the country. The nature of that traditionary system called the "common law," with all the additions and alterations made in it and to it by statute law and the decisions of judges; the growth of equity as opposed apparently to common law, but in reality as aiding and combining with it; the gradual development of the law of evidence and trial by jury, from their rude beginnings to their present condition; with all the collateral topics which rise out of them-present much matter for the information of younger readers, for whose benefit we may attempt to take up the general subject. Meantime, we present them with a few extracts from a recently-published work, which may serve as an introduction. The work, whose title we have given in a note, is full of very readable matter, and much valuable information. It is not deficient in research and accuracy, though in one or two instances the author has fallen into palpable mistakes, and also repeats the same story in different parts of his work. Our extracts, however, will enable the reader to form his own judgment of the style and character of the book. "Sir William Jones has observed, that the only road to the highest stations in this country is that of the law; and probably it is to a general conviction of this kind that we owe the multitude of aspirants for its honours and dignities. There is no profession in the country in whose character and prospects so much interest is felt, and which exercises so important an influence upon our social and political relations. Those who are the most prominent in its ranks are well known to the public, and there are few persons to be met with who are not. more or less, connected with some one belonging to it. "At the bar and on the bench have been found those who, in the worst and darkest times, have nobly vindicated the supremacy of the laws, and, despite the ambition of despotic sovereigns and the fury of licentious demagogues, have defended the rights of the people and the prerogatives of the crown. "In allusion to the repeated attempts of James I. to overawe his parliaments, Mr. Godwin observes, that it is impossible to review these proceedings without feeling that the liberties of England are to no man so deeply indebted as to Sir Edward Coke.' And in how many instances have those liberties been preserved by the intrepidity and independence of the judges of England! How many evils have we been spared-seeing that we, like every other government resting upon public opinion as its basis, have ever been oscillating between extremes-by the purity and impartiality with which justice has been administered amongst us! In my mind,' says the greatest orator of our age, he was guilty of no error-he was chargeable with no exaggeration-he was betrayed by his fancy into no metaphor, who once said that all we see about us, king, lords and commons, the whole machinery of the state-all the apparatus of the system, and its varied workings, end in simply bringing twelve good men into a box.' Bacon has expressed his conviction of the vast importance of our judicial system, in terms not less pointed and forcible. When any of the four pillars of government,' says he, are mainly shaken or weakened, men had need to pray for fair weather.'" "Again, in former times, success at the bar was the result of some happy' hit,' some fortunate event, a leader being taken ill, an important point being overlooked, a case occurring in which a knowledge of some recondite branch of law is required, and of which there is only one person at the bar who knows anything. Those were times in which many men could say, with Lord Mansfield, that they never knew the difference between an income of three hundred a-year, and one of as many thousands. But in our times the case is very different. The young barrister, after he has taken his oaths, and duly apparelled himself in wig and gown, takes his seat on one of the back benches. After having exhibited himself for some time in this position, a friendly attorney entrusts to him a motion of course,' or 'a consent brief,' by which he has an opportunity of addressing the bench or woolsack for a fraction of a minute, and also of making a certain agreeable entry in his 'fee-book.' The attorney then, perhaps, confides a more important task to his hands-he discharges his duty with quickness and address-his name becomes known to the judge-on the circuit he obtains a prosecution or two, which introduces him to the notice of the country attorneys-he gets on by degrees, until he obtains a moderate practice-he acquires the favour of a leader, and at last gets spoken of as a rising young man—a fortunate death occurs on his circuit-he succeeds the deceased-business flows in on him-he applies to the chancellor for a silk gown, which is given to him, and he leads on his circuit. "Besides, the expenses of admission to the bar, and of the professional education, without which admission is of little value, have of late years much increased. An admired writer on law studies has declared that a clear income of at least (the italics are his own) 150%., and that managed with the greatest economy, is generally speaking a sine quâ non to a successful entrance into the profession. In our opinion,' says the author of an admirable review of the work from which we have quoted, 'if the candidate be not blessed with a commanding connexion, he should have enough to keep him for eight or ten years, so as to give him a fair chance, and something to fall back upon should he fail. It would be difficult to go circuit and sessions, buy books and live comfortably, for less than three times the income named by Mr. Warren.' How strangely do these assertions sound to those who have been taught by precept and example, that