and grandsons of decayed citizens. King Charles II. granted a charter to the Corporation to this effect, empowering them to purchase lands, and to make laws and statutes for the government of the establishment. + The original structure was situated in Queen-street, being 170 feet in length, by 300 in depth. The parliament frequently sat in this house. Becoming decayed, it was determined to rebuild it on its present site at a small distance from the former, and the first stone was laid on the 16th of June, 1773, by Earl Harcourt, Lord Lieute nant. This useful and ornamental building is situated in Black-contract their plan, and confine the charity to the sons hall street, and consists of a centre and two wings. The front of the centre is enriched by Ionic columns supporting a pediment. This part of the building contains apartments for the principal officers, a committee-room, record-room, and board-room. The north wing is the chapel, 65 feet by 32, which is extremely handsome, and over the communion-table is a good painting of the Resurrection, by Waldron. The south wing contains a spacious school-room, of the same dimensions as the chapel, in which were formerly an emblematic picture of the delivery of the charter, and portraits of King William III. Queen Mary, Queen Anne, George II. and Queen Caroline, General Ginckle, Dean Drelincourt, &c. The dining-hall is spacious and commodious, and the dormitories sufficiently extensive and well ventilated. They contain beds for 120 boys, who are well clothed, dieted, and educated, and at a suitable age apprenticed. The corporation of Merchants support a mathematical school in the Hospital, in which boys intended for the sea service are instructed in navigation. Of the 120 boys in the Hospital, 58 are appointed by the Corporation, 50 by the Governors of Erasmus Smith's Schools, 10 by the Bishop of Meath, and 2 by the Minister of St. Werburgh's parish. Above £21,000 have been expended on this building; the annual income is about £4,000 per annum. THE PURSUIT OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE It would be useless to attempt to trace the particular cases in which business may be aided by science and literature. In our own country there is scarcely an individual, from the king on the throne to the poorest mechanic or labourer, who has not some business to perform, and to whom literature and science, in a greater or less degree, would not be an advantage, as respects both his pleasure and profit. The most illustrious persons of all ages were remarkable for uniting the cultivation of their mind with habits of business. Alexander the Great deThis excellent establishment was founded by the Cor-lighted to correspond with Aristotle; slept during his poration of Dublin in 1670, and by the original plan was designed for the reception of aged and infirm reduced citizens of Dublin and their children, and also for the education of the latter. But being unable to accomplish this object of extensive benevolence, they were obliged to VOL. IV. NO. 10. expeditions with Homer under his pillow; and honoured learning wherever he found it. Cæsar is said to have composed his Commentaries-for which he is more justly famous than for all his victories-amid the toil and bustle of his campaigns; and once, when swimming for his life, 73 "that discoveries.* Mr. Gifford, the editor for many years of held them up above the waves, as anxious to preserve ever lived, and enriched science by his investigations and from destruction the best ornament of his fame. Frederic the Great, who nearly all his life had to struggle with a host of enemies, and was peculiarly distinguished by his patient attention to ordinary business, yet found time to converse and correspond with men of learning; to enjoy the pleasures of philosophy, music, and poetry; and left no less than twenty-five octavo volumes of his own works. Biography is full of brilliant names which might be added to this list; but one more shall suffice. It is that of our own Alfred-the glory of his age and the boast of all Englishmen who shone with serene and pure lustre amid the thick darkness of his age, and dispelled for a moment that gloom of ignorance in which our island, with the rest of Europe, was enveloped. "He seems, indeed, to be the complete model of that perfect character, which, under the denomination of a sage, or wise man, the philosophers have been fond of delineating rather as a fiction of their imagination, than in hopes of ever seeing it reduced to practice."* During one of the most stormy periods of our history, when his kingdom was all but lost by the inroads of the powerful Danes, he not only recovered it out of their hands and settled it in a better state than it had ever been before, but acquired by his civil virtues a character worthy to be imitated by, as it must excite the admiration of, all succeeding generations. He, knowing well the value of time, found the means, when clocks and watches were not yet invented, of measuring it by burning wax tapers of an equal length, and divided the twenty-four hours into three exact portions, one of which he spent in sleeping, meals, and exercise; the other two in study, business, and prayer. Though conversant with the best literature of his day, he disdained not to stoop to what was useful; and this patriot-king-the author, the general, and the legislator-found time and means to improve even the mechanical arts of his subjects.