HARRY SMITH'S MARRIED LIFE.

BY MRS. W. B. HODGSON.

PART II.

"It would be a sin indeed not to be good and happy here!" said Mary as she sat down with her husband in their new home, after having taken a minute survey of the whole premises.

"It would indeed," replied Harry, looking proudly round the little room, and then more proudly still upon the beaming face of his wife; and it shall not be my fault, Mary, if we are not; good, you are sure to be, and I think-I am surethat I shall be too. I am very glad now that I did not take the pledge; for I feel that though it is such a good thing, it is better to do without it if we can. have a great deal better opinion of myself, by trusting to my own good resolution, and I know it is a good thing to have a good opinion of one'sself; for when I used to think myself bad, I used to feel as if I didn't care what bad things I did. I need not take to myself any credit though, on the score of my good resolution; for what temptation can I have to go and drink with such a home as this to come to?"

It was indeed a pretty place that they had chosen for their home. It was a small thatched cottage, containing three rooms a kitchen, with a room behind which was called the parlour, though it had only a sanded floor, and a bedroom above, which Mary had declared looked quite spacious and airy, notwithstanding the low ceiling. It was a humble enough abode, but everything within was so bright and clean and neat, and everything without was so fresh and beautiful, that it seemed to the newly married pair quite luxurious. It looked out upon the extensive nursery gardens of which Harry was one of the gardeners; and they had a little plot of garden ground to their own cottage, in which the flourishing and choice flowers, growing in small beds on the well kept grass-plot, gave evidence of Harry's skill in his business. Roses and honeysuckles crept over the pretty porch, and roses and honeysuckles crept up the cottage wall, and peeped in at the little casements.

It was the first evening of Harry Smith's married life; and in the joy of his heart, in his pride as he sat for the first time at his own fireside, with his wife beside him, no wonder that he felt as if he could never again give way to his besetting sin. We shall see how he

went on.

Day after day, week after week, and month after month passed away, and Harry's happiness and comfort in his home seemed to increase with each day and week and month. His gardening work was always sweetened by the thought of the hour when it should be over, and he should go home to be with the dear wife who seemed to grow dearer to him than ever. He thought she grew handsomer, too, every day; and, indeed, Mary did look quite beautiful, in her pretty light coloured print dresses, fitting so neatly her neat figure, with her hair always so shiney and so smoothly braided, and her skin always glowing and polished with health and cleanliness. Then she always did everything so cleverly, and so quietly, too, that she never seemed to have anything at all to do. His dinner he found always ready for him; but it might have been cooked by magic, for no sign could he ever see of any cooking business. He saw the little round table with the clean cloth, and well polished

knives and forks and plates upon it, and the simple but well cooked dish which was to form the meal ; but dirty pans and dishes, and scraps and scrapings and all the et ceteras which the process of cooking usually involves were nowhere to be seen. Mary the magician had touched them all with her wand, together with the cooking garment which had enveloped her own person, and they were invisible, and she was free from speck or stain, and ready to sit down with her husband to share and to give a zest to his meal. In the summer evenings Harry was not too tired to work a little in his own garden; and Mary was always with him to help him, though as Mary was not used to the work, her help afforded the experienced gardener no little amusement; however, she kept him talking and laughing, and that was something. Then they would sometimes vary the recreation of the evenings by long walks together, and Harry said he never could have believed there was so much enjoyment in a stroll in the country; but Mary was such a person, she seemed to find beauty where no one else would ever think of looking for it, and she made him think it delightful to feel the fresh air, and to smell the fresh earth, and to hear the birds sing, and to take notice of the flowers in their path, and even to watch the clouds in the sky. When winter came, and the evenings began to be dark, Mary devised a nice plan for pleasant occupation. She had a few books which had been prizes to her at school, and presents from school companions, and she asked Harry to read aloud to her as she sat at her sewing (she was then busy making some miniature garments). Harry was a long time before he would comply, for he said he had hardly seen a book since he was at school, and then he was not much of a reader. Mary, however, rallied him into making the attempt. There was a volume of selected poems; she thought he might try one short poem. Harry took the book, and turning over the leaves, his eye was attracted by the title of one of the poems-it was a song of Burns' which he knew almost by heart. There was an opportunity for him to make a display. With a preparatory clearing of the throat, he began to read, and went through the whole song so surprisingly well, that Mary was delighted. Harry laughed he was too straightforward a fellow to allow her to believe that he could really read so well, so he avowed the true state of the case. Mary said that, notwithstanding that, she was sure, from his manner, he would also read well anything he had never seen before. Assured by this praise, Harry was induced to try a short poem of her selection; and, in spite of a little bungling at the hard words, he managed to get on so much to his own satisfaction, that he tried also another and another. Then Mary, seeing that he was tired, took the book from him, and read to him a little. Then they talked together about various subjects suggested by their reading; and Harry was so much interested that, when the hour for going to bed arrived, he declared that he had never spent so short an evening in his life. That was the beginning of a taste in Harry which made many and many an evening seem quite too short for him

