INTRODUCTION OF GAS LIGHT INTO DUMFRIES. "Na, the like o' that!" said Jenny Bryden. "I wonder what the world 'll come to at last. Gas light they ca't, but elf light wad be a better name. My certy! but there's an unco difference atween a low that needs neither oil, tallow, nor wick, an' a bawbee cannel, an auld cruizie, or a bit fir stick ta en oot o' the moss. My mither, honest woman! was weel eneuch pleased wi' sic a taper; and am doubtin' whether she wad hae been unco fond o' reading her Bible at a witch-light. Puir spunkie! am maist wae for him. His bit dancin' light was cheerie as well as eerie whan twa war thegither, an' no that far frae hame; but he may douce his glim an' gang his wa's hame whene'er he likes, if it be true that the man at the gas-wark can mak' ten thousand spunkies at ae brewin'. A' things hae changed noo." "Ay," said Betty Cameron, "if it's no enchantment, it's unco like it. In place o' being fashed with weeks and creesh, ye just turn about a bit spigot thing, an' oot spoots a light like sour milk out o' a barrel. Changed times indeed! Atween Liverpool an' Manchester the coaches rin their lane; an' noo we hae a bonny clear light, ta'en like water in pipes under the grund, that'll spoot up at ony part ye like, if ye only bore a hole no muckle bigger than a preen-head. Weel, weel, I wish them muckle luck o't; but it'll be a while afore the gudeman catches me darnin' his stockings wi' a witch taper at the chumley lug. The brownies langsyne war very helpfu'; but we've nae use for brownie, noo. The Yediter, as they ca' him, says the only salamander kent noo's the spark bred in the blacksmith's throat, and the only brownie a steam-engine, sic as they hae in the Infirmary at Liverpool, that pumps water, kirns the kirn, washes claes, minches turnips, champs potatoes, and wad even mak' the bed wi' its iron arms if they wad let it. Everything's dune wi' machinery that can be dune, an' a great deal mair than should be done that's what I say."-M Diarmid's Picture of Dumfries. THE SCOTTISH THISTLE.-This ancient emblem of Scottish pugnacity, with its motto Nemo me impune lacessit, is represented of various species in royal bearings, coins, and coats of armour, so that there is some difficulty in saying which is the genuine original thistle. The origin of the national badge itself is thus handed down by tradition :-When the Danes invaded Scotland, it was deemed unwarlike to attack an enemy in the pitch darkness of night, instead of a pitched battle by day; but on one occasion the invaders resolved to avail themselves of this stratagem; and in order to prevent their tramp from being heard, they marched barefooted. They had thus neared the Scottish force unobserved, when a Dane unluckily stepped with his naked foot upon a superbly prickled thistle, and instinctively uttered a cry of pain, which discovered the assault to the Scots, who ran to their arms, and defeated the foe with a terrible slaughter. The thistle was immediately adopted as the insignia of Scotland.-Literary Gazette. LORDS ELDON AND STOWELL.-John Scott, Lord Eldon, was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, and is the third son of William Scott, of that town. His father was by trade what in the language of the place is called a "fitter," or agent for the sale and shipment of coals. He had, by industry and habits of close saving, accumulated rather considerable means from small beginnings. Beyond this he was a man of great shrewdness and knowledge of the world, and quickly perceiving the strong, and what was better, marketable talents of his younger boys, William and John, he wisely gave them an education in accordance with their mental endowments. It is said that the singular variety in the talent of these two remarkable youths was manifested at a very early age. When asked to "give an account of the sermon," which was a constant Sabbath custom of their father, William, the eldest (now Lord Stowell), gave at once a condensed and lucid digest of the general argument and points of the discourse, if it had the good fortune to possess any smack of qualities so rarely to be found in sermons. John, on the other hand, would go into all the minutiae of the harangue, whether long or short; but failed in producing the lucid general view embodied in half the number of words by his brother. And thus were their characters through life; so true to nature is the admirable aphorism of Wordsworth: "The boy's the father of the man." William was from the beginning destined for the study of the law. John, however, was at first intended for the church, a destination which his early marriage was the unfortunate means of changing; and he, together with his brother, set out to fight his way in the world as a young lawyer. The issue of the encounter was not long doubtful; for not only were his education and character, but every previous incident of his life, admirably calculated to fit him for the scenes in which he was destined to act a part.