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, *-— i». aa- ; THE NORTHERN STAR. 3
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KEEP IN STEP! • Those who wohldwaik^ther...
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iicmetos
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IWynville; or, Clubs and Coteries: a Nov...
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Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. I, ...
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BECEITED. The Master Engineers and their...
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ASTLEY'S. A grand historic and equestria...
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Disasters oi? tub French Arm? iff Aigier...
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ITatittitft
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A Blush 18 Ihe complexion of virtue. Glo...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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, *-— I». Aa- ; The Northern Star. 3
, * - — i » . aa- ; THE NORTHERN STAR . 3
$Oett£.
_$ _oett £ .
Keep In Step! • Those Who Wohldwaik^Ther...
KEEP IN STEP ! Those who wohldwaik _^ ther , mustkeepItt step . ' _Ayeithe world keeps moving forward , Wan army marching by H- » r yon not its heavy footfall That resonndetn to the shy ? Some bold -p ints _^ n e . b _^ nf-Sonts of sweetness chant the _song—IAraof energy and fenrour Make tbe timid-hearted strong _, like brave soldiers , we march forward ; If tou linger , or turn back , Ton must look to get a jostling "While von stand npon tbe track . Keep in step !
My good neighbour . Master Standstill , Gazes on it as it goes , Not qnitesnre bnt he is dreaming In his afternoon ' s repose . " "Nothing good , " he says , " can issue From thu endless' moving on ;' Ancient laws and institutions Are decaying , or aie gone . We are rnsbing on to ruin With our mad , new-fangled way . " "While he speaks , a thonsand voices , As the heart of one man , say , " _Eeepmstep' * * '
Gentle neighbour , will you join ns ? Or return to " good old ways ? " Take again the fig-leaf apron Of old Adam ' s ancient days : Or become a hardy Briton—Heard the lion in his lair , And He down in dainty -lumber , _Wrapp'd in skin of shaggy bear-Bear the bnt amid the forest , Skim the w _ vein lightcanoe ? _Ahllsee you do not like it : Then , if these " old ways" won't do Keep in step !
Be assured , good Master Standstill * All-wise Providence designed Aspiration and Progression * For the yearning human mind ; Generations left their blessings In the -relics of their skill , Generations yet are longing For a greater glory still ; And the shades of our forefathers Are not jealons of onr deed—We bnt follow where they beckon , We but go where they do lead ! Keep in step ! One detachment of our army May encamp npon tbe hill , Whileanother in the valley ,
May enjoy " its own sweet will ;' Ibis may answer to one watchword , That , may echo to another ; Bnt in unity and concord , They discern that each is brother . Breast to breast they ' re inarching onward , In a good , now peaceful way , _Yon'll be jostled if you hinder , So don ' t offer let or stay-Keep in step !
Iicmetos
_iicmetos
Iwynville; Or, Clubs And Coteries: A Nov...
IWynville ; or , Clubs and Coteries : a Novel . By the Author of * The Age of Pitt and Fox . ' 3 vols . London : Skeet . [ The hero of this autobiographical novel has evidently I been created for the express purpose of recording the ( observations of the author himself on public men , I town life , Parliament , and society . The story is snb-! _gidary to this object , and must not therefore be critii cised too severely ; it is enough , to say that it naturally _: answers the end . The merit of the hook does not lie so much in its plot as in the real knowledge evineed by the writer ; both of the men and the society he writes about , and the story itself , no doubt presents an accurate sketch of the temptations which besets young aspirants to public or professional life .
The hero of the book is a younger son of an old "Whig family , provided for sufficiently by an uncle who brings him up . The bar is his profession , politics itis pursuit ; he is brought into Parliament through the opinion formed of his abilities by Lord John Rowland ( Russell ) and the interest of the Duke of Fleet wood ( Bedford ) . Tbe period over which the actual story extends begins with the latter days of the Eegency and ends with the time of the first Reform Ministry . The leading Bubjects of the tale are "W _ynville ' s experience at the Temple as a law-student , in political circles as a listener and talker , in Parliament as a rising speaker ; and his attachment to Lady Jane Mowbray , whom he finally marries .
As * -e have intimated , however , the author is much more occupied with ' Clubs and Coteries' than his hero ; and the names of the characters described are 30 thinly Teiled , that he might almost aB well have taken them at once from tlie 'Court Guide . * Remembering the recent expulsion of Lord Palmerston from office by Lord John Russell , and his return of the compliment by unseating the whole of his quondam colleagues , our readers will feel interested by the following sketch of the ex-Foreign Secretary , attrib jted to the late Premier : —
Amongst the pupils of Mr . Canning who were inclined to _support reform , Viscount Pallarston was . in some respects the most remarkable , from his union of many qualities not often fonnd together . He possessed many accomplishments , snabling him to fill witb effect a leading department of affairs . Bis reputation with the country in those days was not so high as it deserved , for in the early part of his career he sacrificed too much to social enjoyment , being proficient in those graceful pursuits which impart more polish to the person than power to tbe will . But his nature was too masculine to sink beneath the flowery bondage of fashionable life , and applying to affairs he took them for his pastime . Popular with both sides of the House of
Campions , bold without bitterness , at once affable and vaunting in his port , he could alternately conciliate or command as _zxigeney required . With the advantages of official expe-Tience , he had also some of the main qualities requisite for power . Like more than one of his contemporaries , he had -acquired from Dngald Stewart ' s teaching a certain largeness of thought , enabling him to look beyond precedents on the oScial file , and _making him understand and sometimes sympathise with those bt-nd social impulses which . iurst beyond traditional routine . As fluent in the cant of diplomacy as if he had lisped it from his cradle , he could as a dsbater sail near the wind without committing himself to any tad , like one bred in the old Pittite school . His
secretarial aptitude was undoubted , for ho had been _aannected all his life with ofiice—having served under Portland , Perceval , Liverpool , Canning , and Wellington , —all being ministers of transitional Toryism . He hid as much liveliness of _fawy _« j i _ _requisite for deeo-Mtin » a parliamentary harangue . He could sparkle with _waeity in a style that scintillated , but never flashed *** 'tb tho firo of genius , and was conversant with all "he arts of compilation and selection necesasary for _parliamentary speaking . Then , his fine presence , his buoyant _ii ! mal
' - spirit ? , with his undoubted manliness , excellently sustained him before a popular assembly like the Commons . The wear and tear of public life , the pangs of ambition , the toil of competitorship , never soared him into moroseness , or parched him into a mere thing of formula , like a hardened hunter after power . Thongh his thinking was never original or profound he could spice his commonplaces with so much piquancy , and dress up parliamentary platitudes with so much sounding rhetoric , and then rattle -iff his concerted pieces with such swashing spirit tbat he * * ** ou _! d deceive political novices into the idea tbat he was a
Sennas' ! Wanting a high moral purpose , he was only a desultory patriot , and was more calculated to attain present notoriety than posthumous renown . On the whole he was -i man fitter to head a faction than rule a nation ; for though aided by opportunities and the providence of events _~ e might make or break ministries , he was not of an order - > f spirits that overwhelm and establish empires . If trouble * _somp . tho policy of the sovereign to such a man would be * . a- » , _ 4 t __ fc 5 the Pallarston family motto being read con . Tersely as «• Franginon Flecti" ; for It is atestimony to the moral order of nature , that it is more easy to crush than to cajole the statesman too enamoured of—himself ! Suoh a man always wants the sympathies of others to make him lormidablem his fall .
