the power to bring me here, may perhaps have the goodness to order some of your aerial tailors to furnish me with a suit worthy of the illustrious society to which I am about to be introduced. She immediately gave me a smile, which was at once humorous and delightful; it played upon her lip, dimpled in her cheek, and rising in its course, gave a purer lustre and more renovated beauty to her eyes. Peri," said she," conduct this stranger to the chamber I ordered you to prepare for him. You and your brethren must attend to his toilet and accompany him to the Villa Joviana. I shall meet you there in an hour; but I must rest now for some minutes. My extraordinary toilet, and the humours of Paulus' rout, will form the subject of another chapter.

66

(Read before the Wernerian Society, 7th June 1817.)

ON Saturday, 15th February 1817, we had very high wind in this neighbourhood. Its direction was southerly, though by no means steady to one point:-it also varied very much as to force.

At mid-day I had occasion to visit a family six miles down the country, which gave me an opportunity of making the following observations:

The wind, as has already been stated, was very unsteady, both as to direction and force. It was so violent as several times nearly to force me from my horse, though I was upon my guard, being afraid it might do so. At one time it was so violent as to force my horse, though very stout, several yards off the high-way.

There were many dark-coloured clouds floating in the atmosphere in all directions. I observed several of these clouds rush suddenly towards others and unite, and I think with the same velocity, though some of them contrary to the direction of the wind. The air felt excessively cold. Almost immediately after the union of these clouds, there was a very loud clap of thunder, followed by a shower of hail,

and the air became somewhat warmer. The wind, however, still continued to blow with unabated violence. About five o'clock, P. M. the wind became less violent, and, in a few hours more, was entirely divested of its tempestuous force. I myself heard no more thunder that night, but some in this village assured me that they heard it repeatedly during the night. About Crawford, eight miles east from Leadhills, it was distinctly heard the greater part of the night. I saw several very vivid flashes of lightning from that quarter about ten o'clock, P. M.

On Sunday, when visiting the same family in the country, the master of the house told me that he was very much alarmed as he was going home on Saturday evening, between six and seven o'clock, "from," as he expressed himself, "his horse's ears being the same as two burning candles, and the edges of his hat being all in a flame." I wished much I had seen an appearance of the kind, and it was not long till I had an opportunity of doing so. Tuesday 18th, in the evening, there were such flashes of lightning from the west, repeated every two or three minutes, sometimes at shorter intervals, as appeared to illumine the whole heavens; but I heard no thunder that evening

On Thursday 20th, I was gratified for a few minutes with the luminous appearance described above. It was about nine o'clock, P. M. I had no sooner got on horseback than I observed the tips of both the horse's ears to be quite luminous: the edges of my hat had the same appearance. I was soon deprived of these luminaries by a shower of moist snow which immediately began to fall. The horse's ears soon became wet, and lost their luminous appearance; but the edges of my hat, being longer of getting wet, continued to give the luminous appearance somewhat longer.

I could observe an immense number of minute sparks darting towards the horse's ears and the margin of my hat, which produced a very beautiful appearance, and I was sorry to be so soon deprived of it.

The atmosphere in this neighbourhood appeared to be very highly electrified for eight or ten days about this time. Thunder was heard occasionally from 15th to 23d, during which time the weather was very unsteady;

frequent showers of hail, snow, rain, &c.

I can find no person in this quarter who remembers to have ever seen the luminous appearance mentioned above, before this season-or such a quantity of lightning darting across the heavens-nor who have heard so much thunder at that season of the year.

This country being all stocked with sheep, and the herds having frequent occasion to pay attention to the state of the weather, it is not to be thought that such an appearance can have been at all frequent, and none of them to have observed it. Leadhills, 3d May 1817.

ON THE EXPORTATOIN OF COTTON YARN.