-Tait's Magazine. SHARP ENOUGH ALREADY.-A soliciter, who was remarkable for the length and sharpness of his nose, once told a lady, that if she did not immediately settle a matter in dispute, he would file a bill against her. "Indeed, sir," said the lady, "there is no necessity for you to file your bill, for I am sure it is sharp enough already." NATIONAL PARADOXES.-Somebody once remarked, that the Englishman is never happy but when he is miserable; the Scotchman is never at home but when he is abroad; Irishman is never at peace but when he is fighting. and the NAPOLEON AND THE TWELVE APOSTLES.-The Cabinet de Lecture gives the following anecdote of Napoleon, without pledging itself for its authenticity-if not so, it is at all events very characteristic "Napoleon having entered one of the cities of Italy, the churchwardens recommended to him the 'Sire, will you deign to take our reliques of their church. Apostles under your protection?' Your Apostles! are they of wood? No, sire.' Of what are they, then? Of silver, sire-of solid silver." Solid silver!' replied Napoleon quickly, 'Yes, I shall help them to fulfil their mission; it has been ordained that they should go throughout the world, and they shall. Having said so, the Emperor sent the twelve Apostles to the Mint at Paris." TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMY OF A Cow.-The annual consumption of food per cow, if turned to grass, is from one acre to an acre and a half in summer, and from a ton to ton and a half of hay in the winter. A cow may be allowed two pecks of carrots per day. The grass being cut and carried, will economize it full one-third. The annual product of a good fair dairy cow, during several months after calving, and either summer or winter, if duly fed and kept in the latter season, will be an average of seven pounds of butter per week, from five ta three gallons per day. Afterwards a weekly average of three or four pounds of butter from barely half the quantity of milk. It depends upon the constitution of the cow, how nearly she may be milked to the time of her calving, some giving good milk until within a week or two of that period, others requiring to be dried eight or nine weeks previously. Besides appearing in WEEKLY NUMBERS, the SCHOOLMASTER is published in MONTHLY PARTS, which stitched in a neat cover, contains as much letter-press, of good execution, as any of the large Monthly Periodicals: A Table of Contents will be given at the end at the year; when, at the weekly cost of three-halfpence, a handsome volume of 832 pages, super-royal size, may be bound up, containing much matter worthy of preservation. PART II., containing the five September Numbers, with JOHN. STONE'S MONTHLY REGISTER, may be had of all the Book sellers. Price 9d. For the accommodation of weekly readers, the Monthly Register and Cover may be had separately at the different places of sale. Price One Penny. THE AND EDINBURGH WEEKLY MAGAZINE. CONDUCTED BY JOHN JOHNSTONE. THE SCHOOL. MASTER IS ABROAD.-LORD BROUGHAM. No. 11.-VOL. I. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1832. PRICE THREE-HALFPENCE. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF SCIENCE. ALTHOUGH, in our preliminary address, we stated that one of our chief objects in conducting the SCHOOLMASTER, would be to give as much political information as the state of the laws affecting the press would allow, yet we were fully aware of the great importance of diffusing a knowledge of the Sciences, in general, among the people, and, of course, had no intention of excluding them from our pages. We consider it, however, to be one of man's first duties to make himself acquainted with the political affairs of the world at large, and particularly with those of his own country, and, as a necessary accompaniment, with the general doc. trines of Political Economy. Our reason for wishing information of this kind extensively diffused, is, that the people, having a correct knowledge of their situation, may exercise an intelligent and moral influence over their rulers; and that thus the affairs of the nation may be conducted on just, rational, and equitable principles; because experience tells us that, unless this wholesome influence is exercised, government will be carried on in an unjust, irrational, and oppressive manner. shapen body of the mechanic, confined to certain He, however, who limits his studies to politics, and especially to the mere politics of the day, stops very far short of that degree of intelligence which a person living in the nineteenth century ought to possess. A mere violent, babbling politician, ignorant of every thing else, is a being infinitely inferior to one who, with a competent knowledge of political science, lends his influence, founded on such knowledge, to ameliorate the condition of society, and has, at the same time, a general