TIE HALIFAX JANUARY 28, 1843. FREE PRESS No. XXII. Price One Penny. And now the time in special is, by privilege, to write and speak what may help to the further discussing of matters in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his two ontroversal 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 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 conf uting is the best and surest suppressing.— MILTON'S AREOPAGITICA. LORD MORPETH ON AMERICAN SLAVERY. From the " Liberty Bell," an annual, published at the Anti- Slavery Fair, held in Boston, Dec. 1842. Castle Howard, Oct. 28, 1842. My dear Mrs. Chapman,— Your note has followed me across the Atlantic, reminding me that, when you once asked me, " for the cause's sake," to write a page or two for your annual publication of the Liberty Bell, I promised that " I would think of it." I now write to tell you that I hare thought of it, and the result of my ripe reflection is a conviction, that for the " cause's sake" it would be better for me to decline the honour of being one of your contributors. I say emphatically " for the cause's sake." Since I had the pleasure of meeting you, all my personal observation of slavery has been made, and it has spread over a large surface. I have been present at debates on the subject in Congress. I have witnessed the working and effects of the institutions of the south and south- west of your republic, and in the island of Cuba— I have conversed with its friends, its enemies, and with neutrals, for such there are; I have met among planters and their families with persons not only of the most agreeable and refined intercourse, but of high honour, of real humanity, of deep and unaffected piety. Yet so far from roy views of the system having become modified, I should not feel myself precluded by any sentiments of delicacy, or even of gratitude, towards them, from giving the fullest and most public vent to my opinions or my feelings, if I could think that " the cause " would thence derive the slightest benefit. The same grounds would induce me to concur in any use to which it might please you to put what I now ad- dress to you, even with the purpose of proving that I should be out of place among the regular ringers of the Liberty Bell. Not, most assuredly, is it from want of sympathy that I should abstain from being enrolled in that good fellowship. While slavery does not strip all its advocates and agents of many high qualities and exalted virtues, so will not a zeal for the abolition of slavery ensure an exemption from faults and incon- sistencies, errors in judgment, and blunders in conduct. But I have learned to look upon you, and those with whom you are associated, formally or - virtually, throughout the wide union, with a respect and interest scarcely to be inspired for any other " cause's sake" on the globe. Upon the soil of your own continent, abounding and abiding indeed are the stores of pleasant and instructive retrospect which I have garnered up for myself from the delightful acquaintanceship; from a face of nature, rich, various, in some at least of its features, unparalleled. from subjects and undertakings which, in their de- velopement or progress, most powerfully interest every one who is alive to the advancing destinies of his species. Among these, the purpose which has banded you together appears to me to assume the place of the highest dignity, it may he of the greatest difficulty. I know not, in these latter days, of any other enterprise which combines so much of the spirit of lofty chivalry with so much of the sobriety of genuine piety, which relies so closely on the logic of the most statistical calculations, and appeals so largely to the impulses of the most fervent humanity, which looks for such fruits on earth, and has such root in heaven. From a contact like this why can I even seem to shrink ? It is plain that the conduct of all well- wishers to the cause ought to be resolved to one simple issue— the good of the cause itself. Now I am inclined to believe that the admitted difficulties by which it is beset would only be aggravated by the intervention of foreign co- operation} sufficient jealousy is on the alert among the tobacco, rice, cot- ton, and sugar growing states against the proceedings of Massachusets and Ohio ; I see no occasion for having it whetted anew against the grasping and per- fidious Albion, who, reeling, as we are often told' from the effect produced by her act of emancipation, upon her own doomed dependencies now unceasingly strives to level all the balmy domains of slavery in one common ruin. Desperate as may be the obtuse- ness of conscience which I thus evince, I must plainly state that if there is a topic on which I can bear with the most unmoved equanimity any amount of repro- bation, whether lavished from the tribune at Paris, or from the floor of the Capitol, it is on the motives which inspired the part taken by my country in the emancipation of her slave population. Within all the corners of her territories, upon the free billows of the common ocean, I should be the last to bid her shrink from any right or effort which her municipal law, or the legitimate claim of general humanity) may exact or counsel; but inside the precincts of your own republic, amid the complicated relations of your several states, beneath the obligations of their federal constitution, it would appear to ) ne that all ' oreigD interference whatsoever, probably, at the best, ' ll- adapted and ill- constructed to meet the special niceties of the question, would only tend to irritate he elements of strife, give a fresh point to the aimst of prej udice, and olothe the insinuations of self- interest with the dignified garb of wounded national honour. I am conscious that I may seem to you to magnify any possible effect that might proceed from some probably very pointless scrap of composition ; but in all these matters it should be more a question of principle than of degree. I have seen before now that the susceptibility of nations con stoop very low, as well as soar very high. If a foreign chime should be detected in the peal of the Liberty Bell, I know not what startling echoes it might not awaken in the deepest recesses of Accomac. There is a line which we happen to have often heard quoted among our- selves. " Know ye not Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.' Now, strong as my opinion would be upon the supposition of a possible permanence of the present system, I should think him a bold man who could contemplate, without shuddering, the issue of a negro insurrection. The true application of the line in your case is this :— Who would make free, themselves must strike the blow ; and, moreover, if the peculiar difficulties of the struggle seem to point exclusively to American efforts for their solution, so for American brows ought to be reserved the undivided laurel of the triumph. Though I may have