children of Israel entering Canaan; success had in some degree perfected the parallel, and they believed it at once their political interest and their religious duty to model their conduct after the followers of Joshua. In the age of Cromwell, songs, ballads, and minstrelsy were punished as high offences, more especially when the strains were directed to rouse the spirit of the vanquished, or to pour malediction on the conqueror. It was when Irish music was thus proscribed, that it definitely assumed the generic character of plaintive melancholy by which it is eminently distinguished; the Cromwellians, in the emphatic words of an old writer, "broke the heart of Ireland," and the sounds uttered under their domination bear the impress of helpless, hopeless despair. Of this character is the following song composed on the departure of an illustrious exile to seek a home in a foreign land:

John O'Dwyer of the Glen.

TRANSLATED BY THOMAS FURLONG.

Blithe the bright dawn found me,
Rest with strength had crown'd me,
Sweet the birds sung round me,
Sport was all their toil.
The horn its clang was keeping,
Forth the fox was creeping,
Round each dame stood weeping,
O'er that prowler's spoil.

Hark, the foe is calling,
Fast the woods are falling,
Scenes and sights appalling
Mark the wasted soil.

War and confiscation
Curse the fallen nation;
Gloom and desolation

Shade the lost land o'er.
Chill the winds are blowing,
Death aloft is going;

Peace or hope seems growing
For our race no more.

Hark, the foe is calling,
Fast the woods are falling,
Scenes and sights appalling

Throng our blood-stained shore.
Where's my goat to cheer me,
Now it plays not near me;
Friends no more can hear me ;

Strangers round me stand.
Nobles once high-hearted,
From their homes have parted,
Scatter'd, scared, and started
By a base-born band.

Hark, the foe is calling,
Fast the woods are falling;
Scenes and sights appalling

Thicken round the land.
Oh! that death had found me,
And in darkness bound me,
Ere each object round me
Grew so sweet, so dear.
Spots that once were cheering,
Girls beloved, endearing,

Friends from whom I'm steering,
Take this parting tear.

Hark, the foe is calling,

Fast the woods are falling;
Scenes and sights appalling

Plague and haunt me here.

The restoration of Charles II. revived the hopes of the Irish nation, but its result was only to aggravate their despair. The estates that had been forfeited for loyalty to his father, were by him confirmed in the possession of his father's murderers; those who had lost their all in supporting the cause of the Stuarts, were doomed to experience the worst ingratitude of that ungrateful race, and to behold the monarch for whom they had suffered so severely, bribing his enemies with their fortunes. The massacre, as it was called, in the north of Ireland, was made the pretext for this wholesale iniquity. It is now known, that the story of the massacre was at least an exaggeration; but even had it been true to the last letter, it could not afford any excuse for the Act of Settlement, because the

massacre is said to have taken place in Ulster, while the forfeited estates were nearly all in the three other provinces. This leads us to the most curious part of Mr. Hardiman's volumes, "the Jacobite Relics" of Ireland. It must appear strange, that a nation which had suffered more from the Stuarts than from all the other invaders and tyrants put together, should have been the steadiest supporter of James II.; the first to take up arms in his cause, and the last to lay them down. But the difficulty is explained, when we find in the bardic songs the success of James identified with the last hopes of the Irish people; the English Jacobites conspired to support the principal of legitimacy, the Scotch supported a prince descended from their country through natural and laudable pride; the Irish alone fought for national existence,

and with them it was a contest for life or death. Hence, we find in the Irish Jacobite Relics, a fervid energy, an earnestness and power, unlike the simple spirit of war-songs. Reproach alternates with exhortation, the cry for vengeance is more frequent than the hope of victory; the sovereign is less regarded than the nation. On this account, the Jacobite Relics are unfortunately applicable in every period of national dissatisfaction, and stimulants to agitation in every moment of real or supposed injustice. With the surrender of Limerick, the national existence of the Irish may be said to have terminated; thenceforward, it was treated as a colony, a word of bitter meaning in the history of England. The descendants of the bards no longer loved to recall the days of former glory, they degenerated into song-writers, and, like all men who have nothing left to hope, reckless jollity and sensual enjoyment were the themes on which they loved to dwell. But sorrow still mingled in the cup in the midst of the wildest Bacchanalian airs, a few plaintive notes suddenly strike the ear, and seem to say this is the mirth of madness, the very merriment of despair. The reckless glee of a man who has nothing to lose, and whose brief moments of comparative happiness are only to be obtained in the oblivion of intoxication, is vividly pourtrayed in the following "chanson à boire"; and, notwithstanding its extravagance of mirth, there are dashes of plaintiveness in the original wild. air that strike sorrowfully on the soul:-Why, Liquor of Life. TRANSLATED BY JOHN D'ALTON, ESQ. The Bard addresses Whiskey. Why, liquor of life! do I love you so, When in all our encounters you lay me low? More stupid and senseless I every day grow, What a hint-If I'd mend by the warning! Tattered and torn you've left my coat, I've not a cravat-to save my throat, Yet I pardon you all, my sparkling doat! If you'll cheer me again in the morning. Whiskey replies.