† | These were all of them, it is true, born great and noble, yet much of the lustre which still gives a splendour to their names, is due to their encouragement and fondness for learning. Genius and abilities, however, are peculiar to no situation or rank in life, nor belong exclusively to any clime or nation. Affluence and education are no doubt great advantages, but the passions, unchecked by the forms of refinement, and the mind, undistracted by a multiplicity of objects, frequently exert themselves with an ardour and perseverance which more than counter-seeds of poetry and pictures; and it has been said, that balance them. Although these are mostly extraordinary cases, yet the advantages and pleasures to be derived from mixing such pursuits with habits of business in every-day life, are obvious and striking. The pursuit of knowledge may indeed be as well begun from the cottager's hearth or artizan's workshop, as from a college or palace; and the pleasure of the pursuit, and the relish of success, will in the former case be enhanced. To the eyes of the mechanic and of the practical man, who enters into the detail of operations, it is indeed to be expected, that the phenomena of nature should develope themselves more frequently and with more precision than to the man of speculation in the closet. It has unfortunately happened, in too many instances, that these precious developments have been unheeded from the want of sufficient cultiva tion in the observer to avail himself of them. This alone furnishes a sufficient argument for instructing our mechanics, so far as to enable them to make the best of the facts of which they alone can be the witnesses. It is commonly told of the steam-engine, that an idle boy being employed to stop and open a valve, saw that he could save himself the trouble of attending and watching it, by fixing a plug upon a part of the machine, which came to the place at proper times, in consequence of the general movement. Vitruvius discerned the principles of architecture in a cottage; rude songs and drawings were the the uncouth figures, marked by the Ethiopians on their bales of goods, to distinguish one kind of merchandize from another, were the remote origin of letters. History is full of cases such as these, in which the mind of man being driven at first, as it were by accident, upon some circumstance of nature, turns the whole bent of his faculties towards it, and gradually unfolds a system or discovery, productive of the most wonderful benefits to science, and the most important revolutions in the state of man. A chance fire of sea-weed on the sand led to the fabrication of glase, now so essential to our comfort, and so common that a peasant's cottage is not destitute of that, which the luxury of imperial Rome never possessed. Newton, in the fall of an apple, caught his first notion of the law of gravitation. Columbus, in seeing, on an unknown ocean, the variation of the magnetic needle, found that great leading idea which authorised the poor pilot to become "the promiser of kingdoms." All countries and ages teem with examples of men, who raised themselves by their love of learning to the highest pitch of fame and fortune from the lowest stations of life, and while surrounded with what would seem to the cold observer insurmountable difficulties. sop, Terence, and Epictetus, were originally slaves. Heyne, the greatest scholar of modern times, writes "that want was the earliest companion of his childhood," and for thirty-two years he suffered the greatest privations from its pressure. Adrian, the pope, while a student, was driven to read at night by the lamps in the street, being too poor to purchase a candle. In our own country may be found a host of examples to encourage both the poor and ignorant to the task of self-cultivation, and they sufficiently prove the truth of what Stone, one of them, a self-taught mathematician, said, "that we may learn every thing when we know the twenty-four letters of the alphabet." Prideaux, afterwards bishop of Worcester, was in early life so poor The advantages which every labourer and artizan may as to be obliged to walk on foot to Oxford univer- derive in a pecuniary point of view, by acquiring a knowsity, where he at first obtained a menial situation in the ledge of the materials upon which he is employed, and of kitchen of Exeter College, which college he did not leave their nature, are almost incalculable. There is scarcely till he became one of its fellows. The two Milners, who a trade in which the knowledge of mechanics may not be wrote the well-known history of the Christian church, useful. Natural history may amuse and instruct those enwere originally weavers, as was also Dr. White, late Re-gaged in tending cattle. Practical mathematics will be of gius professor of Arabic. The celebrated John Hunter received scarcely any education until he had attained the age of twenty, and then was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker; yet he became one of the greatest anatomists that Hume. Alfred, who founded or perfected the mode of trial by jury-the bulwark of English liberty is said to have introduced the art of brick-making. service to carpenters and masons. To every man, more. over, there offer themselves new and separate branches of knowledge, distinct from that by which he earns his livelihood, and yet so closely connected with it, that they • It is suggested, in the Library of Entertaining Know. ledge, that Hunter might probably have derived some advantage, as an anatomist and surgeon, from the manual dexterity required in his first business of cabinet-maker. cannot fail to be serviceable. It is to these that the attention of the artizan or labourer should be first directed; and it is by the cultivation of these that he will gain credit in his profession, and rise in the scale of society.