chanced to use the metaphor of war, yet it is plain, from the nature of the contest, from the relative number of the partisans, from the temper of the weapons employed, that if victory is to crown your exertions, it must be, as was the case in our own analogous though less arduous achievement, a victory of argument, of reason, of patience, of conscience, of religion. Though I have forbid to myself the meanest place in your ranks, I shall remain no indifferent spectator of the continuing conflict. The more obvious marks of public attention on either side of the sea may be diverted to other fields of action ; you will dispute about presidents, and we shall wrangle over tariffs. I am not underrating the importance which attaches to such considerations; but, after having trod the confines of slavery— after having traced our dark- coloured brethren in every condition, from the boy with the crescent mark o£ native royality on his brow, just sold into eternal servitude upon the shore of Cuba, to the erect and disciplined recruit, who firmly treads the soil of Canada,— I feel, that henceforth the main portion of my interests, hopes, and aspirations, as to the couise of public events in the world around me, must be directed to the onward march of human freedom. In that imposing cause, the friends of the slave in the United States of North America appear to me to hold the most forward and critical position. May all your armoury be worthy of the service in which it must be wielded— the gentleness that subdues, the discretion that guides, without keeping back the zeal that never cools, but never inflames. To say all, may you do the work of heaven with the spirit of heaven, accompanied by the sympathies, the hopes, and the prayers of the Christian people of all nations ; but relying alone on the Everlasting Arms beneath you, and your own good use of the means entrusted to your disposal. Believe me, my dear Mrs. Chapman, with the most sincere esteem and good wishes, your most faithful servant, MORPETH. GERMAN MUSIC. ( Continued from our last number.) PROFESSOR TAYLOR'S SECOND LECTURE. Mr. Taylor commenced by passing from the ex- hibition of music in its primitive natural garb ( with which the first lecture had been occupied), which it continued to wear till the middle or latter end of the 16th century, at which period the music of every country was almost exclusively vocal and choral,— to the later phase it presented, when, soon after the reformation, the catholic music of Germany exhibited the influence of foreign schools, of the immortal works of Palestrina and his illustrious Flemish rival, Orlando di Lasso, and gradually the German school of sacred music began to appear. Among the com- posers of that age was Vulpius ; and the composition of his about to be sung, although simple counterpoint, displayed enough of the musician's art to show that the author was not unskilled in the more elaborate forms of vocal harmony. The whole choir then sang this piece, commencing " Cantale Dominum," accompanied by Mr. R. Andrews, on the seraphine. As to secular music, Mr. Taylor remarked that it was about the middle of the 16th century, when it assumed the same character, form, and name in Italy, Flanders, and England ; and yet, strange to say, no traces were known to exist of the madrigal of Germany.' He mentioned, incidentally, that the largest collec- tion of the works of Luca di Marenzio existed in the FiUwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and in the univer- sity of that city there was a large collection of the 2 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 works of the Florentine masters in the collection of Orlando di Lasso. A German madrigal he ( Mr. T.) had never seen or heard, nor could any German musician in this country satisfy his inquiries, till his recent visit to the rich libraries of Germany and Flanders afforded him the opportunity of a diligent search, which proved successful. But the madrigal never flourished with equal luxuriance in Germany, to the three countries named, as was admitted by their own German musical historians, Rochlitz and others, who attributed this to the disastrous influence of the 30 years' war. Mr. Taylor attributed to that extraordinary man, Sebastian Bach, the restoration of anational character to German music. One of the earliest compositions resembling the madrigal ( though not so called) he had found in a most curious work in the Bibliotheque at Brussels, entitled " Songs set to music for the use of Margaret of Savoy," daughter of the Emperor Maximilian. The librarian liberally allowed him to extract from this curious work whatever he pleased. The words of the madrigal about to be sung, and of all the other compositions with English words, he had endeavoured to translate, conforming to the metre of the original. The madrigal commencing " When evening shades fall upon the plain," was then sung. It was of rather a sombre character. The next composition of the same period, which was of a more cheerful character, was found in the state library of Hesse Cassel, which contained a large and well- arranged collection of the compositions of the Flemish and Italian schools, and one set of our own Morley's canzonets. This was by Heugel, and had more of the Italian form than any previously- heard. The very lively madrigal, " Now summer comes our fields adorning," was then sung. Itappeared that the elector of Hesse Cassel sent Ger- man musicians to study in Italy, and their madrigals were composed and published in Italy, and hence it was difficult to ascertain their names ; for what was sup- posed to be a work of Schutz ( in the English Shooter),. was given in Italian Sagittario; and he imagined the real name of the author of the one about to be sung was Stein, but in the Italian it was given as Petra. From the dedication, it appeared that this author studied in tbe school of Gabrielli, at Venice, where the work was published. The madrigal, " Shepherds, the spring appearetb," a very pleasing composition, was then sung. But the most celebrated of the German authors was Henry Schutz, whose talents were not only employed n part- writing, but were exerted on the art in a variety of forms hitherto unknown to his country- . men;— amongst others, he first made them ac- quainted with stage music, and with that sublime ap- plication of the power of music, the oratorio. He ( Mr. T-) regarded him as one of the most extraordi- nary composers that Germany ever produced. He was born in 1585, six. years before the death, of Pa- lestrina ; and he died in 1672, only twelve years before the birth of Bach and Handel. His two great contemporaries were Carissima, in Italy, and Purcell in England. He studied at Venice, under Gabrielli, and remained there four years, during which he pro- duced and published a set of madrigals. He after- wards chiefly devoted himself to the service of the church, for which he wrote