MARCH 25, 1843. No. XXX. 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, i/ oith his two controversal faces, might now not unsignificantly be set open: and though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing.— MILTON'S AREOPAGITICA. ADVERTISEMENTS. HALIFAX MECHANICS' INSTITDTION.— The Members and Friends of the Institution are respectfully informed that a Lecture on the LAWS OF INQUIRY, will be delivered in the Old Assembly Room, on Wednesday Evening, March 29th, by the Rev. J. Flather. The Lecture to commence at Eight o'clock. Members admitted on showing their Tickets, and Non- Subscribers on payment of Sixpence. Ladies' Tickets, admitting them to all the Lectures for the year, Four Shillings each. GENTLEMEN'S BEST LONDON BEAVER HATS,— J. ECKERSLEY respectfully invites the attention of Gentlemen to his superb Stock of Best Beaver Hats, ( just received from Three of the most eminent Houses in London,) which for lightness, durability, and colour in particular, stand quite unrivalled. Cash Price, 21s.; Beautiful Stuff Hats, from 12s. to 184.; the Rich French Velvet- Naps, on Stuff Bodies, from 10s. to 15s.; Gossamer, and other Hats equally cheap. 25, Crown Street, Halifax, opposite the Upper George Inn- CHARACTER OF ENGLISHMEN.— Lords and Com- mons of England, consider what a nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are the governors ; a nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit ; acute to invent, subtle and sinewy to discourse, not beneath the reach of any point, the highest that human capacity can soar to. What wants there to such a towardly and pregnant soil, but wise and faithful labourers, to make a knowing people, a nation of prophets, of sages, and of worthies ?— John Milton. Since the year 1796, the population of this country has increased nearly seven millions, while the con- sumption of malt has only increased from 3,517,758 quarters, to 3,869,549 quarters. It is, and ever has been, the interest of every one country, that every other country should prosper ; as it is, and ever has been, the interest of every com- munity, that each individual in it should be as virtuous and happy as possible.— Buckingham. REASON IN THE LOWER ANIMALS.— At a meeting of the Zoological Society of Ireland, Archbishop Whateley, in an interesting lecture upon the study of zoology in general, staled his belief that brutes and insects possess reason as well as instinct. Some persons might feel inclined to question this doctrine ; but to the sceptical he could only reply by referring them to this undeniable fact, that brutes every day perform actions which, if performed by men, would be styled rational. Such actions could not by possi- bility be traced to the blind impulses of instinct; and if they were termed rational when the agents were human beings, he could not understand by what pro- cess of logic it could be proved that they ought not to be regarded as an exercise of the reasoning powers when performed by members of tbe brute creation, Every day's experience showed that the faculty of memory was possessed by brutes ; and it was a most valuable quality, for it was by taking advantage of their memory, that men gifted them with docility. He had heard of a dog who, wishing to reach a boat lying in a river, plunged into the water; but, finding that he had been carried by the action of the stream to a point far below the situation of the boat, he got ashore again, and plunging again into the river higher up, managed to gain the boat by swimming obliquely. This circumstance surely gave evidence of a higher mental qualification than mere instinct. It bespoke a reasoning power. The dog saw the action of the stream carrying him downwards. Warned by expe- rience, lie . vent in, allowed for that action by swim- ming transversely, and so attained his object. In his father's family there was a cat who used regularly to ring the bell when she wanted to be let out; and, it was well known that dogs are sometimes enabled to distinguish the days of the week as infallibly THE CORN LAWS. The Fourth Annual Report of the Halifax Anti- Corn- Law Association, read at the Annual Meeting, March, 6th 1843. ( Concluded from our last.) That the Anti- Corn- Law party was justified in asserting that the new Corn- Bill bad not remedied the evils of the old, is shown by the transactions in the corn market during the last autumn. There was then the old practice of keeping back the supply and raising prices, to enable corn to be introduced at tbe lower or nominal duty, instead of its gradual intro> duction according to the wants of the consumers ; the derangement of a necessary commercial opera- tion ; the sudden fall of about 20s. per quarter i wheat, within two or three weeks, arising from a glutted market; the ruin of the importers, and the destruction of that capital which stands between tbe consumer and famine, and which operates as a dis- couragement to embark in such essential enterprises for the future ; followed by severe loss to the farmer, arising from the depression in price at the very moment he is about to bring his produce to market; whereas had the imports been gradual, no such violent fluctuations would have occurred. The Council of the League, convinced that igno- rance was the great obstacle to the attainment of repeal, determined to enter upon the mighty task of enlightening the entire constituency of the empire ; and for that purpose called upon the friends of Corn- Law Reform to tax themselves to supply the requisite funds. Fifty thousand pounds was the estimated cost of this grand work. Your committee, with the view of aiding the collection of their contribution to this fund, arranged a Tea Party, at which Mr. Cobden, the great champion of the cause, was present, together with Mr. Charles Wood. A more numerous, respectable, and well conducted meeting was never assembled in this town ; and noble was the fruit of it. It is with pride and pleasure we announce that the town and immediate vicinity of Halifax raised the sum of £ 1030 2s. 6d. A list of tbe contributors is appended to this report. To the ladies Of Halifax our most grateful thanks are due. Their liberality and patronage secured the success of the meeting. When was woman ever absent from a work of pity or benevolence ? A grand demonstration of national opposition to the Bread Tax took place in Manchester, at the beginning of the past month, when it was announced that £ 45,000 had already been collected towards the great League Fund, with the certain prospect of exceeding tbe sum originally proposed. Messrs. Edward Akroyd, Baldwin, and Morris, attended as the Delegates from this Association. The Queen's speech at the opening of the Session alluded to the wide spread and severe distress the country continued to experience, and reference was made to the startling diminution of the revenue ; but honied words were all that was administered to a beggared and starving population: tbe minister believing