in parts and poverty' lie the secret of success at the bar! Looking to the great men who have from time to time shed light and glory on their age, such assertions appear anything but reconcileable with fact. Lord Eldon When at Oxford, he was was originally intended for the church. fortunate enough to obtain the chancellor's prize for the best English essay. Considering that henceforth his fortune was made, he was bold enough to persuade a beautiful and interesting girl to elope with him. They were married, and John Scott was regarded as a lost man. The difficulty in which he thus involved himself, compelled him to relinquish all idea of the church, and to enter himself for the bar: he-the son of a coal-whipper at Newcastle-died an earl of the English peerage, in possession of an enormous fortune, and after having for more than twenty-six years presided over the high court of chancery. He says, that after he had kissed hands on receiving the great seal, the king said to him, 'Give my remembrances to Lady Eldon.' He acknowledged his Majesty's condescension, but intimated his ignorance of Lady Eldon's claims to such a notice. Yes, yes,' he replied, 'I know how much I owe Lady Eldon. I know you would have made yourself a country curate, and that she has made you my Lord Chancellor.' And the old king was right. But where Scott succeeded, how many would have failed? How many, when all the cares and anxieties that are attendant on early marriages, made without regard to prudence, in a pecuniary point of view. are pressing on them "It is a great mistake to suppose that the bar is in modern times more aristocratic than of old. We have, indeed, among us some few eminent men, who have sprung from the lower classes, and have found in parts and poverty,' the pathway to honour. But what are these among so many? And one reason of this is, that in modern days, the Universities have not been so accessible to persons of small means, and humble birth, as formerly. Look, for example, at the case of the great John Selden. His father is described by Aubrey, as having been 'a yeomanly man of about 40%. per annum.' He also is supposed to have pursued the trade of a wheelwright, and to have assisted his family by his talents as a musician. Selden was sent to Chichester free-school, and, at the age of fourteen, obtained an exhibition, and was admitted fellow of Hart Hall, Oxford. He thus received the best possible educa-ought, to the study of a difficult profession? tion which the age afforded. Lord-keeper Guilford declared that if he had had 1007. a-year, he had never been a lawyer. "Noy left his son 500., and 100 marks a-year, which, it was said, was amply sufficient to bring him up to his father's profession. Lord-keeper North, when a student, was allowed only 60%. ayear. Jeffreys had an allowance of 407. a-year, and 101. for clothes. 644 Increasing debts, perplexing duns, how many could apply themselves, with the assiduity which they "You charge me eighty sequins,' said an Italian noble to a sculptor, for a bust that you made in ten days!" "You forget,' replied the sculptor, ⚫ that I have been thirty years learning to make that bust in ten days. "There is an opinion current in the minds of the public, that the bar is a profession, in a pecuniary sense, highly profitable, and a few instances of immense fortunes which have been made in it, have been pointed to as evidencing the justice of this opinion. "Sir E. Coke has given a list of 'near two hundred great and noble Sir Samuel Romilly is said to have realised an income of upwards families which had, even in his time, risen by the law."" of 15,000%, a-year, at the latter end of his life; and in our own days, enormous retaining fees have, on several occasions, been given to counsel. Sir Charles Wetherell is known to have received 7,000 guineas for opposing the Municipal Corporations' Bill at the bar of the house of lords; and it is generally understood that Mr. Serjeant Wilde's retaining fee, in the case of the British Iron Company against Mr. Attwood, was not less than 3000 guineas. The leader of the home circuit is said to have had 113 retainers during the last (839) spring circuit. Conveyancing is probably the most profitable branch of the profession; but of late years the profits of the conveyancer have been very much diminished. "The eloquence of the English bar belongs to a later period in history than that of which we have been speaking. From the time of Lord Cowper down to the days of Erskine, we can boast a series of forensic orators, who, in the highest attributes of eloquence, would vie with the most renowned speakers that have adorned our senate. It will also be found, that accomplished as these have been as orators, they have been also often profound, and always wellread lawyers for it is an error to suppose that law-learning and eloquence are incompatible; and a far greater error to suppose, that in modern time, any figures of speech' will compensate for an intimate acquaintance with the principles of the law, and the practice of the courts. "Lord Erskine, in a letter which has been published, says, 'That no man can be a great advocate, who is no lawyer. The thing is impossible.' In former times, however, when oratory was in greater requisition at the bar than at present, the thing was far more possible. Now the judges have a habit of interrupting counsel with remarks and questions, with a view of shortening proceedings, which would, to borrow the language of a learned friend, at once throw on his back' any barrister who should venture before them with but little knowledge of law, despite all his quickness and eloquence. When Lord Brougham heard a counsel addressing the court in a flowery strain, he sarcastically