knowledge of the sciences in general; or, in other words, of the works of the Almighty :-such a being is indeed worthy of the name and Godlike form of man. In the words of Dr. Arnott, "He whose view is bounded by the limits of one or two When we speak of acquiring a knowledge of the small departments, will probably have very false ideas various sciences, we mean, in other words, a geneeven of them, but he certainly will, of other parts, and ral knowledge of the laws of the Almighty. He of the whole, so as to be constantly exposed to who possesses a complete knowledge of the va commit errors hurtful to himself or to others. His rious sciences which relate to matter, has a commind, compared to the well-ordered mind of a pro-plete knowledge of the laws to which matter has perly educated man, is what the crooked and mis-been subjected by the Creator. Water, for instance, has certain properties inherent in it; and it possesses these properties by a law, or laws, of the Almighty. One of its properties is, that it runs from a higher to a lower level; hence we have rivers. Another property is, that when heated to a certain degree, it passes into that wonderful aeriform matter called steam. In like manner, the two metals, copper and zinc, have distinctive qualities; but when combined together in certain proportions, their distinctive qualities cease, and they form that useful and beautiful metal, brass. And this, too, proceeds from laws of the Almighty. The study of science, therefore, is the study of the laws of God; and the investigation of these laws is a duty which we owe, not only to ourselves, but to their divine author. is the knowledge of science, of the laws to which the numerous substances in nature have been subjected by the Almighty, and the power of apply. ing our knowledge to the improvement of our condition, which has placed this country in its pre.. sent proud situation among the nations of the earth. "A man," says Lord Brougham, "having only a pot to boil, is sure to learn from science reasons which will enable him to 'cook his morsel better, save his fuel, and both vary his dish and improve it." We have read of some savages, who, when they were first discovered, did not know even how to "boil their pot," and when they saw their visitors proceed to kindle a fire, and to" boil their pot," the poor savages ran off in terror. These men were therefore almost in total ignor the extremest poverty and wretchedness. But under the head of profit, we may include the benefits which accrue to us in the shape of health, from knowing and obeying God's laws. The enjoyment of health depends to a very great extent on the attention we pay certain laws of our Maker. Many of these yet remain to be discovered-as, for example, the laws which, when obeyed, will make that disease-frightful in the present state of our knowledge-Cholera, turn harmless from our doors. But many of the laws of health are habitually neglected, as in the daily recurring scenes of dissipation, neglecting proper exercise, ventilation, &c., not because they positively are not known, but be cause we have not a sufficiently extensive acquain. tance with the laws of nature in general, and have not attained that all-relying confidence in their invariableness, which a more extensive knowledge of them can alone create. In the Scriptures we have much important in-ance of nature's laws, and they lived in a state of formation conveyed to us, rules of morality laid down, and the will of God revealed, in regard to matters of which, if left to our unaided faculties, we must have for ever remained ignorant. Now, surely no one will deny the benefit to be derived from studying the will of God, as made known to us in the Scriptures; and we conceive that the benefit to be in like manner derivable from studying His will, or laws, as made known to us by science, is only secondary in importance to the other. In both cases, we acquire a knowledge of the Divine will-in the former case conveyed to us in direct terms, because our faculties are too weak to have otherwise made the acquirement-in the latter case we are left to discover them of ourselves, because they are within the reach of our faculties. Some people who fancy themselves very pious and devout, either do, or fain would, interdict from their shelves all books except such as are strictly termed religious; little fancying, in the depths of This ignorance-this contracted view of the their ignorance, that they are thus shewing a con- works of nature, is the cause of the many absurd tempt for, and a dislike to, the works of their notions so prevalent in society. It is this which Creator-those of his works, namely, which are causes us rashly and presumptuously to conceive revealed to us by science. We think that the habit that we can improve on the works of natureof studying science, with a reference to the Divine which causes ladies to imagine that they can