When you've heard prayers on Sunday next, With a sermon beside, or at least-the text, Come down to the alehouse-however you're vexed, And though thousands of cares assault you: You'll find tippling there-till morals mend, A cock shall be placed in the barrel's end, The jar shall be near you, and I'll be your friend, And give you a “ Kead mille fuulte!" ↑ The Bard resumes his address. You're my soul, and my treasure, without and within, My sister and cousin, and all my kin; 'Tis unlucky to wed such a prodigal sin,But all other enjoyment is vain, love! My barley-ricks all turn to you,My tillage-my plough-and my horses too,My cows and my sheep they have-bid me adieu, I care not while you remain, love!

+ One hundred thousand welcomes.

Come, vein of my heart! then come in haste,
You're like Ambrosia, my liquor and feast;
My forefathers all had the very same taste-
For the genuine dew of the mountain.
Oh, Usquebaugh!-I love its kiss!-
My guardian spirit I think it is,
Had my christening bowl been filled with this,
I'd have swallowed it-were it a fountain.
Many's the quarrel and fight we've had,
And many a time you made me mad,
But while I've a heart-it can never be sad,
When you smile at me full on the table:
Surely you are my wife and brother-
My only child-my father and mother-
My outside coat-I have no other!

Oh! I'll stand by you-while I am able.
If family pride can aught avail,
I've the sprightliest kin of all the Gael-
Brandy and Usquebaugh, and ale!

But claret untasted may pass us.
To clash with the clergy were sore amiss,
So for righteousness sake I leave them this,
For claret the gownmen's comfort is,

When they've saved us with matins and masses.

The early part of the eighteenth century is a blank in the history of Ireland; but it was not unproductive of men whose fame is unfortunately far below their merits. Of this number, was Carolan, the last of the genuine minstrels, that is, of those who were at once composers of music and poetry. His musical powers have been long known, and duly appreciated in every part of the civilized world; but of his poetry, few have heard, and of these few, the majority have been contented with the report. But though his strains were all but improvisatized, the following, even through the medium of a very imperfect translation, evinces no ordinary

powers :

Carolan's Monody on the Death of his Wife Mary Mac Guire.

BY THOMAS FURLONG.

Were heaven to yield me in this chosen hour
As an high gift ordain'd thro' life to last,
All that our earth hath mark'd of inental power,
The concentrated genius of the past:
Were all the spells of Erin's minstrels mine,
Mine the long-treasur'd stores of Greece and Rome-
All, all with willing smile I would resign,
Might I but gain my Mary from the tomb.
My soul is sad-I bend beneath my woe,

Darkly each weary evening wears away;
Thro' the long night my tears in silence flow,

Nor hope, nor comfort cheers the coming day.
Wealth might not tempt-nor beauty move me now,
Tho' one so favour'd sought my bride to be-
Witness, high heaven!-bear witness to my vow-
My Mary! death shall find me true to thee.
How happy once! how joyous have I been,

When merry friends sat smiling at my side;
Now near my end-dark seems each festive scene -
With thee, my Mary, all their beauty died.
My wit hath past-my sprightly voice is gone,
My heart sinks deep in loneliness and gloom,-
Life hath no aftercharms to lead me on-
They wither with my Mary-in the tomb.

The translations in these volumes have been furnished by different friends of the editor: those contributed by the late Mr. Furlong, Mr. H. G. Curran, and Mr. D'Alton, are equally remarkable for their spirit and fidelity, and will give the merely English reader some specimen of the neglected treasure contained in the native literature of the "emerald isle."