observed to some one near him, Poor young man! he has read the wrong Phillips.' "It is, however, a great mistake to suppose that the most successful advocate is he that is the most eloquent. The present Lord Abinger, who on all hands must be admitted to have been the first advocate of his time, had not the remotest pretensions to eloquence. His style was colloquial; he talked over the jury. He never bullied them, attempting, like his great antagonist, Mr. Brougham, to wring verdicts from them, and to force them, reluctant and terrified, to do his bidding. His bearing towards them was bland and respectful; he took care never to alarm them with the fury of rhetorie; he was fluent, and as Johnson said of Churchill, was a tree that only bore crabs, but bore a great many. Sir Albert Pell was another instance of a successful advocate who never trod the primrose paths' of flowery speech. He was famous for violating the rules of grammar and pronunciation every time he opened his mouth. He was verbose and prolix, and yet succeeded in getting verdicts. This secret might be learnt from the following anecdote :-A gentleman happened to be in a room with him the day after he had been engaged in an important cause in the neighbourhood, and made some slight allusion to the tautologous speech which the learned counsel had delivered. Pell immediately acknowledged the justice of the censure. I certainly was confoundedly long,' he said, but did you observe the foreman, a heavy-looking fellow in a yellow waistcoat? No more than one idea could ever stay in his thick head at a time, and I resolved that mine should be that one; so I hammered on till I saw by his eyes that he had got it. Do you think I cared for what you young critics might say?' Lord Brougham used to say of Pell's style of speaking, that it was not eloquence, it was pelloquence, and deserved to have a chapter in books of rhetoric to itself.' "A bold, familiar, and forcible manner, conveying to the minds of all present a belief that you are in earnest, is the most effective style for addressing a jury. An editor of a newspaper brought an action against three gentlemen who had been attacked in his paper, and who had vindicated their character by inflicting on him the severest chastisement. Mr. Charles Phillips, who was of counsel for the plaintiff, made a splendid speech, depicting with great cloquence the cruelty with which his client had been treated, and managed very evidently to carry the jury along with him. Mr. (afterwards Justice) Taunton, who appeared for the defendant, quickly obliterated the impression that his brilliant opponent had made, by saying in a powerful, but familar tone, My friend's eloquent complaint in plain English amounts to this, that his The fee indorsed on the brief was 1000 guineas. client has received a good horse-whipping-and mine is as shortthat he richly deserved it!' "In ancient times the clergy monopolised all the learning in the kingdom. They were statesmen, lawyers, sometimes generals, physicians, and surgeons. The honours of this last profession they were afterwards compelled to share with the barbers. · "In the reign of Henry III. the ecclesiastical superiors of the clergy interfered, and forbad their practising in the secular courts; but the profits they derived from their practice made many openly defy, and others secretly evade, this command. The coif, or patch of black silk, which we see at the top of our serjeants' wigs to this day, was invented at this time in order to conceal the priests' tonsures. We may perceive, at present, many evidences that clergymen were the predecessors of our present learned friends' at Westminster. The gown and band now worn, are clearly borrowed from the ecclesiastical habit; the wig is a later invention; the term 'clerk,' as applied to several officers in our law-courts, points also to an ecclesiastical origin. The six clerks in chancery were originally the clerks in the king's chapel, over whom presided the arch-chaplain or dean, called the chancellor, who was also the king's confessor, and was said to have the charge of his conscience. The six clerks were ecclesiastics to a very late period of our history, and forfeited their offices if they attempted to marry. An act of Parliament, passed in the fourteenth year of Henry the Eighth's reign, relieved them from this disability, probably because they were no longer clergy. The clergy were not enabled to marry until sixteen years afterwards. "The office of Chancellor continued longer in the possession of ecclesiastics than any other. Until the fall of Wolsey, when the sceptre departed from the Church, and that overwhelming influence in civil matters which she had so long exercised, to the great detriment of religion, had for ever passed away, the great seal was usually held by a dean or archdeacon, or was confided to one of the king's chaplains. We are told that there were one hundred and twenty-six clegymen who at different times held this important and onerous office. After Wolsey's time, and previous to the days of Lord Bacon, it was held, at three different times, by dignified ecclesiastics; and Bacon himself was succeeded by Williams, Dean of Westminster, who was the last clerical functionary intrusted with the seals. We proceed to make a few brief observations on the important office itself. "To trace the rise of the equitable jurisdiction of the Chancellor in England, however interesting it might be, would demand far greater space than we can afford. We may still observe, that the result of inquiries into the records of the chancery court show, that the chief business of that court, in ancient times, did not arise, as is often supposed, from the introduction of uses of land, as very few