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Northern Star (1837-1852), 4th January 1845, Edition 4 of 4, Page 6, &t\mt? nfflj Slit*

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      T Of Hosphates And Nitrogen Has Been Abs...

      The Chambers* Philosophy Refuted. Labour...

      THE CHAMBERS * PHILOSOPHY REFUTED . LABOUR PLEADING ITS 0 WS CAUSE . THE EMPLOYER ASD EMPLOYED . A FAMILIAR DIALOGUE . —TART IV . Dialogue , _oetivcen Smith and Jacison resumed at " Shoddy Jfall , " ly special dtsire of Mr . Smith , — Jackson is announced and shewn into Mr . Smith ' s study , at one end of which is suspended a map of Shoddy Hall , tlic property of J . Howard Percy Smith , Esq ., and , over tlie chimney-piece at the other end , the armorial hearings of the Smiths , with a _pedigree underneath , proving their descent from Belted Will Howard in tlte male , and Ann Percy , sixth cousin to the n-rond Ihtke of Northumberland , in the

      female hnc . Smith . —Have vou wiped your shoes , Jackson ? Jackson . —Yes / sir , I have wined than . SmilL-O , that ' s richt . This is a Turkey carpet ; it cost me eighty guineas , and the least footmark discolours it . . ,, _ . „ . „„ , Jackson ( aside , with a sigh ) . —0 , my £ o 00 ! Smith . Now , Jackson , sit down , and let us hear what vou Live to say upon the subject of machinery , forto _' tell you the truth _. that old Robin has awakened such curious thoughts in my head , that I am staggered like upon the subject . He's an astonishing man for his : ige , that old Robin . Jack-tea . —He is so , sir . But 1 am told he spoke like a lad at the meeting last night . Smith . —Aye , by the bye , about the meeting ; what was done there ? Any resolution ? Jackson . —Yes , sir . Your cousin , Mr . Smith , the

      grocer-Smith . —Fooh , pooh , that ' s all a mistake ; he ' s no cousin of mine , Jackson—he ' s merely of the name , and there are so many Smiths ; hut very few from the old stock of the Howards and Percys . Jackson . —0 , 1 beg your pardon , sir . Smith , the grocer then , moved a resolution in favour of free trade , as the only means of averting the impending and <» vi « f . _iii « r distress of the country . Smith . —Well , and was it carried ? Jackson . —No , sir ; Samuel Bewyers , a shoemaker , moved an amendment . I have a copy of it here ; I'll read it for you : — " Resolved , that we , the working classes and shopkeepers of tlie borough of Devil ' s _Ihist , in public meeting assembled , having long suffered the most galling privations , whilst all other

      classes are daily accumulating wealth from our industry , for which they find it difficult to procure an outlet , and believing the unrestricted use of machinery , asa substitute for manual labour , to have mainly led to this unjust _inequality , whereby the employer becomes rich , as If by magic , hi spite of opposing obstacles , whether they arise from natural or artificial causes—from bad harvests or fluctuations in trade , from ascarcity or an abundance of _eh'culating medium in the country—while the condition of the employed becomes correspondingly deteriorated , good trade , plentiful harvests , and a surplus of the circulating medium having a tendency to increase rather than to diminish their poverty ; and that in order to correct this unnatural state of things , this meeting is

      determined never to relax in its exertions until the people ' s Charter becomes the law , whereby the land of this country may , by a proper , _juat , and equitable distribution , he made snbservrient to the wants of society at large , instead of seeing it barren and unproductive , while those hibourcrs who could make it rich and fertile arc desired to look to other countries for a _suffieiencv of food , or to emigrate to foreign climes in search of the means of existence , whieh they are denied in the land of their birth . " Smith . —Good God , Jackson , who seconded that ? Jackson . —Mr . Sparerib , the butcher , sir . Smith . —And was it carried ? Jackson . —Yes , sir . Old . Robin tells me that only five hands , in a crowded Hall , were held up against it .

      Smith . —Well , but Jackson , what do they mean by the distribution of land ? Do they mean to take it themselves , and pay no rent for it / Jackson . —No , sir , they mean no such thing . What they mean is , that , having lost all controul over the labour market in its present artificial state , they are determined to have recourse to a moie just system , whereby those who are displaced by machinery shall cease to lie a competitive reserve for the mas ters to fall hack upon , as a means of keeping down wages to the mere existence point . Smith . _—WeJL hut do rou mean to say that all flic machinery in the country is to be destroyed , or allowed to remain idle ?

      Jackson . —No , sir , I do not .: but I mean that those who are not able to withstand that competitive system amongst the masters , in obedience to which you have belbre told me they must look to reduced wages to make np profit , and keep themselves safe even in bad times , may have some uetter channel open for their industry than that of " cracking" stones and pulling oakum , in a prison dress , and under the eye of a hard-hearted gaoler ! Smith . —Well but , Jackson , what will become of the trade ofthe country ? Where would the masters get hands ? Jackson . —In abundance , sir ; hut they should hire them in the cottage or the homestead , instead of in the cellar or the bastile . The people are beginning to think , sir , that the man gets a uetter price for his pig if the butcher comes to the stye to look after him than if he takes the pig to the butcher to buy him , because be is necessitated to sell it .

      Smith . —Well but now , Jaekson , what has all this to dowith the question of machinery ? I am not so dogged in my own pre-coneeived notions as not to be accessible to reason ; neither have I been an inattentive listener in onr previous discussions upon the subject ; and if you have anything really to urge against machinery , and your reasoning is sound , 1 shall unhesitatingly confess _niy conversion . Jackson . —Sir , independently of what Robin has already said upon the general topic , and apart from what I may yet say , you yourself have , though perhaps unconsciously , urged so many weighty arguments against it , that 1 think I shall only be called upon to furnish you with an analysis of your own reasoning to bring vou to a different conclusion .

      Smith . —What have I urged against machinery ? Why I have been all along pleading for machinery , and arguing that the causes of its unjust unpopularity arise from the " improvidence , " " dissipation , " and " vieiousness" ofthe working classes themselves . Jackson . —That ' s just the point , sir , and I am happy to have the admission ; and I undertake to prove that what you call causes are effects ;—that is , that machinery " is the cause , and "improvidence , " "dissipation , " " vice , " and "immorality" are the effects . Smith . —Jackson , let me repeat what I have previously said , and which I think embodies my opinions upon the general question ; what I said was this : —

      The thing winch governs them is the general supply of hands—the supply according to the demand . There is a certain quantity of work to be done here and elsewhere , and a certain quantity of hands to do it . If there be much , work , and comparatively few hands , wages will rise ; if little work , and an excess of hands , wages will felL Without any mutual arrangement , the manufacturers come to a uniformity of wages . Indeed , it is not the masters , but the labourers , who settle the rate of wages . They settle it by competing against each other . In the same way that manufacturers compete against one another , so do the labouring classes compete against one another . All find it necessary to work , in order to live ; and to get work , they accept of what wages are to be had . If they , however , hear that higher wages are _goinir elsewhere , they carry their labour thither . They there compete with those who arc already settled , and perhaps bring down wages to a lower level . Thus , without any mutual understanding among either masters or men . bat just by a universal competition , wages get settled down at particular rates .