Here is a companion picture of Lord John Row--aud ( Russell ) , in which the author shows a favourawe leaning to his subject : — _* _Z ? ? sionato meet lard Jobn Rowland , as he was _, reat ! ycried up m the coteries ; and the circumstances of ha ,, * - " *! , blUtles a -d bis connexion with an illustrious wh _£ _ - , r _^ erage , gave his opinions a consequence _S , v Uldnc _ er lme _Niched to them except for his 2 _«* ous advantage of high birth and a great historic a dv , h i _YT at t . nat _, tune been generally looked upon as _» pS _^ fS r „ f _-i _ * H 0 Meof Comn , ons * _S"eraI < tf ___?_* _^ fiUle _? move tt 0 house ff * ° * applause nnS , ? ° i aBnr - laUas on h _* s kindly regards . The f _H * = _«* aes were short and sententious , and read like _care-3-0 aa _ rr _^ - _. they - _Wre neat , y mii & d > _andoccaorderm't ? " , _* - e ram hut they were not of that _»* _tutf qaencc w ! iIcfa * asclna * e 3 and carries conviction . _^ _lT eVe T as Y hoeventhea _' and _M « ol-urin was _^ _i'W T _^' _r . emed j _* probable that the day > .... ' - _" •' - . ' _¦ 'ewUen _thefortnnes of tho * Whi „ __* ,. _>_ „ -.- - _™ em
_^ of tw _^ __^ P ! w ' woa , d *«• - •» the re-•¦ » t a ! _? dl 5 re _g" < - ** _™\» e and neglected _essayist-*<* eredar- „ ¦* , _" ! _* et feeble 8 P _* -ker-who waiftben 52 _-a' _- _onwi - club 9 - and scoffed at 1 _- h 's name was lhs time m ™ Bm 2 a w , th tne Sreafc _Poetical celebrities of j * _a- _* _"W , _ . i * was _wf-duced . to Lord John _* , and my very first feeling was that of extreme
Iwynville; Or, Clubs And Coteries: A Nov...
disappointment . I felt at once disposed to join with those who scoffed at the idea of such a man ever becoming the leader of the Commons of England , or a Prime Minister of the British empire . But after a little while , I changed my first opinion , and felt tbat there was _unmistake force of character in that defined outline of the face—that wellchiselled mouth with its finely cut lip 3 , around which a slightly sarcastic smile played at times , while » n the searchingly inquisitive glance of the eyes there was intellectual power and vigour of will . In short , I thought , on looking at the young nobleman , of Dryden ' s lu < es on Shaftesbury : — A fiery goul which _working ont its way Frette _*] the pigmy body to decay . And o ' er-informed its tenement of clay . Lord John Rowland seemed then in very poor health , his cheeks were sunken , his face pale , and he bad a short phthisical cough ; certainly in appearance , he was the very last person that any one would suppose was destined
The applause of listening senates to command . We were now at the dinner table , and Lord John began to display his mental character in a way that rjvetted my attention . His conversation was most interesting in its kind , though that kind was neither brilliant nor profound ; hi 3 memory seemed stored with a variety of curious facts , which threw lig ht ia various directions on society . Somt 1 _.-times it was a story showing the mercantile value of certain popular works , and he would cite for his informant , a bookseller in Paternoster-row ; or perchance be would mention some commercial anecdote , wbich he had learned from a Russian merchant ; or some personal history which he had from the proprietor of a leading newspaper . ni 3 facts were happily selected , and told in a pithy , unpretending style , occasionally dismissed from the company ' s notice , with a short trenchant aphorism .
With another extract we conclude . It relates to a man whose name is held in detestation hy a large mass of the people , aB one of the most _unscrupulous and tyrannical Ministers this country ever had . Ifc is , however , valuable as illustrating the fact that force of character is the true soarce of success in life . The conversation takes place at a dinner party ' —» From tbe men of the present day , the conversation turned towards departed politicians . Lord Castlereagh ' a character was discussed ; and I was surprised to find that Lord Lingard , Sir F . Bennet , who f .. r many years had been his prominent opponent , and Sir Charles North , rated him so highly . It was admitted by them all , even by Lord Lingard , that Castlereagh was grossly ignorant of the affairs of Europe ; but hi 3 personal courage , combined with his gravity and fascinating manners , had impressed both _Ling-ard and Bennett with the same views of him .