he could look undaunted upon the deficiency in his exchequer, by intrenching himself behind the spoils derived from the inquisition of the Income Tax. The distress of the country has been fairly brought before Parliament, during the past month, by Lord Howick's motion ; and although for five nights our friends in Parliament told their sad tale of national decay, and urged with overpowering arguments the suicidal folly of our present system, landlord legisla- tion prevailed, and a majority of 115 has sanctioned the taxation of the many for the benefit of the few. What, then, have we done nothing ? Has all our expenditure of time and money been thrown away ? By no means. Never were similar exertions ret warded by an equally rapid progression of a great public question. We have made Corn- Law Repeal the one absorbing topic of public interest. We have made one of the great political parties in the state link themselves to it as their hold upon popular sympathy. We have extorted from the leading mem- bers of the administration, viz „ Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, Mr. Goulbourn, and Mr. Gladstone, clear and distinct admissions that Free Trade doc- trines must, for the future, regulate the commercial policy of this country. We have secured the ac- knowledgement that the repeal of the Corn Laws is a matter only of time, not a disputed principle ; and it remains for us, by union, indefatigable exertions, resolute self- denial, and unconquerable perseverance, to secure the prompt attainment of this object. Agricultural distress is now talked of; and if it arrive, the farmers may be expected to see that pro- tection gives them no other security but that of pay- ing high rents; that their produce must sink in value, if the nation be too poor to purchase the usual quantity ; that their poor- rates must increase, if the manufacturing interest is prevented employing their surplus population ; and that they never can arise from their present almost feudal degradation, until farming is conducted generally, as it is in the Low- lands of Scotland, upon the self- relying, independent, and enterprising principle that gave expansion and prosperity to commerce, and enabled it, until the tide of retaliation had set in against us, to bear up under the tremendous burthen of the monopoly of food. There is a class of reasoners who affect, and we believe conscientiously, to take a dispassionate view of the subject, and desire to arrive at an impartial judgment upon this question; and who are apprehen- sive that exposing the British farm labourers to com- petition with the same class on the continent, would have the effect of reducing their wages to an equality with the latter, and thereby degrade their condition below what it is at present. Upon this we would remark, that if tbe remuneration of the two classes be estimated by tbe command which they repectively possess over the comforts and necessaries of life, there is much reason to fear there will be found to exist little difference between them ; but, assuming a difference, we do not discover that the very small pittance which the Irish labourers receive as wages, has ever been seriously urged as a ground for pro- hibiting tbe introduction of Irish grown wheat; although the facilities for bringing it to our markets are equal to those enjoyed by distant parts of Eng- land. It must, also, be recollected that, whilst our artizans have to subsist upon food artificially en- hanced in price by monopoly, their wages are ultimately fixed by the rate paid to the cheaply fed workmen on the continent: for the articles manu- factured by his labour have to meet the competition of tbe foreigner, in neutral markets ; and the price of them, and consequently his wages as forming part of the cost, will be fixed by the price at which the foreigner is able to produce his goods. In conclusion, we would suggest to those luke- warm friends who have held aloof from us, on the ground that Sir Robert Peel would make all necessary changes in the Corn Laws, whether they have not been deceived. The changes hitherto effected have in no way reached the evils complained of; and, on Lord Howick's motion previously referred to, he declared that it was not his intention to disturb the present law; expressly adding that he did not limit his assertion to the legislation of the present session. Is it not time, then, that they should abandon their fatal neutrality ? We invite them to cordial co- operation, and to aid us in pressing on a pliant minister, a course we have every reason to believe he knows to be for tbe interest of his country, but which he cannot force upon his landed supporters, unless the great body of the people unite to will it shall be so. 117 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. THE NINE WISHES, CE THE NEAPOLITAN COURTSHIP. CHAPTER I. ' Our heroine forms an acquaintance, which ripens into a more tender passion. Miss Wilhelmina Jones had taken elegant apart- ments on the Chiaja, at Naples ; and announced that she expected some friends from England, to spend the winter with her. In the meantime, however, she seemed resolved to make the most of her time, by visiting every place worth seeing; followed always by an old crabbed- looking footman, and sometimes attended by a hired valet de place. Her small knowledge of tbe Italian language was useless to her for colloquial purposes; and her French accent was not exactly that of a Parisian belle. Therefore she expressed herself particularly obliged to a French gentleman who, in broken English, had politely indicated to her certain rare antiquities in the public Museum. Monsieur handed her to her carriage, and saw old Tom Blunt, the crabbed- looking fbotman, mount behind. " Elle est charmante," cried he, rubbing his hands. The next morning, as Miss Jones was sitting at breakfast, Tom Blunt brought in a card, which he placed on the table, saying, " It's the little monkey- faced jabbering chap wot was talking to you yesterday at the Mewsey." Wilhelmina cast down her eyes, and felt her heart throb, as she read, " Le Baron Alphonse de Shach- abach." What was to be done ' She was in dishabille, to be sure ; but to send a Baron away rudely was quite out of the question : so he was admitted; and thus commenced an acquaintance which soon ripened into intimacy. It was a pleasant thing for our heroine to have a beau ; for she had by no means been pestered with lovers. Theattentions of the Baron were unremitting, for ten days ; and then, on a fine moonlight evening, they were walking in the public gardens. All nature was calm, save the gentle plash of the blue waves. Conversation was seldom at a stand between the two friends ; for, sooth to say, they were great tattlers : but, on tbe present occasion, tbey bad been silent for the space of a minute, when, on turning into a dark avenue of trees, Miss Jones ex- claimed, " La 1 how that image frightened me '. " " I am sorry as he frighten you," said the Baron, heaving a deep sigh; " vary sorry, by cause he vos Cupidon, de littel rascal boy vot has shot in my heart. Ah ! Miss Vilhelmine ! Vot for is de heart, if he is so cold as von stone ? But, I beg you pardon ! you must sit on dis seat, and I will trow myself on your knees, and tell you all about my propriety, vidout - vich I cannot esperer as you vill give me some ex- pectation." Wilhelmina, much agitated, threw herselfgracefully upon the bench, over which the figure of Cupid seemed to lean ; while tbe Baron went, instanter, upon his marrowbones, and, seizing her hand, began to mouth it as though he would mumble it off. " Oh! Ah! Monsieur Baron!" exclaimed our heroine: " you really terrify me.