imAuthor of the objects we are investigating, is too prove their beauty by contracting their waists onemuch neglected; and that we ought never to for-half, and which causes gentlemen to conceive they get that, while engaged in the pursuit of science, we are investigating the works of God. We conceive, therefore, that it is eminently the duty of the clergy to convey to the people a knowledge of the Divine laws, revealed to us by science, as well as of those which are revealed to us in the Scriptures; and as eminently the duty of the people to spare no labour in acquiring such knowledge;the latter, indeed, is the peculiar province of the Sabbath-the former of the week days. But the benefits derivable from possessing a knowledge of science do not stop here; but, what may perhaps have more influence on many than any other considerations, profit, also follows in their train. The most unthinking must be aware of the benefits which even our present limited knowledge of science has conferred on us in our manufactures, agriculture, &c. The steam..engine is indeed of itself a host. Let it suffice, that it can improve the appearance of their horses by cutting away their tails! The circumference of ladies waists, and the length of horses' tails, were not, however, given without a purpose; and he or she who presumes, with cord or scissors, to improve the one or the other, must infallibly work mischief. It was at one time the custom to cut trees into various fantastic shapes by way of improving their appearance, but this notion has passed away as a know ledge of nature increased; and we hope to see the day when ladies' waists and horses' tails will in like manner be allowed to grow to their natural dimensions. These deviations from Nature do not, however, as those acquainted with the invariable workings of the Almighty's laws would have anticipated, escape the consequences. Medical men tell rapidly increasing among females, and this in consequence of tight lacing! And we have somewhere seen it stated, us that diseases in the spine are that at the commencement of a summer campaign, the horses in the British cavalry used always to be in better condition than those of other countries, but that ere the campaign was half done, they were in the worst condition, and this from want of their tails to drive away the flies! We have thus attempted to show that we ought vigorously to investigate science, 1st, Because we will derive much gratification and improvement from the study; 2dly, Because the study of science is the study of the works of God, and that therefore we are bound in duty and gratitude to make it the subject of our anxious investigation; and, 3dly, Because a knowledge of science will enable us to better our condition. We have only then to add, that we shall occasionally devote a column of the Schoolmaster to investigations in science; and we need hardly add, our explanations shall at all times be of the most popular description, and level to the minds of the least-educated reader. CONDITION OF THE POOR OF ENGLAND. "THE VILLAGE POOR-HOUSE." BY A COUNTRY CURATE. WE conceive ourselves happy in an opportunity of introducing to Scotch readers a poem which the Schoolmaster thinks the most striking publication of the season, both in sabject and execution. It had, we understand, been out of print, before it was even heard of at this end of the island, where, however, it was noticed cursorily, but with high praise, in Tait's Magazine for August. It will make its own speedy way to extensive popularity. The writer, in a neatly turned dedication to Lord BROUGHAM, describes his poem as " an attempt to illustrate the state of feeling amidst the pauper population." A portentous state of feeling that must needs be, if, as we dare not doubt, his descriptions are accurate and faithful. In an introductory epistle to a friend, he says:— "Five years' experience as a country curate, has taught me many painful lessons and many bitter truths. It has shown me a degraded and benighted peasantry, and convinced me that all the descriptions of country life, which we admire in the poets, are only poetical. God made the country, and man made the town.' Alas! God made both, and man defaces both. But when we turn fom the representations of rural life to its reality, we are startled to find the virtues as much banished from the groves as from the crowded alley; and, I grieve to say it, a stronger line drawn between the extremes of society-or, at least, a wider gap between its connecting links, than even in great cities. Was the rural population once happy and contented, as we find them described in books? or was it the surface only that presented this appearance, while misery and discontent lurked unseen below? Men are be. coming progressively enlightened, and acquire a power of feeling their miseries, and of expressing them. My neighbours here charitable, kind hearted and benevolent on