The illustrative notes of the editor explain many interesting periods of Irish history; they were, however, written before the concession of emancipation in 1829, and therefore contain many allusions no longer applicable. Mr. Hardiman belongs to a class little known in England: he is an Irish gentleman of the old school; one who seeks justice for his country through the medium of good government, and eagerly labours to conciliate rival parties and hostile creeds, by showing that both have many claims to virtue, and that there have been times when

and the general index which accompanies them, is an addition of the highest value: we have in one line, but under distinct heads, the scripture name-the classic name--the tribe or province -the country-reference to where mentioned in Scripture, and where to be found in the map -the modern name-the modern locality-the distance and bearing from Jerusalem-the latitude and longitude with historical remarks. We know not the work we could more conscientiously recommend as a valuable and beautiful present for young people. It ought, indeed, to be announced as the Geographical Annual for 1832, and it need not fear competition.

Translation of several principal Books, Passages, and Texts of the Veds, &c. By Rajah Rammobun Roy. 2nd edit. London: Parbury, Allen, & Co.

THE works here collected will have great interest with all who are desirous to obtain information on the subjects treated of; but, however valuable, they cannot, of course, be generally popular. Even the discussions on Concremation and Postcremation, or, the practice of burning widows alive, is too learned to interest the mere English reader.

LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE.

British Museum. Vol. I.

THIS is a compilation from common works on the history and antiquities of ancient Egypt. It

contains little new information, and the old acquires no additional value from the taste or skill of the compiler. A few more such specimens of the art of book-making would ruin a series even of greater merit than the Library of Entertaining Knowledge.'

ILLUSTRATIONS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.No. VII. A Manchester Strike. By Harriet Martineau. London: Fox.

WE were among the first to commend this very clever and useful series. Miss Martineau has since received the good word of all critics, and therefore ours will be the less serviceable-but this Manchester Strike' is among the best tales she has yet published.

OUR LIBRARY TABLE.

Ir is, we have heard, a pleasant thing to write a book; pleasant to see it in all the beauty of new type and fine paper; pleasant to see it in the hands of friends, in whose judgment men put confidence; pleasant to see it commended by toothy critics by the score; pleasant to see it glide through edition after edition, and pleasant when the bookseller puts on a gladsome face at the author's approach, and asks for another work in the same spirit as the last. Such are the pleasures of authors, but alas, critics experience none of those joys; on our library table lie some dozen volumes or so, all of which we have to read, examine, and weigh, before we can apportion to each their due share of praise or blame. Now to read sometimes six hundred pages for the sake of writing six lines, is a misery unknown to the rest of mankind: but

this is not all: those authors whom we commend

in this brief way, think we might have indulged them with more extended praise, while those whom we condemn, are irritated at our brief mode of dismissal, and wish to have been shown up more at length. The woes therefore of a critic, are many and peculiar; and what is worse, they are looked on as a sort of tooth-ache, the worst pangs of which in the mind of all but the sufferer, are only worthy of laughter. So much for our task-let us now endeavour to perform it. 'Companion and Key to the History of England, by George Fisher.'-Under a title-page as long as an ordinary pamphlet, and a dedication

n which all the virtues under heaven are show

ered upon our gracious sovereign, this volume has much useful information for all who are desirous of knowing the history of their country. The author, indeed, goes a little farther back with his line of kings than we care about; yet it is gratifying to know that we are ruled by the descendants of Brute the Trojan. There have reigned over us-such is the pleasure of Providence-Trojans, Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans, Dutch, and Germans. The History of Scotland, says our author, from Fergus the First to Fergus the Second, is all pure fable. Alas, that he should say so! Now we look upon it to be as good history as that of the Brute dynasty of England-and no better, and so let them both pass. The author is anxious, as becomes a historian, concerning the birth of the Pretender; we think with him, that it would have been prudent of the Queen to have given birth to the Prince before the Dutch Ambassador, or waited till the return of her sister Anne from Bath, and so eluded all doubts and surmises; but the inconsiderate woman did no such thing, and so "occasioned the factions of the eighteenth century." We never saw so reasonable a cause assigned for the two rebellions before. These eight hundred large and closeprinted pages make somewhat of a cumbrous key to our history; yet they show on most occasions an anxious search after truth, and on all occasions such love of the subject as we never expected to encounter.

'The Minstrelsy of the Woods; or, Sketches and Songs connected with the Natural History of the most interesting British and Foreign Birds.'The idea of this little work is a happy one; nor is the execution at all unworthy of the conception; it is full of clever descriptions and very pleasing verses; the introductory lines explain the aim of the volume:

Young wanderers by the mountain streams,
Whose days are all like sunny dreams,
To you, from woodlands far away,

I come, with legend and with lay:
Songs of many a tuneful bird,
Amid your own green vallies heard;
Warblers whose strains are full of glee,
Blythe as your own blythe songs can be;
And tale, and sketch, and song I bring,
Of birds who wave the glossy wing,
And sing their tiny broods to rest,
In the deep forests of the west.