MR EDITOR,

I KNOW not whether you be that dignified and determinate sort of man which ordinary people, like me, in their extreme simplicity, are apt to set down for the conductor of a literary journal. But if power, and the love of sway consequent on the possession of it, have not yet wholly corrupted your understanding, bear with me, for hinting to you, that among the many improvements as to mere arrangement, and the other far more essential ones in point of spirit and talent, of which, above all others, your young work exhibits so many proofs-I think it is still much deficient in what relates to the financial and commercial concerns of the country. Let me draw your notice to them as, in every direction, and at all periods, deserving of your best attention. It is to them, next to the more pressing matters of personal security and civil liberty, that the anxious curiosity of that part of your readers which best deserves to be pleased is drawn at this moment. Thither it must be drawn for a long time, while we hardly know into what channels our commercial relations with other countries shall settle down, or how we shall recover from the agitation consequent on our deep-drawn and breathless contests, or the stunnings of our sudden success. To un

derstand these relations well, and to estimate fairly the phenomena which will still be emerging under altered circumstances and new connexions,

your readers should be furnished, too, with as much as possible of succinct and tastefully arranged fact, concerning all the countries and colonies with which we are connected. I intreat you humbly to keep these things in view; and to lay under contribution, for these purposes, such able and well-provided correspondents, as the personal influence of yourself and your Publisher, and the internal attractions of your Work, may have brought about you.

From an account* printed by the House of Commons, 20th March last, it appears, that for the years 181516-17, the official value of cotton yarn exported abroad was, in each of these years respectively-£2,907,276, -£1,781,077-£2,707,384.

I find

from the Annual Finance Books, published for the use of Parliament in 1812 and 13, that the official value of the same article, in the four years preceding 1814, stood as follows:1810, £1,097,536-1811, £1,075,237

1812, £545,237-1813, £966,007.t While an alarming decrease, therefore, has taken place in the demand for our cotton fabrics, occasioned by the other countries of Europe becoming, as well as America, manufacturers for themselves, an increase in the foreign purchase of our cotton twist has, from the same cause, been made apparent. England, as well as the other countries of Europe, must remain dependent on America for a supply of the raw material of cotton; and if America continues to work up such immense quantities of that article, it is highly probable, that large supplies of spun cotton will find their way from thence to Russia and France, and other countries of the European Continent, with which the Americans have a direct trade. England, however, is a coal country, and has excellent machinery in abundance; and though nothing can work a charm against the effects of excessive taxation, there may be grounds for hoping that, in the process of time, she may be able to enter into effectual competition, at the best markets of Europe, with the manufacturers of Rouen and Prague, with her

*Parl. Pro. 1817, No 141.

The following shews the fluctuation of our exports in cotton manufactured goods for the same period:-1810, official value, £18,634,614-1811, £18,033,794-1812, £11,715,533-1813, £15,972,826.

finer cotton fabrics, as well as with her cotton twist. This, however, cannot be rationally expected under present circumstances. In the meantime, it becomes us, like drowning mariners, to cling to the last plank which affords us any chance of preservation. Even the rigid law of hard necessity, however, will not teach sense to those who are most conversant with tangible existences, and who might be supposed to be, of all classes of men, the least liable to be led away by extravagant refinements, against the evidence of ordinary reason. Several petitions were presented to Parliament in the course of this spring, requesting that duties might be laid on the exportation of cotton twist. Nothing has yet been done, in the way of enactment, to meet the wishes of these petitioners; and if Parliament continues to refrain, it will have the high credit of opposing, to the common prejudices of the people, an approximation to the doctrines of political economy. The imposition of even a nominal duty, in the present case, would have, for its only effect, the sure consequence of preventing, in a short time, even a small quantity of the article from reaching the Continent from Britain. It would make the spinners of twist shut up their mills, and carry their capital somewhere else. This, or even any thing which by distant consequence leads to it, it is our interest at all times to avoid, and more especially at the present unhappy conjuncture of affairs. Even they who are most inclined to hope on against conviction, must be at last convinced, that the national capital is at present disappearing to an extent almost unprecedented; and that it will continue to do so, under our financial difficulties, even were our commercial relations very different from what they are. If any part of it, therefore, can be beneficially invested in the production of cotton twist for a foreign market (and as things are, it will be beneficially invested if applied when it can produce a small return, by way of profit, to the holder, and contribute to negative the wasting process, by giving such employment as will enable some of the people to maintain themselves freely), it is a public and a solemn duty not to interfere with the exportation of cotton twist. With every thing, very much the reverse of what it was in 1808 and 1809, we cannot force our neighbours

to want, or enable them to buy, any one article of luxury or necessity. But this is carrying me out of bounds, and I must content myself with referring you, for some clear and incontrovertible views on this subject, to a contemporary journal.*

