering the youth of the composer. As a whole, it is deficient in the finish and mellowness which cha- racterize the productions of his riper yesrs ; but from beginning to end, it sparkles with genius, and contains beauties which even he himself has not sur- passed. At that period the Opera was in its infancy, even in Italy, the land of its birth ; and Purcell, at the age of nineteen, could merely have heard of it as a species of exotic entertainment, as yet unknown in England : and yet, unaided by observation or exped- ience, he formed for himself so just a conception of • the style and character of dramatic music, that this juvenile essay is esteemed, even at this day, a charm- ing specimen of this kind of composition. Dido and Eneas was not printed ; and, after enjoying a preca- rious existence for nearly two centuries by means of a few manuscript copies, it has at length been effec- tually recued from oblivion by the beamtiful edition brought out last year by the Musical Antiquarian Society. ROYAL PRIDE AND POVERTY.— The Grand Duke Paul of Russia once visited the Grand Duke Charles of Wurtcmburg. The latter, fond of show and parade, bin very poor ( for be was very extravagant), was anxious to cut a dash before the Russiai; Prince. Ac Hohenasberg, he showed him a party of grenadiers, and told bin: that he had similar regiments at Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. At Stuttgart, the same men, dressed in the uniforms of another regiment, were again exhibited to the Prince; and the manoeuvre was once more enacted at Ludwigsburg. Thus the Grand Prince was made to believe that he had seen three different regiments of grenadiers. Unluckily, however, for the memory of the royal trickster, the drummer of the regiment, J. Steiniuger, has written his ." life and adventures," and published the device to the world. OPS AND HIRON.— A worthy alderman of is to great a purist that lie will never pay a bill that has got a fault of orthography in it. One day he re- ceived a bill for a pocket of ops ( hops); the learned Priscian sent for the witless wight, and giving him a good lecturing, asked if be was not ashamed to spell hops in that manner. " Why, sir, if you must know the truth, we have been obliged to do it ever since your brother- in- law took all the h's to spell iron." GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE IONIAN- ISLANDS.— From Davy's Notes and Observations on the Ionian Islands and Malta, we learn that the prevailing rocks of the Ionian Isles are those of the secondary and tertiary formation. s Those of the primary are rare. In the limestone formations the caverns are numerous and picturesque ; fit abodes for the pirate and the bandit. Along these shores young Pompey may have impelled bis infesting squadrons, which at one time liile Ostiawifh affright, and shook the capital. The following description is after the author's happiest manner :—" The first cavern we visited was that of Grammattico, so called from the nearest village being of that name. This the favour- able state of the sky and sea permitted us to enter, though there was too much swell to allow of out- reaching its extremity. It is considered one of the largest of the caverns of Paxo ; I would say it is the largest, and, in all its circumstances, the finest. It is about 100 feet high at his mouth, the cliff being about triple that height; it is nearly as wide as it is high at its entrance, which capacious dimensions it retains some distance inward, and it may be between 300 and 400 feet deep. When we were about half- way within, the view outward was very peculiar, and not without grandeur and a certain beauty, produced bv a combination of circumstances, such as the great arched lofty roof, the vast perpendicular walls, the deep and transparent blue water beneath heaving up and down ; the gigantic cliff skirting it on the outside, almost shutting out the sea and sky; the beautiful and vivid tints of the rock ; the extraordinary play of light on the roof, and that clair- obscnre which belongs to deep shade in a clear atmosphere' under a bright sun." Malta and Gozo consist entirely of tertiary formations — limestone, calculous freestone, marl, and shale. In these islands there are likewise many caverns.- 4* THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. The springs, which the author divides into two classes — common and mineral— are abundant in the districts where rock and marl alternate, but where limestone abounds water is scarce. We cannot help quoting the following beautiful passage. Though in prose, it reminds us of the calm and intellectual grandeur of WORDSWORTH :—" In Corfu, in Santa Maura, in Cenhalonia, and in Zante, there are examples of the kind, and they constitute some of the most beautiful parts of these islands. Water and fertility and luxuriancy of vegetation— especially the fountain water, the living spring— are intimately associated in these regions; where the spring bursts forth, there the circumstances are most favourable to vegetation, and the soil commonly, as well as the moisture and the means of irrigation. Where there is a fountain, there is generally a garden, and if not a garden, or orange grove, there is either the stately plantanus or wild shrubbery of the finest kind, the myrtle in pro- fusion, with which is occasionally mixed the oleander, the laurel, and arbutus. That part of Cephalonia which is least known, which extends between Pronos and Scala, at the foot of the Black Mountain, looking towards Ithaca, is a region of this kind. When I travelled through it, the noise of waters was even im pressive ; and my companion, a native, resident on the other side of the island, and who never before saw running streams, expressed himself surprised and delighted ; it was to him a perfectly novel scene nature appeared to him in a new aspect. Witnessing the impression produced on his mind, it was easy to imagine the feeling amonast the ancients which led them to the personification of these beneficent sources and the assigning to them living and divine attributes.' Music FOR THF PEOPLG.