      Jackson . —Very well , sir , 1 understand you perfectly . Your proposition involves three distinct considerations : namely , the governing power that you ascribe to machinery ; the means ol correcting the evil effects that you admit ; and the result which must naturally flow from that correction . You must admit , sir , that when the population of a whole country becomes deficient in those moral excellencies which all nations , under good laws and fostering government , arc capable of attaining , and when immorality becomes the rule , instead of the _exception , of the national character _tfor you have been unreserved and sweeping in your strictures upon the working classes ) , I savin such case you must admit that there is a deep-seated evil resting somewhere ; an evil which has originated with machinery , grown with its growth , and strengthened with its strength . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , this is all assertion .

      Jackson . —It may be so , sir , but it is assertion founded upon your own admissions , and , as I shall prove , upon an incontrovertible basis . When you admit that masters' profits , and their protection against fluctuations in trade , are made up by reductions in wages , and when machinery alone enables them to take this undue advantage of their hands , what other conclusion can be come to , thau that the working classes should consider this governing power as their greatest enemy ? And what more legitimate than that they should seek , by combination or otherwise , to destroy its effects ; aud what more natural than to seek another channel for their industry , over which the same anomalous power can have no controul ?

      Smith . —Jackson , I tell you that in the present depraved state of the working classes no controul or power can emanate from their body that must not have a prejudicial effect upon their order . Jackson . —Mr . Smith , men are born with propensities , which may be nourished into virtues or thwarted into vices , according to the training in infancy , the education in _cliildhoad , and the treatment practised towards them in manhood . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , that ' s the very tiling that I complain of . Look at children now-a-days . The mother doesn't can for them . The father neglects them . They are wholly uneducated , and the gin palace , the brothel , or the workhouse is their first introduction to society .

      Jackson . —1 thank you for saying " now-a-days , " because 1 am arguing _tliat tbe governing powers , machinery the principal is— " now-a-days" the cause oi the social evils . And the fact that it was not so in

      The Chambers* Philosophy Refuted. Labour...

      England in olden times , when parents had the _> bunging up and controul of their families , , s proof that some new agency has wrought the change . And now , sir , lctme state my principal objections to the unrestricted use of machinery . First , it places man in an artificial state , over which the best workman the wisest man and most moral person , has no controul . Secondly , while it leads to the almost certain fortune of those who have capital in sufficient amount to command those profits made Hp , as you adroit , by the reduction of wages ; upon the other hand , it leads to uncertainty in the condition of the

      employed , against which he is incapable of contending . Thirdly , it disarranges all the social machinery of which formerly individuals were necessary items , families honoured branches , and small rural districts important sections of the one great whole Fourthly , the present fluctuations give rise , in good trade , to an augmentation of artificial classes , if I may so call them , who have no natural position in society , but are merely called into existence by present appearances , trade- upon nothing , traffic in fiction , and , like your order , speculate on what they may retire upon " when trade begins to flag . Hence wc ' find each fluctuation in trade Mowed by a new

      race of shopkeepers , who are grasping in prosperity , compound when appearances change , and retire when adversity comes , leaving a vacuum to be filled up by the next alternation from panic to speculation . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , surely you wouldn't put restraint- upon anv branch of commerce ? Jackson . —Yes , Mr . Smith , I certainly would impose some restraint upon that branch of commerce which enables masters to make up their losses in other speculations by a reduction of wages ; and 1 would also apply some wholesome regulations to those speculations which deprive the infant ofthe mother ' s fostering care , and the child of proper education , by depriving the parents of the power of conferring both the one and the other .

      Smith . —Well , Jackson , how does machinery deprive you of that power ? Jackson . —I'll tell you , sir . I have been working for you for fifteen years , and during that period 1 have been one-sixth of the whole time , or two years and a half , out of employment ; while I have been compelled to submit to reduction after reduction , or to merge into the idle reserve . If there was a bad market or two in Devil ' s Dust , Squint , your overlooker , would come to us on Saturday-night , and tell us how the mill must close , if we didn't consent to this reduction , and that reduction , and the other reduction . Sometimes it would be three per cent ., sometimes four per cent ., sometimes five percent ., and soon , till in ' 42 there was twelve per cent . These reductions would be always made upon the very first appearance

      of slackness , and then , when the India market and the China market were opened , and home trade became brisk , and we asked for an advance , we were told that since the fiist reduction the masters had been losing , and that we were only employed upon charity , and that losses for bad years must be pulled up out of _^ the improvement . Well , we thought that even if our produce was warehoused , that our losses and reductions should be made up as well as those of the masters ; and when wc met Mi * . Squint upon the subject , he told us that we might go to the devil , for Smith and Co . had got good men that wouldn't be always grumbling to do the work of a score ; that the machinery was all " double-decked , " and that

      spindle after spindle was to be worked by " mules , " and that the strong man that could do the work of two , with a boy to help him , would only be required to manage each , and that they would have to pay for the boy . Well , what could we do ? We had families , and couldn't let them starve ; and so we were obliged to work on at any price that was offered ; and we were too poor to support the surplus created by machinery , and so , as you observe , they became a competitive power ; and when the good trade came again , there was the machinery already to work , with the least possible attendance , and then , when there would have been otherwise work for all to supply the temporary demand , machinery competed against us .

      Smith . —Well but , Jackson , I assure you , upon my word and honour , conscientiously , and as a country _gentleman , that for some years previous to ' 42 the masters were losing . Jackson . —Mr . Smith , I don't wish to contradict you , but I beg leave to differ with you upon the meaning of the term . If by losing , you mean that you couldn't calculate your profit so nicely after every market-day , I may agree with you ; but taking them in the lump , 1 think present appearances fully justify me in coming to the conclusion that you have taken pretty good care of yourselves , and that you so managed matters as , upon the balance of the " whole account , not to be losers . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , you must not argue the case from my position as anindividual .

      Jackson . —No , sir , I wont . I will argue it from the general condition of the master-class , and then what do I find ? Why , that immediately after confidence is restored , and trade becomes good , the masters are enabled to abstract nearly two hundred millions of money from trade—mind , from trade , Mr . Smith—still preserving stock aud capital ; and to invest that sum in railroads , building , mining , purchase of land , and all sorts of other speculations . Smith . —O but , Jackson , yon are in error ! The masters alone have not been the parties who invested that amount in speculations . All other classes have had a share in them . Jackson . —Pardon me , Mr . Smith , the labouring class that created all , have had no share in them ; so that you see your bad markets led to reductions against which * we couldn't contend , and unproved machinery compelled us to submit to a continuance of those reductions when trade revived .