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many and many an evening which might otherwise, perchance, by its length and tedium, have tempted him to resort to less innocent means for making it pass. The mind craves for excitement, and it will have it, cf one kind or another. After this first essay, Mary praised him so much, that Harry was proud to go on reading to her a little every evening; and he soon began to read as much for his own amusement as for hers. At last, he be

A HOPE FOR IRELAND.

One of the best things-apart from all political complexities which we have observed for a long time, has presented itself in the correspondence between the Lord Lieutenant, and the Duke of Leinster, with reference to the state of Ireland, and especially the education of its agriculturalists. The proposal of the Earl of Clarendon is fraught with so much importance in relation to the social condition of Ireland that we gladly lay its chief features before our readers. We select (with careful curtailment) some of the more important passages of Earl Clarendon's letter to the Duke of Leinster :

"Phoenix Park, Sept. 28.

"My Lord Duke,-I think it most useful to address your Grace in your capacity of president of the Royal Agricultural Society, as I believe it is through the numerous branches of that most useful institution, that the agricultural classes can best be reached; and, as I consider the means of bettering the condition of the Irish people, must, for a long time, at least, be looked for in the improvement of the processes adopted in the cultivation of the soil.

"I would suggest to your Grace that a number of persons should be selected, possessing sound practical knowledge of the most improved systems of agriculture applicable to Ireland, and of such general education, as may enable them to communicate that information orally in a satisfactory manner; and that those persons should be employed to perform each a circuit through a certain district of Ireland, such as your Grace may decide upon, and to deliver lectures on practical agriculture, to the farming population.

"For those objects, a small number of lectures in each locality would suffice. Your Grace may possibly consider that three lectures, devoted respectively to the demonstration of the advantages

"1. Of draining and sub-soiling.

"2. Of rotations, and of green cropping.

3. Of economy of manures and house feeding, should embody most of the information of which the farmers could, under present circumstances, practically make use.

"Your Grace will probably agree with me, that it would be highly important that these lectures should not be conceived or delivered in an abstract or purely scientific style, unsuited to the habits of thought, and state of education of the agricultural classes; they should be couched in clear but simple language; and might, in some cases, be usefully illustrated by practical demonstrations.

"It is to those remoter districts, where cultivation is imperfect -where the mind of the farmer is depressed-that our efforts should be especially directed, to assist him, by explaining to him the means of his own advancement, which really lie within his reach, and teaching him the modes by which alone they can be

made available.

"Wherever a farming society exists, the managing committee of it, may, in conjunction with the neighbouring landed proprietors, arrange a place of meeting, and give such notice as may secure the attendance of the farmers of the surrounding country, and it should be a peculiar advantage to those local farming societies, in connection with your central institution, that, after or between the lectures, there might be discussions or explanations of the matters lectured upon; which should render more definite and satisfactory the information given by the lecturer. In those places where no farming societies exist, and and where, for that very reason, the necessity for supplying instruction in agriculture is greater, the local gentry, who, 1 should hope would all ardently assist in promoting the public good, might arrange a place of meeting in the school-housethey might give notice to their tenantry-and advise and explain to them the value they may derive from attending such instructions, "I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke, "Your obedient servant,

"CLARENDON." Towards the funds for carrying out these operations, Earl Clarendon presents 501,; and the Duke of Leinster also contributes a like sum. In the communications by the Times Com. missioner, which excited much attention some time ago, the ignorance of the farmers and peasantry upon matters of agriculture was repeatedly spoken of. May not the movement now proposed contribute to the removal of that ignorance, most hostile to the interests of the Irish nation?

In connection with this subject, it is pleasing to find Sir Robert Peel (as the papers speak of him)" contributing in no small degree to the intellectual gratification and happiness of his friends and neighbours." Sir Robert has been employed in communicating through scientific men, and the observation of practical results, the most approved methods, and the successful consequences of scientific husbandry. Men of all politics have participated in the re-unions of Drayton Manor, and the spirit of progress seems at last to have overcome the inertia of once formidable barriers to advancement. Truly, when governors and ex-governors become the pioneers of social improvement, it may be held as one of the indications of the reality of the advance already made.