— If the people are made temperate, what is there to keeep them so ; is question often put, and deserves the roost important consideration. It is not enough that we wean man from those slavish and sensual indulgences which have often rendered him, first their slave, and then their victim ; it is not enough that we rescue him from that debasing propensity which " has grown with his growth, and strengthened with his strength." We must substitute for the maddening bowl, exhila- rating draughts from the life spring of knowledge. We must place within his reach those means of simple enjoyment that have left no sting behind. We must excite within him a taste for those innocent and varied pleasures of sight and of sense which he is created to enjoy, and which a bountiful Providence has kindly placed in lavish profusion within the reach of all; and by making him a participator in all that has a tendency to expand his mind, refine his taste, and elevate his moral and intellectual character, prove to him that the balance of enjoyment is clearly on the side of temperance ; that so far from checking hilarity, she exerts her influence as the warm friend and steadfast supporter of the true interest of humanity, ever anxious to promote that innocent relaxation which is the special right of the hardy son of labour ; while her smile of true cheerfulness stands in forcible contrast to the boisterous revelry and giddy dissipation which aie the sure concomitants of intemperance and debauchery, and compels an ac- knowledgement, however reluctant, that " Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." We hail Music for the people as an agency admirably calculated, at the present period, to prove a valuable auxiliary to the temperance movement. That it has been so viewed by its venerated leader, may beinfeired from the encouragement be has given to the different temperance bands, whose proficiency reflects so much credit on the musical taste and skill of our fellow countrymen ; and that the new system of vocal Music at length introduced into Ireland, and now successfully taught in our city, will be attended with the most beneficial consequences, we entertain the most san- guine hopes, as we feel satisfied that the taste of our own countrymen in that department will challenge competition with that of the inhabitants of Russia, Austria, France, Switzerland, or any other of the Continental states in which Music forms an elemen- tary portion of popular education.— Dublin Journal of Temperance, Science, and Literature. TAKE CARE OF YOUR FF. ET.— The circnmstances in which wet feet are most apt to cause disease, are where the person remains inactive, and where, con" sequentlv, there is nothing to counterbalance • the unequal flow of blood which then takes place towards the internal parts ; for it is well known that a person in good health may walk about or work in the open air for hours together without injury, provided he put on dry stockings and shoes immediately on coming home. It is, therefore, not the mere state of wetness that causes the evil, but the check to per- spiration, and the unequal distribution of blood to which the accompanying coldness gives rise. BRUCE AND THE SPIDER.— Bruce was lying one morning on his wretched bed, and deliberating with himself whether he had not better resign all thoughts of again attempting to make good his risht to the Scottish crown, when looking upward to the roof of the cabin in which he lay, his eye was attracted by a spider, which, hanging at the end of a long thread of liis own spinning, was endeavouring, as is the fashion of that creature, to swing himself from one beam in the roof to another, for the purpose of fixing the line on which lie meant to stretch his web. The insect made trie attempt again and again without success: and at; length Bruce counted that it had tried to carry its po nt six times, and been as often unable to do so. It came into his head that he had himself fought just six battles against the English and their allies, and the poor persevering spicier was exactly in the same situ- ation with himself, having made as many trials, and been as often disappointed in what it aimed at. " Now," thought Bruce, " as I have no means of knowing what is to be done, I will be guided by the luck which shall attend this spider. If the insect shall make another effort to fix its thread and shall be successful, I will venture a seventh time to try my fortune in Scotland ; but if the spider shall fail, 1 will go to the wars in Palestine, and never return to my native country again," While Bruce was forming this resolution, the spider made another exertion with all the force it could muster, and fairly succeeeded in fastening its thread to the beam which it had so often in vain at- tempted to reach. Bruce, seeing the success of the spider, resolved to try his own fortune ; and as he never before gained a victory, so be never afterwards sustained any considerable check or defeat. I have often met with people of the name of Bruce, so com- pletely persuaded of the truth of this story, that they would not on any account kill a spider, because it was such an insect which had shown the example of per- severance, and given a signal of good luck to their great namesake.