      Smith . —Well , Jackson , I confess there ' s much sound reason in your arguments . 1 have known very many large masters whose dissipation and expensive families I thought must ruin them , and yet , wonderful to say , they have become rich . Yes , indeed , I am sure I have been often shocked when business has driven me to meet a customer at any ofthe hotels , to see tbe bar-parlour at all hours of the day and night filled with masters smoking cigars , and drinking glass after glass of brandy and water ; and as to Manchester , the dissipation there is beyond all

      conception . Jackson . —Well , Mr . Smith , you see , then , that dissipation is not confined to the working classes , and that the dissipation of the masters neither reduces them to starvation nor prevents them from educating and providing for their families . So , sir , you must naturally suppose that some portion of the working classes would , if able , discharge their duties to their families , And just see how machinery precludes the possibility of it . You have said , sir , that women ought to " be instructed in domestic pursuits , lndee d I think I can repeat your words ; they were very forcible , you

      said—Along with tins species of instruction , it would he of the utmost importance to teach females many useful arts -, in particular those which bear on domestic economycookery , cleanliness , needlework , and the rearing of children . To bring up children with good habits is iu itself a matter demanding the most careful attciuiou of parents . Now , sir , I fully agree with those sentiments ; but give me leave to ask you how , under the present _svsteni , women can discharge those domestic functions ? How can they possibly devote their whole day to unnatural toil in a cotton mill , and _discharge then ' family duties ? Smith . —Jackson , that ' s v . wug—it ' s very wrong . That ' s a thing that shouldn't be allowed .

      Jackson . —No , sir , it shoidd not be allowed ; but then if you admit the value in after-life of early _training under the mother ' s watchful eye , and if you deprive the rising offspring of that salutary protection , em yon expect any other result than those abominations of which yon complain , and which 1 deeply dep lore ? And is it not machinery that drives man from the labour market , and enables the master to substitute the more pliant female , when she shoidd be attending to those domestic pursuits ? Is that , then , not a cause of dissipation , and is it not an effect also of machinery ? Nay more , sir , you have condemned

      early marriages , but what can be more likely to lead to them than displacing man from his natural position and placing woman in his situation ? If young men may be brought to philosophise upon the evils of early marriage , as you would wish them , you cannot bring young females , with hot blood in their veins , to calculate so nicely . And being made valuable in the market , may it not happen that their wage , rather than their affections , is the thing courted by the young man who has become a reluctant idler ? Smith . —Upon my word , Jackson , you astonish me Do you know that 1 never gave those important subjects a thought before .

      JacKSon . —Well , sir , hence I shew you the impossibility of the mother discharging those duties required at her hands ; and then ( see the injustice , nay , the palpable indecency of compelling old and young , male and female , robust and weakly , to rise at the same hour , eat at the same hour , work nearly the same hours , aud only the same hours allowed to _' all for rest . Now , sir , I am not an improvident man . No man ever saw me drunk . I was never absent when I could get a day ' s work . My wife worked in Grub ' s mill , and was obliged to pay a kind of step-nurse to take care ofthe children while she was at work , and I have never been able to keep her at home—never been able

      to spare wherewith to givemy children any education Just as 1 often hoped to do a ' littlc for them , we have been obliged to try and live when we were idle , until we got employment again . And then , sir , nearly every working man in England lives from hand to mouth , and are thereby compelled to accept any terms that the masters choose to offer , and as you " see the working classes are not now able to stand one week unemployed ; and yet you wonder that hungry men , who are able and willing io work , should prefer looking for some general remedy for all those grievances , to starving tamely while all above them have more than thev know what to do with .

      Smith . — "W ell certainly it is a most deplorable situation for the working classes to be in , but why not look for free trade as a remedy , and open the markets ofthe world to British industry ? Just see what an impetus the free exportation of machinery has given to the mechanics' trade ? And whv not give all other manufactures an equal chance ?

      The Chambers* Philosophy Refuted. Labour...

      Jackson . —Free trade is moonshine ! Mr . Smith . Open all the ports to-morrow , and by that day twelvemonth machinery will have closed them , and have blocked up _cverj- available avenue . The free exportation of machinery is but burning the candle at both ends . The law which allows free exportation of machinery is but young , and yet so great have been the improvements in manufacturing machinery by niachincrv , that the working mechanics are deprived of those advantages which would have otherwise flowed from the traffic . And you must also bear in mind , sir . that the extension of that trade is , day after day ,

      limiting the great advantages which British manufacturers anticipate from free trade . Surely , sir , you cannot be ignorant of the progress that all the nations ofthe earth are malting in the art , and England cannot suppose that those foreign capitalists will tamely submit to be ruined bv cheap English produce . You must know full well , that the same influences produced here by a class , will be put in operation by the same classes in other countries , and further , that the influence of that class must be always greater in countries where land is cheap than where land is dear ? .

      Smith . —Then , Jackson , you don't advocate a repeal ofthe Corn Laws ? And do you know , that since I have had time to consider the subject , my opinions upon that head have undergone great alteration . What will be the effect of a repeal of the Corn Laws upon tlie land at home , Jackson ? Jackson . —Whv , sir , a general stagnation of all pursuits . The landlords wouldn't reduce rents until it was toolate . The farmers wouldn't employ labourers ; and , as a matter of course , the agricultural labourers would all flock to the manufacturing market . There would be a general scramble , and I think that , instead of shooting one another or killing one another , the working classes , operatives , and agriculturists would level every mill in the country , and demand the land as the readiest means of subsistence .

      Smith . —Good God , Jaekson , is that really your opinion ? Jackson . —Itis , sir , my confirmed opinion ; for talk as you may , and reason as you will , you never can drive the belief out ofthe heads of the people , that that which docs their work , while they are starving , istheir greatest enemy ; and you'll mark my words , sir , that before two . veal's pass over your head , Sir Robert Peel will he compelled to tell the fund * holders that they must compound , because machinery consumes nothing , while he cannot reach the profits made of it bv the few . Smith . —Well , Jackson , I hope if that time ever does come , that the working classes will be forbearing , for certainly they have suffered great hardships . Jackson . —Yes , sir , I'll wan-ant they'll never kill or shoot each other when that time comes . Smith . —You see how necessary education would be , then , Jackson .

      Jackson . —Yes , sir , and while you talk ofthe want of it , and deplore the existence of immorality , isn't it shocking to contemplate that the English Church establishment , whose principal duty it is to inculcate morality and diffuse education , should receive annually the sum of £ 9 , 459 , 565 , while the people are taunted with ignorance and immorality . It is not wonderful , sir , that the English people should be ignorant when their education costs annually less than the support and education ofthe Queen ' s horses 1 Smith . —Jackson , I will once more repeat for you what I consider to be the main causes of distress .