As a specimen of the prose descriptions, we cannot do better than extract that of our especial favourite the Goldfinch; it shows an intimate acquaintance with the nature and habits of the bird:

"This is one of the most elegant of our English birds; graceful in form, and arrayed in much more brilliant colours than the birds of this climate usually exhibit. It has also a sweet and cheerful song, which is heard from the earliest days of spring; but it is in the month of May that it gives us its sweetest and fullest strains : perched on a tree it will pour forth its notes from early morn to set of sun, and make the orchard resound with its music. It continues to sing till the month of August, except during the period at which it is rearing its young;

then all its time and attention are devoted to

parental duties. The male bird, though very attentive to his pretty mate, does not assist her in building the nest; but he is constantly watching over her, either close by her side, or perched on the nearest tree; and this he does, both when she is seeking her food, and while engaged in preparing the abode for her future progeny. The nest is composed of roots, fine moss, the down of plants, and lichens, and it is lined with horse-hair, wool, and downy feathers. Here the hen bird deposits five or six white eggs, spotted with brown towards the thick end. While she is hatching, her companion never leaves her except to procure food; but sits on a neighbouring tree and cheers her with his song. If disturbed, he flies away; but it is only

as a feint to prevent the nest from being discovered, and he soon returns. On her part, she devotes herself with the utmost patience and constancy to her maternal cares. As the time approaches when the young ones will make their appearance, she is evidently increasingly interested in their preservation, and will brave everything to defend them from injury: the stormiest gales of wind, the drenching rain, or the pelting hail-storm, do not drive her from her nest; there she remains, and her faithful mate continues in attendance on her. At last, the little birds pierce the shell, and faint cries proclaim their wants to their parents: then there is full employment to procure food sufficient to supply five or six craving little creatures. The tender seeds of groundsel, lettuce, and other plants, are its favourite food; but especially the thistle-seed; from its fondness for this plant, it is sometimes called thistlefinch in England, and chardonneret in France."

This is one of the neatest and most interesting little books which has come lately from Messrs. Harvey & Darton.

Alfred; ; or, the Wayward Son, a Domestic Poem in Eight Cantos, by Thomas Hirst.'-This volume contains a very interesting story, told with much modesty and simplicity, but with less animation and fire than what is necessary to render it popular. As bold words and timid ideas distinguish too much of our poetry of the present day, it is at least something to find a plain story told in a homely way;-that we have not misrepresented the author of Alfred, the following passage will show :

The merchant listens to the latest news

Of the price current, discount, stocks, exchange:
Sees the Gazette, his ledger then reviews;
That's what he thought of; this seems rather strange;
But chances rise, and, with a merchant's spirit,
Ventures his skill, his money, and his credit.
A thousand currents pour their varied store,
Moved by the impulse of his ready pen,
To freight his vessel for the distant shore.
'Twixt hope and fear contending, he again
Shoves off his treasure, with the hardy band,
While winds and waves assume the chief command.
The husbandman beneath domestic charm

Surveys his cattle and the rising blade;
The mighty world seems fenced within his farm;
For there his hopes and all his fears are laid,
'Tis his amid the season's varied toil,
To reap the bounty of his cultured soil.
The warrior hastens at the trumpet's blast;

Courage sits sternly on his ample brow;
Quick flows his blood, his pulses beat more fast;
He hastes to conquest with a patriot's vow;
With nervous arm, and hope inspiring breath,
He tugs for victory in the face of death.
The sportsman mounted on his favourite steed,
Bounds o'er the forest, field, or sounding wood;
And hound, and horse, and man, with tireless speed,
Chases the scent of honour and of blood.
All have their objects, fraught with loss or gain-
A cherish'd course that brings its joy or pain.
So had the father of the wayward son;

Whose history demands this supplement; Which must in justice start where his had done.