" A braver man never lived , said Lingard ; " his personal courage was matchless . He was perfectly civil , and never worked himself up , as others do , into fits of audaeity . He was always the same . " "By Jove ! " said Bennett , "if Louis tbo Sixteenth had had Castlereagh for his prime minister , the affairs of all Europe might have been changed . " " That proves nothing in favour of Castlereagh , " I remarked . " It was Pasoal who said , that if the nose of Cleopatra had been an inch shorter , the destiny of the world would have been altered . I confess that I never could conceive Lord Castlereagh to have been such a formidable man as yon all appear to think him , " Because , Mr . Wynville , " said Sir Charles North , " you were never personally in contact with him . Tou take yonr opinions of him from the newspapers , from Tom
Moore ' s witty sqmbs , from Byrou's sarcastic allusions to bim . But if you knew the man , you would hold another opinion of him . " " See _wfrvthe did , " said Bennett . "He began life as Mr . Stewart , an Irish Radical Reformer . He beat the Hills out of Downs-ire—I remember the time well . He was then looked to as the chief of the Irish Reformers . Pitt put his eye on him . Before he was thirty years old he was the leading minister in the Irish Parliament . He confronted all the bullies that infested that den of political bravos . He pnt them all down . He circumvented the Irish Protestant leaders , and cajoled all tbe Catholics . He bullied all the bullies , and did it like a gentleman . In
short , he extinguished the Irish Parliament . He then came over here ; and after the Union , all tho Irish leaders were of very little weight or influence in the new state of things . Lord Clare , the big Tory bully of Ireland , was quietly flapped -town by the Duke of Bedford and so with many others of the looal great men of Ireland , But Castlereagh went ahead here ; a few years saw him Secretary of State ; and from 1812 to tbe day of his death , he was leader of the House of Comraous , and kept bis party well together . See what strong qualities of personal ascendancy were required to do all that !" " These ara the kind of men who govern , " said Lord Lingard' " one man with _Castlereagh's vigour of will is worth fifty of yonr clever , eloquent , accomplished speakers , like Lord Harrowby or Lord Dudley . "
Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. I, ...
Bleak House . By Charles Dickens . No . I , London : Bradbury and Evans . In keeping with a late spring , Mr . Dickens has at length pnt forth the ' two green leaves' which he promised at the close of ' David Copperfield , ' and have since been anxiously looked for by his countless admirers . He has at length re-established his monthly relations with them , and for some twenty months at least they will enjoy the pleasure of his welcome periodical _yiait . At this time of day , we need not teU onr readers that Dickens is more than a popular writer—be is an earnest and practical reformer . The _charma of his style—the exercise of that wonderful power of creating character , and of awakening the most varied emotions of which our nature is susceptible , which makes him the Shakespeare of our own age , are subservient to a high sense of duty on the
part of the _possessor of these rare endowments . His works are not fictions ' written for mere amusement or recreation . They are instinct with great and noble sympathies , elevated by having a purpose . Bleak House' is an attack upon one of the monster evils of English society—the Court of Chancery . Its leading incident is a pet Chancery suit , one of the greatest Chancery suits known '—itself a monument of Chaneery practice , ' * in which every contingency , every masterly fiction , every form of procedure known in that Court is represented over and over again '— . ' a suit such as conld not exist out of this great and free country . ' How the personages introduced in the first number are bound up with this suit , it is impossible to guess , but sufficient is apparent to promise a superabundance of material to work upon and in such hands , who can doubt the result ?
Hare is the introduction to the Court in which the cause of ' Jarndyce v . _Jarndyce' is nourished for the benefit of the lawyers : — This is the Court ef Chancery ; which has Us decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire ; which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse , and its dead in _o- ery churchyard ; whioh has its ruined suitor , with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress , borrowing and begging through the round of every man ' s acquaintance ; which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right ; which so exhausts finances , pati » nce , courage , hope ; so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart * , that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning , "Suffer
any _wronjj that can be done _> -o _ , rather than come here . " Who happen to be in the Lord Cbancollor ' s court this murky afternoon besides the Lord Chancellor , the counsel in the cause , two or three counsel who are never in any cause , and the well of solicitors before mentioned ? There is the registrar below the Judge , in wig and gown ; and there are two or three _maees , or petty-bags , or privy-purses or whatever tbey may be , in legal court suits . These are all yawning ; for no crumb of amusement ever falls from Jabsovce _„» Jabndtce ( the cause in hand . ) which was squeezed dry years upon years ago . The short-hand writers , the reporters ofthe court , and the reporters of the newspapers , invariably decamp with the rest of the regulars when Jarndyce and Jarndyce comes on . Their places are a
blank . Standing on a seat at the side of the hall , the better to peer into the curtained sanctuary , is a little mad old woman in a squeezed bonnet , wbo is always in court , from its setting to its rising , and always expecting some incomprehensible judgment to be given in her ' favour . Some say she really is , or was , a party to a suit ; but no one knows for certain , because no one cares . She carries some small litter in a reticule which she calls her documents ; principally consisting of paper matches and dry lavender . A sallow prisoner has come up . in custody , for the halfdozenth time , to make a personal application "to purge himself of his contempt " which , being a solitary surviving executor , who bas fallen into a state of con ** lomeration about accounts of which
it is not pretended tbat he had ever , any knowledge , he is not at all likely ever to do . In the meantime his prospects in life are ended . Another ruined suitor , who periodically appears from Shropshire , and breaks out into efforts to address the Chancellor a t the close of the day ' s business , and who can by no means be made to understand that the Chancellor is legally ignorant of his existence after making it desolate for a quarter of a century , plants himself in a good place , and keeps an eye on the Judge , ready to call out " My lord I in a voice of sonorous complaint , on the instant of bis rising a few lawyers' clerks and others who know this suitor _^ by sight , linger , on tbe chance of his furnishing some fun , and enlivening the dismal weather a
little . Jarndyce ana Jarndyce drones on . The scarecrow of a suit has , m course of time , become so complicated , that no man alive knows what it means . The parties to it understand it least ; but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about , it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises . Innumerable children hare been bom into tho cause ; innumerable young people have married into it ; numerable old people have died out of it . seores of persons have deliriously found themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce , without knowing how or why ; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with tbe suit . The little plaintiff or defendant , who was nrnmi _* _-... ! _ haw
rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndvce should be settled , has grown up , possessed himself of a real horse , and trotted away . into tne other world . Pair wards of oourt have f ded into mothers and grandmothers ; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out ; the legion of blls in the suit havo been transforme d into mere bills of
Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. I, ...