— Remember! We are in public. Somebody will come, and see"— " I don't care noting for somebody !" ejaculated the Baron. " All de public in de vorld be velcome to know as I am in a passion vid you. But, I beg you pardon ! I must tell you about my propriety." " Well! If you expect me to listen," said Wilhelmina; really you mustget up, and take a seat." " Ah! a seat!" rejoined the Baron: " that is him. My propriety is in my seat, as you call him in Angleterre. My chateau is on de Rhine bank. He is called Shacliabach so veil as me, superbe et magnifique, and bring me some vine like the nectar so veil as my title." What a charming prospect for Wilhelmina ! The superb chateau, surrounded by lofty vine- clad hills, danced before the eyes of her imagination ; and, overcome by her feelings, she hid her face in her hands. " H£ las ! mon ange !" exclaimed the Baron, jump- ing up, and taking a small bottle from his pocket. " I am in despair. I not tink you vos so very affected. But, smell him !— dis very fine stink. Hold your nose!— take him in your finger;— dere! you smile ! •— Bah ! I am so happy as if I vos no vere. It is arranged. You > vill be ma cliere Baronne !" " Really, Monsieur Baron," simpered Miss Jones, in a sort of tremulous titter,—" in a case of such importance, I really don't know what to say." " Den, don't say noting," observed the Baron, tenderly. " De silence give some consent; and I Sake him, and give you de tousand graces." " But, my friends!" murmured Wilhelmina. " Only think ! I don't know what they would say if-" " Bah '." exclaimed the Baron. " I not want to marry your friend ; but re go see dem neverless, for I am always at home vid mychannante Vilhelmine, so no matter vot become of you after ve marry. It is all von to me. I get rid of all my propriety, perhaps, and live in England. Ve vill see." What further passed between them was, of course, all very amorous and affecting; and the result was that, ere they parted, Wilhelmina evinced sufficient symptoms of being touched by the tender passion. From that evening, the Baron became her constant companion and accepted lover. They walked, and lounged, and promenaded", and made excursions together into the interesting country around them ; and as their conversation was such as that of lovers commonly is uuder such circumstances, they speedily arrived at the decision that, henceforth, there should be no secrets between them. ( To he Continued.) LOOSE THOUGHTS ON DRESS. To the Editors of the Free Press. GENTLEMEN,— Agreeably to the intimation I ex- pressed when I last addressed you, I come to the farther consideration of this subject,— a subject equalled by few in general, nay universal, importance, and surpassed by none in the wide and almost illimi- table field it presents for philosophical inquiry. And here let me premise that is not without a deep and solemn conviction of my inadequacy to render it a tithe of the justice it deserves, that I have ventured to bring the subject before the attention of your readers. Indeed, I am but as a child examining some curious piece of mechanism, or other work of art, who, whilst it is pleased with its general aspect, is utterly incapable of appreciating its powers and uses, its beauty of conception, and harmonious symmetiy. I do not constitute myself arbiter elegantiarum, or maitre des modes. I only offer a few reflections which the subject naturally suggests; and though I leave to abler pens its full and thorough consideration, if by any thing which I may say I should lead any person to eschew slovenliness and to cleave unto that which is tidy, I shall not have lived in vain. Though ( as one of tbe editors of tbe Free Press has sagely remarked) it is now no longer necessary to prove that a man is no horse, and a buzzard no fowl, still, the rampant scepticism or obstinacy of the times requires proofs of the existence of things which one would have thought self- evident, such as the distress- of tbe country, the importance of Dress, or that the end of conservative philosophy abstractedly considered is to carry us back to " The good old times of Adam and Eve !" It may be safely asserted that it is unusual for men to blazon their infamy, and tell every body they meet that they are fools. Notwithstanding the truth of this, as a general assertion, it is no uncommon thing to hear some people ( and, oh, I tremble whilst I write it!) boast, aye actually boast of their disregard of, nay their total inattention to,— the Science of Dress. Far, very far be it from me to argue with the ignor- ance and stupidity of bigoted prejudice. My conso- lation is that such opinions are confined to those whose dictum goes for nothing,— whose abuse of anything is its very best recommendation to sensible people. Yet,. still, I cannot but lament that a number of people should be totally insensible to the glorious effects which dressing upon a system founded upon the eternal principles of proprete and good taste could not fail to produce. The importance of being well and appropriately dressed must be evident to any. reflecting mind. Why does the lover, when he is about to repair to the trysting place, look to the state of his boots and the condition of his gloves with the most rigid circumspection Why does he sedu- lously annihilate every vestige of a pimple which he may have contracted after dinner ? Why does he practise theduty of self- examination,.