When to his journey all his strength he lent, What were the object, purpose, feeling, thought, With which the vision of his mind was fraught?

vision of the subject into cantos, the cantos into We must confess, however, that, save the distanzas, and the whole into that kind of compo

sition, straight on the left of the page, and ragged claim to the honours of poesy. towards the right, this story has little or no

'The Blue Bag; or, Toryana, by the Speaker of the House of Commons.'-This is a sort of political squib put forth by a Reformer against the Tories; we are not sure that the bitterness of its wit will spread much confusion in these stirring times among the enemy, nor do we think that the parties lampooned will be deeply affected by its invective. In truth, public men have been so much satirized of late, with tongue, pen, and pencil, that they are become blunt and insensible to aught but the very purest wit, and the very loftiest sort of satire. Of the little pieces

Lord Tenterden, wisest of lawyers and men,
Must be in his court as the clock strikes ten;

His eye-brows and wig were in brimstone smoke,
As he thought a debate of twelve hours no joke;
And he wriggled like Wetherell twitching his breech,
As Salisbury rose to make his dull speech;
Up rose Carnarvon, his face showed pain,

But the Cholera touched him when up rose Vane;
Brother Wynford rose next-a horrible bore-
Tenterden dozed, and began to snore;

And dreamt what lawyer ne'er dreamt before-
Gramercie, gramercie, to me it does seem,
Lord Tenterden's wig is the nest of his dream.

The Faith as unfolded by many Prophets; an Essay, by Harriet Martineau.'-This little work is issued by the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, and addressed to the disciples of Mahomet. We have heard of jig tunes being whistled to milestones, but we never heard that the stones danced; this fulmination against the Mahometans will, we have no doubt, if heard at all, be heard with apathy by that wise people, who refuse to have their faith questioned; it will, therefore, be as much thrown away as the music aforesaid. Perhaps, however, Harriet Martineau looks towards Turkey as she speaks, but expects her eloquence to tell on people nearer home.

'The Grecian, conducted by Archdeacon Adamson, Esq., now of Christ's Hospital, No. IV., for July.'-The editor and contributors of this work are bold lads; they deal with nothing but the loftiest and most perilous themes. Here we have 'Ambition,' Thy will be done,' 'Death and Sleep,'' David and Goliah,' and 'Attila.' We like the 'Stanzas to Twilight' best, and would quote some of them if we had room.

'The Elements of Mechanics, by J. R. Young,' is a very excellent introduction to the mathematical analysis of statics and dynamics, written by a person not only perfectly master of his subject, but thoroughly skilled in the art of teaching. The great difficulty that the students of analytic mechanics have had to encounter, is the want of a work that would explain the meaning and extent of analytical expressions, as well as the theories they embody, most writers having given their readers credit, not only for a thorough knowledge of the calculus, but also for a perfect acquaintance with all its refinements.

ORIGINAL PAPERS

A MIDDLE-AGED LADY'S REPLY TO AN
OFFER.

Unfeignedly surprised and grateful,
And much your friend, and now your debtor,
And thinking that suspense is hateful,

I answer with all speed your letter;
But, Sir, I never gave you reason

To draw the inference you have done; I've flirted with you but a season, And corresponded scarcely one. 'Tis true, I took a lock of hair, (Which came, no doubt, from Delcroix's college,)

Also a ring-but not to wear-
And gave you 'Mason on Self Knowledge;'
And now upon these grounds you claim

My hand, and heart, and that for ever:
You tell me "Friendship's but a name"
For Love-grown middle-aged and clever.
You say, 'tis foolish work for those

Who 're past an age that's girl-and-boyish, Not to bring matters to a close;

That flirting thus is really toyish ;-
And then, Sir, with your three per cents.,
You perfume and fold up your letter,
With just a hint, that all my rents
Your stewardship would get in better.

I will be frank with you: I've seen

The time, Sir Abel Giles Hephæstion,

Although the same had been your question. If we had met when both were young,

And both in Nature's wealth delighted, Ere one had to the heart been wrung, And one by Mammon's influence blighted:Then had we met, we might have made A most Arcadian pair of lovers; Have flattered in the greenwood shade, And found employment for the glovers: We might have sat beneath a tree,

A very human pair of turtles ; Have poetized with "thine" and "thee," And had a bride-cake wreathed with myrtles: We might have sat beneath a tree,

No matter whether beech or holly, Deeming it wretched to be free,

And thinking wisdom only folly:
Then, had you looked into my eyes,

And whispered to me, "angel-dearest"-
I might have answered you with sighs,
And thought you of your sex sincerest.
But thirty-nine and fifty-one

Can never by romance be cheated;
Imagination's wings are gone,

And Prudence in the soul is seated; Yes, you have learned to cast accounts-You know the price of ladies' bonnets; And I, too, understand amounts

Too well-to trust a lover's sonnets.
You dread the gout and want a nurse,
And calculate on who'd be pleasant,
I, on my liberty and purse,

From which I won't divorce at present.
So fare you well, we'll still be friends,-
(I really thank you for your letter,)—
But when the heart's believing ends,
For woman-singleness is better.