mortality ; there are not three Jarndyce left upon the earth , perhaps , since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in _Chancery-lane ; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce stills drags its dreary length before the Court , perennially hopeless Jarndyce and Jarndyce has passed mto a joke . That is tho only good that has ever co mo of it . It has been death to many but it is a joke in the profession . Every Master in Chancery has had a reference Out of it . Erery Chancellor was ' « in it , " for somebody or other , when he was counsel at the bar . Good things have boen said about it by bluenosed , bulbous-shoed old beucher . _' , in select port-wine committee after dinner in hall . Articled clerics have been in the habit of fleshing their legal wit upon it , The last Lord Chancellor handled it neatly , when , correcting Mr
Blowers , the eminent silk gown , who said that such a thing might happen when tho sky rained potatoes , he observed , " or when we get through Jarndyce and Jarndyce Air . Blowers ;"—a pleasantry that particularly tickled tho maces , bags , and purses . How many people out of the suit , Jarndyce and Jarndyce has stretched forth its unwholesome hand to spoil and corrupt , would be a very wide question . From tbe Master , upon whose impaling fi ' es reams of dusty warrants in Jarndyce and Jarndyce have grimly writhed into many shapes ; down to the copying clerk in the Six Clerks' Office , who has copied his tens of thousands of Chancery-folio-pages under that eternal heading ; no man ' _B nature has been made the better by it . In trickery , evasion , procrastination , spoliation , botheration , under false pretences of all sorts , there aro influences that can never come to good , Tho very solicitors' boys who havo kept the wretched suitors at bay by protesti ng time out of mind that Mr . Chizzle , Mizzle , or otherwise , was
particularly engaged and had appointments until dinner , may havo got an extra moral twist and shufllo into themselves out of Jarndyce and Jarndyce . The receiver in the cause has acquired a goodly sum of money by it , but has acquired , too , a distrust of his own mother , and a contempt for his own kind . Cbizzle , Mizzle , and otherwise , have lapsed into a habit of vaguely promising themselves that they will look into that outstanding little matter , and see what can be done for Drizzle—who was not well used—when Jarndyce and Jarndyce shall be got out of the office _. Shirking and sharking , in all their many varieties , have been sown broadcast by the ill-fated cause ; and even those who have contemplated its history from the outermost cire / o of such evil , have been insensibly tempted into a loose way of letting bad things alone to take their own bad course , and a loose belief that if tho world go wrong , it was , in some off-hand manner , never meant to go right . Thus , in the midst of the mud and at the heart of the fog , sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery .
Mrs . Jellyby , ' a lady of very remarkable strength of mind , who devotes herself entirely to the public , ' in a variety of schemes—finely christened by the general term ' Telescopic Philanthropy '—represents a very large class of people in this country , who will scarcely like the manner in which Mr . Dickens holds the mirror up to nature , Chapter IV , would be a very nice little tract to give away to philanthropic ladies—young and old—at the doors of Exeter Hal ! , during the May meetings . Here is a glimpse at the _Tnena _^ e of Mrs . Jellyby , which is situated in _Thavies Inn : —
A narrow street of high houses , like an _obldflg _cisfera to hold the fog . There was a confused little crowd of people _, principally children , gathered about the house at which we stopped , which had a tarnished bvasB plate on the door , with the inscription , _Jsiut & r . "Don't be frightened ! " said Mr . Guppy , looking in _sfc tbe coach-window . " One of the youne Jellybys been and got bis head through the area railings !" " 0 poor child , " said I , "lot me out , if you please I " " Pray be careful of yourself , miss . Tbe young Jellybys are awoys up to something , " said Mr . Guppy , I made my way to the poor child , who was one of the dirtiest little unfortunates I ever saw , and found him very hot and frightened , and crying loudly , fixed hy the neck
between two iron railingB , while a milkman and a beadle , with the kindest intentions possible , were endeavouring to drag him back by the legs , under a general impression that his skull was compressible by those moans . As I found ( after pacifying him ) that he was a little boy , with a naturally large head , I thought that , perhaps , where his head could go , his body could follow , and mentioned that the best mode of extrication might be to push him forward . This was so favourably received by the milkman and the beadle , and that he would immediately hare been pushed into the area , if I had not held his pinafore , while Richard and Mr . Guppy ran down through the kitchen , to catch him when he should be released . At last he was happily got down without any accident , and then he began to beat Mr . Guppy with a hoop-stick in quite a frantic manner .
Nobody had appeared belonging to the house , except a person in pattens , who had been poking at tho child from below with a broom ; I don't know with what object , and I don't think Bhe did . I therefore supposed that Mrs . Jellyby was not at home ; and was quite surprised when the person appeared in the passage without the pattens , and going up to the back room on tbo first floor , before Ada and me , announced us as , "Them two young ladies , Missis Jellyby ! " We passed several more children on the way up , whom it was difficult to avoid treading on in the dark , * and as wo came into Mrs . Jellyby ' s presence , one of the poor little things fell down stairs—down a whole flight { aa itsonnded to me ) , with a great noise .
Mrs . _JeUyby , whose face reflected none of the uneasiness which we could not help showing in our own faces , as the dear _ohiW'si head _reccr-ed its passage with a bump on every stair—Richard afterwards said he counted seven , besides one for the landing—received us with perfect equanimity . She was a pretty , very diminutive' plump woman , of from forty to fifty , with handsome eyes , though thoy had a curious habit of seeming to look a long way off . As if—I am quoting Richard again—they could see nothing nearer than Africa ! " I am very glad indeed , " said Mrs . Jellyby , in an agreeable voice , " to have tbe pleasure of receiving you . I have a great respect for Mr . Jarndyoo ; and no one in whom he is interested can be an object of indifference to me . "
We expressed our acknowledgments , and sat down behind tbe door where there was a lame invalid of a sofa . Mrs . Jellyby had very good hair , but was too much occupied with her African duties to brush it . The shawl in which she had been loosely muffled , dropped on to her chair when she advanced towards us ; and as she turned to resume her seat , we could not help notioing that her dress didn't nearly meet up the back , and that the open space was railed across with a lattice-work of stay-lacelike a summer-house . The room , which was strewn with papers , and nearly filled by a great writing-table covered with similar litter , -was , l must say , not only very untidy , but _voi-y dirty . We
were obliged to take notice of that with our sense of sight , even while , with our sense of hearing , wo followed the poor child who had tumbled down stairs : I think into the back kitchen , where somebody seemed to stifle him . But what principally struck us was a jaded , and unhealthy-looking , though by no means plain girl , at the writing-table , who sat biting the feather of her pen , and staring at us . I suppose nobody ever wa 3 in such a state of int . And , from her tumbled hair to her pretty feet , which were disfigured with frayed and broken satin slippers trodden down at heel , she really seemed to have no article of dress upon her , from a pin upwards , that was in its proper condition or its right place .