— a duty so often, and so strenuously inculcnted— by surveying with the most elaborate criticism, the whole of his precious person from head to heel, on tbe look out for a re- bellious hair, and, if there be a wayward fold in his cravat, gently chiding it and correcting its playful wantonness ? Why does the premier wear those white waistcoats which give such an appearance of purity and comely benevolence, and cause him to look as if he had a " clean breast,"— as if guile and trickery were unknown to him,— as if his soul was as spotless as his vest ? Why do the ministers of religion ( with all reverence I mention them) adopt the uniform of black clothes and white ties,— the latter tied as gravely as if the neck they inclosed never swallowed anything more savoury than a bolus and the former looking as if Minerva had directed the hand of the article ( vulgarly called tailor) when he fashioned them ? Why does the physician dress- in spectacles, and the quack- doctor in a multitude of rings, the " dancing- master and teacher of the ad- mired exercises ofthe/ joJe" in a walking- stick, the corn and bunion exterminator not in " purple" but " fine linen," and the lawyer in an umbrella even on the finest day in summer, thereby showing his fore- sight and long- headedness ? The answer to these questions is evident. Because each of these parties sees the importance and utility of so doing ; each knows the effect produced thereby upon tbe public* although the aforesaid public is composed of persons all doing, the very same thing in some shape or other. People professing to be profound ( from which* variety of the genus homo I wish especially to be de- livered) sometimes speak of dress as a comparatively unimportant subject. They are fond of instancing a' few clever men who have despised and sneered- at it. These are exceptions, which only serve to prove the rule that a graceful and correct thinker will dress- properly; whilst he who thinks in a careless slovenly manner will show it in his dress; for the operations, of the mind affect those of the body more than some persons at all dream of. Moreover, we may preach to ourselves the impropriety of forming our likes or dislikes at first sight ; but, how few of us are there who do not conceive a favourable or unfavourable opinion of a man before we have been half an hour in his company ? If a man be dressed like a gentle - man and holds his peace, he is considered uiscreet- and well- bred ; if silent and tawdrily dressed, be is set down for an empty, ignorant coxcomb ; if silent and shabbily dressed, he is thought poor or mean spirited. If tbe well- dressed man talks boldly, or is what some people would call impudent,— it is called the impetuosity of one accustomed to address in- feriors ; whilst if the " flash" man does the same, be is styled a " vulgar puppy ;" and if the poor shabby devil does it, he is all but kicked out. He who knows. how to dress has within much that will be of use to him. If he be ugly, it will serve to modify it, nav render it almost imperceptible ; if he be hand- some, how well a good figure shows in West of England fitting as if the wearer had been born in it T Whilst if the same figure was enveloped iu fustian it would never he noticed. A good figure, as well as a- good face, is a letter of recommendation, if properly arrayed. Besides, as somebody has well said, " the poor man when dressed in his Sunday clothes would- scorn to do actions which at other times he would not care about." A well dressed man has the dignity of his clothes to maintain,, as well as liis natural di gnitv; and he walks the earth with a prouder,. firmer step than he would do were he ragged. " Or- der is heaven's first law," and neatness is order. As long as men are men, so long will this subject merit, and receive much attention, but I. declare I am getting serious, so I had better leave the subject, to return to. it again. D. THE SUNDAY- SCHOOL EXTINCTION BILL. The Bill for the better Education of Children in Factory Districts, brought in by Sir James Graham,, is a more insidious, and in intention a more deadly, attack upon the principles of religious liberty, than the infamous Bill which will give to Lord Sidmouth's name the sort of immortality that will belong to it. The Protestant Dissenters may successfully oppose the Dissent Suppression Bill of 1843, as they did that of 1811, but not without an effort even more resolute and more unanimous, if it be possible; for the suc- cessors of those who, in the Houses of Parliament, enabled them to crush the attempt of Lord Sidraoutb, have in this instance evinced a disposition to prove recreant to the principles of their fathers. We are willing, indeed, to believe that the professed Par- liamentary friends of Religious Liberty may have been deceived by the artful manner in which the intentions of the Government were announced; and that, when they come to examine the clauses of the Bill since brought in, they will express a widely different opinion of the proposed measure. We suspected the smoothness of Sir James Graham, who was ominously conciliatory towards Dissenters ; and we now find that, while " the words of his mouth were smoother than butter, war was in his heart." Another symptom of a preconcerted attempt to take the friends of Religious Liberty by stratagem, appears in tbe tone adopted by the high- church organ, the Post, which feigns objection to the new Education scheme on the score of its too great liberality ! A. perusal of the Bill, however, will convince every attentive reader, that, if it pass without material, modifications, it will be tbe heaviest blow and sorest 118 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. discouragement experienced by Protestant Dissent since the Revolution. With the view, therefore, of fully apprising our readers of the imminent peril to which taeir dearest interests are exposed, we have inserted in our other columns the most objectionable clauses of the Bill ; ( from clause 50 to clause 76 inclusive ;) and, lest thei1' true import should escape those who are unaccustomed to the misty verbiage of Bills in Parliament, we pro- ceed to give an abstract of some of them here.* Every factory school is to be governed by trustees, including a clerical trustee and two other trustees, being churchwardens, or other eligible persons chosen by the clerical trustee ; the choice between several candidates for the clerical trusteeship to be made by the Bishop. Other annual trustees are to be appointed by the Justices at Petty Sessions. Grantors of sites for schools are to be tinstees for life. The clerical trustee is to preside at the monthly meetings of the trustees, with " a second, or casting vote." For the powers of the trustees, see clause 55. The holidays of the schools are not to exceed three weeks per annum, " exclusive of any holydays or any of the usual fasts and festivals of the Church." The appointment of a master and his paid assistants is in all cases to be subject to the approval of the Bishop. Clauses 57— 60, providing for the religious instruction to he given, demand particular attention. They exempt children whose parents object to their attending Divine worship in the schools according to the Church of England service, on Sundays and other holidays, and from being present at the giving of religious instruction, under the orders of the clerical trustee, during two hours on certain weekdays, and three hours on Sunday, and also from attending Church on Sunday ; but they give the clerical trustee unlimited power as to the manner and matter of the religious instruction, specially prohibiting the Inspector from examining and reporting on the subject, except by direction of the Archbishop or Bishop. The trustees of endowed schools may " obtain the benefits " of the proposed Act, but only on