      I will speak candidly . I acknowledge , with great pain , there is a _consjderahle amount of destitution demanding compassion and alleviation . By a concurrence oi causes , general and particular , _lavgfe numbers of the lahouring population have got into a condition of considerable embarrassment and suffering—from want of education , abandonment to bad habits , and loss of selfrespect , perhaps natural incapacity to compete with more skilful neighbours , also by fluctuations constantly increasing the mass of destitution in ouv large towns . The misfortunes and imprudences of the higher order of workmen and the mercantile classes , also cause much destitution , and swell the numbers of the unemployed .

      It is very much owing to the offers of this unemployed and half-famishing body of individuals that wages are kept down or reduced . On the principle of "better half a loaf than no bread , " they will gladly take something below the current rate of payment . Hence the vast crowds of poor needle-women who offer to make shirts at three-halfpence each ,-of lads clamouring to be employed as apprentices , of wandering paupers who are glad to work for the barest means of subsistence . You see that it is tlie unemployed who determine tlie rate of wsges . _TVhether these unemployed be men dismissed in consequence of a slackness of trade , or be new hands , the same result follows .

      Jackson . —Now , Mr . Smith , you have furnished me with a long list of those causes which you admit lead to destitution , and can you point out one single one that is not of an artificial nature , and created by an artificial system ? You would enforce them as charges against the working classes , and denominate them causes ; while I contend that they are grievances which they cannot resist , and are consequences of causes over which they have no controul at present . But , sir , as you have admitted that a dependent surplus , created either by bad trade or improved machinery , is'the great power in the hands of the masters , and the greatest enemy of labour , I

      ask yon , sir , in fairness and reason , according to the laws of nature , and rules that govern human transactions , even according to those self-protecting regulations by which the masters make themselves safe against all contingencies , is it not reasonable that the working classes should devote their undivided attention to the means by which this surplus may be so provided for as to be taken out ol the hands of the masters' ? Smith . —Well , Jaekson , perhaps I may admit that , but then two questions arise—first , as to how the evil is to be met ; and , secondly , jf correction is practicable , by whom is it to be administered ? for you know the old

      saying" Better keep the ills we have , Than fly to those we know not of . " Jackson . —True , sir , butcan you paintahell blacker than the present , even as depicted by yourself ; for you speak of men , whole classes indeed , receiving from £ 3 to £ 3 10 s . a week , being dissipated and wholly abandoned to vice ; indeed your words are—So common , indeed , is it to see men with moderate wages saving , and men with large wages extravagant , that many persons have come to the conclusion that high wages prove a curse more than a blessing . The curse , however , is brought on tho workmen entirely by themselves .

      Now , ? ir , if _Iacquiesccdin thissweepingcharge , and absurd aud ridiculous conclusion , that high wages was rather a curse than a blessing , wc must infer as a matter of course—that is , if vice is not hereditary , and the exclusive patrimony ofthe working classesthat large fortunes also are a curse rather than a blessing , and your reasoning would fully justify a recourse to " equal distribution . " Then , as to the evil , sir , you admit it ; and that the people themselves arc the only parties likely to correct it , must be inferred , for this grievance docs not come in to that category of evils to which you would apply any legal remedy ; and , sir , to deal with this surplus , and to make it available to national purposes , instead of to tho interests of masters , is now the grand and

      allabsorbing consideration with the working classes themselves . And hence you find all those sectional and mere class questions , to whieh the consideration of the trades were confined , giving way to the more sweeping combination by which they hope unitedly to master the evil . The surplus of each craft is now pressing hardly upon the employed of its class ; and the very moment that the privations of that surplus , becoming daily augmented , are insufferable ; then , sir , will all the sections of labour combine in one general struggle against their oppressors . This is the great tendency of the age , sir ; but the rules of your mill _having denied me the right to confederate for protection ot my labour , I am not acquainted

      with the details of combination ; the next branch of the subject to be argued , and as old Robin lias been a leading man in all trades'movements , perhaps you will have no objection to hear what he has to say upon the general principle ? _rimith . —No , upon my honour , Jackson , I have not the slightest objection to hear old Robin , for , as I said before , I think we ought to hear both sides of the question , and I really dosec nogoodorsufficientreason why the working classes should not combine to keep up wages as well as the masters to keep up profits ; especially when I remember reading in Chambers ' Journal , of 1 S 33 , that it was the opinion of the Messrs . Chambers , "that it ' was xor onlv the

      INTEREST OF THE WORK 1 . VG _ME . V TO COMBI . VE , BUT THAT IT IS A NATIO . VAL ADVANTAGE TO DO SO . " Jackson . —Good God , sir , you don't mean to say that those were Chandlers' words ? Smith , —Yes , but _iudced I do , for the conversation that I have had with you and old Robin led me to a closer investigation of those matters , and I have been since reading many admirable tracts in Chambers ' Journal upon the rights of labour , and the duty ofthe working men to combine . Jackson . —Well , sir , you do astonish me . But it ' s only another instance of the many enemies that the people have to contend with . They nourish many vipers in their breast to sting them , and , in spite of past warning , they still go on , giving power and influence to their greatest foes , and look coldly and suspiciously upon their best friends . Smith . —Well , Jackson , I presume you have now

      closed vour observations upon machinery , and I shall be glad to see Robin whenever the old man can toddle up to " Shoddy Hall , " or I'll send my gig for him if he should think it too far to walk . Jackson . —Thank you , sir . And now , as the thread of our dialogue has been somewhat broken , I beg to submit a summary of my objections to machinery . Firstly , the application of inanimate power to the production ofthe staple commodities of a country must inevitably depreciate the value of manual labour , and every depreciation of the value of man ' s labourin an equal dcgreelowers the workingman in the scale of society , as well as in his own esteem ; thus making him a mere passive instrument , subservient to any laws that the money classes may choose to inflict , to any rules the owners may impose , and satisfied with a comparative state of existence , I object to

      The Chambers* Philosophy Refuted. Labour...