psalms, motetts, & c. of which no record remains. In 1597, the Italian opera first assumed the form of a regular dramatic perform- ance, when Daphne was brought out at Florence. Schutz, who revisited Italy to hear it, undertook to compose music to a translation of the words by a German poet. The birth of the. German opera was at Torgau, in Saxony, on occasion of the nuptials of George, Elec- tor of Hesse Darmstadt, with the daughter of the King of Saxony. In one of the compositions of Schutz was the germ of the oratorio, of which curi- ous work a portion would now be sung. It was written for the feast of St. Paul. This work, though unknown in this country, was yet tbe parent of the oratorios of Graun, Handel, Haydn, and Spohr ; and that portion selected for performance commenced with the address of our. Saviour to tbe future apostle of the Gentiles, " Saul, Saul ! why persecutest thou me?" Mr. T. described this composition, which was. sung, by the choir with seraphine accompani- ment. As a madrigal writer Schutz was only known his- torically, even to his own countrymen. His bio- grapher, Becker, stated, that the first of his published works appeared under tbe direction of Gabrielli, and the indefatigable Gerber omitted all mention of it ; but he ( Mr. T.) was fortunate enough to discover this very set of madrigals, which were dedicated to his patron Prince Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse, in a fulsome style of adulation, as a specimen of which we give a few words, " Your serene highness is an ocean — I know not whether to say of virtue or of mag- nificence." The madrigal, " Fly not, 0 my fairest," was then sung ; the original, beginning with tbe word " Fugge," was sufficient to induce the composer to begin it with a chase of the separate parts through an entire page. After reading an eulogium of Schutz by Rochlitz, Mr. Taylor passed to the first German melodies from the pen of Henry Albert, of Konigsberg ; a collec- tion of which was dedicated to his uncle, Henry Schutz, by whom Albert was educated. Mr. Taylor read some very able advice to the singer and accom- panyist of songs, from the pen of Albert, which has not lost its value in this day. His first example of this writer was a song of smooth, flowing melody, writren to words of more than ordinary merit, com mencing " When summer's suns are glowing, I'll seek the fairest shade." This very sweet melody was ably sung by Mr. Walton, accompanied by Mr. R. Andrews on the piano. Having thus noticed the progress of the social and domestic, or, as the Germans called it, " house- music," Mr. Taylor reverted to that of the church, at the commencement of the 17th century. He noticed the fact, that the German protestant church music retained the character given it by Luther, while the catholic music, being given by a choir, had a varied character, with a constantly increasing ten- dency to adopt the style* of. the theatre. But the protestants admitted a more florid class of music into their domestic and social circles, doubtless derived from the madrigali spirituali of Palestrina, which were called " gheistliche madrigalien." The follow- ing one, not inappropriate to tbe new year, was the composition of Andrea Hammerschmidt, and found by Mr. Taylor in the library of Hesse Cassel. This was sung. It commenced, " Oh Lord I on high that rulest alone," and it had a spirited passage ou the words " Happy new year." As to instrumental music, about the middle of the 17th century, several German muscians, especially Fux and Baltzar, contributed to the advancement of instrumental music in their country : the latter had the merit of rescuing the violin from the degrading rank and mean employment previously assigned to it, and of displaying some of its powers ; and the instru- ment itself early acquired perfection, and had re- ceived no improvement since the days of Amati and Steiner. The principal orchestral instrument., was the clavier, which gave birth to the organ ; and the composers of that time greatly advanced that school which it was reserved for Sebastian Bach to perfect. John Pachelbel, of Nuremberg, was successively organist of Vienna, Eisenbach, and his native city. He died on the 3d March, 1706, softly singing his own beautiful hymn, " Jesus, thou art my life, my light." His music existed only in his own MS. in the royal library at Berlin, and the following instru- mental ( organ) fugue would show his syle. Tt waa well played on the seraphine by Mr. R. Andrews. Hitherto the best works on the theory and practice of Music in Germany had been brought from Italy ; but these were now superseded by the labours of tbe German theorists ; and tbe most celebrated work of John Joseph Fux ( who- belonged to this period of German musical history), bis " Gradus ad Par- nassum," was a ponderous and elaborate treatise, and his compositions were frequently as elaborate. In illustration of this, Mr. Taylor had selected for singing a portion of a " missa canonica," or mass written throughout in canon,— the most difficult species of counterpoint, which usually existed only in short exercises,— but was here carried throughout the entire mass. It was sung as what was technically called " four in two," four voices being engaged in singing that number of parts, although the melodies were but two. Mr. Taylor had adapted to a part of the Magnificat, the words, " My soul doth magnify tbe Lord," & c. which were sung by the choir with seraphine accompaniment. The next composer of distinguished eminence in Germany, was Iveiser, who, after acquiring the rudiments of his art at home, completed his studies in Italy. He was one of the first of the race of German composers who varied from their Italian models; and to which class belonged Handel, Hasse, Graun, and John Christian Bach. The lecture con- cluded with a choral fugue of Keiser, commencing, " Sing ye praises unto God our King," by all the choir, with seraphine accompaniment. ( To be Continued.) MENE, MENE, TEKEL. The Church of England is called a National Insti- tution, by which we understand something instituted and upheld for the benefit of the nation. We have many National Institutions, so called ; and the time is coming when their claims to be so entitled, and to be maintained in continuance under that . pretence will be weighed in the balance of a rigorous equity, and dealt with according to the result. From this examination, the Church of England, let her advocates be assured, will not be exempt. How soon she may be brought to the test, we will not assume to predict; sooner, perhaps, than she expects. All things tend to accelerate the period when, though with reluctant step, she must enter tbe scale ; and then, let her mitred head beware of the beam 1 Jails crammed to suffocation, poor- rates reducing those who pay them to pauperism, a revenue tumbling down at the rate of a million in a quarter,— such aresome of the symptoms