applications on the subject are found to have been made during the first four or five reigns after the equitable jurisdiction of the court appears to have been fully established. By far the greater number of the ancient petitions appear to have been presented, in consequence of assaults and trespasses, which were cognisable at common law, but for which the party complaining was unable to obtain redress, from the protection afforded to his adversary by some powerful baron, or sheriff, or other officer of the county in which they occurred. To supply the defects and mitigate the rigour of the common law, is generally understood to have been considered the duties of the chancellor at a later period, "It has been a usual complaint that the difficulty of understanding law is greatly aggravated by the barbarous phraseology in which the lawyers write. "An M.D. once reproached a learned counsel with what Mr. Bentham would call the uncognoscibility' of the technical terms of law, Now, for example,' said he, I never could comprehend what you meant by docking an entail. My dear doctor,' replied the barrister, I don't wonder at that, but I will soon explain the meaning of the phrase: it is doing what your profession never consent to suffering a recovery!' Technical terms must always seem uncouth and be unintelligible to those to whom the science in which they are used is unknown, and perhaps, abstractedly speaking, law phrases are not one whit more barbarous and uncognoscible than those of any other science. "The phrases used in Scottish law are even more difficult and obscure than those in use on this side of Tweed; and this arises from the circumstance that the Scotch lawyers employ words in ordinary use in a certain technical sense. When a judge wishes to be peremptory in an order, he ordains parties to condescend; when he intends to be mild, he recommends them to lose their pleas. When anybody thinks proper to devise his estates for the benefit of the poor, he is considered by the law of Scotland to mortify them. Witnesses are brought into court upon a diligence, and before they can be examined, they must be purged. If a man loses his deceased elder brother's estate, it is called a conquest! The elegant phrases of 'blasting you at the horn,' poinding your estate, consigning you to the fisc,' exceed any barbarisms for which Westminster Hall need to blush. We have, however, assuredly some phrases which sound strange in laymen's earsdocking an entail—seised in fee-villains in gross, &c. "When Sir Thomas More was at Bruges, some bold doctor offered a challenge to the world, to dispute on any given subject. More readily accepted the challenge, and proposed the following question Whether beasts taken in withernam can be replevied? This question, touching a point of our municipal law, abashed the sophist who pretended to universal knowledge, and who at once withdrew from the field. "The judges in the courts of law and equity are esteemed by the constitution of very great dignity and importance. Striking in a superior court of law, or at the assizes, is more penal than striking in the king's palace; an offence which our law used anciently to visit with the utmost severity. Previously to the Conquest, we learn from Blackstone, to strike any one in the king's court of justice, or even to draw a sword therein, was a capital felony; but our law exchanged the loss of life for that of limb; now such an offence may be punished with the loss of the right hand, imprisonment for life, and forfeiture of goods and chattels, and of the profits of lands for life. Those even who are guilty of having used threatening or reproachful words to a judge sitting in a court are guilty of a high misprision, and have been punished with large fines, imprisonment, and corporeal punishment. Even an affray or riot near the courts, though out of their actual view, is punished with fine and imprisonment. So highly does the law respect the dignity and consequence of the judicial character. Bacon, when Lord Keeper, pronounced a decree against Lord Clifton, who was so enraged at it, that he publicly declared that 'he was sorry he had not stabbed the Lord Keeper in his chair, the moment he had pronounced judgment.' For this imprudent speech he was committed to the Tower. Bacon appears to have conducted himself with great and commendable moderation. Writing to Buckingham, he says, I pray your lordship, in humbleness, to let his majesty know that I little fear the Lord Clifton, but I much fear the example that will animate ruffians and rodomonti, extremely against the seats of justice, which are his majesty's own seats-yea, and against all authority and greatness, if this pass without public censure and example, it having gone already so far, as that the person of a baron hath been committed to the Tower.' "Exalted as is the dignity of the judge, his labours are severe, his responsibility heavy. He is often placed in such situations as require from him the utmost control of his feelings, while his daily occupations demand the constant exercise of the highest faculties of his mind, and this especially in the dispensing of criminal justice, and most especially at a period when our criminal code was disgraced by a severity unknown to almost every other country in the world, and unworthy of a people to whom religion and civilisation were known. Remembering that he was placed on the bench not to make but to administer-not to alter but to declare the law, a humane and intelligent judge must have felt, and perhaps at times may even now feel, a severe conflict between his feelings and his duty. "The Morality of Law and Lawyers' is neither superior nor inferior in its quality to the morality of any other class; and it is to