complyingwith its stringent conditions in favour of the Church. So, likewise, with regard to schools hereafter erected. After several clauses of regulation, we come to the 72nd, in which an exception as to the power of giving certificates to scholars for employment in factories, is made in favour of National Schools, and British Schools, " provided such school be efficiently con ducted." So, also, as to schools founded by owners of factories ; " but no child who is a member of the Church of England shall be required to attend such school, unless provision be made therein for the in- struction of such child in the Catechism and Liturgy of the Established Church." A similar enactment is proposed on behalf of Roman Catholic Schools, pro- vided they be efficiently conducted; and with them, also, the Inspector is not to interfere so far as religion is concerned. Such are the main clauses of this insidious Bill, by means of which, under the specious pretext of pro- * We cannot afford space for these clauses ; nut we transcribe the 55th, which is particularly referred to, in the above article. LV. And be it enacted, That the trustees shall determine the hours during which the school shall he kept, so, however, that the children employed in factories shall be enabled to attend during a period of three hours after eight and before one of the clock in the day, or during a period of three hours after one of the clock in the ( lay and before seven of the clock in the evening; and shall determine the amount of the school fee, so that nevertheless it shall not exceed threepence a week for any child employed in a factory ; the employment of each class during every hour of the day, the books and apparatus to be used in the said school, the number and times of the holidays which, exclusive of any holidays on any of the usual fasts and festivals of the church, shall not exceed three weeks in each year, except with the consent in writing of an inspector; the appointment, suspension or dismissal of the master or his assistants, their remuneration, and every question relative to the discipline and management of the school, and the dismissal of any child therefrom for misc induct; pravi led always, that the appointment of a master and his paid assistants shall in all cases be subject to the approval of the bishop of the diocese in which the school is situated, as respects the competency of such master and his assistants to give the religious instruc- tion required by the provisions of this Act; provided also, that if any trustee at an ordinary meeting m ike c nnplaint in writing that any master or assistant has, within the space of two mouths previously to such meeting, wilfully neglected to observe or acted con- trary to the regulations of the school in this Act pre- scribed, the trustees shall be specially summoned in the manner hereinbefore set forth to meet within ten ( lays to Consider the complaint, and at such meeting shall decide thereon ; and if any trustee of such school shall not he satisfied with their decision, lie may, within fourteen days thereafter, appeal to the Committee of Council on Education, who mayinquire into the matter of the complaint, and if they shall find that such master or assistant has wilfully neglected to observe or acted contrary to such regulations as aforesaid, they may dismiss such master or assistant from the school by an order under their seal. viding for the moral and religious instruction of Factory children, it is sought to recover the ground which the Established Church, through its own indo- lence, has lost in the manufacturing districts. Throughout the West Riding of Yorkshire and the manufacturing portions of Lancashire, nearly every manufacturer is either a Methodist, an Independent, a Baptist, a Quaker, or a Unitarian. A very small and insignificant minority belong to the Established Church. The consequence is, that the Dissenting influence vastly predominates in that part of the country. This remark applies with peculiar force to the Methodists. In Lancashire and the West of Yorkshire, it is impossible to pass through a single village without observing that it contains a large Methodist Chapel, in connexion with which there is iuvariably a very flourishing Sunday- school. The other denominations have not been behind their Me- thodist brethren, either in the erection of chapels, or in the organization of Sunday- schools ; but certainly it is due to the Methodists to acknowledge, that they have given a decided colour to the moral landscape in the manufacturing districts. Now, it is the direct tendency of the clauses in this Bill which provide for religious instruction, to break up and ultimately ex- tinguish every Sunday- school, excepting the very few that have been established in the larger towns by the new- born zeal of the Established Clergy. The ex emptions in favour of children whose parents object to religious instruction according to the Church of England, appear plausible on paper ; but every one knows that they would be perfectly inoperative in practice. So unlimited and uncontrolled is the power to be given to the clerical trustee, that every con- ceivable barrier will be interposed in the way of effec- tive objection. Proof of parental membership in Methodist or other Dissenting Churches will be rigorously exacted as the indispensable condition of valid objection; and, where the validity of the ob- jection cannot possibly be denied, a mark will be set upon the family in which it arises, and certificates withheld from the children belonging to it. National Schools will be found exclusively efficient, and British Schools will be pronounced inefficient. But, what is worst of all, that noble army of Sunday- school teachers which the Dissenters and Methodists of Yorkshire and Lancashire have organized, will be forced to disband itself, through the stealthy with- drawment of the tens of thousands of children now under their instruction. Instead of being instructed in the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make them wise unto salvation, the rising generation will be drilled in Puseyite obeisances, and made to stammer through the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer; and, in another generation, the religion of the manufacturing districts, now a substance, a matter of conviction, feeling, and prac- tical force, will he reduced to a thing of forms, and ceremonies, and delusive superstitions. We will not believe, however, that the men of Yorkshire and Lancashire will submit to wear the iron yoke of Puseyism at the bidding of the Govern- ment. We are sure that the Dissenting manufacturers, although sucked almost heart- dry by the vampire of Monopoly, are not yet so utterly spiritless as to en- dure it, that any clerical trustee shall dictate to them what master they shall employ for the education of their work- children, and what shall be the terms on which such children shall be suffered to enter into their