FEBRUARY 25, 1843. XXVI. Price One Penny. And now the time in special is, by privilege, to write and speak what may help to the farther ontroversal faces, might now not unsignificantly be set open : and though all the winds of doctrine injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple. Who Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing.— MILTON'S AKEOPAGITICA. in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his two to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. TO OUR READERS. In compliance with the repeated solicitations of many of our readers, we are making arrange- ments for the delivery of the " Free Press," every Friday afternoon, at the residences of our subscribers.. This new arrangement will commence with our twenty- seventh number, on the third of March ; that number being the first of a new quarter. As the payment of single pennies, at the doors of our subscribers, would often be productive of trouble and inconvenience, it is proposed to extend the delivery to quarterly subscribers only ; and the terms will be 13d. per quarter, if paid in advance; or 15d. on credit. Those who desire to have our weekly sheet delivered at their residences, will oblige us by for- warding their names to our publisher. Our terms for advertisements will remain as before, for cash ; and a small percentage will be added, where credit is given. The increased circulation which the proposed arrangement will bring to our periodical, and ( he lovvness of our charges, combine to render it a very advantageous medium for advertisers. SQUEEZING THE PEEL, Well! The Peel has had one right good squeeze. Cobden, the giant of the League, pinched him terribly hard, and he roared like a frightened bully ; but he gave up none of the juice that he withholds, so wrongfully and so unjustly, from the outraged and suffering multi- tude. It was, however, something to make him cry out. That was a pointgained. We shall get more, bye and bye, if we flinch not from our position, and quail not before the insolent brow- beating of the bread- taxers. In a debate of five nights, not one serious attempt appears to have been made, by the speakers of the monopolist faction, to defend the Corn Laws as based upon any thing like a sound, stable, and wise principle of legislation. No ! They cannot now venture to do that. The facts and arguments of the League have routed them so thoroughly from every position on which they formerly rested their cause, that they are driven toallsortsofshiftsand expedients to make out even the semblance of plausibility. All their means of defence are expended ; there is not a shot left in their locker ; but they still keep up a fire of blank cartridge, in the vain aud foolish hope that they can retain the fort, by this make- believe sort of warfare. The clear, convincing, we should say con- victing, arguments of the Hon. Member for Stockport, went homo to the conscience, seared as it is, of the unworthy expedient- finder who holds the premiership; and he writhed again under the agony of the infliction. He lost his temper,— he lost his command over himself,— and, in default of honest means of meeting the onslaught, he had recourse to interpretations and imputations of the most disreputable des- cription. He even went so far as to violate the ordinary etiquette of the house, and deny to the member for Stockport the right, always heretofore allowed, of explaining the meaning and purport of his own expressions. No man with any thing like a pretension to the style of gentleman, would give another the lie, as Sir Robert Peel did to Mr. Cobden, when that person was explaining one of his own expres- sions. No gentleman, we repeat, would have done as the Premier did, on Friday night, with reference to the unanswerable argu- ments, the irrefragable logic, and the common sense truths, contained in Mr. Cobden's power- ful and impressive speech. The insidious attempt of Sir Robert Peel, to connect the murder of Mr. Drummond with the movements of the League, is as base as it is mean,— as infamous as it is degrading to its author : but there is nothing too low for such a man. Nobleness of mind is no more in his nature, than nobility of birth is his heritage. FIGURES AND FACTS. That " figures cannot lie" is a frequent as- sertion ; and its truth is seldom disputed : yet our experience of statistical documents leads us to the conviction that there is nothing more likely to land a person in the quagmire of fal- lacy, than the apparently film footing of a goodly platform of figures. The Quarterly Review, a very high autho- rity with the Tories, adverts to this point, in its last number; and certainly in an article where we should not have expected any such topic to be noticed,— namely, in an article on "( he honey- bee and bee- books;" but the Quarterly is very ingenious in dragging its High- Church Toryism into all its writings; for, in this self- same article, we find a tirade against the missions of the dissenters, and an encomium of those undertaken by the church. So sensitively alive is the Quarterly to the political and ecclesiastical objects which it was set on foot to support; and so ingeniously does it constantly and unvaryingly bear these objects in mind. Well, then ; in the article to which we refer, we find these emphatic words :— " There is nothing like an array of figures if you wish to mislead. All seems so fair, and clear, and demonstrative ;— no appeals to the passions ; no room for a quibble ;— that to deny the conclusion is to deny that two and two make four. Yet, for all this, the figures of the arithmeticians have produced more fallacies than all the other figures of the schools" Here, then, is good Tory authority against relying on the evidence of figures; and a pretty good proof of the weakness of such reliance was furnished by that prince of twaddlers, the Halifax Guardian, on Saturday last, in one of those erudite and elegant specimens of rigma- role called, by courtesy, the " leading articles." The subject of the article in question is " the Cotton Trade and the present depression ;" and the writer adduces an imposing array of figures to show how much the exports of cotton yarn and cotton manufactured goods have increased, during the last four years. He then goes on to matters connected with the reduction of wages, the stale and absurd cry of " over- production," and a legislative restriction of the productive- ness of machinery. Now, we shall not, on this occasion, enter upon anyone of these important questions; but we will merely call attention to one point,— the absurdity of drawing these, or any other, con- clusions, from data so partial and imperfect as the returns of the exports alone. If any fact, or any series of facts, can be safely established by the evidence of statistical returns, we must, surely, have before us all the returns that affect the case. Why, then, are the exports only fixed upon for exhibition ? The total amount, in- cluding that for home consumption, is of vast importance to the argument; and conclusions drawn from