* So far as regards the attainment of excellence in his particular calling, it will not be advisable for the artizan to step far beyond this at first; the faculties of man are so limited, that to attain eminence in any one art or science, it is almost necessary to confine our chief attention to it alone, or even to a single branch of it. And what may not be effected by the well-tempered zeal of the youthful mechanic and labourer, who shall press forward in the path of business and science? Is there any branch of human industry so perfected as to be incapable of im provement? After we have perfected ourselves as far as we are able in our particular calling, there are various kinds of know ledge and science which will afford us both profit and delight; and by a proper economy of our time, there are few that may not be rendered compatible with strict ha bits of business. When we consider the great waste of time-the numerous odd hours and half-hours, not to mention the smaller fractions, which every man loses in the course of his life, we may well lament the improvidence of our race. We are taught to take care of our pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves; and the same rule observed with regard to out loose minutes, would afford us time to lay out in the acquisition of many useful and interesting branches of knowledge, without trespassing upon what is required for our especial duties.+ We have a notable example of what may be done in this way in the life of the celebrated Dr. Franklin. Born to work for his daily bread, he found means to raise himself gradually by dint of economy and industry to the highest rank in society and literature; and has afforded us a proof that the cultivation of the mind is not only compatible with habits of business, but may be made conducive to its prosperity. It seems, indeed, obvious, that to merchants and shopkeepers in general, the cultivation of the mind and manners, and a taste for polite literature, as supplying them with useful information and rendering them more courteous and agreeable, must always be of advantage to them in their affairs; and inasmuch as we must all have some intercourse with our fellow-men, this observation affects every class of society. The natural tendency of an increase of knowledge is to render us more amiable to our fellow creatures, and more happy in ourselves. Besides, the nature of man requires, in whatever may consist his chief employment, that intervals of relaxation should succeed to those of labour; the body is incapable of continual toil, and the mind, active as it is, cannot be fixed constantly on one object. Every person, therefore, may find time, by the proper management of these intervals, to gain an intimate knowledge of some elegant art, or of some branch of science or literature, without sacrificing that devotion to his particular trade or profession, The accumulation of skill and science, which has so greatly facilitated the production of manufactured goods, has not only been beneficial to our own country, but also to the most distant nations of the earth. Captain Clapperton relates that when on a visit at the court of the sultan Bello, in central Africa, his provisions were regularly sent him from the sultan's table on pewter dishes with the London stamp ; and in one instance he had a piece of meat served up in a white wash-hand basin of English manufacture. The cotton of India is conveyed in British ships round half our planet, to be woven by British skill in the factories of Lancashire; it is again transported to the very plains whereon it grew, and is there repurchased by the lords of the soil which gave it birth, at a cheaper price than their coarser machinery will enable them to manufacture it for themselves. Even Calicut in the East Indies (whence calico derives its name), is supplied from British looms, although the price of labour there is only oneseventh of what it is in England. The indefatigable d'Aguesseau, whose favourite maxim was that change of study is the best relaxation, composed a folio volume in the short intervals of time that occurred while waiting for his lady, who had a bad habit of delaying her appearance at the dinner table. Oh! silent and cold is my lov'd one's repose, No more shalt thou roam thy green native hills over; Where, often thy childhood as nature's fond lover, II. Thou wast dearer to me than the rays of the sun, For like him the years of thy life were begun, III. Oh! thou wast to me as the friend I revere, Thou wast brave, thou wast just, thou wast sweetly sincere, And thine was the love of the peasant and peer, Yet why on thy virtues look back, and review A Prize Essay, read before the Oxford Mechanics' Institution, by D. A. Talboys, THE ABDUCTION OF A VOTER. A general contested election is always a scene of disturbance and tumult, but more especially in Ireland, where the genius of misrule and mischief seems to have a particular partiality for presiding. An Irishman has a natural love of contention, as the old story of trailing a coat in the fair will testify; and on an occasion like this, when not only the love of opposition, but the bitterness of party feeling, are awakened, "war to the knife" is of frequent occurrence. This is the case, more especially in country towns, for in cities there is always some stir; but when the monotony