I add a postscript, just to say,

If 'tis unkind all hope to shatterCall in when next you ride this way, And then we'll re-discuss the matter.

CANALS AND RAILWAYS.

WERE the wise man who said there is nothing new under the sun, living in these days, he would, we think, change his opinion. All is new, or, at least, little is old. We would ask him, did he ever ascend the third heaven in a balloon? did he ever sail against a stiff breeze and a strong current, in one of those maritime chimeras called steam-boats? and, above all, did he ever move over the vales of Judea, or on the plains of Assyria, in one of the royal chariots, with the rapidity of a London bagman on the Liverpool railway? We answer for him, "Never." And yet these miraculous matters to which we allude, seem but in their infancy. Gordon, an ingenious engineer, lately revealed to us, in his little clever book, some of the chief mysteries of motion: this put us on considering and inquiring; we set about comparing the past with the present, and the result was, that we held up our hands in wonder at the marvels which, even in our brief space of existence, have been wrought. Motion with us has been gradually increasing in velocity from the crawl of the snail to the flight of the hawk. Time was, when our most expeditious public travelling carriage was the stage-waggon-the same in which Random had the adventure with Captain Weasel-lumbering along with twelve horses, at the rate of three miles an hour; wearying of that, we tried our own proper feet, which, with some exertion, carried us over sixty measured miles in a summer's day; tiring-as who would not?of such an uneasy mode of migration, we tried what water and wind could do for us, and though once borne from London to Edinburgh, when the skies smiled, in forty-eight hours, we were

twice detained some ten or eleven days in the performance of the same voyage; the mail coach moving over macadamized roads promised a more speedy mode of conveyance, and we were wafted through the air to the distance of 340 miles, in 36 hours some odd minutes. We sat down assured, in our own mind, that the force of nature and art could go no further, when lo! we were astounded by an announcement, that on the miraculous railway of Manchester, men travelled at the rate of twenty miles an hour. On this coming to pass, we sat down resolved to wonder at nothing; and it is well we the air, and on the water, is fairly getting the did, for travelling on ground, under ground, in better of this age's unbelief in the marvellous; nothing that imagination ever desired human credulity to swallow, comes up to what is now done or doing. The works of the inventive Watt, the ingenious Rennie, the poetical and practical Telford, laid the foundation for all these mechanical wonders.

We have been led into this train of thinking by two little sheet-sized papers (by Mr. Thomas Grahame, we believe) on Canal Navigation, and on Railways; we are admirers of science, if we are not skilful in its singular powers, and we take pleasure in giving all the publicity we can to ingenious speculations, or to new discoveries, or to valuable facts. Of the latter kind is the following passage, containing observations made at Glasgow, in July 1832; we give the statement without comment-the writer is speaking of the various velocities of boats in water :

"My meaning will be best explained by a reference to facts verified by the Paisley Canal Passage Boats, when moving along that canal. When started at low velocity, these boats move apparently through the smooth surface of the canal, meeting with no resistance other than that of a very small part of the fluid which they intersect. If, in addition to this resistance, they are burdened with the obstruction of a small body of water carried on before, it is not perceptible. Let the speed be increased, and a body of water rises in front of the boat, preceding it at various distances, dependent on the velocity of the boat, and increasing by degrees, till it rises to eighteen inches, and two feet flowing over the banks of the canal, and occasioning such a resistance, that the horses dragging the boat, would, if it was allowed to continue, be unable to proceed for any length. If, however, the speed is farther increased, the boat advances to, and passes the wave, which subsides behind, and the water in the canal becomes again perfectly still. The horses become then fully able for their work, and the boat appears to meet little resistance other than that occasioned by cutting or passing through the water. Whether in this last case the vessel still continues to carry a body of water in front, is uncertain, but if such be the case, it is imperceptible; and the higher the velocity, it would appear, from the increasing quiescence of the, water, the more is the resistance to the moving body reduced to the mere resistance offered to the cutting of the water. So sensible are the masters of the Paisley Canal Passage Boats of the destructive effect of this wave before the boat, and in obstructing its motion and overcoming the power of the horses, that when, by the carelessness of the drivers, a wave is allowed to rise, the boats are stopped and again started, as it is found to be much easier to bring the boat up to the high from the low speed, without raising the wave, than to force the boat over the wave when once it has been raised. In like manner, when the boat is moving at the rate of nine or ten miles an hour through the canal, if the horses are suddenly stopped, the wave appears as the speed decreases, and washes over the banks until the onward motion of the boat falls to the low velocities first mentioned.