      machinery , because , without reference to the great questions of demand and supply , the masters can play with unconscious labour as they please , and always deal themselves the trumps . I object to machinery , because it may be multiplied to an extent whereby manual labour may be rendered altogether valueless . I object to machinery , because under its existing operation you admit the necessity of emigration , better ventilation , education , improved morality , manners , habits , and customs of the working _cjpsses , thereby showing that a state of recklessness , ignorance , want , and depravity exists ; which , as 1 before said , you admit to be consequences of the present system . I object to machineiy for this reason : Mr . Grab , in Devil ' s Dust , employs 4 , 000 hands , and in 1841 , after two bad markets , he reduced the hands and

      upon an average three shillings a week each ; since then he has come lower . And now observe , sir , the reduction that this one master had the power to make , and that the hands had no power to resist , gave him an annual sum of £ 31 , 200 , without reference to any other speculation ; and for the three last years has given Mm £ 93 , 600—a sum out of wliich those from whom it was plundered might have lived comfortably through the present distress . All are alike ; and if all do not employ 4 , 000 men , and cannot have an equal amount of profit upon individual niching , each set of hands has its tyrant to deal with , aud equally suffers from the infliction . I object to machinery from the injustice that it imposes even upon vou , sir , in your present state . Smith . —Upon mc , Jackson ! How—how—ho w can

      machinery affect mo now ? Jaekson . —Why , sir , Grab , and the others that have squeezed the life ' s blood out of the poor , and that have coined infants' sweat andmaiTowintogokhnowtell them to go to the land for support , and to look to the poorrates for subsistence . I object to machinery , because it leads to commercial tariffs and regulations in all the countries of the world , wliich affect the price of my labour , and over which I have no controul . I object to machineiy , because , although it cheapens produce , it cheapens labour so much more , that 1 am less able with my earnings to buy the cheapened produce . I object to machinery , because , while each improvement diminishes the value of my labour , the national debt , for the payment of which that labour is pawned , increases in an inverse ratio ; for every shilto

      ling taken off my wages I have two additional pay in support of this burthen . I object to machinery , because it prostitutes man , and displaces him from that exalted situation which nature designed him to occupy . Instead of being the controller of his household , and the support of his wife and family , he is as lumber in the corner , dependent upon the labour of his wife . Instead of supporting his family when he ' s unemployed , the bit he eats from the scanty meal of the children is grudged him , and from despair he either betakes himself to dissipation , which prematurely hurries him to the grave , or , tired of existence , commits a crime to avoid the workhouse , which expatriates bun from his country . I object to machinery , because it has made one of my children a dwarf and another a crinolo . I object to machinery ,

      because it subverts all the rules of nature and nature's God . With a seemly and frugal life , the number of years promised to me is three score and ten , and how old would you take me to be , Mr . Smith ? Smith . —Why perhaps turned of fifty , or handy on towards sixty : I ' m fifty myself , and you look some years older . Jackson Ah , sir , I am not yet thirty-four . I commenced with you at nineteen j so you see , sir , what ravages that hard labour , which you tell me is nothing to the toil of fox-hunting , ' has made upon' me ; while all that " mental anxiety" of which y ou complain still leaves 3-011 the gait and appearance of manhood , aye , and even the blush of youth . I object to machinery , because overlookers render themselves the more acceptable to their employers by tyranny ,

      coercion , lying , slander , hypocrisy , cruelty , "fines , " " batings , " stoppages , and plunder of every sort . Smith . —Yes , yes , Jackson , I do remember—I well remember , that Squint was always the first to recommend a reduction , and always appeared most happy when the fines , and batemeiits , and stoppages were largest . Jaoksoa . —I object to machinery , because I find that each " extension" leads to increased reduction ; and because the cheaper the produce of my own labour becomes , the more difficult I find it to purchase . I object to machineiy , because I cannot calculate upon any certainty , even of existence , from day to day . I object to machinery , because , while in employment I may be induced to vent a house upon the supposition that that employment will continue , and because ,

      wliile out of work ' , I am obliged to pay the same rent that I compounded to pay out of constant employment . I object to machinery , because it huddles thousands and tens of thousands into large and filthy towns and cities , where temptation is ever in tho way of youth , and dissipation the only resource of the unwilling idler . I object to machinery , because it has made character of no value ; because I am surrounded by an unhealthy atmosphere ; because I never see a green field—because I never see a tree , or hear a bird singing on its branches . 1 object to machinery because it compels me to live from hand to mouth , thought of preserving a wretched existence for another hour of misery absorbing all other considerations . I [ object to machinery , because , after a hard week ' s incessant toil , my ooor wife is compelled to

      bustle her way through the market , thronged with slaves , to buy the refuse provisions that have been pawed through the day by her betters , who had the first of the market , out of her sweat . I object to machineiy , because , when my children have come home blistered and smarting from the stripes of the overlooker ' s knout , I have gnashed my teeth in spite , and cherished a father ' s vengeance in my breast , while the dread of starvation baulked me of a righteous satisfaction . I object to machinery , because I would like to reverence and adore my God , to love my neighbour , to honour and obey the laws , and all _wlio are appointed to execute them ; but my ragged condition forbids me to enter the hoiue of God ; my neighbour sees in me a competitor in the labour market , and looks upon me as an enemy ; the laws crush me , and those who are appointed to execute them punish mc

      if I complain . I object to machinery , because its never-varying motion , with whieh I am compelled to keep pace , enforces a monotony of labour destructive of strength , injurious to health , and blunting to the faculties of man . I object to machinery , because it is man ' s curse , while 1 would hail it as a blessing if it was made man ' s holiday , by lessening that toil for which it has become the substitute , without _. _dein-iving nieof the means of existence . I think , sir , I have now accounted for female ignorance of domestic duties ; for the want of early training and after education ; for dissipation , dissatisfaction , immorality , and discontent ; for the existence of labour combinations ; for early marriages ; the necessity of emigration ; better ventilation ; poor-houses , increased poor-rates , increased police force , increased taxation , and increasing hostility between the classes that rule and riot , and those that are ruled and

      starve . Smith . —Upon my honour you have , Jackson , and you have placed the matter in a light that I never saw it in before . Good bye , Jackson . Perhaps this trifle may increase your Christmas cheer , and I shall expect to see you aud Robin at twelve to-morrow . Jackson . —I thank you , sir , and we'll be with you . Good morning , sir . ( To be continued . )

      Agriculture An& F^Orttctiltuw

      _Agriculture _an & _f _^ _orttctiltuw

      The Rotatioh Of Crors.—All Crops Exhaust...

      The Rotatioh of CRors . —All crops exhaust a soil , and the whole art of manuring is , to return the ingredients and restore the soil to its fertility , whereby the same crops can be again grown . And if , as _Boussjngault has well written , wc could procure an unlimited supply of manure and labour cheap , there would be no necessity for following out any system of rotation—there would be no fear of want of manure— _, and the business of the former would he to calculate the probable value of his harvest against the expense of manure and labour . This is exactly what takes

      place in gardening , but on large farms it has been found that too largo crops cannot be raised off ground without the outlay more than counterbalancing it _. It has been found necessaiy , then , to adopt some regular system , and instead of additional manure , to alter the crop each year , and this system has been called the " Rotation of Crops . " On the model farm of Glassncvin , under tho Commissioners of National Education , and superintended by the intelligent agriculturist , Mi ' . Skilling , two systems of rotation are followed . The four-crop system consists til 9 acres laid down in fields of 4 acres 3 roods each . The

      fivecrop rotation consists of 30 acres in fields of C acres each . It is laid down in these two systems to show the pupils the practical -working of both _svatcma ; wore it not so , the whole would be laid down in the five-crop rotation . The crops raised by the fourcourse shift are—1 st year , Mangold wurtzel , turnips , die . 2 nd „ Oats . 3 rd „ Artificial grasses , rye grass , and clover , 4 th „ Wheat The five-crop rotation is as follows : — 1 st year , Potatoes , turnips , mangold wurtzel , & e . 2 nd „ Oats . '