such partial premises must always be fallacious. GERMAN MUSIC. ( Concluded from our last number.) PROFESSOR TAYLOR'S SIXTH AND CON- CLUDING LECTURE. The musical state of Germany, towards the middle of the last century, said Mr. Taylor, was connected with a name and family already familiar to us. In the family of the Bachs, music seemed to possess an hereditary title ; for, through six successive genera- tions, the art continued to he assiduously cultivated by more than one of its members. From this number, three individuals stood out iu prominent relief. Of the great Sebastian he had already spoken ; and the period had now arrived which was adorned by the talents of his sons, Emanuel and John Christian Bach. Charles Philip Emanuel Bach, sometimes designated as Bach of Berlin, was the second son of Sebastian. He was born at Vima, in 1714. His father, although he gave all his sons a sound musical education, designed him for the law. He studied, at the University of Leipsic, and afterwards at Frankfort- on- the- Oder ; but the ruling passion triumphed ; and, in 1738, he went to Berlin, where the fame of his playing soon reached the ears of the Crown Prince of Prussia, then kept by his father almost in a state of imprisonment, and Bach's attendance was frequently commanded to instruct and amuse the young Frederick ; and two years afterwards, when he suc- ceeded to the throne, Bach was taken into his service. It was not till after 30 years' residence at Berlin, that he was allowed to seek another sphere of action. At Berlin, his talents were devoted to compositions for keyed instruments, which unquestionably formed the chief monument of his fame. When he removed to Hamburg, where he lived the rest of his life, he was too old to cultivate the higher branches of his art. Mr. Taylor read a translation of an interesting and amusing criticism on Emanuel Bach, in a German work entitled " The Friend of Music," to which he added the testimony of an eminent English critic ; observing, however, that the highest testimony to Bach's merits was that of Mozart, which he read ;. giving an interesting account of their interview in Leipsic, a few years before Bach's death. Dr. Burney, advised by Hasse to do so, visited Emanuel Bach in Hamburg, in 1772, and also gave an interesting account of him. Mr. Taylor observed on the ex- traordinary circumstance of the compositions of Emanuel Bach being as little known in this country as if they never had existed. He had never, in his whole musical experience, heard the performance of any of his works, . vocal or instrumental; and the fantasia, originally written for the harpsichord, now to be played by Mr. Andrews on the piano, was the first instance of the kind. Mr. Andrews played the fantasia, which was a very striking and vigorous composition, full of variety. Turning to his vocal music, of which but little exists,— for little was demanded of him during the thirty years of his stay in Berlin,— his most celebrated composition for the church was his " Israelites in the Desert," which was not written, like the oratorios of Handel, for performance in a theatre ; but for a church festival, forming part of the service of the day. As this work had never been produced in Eng- land, Mr. Taylor said he had translated several por- tions of it for performance. The first piece was a shoit tenor solo and chorus. Mr. Walton sang the solo beginning " Lift up your hearts," followed by the chorus, " We will rejoice and praise him." The next piece from this oratorio was a treble song, graceful in its voice part, and en- riched with a pleasing and appropriate accompaniment. 2 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 Miss Leach sang this song, " Oh! what joy in thus beholding !" In the next chorus were some passages which must have been familiar to Haydn, and the chorale with which it concluded had been adopted from old Bach. The choir sang the chorus, " O Lord ! how glorious," which, in certain passages, reminded the auditor of some more familiar ones of Haydn's. The next recitative and chorus formed the conclusion of the oratorio, from which many more pieces of great beauty might have been selected. Mr. Walton sang the recitative, " Oh ! wondrous love," followed by the chorus, " Praise the Lord for ever glorious," a fine composition, strikingly accentuated, and very effective. It was much applauded. Another of the family of Bach deserved especial notice ; for, during his life, John Christian Bach oc- cupied a much larger share of public attention, and established a wider celebrity, than either his father or his brother Emanuel. Their relative position in the public estimation bad, however, been completely changed within the last half century. The operas of John Christian Bach were remembered no longer, while the compositions of his father were in the hand of every well- read and intelligent organist. The reason of the present neglect of the younger Bach was, that he addressed himself to a class of hearers whose practice was to discard and disown everything that had lived to a certain age ; whose decree was as certain, and more regular, than the stroke of death. An opera had lived its time ; its hour was come ; it must die. Dr. Burney said that, on the night of the production of Bach's opera of Adriano in Syria, there was such a crowd at the opera house, that it was impossible for one- third of the company at the doors to gain admittance. Now, few singers would subject themselves to the imputation of having sung one of his old fashioned songs. He was the yougest son of Sebastian Bach ; was born in 1735 ; and, being only 15 years old when his father died, his musical education was completed under his brother Emanuel at Berlin. There he soon discovered a preference for vocal compositions ; he studied at Milan, and thence removed to London, where the celebrated Mattei was the chief singer in the first opera of Diana Vendicata. His harmonies were agreeable and ingenious, and his use of wind instruments happy. His principal operas were Adri- an in Syria, La Clemenza ila Scipione, and some others. In 1770, he undertook to direct the scheme of the performances at Covent Garden Theatre in Lent, where he endeavoured to introduce some of the best German and Italian oratorios ; but the specula- tion did not succeed, the English taste being exclu- sively formed on those of Handel. Bach died in 1782. Only one of his operas had been performed in London during the present century; though, while Mrs. Billington was prima donna at the ancient con- certs, she was frequently accustomed to sing many of his best songs ; one of many proofs of her excel- lent taste. To the labours of three distinguished members of the family of Bach, we might distinctly trace a new impulse in very different departments of the art. To the father we owe the present school of organ- playing; to Emanuel, the pre- eminence of the piano- forte school of music, of Mozart, Clementi, and Cramer ; and to John Christian Bach, the plan of German, lie might say of general, modern instrumen- tation, and