all other subjects-have an apathy about the sufferings of the poor which surprises me. They tell me that, thirty year ago, when all the articles of consumption were dearer, their wages were-less,-and still that there were no complaints while the Taries were in power. I am not old enough to know whether this be tre or not, from my own observation; but if it be true that their bery was greater and their complaints unuttered, I can only hail it ma'specimen melioris ævi,' that the poor are beginning to have their claims advocated, and their sufferings attended to." The author then contends for educating the poor, and modestly concludes :— "With regard to the following verses, if they attract any attention to the actual present state of feeling amongst the poor, I shall be quite tisfied. As to the poetry of the performance, the less said the better; petry is too high a word to be applied to any composition of mine." Smith and Elder, London. Pp. G. The poem The poetry, notwithstanding this modest disclamature, is A happy look as e'er was seen-- And shake its blossoms far and wide The old church tower, erect and grey, And half grows holy to the sight. The picture of the church is wound up to point the contrast between the "pensive sinner" and the comfortable Rector. It is Calm, silent, shaded, and serene, Some blessed spot where God has been. To mourn his wicked courses: Here, o'er his "youth's fond errors" weep- His carriage and four horses? The Rectory stands all aloof, (Five acres and a perch.) The porter's lodge, where lives the clerk, When my lady drives from Church; For my lady's knees are so stiff with kneeling, We have next the spruce dwelling of the thriving Attor ney, which, besides its plaster front, verandah, and pilasters, has a gravelled drive, and a high-railed wall; for, the worthy innate -could not endure that his windows should lie The principal gate is always barr'd, But a door leads through the stable-yard, And see!-just over the wall, you can get A view of the roof of his barouchette, And he keeps a green gig for himself besides. 'Tis now the height of summer. The gloomy Village Poor-house comes next, with its miserable inmates, Men-young, and sinewy, and strong, In sloth-for they have nought to do, From the picture of these gnawing miseries, and the black despair of the men and women of the work-house, we have this rapid transition :-- There's a wit at the Parson's board to-day, The ladies blush-at an equivoque --is over and done, And merrily now, as sinks the sun, He quaffs the brown ale till his heart grows kind, And the Farmer hears his complaint with a frown, This farmer is a yeoman bold Of the right modern English mould; To Rector and Squire, with countenance sad, He says tithes are heavy and times are bad. The Rector and Squire at his tale relent, And take off from the tithes and diminish the rent. Again we return to the work-house to have another pauper history and song; impassioned, powerful, and painful-a pauper domestic tragedy. The deep misery of Jack Morley, brutalized by the extreme of want, and the degradation of his un-wedded bride, whom we see but in her grave, are contrasted with the joyous nuptials of that happy pair of industrious persons, the butler and the lady's-maid. The village bells are, on a balmy morning, playing the triple bob-major in honour of a ceremony not opposed by "the prudential restraint." Well, I declare! 'tis a beautiful sight Six pretty maidens dress'd trimly in white, The Butler has two score and ten pounds a-year, The Lady's-maid! she's to be pitied too, To curl up her mistress's hair night and morning- In this way the poem proceeds. Part II. opens with the description of a well-fed, pompous, and slyly sensual clerical magistrate riding to Quarter Sessions, to officiate as Chairman, when his horse is startled in passing the village work-honse door-and It seems so strange to a Magistrate's steed That a pauper should sing, that he's startled indeed; The song is that of Martha Green, an aged female pauper, who sings her yesternight's dreams of her cottage home, and early maternal happiness. This song is replete with pathos and beauty. It was a blessed dream, I look'd and look'd, and as I gazed on each fair boy and girl, Six massive men in sable suit, Of mighty bulk, and hanging brows, All learned men, and fill'd with knowledge, How grave they sit! how wise they look! Where ye may read triangle and line, And their mistresses now have grown "certainly aged." In hopes the old Rector has yielded the ghost, That he's broken his neck by a fall from his horse, 1 Or some morning found " Dead,-by the finger of God ;”— Though thus lavish in quotation, we can give our readers no adequate idea of the force, point, and beauty of this poem-full of rapid and brilliant transitions-its shifting lights brought broadly out by the dark depths of its massive shadows. As a relief to the scenes we have passed, we |