EMANCIPATED NEGROES.

The eighth report of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society is full of important facts upon matters relating to slavery, and the cause of emancipation. With regard to the state of the emancipated classes in the British colonies, the Report

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says:-"The wretched and debased condition of the negroes during the period of slavery, led some to fear that emancipation would scarcely prove a blessing to them; and many predicted that, as soon as the restraints which that infamous system threw over them were removed, they would soon lapse into a state of savage barbarism, and be content with such food as they could obtain without toil, and such shelter and clothing as would barely suffice the wants of nature. The event has wholly falsified the prediction. In no British colony can we observe the slightest signs of retrogression. On the contrary, everywhere we discern manifest signs of progress. The physical condition of the emancipated negro is wonderfully improved, and his moral state and social habits partake of the inspiring impulse of liberty, and the elevating influence of education and religion. No doubt much remains to be done, to perfect the work of emancipation; but it may be truly said, that no people, placed in similar circumstances with them, could have behaved better, or have given larger promise of future excellence and prosperity."

AN ARGUMENT AGAINST HANGING.

The recent case of Mary Ann Hunt, an unhappy female sentenced to be hung, notwithstanding her plea of pregnancyis worthy the serious consideration of all who have hitherto been listless to the voices raised against the gallows. Mr. Robert Barnes, Bachelor of Medicine, publishes in the Times a case of similar character which occurred in 1833. He says:-"While at Norwich during the early part of my professional education, the similar case of Mary Wright made a deep impression upon my mind. This poor woman, at the assizes holden in that city in the year 1833, in like manner pleaded pregnancy in bar of execution; a jury of matrons was empannelled, and their verdict was as in the case of Mary Ann Hunt-that she was not with child. Through the active and benevolent interference of the late Joseph John Gurney, execution was stayed; the surgeon of the gaol was directed to examine the unhappy woman; and he ascertained that she was not only with child, but five months gone. At the expiration of the natural term of gestation, the birth of a child proved at once the necessity of appealing to competent professional skill in questions of medical science, and the deplorable absurdity of risking the life of a human being on the uncertain guess of twelve ignorant women, drawn hap-hazard, as the law directs." The question submitted to the jury of matrons in these cases is well known to be one of the most difficult in obstetric practice. And again the futility of testing so serious a matter by a jury of unskilful women, is glaringly manifest in the fact that medical opinion has pronounced Mary Hunt to be pregnant. To keep the unhappy wretch alive awaiting the slow approach to the pains of child-birth; and then to drag her from her infant offspring to meet the terrors of the gallows is now the dreadful alternative. And what may be the effect of these awful circumstances upon the being to whom she may hereafter give birth, time only can show. The probabilities are of a lamentable nature. Does not justice to an innocent being demand that the mother shall at once be relieved from the fear of such a death?

HOW TO PREPÁRE A DISINFECTING FLUID.' Much attention has been excited by the discovery of a fluid having the property of completely neutralising the poisonous exhalations from cesspools, drains, and other sources of impurity. From the first we regarded this discovery as of much importance as a preservative of public health, and resolved upon the first opportunity to give a formula for its preparation. This we now do:

Dry white lead, 2lbs. avoirdupois ;

Nitric acid (commercial), 10 oz. avoirdupois,;
Sufficient water to make up one gallon.

Put the lead into a large basin or pan; mix the acid with thrice its bulk of water; pour on the lead, and stir well with a stick. When the effervescence has ceased, add the remainder of the water. One part of this solution to be mixed with two parts of water to be sprinkled about rooms; and a pint to a pail of water for disinfecting drains, &c. This preparation the (formula of which has been communicated to the Pharmaceutical

Journal, by Mr. John Fordred, of Hackney), has been found highly efficacious.

COTTAGES FOR THE MIDDLE CLASSES There is a scheme which has struck me as being a most desirable undertaking. It is the formation of a company for the purchase of land at a short distance from large towns, like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, &c., whereon to build cottages for the middle classes, each cottage to have allotted to it at least two or three acres of land, so that the occupiers of every cottage might have the opportunity of cultivating a garden, keeping two or more cows, pigs and poultry, and of supplying themselves with fruit and vegetables, and whatever surplus might arise, could be sent to the nearest market. In Liverpool, alone, I doubt not there are hundreds of families of respectability among professional men of limited incomes, merchants' and bankers' clerks, revenue officers, shopmen, and others, who would rejoice at the opportunity of locating their families in some healthy spot in the neighbourhood of their daily avocations. Now that railroads are being formed, affording easy access to any part of the country, the plan I have hinted at might, without much difficulty, be accomplished.