" You find me , my dears , said Mrs . Jellyby , snuffing the two great ofiice candles in tin candlesticks which made the room taste strongly of hot tallow ( the fire had gone out , and there was nothing in the grate but ashes , a bundlo of wood , and a poker ) , " you find me , my dears , as usual , very busy ; but that you will excuse . The African project at present employs my whole time . It involves me in correspondence with public bodies , and with private individuals anxious for the welfare of their speoies all over the country . I am happy to say it is advancing . We hope by this time next- year to have from a hundred and fifty to two hundred healthy families cultivating coffee and educating the natives of _Boorioboola-Gha , on the left bank of the _Niger . " The dinner hour of the establishment is nominally five , but as Mrs . Jellyby says , * We dine at all hours . ' At last , however , ifc is served up , and
Soon after seven o ' clock we went down to dinner ; carefully , by Mrs . Jellyby ' s advice ; for tbe stair-carpets , besides being very deficient in stair-wires , were so torn as to be absolute traps . We had a fine cod-fish , a piece of roast beef , a dish of cutlets , and a pudding ; an excellent dinner if it had had any cooking to speak of , but it was almost raw . The young woman with the flannel bandage waited , and dropped everything on the table wherever it happened to go , and never moved it again until she put it on the stairs . The person I had seen in pattens ( who I supposed to have been the cook ) , frequently came and skirmished with ber at the door , and there appeared to be ill-will between them .
All through dinner ; which was long , in consequence of such accidents as the dish of potatoes being mislaid in the coal-skuttle , and the bandlo of the corkscrew coming off , and striking the young woman in the chin : Mrs . Jollyby preserved the evenness of her disposition , Sho told us a great deal that _wasinterestingaboutBoorioboola-Ghaand the natives ; and received so many letters tbat Richard , who sat by her , saw four envelopes in the gravy at once . Some of the letters were proceedings of ladies' committees , or resolutions of ladies' meetings , which sho read to us ; others were applications from peoplo excited in various ways about the cultivation of coffee , and natives ; others required answers , and these she sent her eldest daughter from the table three or four times to write , She was full of business , and undoubtedly was , as she had told us , devoted to the cause . Esther Sammerson , the heroine , promises to be one of the author ' s finest creations , The world of
fashion introduces as to Sir Leicester Dedlock and his lady . ' Sir Leicester is only a baronet , but there is no mightier baronet than he . His family is as old as the hills , and infinitely more respectable . He has a general opinion that the world might get on without hills , but would be done up without Dedlocks . He would , on the whole , admit nature to be a good idea ( a little low perhaps when not enclosed with a parkfence ) but an idea dependent for its execution on your great country families . ' Lady Dedlock' has been for years at the centre of the fashionable intelligence , and at the top of the fashionable tree . '
Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. No. I, ...
For months tens of thousands of wistful readers will follow with interest the fate and fortunes of the dramatis personee , who are clustered round the great central cause of ' Javndyce v . Jarnd yce . '
Beceited. The Master Engineers And Their...
BECEITED . The Master Engineers and their Workmen . Three _lecturm By J . M , Ludlow , Esq . London * . Bezer . The Bookcase . Toll , Across the Rocky Mountains . By W "Kmr _, Esq . London : Simms and M'lntyre . The Biographical Magazine . No . III . London : _Passmore Edwards . —[ The present number contains a well written and exceedingly interesting memoir of Percy B . Shelley , which is worth the price of the whole . ] The Gardeners' Record . No . I . Por March . London Groombridge and Co . —[ This now candidate for popular favour , is under the management of Mr . J . T . Neville , Secretary to the Royal South London _FloricultUl'ftl So * ciety _, and _seema admirably adapted for the purposes in view . ] .
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Astley's. A Grand Historic And Equestria...
ASTLEY'S . A grand historic and equestrian spectacle , entitled ' Tancred , or the Triumph of the _Cnmders , " has been produced on a scale of magnificenoe for which this theatre is so justly renowned . The tale is so well known as to _render a detail ofthe plot and incidents unnecessary . Considerable praise is due to the management for the effective manner in which this piece is put upon the stage : each scene is an imposing tableau , and the gorgeous dresses scenery , elephants , zebras , ifcc , remind the spectator of the palmy days of Palestine , and the chivalry of tbe _orusaders . Messrs . Ferris and _Hustleby ably impersonated Tancred and the renowned Godfrey d e Bouillon . Miss Penton acted in her usual clever style , and the spectacle was enlivened by the drolleries of Barry and the bewitching archness of Mrs . Beacham . Some excellent tumbling hy the Nicolo Family followed , and after the usual scenes in the cirolo , the entertainments concluded with the laughable farce of " JJo . "
ST . JAMES'S THEATRE .-THE HUNGARIAN MUSICAL COMPAN _.. This company has given the first concert of their series in this fashionable theatre to a very aristocratic audience , amongst whom we noticed her . Grace the Duchess of Somerset , his Excellency the Austrian Ambassador and the countess _Buol-Sohauenstoin , Marquis _d'Azeglio , tho Sardinian minister , Yi 8 countcss > Palmerston , Lady _Ashburton , Prince of Nassau , Lord Cranborn , ifcc .