employment. The obligation to provide for the instruction of such children, they have ever been ready to acknowledge. They are not the class of factory- owners on whom it has been found necessary to make this compulsory, in order to secure its fulfil- ment; and we are confident, therefore, that they will boldly assert for themselves the right of choosing the masters and religious instructors for the schools which they will have to provide. But it is on Minis- ters, Churches, and Sunday- school Teachers, that we mainlyrcly for effective opposition to this Jesuitical Bill. Will the Methodists allow their noble Sunday, schools to be swept away before their eyes ? Will they tamely submit to this barefaccd attempt torfrus- trate at a blow the grand scheme of Week- day Edu- cation, which they have so long and so anxiously considered, and which they were at lenerth bringing into active operation, when startled bv the appearance of this attempt, out- Sidmouthing Sidmouth, to defeat the plans of their wide- reaching benevolence ? Will any class of Protestant Dissenters, Methodist or Congregational, allow a single week to pass without protesting in a voice of thunder against a project studiously designed to cut up their dearest interests by the roots, and to offer them, bound hand and foot, a splendid holocaust to the insatiable ambition of the State- paid priesthood ? If, in less than a month from this day, the table of the House of Commons do not absolutely groan under a load of Petitions against this infamous Bill, every sect of Protestant Dissenters will be contemptuously trampled under foot by Sir James Graham's corps of clerical trustees ; anil they will richly merit a degradation so profound. But we anticipate no such humiliating spectacle. Our friends have already taken the alarm, and begun to move. This Bill is but the first— only the thin end of the wedge ; but, once inserted, it will be driven home. Let us show the Home Secretary, then, that with all his cunning, he has this time overshot his mark, and that his very clever attempt to recover the populous districts of the country to the domination of the State- Church, will provoke a re- action, the waves of which will float Nonconformity into many a snug ecclesiastical retreat, little prepared for such a visitation.— Patriot. POETRY. SELECTED. THE FIRST. BY FRANCES BROWNE. ( From, the Keepsake for 1843, edited by Lady Blessington. J* The first, the first I— oh! nought like it Our after years can bring, For summer hath no flower so sweet As those of early spring. The earliest storm that strips the tree Still wildest seems and worst; Whate'er hath been again may be, But never as at first:-— For many a bitter blast may blow OJer life's uncertain wave, And many a thorny thicket grow Between us and the grave j But darker still the spot appears Where thunder clouds have burst Upon our green, unblighted years- No grief is like the first! Our first- born joy,— perchance't was vain £ Yet, that brief lightning o'er, The heart, indeed, may hope again, But can rejoice no more. Life hath no glory to bestow Like it— unfallen, uncursed: There may be many an after glow, But nothing like the first! The rays of hope may light us on Through manhood's toil and strife, But never can they shine as shone The morning stars of life; Though bright as summer s rosy wreath* Though long and fondly nursed, Yet still they want the fearless faith Of those that bless'd the first. Its first lore deep in memory The heart for ever bears; For that was early given, and free,—. Life's wheat without the tares. It may be death hath buried deep, It may be fate hath cursed ; But yet no later love can keep The greenness of the first. And thus, whate'er our onward way, The lights or shadows cast Upon the dawning of our day Are with us to the last. But, ah ! the morning breaks no more On us, as once it burst, For future springs can ne'er restore The freshness of the first. * Note.— It is impossible for the editor to permit these; beautiful verse* to pass from under her hand, without add- ing a word or two, which must give them yet additional in- terest. The authoress is her countrywoman, resident in a small town in a remote part of Ireland; one of a numerous, family of humble fortune; and, farther, suffering under the heavy infliction of total loss of sight. Under circumstances like these, the genius which creates, and the energy which provides self- cultivation, surely acquires a double value especially when accomplished, as in the case of the writer,, by a modest and unrepining spirit. THE VALE OF LUNE.— Perhaps no portion of " Merrie Englande" is less know n, or more beautiful,, than that; tract of land extending for thirty miles north of the palatine town of Lancaster, known by the name of Lunesdale, or the Vale of Lun*. Magni • ficent, but not sublime ; mountainous, but not sterile pastoral, but not tame ; we know of no district that can vie with it in beauty of landscape, or variety of detail. Its charming straths, its wooded eminences,, its romantic glades, its rocky dells, but, above all, its beautiful river, clear i. s crystal— now a mountain stream, rushing and foaming over crag and through crevice, then a reach of still water, like a summer lake all these form a succession of delightful objects upon which the eye rests with never- fading pleasure* It has its castle, too, fpmed in song and story; its ancient halls crumbling into dust, the scenes of innu- merable legends ; its remains of British and Roman antiquities, the delight of the antiquary, and the wonder of the ignorant; and its guardian lulls con- tain, amongst their lonely recesses, awful caverns and tremendous chasms, which, even in the present, age of philosophical enlightenment, are peopled by beings of more than mortal mould, whom the dwel- lers in the mountains as firmly believe in as in Divine revelation.— IL II, Davis, in Bentley's Miscellany* 4 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. THE FREE PRESS. EDUCATION OF FACTORY CHILDREN. We entreat the careful attention of our readers to an article which we have extracted from the Patriot, and which exposes, in a very lucid and able manner, the odious character of Ihe educational clauses in the New Factory Bill, which has been introduced into the House of Commons by Sir James Graham. The notorious measure by which Lord Sidmouth, in 1811, aimed a deadly blow at the rights and privileges of dissenters, was defeated, even in the House of Lords, where it originated, in consequence of the immense number of petitions against it that poured in from all parts of the country. About ten years afterwards, ( in 1820 or 1821 we forget which) when the celebrated Henry Brougham,—- he was not the Lord Brougham of the present day, but a very different sort of man,— laid before the House of Commons a bill for the general education of the people, the provisions of that measure gave so much power to the clergy of the established church, that the dissenters