of country life is broken in upon by a hard contest, and speeching, and placards, and broken heads, the rural factions seize every opportunity of a scrimmage, and the general result is, a few lives lost, all for honour, glory, and patriotism-(quere, pat-riot-ism.) It was during the election, which took place in 18-, and which many of our readers must remember, from the virulence displayed by all parties, that the somewhat singular occurrence took place, of which we are about to speak. In the elegantly furnished breakfast parlour of one of the splendid residences of the former nobility in this city, sat a beautiful young girl. The entire furniture of the apartment was imposing, and costly without being vulgarly rich-all was elegant and refined, and the vase of sweet flowers over which Emma was leaning-the odour loaded rose and the graceful lily, seemed most fit to rest on the spider table of polished rosewood, at which she was sitting. Before an open writing desk, on which was strewed various unopened letters, sat a gentleman some what above the middle age, with a high polished brow, and dark hair, on which time already had began to lay a gentle hand-his features resembled Emma's considerably, but were more strongly marked, and had acquired a haughty and somewhat aristocratic sternness, which, however, extended not to his eye; for it was, though penetrating, mild and gentle in expression. His brow ap peared thoughtful and somewhat disturbed, as he glanced over a letter which he held closely to him, and then a smile of a doubtful character, it might be of vexation, crossed his features as he exclaimed "Now Emma, love! who would think it? Frank writes me word that all my tenants have refused him their support, and that unless I can contrive to go down, he fears he'll lose his election !" A slight blush tinged her cheek as the name of Frank was mentioned, but not being noticed, it soon died away, while her father continued "I don't like the son of my old friend to be thrown out, and that by those upstart Ryans-but 'tis such a distance, and so wild a neighbourhood-yet, he says he'll meet me on the road. The rascals should not be allowed to have their own way. Emma, do you think I ought to go ?" "Go father!-why, poor Frank, you know, will expect you; and the weather's so fine, and I'd so love to see "Mount-prospect," and-and-why, Sir! I think you ought." "Well then, love, there is no time to be lost-do you hasten and make preparations, for we must be off before night while I go and see about the carriage"-answered her indulgent parent, as he left the room; while Emma, with a gleam of joy lighting up her fine eyes, danced out like a fairy, carolling in the glee of an unclouded heart! Emma Hemple was an only daughter, and strange to assert, was not spoiled, as only daughters generally are. Her mother had been called from earth while she was out a child, and her infancy was passed under the protection of an aunt, who loved her as if she were her own daughter. Her education was strictly attended to, and the wholesome principles of moral duty, firmly inculcated in a mind waxen to receive, and marble to retain. Her father was a gentleman possessed of considerable property through the country, more especially, in Mwhere he had just determined on going to influence by his presence, the votes of his tenantry, in the return of Frank Hutchinson, whose father, his oldest friend, had represented the county for years. Frank was very young and very handsome, and very clever, which is more than all, for ladies had rather subdue one clever person than a myriad of butterfly fops-it is such a pride to see talent at one's feet. Well-he used to walk out with Emma, and read for her, and sing with her, and of course, she was quizzed about her handsome beau by her light-hearted friends, until at last, she began to think, and when she thought she blushed-and a blush became her well, although she would willingly have dispensed with its presence! Frank had written a pamphlet or two-had spoken at a debating club, and having passed his minority, a general dissolution of parliament coming on, had deemed himself a fit and proper person to represent the county M- in parliament. No sooner did he address the constituency than opposition began. Mr. Ryan, a popular man, set up on popular principles, and this caused the letter which urged Mr. Hemple to go down, and support by his presence, his young friend. It was late in the evening when the travelling carriage which contained Mr. Hemple and his daughter, entered a small village, situated about thirty miles from their place of destination. They purposed stopping there for an hour or more; but should proceed then, as the following day was the last of the election, and they only delayed to procure refreshment, and a relay of horses, as their own were considerably jaded. This village, as too many are in Ireland, was a beautiful specimen of genuine dirt and disorder. Mac Adam had taken the principle street under his surveillance, but it was woefully out of repair and waged a continued war with the carriage springs, as it proceeded through its ups and downs. Pigs and poultry, curs and chickens-geese and grandams, testified that "There are human natures so allied That they will seek for peril as a pleasure." and it was only between " whoops-whooshes-and out o' the way mam,'-the latter, generally, when attended to, followed with a grumbling curse, that the driver succeeded in establishing his burden opposite the inn, without the guilt of blood, or maiming, on