"Now, two very opposite conclusions might

be drawn by persons observing these facts. One person beginning with the high velocity, and observing the increase of labour to the horses on decreasing that velocity, might be apt to imagine, that not only the resistance increased with the diminished speed, but that at the diminished speed, a wave, destructive to the canal banks, was raised. Another party again observing the increased resistance and wave consequent on increasing the speed of the boat beyond the low velocity, might at once lay down opposite rules and conclusions.

"Until some mode of measuring the effect of this wave in increasing the resistance is ascertained, it would appear to be difficult to say what is the real increase of resistance in passing along the surface of a piece of water. The fact is undoubted, that two horses on the Paisley Canal boats, drag with ease a passage-boat, with her complement of seventyfive or ninety passengers, at the rate of ten miles an hour, along the canal, while it would kill them, or even double the number of horses, if they attempted to drag that boat along the canal at the rate of six miles an hour. It would be much easier to draw the boat along the canal at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, than at the lower velocity of six miles. The facts now stated, though more decidedly exhibited in the Paisley Canal, from its narrowness, have been proved and exhibited on various other canals, and must,

though in different degrees, affect motion along

all bodies of water."

The other paper discusses the subject of land conveyance, and the hopes held out by the projectors of the London and Birmingham railway, that all the coaching and carrying and boating trade, would come into their hands, and prove a source of great profit to themselves, and convenience to the public.

"How far this last calculation may prove correct, seems to be extremely doubtful, for the canal conveyance to London is already far cheaper than that on railways, and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, in their competition with the water carriage, have obtained but a very trifling proportion of traffic from the canals. The profits (if any have actually been made by the carriage of goods on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,) are extremely small; yet the water distance between Manchester and Liverpool, is nearly double the railway distance; and instead of possessing the regularity of canal conveyance, is, for eighteen miles of this additional length, subject to the winds and tides of the Mersey. Nevertheless, of an amount of nearly fourteen hundred thousand tons annually, for the carriage of which the Directors of the Liverpool Railway were desirous to provide, before their railway was opened, little more than an eighteenth part, including the entire road traffic, has been as yet obtained for the railway; and the expenses of carrying this fraction of the trade, have been so enormous, as to make it doubtful whether the Railway Company do not suffer a regular loss on their carrying trade, which is defrayed from their profits as coachmasters.

that the canals are unable to enter into competition with them for the turnpike road traffic; the coaching, posting, van and waggon trade on which, they expect to take from the road without dispute. They consider that the Canal Companies must stand merely on the defensive, until the Railway Company, having taken the road trade, begin the attack, and that then the Canal carriers and Company can only protect and preserve a part of their light goods trade, by a reduction of dues and charges, to compensate for the great rates of speed of the railway convey

ance."

The writer proceeds to argue, that by constructing a canal of the same length as the proposed railway, the coaching trade of the latter could not stand for a single month in competition with the canal boats, in which passengers can travel with perfect safety at the rate of ten miles an hour, with a degree of ease and comfort which no other conveyance can give, and at a tenth of the cost. Here are his calculations, founded, he says, on experiments made on the Manchester railway and the Ardrossan canal. "The ordinary speed for the conveyance of passengers on the Ardrossan canal, has for nearly two years been from nine to ten miles an hour, and although there are fourteen journies along the canal per day, at this rapid speed, the banks of the canal have sustained no injury; indeed injury is impossible, as there is no surge. The boats are formed seventy feet in length, about five feet six inches broad, and, but for the extreme nar

rowness of the canal might be made broader, they carry easily from seventy to eighty passengers, and, when required, can, and have carried, upwards of 110 passengers. The entire cost of a boat and fittings up is about 1251. The hulls are formed of light iron plates and ribs, and the covering is of wood and light oiled cloth. They are more airy, light, and comfortable than any coach; they permit the passengers to move about from the outer to the inner cabin; and the fares per mile are one penny in the first, and three farthings in the second cabin. The passengers are all carried under cover, having the privilege also of an uncovered space. These boats are drawn by two horses, (the prices of which may be from 50. to 601. per pair,) in stages of four miles in length which are done in from twenty-two to twenty-five minutes, including stoppages to let out and take in passengers, each set of horses doing three or four stages alternately each day. In fact, the boats are drawn through this narrow and shallow canal, at a velocity which many celebrated engineers had demonstrated, and which the public believed to be impossible.

