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it , do not deny " the fact . " Here is a mass of evidence , which , if it could be thrown back somo ~ eighteen hundred years , would indeed surpass anything of the same kind ever pretended to be possessed by the Christian Church . As a matter of " historical evidence , " which of the miracles rivals it in precision and authenticity ? Moreover , observe this : Eose Tamisier did not content herself with performing the miracle in the presence of eredulous people , and then appealing to their testimony ; she . repeated the miracle on being desired , and did so in presence of a " Commission of Inquiry , " sent by Government for the express purpose of ascertaining the truth . Yet hear the sequel : —
" The credit of unravelling this most mysterious affair of the bleeding Christ is due to the intelligence and assiduity of M . Eugene Colignon , chemist ot Apt , who after wasting much time and labour in fruitless researches , at length succeeded in discovering that human blood , disgorged by a leech , having lost its fibrine , was capable of serving the purpose of Rose Tamisier , and might be made to penetrate a painting , and then issue forth in small globules or drops , according to tlie quantity employed , and which not only does not coagulate for many hours , but continues to flow from the face of the painting , however frequently it may have been wiped off while a drop remains .
" In short , the miracle of the bleeding Christ was . imitated so successfully by this gentleman in presence of the public authorities , and a large number of the most eminent scientific men of the country , that not a doubt could remain in the mind of the most devoted believer in the miraculous powers of our heroine , that she was an impostor , particularly when it was proved that she invariably insisted on being allowed to pass some time in solitary prayer in the chapel , previous to performing the miracle , when no doubt she took care to saturate those portions of the painting necessary for her purpose with the sanguinous fluid . " The cheat having once become generally known , such a storm of public
indignation was raised in the country as compelled the authorities to have the impostor arrested and tried as such at Carpentras , the chief town of the district ; but here the jury , we presume , influenced in their decision by a superior power , declared themselves incompetent to pronounce a verdict . This made bad worse , and the authorities , fearing some outburst of popular discontent , the affair was transferred to the assizes at Nismes , where about the middle of November , 1851 , after a long and patient investigation , aided by the laborious efforts of counsel on both sides , the saint was pronounced guilty of escroquerie et outrage a la morale publique et religieuse , and condemned to six months' imprisonment , with a fine of five hundred francs and costs . "
It is unnecessary for us to comment on such a denouement and its suggestions . Although religion occupies a foremost place in this Tour of Inquiry there ate other topics touched on by Mr . Spencer , sometimes with decided effect , as in the chapter concerning the rag-gatherers of Paris , which is very curious . TVe shall borrow for our " Notes and Extracts" a few passages , and , with this brief notice , quit the work .
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THE DORP AND THE VELD . The Dorp and the Veld ; or , Six Months in JSFalal . Jiy Charles Barter , Esq ., B . C . L ., Fellow of New College , Oxford . W . S . Ovr and Co . Mr . Barter , who intersperses In 3 rapid notes with Greek , and points a small joke by a quotation front the Agamemnon , has something more than a " classical education , " to show as titles to a hearing upon the subject of our African colonies . He has long been a traveller and a colonist ; lie has farmed and lumbered in Now Brunswick , traversed Canada from east to west , and is familiar with America as a cockney is with Greenwich ; and lie looks at Natal witli eyes that can see deeper than most . The little volume wherein he has recorded his experience of the Dorj ) and the Veld—village life and agricultural life— -will be acceptable to most readers , and very acceptable to emigrants . lie has " strong views , " and expresses them without equivocation . He " goes in" for the extirpation of the Kafir . But we will not look at those chapters of his work ; there is plenty of matter to extract , both of use and amusement .
HINT TO KMKJ RANTS . " I mean that of talcing out curgocs of goods far beyond those needed for their own use , with the ideu of increasing their little capital by their immediate sale al , a considerable profit . 1 need scarcely say that their expectations are seldom , if ever , realized . There is a glut of such imports in the market ; and the ( 'migrant , finding his supposed treasure little more than 1111 incumhrnncc , is driven to the alternative of eitherVeiling oil" at once , at u very great sacrifice , or of setting up a store , and entering into a ruinous competition with the already established tradesman , without , oven tho prospect of success to justify the undertaking .