that announce the coming of a storm which cannot be outridden except by lightening the vessel down to the naked buoyancy of her constitution. What can we most readily throw overboard ? what is the heaviest thing in the hold ? what will be least missed ? Such will be the questions that will suggest themselves to the crew in their extremity; and, if we have read the story of Jonah aright, it bodes no good, in such circumstances, to the Church. Foolish people are ever putting off the evil day j but a wise man foreseeth the evil. Tbe Bishops, if they are foolish, will, like the ostrich, hide their cauli- flower wigs under their lawn sleeves, and deem them- selves secure ; but, if their wigs are half as full of wisdom as they are of curls, they will attentively ac- company us in a cursory examination of the preten- sions set up by their cherished Establishment, and the manner in which they are borne out in practice. Tbe Church, then, is supported by the State, on tbe condition of imparling to tbe whole nation such moral and spiritual benefits as shall maintain the se- curity of person and property, with obedience to the laws of the land in general, and conduct the souls of our fellow- subjects to the enjoyment, after death, of a happy immortality. What an excellent discretion the State has exercised, we may learn from the recent Charge of the Bishop of London. " In this country," observes the Right Rev. Prelate, " the clergy of the National Church, and they alone, are entitled to the respect and obedience of the people, as their lawful guides and governors in spiritual things. They alone are duly commissioned to preach the Word of God, and to minister his holy sacraments." Careful to impress upon tbe clergy themselves, and others, just - notions of tbe real objects and inherent dignity of their office," this Christian Levite thus proceeds :— " It is ours to realize, instrumentally, to those for whom Christ died, the blessedness of which the Levitical priesthood administered only the shadow; it is ours to graft them into the body of Christ's Church, to initiate them into the sacred truths of the Gospel, to turn their hearts to ' the wisdom of the just.' " Here we have it stated, on the highest authority, what the clergy of the Established Church, and they alone, are authorised to do ; what they, and they alone, are able to do ; and what they, and they alone, maybe expected to do. If we understand our mother- tongue, the Bishop of London acknow- ledges that he and his brethren are sanctioned and sustained by the State, for the purpose of making the English people good upon earth, and happy in heaven ; and that they alone are able, but that they are able, to accomplish all this. We take them, therefore, upon this acknowledgment; and we inquire, Have they done that which they are engaged to do, that which they are qualified to do ? Let us, however, be fair towards them. We do not hold them responsible for the conduct of Dissen- ters while they live, nor for their salvation when they die. If that portion of our countrymen derive no benefit from the exclusive commission and the exclu- sive ability of the Established Clergy, the fault is their own, and they must endure the consequences; for, as tbe barber said, when the gentleman resisted the payment of the charge for shaving, he not having been shaven, " My shop was always open to you ;'*' THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. .3 so may the parochial Clergyman meet the upbraid- ings of the Dissenter, if he should be inconsiderate enough to indulge in such upbraidings. Dissenters are rebels, and rebels are out of the question in mat- ters relating to national affairs. No ; if we would fairly consider the claims of the Established Clergy, we must confine our view to those who do not reject the benefits which they, and they alone, are commissioned to offjr, which they, and they alone, are able to confer. For the conduct of these while they live, and for their safety when they die, we are warranted, teste Carolo Jacotio seipso, iu holding them responsible. These they baptize in infancy, confirm in youth, absolve in sickness, and inter at death ; and what are the results ? The bene- fits received in Baptism,— except when administered in the incompetent manner in which it was in the cases of King Charles the Martyr, Archbishops Til- lotson and Seeker, Bishop Butler, and sundry other unhappy persons, who must be left in what the Bishop of London designates their " dangerous state,"— the benefits of Baptism, when duly performed, are thus summed up by the Church,—" a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness." Some persons calliug themselves Evangelical have presumed to doubt of this, but the Bishop of London has set that matter at rest by the decisive declaration: " That regeneration does actually take place in Baptism, is most undoubtedly thedoctrine of the English Church ; and I do not understand how anyclergyman who uses the Office of Baptism, which, by a solemn promise," ( mark, Mr. Head ! 1 " he has bouud himself to do, without alteration or mutilation, can deny it." Con- firmation is, in effect, an additional security for the benefits conferred in Baptism, by so much as a Bishop's hand hath more virtue than a curate's finger. To a sick person, every priest, from Canterbury to a curate, is empowered to say : " I absolve thee from all thy sins;" and over every dead body, suicides( un- less/ Wo dese) not excepted, every parochial clergy- man is bound to say : " It hath pleased Almighty God, of his great mercy, to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed." It is manifest, therefore, on this showing, that every one, except those who obstinately reject the benefits of the Church, is made holy here and happy hereafter. Now, the question is, Is this really the case ? That part of the question which relates to the unseen world, we, of course, cannot bring to the test of absolute proof. But, even though the fact should be as the clergy solemnly pretend, they perform only one- half of their engagement, by making their countrymen " inheritors of the kingdom of heaven ;" it is equally incumbent upon them, and, as between the Govern- ment and the nation, we may venture to say, more so, to make them good subjects of the Crown of England. The fulfilment of this partof the contract issusceptible of proof; and the question which we now ask quietly, but. which the country will ere long repeat in a voice of thunder, is, Has this part of the contract been fulfilled ? Do not tell us about the virtues of baptism ; do not refer us to the mirific influence of episcopal palms ; but tell us what is the moral condition of those who have enjoyed the mighty advantages of Baptism and Confirmation ? Are they moral ? Are they industrious ? Do they " hurt nobody by word or deed ?" Are they " true and just in all their dealings ?" Do they " keep theirhands from picking