The export of cotton yarn to Germany, in the year ended 5th Jan. 1817, is alone 10,594,400 lbs.-more, by one eighth, than a half of what we have sent to all the world beside. And, with the docile genius and happy turn for imitative industry which distinguish the German people, it is easy to anticipate what rapid strides they will make, with only a few years of peace, in this most important branch of industry. Russia is the next best customer in this branch. She took, this year 2,554,942 lbs. which, however, was about 400,000 lbs. less than in 1816. She will no doubt begin to manufacture for herself; and it will be the object of her enterprising and paternal autocrat, to give her, in that direction, perhaps, a greater impulse than the graduated scale of her civiliza→ tion, the forms of her society, or the influence of her yet feudal government, may permit.

In

Holland and Flanders are the next considerable in demand. Ireland follows them; for to that country 622,107 lbs. were sent this year,—though in 1816 the amount had been 705,599 lbs. It is a curious fact, when taken in contrast with this statement, that previous to 1781, no manufactured cotton was exported from Ireland. that year, the whole amount of cotton yarn exported from that country was 239 lbs. and manufactured cotton to the value of only £157, 7s.--although Parliament had been at the pains, three years before, to pass an act, allowing "the free importation of cotton yarn manufactured in Ireland, into any of the British Ports." But at that time we were at war with America, and Ireland had gained confidence and consequence from her volunteers. In the course of the same year, Parliament

THE SCOTSMAN, Edinburgh Newspaper, under date 17th May. Whatever may be the complexion of those political views in which that Journal indulges, it expositor of the most improved views of pois unquestionably the ablest and soundest litical economy among all our papers-daily or weekly.

laid a heavy duty on cotton wool or yarn, imported in foreign vessels "during the present hostilities;" and the newly acquired strength of Ireland purchased for her, from the English ministry, a free trade,-one of the immediate consequences of which to her was, that in one year, viz. 1782, her exports of cotton yarn rose to 8798 lbs. In 1783, Ireland imported only 5405 lbs. I have thus given you a small specimen, Mr Editor, of what, it occurs to me, your readers may expect of you from time to time. In my next letter I shall send you the account to which I have alluded, and some facts regarding the progress of cotton manufactures in America. H.

ON THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILDREN OF THE POOR.

MR EDITOR,

THE writer of an article in the last No. of the Edinburgh Review, "On the Causes and Cure of Pauperism,' has, in a very bold and masterly strain of argument, pressed upon our notice the remedies which are most likely to prove ultimately effectual in the cure, or at least the alleviation, of this great disease of the nation. We are much obliged to him for so doing. We contemplate, with feelings of admiration, the picture which he has drawn of the beneficial effects resulting in his own country from the diffusion of charities, not wrung, as they are here, from the people by the compulsatory influence of law, but prompted by the stronger impulse of religious duty. And while we could wish that such too were our circumstances, we thank him for putting us in mind of the means which we certainly possess for raising the minds of our poor from that lamentable state of degradation, that shamelessness of dependence, which are such striking features in the moral constitution of the people at this time. It is so obvious, that the want of employment, the want of comfort, the want of almost every thing which raises man "above the brutes that perish," must have a tendency to degrade and vitiate the mind, that it is perfectly astonishing to me, that men are not more eager to rescue the juvenile part of the population from the contagion of bad habits. We have talked and argued about Lancaster and Bell for the last six years, and