DRURY-LANE THEATRE . The manager of this establishment brought forward the first of his promised novolties on Saturday night , in the shape of a grand opera in four acts , entitled the " Sicilian Bride , " the music by Mr . Balfe , the libretto , originally written in the Prenoh language by M . St . Georges , translated into English by Mr . Bunn . The performance ofthis work occupied tbe entire evening , its more than ordinary length precluding the necessity of other entertainments , Tbe house was crowded as might havo been anticipated ! Although we are not prepared , after one hearing , to rank the " Sicilian Bride " among Mr . _BahVs best works , wo must admit that ifc contains some of his best writing . More correct and effective execution would doubtless bring out „ froat number of points completely lost in the
weakness of tne Drury-lane band and chorus . It was a mistake , moreover , to consign so laborious and difficult a part to a debutante like Miss Crichton . She , however , must not be discomfited . In the midst of all ber stage-awl * war __ _nes- " , enough of intelligence was exhibited to show that practice and study may enable her to obtain everything that is wanting ; while her singing , unequal as it was , at periods reached a high degree of expression and refinement . Mr . Sims Reeve worked zealously , in the cause , and may be considered to have been the mainstay of the pieco . Mr . VYuitworth displayed bis accustomed intelligence , activity , and musical feeling in an uphill , and by no means agreeable part . Of the other characters nothing remains to be
added . The opera was placed upon the stage in a liberal and efficient style . Tbe scenery was beautiful , the costumes and appointments appropriate , the supernumeraries abundant and well trained . In short , no efforts were spared to insure success ; and , not lo speak of the frequent applause and encores , if the final incidents of the performance—an unanimous call for Mr . Balfe , who came forward and was enthusiastically cheered ; a summons for the principal artists ; and another for Mr . Bunn , who , after the applause had subsided , expressed his gratitude to tho audience in a short and emphatic speech—if these incidents may be presumed to constitute success , the opera of the " Sicilian Bride " must be chronicled ns porfectly successful .
Disasters Oi? Tub French Arm? Iff Aigier...
Disasters oi ? tub French Arm ? iff _Aigiers . —We have just received the following afflicting accounts from _Bougia , the exactitude of which there is unfortunately no reason to doubt . The expeditionary column of Gen . Bosquet , after having defeated the vain attempts of _Bou-Burghia , remained in its position in the very heart of Cabylia , about twenty-flvo miles from Bougia , whence it was able to _observo all that was going on in the country . On the 18 th . the weather began to set in very bad ; the rivulets were swollen by the heavy rains ; the communications between the town and tlie oamp were interrupted , and the troops began to be in want of provisions . Paring the night ofthe 21 st there waa a very heavy fall of snow ; in some places it was six fcot in depth , and covered the tents of our soldiers . On the 22 nd an order was given to strike the camp ,
and tbe troops commenced their inarch towards Bougia . The cold was very severe , and the men , overcome by privations and fatigue , had lost their habitual vigour , and fell dead along tho road . The column was thrown into disorder , and a disaster soon occurred similar to that whioh was experienced eight years ago by the column of General Levasseur , in the Bou-Thaleb . In the evening of tho 22 nd some stragglers began to arrive at Bougia , and the accounts which they gave threw the town into the greatest consternation . Measures were immediately taken to render assistance . Independently of the resources at the command of the military , an appeal was made to the inhabitants . Mules , horses , and every moans of transport , were put in requisition ; many of the inhabitants left the town , provided with torches , in search of our unfortunate soldiers ,
and every house wag open to receivo them as they might arrive . Fires were lighted in the streets , soup and liot wine were prepared for them . What is very remarkable is , that the Kabyles never sought to profit by thi 3 di-aster , but , on tho contrary , wherever they met with _struggling soldiers , they assisted and brought them to Bougia , as well as they could do it . The official report will soon make Known the loss of the French column . At first it was estimated at 300 men at least , but nothing positive is yet known , as stragglers are constantly arriving at _Bougia . Several have been placed in the hospital with their limbs frost-bitten . The loss of officers will be small ; the only
one known to have perished is M . . Inure , an assistantsurgeon , who fell a victim to his courageous _devotcdness , having been drowned in saving the Uvea of a captain ami two soldiers . Generals Bosquet and _Jauvin did not roach Bougia until the night of the 23 rd ; tbey did everything that it was possible to do uuder such circumstances . General Jamin arrived to-day at Algiers . This event changes nothing in the situation of the affairs of Kabyliaevery army in the world has met with similar accidents ; and it ia a further proof of the necessity of establishing good roads on all points which our columns are obliged to pass over to secure the submission and tranquillity of the coun try . —Alchbar .