"The entire amount of the whole expenses of attendants and horses, and of running one of these boats four trips of twelve miles each, (the length of the canal,) or forty-eight miles daily, including interest on the capital, and twenty per cent. laid aside annually for replacement of the boats, or loss on the capital therein invested, and a considerable sum laid aside for accidents and replacement of the horses, is 700%. some odd shillings; or taking the number of working days to be 312 annually, something under 21. 4s. 3d. per day, or about 11d. per mile. The actual cost of carrying from eighty to one hundred persons a distance of thirty miles, (the length of the Liverpool railway,) at a velocity of nearly ten miles an hour, on the Paisley canal, one of the most curved, narrow, and shallow canals in Britain, is therefore just 11. 7s. 6d. sterling. Such are the facts, and incredible as they may appear, they are facts which no one who inquires can possibly doubt.

"The question is one of great importance to the parties interested in the canals between London and Birmingham, as on the truth or falsity of the calculations of the promoters of the railway, must depend the continuance of a considerable portion of the revenue of the Canal Proprietors, and the very existence of the trade or occupation of the Canal Fly-boat carriers. Unless the London and Birmingham Railway Company obtain possession, not only of the whole revenue or tolls paid to the trustees on turnpike roads with a portion of the canal tolls, and the entire income and profit of the carriers and coach- "The result of this experiment on the Livermasters on these roads and canals, no return pool railway has been somewhat different from whatever could be obtained from their outlaid that on the Ardrossan canal. On the railway, capital. indeed, the expected velocities have been fully "The Railway Company take it for granted attained, and the calculations of the engineer,

in this respect, satisfactorily demonstrated as possible and correct; but unluckily one very important matter had not been admitted into the calculation, or rather had not been supposed to exist, viz., the probability, or rather certainty, of a great increase of expense, consequent on increased speed. The geometrical ratio of increased resistance on increasing the speed on canals, has been transferred to the increase of expense on increasing the speed on railways, with this addition, that the increase of expense affects not merely the moving power, or locomotive engine, but the coaches, waggons, and roadway. The ordinary speed of conveyance on the Liverpool railway, is from ten to twenty miles an hour, and depends much on the weather and the weight dragged. The railway engine, with its tender for carrying coke and water, costs about 1000l. and drags after it a train of eight coaches, the cost of each of which, if the same as in the estimate for the London and Birmingham railway, should be 2001., or a train of first-class coaches with accompanying engine and tender, costs 26001. The coaches accommodate one hun

dred and twenty passengers. There are other coaches, and also uncovered waggons which travel at an inferior speed, and which will cost less. The fares are various: seven shillings, or nearly threepence per mile for each passenger, in the best coaches: and five shillings, or twopence per mile, for each passenger in the common coaches, of what is called the 'first train,'-being just double and triple the Paisley boat fares; and four shillings in the coaches, and three shillings and sixpence in the uncovered waggons of what is called the second train,' which move at a lower velocity. The lowest railway fare to the traveller, is therefore three halfpence per mile, in an open, uncovered waggon, moving at an inferior speed, exposed to wind and rain, and the steam and smoke of the engine-or double the fare on the Paisley canal, for being carried in a comfortable cabin under cover."

Having laid before our readers these observations of a man of science and experience, we shall encumber them with no remarks of our

own.

England has many splendid canals, and we confess we should be sorry to see a fine line -nay, a stream-of pure water exchanged for a road, with its carriages moving along, obscured in mud or in whirlwinds of dust.

MR. COULTHURST, THE AFRICAN

TRAVELLER.

IT is with feelings of deep regret that we have to announce the death of this young and enterprising traveller another victim added to the long and melancholy catalogue of men of spirit and talent who have fallen a sacrifice to their enthusiasm on the subject of African discovery. Mr. Coulthurst had, it ap pears, made a fortnight's journey from the old Calabar river into the interior, when, for reasons unknown at present, he returned to that place, and embarked on board the Agnes, a Liverpool vessel bound for Fernando Po. It was during this voyage that this intelligent and amiable man breathed his last, on the 15th April. These are the principal facts which have yet reached this country, and they have been transmitted by Col. Nichols, Governor of Fernando Po, to the Admiralty. Letters had been received from Mr. Coulthurst of so late a date as the 22d March, full of hope, and with a cheering account of his health.

Mr. Coulthurst was, we believe, the son of Coulthurst, Esq. of Sandyway, near Northwich, in Cheshire. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, where he took a very honourable degree, and was subsequently called to the bar. Some interesting particulars of the route of the intended expedition were published, on the best authority, in the Athenæum of the 11th February last, No. 224.