      3 rd „ Grass pasture , some reserved for hay . 4 th „ Italian and perennial rye grass and clover . 5 th ,, Wheat or barley . This is well suited for light soils , and well adapted for raising food for cattle ; the four-crop shift is better suited for strong , heavy soils , able to bear much cultivation . The three-crop shift is what is adapted for small farms close by a market-town , inasmuch as more cattle can be kept on the same quantity of land

      than by any other rotation , there being two green crops and one grain crop , viz : —' 1 st year , Potatoes and turnips . 2 nd „ Wheat and barley sown down with grass , 3 rd „ Cutting grass . The whole art of adopting a good system of rotation depends upon suiting the crops to the nature of tlie soils , and varying them with each other , so that while the greatest amount of produce is raised off the ground , still that the soil shall not sutler to an undue extent , Thus , after cropping corn off a soil , a quan-

      The Rotatioh Of Crors.—All Crops Exhaust...

      tity of phosphates and nitrogen has been abstracted _returningthe straw in the shape of dung _^ storesthc _Sts abstracted , while the nitrogen may . be returned bv _irrowinc green crops ; and these additions can _ne Sale whL a crop of . food is . actually being taken from the same soil , thus saving the loss arising from a naked fallow . — Antisell ' s Agricultural Chemistry . Carrots sown with Oats— I have a field which , three years since , was so wet that it was considered of little value ; I had it drained and laid-down , ploughing in a mixture of lime , bog-stuff , and salt , _ityildedafair crop of hay the second year j and last year , not considering it sufficiently drained , and not liking the grass on it , I determined on again breaking it up ; and late in the season ( say _heb _^ arvf I haa _' ifc well drained and subsqiled in

      addition _, egbteen inches deep , done hrst Dywuung « m eight inches in breadth withthe common plough having men following with the spade , who throw up the subsoil , so as to cover what the p ough turned . My neighbours took tho liberty of predicting ; tha ; it would not produce me a crop of oate nevcrthe ess without further ploughing , I sowed it wrtn mac _* oats , at the rate of sixteen stones to the acre , and in a few perches of it I sowed carrot seed red and white ) through the oats ; on the part where the earrot seed was sown I threw a few loads ot lime matter from the gas works ; the whole was put in at Sie same time under the harrow , and rolled . _Isow for the results . I had a good crop of oats on tlie whole fieldwliich was reaped in August , anil an

      , the field , save where nine perches of carrots grew , was ploughed up , got a good liming , was sown with vetches and rape transplanted , which are now doing well ; and last week I had sixty-six stones ot carrots dug out of the nine perches , weighed without the tops . I can readily get 8 d . per stone for the carrots , which make the produce ± ¦ 1 1 ° One man five days digging them out . 4 s . 2 d . ; but allow half the expense for having the ground so Well dug , 2 s . Id . I put the tops ofthe carrots against the labour ot a woman cutting them off ; so the expense will be , for seed lid . per lb £ 0 3 0 Labour 0 2 1

      £ 12 5 Put £ 20 per acre , besides the oats . Make what use you please of this information . P . S . —Since writing the above , I recollect that I put about 120 gallons of liquid manure on the carrots after the oats were cut . —J . R . — Farmers' Gasctte . Extraordinary Wheat Crops . —A correspondent of the Norwich Mercury communicates the following account of some extraordinary crops of wheat : —'' The land ( _undsr five acres ) lies in _Haddisburgh , contiguous to a homestead belonging to G . Wilkinson , North Walsham , whose intelligent steward , Duckcr , took the greatest possible pains to ascertain the exact quantity produced , and also the exact measurement

      ofthe field , toobviatc any doubt as to the perversion ot truth . It was Spalding wheat , and tho product one hundred and ten coombs two bushels , being nearly twenty-two coombs ( a coomb is four bushels ) and a _ffialf per acre . Such a productive crop has never been produced from any given quantity of land within the memory ofthe oldest Norfolk agriculturist , and many years may elapse before a similar instance can lie recorded . ' The east of wheat in this neighbourhood generally , the product of this year , is really excellent . Mr . R . Cully , Racton , has some land which produced seventeen coombs per acre , and land in this and the adjoining village of Wilton , belonging to Lord Wodchouse , which generally produces eight or nine coombs , and last year only fromfivoor seven , has this ' year

      produced twelve coombs per acre . The east and quantity of the barley , which was considered likely to have been extremely indifferent , has proved quite the contrary . " Lime . —Lime , whether quick or carbonated , acts in a _two-fold capacity , mechanically and chemically . Much ofthe advantage derived from its application to clayey soils is due to its physical propert y of lessening the tenacity and increasing the porosity of the original soil : so , also , by applying marl to sandy soils , it serves to bind them more together , and make them more retentive of moisture , it is in this way said to be cooling to hot lands ; but if fresh lime be wished to be applied to sandy lands , it is well to mix it previously with a little clay , lest , when the soil is any

      way wet , it would combine with its sand , and form a gritty mortar , rendering it difficult to be worked . This mechanical effect is well obtained when the form in which the lime is apph ' edis either calcareous sand , gravel , or shell ; these last , on stiff land , open and loosen the clods , and allow the young roots to shoot their radicles in every direction . Where a soil is destitute of calcareous ingredients , lime acts beneficially by becoming one of its earthy components ; to soils , " however , which are nearly or entirely destructive of vegetable matter , it is absolutely injurious , and it is in this way its" application to over-wrought

      soils that we explain its hurtful effects on some lands . The chemical effects of lime are various , and are chiefly exerted on the organic matters contained in the soil ; when in the caustic state it is destructive of animal and vegetable life , hence its utility as an application . When weeds arc to be got rid of , its action on dead vegetable matter is somewhat different ; in some grounds , especially those which arc moist , this vegetable matter , instead of going through the regular process of decay , and terminating by the evolution of certain gaseous combinations , stops short , forms a compound—a solid substance , which is quite insoluble in water . —Agrindtural Chemistry .