— Sir Waller Scott. " GETTING AGATE."— Whilst the 11th Hussars, or Prince Albert's Uwn, were stationed at Mount Vernon barracks, near Barnsley, one of the troops, an Emeralder, just imported, was ordered to make a fire in the guard- room, and to do it immediately. Some delay taking place, he was reprimanded, and pleaded in excuse that be could find no wood. To this reason- able excuse the sergeant- major, a Yorkshireman, would not listen, but sharply ordered him to " get agate ( that is, begin) immediately," and then left the room. Paddy, complying literally with his instructions, instantly went into the garden adjoining the captain's, and took a small wooden gate off the hinges, and broke it into pieces, and lighted the fire with it. The sergeant- major having occasion to go again into the guard- room soon afterwards, he said, " Well, how did you manage to get so good a fire?" To which Paddy replied—" Faith, and you told me to get a gate, and so I went and fetched the garden gate ; it was the smallest I could find; the barrack gates, there, were too bis." It is needless to say how the joke was enjoyed, A JOURNALIST.— No man requires a larger range of intellect, more varied acquirements, or greater strength of character, than the conductor of a public journal. Of course we allude to one who acts with a full sense of the dignity and worth of his calling, and in the conscientious desire to discharge its duties. Neither statesman, lawyer, nor divine, moves in a more extended sphere, or has more occasion for the use of the noblest faculties both of mind and heart. He stands in immediate contact with the public mind. He furnishes the intellectual aliment of the people. He gives atone to public sentiment; is a leader of public opinion ; and the guardian and guide of public morals. Thousands of men, each morning and even- ing, listen to his voice, are moved by his persuasions, are corrected by his rebukes, or corrupted by his li- cence. The characters of men are in some degree placed in his hands. He may elevate the bad, or tra- duce the good. He can stimulate the worst passions of inflamed times, or give an impulse to wise and bene- ficent movements. This influence differs from that of others who operate on the public mind, in that, while theirs is confined to particular and distant occa- sions, his acts incessantly. The orator agitates only while he is speaking; the preacher is hemmed in by the walls of the church and the limits of a Sabbath day ; the statesman seldom steps out of his bureau ; the man of science is fixed among his retorts and crucibles ; and the teacher has an existence only in his school- room. But the editor is perpetually at work. As the mails carry his speculations from one city to another, and from one state to another, his action spreads like the waves of a pool, in concentric circles, and before the last ripple has subsided, the waters at the centre are again disturbed. Even while he sleeps his thoughts are awake, they are diffusing good or evil, they are entering other minds, to mould them to a better or worse condition. " They rest not,— stay not,— on, still on they wing Their flight"— and whether benign or pestiferous, are producing theii inevitable impressions. MILTON COMPARED WITH SHAKSPERE.— Milton also could paint the forms of mankind, though lower degree, for his excellency chiefly consisted in the power with which he poured out his own spirit in an ideal person. Milton painted a Satan, which was a Milton. The poet Milton had little sympathy with angel or archangel, with cherub or seraph ; the trans- cript of his own mind was the archangel ruined. The inquisitive speculation, the indomitable courage, were drawn direct from the poet's soul. The victory of Gabriel, the sentiment of Raphael, the faithfulness of Abdiel, the repentance of Adam, were the respect which the habit of the man of active life paid to the prejudices and professions of his fellow men. Sa- tan was the hero of the poet's heart, and the grandest hero which genius has ever dared to offer to the ad- miration of mankind.— The Herberts. A COCKNEY TOURIST.—" The barge which carried us from Bruges to Ghent," remarks Mr. Macgregor in My Note- Book, " was made a present of by Napo- leon to the latter city, and, as far as accommodation is in question, we must bestow every praise on the imperial gift. It was this barge, her accommodations and fare, that so delighted a cockney, two years ago, that he almost began and completed his tour on board of her. On leaving London he carried tyith him £ 50 resolving to travel and see the world while the cash lasted. So delighted was he with the sump tuous dinners, cheap fares, and ever- changing society that he remained during the day making voyages to and from, and sleeping alternate nights at, Bruges and Ghent, until he spent all but sufficient money to carry him back to Cornhill. He has been always laughed at; butthere are worse methods of travelling to glean knowledge and to see the world." PREROGATIVES OF ENGLISHWOMEN.— Peter Hey lin, in bis Cosmoyrophie, printed in 1652, says— " The women of England, generally more handsome than in otjier places, are sufficiently endowed with natural beauties, without the addition of adulterate sophistications. In an absolute woman, say the Italians, are required the parts of a Dutch woman from the girdle downwards : of a French woman,, from the girdle to the shoulders; over which must be placed an English face. As their beauties, so also their prerogatives are greater than any nation ; neither so servilely submissive as the French, nor so jealously guarded as the Italian ; but keeping so true a decorum, that as England is termed the purga- torie of servants, and the hell of horses, so is it acknowledged the pamdise of women. It is a com- mon by- word among the Italians, that if there were a bridge built across the narrow seas, all the women in Europe would run into England.