nothing but the ignorance of calumniators that the opinion of its inferiority can be ascribed. There are indeed some practices in the profession which we would fain see abandoned; and we are confident that their abandonment, without diminishing the actual gains of the lawyer, would tend considerably to exalt him in the estimation of the public. We refer to those fictitious charges which swell the amount of the solicitors' bills; charges often for work not done by them, or perhaps not done at all; charges sometimes for the merest trifles and performance of the most insignificant duties. Every one who has been honoured with the perusal of a document of this kind, will recal to his recollection the words Term fee,' Procuration fee,' 'Attending counsel and delivering brief,' 'Attending to get deeds stamped,' Drawing lease for a year,' and numberless other items of a similar character which have crowded the awful sheets. Now when it is remembered that it is some errand-boy or inferior clerk, whose services are valued at ten shillings a week, that leaves the brief at the counsel's chambers, the fee usually charged surely appears too high; and also that it is, in nine cases out of ten, a stationer that obtains · the stamps affixed to the parchment, for which he is paid nothing, the charge for this can hardly be defended; nor can the sum which the client is called on to pay for Drawing a lease for a year, a merely formal document, be defended, seeing that it is invariably prepared either by the aforesaid clerk or the aforesaid stationer. We could continue our remarks on this subject much longer, but enough has been said to direct public attention to the subject. We allude to it in a spirit the very reverse of hostility to the solicitors; we do so with no other wish than that they would reform their practice, and put down, by the most effectual means possible, the malicious and ungenerous insinuations to which they have been subjected. We are far from believing them as a body overpaid: it is not the amount of their gains we challenge; it is the form and means in which and by which these gains are acquired to which we object. We believe that the fair amount of these gains has in modern times been greatly diminished through the activity of interlopers and the deficiencies of the law. In the country, at this moment, there are a considerable number of persons, neither certificated nor attorneys, prosecuting a thriving practice, greatly to the detriment of those who to fit themselves for their profession have spent a considerable time in study as well as paid heavy duties to the government. This is an evil which cries aloud for speedy remedy, and we do trust that in fairness, and for the protection of an honourable profession, something will speedily be done." A MORNING RAMBLE IN SMYRNA. THERE is no place regarding which I ever had so many varied associations as Smyrna. My first were of reverence and awe, as, when a boy, I used to read of the seven churches of Asia; and heard clergymen speak from the pulpit of the present fallen greatness of these once-favoured spots. My second were caused by reading in the grocer's shop-window, "Fine new Smyrna figs," while my mouth watered to taste them. Later associations of Smyrna were-of the city of the plague, the dead-cart, livid corpses, oilskin cloaks, and people avoiding to touch one another in passing in the street; and my latest were-as being the rendezvous of almost all the assassins, bullies, thieves, gamblers, and villains, which infest the Levant. All these varied recollections of churches, figs, plague, and assassins, and every thought I may say which has passed through my mind in regard to Smyrna during a period of nearly thirty years, stood in clear array before me, as I hastily performed my toilet, previous to my appearing on deck to view the place that had so long and so deeply interested my fancy. The sun had been risen nearly two hours. The deck of our steamer was almost entirely cleared of passengers and luggage, while round the sides thirty or forty boatmen were calling out, in Greek or Italian, for the portage of the few that yet remained. Smyrna lay stretching out from the stern of our vessel, and seemed to the eye a sort of crescent of irregularly-built houses, situated on a plain; while behind it rose a chain of hills, and on the top of one of them ruins of an older date. After enjoying for some little time the view from the quarter-deck, I jumped into one of the little boats, and was rapidly pulled towards the shore. We had not proceeded far before one of the boatmen said, with an air of great satisfaction, "How you do, sir? me hope you very bono this day." I replied, I was very well, and asked him if he could talk much English. He rejoined, "O yes! me talk English very much; me interpreter for all English gentlemans come here; me your interpreter; me very honest man, me non cattiva, me not cheat same as other dragomans; all dragomans in Smyrna barbenti (scoundrel), me non barbenti." After thus delivering himself, the boatman or dragoman-for he seemed both-rested upon his oars, and drew from his breast a book, in which were a few real English names, and a great many forged ones, certifying that Andrionaico was a very honest man, and might safely be trusted by any Englishman, as dragoman, purveyor, &c. &c. I told him that I did not want any dragoman, as I could speak the language myself. At this information his countenance fell, but he said I would at least give him a certificate of his honesty. This, however, I refused to do, and he, putting the book in his pocket in high dudgeon, bent to his oars, and began again to pull for the shore. The boat was much larger than an ordinary caique of Constantinople, as