How many rising families might be permanently benefited by the adoption of the plan I have proposed, inasmuch as it would

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afford useful occupation for the younger branches of families in horticulture, agriculture, botany, &c., and would certainly form a most powerful means of tempting youth to abandon the cigar, the card-table, the tea-garden, and other places of amusement where so many are first led astray from the paths of virtue and sobriety.-P. STEVENS.

VEGETABLE DIET.

In Page 5 [Annals], we noticed the proceedings of a festival held at Alcott House, Ham Common, near Richmond, Surrey, on the 8th of July, for the purpose of gathering together the adherents and friends to a farinaceous and fruit diet, in preference to the use of flesh. It appears that the results of that conference have so far realised the designs of the projectors, that a similar meeting is announced for Thursday, the 28th inst., at the same place. The proceedings are to commence at 11 o'clock, and refreshments, prepared according to vegetarian views of physiological rectitude, will be provided at a moderate charge. Since the former meeting, a Vegetarian Society has been founded at Ramsgate, by a gathering of vegetarians from many parts of the kingdom. Opportune to these movements, a pamphlet of Recipes of Vegetarian Diet (Whittaker and Co.), has been published. The recipes appear to be carefully constructed. An article upon the scientific and economic bearings of the question accompanies the work, and from this we snatch a brief passage:"Science demonstrates that the nutritive qualities of all kinds of food originate in the vegetable kingdom, and that the nutrition of the body can only be secured in a less degree, and in a secondary way, and at far greater cost, from the flesh of animals; while the most striking facts of physiological research have shown, that the ordinary articles of farinaceous and vegetable diet are more digestible than those of flesh-meat."

RAILWAY BUFFERS.

Mr. Sutton is the proposer of locked buffers for railway car riages. These buffers, when a shock takes place, become locked into each other, and thus the whole line of carriages, or those to which the shock extends, will become as immoveable as one body. This invention, if successful, will prevent carriages overturning, running off the line, or being dashed one upon the other immediately upon a collision.

KEW GARDENS.

Progress is making in various improvements at Kew Gardens, a portion of which has lately been applied to the growth of medicinal plants. A Museum of Vegetable Productions is about to be added to the establishment, so that visitors, as well as having the privilege of examining living plants, will see also preserved specimens, and all the various products in every stage of their manufacture. These gardens offer a place of delightful recreation to botanists, and to the lovers of nature in general. They are open every day, from one o'clock to six (except Sundays). The grounds are divided into three portions -First, the Royal Botanic Garden, comprising about sixty-four acres, to which has recently been added the Royal Kitchen Garden of fourteen acres; Second, the Royal Pleasure Ground, 170 acres; and third, the old Royal Deer Park, about 400 acres. The Botanic Garden is divided into several compartments for the convenient arrangement of the various classes of plants, and has numerous hothouses and conservatories containing a very valuable collection of exotics. All the plants are named and classified in such a manner as to afford every facility to the student, and the communication existing between this establishment and foreign countries throughout the globe, is the means of introducing from time to time new and interesting plants, which are cultivated and naturalised for the benefit of the public. During the past year, upwards of 4000 plants of different kinds have been dispensed from the garden. During the year 1841, the number of visitors was 9,174; in 1846, it was 46,573.

THE GIPSY TRIBES.

Near to the quiet village of Farnham, a school for the education of orphan gipsy children, and for the younger branches of those gipsies who have large families, has just been opened. The children will be taught to read and write; and will be trained to the performance of such duties as will render them adapted for apprentices and domestic servants. The building which has been erected for the purpose is commodious, and welladapted. The expenditure thereon has been about 1,2201. The opening meeting was attended by a large number of gentry, patrons of the institution; and, after the preliminary proceedings, about twenty gipsies and gipsy children were regaled with tea, &c.

MALLEABLE GLASS.

Professor Schoenbein, the inventor of gun-cotton, is said to have succeeded in making malleable glass. The invention should rather be named transparent paper; for it appears to be a paper paste which has undergone a treatment by which it is rendered clear and glass-like. Out of this, window panes, bottles, &c., which resist the effect of water, are made. They may be dropped upon the ground without breaking.

GOOD-WILL AMONG MEN.