the new structure of vocal music. It was impossible to examine the scores of his operas, with- out finding there the models of instrumentation which Haydn and Mozart had adopted, lie was the first who admitted the clarionet into the orchestra,, and habitually and skilfully combined wind and stringed instruments j and before his time it had not been general to use the oboe in unison with the voice ; the bassoon, flute, and horn very seldom— the clarionet never. He was the first to break through the long existing practice of terminating songs by repeating the first movement. After a brief notice of the peculiarities and dis- tinctions of the three Bachs in musical power, Mr. Taylor said he had no desire to institute any invidi- ous comparison between them. Every one must admit that the art was deeply indebted to all of them.. The first example selected, illustrative of the talent of John Christian Bach, was an air, a tranquil and graceful melody, and one of the few songs which the author had terminated by a repetition of the first strain. Mr. Walton sang this, " Deh lascia, 0 del pietoso," very sweetly. The next song was one of its author's more am- bitious efforts ; in which he employed the clarionet with great advantage, and Mr. Taylor said he hoped to convey an adequate idea of the effect of this em- Andrews.— Miss Leach then sang this song, " Che pieta," with great spirit and good execution; she was accompanied by R. Andrews on the piano; with concertina obligato by Master Andrews. The suc- ceeding terzetto was replete with beauty, and con- tained some phrases which the subsequent [ composi- tions of Mozart had rendered familiar to us. Messrs Barlow, Walton, and Sheldrick sang this trio, " Sommi Dei," in capital'style. Here, Mi. Taylor said, must terminate this intro- ductory review of the German school of music. lie adverted to the vastness of the field open to the labours of those who sought to penetrate the past, to elucidate the history of music in Europe ; and ob- served that the labours of a life would only serve to convince the most diligent investigator how much he must leave to others to examine. With this con- viction, which grew upon him as life advanced, his wish was to complete a survey of the different regions where music had taken root and flourished; explo- ring first such as had a national as well as an intrinsic claim to notice, and then visiting lands more remote though it might he higher in the scale of musical eminence. He had endeavoured to select such por- tions of musical history as had been imperfectly traced by English writers, and to place before his auditories a connected view of the different schools into which it was divided. They had seen what German music had borrowed of foreign grace,, and what it possessed of a national character. Still they stood but on the threshold of the^ German School Up to the time to which he had brought these lectures, Germany had no national lyric dram They now approached the period of its birth," so soon followed by that of its maturity and strength ; while, in every department of the art, those seeds which had been deposited in ages past, grew up and flourished with surprising luxuriance. Gluclt, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Spohr, appeared in the vista, and invited our further progress. In conclusion, Mr. Taylor expressed his thanks to Mr. R. Andrews for the great zeal and pains he had bestowed in getting up the illustrations to this course of lectures. When he sent the music to Manchester, he sent down, as must be obvious to all, for Mr. Andrews, and for all engaged in the per- formance of it, a great deal of hard work. How well they had devoted, how zealously they had ap plied, themselves to this, his auditory were the best judges. For himself, he could only express to them his thanks for the pains they had taken, and the able manner in which they had acquitted themselves in the performance of a very arduous duty. To his auditors, they all desired to tender their thanks for the patient and persevering attention they had yielded. It was his great fortune to reap the best reward that could be given to any public lecturer, in witnessing a grow- ing interest in those schools of music of which he had ventured to recommend the cultivation. He willingly hoped that what had been said, and especially what had been sung, might excite a desire to know more of the early German school. Manv pretenders to musical knowledge would persuade them thatjexcellence centred in one department of the art. He would sav, " Distrust all such ; and . be assured that true genius, although it may differ both in kind and degree, resides in every school. Subject each in turn to the enlightened influence of impartial criticism, and you will assuredly derive, from the music of every age and country, the means of refined and vivid enjoyment." THE " FREE PRESS."— THE DEVIL,— DRESS. To the Editors of the Free Press. GENTLEMEN,— Aye, gentlemen every inch of you ! I remember when the " Free Press" was first issued, one of your correspondents advised you ( as the surest means of securing a wide circulation) to begin and abuse somebody, as people are fond of seeing their neighbours caricatured or even good humouredly blackguarded. But you saw how wicked would be such a proceeding ; you saw that already one Halifax publication had earned a disreputable notoriety by lending itself to slander and misrepresentation ; and you determined to conduct your periodical upon up- right and honourable principles. You thought ( and events have justified such a supposition) that there still existed amongst us a detestation of " envy, malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness," and that if you continued to act justly, you could not fail of suc- cess., The respectable inhabitants of the town whom you undoubtedly represent, can and do appreciate your efforts. Only think, gentlemen, if you had been inclined to ployment of a wind instrument in accompanying the 1 be malicious, how easy it would have been for you to Toles, by the assistance of bis young friend Master ' be so safely. In most joint- stock companies or firms there is generally one of the partners who is styled the Devil to the concern.. He is a very important personage, and his duties are varied. To him is in- trusted the making of all bargains, and in this he is< singularly clever, possessing, like Hotspur, a dispo- sition to " Cavil on< the ninth part of a hair." It is his business to look- carnivorously at all persons wanting money ; pay all wages ; and, if the receivers of the said wages should grumble at the depreciation of labour, he assures them, with a consolotary air, that they ought to be uncommonly thankful, for. really he does not know when they will have to re- ceive any more. If. a debtor is to be dunned, he does it ; if any body is to be blackguarded, to him is the " pleasing pain" delegated. But I may best illustrate his duties by an example. In the present reformed house of commons, ( which, since it is divided against itself, cannot