andstealing ?" Do they " keep their bodies in sober ness and chastity?" Answer us these questions, if you please. Can you, dare you answer tlieni in the affirmative? And yet, hundreds of you occupy the anomalous position of " clerical magistrates !" How is this ? Are the Dissenters so numerous and so naughty, that, after having made all the rest of the population " holy and harmless " by your ghostly enchantments, you are obliged to exchange the sword of the spirit for that of the civil magistrate, in order to keep in check those graceless rebels ? You know that the fact is exactly the reverse. You know that, while the Dissenter is never in gaol, except it be for refusing to pay your Church- rates, the gaols of every county are crammed with those whom the Curate lias baptized and the Bishop confirmed ; besides thousands more in the penal colonies, who likewise enjoyed these marvellous privileges. Far be it from us to exaggerate. According to a return procured by the Rev. Josegh Brown, Chaplain to IlieNorwood Schools, from the Chaplains of Gaols, there are, in 25 prisons, 2,656 prisoners, 796 of whom have been confirmed- Mr. BROWN adduces this as a very small proportion ; but it is one- third, and represents, be it observed, those who have been confirmed, but not all who have been baptized. The probability is, that every one of the 2,656 received the benefit of baptismal regenera- tion ; and who but the clergy are to blame for their losing that of confirmation ? What, then, as an institution of tlie country, does the Church profit the country ? Is it not rather a source of great loss ? Do we pay rectors one thousand, and bishops twelve and twenty thousand a- year, to fill the gaols and penal settlements with baptised and confirmed— unlucky word l^ but so it is — ay, confirmed criminals ? Are the clergy permitted to share among them the enormous amount of five millions a- year, in order to incur to the country ad- ditional expenses, amounting to that sum twice told, in order to meet the outlay of gaols and judges, courts and calendars, prosecution and transportation ? Will a candid, upright statesman, one wliojs a patriot as well as a statesman, say that, as an institutional the country, f he Church answers^ its end ? Will he not find some much better and more useful purpose for the money which is thus worse than wasted ? The thing may not absolutely wear out the long patience of the present generation ; but, as'surely as the gilded cross upon St. Paul's reflectsJthe radiance of the morning sun, so surely will " thejiour and the man " both come.— Patriot. SIR R. PEEL'S NEW YEAR'S GIFT. We are not going to write about the income tax- The income tax is Sir Robert Peel's new year s gift to the country j but the new year's gift we have now do with is a gift to Sir Robert Peel, the history of which makes quite a little drama, beginning with all agreeable plans and expectations, and ending iu a sore discovery and disappointment. But let us commence at the commencement with the account of the Manchester Guardian. " A beautiful specimen of printed velveteen has been produced at the Ancoats Vale Works, by Mr. W. Barlow. The cloth is entirely cotton, but so beautifully dressed as to appear like silk ; the desiyn represents a stalk and ear of wheat, grouped, or rather thrown together very tastefully, with a small scroll peeping from beneath, bearing the word ' Free.' " There could not have been a more appropriate substance for a present to Sir Robert Peel, " entirely cotton, but so beautifully dressed as to look like silk"— the very representative of the premier himself, who is a living falsification of the proverb, that " you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," he being a man made of cotton, as the tories are in- cessantly reminding us, but who is yet like the velveteen, so beautifully dressed as to look like silk— like a short silk of changing colours, now the orange, now almost the blue and buff. In the design the little word " free" escaped the tory eye of Sir Robert Peel, and the device, therefore, simply appeared to him a stalk of wheat and ear, not growing, but grouped together, seeming to typify the husbandry of raising corn on poor lands, whence we have stalks without ears, instead of which we should import ears without stalks. Sir Robert having a bad sight for the word free, doubtless accepted the device as some compliment to the sliding scale, which, when it has ended in pro- ducing stalks, brings in the foreign ears, and makes the poor farmer the man of straw. See, then, what he proposed . " Mr. Barlow presented two pieces of it to Sir Robert Peel, who, in accepting the new year's gift, returned to Mr. Barlow the following handsome letter : " ' Drayton Manor, Fazeley, Dec. 31. " ' Sir,— I am much obliged by your kind atten- tion in sending a specimen of the beautiful manufac- ture which accompanied your letter. Lady Peel admires it so much, that she will convert one of the pieces into a cloak for her own wearing ; the other I will apply to my own use. " ' I am, sir, your obedient servant, " ' ROBERT PEEL.' " How judicious was this distribution ; a cloak for Lady Peel's wearing, the other Sir Robert would ap- ply to his own use. He does not say how, but the very reserve speaks the application. He would not commit the solecism of expressing the inexpressible. He imagined himself the next birth- day in the velve- teens, cotton entire, but looking like silk, and all over stalks and ears of corn, representing in his nether man the agricultural interest and produce— wanting only the thrashing. In this guise Sir Robert would have been indeed a dainty dish to set before the Queen. The cloak of the same he gave to Lady Peel, for Sir Robert has had many cloaks, and it was time that he should gTve a turn to his lady. At the last general election he wore the cloak with the corn pattern, and it had served its turn, and the time for it was gone ; by converting it into inexpressibles he denoted the namelessness aud mystery of his agricultural policy. And thus at the opening of the year Sir Robert and his lady rejoiced in the clothing provided for them ; the lady cloaked, lie with the other piece, as he de- \ icately conveyed it, applied to bis own use. But alas I the vanity of human wishes, human plans and expectations. As Juvenal says— " Pauei dignoscere possunt Vera bona, atque illis multum diversa, remota Errurfs nebula." Which, being translated, signifies that few can dis- tinguish a cotton velveteen from silk, or can dis- cern the snake in the grass lurking under the pattern of an ear of corn in the word " free." The discovery broke on Sir Robert Peel; and with the word " free," the cloak he had cut out for Lady Peel, and tlie something else that he had cut out for himself, were forthwith abandoned as infected. The velveteen delighted him no more. He thought only of the escape he had had, Lady Peel with a cloak " free" all over, representing the absence of all restrictions whatever, and he himself an ambulatory advertisement of the Anti- Corn- Law League. There are men who are said to wear their hearts on their sleeves: but Sir Robert, in his velveteens, would have been the first statesman that ever wore his policy on his small clothes. What was the effect of the shock of the discovery does not appear ; what were the premier's feelings on finding that he was on the brink of such a precipice, or in plainer words, that was on the very border of the free trade velve- teen, he and his lady too, can only be conjectured from the tone, more in sorrow than in anger, iu which he returns the perfidious cotton : { From the Manchester Guardian of yesterday.) " PRINTED VELVETEENS.