      Cottagers _Gabdess . —If the cottager wishes to have a dish of Sea-kale towards the beginning or middle of February , now is the time to make preparation for obtaining it . If a small quantity of leaves can be collected for the purpose of mixing with a little stable dung or other litter , which will cause a gentle fermentation to take place , there will be little difficulty in effecting this object . Let the roots be covered with tolerably large flower-pots ; anv old partly-broken pots or other material that will ' keep the manure off the tender shoots are suitable for the purpose . On these shake a sufficient depth of fermenting material to raise a heat of from liftv degrees to sixty degrees . The heat may lie less , biit should not exceed sixty degrees , or the stems will be weakly

      drawn . In the same manner Rhubarb may also be produced early ; but in the case ofthe cottager possessing a warm dark room or cellar , where potted roots can be placed , Rhubarb may be produced with greater certainty , and with less trouble . At this season , under the constantly varying weather , little can be done in the garden . ' In light dry soils , however , a small sowing of the early-frame Pea may be made ; they will come in a little earlier than those sown in spring . Raspberries and all kinds of fruittrees , may now be pruned . With regard to the former , which produce their fruit entirely on the previous year ' s wood , the old shoots should be removed , and four or five of the strongest of the young ones tied up in their plants , cutting clean off by the root all

      tne rest ot the young shoots . After they are tied up to the stakes , shorten them to four feet in _height In exposed situations , a good way of training Raspberries is to tie the points of one-half ofthe shoots on the stools respectively with each other , thus forming arches , which have rather a neat appearance . Tho « e cottagers who possess a frame , containing a few choice plants , should keep a sharp look-out for insects ; for m winter , the plants being comparatively _mactivej cannot readily put forth fresh leaves to compensate for all destroyed . K <> cn every thing inside the frame as'dry as possible and give air every day when not too cold . Carnations Ao not require much water at this _season _, especially if the soil in which they are wintered is of a rather c _. ose texture . — -Auriculas . Take care that those plants get no drip , and that the coverinjr _. whether glass « prepared calico .- is perfectly _watcftight-Pannes Those , wintered in soil of t ' oo rich a nature have suffered most . Thesewith late lanted

      , p ones , have sustained a severe check . _Pansies , in order to stand the severity ofthe weather , with little or no covering , ought not to bo of too _groas » habit . Look over the seedling beds , as the roots of many will be thrown out by the frost ; these must be very " carefully replanted . —Tulips will now each succeeding week be getting nearer to the surface ; some slight protection will be necessary where they are grown for exhibition , in order to prevent all possibility of injury to the embryo bloom . Hoops over the beds , on which mats may be thrown , will be sufficient . Where the roots are not of so much consequence a few leaves will prove equally efficacious . —Pinks may be sheltered with small pieces of Spruce Fir-boughs stuck round the beds . In snowy weather rabbits and hares devour them with avidity where they happen to be exposed to their depredations . Continue to turn over , and make composts at every opportunity .

      &T\Mt? Nfflj Slit*

      _& t \ mt ? _nfflj Slit *

      Institute Oy The Fine Arts.—On Saturday ...

      Institute _oy the Fine Arts . —On Saturday evening last the first general meeting for the present season of the members of the Institute was held in the great room of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi Mr . F . G . _Hurlstone , who presided , explained the objects of the meeting to a numerous assemblage of artists and others , and described the advantages likely to bo derived to the fine a rts of the eountry , and to artists , from the formation of the Institute , Since their last meeting it had been determined by the council that for the future ladies should be admissible to the meetings . By allowing ladies to participate in the instruction afforded , it had been thought that the advancement of the fine arts would be promoted , and the council had resolved that every member shoidd have the privilege of _introducing n i *< i « _«¦*

      each meeting ( Hear ) The minutes of the as meeting were then read by Mr . Fahey , the honorary _sencary . Eighty-nine members had been admitted since the last meeting making the present number of members 370 . Mr . Foggo then read a papS vn answer to the remarks of Mr . Hallani , in the Third Report of tlie Royal Commission of Fine Arts on Sic selection of subects for the decoration o Ve _S Houses of Parliament ; and Mr . Fahcv _afterwards roadtheatldrcss ofthe council , from wlffit nj pcarcd that the success of the exertions of L Imt I tutc in extricating art . unions from the dlfficultt

      Institute Oy The Fine Arts.—On Saturday ...

      under which they had been placed , and procuri ngn legislative enactments for their protection , had _beeffen approved by the great body of artists throughout thih kingdom . The Institute was now forming a libraryjy and manV works of art had already been prese nted . _^ The prize of £ 20 for the best essay on history , _litcnuw ture . and present state of the fine arts in Great _!]« , _« . tain , had been awarded to Mr . George hoggo p eti . ti „ _tions had been presented to Parliament for thehe formation of a national gallery of casts from the _besfcssfl specimens of ancient and modern sculpture , and it ifl was hoped the prayer of them would be granted by by the Legislature . Mr . Buss read a paper on tlie im . u portance of building capacious studios for artists , inio which great works could be executed ; a college forbc built with eftect in

      such purposes might be good _thelic _neighbourhood of Belgrave-sqiiare ; and Mr . StanleyBy read a paper on tho state of the arts at Munich . 4 A resolution expressing the satisfaction ot the meeting ig at the conduct of the council , and one of thanks toto the chairman , having been passed , the company _septv- _iirated at half-past ten o ' clock . Remarkable _Operatiox for tue Cure op Cox . * . SCMFriox . —The Medical Gazette contains a _longigarticle from the pens of Dr . Hastings and Ml ' . Roberfcrfc Storks , surgeons , descriptive of a remarkable opera- iu tion for the cure of consumption , by the perforation > t ofthe cavity of the lung through the walls of the . e chest . It consists in making an opening between tlicic ribs into the cavity which forms m tho lung duvingig

      the latter stages of consumption . The _iminetliata _iai effects of the operation ( which requires only a few w seconds in its performance , and which causes but it slight pain ) in the case in question was the _dimum- ition ofthe frequency of the patient ' s pulse , which h fell in twentv-four hours from 120 toC 8 ; freedom of if respiration , which had been a very distressing symp . » . torn ; loss of cough and expectoration , _boln of whichh had been very severe . This operation , which has . s established the possibility of curing this hitherto fatal d disease , appears to have been completely successful ;; the report of the condition of the patient a month a after its performance being , that he was rapidly y regaining his llcsh and strength , whilst his respiration a had become natural , his pulse had fallen to 80 , and 1 his cough and expectoration had wholly ceased .

      Potass _anu Soiu _coxTAiXEU ix Sea Water . —M , ! . Balford states that , by processes discovered by him ,, and now employed in the south of France , he could ,, notwithstanding the contrary opinion announced by y Murray and Wollaston , obtain from sea-water am indefinite quantity of sulphate of soda , and enough 1 potass for all commercial wauls . _Fui'thcr , that if the . ? efforts he is now making be crowned with success ' ,, the quantity of sulphur obtained from the oxi-sul-. phurct of calcium , hitherto rejected as useless , will ,, perhaps , be sufficient to supplant the solfataras of f Italy . —Medical Times . _CoMwiEssED Am Locomotive . —M . _Andraud ig the ! first person who proposed to substitute compressed 1 air for steam , for the purpose of traction on railways ;;

      he is also the first who put in practice , on an extensive scale , the new dynamic principle , of . which he is the promoter . He related on a late occasion the curious experiments which he made with an air loco _, motive of strong dimensions—experiments whieh have demonstrated the fact , that the problem was completely resolved , at least in a technical point of view ; for it is only by means of a very extensive experiment that wc can know what is to be expected from the employment of air locomotives in a commercial sense . However , this is well known—viz ., that these sort of locomotives cannot work profitably but by the employment of compressed air at a very high degreesav , from eighteen to twenty atmospheres . M . Andraud has just completed his invention , by the disco- '