stand any long, time,) tliere is one party to whom different people give different names. By some the persons composing it are called High Tories; by others Farmers' Friends; by others again ( though with a great deal of absurdity) the aristocracy ; but by most sensible n. eu these people are called Bread taxers. Mr. Bus- feild Ferrand is the Devil lo their concern. He it is" who is employed to say what none of them else will or dare say ;— stuff which, if it were not nonsense, would be falsehood and calumny. He it i- s who bothereth the premier with telling him he has deceiv- ed the farmers by adopting Free Trade principles ; he it is who innocently allegeth the monstrosity that the distress of the country is attributable to the in- crease of machinery ; he blusteringly accuseth the Anti- Corn- Law League of sedition, and offereth to argue the question of the Bread Tax with ihem any where ; but when he is respectfully invited thereto, he maketh himself scarce, being unable to leave bis parliamentary duties! He it is who hypocritically bewaileth the condition of. the poor, and curseth the New Poor Law for its harshness ; while he is deli- berately grinding the face of the aforesaid poor by: refusing to assist in cheapening their bread. Well, then, Lsay, if the Editors of the " Free Press" had been inclined to share the infamy of their local contemporary, they might easily have done it by appointing the Knight of the Moor the devil to their concern. Upon him might have been fathered all abusive attacks. The extraordinary in frequency of- his public appearances, or his known valour and address in defending himself when attacked, would have effectually secured him from reprisals. But we cannot expect cows to yield vinegar, or, as I said,, that honesty should become baseness. Honest you are, and honest you must be, to the end of the chapter. Excellent men ! methinks I see you in your snuggery on the top of the Butter Cross A blazing fire is crackling, and you are engaged in discussing the creature comforts, " potatory and fumous," which are before you in rich and varied profusion. You are, as the song says, " keeping your spirits up, by pouring spirits down ;" and I almost fancy I see the sly twinkle of the knight's eye as he lustily bawls out, " What baron, or squire, or knight of the shire, " Lives half so well as a holy friar ?" Maugre the knit brows of the monk who is by no means fond of such raillery, and the expostulatory coughs of the hermit, who is much of a muchness with his brother of. the cowl. You are invested with all the terrors of flie mysterious Council of Ten, by him who, after having saddled his scarce- fledged Pe gasus, ventures to mount lier till he has achieved a sonnet or copy of verses, Omnipotent to damn bad poetrv and prosy twaddle are ye ; and with caustic paragraphs to cause the author thereof to think him- self considerably less than nobody if he be modest, and to assign that character to you if he be vain and self- confident. And thus, you see, we go on proposing to ourselves actions which we never perform, and meditating schemes which we never accomplish. I have almost exhausted the space you can assign me ; and, led away by iny admiration of^ your proceedings, I have not even mentioned the subject upon which I had pro- posed to address you. Some few days ago, the walls of our town were placarded announcing that in dividuals had been observed wearing something like the uniform of those persons who, having received an exesedingly pressing invitation to the Sheerness Hulks, have been kindly domesticated therein. The purpose of these bills was to ridicule that article of dress called a Chesterfield, and to revive the almost forgotten fabric of woollen cloth. I will not now enter into the grand and important subject, of dress, as I had proposed. This question can not be approached except after mnture and deliberate examination. We are so constituted that THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 single incident, however trifling and insignificant in itself, may produce a whole host of ideas and re- flections. Thus Sir Isaac Newton was led to the reasoning which afterwards produced the grand theory of gravitation, by seeing an apple fall to the ground ; and, since there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, 1 may as well mention that Robert Owen was led to indulge his parallelogramical fancies by a similar catastrophe happening to a bowl of furmety. I also was led to a consideration of the subject of dress, .( about which, with your permission, I may hereafter say more,) from reading the placard referred to. It is your duty, as directors of the public mind, to bring subjects of great and universal interest before the eyes of your readers ; and none but ill- looking and ill dressed men question the importance of this one. At present, I must apologize for trespassing so far upon your space, instead of saying more, remaining Your's respectfully, D. " MAKING " OF PRIESTS AND DEACONS. A word or two before we proceed to " weigh" the Parochial Clergy. They might well be content to be weighed in the same scales as their supeiiors j hut we will give them the benefit . of those which bear the stamp of authority. Let us, then, in the first place, ascertain, from " the Form and Manner of* jnaking Priests and Deacons," what, according to the makers and the made, are the nature and the amount of the obliga- tions under which the candidates for holy orders bring themselves. We shall, by this means, be enabled to form an unexceptionable estimate both of their duties and of the manner in which those_ duties are per formed. No man can become a Priest until he has been made a Deacon ; nor a Deacon, except, upon " suffi cient testimony," he is found to be of " virtuous con- versation, and- witbout crime," " learned in the Latin tongne, and sufficiently instructed in Holy Scripture." The Archdeacon pledges himself to the Bishop, that the candidate is " apt and meet, from his learning and godly conversation, to exercise his ministry duly, to the honour of God, and the edifying of his church." Tbe Bishop then calls upon the congregation present to declare if they know " any impediment or notable crime" by reason of which he ought not to be ordained. If no one answers, the ceremony pro- ceeds. The " epistle" for the service is taken from the third chapter of Paul's first Epistle to Timothy, which, by the way, evidently regards the office of Deacon as permanent To this succeeds part of the sixth chapter of the Acts, in which the Apostle, who speaks clearly, considers Deacons as a class of officers, a plurality of whom may be needful in any particular church, and that for the simple purpose of emancipating those of his own order from the " service of tables," that they may " give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." The first Deacons, too, were to be " full of wisdom," not young men barely of age; and, more- over, they were chosen by " the whole multitude" of the disciples. A solemn dialogue takes place between