" The reader will conceive , the folly of this practice when I mention that I have seen drills , scarifiers , and other costly implements totally unsuited to a new soil , lying on the beach where they have been lauded , the owners being unwilling to incur tho expense or trouble of" removing them , and that I have known some of Kansome ' s best ploughs sold for " M .. ( Jims and rifles may generally be bought far cheaper than in Kngland . One of our passengers had brought our , ii Scotch cart , which he fold me bad cost him 115 / ., before it , arrived in Natal , and lie was glad to part with it at a much less price , for though handy things on a farm , they nrc not suitable for long journeys , and do not supersede the necessity of buying a wagon . " A S 1 , 1 OUT M 1 STAKK .
" He had fallen in with a herd of quaggai- ' , and was in full pursuit of thorn , when , crossing a valley , ho observed four large animals at , some distance drinking at w pool . Judging them from their size ; to bo elands { lloxcluphns ovens ) , the largos ! and most esteemed of the ante-lope tribe , ho immediately abandoned the vile game , and galloped towards them , upon which they retreated slowly up the htiU , three in advance , and the fourth , which be judged to bo the male , bringing up the reur . Uarkloy ' had already marked this one for his own , and was now within two hundred yards of his stern , when tho Hying party turned slowly round , and to his surprise and consternation , ho discovered ho had been chasing a lion and three lionesses ! . " Virgil tells us of u youthful hero who , while enjoying the puny sport ot staghunting , longed to new n tawny lion approach ; but ovouAaciiniiw might huvo been
taken aback had he found himself unexpectedly brought face to face with four ; and it was no disparagement to my friend ' s courage to say that he felt , as he candidly confessed , anything but comfortable . He was armed only with a single-barrelled rifle , and his horse , old Schutkraal , was in no plight for a race with the king of beasts , which can outstrip the swiftest antelope . "In this emergency , however , his presence of mind did not forsake him , and knowing that to show any symptom of fear , would increase the danger of his position , he pulled short up , and sat motionless , with his eye fixed upon his formidable
adv . " The three females dropped quietly upon their haunches , gravely returning stare for stare ; while the old < mannetje' the Dutch familiarly call him , a splendid fellow , with a long black mane , and his sides literally shaking with fat , stood a little in front , ever and anon whisking his tail over his back , but made no movement in advance . Barkley , on his part , had no idea of commencing hostilities , and when this mute interview had lasted some minutes , he turned his horse ' s ¦ head round , and rode slowly away . No motion was made in pursuit , and as long as the spot was in sight , he could distinguish the four figures , to all appearance remaining precisely in the same position in which he had left them . "
HOW THEY MILK THE COWS . " The dairy was a sad failure , as it is wherever the cows are . left to the management of Kafirs . Calves are seldom weaned in Natal till they are at least a year old , and it is no uncommon sight to see a cow g iving suck to an animal quite as large as herself . The milking process is quite a savage affair . The cow is hunted up into a corner of the kraal , and made fast by the horns to one of the posts , as if for slaughter ; her hind legs are then tied together , that the operation may be rendered as disagreeable as possible ; the calf is next permitted to take a draught , when he is pulled aside , and the remainder of the milk is yielded per force into the pail . It is the business of the Kafir to prevent the calves from anticipating this
hasty meal by a fuller and more leisurely one , which they will assuredly do , if they can get the opportunity ; and , when the cattle are let out in the morning to pasture , the calves are always driven in an opposite direction to that which is taken by the rest of the herd ; but , notwithstanding this precaution , it is a frequent complaint that they have taken all the milk , and that there is none for tea . Nor is this the only inconvenience t hat results from intrusting the matter to Kafir management . A cow that has been accustomed to native milking will seldom allow a white man to touch her ; still less will she yield her milk to his manipulations ; so that , if , as frequently happens , the Kafirs should take it into their heads to leave the farm , the whole business of the dairy is at a stand-still . "