well as much clumsier and stronger-looking. It was pulled by another man besides Andrionaico; they sometimes sat, and sometimes stood, as they handled their oars; and I found afterwards that caiques so small and light as those of Stamboul were not used in this port. On arrival at a low wooden quay, I threw a piastre in the bottom of the boat, and jumped ashore; but one of the boatmen cried out that it was too little, while the other followed me, saying he was not a boatman, and begging. I would allow him something for translating for me on the voyage from the steamer to the shore. I was almost confounded at the fellow's impudence, and answered him in no very select phrases; while he, seeing I was more noisy than profitable, re-entered the boat, and again pulled for the steamer. I had not been two days in Smyrna, until I learned that Andrionaico, the "very honest man," was one of the biggest rogues in the town. His father was a Maltese, and his mother a Smyrniote; and if reports are true, fitter parents to make a roguish son could not be found anywhere. until I approached, and then going off whirring its wings like a bird. Each leap was shorter than its predecessor; at last, it was fairly exhausted, and I caught it among some long dried grass. Its body was more than three inches long, and from the points of its feelers to the tips of its toes, when the legs were full stretched, it measured more than seven inches. It had four wings most beautifully diversified with blue, yellow, red, and green streaks. After visiting the ruins of the castle and church, I turned again to contemplate the modern town with its minarets rising up like so many tall needles, and the flags of the various nations of Europe fluttering in the breeze from long poles, erected on the tops of the various consulates. While thus engaged, my eye caught a sight which realised all my dreams of oriental romance. It was about six in the morning when I landed at the quay, and began to traverse the town. I found Frank and Turkish cafés in abundance, and all well filled with customers. The Greek, wine, and rakee shops were, however, by far the most numerous, and, as I wended my way through the long crooked street, that runs close upon the shore from one end of Smyrna to the other, I observed even at that early hour many drunken brawls, and in two instances saw the bright steel glitter in the morning sun, as long knives were drawn with the intention of steeping them in blood. In one of these cases the party saved himself by a preci. pitate retreat to another wine-shop, where, closing the door, the fugitive remained safe, while his antagonist stood in the street calling on him to come out to his death. How long this bloodthirsty Greek might have stood ere his ire was cooled I know not, for a party of armed police chancing to pass, they took him away, and ordered the wine-keeper again to open his door, and the crowd dispersed, evidently disappointed that no blood had been spilt. The other case was that of a quarrel between two Greeks who were sitting gambling at a little table. One of them drew his knife, and was in the act of stabbing his adversary when his hand was grasped, and the knife wrenched from it, with the speed of lightning. This was done by a man who was standing behind, looking on at the game, and who I suspected was a confederate of the man who was gaining, apparently more indebted to the telegraphing of his companion than to his own luck. Assassinations are here very common, and during the six days I remained in Smyrna at this time, a day never passed in which I did not see brawlers issue from the wine-shops, "on deadly purpose bent." During these six days, there were five Greeks assassinated in wine-placed. Among the keepers, &c. there were Arabs and Turks shop brawls. Near to the centre of the town I saw a large open space of broken and uneven ground, with a fountain in the centre, while around were strings of camels grouped in the most effective style. The distance at which I was could not enable me to distinguish the groups in detail, but I had a view of the grand tableau at one coupd'œil. Such a scene I had long wished to enjoy; I forgot all my dreams of antiquity in the romance of the present, and, marking the bearing of the spot, dived once again into the narrow and dirty streets of "Ghiaour Ismir," as the Turks call Smyrna. Practice had made me an adept in threading unknown oriental towns, and I soon found myself on the spot I sought. It appeared to be an open space of about the same size as Smithfield market, with irregularly-built houses forming irregular sides to it. The ground was uneven and in many places broken up, while parts of it were here and there covered with spots of parched grass, others with a stone causeway, but the greater part of the surface was dry earth. I asked an old Turk the name of the place, and he answered me, Devah Chana, which signifies The Inn of the Camels; and truly it was not misnamed, for the ground was covered with more than three hundred of these curious-looking animals, grouped in every variety of position and posture. Some caravans had just arrived, and the camels of these were standing in long strings with their tall burdens towering over their ever restless heads, which does not look unlike the neck of some monstrous teapot set in motion by the wand of a magician; others were lying on the ground, side by side, in close file, loaded and unloaded, loading and unloading. In some cases, the camels were grouped with their heads towards each other, leaving a space in the centre where their burdens were from all parts of Asia and Africa, dressed in the scarlet, the brown, After I had traversed the long street from end to end, I retraced the green, or the