the Bishop and the candidate. " Do you trust," inquires his Lordship, " that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this office and minis- tration, to serve God for the promoting of his glory, and the edifying of his people ?" The candidate answers, " I trust so." The Bishop then acquaints him that it will be his office, among other things, " to search for the sick, poor, and impotent people of the parish, to intimate their estates, names, and places where they dwell, unto the Curate, that by his exhortation they may be relieved with the alms of the parishioners or others;" and this he promises to do " gladly aud willingly, by the help of God." flaving giving him authority to " execute the office of a Deacon," the Bishop proceeds to thank God for " having vouchsafed to accept and take this his ser- vant into the office of Deacon in his church," and to pray that he " mny so well behave himself in this inferior office, that he may be found worthy to be called unto the higher ministries in his church." But he must continue in that office a whole year, ( except the Bishop order otherwise,) " to the intent he may be perfect, and well expert in the things appertaining to the ecclesiastical administration." While a Deacon only, however, he may not " pro- nounce the absolution," nor " consecrate the holy sacrament." Previously to the ordination of Priests, the Arch- deacon and the congregation are appealed to, as in the former case. The " epistle" is the fourth chapter of Paul to the Ephesians, where we read that Christ " gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers," ( but no " priests,") " for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." The " gospel" is in the ninth chapter of Matthew, where Jesus calls upon his disciples to pray " the Lord of the harvest" to " send foith labourers into his harvest;" or, instead of this, the passage in John, in which our Saviour distinguishes between " the good shepherd" and the " hireling," Nothing can be more faithful, solemn, and impres- sive, than the prescribed address which the Bishop reads to the candidates for the office of the " priest hood." They are " to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord; to teach and to premonish ; to feed and provide for the Lord's family ; to seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for his children who are in the midst of this naughty world; for they are the sheep of Christ, which he bought with his death, and for whom he shed his blood." ' If," he warns them, any member of the Church, " take any hurt or hinderance by reason of your negligence, ye know the greatness of the fault, and also the horrible punishment that will ensue. Wherefore.. .. see that you never cease your labour, your care and diligence, until you have done all that lieth in you, according to your bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your charge, unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among you, either for error in religion, or for viciousness in life." He calls upon them to be " studious in reading and learning the Scriptures," and to " forsake and set aside all worldly cares and studies." " We have good hope," he proceeds ( in every case) to observe, " that you have well weighed and pondered these things with yourselves long before this time;" with much more to the like effect. The candidates then bring themselves under a number of solemn obligations, which may be consi- dered as all comprehended in the question and answer following :—" Will you be diligent to frame and fashion your own selves and j- our families according to the doctrine of Christ; and to make both your- selves and them, as much as in j- ou lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ?— I will apply myself thereto, the Lord being my helper." The " secret prayers" of the congregation having been offered on behalf of the candidates, and the Bishop having returned thanks to God f:.' r " having vouchsafed to call these his servants to the office and ministry appointed for the salvation of mankind,'' the imposition of hands take? place, the Bishop pro- nouncing the following awful form of words :— " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a Priest in the church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained." SfC. S{ c. Be it remembered, that these impious words have been addressed by all the Bishops now or ever on the Bench, to every man whom they have admitted to Priest's Orders ; that is, of course, to every man now holding a benefice in the Church of England. Who can help shuddering at the thought ?— Patriot. CHARTISM AND TOE LATE STRIKES. The outbreak of August should especially impress two points on the consideration of our government. The first is, the peril of leaving so vast and excitable a population in a state of ignorance, which renders them easy dupes to any plausible misrepresentations, and ready tools in the hands of dangerous and de signing men. None but a population in the depths of ignorance could have imagined, that mere cessa- tion from work, on the part of the operative classes, could procure the charter, or constrain the govern- ment and the aristocracy into their terms ; none but a population in the depth of ignorance could have conceived it possible for two millions of people to hare subsisted for a month, or even a week, without wages and plunder ; and none but a population in the depth of ignorance could have hoped, by an insur- rectionary movement, to overthrow economic laws, and artificially to enhance wages in the face of redun- dant numbers, diminished profits, and a failing trade. With a people as crowded, as active, and as organised as that of our industrial districts, there can be no perma- nent security either for our political institutions or our social peace, except in the general diffusion of such an education as will enlighten them as to the true sources of public happiness, and will bestow upon them the means of working out their own prosperity. An instructed people can never he formidable, except to their oppressors. An ignorant populace is a peri! and a terror even to their truest benefactors. Secondly, with a dense and increasing population, no pclicy can be so weak, so cruel, so suicidal, as I that which restricts the sourtes of subsistence, and shackles the free developeinent of industry. To the great mass of the people, ample earnings and plenti- ful subsistence will always be the first objects of desire. With these they will generally be contented : without these they will always be turbulent. Hence all other governments, however selfish or despotic, if not wholly destitute of wisdom, are especially careful that their people should be well fed. But our rulers seem to have been deaf, not merely to the dictates of justice and compassion, but to the simplest instinct of self- preservation. They have laboured to create an artificial scarcity;— and we have just been witnessing the consequences of their guilt and folly. Nor is it at all the less true that education and un- shackled commerce