took the alarm, exerted themselves vigorously, and obtained the abandonment of the Bill. Sir James Graham's educational scheme pro- posed to be applied to children working in factories, is " much of a muchness" with Brougham's plan. A glance at the details, as sketched in the article to which we have re- ferred, will convince our readers that it is nothing more nor less than an unfair and un- righteous attempt to give to the clergy of the Church of England an undue and unjust pre- dominance, at the expense of the dissenters, and to the manifold injury of the numerous schools which the different denominations have long and efficiently supported, on the voluntary principle. In our opinion, these clauses are a departure from the spirit of the Toleration Act, a viola- tion of the rights of conscience, and an abandonment of the sound and judicious principles of righteous and equitable legislation As regards our own locality, itis not necessary to call upon the various bodies of nonconformists to arouse themselves. They are up, and doing, The Wesleyans, who do not always co- operate with the other denominations, in their struggles for religious liberty,— the Wesleyans, we rejoice to see, are on the alert. Their Sunday Schools are as much iu danger as those of the Independents and Baptists. Hitherto they have, in many instances, leaned towards the church and rather frowned upon, than favoured, the exertions of other sections of noncoulormiststs but the rapid strides of Puseyism have aroused the disciples of Wesley, and now they begin to lake alarm at the preposterous assumptions of the clergy and the anti- scriptural doctrines of the Tractarians. Sir James Graham's Rill will furnish them with another proof of the hollow- ness of the church's friendship for them ; and we are to glad to see that they are fullv awake to the whole bearing of that insidious measure. very classes of the fair means of obtaining an honest livelihood by the labour ^ of their hands. To hear men who supportl the Corn I, Law, bawling out about the sufferings, privations, and ignorance of the children employed in factories, is enough to make a dead man shudder in his grave. What care they, in truth and in reality, for the poor factory children ? If their sympathy were genuine, they would not cripple trade anil fetter industry, as they do. Neither would thej confine their exertions to a single class. How comes it that factory children are more ignorant and more depraved than other children ? Are the children in the agricultural districts so superior in morals, and in instruction, general and religious, as to need no legislative provision for them ? By no means. In every point of view,— in morals, in general information, aud more especially in spiritual and scriptural knowledge, the children in the manufacturing districts are far beyond those in the agricultural counties. This is a fact established beyond contradiction. Why, then, are legislative measures pro posed for factory children only ? Obviously, for two reasons. One, but not the most im- portant, is, that factory children, being already collected in masses, are more easily legislated for,— are more within the power of" the law than the children of the agriculturists or of other classes of the community. The other reason is, the hatred which the Tory aristocracy generally bear to the manufacturing interest, induces them to seize every opportunity they have of annoying and injuring those connected with it. The aristocracy of rank is jealous of the aristocracy of wealth which has sprung up from the extension of our trade ; and desires to keep it down by every means within its power. The language used, at times, by the Quarterly Review, the Morning Post, and the Standard, affords evidenee of this feeling ; and it is to this that we mainly attribute such piecemeal and pettifogging legislation as that which has been applied to factories, coal mines, & c. There are many, we know, who attribute this legislation to motives of humanity. We do not; nor can we think ourselves warranted in doing so, as long as these spurious philanthro- pists maintain that most odious of all monopolies, the tax upon bread. Let them remove that, and we may, but not until then, consider their claims to a character for humanity and generosity. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A tiling; of Shreds and Patches." FEARGUS O'CONNOR'S CHALLENGE. Feargus O'Connor's challenge to the Anti- Corn- Law League, to a public discussion on the Corn Laws, having been posted on the walls of our town, we could not help smiling at the cool impudence of the fellow. In July last, Feargus had a discussion, one evening, in the Odd Fellows' Hall, in this town, with Mr. Acland, one of the Lecturers of the League; and Mr. Acland, in his closing speech, openly offered to continue the discussion, at any time and place Feargus might appoint, except one or two evenings for which Mr. A. had already made engagements. To that public challenge, Fear- gus made no reply ; and, in his closing speech, took no notice of that challenge. And now the varlet has the audacity to placard the walls of Halifax with a challenge to the League! EDUCATION. One of the most disgusting features of modern legislation is, in our opinion, that mock philan- thropy which professes so much sympathy for the physical, mental, and moral condition of the children of the working classes ; while, by its hateful and iniquitous restrictions upon com- merce and tax upon bread, it deprives those ANCIENT WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES IN MALTA AND PORTUGAL.— Diodorus Siculns, who wrote the reign of Augustus Cesar, states that, in the i « le of Melita, now Malta, there abounded artificers, who made various articles of merchandise, especially very fine cloth. This would probably be about the year 20 or 21 of the Christian era. Strabo, who died in the year 35, writing respecting Turtetania, a pro- vince or district of Lusitania, now Portugal, says, chat cloths were formerly exported from that country ; but that now ( probably about the year 30 to 34) they had established a nobler woollen manufacture of most excellent beauty, such as that of the Coraxi ( a people of Asia), from whence rams were brought for breed, at the price of a talent each, or about .£ 100 sterling. THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.— DR. BLACK. » . DR. BKOWN.— Dr. Black, of the Barony parish, was solicited by Dr. Brown, of St. John's, to subscribe the convocation resolutions, pledging himself to leave the church unless the demands contained in these resolutions were complied with by the government. The reply of Dr. Black was characteristic of his facetious but honest disposition. It was to this effect;—" Na, na, Dr. Brown, if you had waited so long as I did to get in, you would not be so anxious to get out. I subscribe no such resolutions." Those amusements are the best in which the mind sympathises with the body, and will accompany it in all itffncts and movements, teaching and being taught. This sympathy may be blunted by age and acquired habits, but it never entirely quits man, and it is the great characteristic of childhood.