white robes and turbans, according to their cusmy steps to about the centre of it, and then struck directly through tom or whim. Among the merchants, there were Greeks, Armethe town towards the hills. After leaving the main thoroughfare, nians, and Jews, to be seen, but few in the Frankish dress. Some I found the streets become very dirty and narrow, scarcely one of of the camels were very young, not larger than a calf a week old, them possessing a good-looking house, but entirely composed of running by the side of their maternal parent, if in motion, or mean, low buildings. I had not walked far before the streets resting at her head, rubbing its nose on hers, and playing as many began to ascend, which they continued to do until I was outside tricks as a frolicsome kitten; and I had nearly bought one of of the town. The morning was very warm, and the exertion neces- these curious animals, but, not being accustomed to Oriental sary to climb the rough and hilly lanes had so far exhausted me, jockeying, the vendor and I quarrelled, and I left the khan withthat I was glad to sit down on the burnt-up grass, and enjoy out drawing my purse. The owner asked me 200 piastres-about the scene around me. In front was the Gulf of Smyrna, on 351., for a fine little camel, old enough to leave its mama. He whose bosom lay at anchor about thirty merchant vessels of all assured me this was the lowest para, and I was, without more nations, two steamers, and two men-of-war. In the distance, ado, as he also told me it was "the last word," about to pay down several villages could be seen skirting the far-off shore of the Gulf; the sum, when he suddenly raised his demand, and I left him in under my feet stood the modern town all bustle and animation, disgust. Afterwards I found out that these people are never while above my head lay the ancient city in ruin and silence. The satisfied with a bargain, unless there be at least two hours of scene to the eye was far inferior to many that I had seen in the wrangling, the one extolling and the other depreciating the object East; but the associations connected with the spot caused me to of sale; when the argument is exhausted, and every comparative, linger. How long my thoughts might have rambled over Smyrna argumentative, and diminutive term in their language has been and its neighbourhood I know not, had something not jumped or used several times, then both parties feel that due justice has flown past my face. I started from my seat, and cautiously looked been done to the subject, and the money is paid, and accepted around. It was a moment or two before I could see or hear any-with a sang froid that makes it appear as if the money formed no thing moving, but soon my ear caught the loud singing of grass- feature of the argument just concluded. hoppers; the air around seemed filled with their song, but still the body that passed my nose had left an impression on my mind, that it was too large for a grasshopper. After watching the singing for a short time, and seeing nothing stir, I began to move myself, then the nimble-legged gentry began to leap; but such leaping I never saw equalled either before or since. Some of them took the usual grasshopper leap, others leaped four times as far, while the larger ones seemed to fly as well as leap, and I sometimes pursued them a distance of more than thirty yards before they took the ground. The pursuit, however, was not like that after a butterfly, all was straightforward "go-a-head." There was one of these merry animals, that when in motion made as much noise as a hedge-sparrow, and I determined, if possible, to capture it. It managed to take about ten flying leaps, resting At a subsequent period, I went with an Englishman, who was well acquainted with the manners of the people and wanted a horse, to see the proper method of striking a bargain. The gentleman took his servant, a Maltese, with him; and on our arrival at the khan, the gentleman, the horse-dealer, the servant, and myselfall sat down to smoke our pipes together; by-and-bye a surreghee trotted the horse out, and, after a good deal of delay, the price was named. The gentleman shook his head, told his servant in English to buy the horse at the price named, or cheaper, if he could; but on no account to attempt to conclude the bargain under two hours. The gentleman went away, his servant and myself remained, apparently out of mere idleness, to smoke another pipe, and, after a considerable pause, the debate began. The Maltese ran the horse down at no allowance, and said it was not worth a fourth part of the sum asked. The Turk on his part said all that was bosh lackriday (empty words), as it was worth double the sum demanded, and he would not give it now at any price. The Maltese retorted in proper style, and, after two hours of wrangling and disputing, each party seemed to consider the matter had been managed in a very creditable and praiseworthy style on both sides; the horse was bought for a trifle less than first demanded. The money was paid down, mutual compliments passed, and each took leave of the other highly satisfied at the tone, length, and result of the debate. GALVANIC BATTERY. His Ar a meeting of the Electrical Society, held on the 16th of October, 1838, a paper was read by Mr. Walker, descriptive of a battery he had prepared, (the expense of which he estimates at about as many shillings as there were cells,) and at that and subsequent meetings he made most interesting reports upon the experiments he had effected by means of his apparatus. papers may be found at large in the printed proceedings of the Society, from whence we extract the following description of the battery; and an account of it may also be found in the third