      very ofthe meana of only employing compressed ait at very low pressures—say , one or two atmospheres At one of the late sittings ofthe Academy of Sciences , M . Arago explained , with much precision and ability , of what this new combination of the inventor consisted . Here , thon , is no locomotive of any description . Like in the . atmospheric system , a trial of which is to bo made at St . Germain , there is between the two rails a long tube extending from one end to the other without interruption ; this tul ) c 1 % flexible , being composed of a strong description of cloth , folded over thirty times , and rendered quite impermeable to the air by means of a dissolution o £ caoutchouc , which forms but one body out ofthe numerous folds . This arrangementiillowsthe motive

      piston outside the cylinder to work , in which the air is liberated : Now , the form of this external liston ( wliich constitutes the basis of the new invention ) is a simple lathe , composed of two rollers , pressed one against the other by means of springs , tlic tension of which may be varied at will by the conductor . Let any one imagine , then , this lathe piston to be fixed at the head of the first or the last waggon of a train , and that the tube of which we have " spoken passes between the two rollers ; it will be then evident that if we introduce compressed air at one extremity of the tube , the other extremity being open , the tube will expand as far as that part where it is pressed by the lathe , and that this lathe being pushed like . piston , will draw with it the waggon to which it is attached , and the whole train likewise . It is also

      clear that the impulse will be so much stronger in proportion as the air is the more compressed , or as the diameter of the tube is the greater . Such is tho new system presented to us by M . Andraud—a system , as we may perceive , exempt of all mechanism , and of extreme simplicity ; this flexible tube having no kind of opening , allows none of the power to be wasted ; it will be of an extremely trifling cost , and easy to be placed in any direction . The small model which M . Andraud has placed before the Academy has worked perfectly . It is said that the Government , who have already assisted M . Andraud in liia operations , will put him in a condition to continue them in a more decisive manner on a line to be provided for him as a specimen . —Journal des _Chemint de Fcr .

      Influence or Oxtoe . v o . _v Health . — A man in ''first-rate condition" from traiuing for prizefighting , or for running , will consume much more oxygen than another man in less vigorous and florid health . And if he be removed from the pure air in which he has been trained , to an atmosphere less salubrious , he quickly loses his activity and energy lhey do not subside , however , sufficiently sudden to correspond with the imperfect oxvgcnation in his lungs ; and that portion of food which was previously consumed 111 these organs , and converted into carbonic acid and water , is now deposited in tlie system as fat . Hence it is that men often become corpulent by exchanging out-door occupation in the country for sedentary employment in the town . In proportion . 13 the circulation is

      quickened , from whatever cause , hi that proportion does a supply of oxygen become requisite . In ardent fevers , for instance , the anxious hasty breathing is a necessary consequence ofthe increased frequency of the pulse . If the air the patient breathes be unnure , and the room ill-ventilated , the malaeyrages with greater violence , and perhaps _communicites itself by infection . Hence the advantage ot roomy apartments and fresh air in the treatment ot levers . 1 < or this reason , also , fevers are move rave m the country , and are less fatal there , than in towns —in the higher , cleanlier , and less populated districts , than m those that are low , ill-ventilated , and aiity—in large and commodious hospitals , than in small ones—on laud than on ship-board , & c—Medical nmes .

      Tub Phenomena of _Colouring—The colour of all organic productions appears to vary with the position those productions occupy ontlieeavth ; for , whilst tho equatorial regions produce tints of the most opposite and beautiful character in the vegetable kingdom , these gradually degenerate in brilliancy , until approaching the limitsof vegetation , where the most prevailing colour is that of white . Not only are flowers thus acted upon by climate , but birds and animals , inclusive oi man himself , arc almost equally influenced by the geographical position they occupy . —Medical Times .

      Ingenious Scheme.—Jean Picard, Who Had B...

      Ingenious Scheme . —Jean Picard , who had been condemned to thirteen months' imprisonment by tho Correctional Tribunal , which sentence he had undergone at the Depot des Condamnes , yesterday ( Friday week ) finished his time , and his order of liberation was signed . At the moment of his departure he officiously _offei'cd to the overseer of workshops to cany to the cart belongingto the contractor for the work a large sack , whieh was filled with finished goods . He got into the cart , where the sack wa s deposited by him at the bottom of the vehicle , which proceeded on its journey . It had scarcely arrived in the middle of the de la

      Rue Roquettc , when , to the great surprise ot the guardians conducting it , and who had also taken their places in the carriage , the sack of _« ood 3 began to make strange movements-an am was _° S romateTs _^ _nTfln 1 * _^ _- ? ' _«* _«» _™ a _££ 5 acmned i £ ? T _™ _?" _^ _™ individual conceX ontovnd _^ ff _""P _^ onmcnt , and who had re-Siinent _Tfc ! TT ° f _^ _" _^ e to fulfil his f ! 32 i ,,, _W _^ at 1 e an agreement with Sod , n _«? hi ! I ™* " _«« in the Mck instead ofthe ~ bv t ! , _- d h ? pC ( l t 0 _^ fortunateenough to cSd S , _™ n Singu l _- _retaat ' without being _per-Sm ik « W _? _- scns _# of suffocation had forced mm to show himself 80 < mhim *™ w . 'in- _«« tfe .

      „ , pSXS _^ ly f _* back to > ison ' _thither Picaid had UkewBotoreturn . -ffosatede « _Tribmaux . J " !! , ! ' !)? _* of AoE .-Died , on Monday ton nf _P _2 ;! _f i _^ e ofl 0 S ' Mr . Morris ThurstZ' _, _l , Gumc ! _^ W _* t , Exeter . The deceased , up to £ ? , _;}? _lr r _TJ ' eWed exce _» _ent health and ho in 1 ° 7 , t ? r _"Pwards of sixty years in tho l : . llc d" _> d , and never till lately allowed _SM « tog 0 111 1 t 0 1 lt ' He was a herbal doctor , and _n _?„™ _Wft * 1 tm'ou £ l 1 Devon , working marvellous _!;„?? * _^ hi s _wcatwrn till within the last _„^ r 1 ? i ' and such was Ms repute , that people applied to him for advice , and received his nostrun' « whilst on his deathbed . He was an alchvmist , and an _aclept in astrology ; and it seemed as if these ancient delusions lingered with him alone . —Exeter Timet . ar at

      _^ End . —The " following advertisement , under the above head , appears in the Times of Friday : — " To the sovereigns of Europe , or their minis try . —The advertiser will engage , by means of his own invention , to destroy or disperse the largest army or fleet in the world , and will demand no remuneration till a demonstration be given . "

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 4, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns4_04011845/page/6/