Here we have Mr . Barter ' s answer to the important question , DOES FARMING PAT ? " I will answer first in the words of a Dutch gentleman , —a twelve years' resident in Natal , —whose opinion is at all events disinterested , and whose well-known talents and enterprize give weight to his judgment . Of course , he takes matters as they have hitherto been , without making allowance for the improvements which may be introduced , or the discoveries which may be made , for the opening of fresh resources , or fresh markets , or any other effects of an extensive emigration from England . ' Agricultural farming by itself , ' said he , ' will not pay hi any part of Africa ; and if by stock-breeding a man can live and bring up a family comfortably , it is as much as he can expect . No African farmer can aflbrd to pay high wages , i . e ., to employ white men as labourers , and native labour , since the abolition or slaves , is so uncertain , and so little to be relied upon , that it can scarcely be taken into consideration at all / Now , this verdict , although it must be received cum
grano , still contains sufficient truth to form a fair starting-point for our inquiries . " It has been the fashion with those who have promoted emigration to Natal , to insist much in their guide-books and prospectuses , on the fact that , throughout the greater part of the country , no clearing is required to prepare the soil for the seed , but that the settler , on arriving at his location , can at once commence ploughing without any of the previous labour or expense which be must incur in an American forest . All counterbalancing difficulties are passed over in silence , and the reader is left to infer that in other respects there is at least an equality of advantages , and that the Natal emigrant is , at first starting , so much in advance ; of his Canadian brother . If the soil of Natal were a rich mass of soft vegetable mould , so easily worked as to need no other preparation than that of a light harrow /' or the reception of the first seed ; if its natural qualities were such as to enable it , to bear the
same crop year after year without artificial aid ; if , in short , it resembled an Illinois prairie , the comparison would then indeed be altogether in its favour . Hut since , on the contrary , its surface , when not composed of sand , is so completely baketl as to ofler a strong resistance to plough or spade , since , at least , it is but of an average degree of fertility , by no means independent of manure , still less of irrigation , for which moreover the facilities are frequently wanting , the fact of its being , as some of the advertisements triumphantly aHirin , ' for miles uncovered by a bush , ' is not after all so great , a matter of congratulation ; and I shrewdly suspect , that if accounts were compared after the first harvest , the crop taken from among the stumps of a Canadian forest , would go farther towards defraying the expenses of clearing than the produce of the unencumbered ground of Natal towards repaying the necessary outlay of ploughing , digging a . water-course , tve .
" I have said quite enough to prove that unless in peculiarly favoured situations , or in the immediate neighbourhood of a town , a system of small allotments , surli as twenty , fifty , or even a , hundred acres , is a manifest absurdity , and therefore that , for labourers without capital Natal does not , oiler an advantageous prospect ; . Agriculture must , be eombim-d with stock farming , not only for the said ; of llio manure , hut also for the simple reason that it cannot support itself alone . Six thousand acres of land havo hitherto been considered necessary to . support mi iindcrtakinir of this double character . Hut we will suppose that one thousand might
be sufficient , and that ; on every estate ) of ( hat size twenty acres of" irrigable land might be found , which is rather above than below the mark , still a capital of at least , dOM . would be required for commencing operations with any hope ; of success . With thin sum in bin pocket , mul a well-selected lot , ( for it is not every farm in Natal that is high and healthy enough for cattle ) , the steady , industrious settler who devotes his time entirely to his business , goes rarely to the town , and can do n fair day ' s work himself , will run little risk of failure , though not , to him , nor even to a larger capitalist , can I hold out the hope of making anything like a fortune by these pursuits . " The other extracts we had marked , muwl be reserved for occasional uho among JVolvs and JUxtracts .
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January 15 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 67
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1853, page 67, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1969/page/19/
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