— B. H. READERS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS IN GKRMANY —- Notwithstanding the large libraries to be found in the large cities and university towns of German)-, and tbe liberality with which they are opened to tin public use ; yet in other towns the subscription li- braries are generally very inferior to what we have now in our provincial towns, and therefore tbe fa- cilities for substantial reading amongst the mass of citizens are less. This, amongst the lesser trades- men and mechanics, applies with still greater force. The artisan has his library in most English towns, and now makes great use of it. He reads and dis- cusses every point of politics, and acquires thereby a vivacity and activity of mind very striking when compared with his peer in other countries, Thus, in the burgher class of Germany, though we should perhaps find more who would read Schiller and Goethe, than of the same class in England who would read Milton and Shakespeare; yet, in the Englishman, with less intellectuality, of taste, a far greater mass of political knowledge and vigorous adaptability of mind exists. A survey of the libraries from which ibe shop- keeping class in England and in Germany derive their respective books, would show a curious contrast. The Englishman of this class has evinced a growing disposition to become a member of a subscription library, even if it were only of the artisan's library. In either of these he reads more and more of travels, of history, of the best fictions, and worksof a miscellaneous character ; and he has, of late years, bought largely of the very cheap reprints of our standard authors, which have been so extensively circulated. Here, the lower we go, the wider becomes the difference between the spread of general information in the two countries. In both, the common circulating library is, to use a country phrase, pretty much of a muchness. It abounds with the worst of trash ; but while to the lower class of tradesmen and artisans in England the subscription libraries furnish a laVge and rational resource, in German towns the circulating library is too much left to be the resource of the lower burgher and me- chanic. And what a world of wild and horrific matter is that! With a thin sprinkling of the best authors, Sehiller, Goethe, Richter, Herder, & c. what bombas- tic and horror- breathing titles meet us on all sides !— Howitt's Germany. Michael Angelo used to say that painting should be practised only by gentlemen ; and he would not receive as pupils any young persons who were not nobly born, or who had not been liberally educated. PROMOTION EXTRAORDINARY. — Edward, Lord Ellenborongh, to the rank and dignity of a Viscount of the United Empire, by the style and title of Viscount Gates, of Somanuth, in the province of Guzerat. Music— Euler, in his " New Theory of Music," published in 1739, maintained " that all tbe pleasure of harmony arises from the love of order in man ; in consequence of which, all the agreeable sensations excited by hearing fine music, come from the percep- tion of the relations the different sounds have to each other, as well with regard to the duration of their succession, as with regard to the frequency of the vibrations of the air which produces them." This is surely very fantastic. How can any species of plea- sure be derived from causes which are not felt as operating to produce it ? THE WINE TRADE.— By the circular of a London wine broker, it appears that the imports of wine for 1842 ( Cape and French excluded) show a decrease of 505,749 gallons. The home consumption, an ex- traordinary decrease of 1,320,855 callons ; the export a further serious derease of 420,333 gallons ; making the extent of pressure on the wine trade for the year 1842, as compared with 1841, of 1,741,188 gallons; but, as compared with 1840, a still greater by 874,181 ; making a still more serious total decrease of 2,615,369. SAXON GLEES AND BALLADS.— Greatly did the Anglo- Saxons delight in rhythm and harmony. The harp was handed round at their festivals ; and he who could not join in the ylee ( this word is pure Anglo- Saxon) was considered as unfit for respectable com- pany. Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, could find no mode of commanding tbe attention of his townsmen so efficacious, as that of standing on the bridge, and singing a ballad, which he had composed; and it may lie interesting to add, that we owe this anecdote to King Alfred himself, who preserved it in his hand- book or manual.— Palsgrave's History of the Anglo- Saxons. DISPOSAL OF PARLIAMENTARY GRANT FOR EDUCATION.— Of the sum entrusted to the committee of council, during the last year, £ 27,655 were assigned to the various applicants, and accepted by them, chiefly in aid of buildings which they proposed to erect. Of this sum, £ 150 went to a Roman catholic school; £ 1,170, to schools connected with the British and Foreitrn Society ; £ 980, to schools Scotland ; and £ 25,555, to schools connected with the Church of England. The large proportion of the total sum assigned, which thus appears to have been placed at the disposal of the church, is a proof of the exertions now in progress among her mem » bers in this direction, and of the large amount of local contributions ( much greater than tbe sum assigned from the public grant) which has been called forth towards the erection of new buildings for school purposes.— Journal of the Statistical Society. TF. XTILE MANUFACTURES OF SWEDEN.— The fab- rication of woollen, of cotton, and linen cloths, has experienced great extension, inasmuch as at the pe- riod before- mentioned ( 1830) the respectivequantities manufactured were, 424,192 ells of woollen, and 199,259 ells of linen and cotton stuffs ; now 725,326 ells are made of the former, and 1,296,822 ells of the latter ; and if to these quantities, the handicraft of the country people for their own use be brought into the calculation, it will be found that in the year 1834, no less than 4,683,391 ells of stuff were produced. The import of raw cotton was 319,3281ns in 1830; in 1840, 1,853,384. The manufacture of yarn, which in 1821 did not exceed 64,6671b, had increased in 1840 to 1,407,2681b. The import of cotton yarn, though it, was forbidden in November, 1825, at which time the quantity brought in was 171,6671b, has, notwith- standing the prohibition, greatly increased within the last ten years; indeed the quantity of all sorts im- ported is estimated to amount to 1,170,0651b ; which added to the native manufactures, would show that this branch of industry had increased two- and- twenty fold.— Fisher's Colonial Magazine. HALIFAX :— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General Printing Office of II. Martin, Upper George Yard.