are the two gnat wants of the people, because they are not the points demanded by them. The patieut is seldom accurate on the diag- nosis of his own disease. In the present case, as in many others, the evils complained of are wholly dis- tinct from the evils suffered under. The requirements of an ignorant populace will naturally be very different from their necessities. The demand is for universal suffrage; the real want is universal education. The desire is for freedom of election.; the desideratum is freedom of trade. The desire is for full, fair, and free representation of the people in parliament; the desideratum is full, fair, and free interchange with all the nations of the earth. These are the practical rights of the people, which require immediate recog- nition,— the right of the mind to substantial instruc- tion, and the right of the bopy to the profits of its own unfettered industry. These are the rights which can no longer be with- held with justice, or violated with safety. Let us hope that the lessons of the past may not have been wholly thrown away. Our rulers have had ample proof— if they would but read history aright— of that unexceptionable axiom in political science, that public injustice is the invariable parent of public disorder and discontent. " Whatsoever a man soweth, that he also shall reap." We never yet heard— we never yet read— of any great social or political iniquity which did not, at the appointed time, entail an ap- propriate and bitter penalty on the perpetrators or their descendants. " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." It is impossible it should be otherwise. It is idle to expect that God will interpose between the cause and its consequence. Every seed of evil is the germ of a harvest of misery. Every oppression, in God's good time, recoils upon the oppressor.— Westminster Review. POETRY. SELECTED. SONNET. BY TME REV.' J. ELY, OF LEEDS. When, through the wide expanse, nor orb was seen, Nor creature breath'd, nor particle was found, Jehovah spake;— wild chaos roar'd around ; O'er the rude mass his Spirit, mov'd serene ; — Light beam'd ; the sea retir'd in living green, The land upheav'd ; then from the depths profound Sprang feather'd fowl, and beasts chat paw'd the ground. Last did the human clay his breath impregn. Forgotten be that work! The fabric vast A theatre becomes, where myriads thiong To see creation's wonders all surpass'd :— The Maker dies to avenge the creature's wrong ! Ye myriads gaze, adoring and aghast! Redemption, be henceforth your only song ! TO MUSIC. From the Saturday Magazine. Ah ! wherefore but to heighten mirth, And lend a keener zest to joyi O Music ! do the sons of earth Thine aid employ ?. Why falls not from thy tuneful string Some anodyne for pain and grief ? Some spell to charm the ear, and bring The heart reliaf ? But since to such, my heart, mine ears Ate dull;— with songs of mournful sweep, Come, melt the thoughts that freeze my tears,. And let me weep! Oh ! thus, in tears, the saddest hour That darkens o'er the sons of earth, More homage pays to Music's power, Than years of mirth. AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN FOR. THE YEAR 1812. — The following are the official ascertained average prices of grain per quarter for the year 1842, as stated in a return which has just been laid before tire house of commons :— Wheat 57s. 3d. I Rye 33s. Od. Barley 27s. ( id. Beans 32s. 5d. Oats 20s. 3d, | Peas 33s. lid. It will be seen, by the yearly averages for 1841, that these prices are considerably lower than those of the preceding year, which were the following :— Wheat ( Ms. 5d. , Rye Bailey 33s. () d. j Beans 30s. Id. Oats od. | Peas 40s. 5d.; Thus it will be seen . that on the average of the year, wheat was 7s. 2d. per or. barley, 5s, / id. oats 3s. 2d. beans Gs, 8d. aud peas 7*. 6J. per i\ i- cheaper, Uiau in 1841. * I THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A thing of Slireds and Patches." ORIGIN OF THE - WORD " TARIFF."— The puzzling name, " tariff," is derived from the town of Tarifa, at the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar, and the most southern point in Europe, not even excepting Cape Matapan, at the foot of the Morea. Tarifa was the last stronghold which the Moors disputed with the Christians, and is still within three leagues of the em- pire of Morocco. When the Moors held possession of both the pillars of Hercules, it was here that they levied contributions for vessels entering the Mediter- ranean— whence the generic name — True Tablet. MUSIC FOR THE MILLION IN ANCIENT GREECE.— The importance of music, in the education of the Greeks, is generally understood. It was employed to effect several purposes. First, to soothe and mollify the fierceness of the national character, and prepare the way for the lessons of the poets, which, delivered amid the soundings of melodious strings, when the soul was wrapt and elevated by harmony, by the ex- citement of numbers, by the magic of the sweetest associations, took a firm hold upon the mind, and generally retained it during life. Secondly, it enabled the citizens gracefully to perform their part in the amusements of social life, every person being in his turn called upon at entertainments to sing or play upon the lyre. Thirdly, it was necessary to enable them to join in the sacred choruses, rendered frequent by the piety of the state, and for the due performance, in old age, of many offices of religion, the sacerdotal character belonging more or less to all the citizens of Athens. Fourthly, as much of the learning of a Greek was martial, and designed to fit him for defending his country, he required some knowledge of music, that on the field of battle his voice might harmoniously mingle with those of his countrymen, in chaunting those stirring, impetuous, and terrible melodies, called pseans, which preceded the first shock of fight. Into the character of the Greeks generally, there entered an element but faintly discernible in the moral composition of modern nations; I mean a most exquisite and exalted sensibility, which rendered them to the last degree susceptible, and liable to be swayed irresistibly for good or for evil by poetry and music. And this characteristic distinguished in some degree the Doric as well as the Ionic race. They could be excited past belief, by the agency of sound. Music, therefore, with us at least a mere source of enjoyment, among them was invested with a moral character, and employed in education as a powerful means of harmonising, purifying, ennobling the principles and the affections of the heart. For this reason the government, which in Greece was in reality a com- mittee of public safety, watched over the music no less sedulously than over the morals of the people, which it powerfully influenced.— St. John's Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece. SIR ASTLEY COOPER AND THE PLOUGHMAN.