- for here they have the upper hand in the streets, the upper place at the table, the thirds of their husbands' estates, and their equal share of all lands— privileges with which other women are not acquainted." THE ENGLISH ABROAD.— On Sunday morning- ( says the Moniteur Parisien), was carried home, in an almost dying state, an Englishman, who had been breakfasting at a cafi in the Palais Royal. His bill of fare comprised 150 dozen of oysters, a lobster, a boiled fowl, a bottle of rum, three bottles of Chablis, and two of Sauterne. This meal, not unworthy Milo of Crotona, was in performance of a wager. Several other Englishmen were present, but not one of them touched an oyster or sipped a drop of wine, content- ing themselves with being spectators of the per- formance. Sharon Turner, in his History of the Anglo- Saxons, remarks that " that there were two persons feared in the North. One was Ochus Bochus, a magician and demon ; the other was Neceus, a malign deity, who frequented the waters. If any perished in whirl- pools, or by cramp, or badswimming, he was thought to be seized by Neccus. Steel was supposed to expel him ; and therefore all who bathed, threw some little pieces in the waters for that purpose." It is probable that we here see the origin of hocus pocus and Old Nick. The phrases, true as steel, and neck or nothing, may have issued from the same northern mist. ' THE ^ GAZELLE.— Alceste was wild for a white gazelle, ever since we had seen one in the Consul's court. They come from a particular part of Arabia,, and are rare ; yet one was obtained, and two of its fawn- coloured brethren. I must confess that we found these elegant and poeticaleompanions extremely troublesome and stupjd. They are the least sentK mental and domestic of all creatures; the most sedu- lous attention will not attach them to you ; and I do not believe they are ever fairly tame. I dislike them, in spite of their liquid eyes and romantic reputation and infinitely prefer, what are now my constant and ever- delightful company, some fine, faithful, honest, intelligent, thorough- bred English dogs.-— D'lsraeli the Younger. MISERIES OF LODGINGS.— 1. Did you ever find comfortable lodgings ? No, Inever. 2. Did you ever find a landlady who was not in a fidget to see you go out in the morning ? No, I never. 3. Did you ever• find one who was really happy to see you return r No, I never, i. Did you ever find one who, being civilly asked to rise a little earlier in the morning, did not slam the door in your face, and audibly call you a wretch ? No, I never. 5. Did you ever find one who, being desired to put more coals on the fire, did not look half- savage, half- nigger? No, I never. 6. Did you ever find one who did not entertain her friends in your room when absent ? No, Inever. 7. Did you ever find one who had not a duplicate key for every " lock- up" in the house? No, I never. 8. Did you, ever find a lodjrer bold enough to bint at these miseries ? Yes, I ever.— Bachelor Correspond- ent of Liverpool Albion. THE ANCIENT ST. JAMES'S.— John Norden, inliis account of Middlesex, has the following curiou8 notice of the ancient appearance of St. James's Palace. The passage is not be found in the printed copy ; but is given in the introduction by Sir Henry Ellis to Norden's description of Essex, published by the Camden Society :—" Itstandeth ( he says) from other buildinges about two furlongs, saving a ferine house opposite agaynst the North- gate. But the scytuacon is pleasant, indued with a good ayre and pleasant prospects. On the east, London offereth itself in vew; in the sowth the stately buyldinges of Westminster, with the pleasant parke, and the delygbtes thereof; on the north the greene feeldes. It was buylded by Kinge Hen. the 8." ADVERTISEMENTS. HALIFAX MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.— The Members and Friends of the Institution are respectfully informed that a Lecture on the SPIRIT OF THE STUDENT, and the combination of AMUSEMENT WITH STUDY, in Mechanics' Institutions, will be delivered in the Old Assembly Room, on Wednesday Evening, Jan. 11, 1843, by E. Baines, Jun. Esq., of Leeds„ The Lecture to commence at Eight o'Clock. Members ad- mitted on showing their Tickets, and Non- Subscribers on payment of Sixpence. Ladies' Tickets, admitting them to all the Lectures for the year, Four Shillings each. CHEAP AND FASHIONABLE HAT WAREHOUSE, 25, CROWN STRET, HALIFAX. J- ECKERSLEY begs leave to inform his Friends and the Public generally, that he has taken the shop lately occupied by Mr. Broadhead, ( in which shop he has been sole manager for more than 6" years;) and that he has just purchased an entirely New and Splendid Stock of Hats, Caps, Trimm ings, & c., which he is enabled to sell at prices to meet the times. Ji E. begs to say that the whole of his stock has been bought for cash, from the first houses in the trade, thereby, enableing him to offer to the Public, goods which, for Cheapness, Quality, and Fashion, cannot be surpassed. The most Fashionable Caps in Cloth, Fur, and Velvet. Gold and Silver Lace, Livery Hats, Travelling Caps, & c. fcf* Observe! 25, Crown Street, opposite the Upper George Inn. HALIFAX -.— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General Printing Office of H. Martin, Upper George Yar .
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