— We have been requested to insert the following correspondence, in reference to the printed velveteen presented by Mr. William Barlow, of this town, to Sir Piobert Peel: Drayton Manor, Jan. 7, 1843. " ' Sir,— I was not aware until to- day that the specimen of manufacture which you requested me to accept, bore any allusion to matters that are the sub- ject ot public controversy. "' No mention whatever was made of this in the letter you addressed to me ; aud I thought it would be ungracious to reject what appeared to be a pure act of civility on your part. " ' I must beg leave to return to you that which I accepted under an erroneous impression. " ' I am, sir, your obedient servant, " ' ROBERT PEEL. "' W. J^ arlow, Esq.' " Thus has Sir Robert Peel been cruelly crossed in velveteen, disappointed in a sprig, deceived in a device. The nearest parallel to this affair is Cupid's complaint of the sting of the bee, a parody on which would exactly represent the premier's case. What the treacherous velveteen has been to him, he has been to all the restof the world— bis cotton has passed for silk'— his design has been accepted as agricultural monopoly, and the farmers made, not indeed cloaks for their wives or nether garments for themselves, but members of parliament of it, before they dis- covered the word under the ear of corn; and alas! they cannot bundle off the deceptive Peel, as the Peel bundled off the other deceptive cotton thing. The velveteen policy is not always unsuccessful, and we have seen cloaks made of it which are in wear still, though somewhat threadbare and shabby, it must be confessed. So far the stoiy goes, as facetiously told by the Examiner. We have only to add a copy of Mr. Barlow's rejoinder to the indignant Baronet's re- jectatory epistle :— " Ancoats- vale, Jan. 9, 1S43. " Sir,— I hasten to express my legret for an act of inadvertence, which I fear has caused you some un- pleasantness. When I took the liberty of sending you the printed velveteen, I did so without the slight- est intention of connecting your acceptance of Che gift with any subject of public controversy, aud I now most unequivocally disclaim any such intention. I am not attached to any political party here ; and the paragraph which appeared in the Manchester Guardian was inserted at my request, solely with the desire to call the attention of the public Co what I conceived to be a new and interesting manufacture, and at the same time to exhibit an act of kind consideration on your part. As my desire is to remove any erroneous impression affecting yourself, created by your ac- cepting my present, I shall cause copies of your note of the. 7th inst. and of this letter, to be inserted in the next publication of the Manchester Guardian " I have tl. e honour to be, Sir, " Your most obedienchumble servant, " W. BARLOW." " The Right Hon. Sir Robert Feel, Bart., Drayton- mauor." An Irish provincial paper has the following startling announcement:—" A list of the subscribers to the reward for the murder of James Scully, E* q. appears in our columns of this day 1" The public lunatic asylums of the kingdom amount Co 25. The privaCe licenseu houses number 120, and. conCain abouC 5,600 persons of all ranks; of Chese houses, 32, containing 2,510 paCients, are within the metropolitan district. Within the last twelve years, Mr. Wombwell has. bred and reared, within the United Kingdom, upward'^ of 130 lions. 4* THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. POETRY. SONNET.— TO BEAUTY. BY TUB REV. CHARLES STRONG. Beauty, when intellectual charm is thine, And kindling features eloquently speak Soft sensibility and temper meek, I fondly turn, and worship at thy shrine. But when these gifts, that make thee ail divine. Ennoble not the soul; nor bloom of cheek, Nor radiant eye, nor skin as damask sleek, Shall win a single wreath from hand of mine. Nor mean my service, nor though chasten'd, cold. To gaze unseen, unknown, wakes more delight Then misers feel when brooding o'er their gold. Then the attempt to picture thee aright i To shape thy absent form in fancy's mould! Imagination takes no sweeter flight. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A thing of Shreds and Patches." FOOD OF PLANTS.— A remarkable discovery has been made by Messrs. Wiegmann and Polsdorff. It appears, from their researches, as reported in the last number of the " Annals of Chemistry," that the roots of living plants disengage carbonic acid, and that this acid is capable of decomposing the silicates of the soil, which even resist the action of nitromuriatic acid. This most curious discovery throws a new light upon the importance of carbonic acid to vegeta- tion, and explains clearly what has been by no means evident, namely, the manner in which flinty substances prove beneficial to vegetation, and how minerals so hard as feldspar are made to contribute to the maintenance of plants.— Gardeners' Chronicle. NEW RAIN GAUGE.— Mr. Dickenson, an exten- sive paper- maker living near Watford, and having paper mills on the river Colne, resorts to the follow- ing expedient to ascertain what quantity of paper he may contract to supply his customers. On the hills in the neighbourhood of his mills he has fixed a gauge buried in the ground a little depth below the surface. By consulting this gauge, he is enabled to compute the amount of rain which finds its way into the earth during the winter season, and which must be again remitted before it can be decreased by evaporation. Experience has proved to him that, with this index, he can precisely ascertain the influx of tributary water which the river Colne, whereby his mills are worked, will receive. This statement was made at the Institution of Civil Engineers, by Mr. Clutterbuck, and substantiated by Mr. Dickenson himself. IT'S A FINE THING TO BE A GENTLEMAN.