Elihu Burritt, having returned from France, is again pursuing his mission of Peace and Brotherhood. As heretofore, multitudes gather to hear him. It is understood that E. B. remains in England another year, and that he will, during that time, lay out his best energies for supplanting the war-spirit by the holier influence of love.

THE ELECTRIC CLOCK.

This invention is said to be the nearest appoach yet made to the long-talked-of "perpetual motion." The inventor states that a solid three-feet cube of zinc, and a corresponding surface of copper, placed deep in the ground some distance apart, and joined by a strong wire well insulated and protected from moisture, would institute a source of electricity which would move the pendulum through several hundred years. It is said that these clocks may be moved simultaneously throughout the whole country where wires are laid down for the purpose, so that Greenwich time may be everywhere kept. This would be effected by having a pendulum set in motion by the electric current, which, once regulated, would, by a number of wires, set in motion any number of clocks, and thus each dial would present an exact fac simile of every other dial connected with the apparatus. These clocks will work for years without attention, and may be made of any dimensions. At the Telegraph Company's office are two clocks which have been working upwards of seven months, and not varied half a second during the whole time!

By the telegraph two clocks, being two hundred miles apart, can be compared as accurately as if they were in adjoining rooms. The time required for the electric fluid to travel a distance of 450 miles is so small a fraction of a second, that it is imperceptible.

A NEW MOVEMENT FOR TOTAL ABSTINENCE.

Active steps are being taken preparatory to the holding of a conference of the ministers of religion for the promotion of abstinence from intoxicating drinks. It has hitherto been a reproach to the Christian ministry, that, with comparatively few exceptions, they have held aloof from a movement having the strongest claims upon their sympathies, and of which they should have been the ready pioneers. A great effort will now be made, in all kindness and good-will, to awaken them as a body to a sense of duty upon this subject. What! shall it be said that drunkeness swept over the land, ruining health, desolating homes, and destroying souls, and that Christian ministers more than any other class, kept aloof from the application of a simple and effective cure, which, if not commanded, is evidently sanctioned by the word of God -No, no! the time is come when the teachers of of the Gospel must add one other virtue to their present excellence, and thus increase abundantly their good works. The doctors of physic have pronounced their approbation-let not the D.D's. lag behind. The British Association has opened the way to this great work: let them be encouraged by the hearty support of all who are eager to share in good works while yet it is day. The conference is proposed to be held in Manchester in the month of April, 1848. Let this be steadily kept in view, and let every day up to that time see something done toward the great business then to be consummated.-W.

GHOST SEEING.

Did you ever see a ghost? Well, I'll venture to tell you where the unearthly spectre came from. No matter, whether wrapped in a white sheet, invested in blue mist, creeping like a reptile, or flying like a winged demon; whether peeping between your bedcurtains, grinning through your window, or moving at a respectful distance behind your back; whether all head, or tail; having the external shape of a monkey or a magpie-no matter: these ghosts are a long and varied progeny of one parent-the offspring of one cause. Hearken !-you have been abusing yourself; drinking too much, eating gluttonously, vexing over imaginary ills, prostrating body and mind to the pursuit of worldly gain. Or you have been sluggish, suffering faculties which should have been exercised upon proper objects, to sink under the ennui of ignorance and inactivity. You have either done too much or too little. Bear it in mind then, that ghosts originate in disordered stomachs, bewildered brains, diseased eyes, and morbid appetites, or half-torpid senses. And when next you see a ghost, calm yourself, and look back a day, a week, a month, or a year, and you will not fail to discover that the spectre brings neither "airs from heaven, nor blasts from hell," but just a friendly hint from your inner-self to your outer-self to be wiser and better in the future than you have been in the past!-P.

MAIN-SPRINGS.

M. Laugler has conducted a series of experiments to ascertain the proportions of metals for the production of compensation clocks to keep true time. The following is said to be the result: iron, 100; copper, 135; zinc, 109; platina, 147.

Now ready, the first Three Vols., Gilt Edges, 158., of the People's Journal, edited by JOHN SAUNDERS, Above Two Thousand Pounds have been expended in the Literature and Illustrations alone of these three volumes; which comprise about twelve hundred and fifty royal octavo pages, double columns, and nearly One Hundred Engravings.

To SUBSCRIBERS.-The Index Sheets to Vols. I. to III., price One Penny each, are now ready. Also, CASES FOR BINDING THE THREE VOLUMES, bound in the Richest Crimson Cloth, embossed, price One Shilling each.

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