yet I believe very little has been done, except in large towns, for the spread of education. It does not seem to have occurred to the inhabitants of. our country towns and villages, of what inestimable advantage a set of parochial schools might prove to the community, and how completely every objection which has been elsewhere urged, and with some reason, against larger schools, as collecting together the bad and good, often to the corruption of the latter, may be set aside by the circumstance of the teacher's and patron's influence extending beyond the walls of the school-room. With regard to the religious and moral culture of the mind, there can be no question but that, under such circumstances, the juvenile population of the country stands on much better ground than that of a large town. There the bond of neighbourhood, the attachments of locality, are wanting between the teachers and the taught. They separate after the business of the day is over, and in all probability know nothing more of one another till they meet again in the same room. The very names of the individuals forming the body are mostly unknown, and over whatever passes beyond the walls of the school-room, the eye of the teacher does not and cannot watch. It is obvious that I do not mean to detract from the merit and exertions of those who are connected with such schools. On the contrary, it is easy to see, that in proportion to the magnitude of the evil to be encountered, and the difficulty of encountering it, is the honour of having so done. All I wish is, to see others sensible of their superior advantages with regard to the performance of a great duty, and not slumbering over a comparatively easy task. I do not speak from enthusiasm, but from what I see and know, when I maintain, that the wealthy in every parish have in their own hands, and are in a large degree accountable for, the character of their population. In a country village every face is known, every being is in some degree dependent on another, and there the faults, the misfortunes, and the good deeds, of every individual, are sure to be known. On what vantage ground then do we stand, when we take the sons and daughters of our poor under our own care, and are enabled, by our influence, to correct, restrain, and re

form, those habits which we thus have it in our power to watch over, as they are displayed in the transactions of every day? We have as yet heard little, but of the vices engendered by the present lamentable state of distress. Are we so blind, are we so senseless, as not to see, that the descendants of those whom we now reckon among the most worthless of our community, must come in for a double portion of their guilt and their opprobrium, unless we take some pains in training them to better things? Many of the idle and vicious now, have not perhaps always been such. But those whose earliest days are passed in idleness, and surrounded by every thing that is degrading, we cannot reasonably expect will, of themselves become respectable characters. The evil is a moral one,-it must be encountered by religious and moral means. We will not believe, that those beings whom we are endeavouring to save from vice, and in whose minds we are implanting, not the elements of knowledge only, but the desire and the means of being respectable, will, of themselves, for the most part, prefer dependancy and shame to usefulness and honour; and shall we ascribe less powerful effects to our religion? "A man," says the Reviewer," in cultivated life, would recoil from the act of falsehood, not because he has been rebuked out of this vice by the lessons of an authoritative code, but because his whole habit, formed as it insensibly is by the circumstances around him, carries along with it a contempt and disinclination for so odious a transgression against all right and honourable principle. And thus it is with Christianity in reference to pauperism. Out of its code there may be gathered materials for raising a barrier against the progress of this malady among people.' "Christianity may, he adds, quoting from a fine writer, "elevate the general standard of morals among a people, even though a very small proportion of them shall, in the whole sense and significancy of the term, become Christians."

the

We come now to speak of the means by which education may be diffused throughout our towns and villages. In the country, I believe, it will generally be found, that schools for boys have to struggle with many difficulties, and cannot often be productive of

as much good as might be desired. The children are very early removed, at least as soon as it is possible for them to earn something by agricultural employments. The chief object, therefore, is necessarily the education of girls, and of boys who are considered too young for such employments. I would not advocate the cause of country CHARITY schools, in the strictest sense of the term. The object should be, to furnish good instruction at the least possible expense, not to do it gratuitously; and it is a fact, that in every case which has come under my observation, a greater readiness has been expressed by the parents to send their children where they have contributed something towards the defrayment of the school expenses, than when they have done it without pay

ment.

Of this I could give several striking instances; and it is worth while urging the point upon the consideration of those who would be startled at the proposal of plans involving expense. I am warranted in saying, that, taking the weekly contribution of 40 children at 2d. each, and the superintendent's salary at £14 per annum, the average annual expenses of such a school will seldom exceed £8, provided the school-room be rent-free. I have not, at the same time, adverted to the profits arising from the children's work (which in some cases, and with good management, are considerable,) because these must necessarily be dependant on local circumstances, and have not always been worth consideration. It is obvious, that the ORIGINAL expenses of fitting up and furnishing school-rooms must also vary, according to necessity, and according to the pleasure of the managers. But the average annual expenses, when once established, I repeat, are small, and did they amount to a sum many times larger, it would surely be for the interest of the individuals of every parish. in the kingdom to establish them; for, to say nothing of the happiness thereby conferred,-to make no appeal to their just and generous feelings, let us at once appeal to their sordid principles; let us ask them if they can possibly expect their burdens to be less, and the demands on their stores less frequent, when every day is bringing to maturity those weeds of vice which have sprung up from the productive soil of idleness,