—" Och! — it's a fine thing to be a gentleman," said Andy. " Cock you up I" said his mother. " May be it's gintleman you want to be ;— what puts that in your head, you omadawn?" " Why, because a gintleman has no hardships compared with one of uz. Sure if a gintleman was marri'd, his wife wouldn't be tuk off from him the way mine was." " Not so soon, may be," said the mother, drily. " And if a gintle- man brakes a horse's heart, he's only a ' bowld rider', while a poor servant is a ' careless blackguard' for only taking a sweat out of him. If a gintleman drinks till he can't see a ladher, he's only ' fresh,' but' dhrunk' is the word for a poor man. And if a gintleman kicks up a row, he's a ' fine, spirited fellow', while a poor man is a ' disorderly vagabone' for the same ; and the Justice axes the one to dinner, and sends the other to jail. Oh, faix, the law is a dainty lady ; she takes people by the hand who can afford to wear gloves, but the people with brown fists must keep their distance."— Lover's Handy Andy, A PLAYER'S REPARTEE.— When Heywood, on his return from banishment, presented himself before his royal mistress, " What wind has blown you hither ?" asked Queen Mary.—" Two especial ones," replied the comedian; " one of them, to see your majesty." —" We thank you for that," said Mary; " but I pray for what purpose was the other ?" " That your majesty might see me."— Miss Strickland's Queens of England. CHARLES THE NINTH'S ARROGANCE.— It is stated that Charles the Ninth of France, when almost a child, thus addressed the parliament of Paris:—" Your duty is to obey my orders ; presume not to examine what they are, but obey them. I know better than you what tbe state and expediency require." This was the spirit that uniformly animated the kings of the house of Yalois. THE THREE SOVEREIGNS.— The following anec- dote has often been told by the Emperor Alexander, and is amongst the traditions of the Russian Court: — In 1814, during the period that the allies were masters of Paris, the Czar, who resided in the Hotel of M. De Talleyrand, was in the daily habit of taking a walk ( in strict incognito) every morning in the gar dens of the Tuileries, and thence to the Palais Royal. He one day met two other Sovereigns, and the three were returning home arm- in- arm to breakfast in the Rue St. Florentin, when, on • their way thither, they encountered a provincial, evidently fresh imported to Paris, and who had lost bis way. " Gentlemen," said he, " can you tell me which is the Tuileries " Yes," replied Alexander, " follow us, we are going that way, and will show you." Thanks on the part of the countryman, led them soon into conversation A few minutes sufficed to arrive at the Palace ; and, as here their routes lay in opposite directions, they bade each other reciprocally adieu. " Parbleu /' cried all at once the Provincial, " I- should like to know the names of persons so amiable and complai- sant as yon are ?" " My name," said the first—" Oh certainly ; you have, perhaps, heard of me ; I am the Emperor Alexander I" " A capital joke," exclaimed the Gascon; " an Emperor;— and you," addressing the second individual, " who may you be ?" " I ?" re- plied he, " why, probably, I am not wholly unknown to you, at least by name'— I am the King of Prussia I" " Better and better," said the man ; " arid you, what are you, then ?" looking at the third person. " I am the Emperor of Austria!" " Perfect; perfect," ex- claimed the provincial, laughing with all his might. But you. Monsieur," said the Emperor Alexander, " surely you will also let us know . vlioni we have the honour to speak to ?" " To be sure," replied the man, quitting them with an important strut, " I am the Great Mogul!" SYMBOLICAL EPITAPH.— In a recent number of the Cambridge Chronicle is the following typographical morceau:—" Death of a printer— George Woodcock, the * of his profession, the type of honesty, the ! of all; and, although the t( Cp" of death has put a . to his existence, every § of his life is without a ||." A lady, in London, anxious to obtain the sure direction to a particular place, asked a cabman the best way, and was answered, " Why, Jma'am, I think the best way is to take a cab." A DREAM REALISED.— It is related in " Collins's Peerage," that a certain unmarried lady once dream- ed of finding a nest containing seven young finches, which in course of time was realized by her becom- ing the wife of a Mr. Finch, and mother of seven children. From one of these nestlings is descended the present Earl of Wiuchilsea, who still retains the surname of Finch. A FATHER OF A FAMILY.— Sir George Tuthill re- lates a case of an Asiatic Russian, who had by his first wife sixteen infants at four, and sixty- nine at twenty- seven births— eighty- five children in all. QUEEN ELIZABETH.— Bishop Jewel, in a private letter to bis friend Bullinger, 1559, observes, that " Queen Elizabeth refuses to be called Head of the Church, as it was a title that could not be j ustly given to any mortal." THE TEA TRADE.— A pamphlet on the tea trade, just published, states the quantity of tea daily con- sumed in the United Kingdom, to be about 1,200 chests, or 100,0001b. The sum paid for it by the consumers is estimated at about nine millions sterling in the year, three and a half millions of which go to the government for duty. OUR CHATTER BOX. " Random Rhymes," by W. are long, dull, and in some parts unintelligible. They are, therefore, deservedly rejected for these reasons ; but there is another reason, of still greater weight,— theiroffensive personality. In our treatment of his article, inserted in the twentieth number of the " Free Press," there was no personal allusion whatever; and W. has no right, in reply, to resort to insinuations of a personal nature. Again, his profaneness is revolting, as witness his application of the term " Trinity " to the three editors of the " Free Press !" X. T. is accepted. The letter of " A Nonconformist " shall be in- serted. IMPUDENT FORGERY.— Some scoundrel, and we think we can guess who, has sent us a letter signed " J. Walton, Wood Top Lodge," and containing some lines addressed to a lady whose initials are so given as to indicate clearly who is meant. The object of the forgery is, no doubt, to embroil the real J. Walton in an unpleasant affair ; and if we can obtain proof of the authorship, we will expose the cowardly villain to public reprobation. SIR HILARY'S CHARADE.