— I have, while on professional journeys with Sir Astley, after, perhaps, half an hour's silence, or quiet con- versation on some topic of professional interest, started at his loud and vehement expression of con- tempt on seeing, perhaps, a ploughman, with three horses in a length. " Now, look there I" he would passionately say ; " see that fool;— why, he could do twice the work in a soil like that with two horses abreast;" and, if the ploughman were near enough to hear him from the road, lie would inquire of him his reason for such a mode of proceeding, and point out to him its inutility. " Don't you see that one man," he would say to him, " is sufficient with a pair of horses; while, with three, you must have a boy as well as the man, besides your loss both of time and ground in turning ?" And then he would probably receive the answer so often given to suggestions of this sort, " Why, sir, we always have done it so."— Life of Sir A. Cooper, Bart. Billy Whittaker, of Colne, who had got deeply into debt, drank bis glass, and smoked bis pipe, and en- joyed himself as if he owed nobody a farthing. " Eh ! Billy," said one of his friends to him, " I wonder beau tha can go on as tha does drinkin' and smokin' when tha owes so mich money. I wonder beau tha can sleep i' thy bed. I'm sure I couldn't if I awed so mich money." " Aye, mon," said Billy, " I wonder liovy they can sleep 1' their beds that I awe it to 1" MUSIC AMONG THE JEWS.— The Polish Jews are allowed by their co- religionists to be the best singers, and are, therefore, summoned by the synagogues of different countries in order to give more effect to the ceremonials of their worship. The style of singing practised by the Popish Jew diffeis from that of any other nation. His system is, not to proceed by de- grees, and thus prepare the ear for what is to follow ; his voice once started wanders forth like an unbridled steed; without measure or management it arises and falls, until, by some sudden transition, it swells forth anew. The Polish Jew, whose existence is but a wretched one, still suffering from the scorn and per- secution of his fellow- citizens, loves to give the reins to his imagination. On days of festival he pours forth his grave simple melodies that tradition has banded down ; allied to certain prayers, ornamenting them with embellishments dictated by no other rule than the inspiration of the moment. The main at- traction of his songs consists in their being some- thing beyond a mere play of the imagination, a lukewarm effort of calculation, like those of the Christian, who coolly measures the scope and strength of his voice, the power of his lungs, and takes care not to overtax his energies. The one yields to the inspiration of his religious fervour, and is carried away by the excess of enthusiasm that prompts his voice ; and, proceeding as they do, from a heart over- flowing with holy feelings, no wonder his songs excite the admiration, and rouse the feelings of his audience. The Jew, when he sings, disdains the artist's formal bearing. Heedless of those whose attention is fixed upon him, he loses all self- command, he gesticulates and stamps upon the ground— his cheeks are flushed — his eyes flash fire ; lie employs all the resources afforded him by bis natural and falsetto voice ; he is most partial to sudden transition from high to low notes, from treble to bass ; and what appears the most striking is, that, without uttering a word, his tongue and lips are in perpetual motion ; a brilliant shake is succeeded by a warbling sound produced by the tongue, which resembles the nightingale or canary. This style of singing calls to mind the primitive articulations which must have preceded the birth of the art of song. Such is the singing in inanv of the northern synagogues,— such was the singing I heard in the synagogue at Vienna. Never did music produce deeper impressions upon me, and leave on my memory a livelier remembrance. During seven months of my stay in Vienna, I wandered on Friday evenings to the Jewish synagogue, to listen with emotion to Jewish hymns and canticles, to compensate my ear and heart for the degenerated and degraded instrumental extravagancies in use in the Catholic churches in Vienna.— Maimer's Musical Times. CHINESE POETRY.'— We subjoin the following speci- men of Chinese poetry, published in the second volume of the Royal Asiatic Transactions, and written 3,000 years ago. Besides the pleasure its intrinsic beauty will afford, it offers a convincing proof of the sub- stantial identity of human feelings in all times and countries. The piece bemoans the fate of a maiden betrothed to a humbler rival, but compelled to her come the bride of a rich and powerful suitor : — The nest yon winged artist builds, Some robber bird shall tear away: So yields her hopes the affianced maid, Some wealthy lord's reluctant prey. The fluttering bird prepares a home. In which the spoiler soon shall dwell; Forth goes the weeping bride, constrained, A hundred cares the triumph swell. Mourn for the tiny architect, A stronger bird hath ta'en its nest; Mourn for the hapless, stolen bride, How vain the pomp to soothe her breast i ANNUAL MOVEMENT OF THE POPULATION.— The fourth annual report of the registrar- general of births, deaths, and marriages, in England and Wales, ex- hibits the following summary of the numbers of each, registered in each year ( ending 30th June), for the four years during which the system has been in operation :- Years. Births. Deaths. Marriages. 1837- 38 .... 399,712 •••• 335,956 .... 111,481 1838- 39 •••• 480,540 331,007 •••• 121,083 1839- 40 •••• 501,589 •••• 350,101 •••• 124,328 1840- 41 •••• 504,543 •••• 355,622 .... 122,482 It appears from this, that the number of births in the year ended June. 1841, exceeds that of the preceding" year by 2,954 ; that the deaths of the latter exceed " the former year by 5,521 ; while there were 1,847 fewer marriages in 1840- 41 than in 1839- 40. To MAKE PORTER.— Porter is often adulterated with deleterious drugs, on which account the domes- tie brewing of it is desirable. Child, in his treatise entitled " Every Man his own Brewer," has given the following recipe for preparing it in quantity ;— • One peck of malt £ 0 A quarter of a pound of liquorice root 0 Spanish juice 0 Essentia bina 0 Colour 0 Half a pound of treacle 0 A quarter of a pound of hops 0 Capsicum and ginger 0 The expense of coals 0 small 6 3l 2 2 % 2 6 1 6 the papers will give you. they looked like a set of old- wives. The Duke of Buccleuch was the only one the least like a peer, from his robefe being rather less shabby than those of the others; the poor old Archbishop ( of Canterbury) like a Bombay Fakir, with liis white and red petticoats and horrible wig ; the Lord Chancellor himself not much handsomer, although, I dare say, good- looking, when dressed like a reasonable being, and reads very well. Lords Wharncliffe and Shaftesbury very like two old chair- men ( qy., charesoomera ) And there the quintet sat and received the Commons at their bar, who ap- proached, headed by the Speaker, Sir A. Clifford, and Sir W. Gosset, making three bows each, one at every two or three steps. It was really like a farce. There came the speech, and suck a milk- and water affair I never heard ; I really felt almost inspired to get up and move an amendment. And that finished the affair, as far as we were concerned ( the ladies, I mean), as we were soon told we might withdraw, the Commons having done so with as many salaams as they entered. Lady Lyndhnrst and many others were in bonnets like ourselves, but most en grande toilette. None of the peers but the Commissioners were in their robes." To DRIVE AWAY FLIES, STIDERS, & c.