Tills English Abroad . —The following is an extract of a letter from a British resident at Leghorn , dated Feb . 20 , 1852 , — They are talking of making all the British take out permissions from tho police every six months , and some every three months , to remain hero , and every time the permission is renowed there is about 5 s . Gd . to pay , and every one of a family to have a separate one , which would come to be a considerable tax . _Toeir object is twofold—First , to raise money to support tbo Austrians ; and , second , to have it in their power to send any away when their leave is out . The old merchants who have been born and lived always here are quite indignant at this . There was a publio meeting at the Consulate to * day about it . "
COMMISSIOS OP LUSACT ON A CHANCERY PRISONER , —On the 5 th . inst a writ tie hmatico inquirenclo was executed at the Southwark Literary Institution , Borough-road , Southwark , before Mr . Commissioner Winslow , and eighteen special jurors , respecting the state of mind of John Price , Esq ., aged eighty-four , totally blind , lato of- Margate , in the county of Kent , but now an inmate of the Queen's Prison , _coafiued for contempt of tho Court of Chancery , a gentleman possessed of property of the value of £ 80 , 000 . The commission had been issued by Mr . John Wild Price , the only son of the unfortunate gentleman , with a view to his liberation . The jury returned a verdict— " That John Price is now of unsound mind , and incapable of managing himself and his affairs , and has been so since the 1 st ol October , 1843 . "
Lord Campbeil ' s _Anh-Catiiolio _Vwilascb . —The opening of the Norfolk circuit last week was _discinguished by a religio-political incident—a rare and undesirable variauce from judicial monotony . A few years ago Mr . Scott Murray , tne high sheriff , was " perverted " to the Romish faith , and he bad appointed Mr . Morris , a Roman Catholic , who like himself , had _seoeded from the church of England , to be the judgo ' a chaplain . In delivering his charge , Lord Campbell took oc casion to say that" the high sheriff , without meaning in the slightest degree to bo guilty of an impropriety , and , indeed , being informed it had been done in other oounties , has appointed a chaplain of his own religion , and that chaplain has appeared in the garb of his order in accompanying the high sheriff and her Majesty's judges coming from the place whore tlie sheriff meets them to the place where we now aro . Gentlemen , that I do not
approve of ; and I think it my duty to say that I hope such an occurrence will not be repeated . " The grand jury , at the close cf the day , in making their presentment , desired to express their respectful thanks for his lordship ' s observations on the subject of the attendance of the chaplain , and assured him of their uuanimous and entire concurrence in the sentiments addressed to them by his lordship . Since then Mr . Scott Murray has addressed a smart epistle to Lord Chief Justice Campbell , showing a number of instances in which Roman Catholic chaplains have been permitted to attend the judges . Secession of __ Catholic Priest . —On , "Sunday evening , the Rev . G . Evison _, late a priest of the Church of Rome , renounced the doctrines of that communion iu the church of St . Paul ' s Barmondsey—at which numerous similar senes have taken place of late . The rev . gentleman was late chaplain to the Roman Catholic congregation at _Fortsea .
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A Blush 18 Ihe Complexion Of Virtue. Glo...
A Blush 18 Ihe complexion of virtue . Glory . —The best kind of glory is that wbich is reflected from honesty . Friendship . —Friendship is composed of a _siDgie soul inhabiting t _» o bodies . Cons . —Why are good resolutions like fainting ladiw ? _^ Thev want carrying out . "What is the most proper punishment for quack doctors ? —Thoy should be confined to the _Pill-ory . De _ _icroi / s . —To have a pretty girl open the front door , ¦ Mid mistake yon lor her cousin .
A- Hint to Travellers . —In riding on the "rail , " _aways take a seat just in the front of a fat old gentleman _, in case of a collision , he breaks the hurt wonderfully . ¦ _K _S-A u _Knowusdgb ukdbr _Difficulties . —Studying _ijT' ¦¦ - "of a cigar , while a low-necked frock has got her arm around your waist him _« if _w ? ° tw > -Jblk .-A man in New York has got Mu _ u 4 in _«? f ? M b * marr y _* _6 tff ° wivf 8 * A ma ia AnS _^ tper _^ _" thin _«•« by marrying one _.-{__ . _f aZtj » * _r _^ -An _-matenr chemist has discovered _lo „ £ „ , _'''_*?•_•* . *_• olhe 1 , wmmon straws ofthis country can be converted into cotton by M ° _Claussen ' _s process , in the same way as flax straw . _viuubbc v Thb Greek Slave _.-Au American on being asked how he liked the denuded _atatue of _the Greek Slave exhibited at tbe Crystal Palace , replied , " I reckon that where she was raised , cotton was dreadful scarce . " A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face ; ft beautiful behaviour is better than a beautiful form It gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures ; it is the finest of the fine arts .
Good Advice . — " I say , " said a dandy to an intelligent mechanic , " I ' ve got an idea in my head . " " Well , replied the other , "if you don't cherish it with great care , it will die for want of companions . " A CojjssnvAWVB . —Mr . Horace Greely , in a speech delivered a few weeks ago , compared a stubborn _•« Conservative" to a horse on board a ferry-boat " the horse may back , but tbe boat move 3 on , and the animal with it , notwithstanding . " Truth is considerably cracked up as a virtue , and yet we know of nothing that would sooner make a nuisance of a man . Speak the truth of everybody you meet , and where would your bed be ? In the mud-gutter about half the time . _PmsoNBRS in France . —The "Times" says it has taken some pains to ascertain the number of persons arrested ia France within the last few weeks , nnd it is assured by the best authorities , speaking on sufficient evidence , that the number probably reaches 100000 .
, Graceful and Elegant . —Grace is , in great _meaiure , a natural gift ; elegance implies cultivation , or something ofa mere artificial character . A rustic , uneducated girl may bo graceful ; but an elegant woman must be accomplished and well-trained . Arabian _PnovEisn . —By six causes a fool may be known : —¦ "Anger without catise ; speech without profit ; change without motive ; inquiry without an object ; putting trust in a stranger ; and wanting capacity to distinguish between friend and foe . " t Droitwich Salt . —The brine-Bpring- from whioh this sails extracted appear inexhaustible . It was made at the time of the Roman invasion , and they still yield _70 , 000 tens annually * , 40 , 000 * ons we used for domestic purposes , and for agriculture , tiie remainder in chemical processes .
Titles , —A Quaker , vindicating the pertinacity of his " _secfin _refusint * to give titles to men , gave this whimsical account : " I had the honour , " said he , " one day to be in company with an excellency and a highness . His excellency was tho most ignorant and brutal of bis species , and his highness measured just four feet eight inches without his _B-oes . " Femalb Influence . —I have observed that a married , man , falling into misfortune , is more apt to retrieve his situation in the world than a single one , chiefly because his spirits are soothed and retrieved by domestic endearments , and his self respect kept alive by finding , that although all abroad be darkness and _K __ _iW'A . - . ion , yet there is a little world of love at home over which he is a monarch .
Little Kindnesses . —Small acts of kindness , _howpleasant and desirable do they make life ! . Every dark object is made light by them , and . every tear of sorrow is brushed away . When the heart is sad , and despondency sits at the entrance of the soul , a trifling kindness drim despair away , and makes the path cheerful and pleasant .