— In our 14th number, published on the 3rd of December, we inserted a Charade, with an introductory letter from " Tobias Colliertopping," stating that the Charade had frequently been proposed, but yet remained un- answered ; and offering a premium of a dozen copies of the " Free Press," for a " satisfactory solution." The Charade was as follows : Sir Hilary charged at Aglncourt— Sooth ' twas an awful day I And tho' in those old times of sport The raffiers of the camp and court Found little time to pray— ' Twas said Sir Hilary 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. No answer was transmitted to us, at the time , and in the Halifax Guardian of the 7th instant, the charade was republished, with a few trifling verbal alterations, and with the following introductory re- marks :— " The following charade was sent to Queen Ade- laide in a blank cover. She attributed the lines to Sir Walter Scott, and inclosed them to him ; and his answer was that' he had never written anything half so good.' The author and the solution still remain a mystery." In the Guardian of the ensuing Saturday, appeared tbe following answer, communicated by Mr. Thomas Crossley, of ( Jventlen :— What was Sir H ilary's fervent prayer, On Agincourt's proud field, of yore; When British prowess nobly there Reap'd fame, renown'd in classic lore ? " REST to those valourous few be given. Who hail this bloody victory won ! Pure RAIN,— the hallow'd tears of heaven, To those who see no morrow's sun." And to the gentle fair ones' ears He breathed,—" RESTRAIN yeur precious tears !" Another answer has been forwarded to us, and we give it insertion :— HEARTS of Oak were met .11 the glorious day. At Agincourt « s hostile affray. And first to " see the morrow's sun.*' Your second is found in death's embrace. Where noble warriors lay at their EASE " Before the day was done." HHART'S- BASE was kindly uttered there By fam'd Sir Hilary instead of prayer, Asa " whole; to those, whose bright blue eyes " Weep when a warrior nobly dies." E C No. 3, Broad Street, Halifax, Jan. 13, 1843. Looking at these answers, we do not think either of them furnishes a very " satisfactory solution ;" but as we received the charade itself from Mr. Crossley, we are thereby led to suppose that his is the correct solution; and, if it be, we must say that it is as clumsy and far- fetched a charade as ever we met with. Amonst this class of light amusements we have re- ceived the following ANAGRAM. I am a word of letters four ; I form as many words as letters s I am on land, from shore to shore, A great annoyance to my betters. My first is but of mean repute, A sordid species of the brute. Transposed, my second is a name Stands high In British naval fame. Transposed again, my famous third In meaning is a mighty word, By men of parts well understood,— The index to the public good, Another change, and you will see I am a mark of royalty, But not to royalty confined; I'm manufaetur'd and design'd For men of talent to inherit; And those of enterprizing spirit Oft wear me as a badge of merit. I sometimes glitter on the stage ; And if you wish to know my age. I top the page in nature's book ; And you will find, if right you look, I am coeval with the earth. Of ancient honourable birth ; And when my shining race is run, The end of time shall quench the sun. JOHN WALTON. ADVERTISEMENTS. W. MATHER, ( late Lowe,) Tailor & Woollen Draper, begs leave most respectfully to inform his Friends and the Public that he has TAKEN THE SHOP lately occupied by Mr. Bennett' Tobacconist, ( next door to Mr. Roper's,) Hall End, as being more convenient for his Friends and Customers 5 and hopes, by strict attention to their commands, to merit a con- tinuance of their favours. Halifax, Jan. 16th, 1843. THE GERMAN LANGUAGE— Mr. Oestreicher respectfully announces to his Pupils, his Friends, and the Public generally, that he purposes re- commencing his Course of Private Instruction in German, at his Residence, 16, Aked's Road, on the 23rd Instant. At the request of several Gentle- men, he is making preparation for the formation of Two Classes in German; the first is intended to be a select Class, to which 110 Gentleman can be admitted without the appro- bation of the members whose names have been previously entered. The Second Class is intended to be more numer- ous, and to consist of Gentlemen whose avocations will allow them to attend from Six till Half- past Seven on the Saturday Evening- These Classes will meet at his Musical Class Room, Harrison Road. Mr. O. begs to add that the improve, ments in the mode of Instruction he has adopted will, he hopes, facilitate the acquisition of the Language, and ensure a progress unattainable by the common modes of Teaching. Terms for the Select Class, One Guinea per Quarter 5 Do. for the 2nd ditto, 10s. 6d. per Quarter. Terms for Private Instruction, and further Information respecting the Classes, may be known on application at his Music Room, Harrison Road, from Nine till Ten in the Morning, and from Two till Three in the Afternoon, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wed- nesdays, and also at his Residence, 16, Aked's Road. Schools attended on the usuai Terms. SINGING CLASSES.— The Association for the Encourage, ment of Vocal Music are happy to inform the Inhabitants of Halifax and its neighbourhood, that they have been enabled to make arrangements for retaining the services of Mr, OESTREICHER for one year at least in connexion with their Singing Classes; and that the operations of the Classes will be resumed on the 16th of January, according to the follow- ing arrangements:— A Ladies' Class every Tuesday Morning, in the Music Room, Harrison Road, from Half- past Ten till Twelve— Terms 7s. 6d. per Quarter. A Gentlemen's Class every Tuesday Evening, in the same Room, from Six till Half- past Seven.— Terms 7s. 6d. per Quarter. A Ladies' Class every Wednesday Evening, in the same Room, from Six till Half- past Seven.— Terms 4s. per Quarter. A General Class every Friday Evening, in the Odd Fellows' Hall, from Eight till Half- past Nine— Terms, Front Seats 4s.; Back Seats 2s. per Quarter. Sunday Scholars may obtain Tickets for this Class at Is. per Quarter, but must attend under proper super- intendence. Third Clas3 Members of the Mechanics' Insti- tution will be admitted on the same terms. At the meetings of this Class, Visitors will be admitted on payment of 6d. or 5s. for an Annual Ticket. A| Ladies' Class will meet in the Music Room, Harrison Road, every Monday Evening, from Half- past Six till Eight; and a Gentlemen's Class, the same Evenings, from Eight till Half- past Nine. These Classes will consist principally of Sunday School Teachers connected with the Church; and will chiefly practice Chants, Anthems, Psalms, and other Church Music. The Class usuaily meet- ing in Harrison Road School Room, will, in future, meet in the Music Roem, every Wednesday Evening, from Half- past Seven till Half- past Nine. A Select Private Class is in eourse of formation,— to meet every Monday Morning, from Half- past Ten till Twelve, in the Music Room. A Class of Youths under Fifteen Years of Age, will meet every Monday After- noon, from Half- past Two till Four, in the same Room; and a Class for Young Ladies under the same Age, from Five till Half- past Six. Tickets for the respective Classes may be had of Mr. Oestreicher, at his Music Room, Harrison Road, from Nine to Ten, A. M„ and from Two to Three, P. M. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; or at his residence, 16, Aked's Road, where also terms for Private Lessons may be obtained Halifax, Jan. 13th, 1843. HALIFAX -.— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General Printing Office of H. Martin, Upper George Yar .