— The scent and smoke of hen's feathers, burnt in a room, will drive away all flies, spiders, scorpions, & c., so that they will never return. If you boil bay- berries in il, and anoint your cattle with it, they will never be pestered with flies. ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL.— This proverb liad its origin in the time of Edward VI. when much of the lands of St. Peter, at Westminster, were invaded by the great men of the court, who, therefore, allowed somewhat out of them towards the repair of St. Paul's Church. WORKING OF TBEVW TARIFF.— It is expected that the new tariff, in conjunction with the corn laws, will have the effect of increasing the consumption of articles of food to so great an extent as to wear out a far greater number of teeth than hitherto, and the dentists of the metropolis are likely to reap a rich harvest. We have seen a celebrated surgeon dentist, who tells us that where he used to make one false tooth in a month, he now supplies three ; but lie complains that the impetus to his business is feverish and hectic, for he cannot get ready money in any quarter. If there should be a fixed duty on corn, the molars or grinders will come into operation more frequently, and there will be mastication for the million, which is far more desirable than singing— a practice that tends to excite hunger rather than to satisfy its cravings.— Punch. One of Cromwell's followers, who filled the im • pnrtant situation of an Irish justice, at the period of 1661, having occasion to write the word " usage," contrived to spell it without using a single letter of the original word; his improved orthography was yowzitch." When some remarks were made on similar feats, he averred that " nobody could spell it with pens made from Irish geese." '• Oh, what a soft seat," as the bat said when placed on the dandy's bead. " All's well that ends well," as the young wife said when the old man died— rich. The expression of fall in love evidently shows love to be beneath a man.— Sterne. One of the Yankee papers having asserted that " Miss Lucy Long " was to be set to music, the editor of the Picayune gave his opinion that she had a great deal better be set to work. 0 4 0 These articles managed according to the direction of brewing, will produce six gallons of good porter, which, at Is. 6d. per gallon, would cost 9s.; so that one- half of the expense is saved by making it at home By augmenting the ingredients in their relative pro- portions, any quantity of porter may be brewed. It may be necessary to explain the manner of preparing the essentia bina, and tlie colour. In order to pro cure the former, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar should be boiled in an iron vessel, till it attain the consistence of a thick black syrup, which is remark- ably bitter. The colour is produced by boiling similar quantity of moist sugar, till it acquires a taste between sweet and bitter : it imparts the. fine mellow tint so much admired in good porter. In preparing the essence and colour, it will be necessary to employ a small portion of pure or of lime water; because they will otherwise become hard and dry, if suffered to stand till they become cold. They are added to the first wort, with which they are boiled. A LADY'S ACCOUNT OF THE OPENING OF PARLIA MINT.— The following is an extract of a letter from a lady residing in London to her sister in Liverpool dated Feb. 3 :—" Yesterday was very wet early, but Mr. W had sent tickets for two; so we could not well give up the idea of seeing Parliament opened We were in capital time, and agreeably surprised to find we were to go into the Peers' seats ; and very well we were placed, close to the woolsack, with Lady Lvndhurst just before us and two friends with her. We found her out by all the gentlemen ad dressing her by name. She said she had just come to see her husband go through the ceremony, as she had not seen Parliament opened before. She is rather pretty, and spoke French a good deal to her friends. She is, I should think, about 30. We found out a number of the Peers by her addressing them and asking for their wives ; and a very plain set some of them are. Lord Willoughby, fine and benevolent- looking ; Lord Cardigan ( she did not ask for his wife, I think), good looking, but not like what I expected, and nothing very fierce about him except his moustaches; Lord Auckland, a fright; Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the Black Rod, a very soldier- like, fine- looking man, and his dress becoming. As for the Commissioners, whose names The value of the whole landed property in Scotland is estimated at £' 170,010,000. Though the number of female servants in England greatly exceeds that of males, yet the number of the latter charged with larceny is nearly three times that of females. By a statute of King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred, it was provided, " That any merchant who made three voyages, on his own account, beyond the British Channel, should be entitled to the privilege of a thane, or gentleman." A young dandy, who sported an enormous moustachio, asked a lady what she thought of his looks. " Why," said she, " you look as if you had swallowed a pony, and left the tail sticking out of your mouth." AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.— The total number of horned cattle in the United Kingdom, is estimated at 7,000,000, and the total number of sheep at. 32,000,000. Valuing the first over head at £ 10, and the last at 25s. both together will give a total value of £ 110,000,000. SCHOOLS OR GAOLS.— THE CASE IN A NUTSHELL. — A very wealthy planter in Woodford county, Ken- tucky, says:—" I bad rather be taxed for the poor boy's education than the poor man's ignorance ; for the one or the other I am compelled to be." To PREVENT THE SMOKING OF A LAMP.— Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it well before you use it; it will then burn both sweet and pleasant, and give much satisfaction for the trifling trouble in preparing it. Not to feel misfortunes is not the part of a mortal, but not to bear them is unbecoming a man. The advantage of living does not consist in length of days, but in the right improvement of them. The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next sood sense, the third good humour, and the fourth wit. The passions are the gales of life, and it is religion only that can prevent them from rising into a tempest. HALIFAX:— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General Printing Office of H. Martin, Upper George Yard. Il