his head. The moment the rumbling vehicle came to a stand still-boys-gossoons-colleens—and house dogs, gathered tumultuously round it-all eagerness to behold the contents-the boys shouting for Ryan-the gossoons shouting for companionship-the colleens grinning to show their teeth-and the dogs barking to show their lungs. This scene was so new to Emma, and so ludicrous, that she leaned back in the carriage and burst forth into an involuntary peal of laughter; and when its door was at length opened, and the attentive landlord bustlingly assisted them out, her blue eyes flashed with mild merriment, and her pretty cheeks were dimpled with excess of mirth. In one instant, all this vanished-and the change was so sudden as to direct her father's eyes to the object who had caused it; but after a moment's scrutiny, he smiled at her sensitive nervousness, and led her into the inn-having given orders for fresh horses to be in readiness as soon as possible. The individual whom both had so noted, was leaning against the window frame, one hand thrust loosely into his breast,and the other picking up some grains of wheat which were scattered on the head of a barrel near where he stood —but all this time, his eyes never for a moment wandered from the persons of Mr. Hemple and his daughter, as long as they remained in view, save when the former fix edly regarded him, and then they quailed beneath his glance. He was below the middle size-but with herculean breadth of shoulder and expansion of chest, and his legs being short and bowed, gave him the appearance of immense strength-but it was his features that more particularly attracted attention-they were large, coarse, and sottish-and his dull black eye, a little protruded from his head, had nialignity-indulgence in brute passion, and cunning, strongly expressed in its stealthy glances; in fine --he was one, whom to look on was to fear-you know not why; and hate, you could not tell wherefore. He seemed not outwardly to partake in the general curiosity and thoughtless inquisitiveness, and spoke to none of the group around the door; but when Emma and her father entered, he moved quickly away towards the open coun try, without having held communication with any-and yet, so eager were all about the new-comers, that this singularity was unobserved. Mr. Hemple having never since he was of age, visited this part of the country before, was, of course, not recognised by any of those whom he encountered, and was the more pleased, as he wished his presence to be unannounced and sudden. He had some trouble in parrying the, not questions absolutely, but inquisitive hints of Boniface, who was full of politics and the election, and warmly recommended him to vote for Ryan-" one o' the right sort all out." We will now leave him for a time, to note the proceedings of the strange figure which had caused Emma's mirth so suddenly to subside. He rapidly traversed the few fields which were rescued from the surrounding sterility, until he began gradually to ascend the bleak mountain, at the foot of which, the small village was situated. Here the traces of culture soon became lost, and piles of shapeless rock, half covered, in some instances, with the luxuriant growth of wild heath, made the path both difficult and dreary. A low cabin, only to be traced from the surrounding mountain by the wreaths of grey smoke ascending from its chimney, was situated near the summit; and thither he pursued his course. When within about one hundred yards of its entrance, two shaggy haired, ill-clad figures suddenly appeared, as if to reconnoitre, and then apparently satisfied with the individual who was approaching-re-entered, leaving the door half closed. He soon followed them in, and when on the threshold, was greeted with "A thin, Dinis, a hagur, we thought you wor among the boys at the pollin' place. What's brought you here, an' the divarshun goin' an?" "Sure enough, thin, an' it's in the regard ov that same pollin', Tim. There's the masther goin' to be beat ontirely out an' out, iv we don't join Mick Dunn an' a few ov the boys in previnthin' id." "The masther beat!-Repale Ryan bet! Arrah, Dinis Mulligan, don't be divartin' us!" jeered the man addressed, a rough but good-humoured looking peasant. "Yer welcome to yer laugh, Tim," answered Mulligan, "bud it's thrue as the blessed priest's sarmons! Didn't I go, as Mick Dunn tould me, to the little village below, an' see wid my own eyes Misther Hemple, the head man, who's come down to make his tinants vote agin justice, an' repale, an' law." "Misther Hemple!" ejaculated Tim, jumping, as wek as his companion, to his feet, and burying his rough hand in his hair, as if from thence to draw resources to meet the danger. "Och, bud iv that's thrue, I'm afeard we're murdhered out an' out. Well, it's a pity, an' the poll goin' an so iligant; an' Ryan's fine sintences, an' the beer, an' whiskey." "Bud, Tim," renewed Denis, "Mick an' I, an' a few more o' the boys, wor thinkin' ov jist quietly an' comfortably borryin' him for a bit, ontil the day's over. Thin, you know, the sorra taste o' harm he could do! He has only a couple ov sarvints," continued Mulligan, "an' a lady the most beautiful crathur I ever laid eyes an. We could asily manage thim, you know. The ould cave's a mighty purty hidin'-place, an' it 'ud be a pity to sell the counthry through any sich thing as squeamishness !" Tim's head kept nod, nod, nod, during this sentence, as he gradually understood the meaning it was intended to convey; and when Mulligan concluded, he leisurely |