EXTRACTS FROM " PUNCH . Political Cricket . —The celebrated cricketer , Manners , is going to have an innings at last . A _Dis-appointment . —The appointment of poor Dis . aa Chancellor of the Exchequer . A Sum for the Ciianckllor of thf . Exchequer , — Deduct Sir Charles Wood-from Benjamin Disraeli , and show that a just Income Tax remains . Something Like a Brother . —Flora : "That ' s a very pretty waistcoat , Emily V—Emily : " Yes , dear . It belongs to my brother Charles . When he goes _oufruf town he puts me on the free list , as he calls it , of his wardrobe . Isn't it kind ?" Characteristic Fact .-So desirous is little Nap . of imitating his great uncle in every possible particular , that we understand he has recently declared his intention of in future regularly wearing his coats out at Elba \
Our Lad * of Atocha . — The Queen of Spam has offered her robes and jewels , worn when struck by the assassin , to our Lady of Atocha . But why not the whalebone stays that defended tho mortal attempt of the dagger ? Believing , as we do , that whalebone stays have bad so many victims , slowly killing thousands of young women , we confess we should like to see an offering of that valuable work of whalebone that has saved the life of one . Political _On-dits- —Mr . Disraeli , immediately on receiving his appointment as Chancellor of tbe Exchequer , sent round the corner to a book-stall for a copy of Walkinghame ' s Arithmetic . A pencil and slate , in the course of tho evening , wero ordered by the Right Honourable Gentleman . _ Tbe Marquis of Salisbury repaired to _Downing-street , in order to procure some impressions of the Privy Seal . Lord _Malmeabury has remained at home since bis nomination to the post of Foreign Secretary , notwithstanding the very general supposition that be is abroad .
Sir John Pakington has be n occupied in _makinjr the requisite arrangements for rendering hia seat in the Colonial Office comfortable , as he finds it somewhat harder than the County Bench . Lord John Manners has been surveying his family tree previously to entering on tbe duties of his high berth , as Chief Corami _* siouer of Woods and Forests . The Earl of Eglinton has buckled on his armour to enter the lists as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland . Considerable astonishment is expressed at the fact that Colonel Sibthorp hna no place in the Cabinet . An Oppressed Mind . —It is very seldom that hardworking people commit suicide—suicides being one ofthe accompaniments of soft hands and indolence . The best thing a girl can tako for an oppressed mind , is a husband . An old maid with " nothing to worry her , " will be as melancholy as dyspepsia—marry her , however , and make her the mother of four romping boys , and she will be as cheerful as sunshine .
An Anti-Garotte Weapon-. —Mr . Blissett has just registered an " anti-garotte , "—a portable and convenient weapon . It is in form a small constable ' s staff , but it contains inside it a blue light . This light is revealed by unscrewing the top _-al-vays to he done when alono in a dark road or street ; and when assailed you have nothing to do but" punch" the assailant on the head , face , or DOdv \ and the weapon will "blaze a way" at him , in a manner that he won ' t stand Ion .. _, Glass . —Window-glass was not employed m England until the year 1557 ; and ten years later it was still so scarce that , according to thefamiiy recordsof the Duke of Northumberland , the glass windows of Alnwick Castle were removed whenever the family happened to be from home . No other substance has tended more to advance scienceand add to the comfort and happiness of man than glass , what- the microscope has revealed , what astronomy has disclosed , what chemistry has taught , we owe directly or indirectly to
its use , and without it half the refinement ana enjoyments of civilisation would be lost . Colt ' s PisT 0 _ s .-At the trial made by the American Board of Ordnance , Colt ' s holster pistol was fired 1 , 290 times , and lm belt pistol 1 , 506 times , cleaning but once a day , when the Board determined that no further trial was necessary , and reported that neither ofthe pistols appeared to be injured by the firing . The penetrations of Colt s holatec pistol were found to be through seven inches ol board , and bis belt p stol through six inches . And from a trial recently made at Woolwich , under the direction of Col . _Ch-mbers , R . A ., it appeared that even by men _unaccustomed to the use ot this particular arm , great precision of firing could be attained , as with a small revolving belt pistol , at a distance of fifty yards , out of forty-eight shots , twenty-five bullets took effect , within a apace ot one foot square , and of them , thirteen hit the bull ' s-eye , which was only six inches in diameter ; the whole number of shots striking the target .
Women and Men . —Women , and especially y < ung women , either believe falsely or judge harshl y of men in one thing . You , young loving creature , who dream of your lover by night and by day—you fancy that he does the same of you ! lie does not , he cannot ; nor is it right he should . One hour , perhaps , your presence has captivated mm , subdued him even to weakness ; the next he will be m tne world , working his way as a man among men , forgetting ror the time being your very existence . ) Possibly if you saw __ in > , his outer self hard and _Btern , so different to the sen y ° « know , would strike you with pain . Or else hi « iiincr ana diviner self , higher than yon would dream of , " _™ _'" _< " _' « coldly from your insignificant love . Yet al 1 th _;» » »¦ _£ _" « . you have _nought t , murmur . You cannot _« to . JJJ . soul i / i
—nu woman ever " «— . _«* _- * r- ,:. „ .., •„ ; n j , sway over _unworthy passions . Be _% * _£%£ . 3 1 £ heart , as that heart _hes in h _«^ o « _^ ts bea _ings unseen , _^ up U _^ _omnx _^ civ ne life to his whole _beiBg- — _J" « " *™ - ° ' _^ . _» _SV _^ _' _inKfi _^ 4 ,-. 0 d . ; in Newcastle _ _W ifc 7 s " in Manchester , £ 5 ? 0 * . ; in IM 1 , £ 5719 ,. _. _ftf ; _ n _ 8 « . _^' keffield . JB 48 18 s . lOd . per annum . In Leeds and •?_ _pffipl _ the cost per man is considerably reduced by the Mrnin ™ « of tho force ; but whilst in tbe former borough , tbe net annual cost per man is £ 57 Us . 3 d ., in Sheffield itis but £ 32 I 9- 7 ( 1 ' In ProPort *< H * te population the police force of Birmingham is as I in TIG , * , ot _Bra-iford . 1 in 1 071 $ ; of _N-iWcastle , 1 in 1 , 0581 ; of Manch ster 1 in 6811 i of Hull , I in m \ j and of Sheffield , 1 iu _U-ttfc
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 13, 1852, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_13031852/page/3/
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