volume of the "Annals of Electricity." The original is illustrated by figures, but the description is so clear as to be easily understood without them. "Each cell of the battery is a cylindrical vessel of white earthenware, capable of containing about half a pint. The copper elements are sheets whose width is equal to the height of the vessel, and whose length is more than equal to the inner circumference; so that when bent into a cylindrical form and placed within their respective cells, they arrange themselves closely against the sides. Attached to each is a stout copper wire-diameter 1-10th inchsupporting a small brass cup to contain mercury. The zinc elements are cylinders two inches external diameter, composed of metal 3-16th inch in thickness, and each weighing about two pounds. The wires soldered to the zinc are considerably long er than those attached to the copper. "Great care was taken in arranging and charging the cells: narrow slips of glass well covered with shell lac varnish were spread in order on the table; on these the cells rested, to preserve as much as possible their insulation: the cells were about an inch apart. The ends of the wires within the mercury-cups were amalgamated by touching them with a copper wire, dipped into nitrate of mercury. The coppers, with these their attached wires, being placed in the cells, the cups were filled with mercury. Into each cell was then poured a measured quantity of saturated solution of sulphate of copper, about a quarter of a pint. The ends of their wires having been previously amalgamated, each zinc was rested on the centre of a circular piece of brown paper, the circumference of which was carefully collected round the upper edge of the cylinder if this is done with caution, the paper will lie in very regular folds, and effectually cover the zinc. These cylinders were then filled with a saturated solution of salt and water, and being placed within the copper, in the copper solution of their cells, were connected with the neighbouring copper in the next cell by bending their wires into the mercury cups. "The entire battery consists of 160 of these cells, and is divided into eight batteries of twenty cells each," arranged in four rows of five cells each. By means of a moveable wire the batteries may be connected at pleasure. "On account of the comparatively small size of the zinc cylinders, the fourth part of a sheet of brown paper is sufficient to cover them; when this, after being cut circular, is folded as described, it will lie closely round their upper edge, not presenting that great accumulation of folds which must of necessity occur where larger zinc (and therefore larger paper) is used. Besides, in the case of large cylinders, the paper, after becoming saturated, is not sufficiently strong to bear the weight of the contained solution; so that in the attempt to remove it from the cell, not only is the paper destroyed, but the salt solution mixes with and destroys the solution of sulphate of copper. With moderate caution the papers of the present battery will serve for many excitations. Mr. Mason informed us that he has tested paper against animal membrane, and has found the former to last the longer. Again, as the copper is not soldered into a cylinder, any cupreous deposit may easily be detached by opening the cylinder. When, as in this case, zinc forms the interior cylinder, its outer becomes the efficient surface in the Voltaic combination. It is needless to add the ease with which this surface (compared with the inner) can be cleaned. To keep the battery in proper order, the zinc should be cleaned every time the battery is taken to pieces.' A battery consisting of twelve cells, of same dimensions as those described in Mr. Walker's paper, placed together in a box and excited with hot solutions, was exhibited at the meeting: with this miniature battery a cubic inch of the mixed gases was released in twenty-seven seconds; it produced a red heat on from twelve to fourteen inches of platinum wire, 1-100th of an inch in diameter, and afforded a very brilliant light from charcoal points. Mr. Walker states that about two dozen cells (especially if charged with hot solutions) are more than sufficient for all ordinary purposes. The materials necessary for the manufacture of the apparatus are easily to be procured from any respectable dealers in the various articles required; and with the assistance of a tolerably skilful workman, or even without such aid, there can be little difficulty in its constr" on. THE FIRST OF MARCH. THE bud is in the bough, And the leaf is in the bud, And Earth's beginning now In her veins to feel the blood, Which, warm'd by summer's sun In the alembic of the vine, From her founts will overrun In a ruddy gush of wine. The perfume and the bloom That shall decorate the flower Are quickening in the gloom Of their subterranean bower; And the juices meant to feed Trees, vegetables, fruits, Unerringly proceed To their pre-appointed roots. How awful is the thought Of the wonders under ground, Of the mystic changes wrought In the silent dark profound; How each thing upward tends, By necessity decreed, And a world's support depends On the shooting of a seed ! The Summer's in her ark, And this sunny-pinion'd day Is commission'd to remark Whether Winter holds her sway. Go back, thou dove of peace, With the myrtle on thy wing, Say that flood and tempests cease, And the world is ripe for Spring. Thou hast fann'd the sleeping Earth For the rustle of its leaves, Thy vivifying spell Has been felt beneath the wave, By the dormouse in its cell, And the mole within its cave: And the summer tribes that creep, Or in air expand their wing, Have started from their sleep, At the summons of the Spring. |