The Express.
London, England, 1851-04-22 00:00:00

stored to

AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE.
TO THI EDITOR OP THI DAILY asses.
From Beasthorpe to Newark the land is fine rich
grazing land ; and for some distance out of Newark,
on the line of railway to Lincoln, there is also some
good grazing ground, used as such land generally is
for feeding beasts and sheep with no other applica-
tion of skill than to avoid over or understocking,
both being injurious to the land and unprofitable to
the grazier. Away from the Trent, the land all the
way toPainsborough is sand, and beyond the sand
land is a tract of wet clay. The sand land is capable
of good cultivation, and a few of the farms arc well
managed, but on the majority the management is
the reverse of good. I particularly notice a tract,
which belongs to Earl Brownlow, on which the
system pursued is very, bad, and I was told that his
lordship exacts high rents, gives no leases, and
stocks the farms with game, and consequently
does not attract many men of capital to
the occupation of his property; and what I saw of
his farms seemed to be the natural consequence of
' such a misapplication of lauded property. The
farms are generally small, and I apprehenethat, in
these times of moderate prices, the occupiers will find
Rome difficulty in making a livelihood by their busi-'
ncss. This, however, is solely the result of his ma-
nagement, for the land in the hands of capitalists,
with proper security for their outlays, would be nice
manageable land.
Entering Yorkshire from the south, at Bawtry,
you come into that important industrial division of
the county, the West Riding, in many parts of
which husbandry is so much modified and affected
by, the presence and wants of numerous manufactur-
ing populations, that it can scarcely be said to have
any distinctive agricultural character. But without'
altogether omitting to notice the management of
land in the neighbourhood of manufacturing towns,
my remarks will refer, as my attention was chiefly
directed, to the more purely rural portions of the
West Riding. And first I may state that the evil
complained of more than fifty yeses ago, namely, that
tenants cannot do justice to their land by reason of'
the unwillingness of landowners to grant free and
rational leases, is in full operation at this moment,
for most of the farms are held by yearly tenants,
and their management is too generally adapted to
the precarious character of their tenures. It is really
extraordinary how blind landed proprietors are to
their own interest in regard to the subject of leases.
In the report made in 1700 by Messrs. Robert Brown,
Rennie, and Shirruf, to tfic board of agriculture,
" On the Husbandry of the West Itidfug," they
dwelt on the absolute necessity of leases fur the im-
provement of this district, saying, " the defy we owe
to the public renders it necessary that we sfiould de-
scribe the ruinous consequences accompanying the
want of leases, and hew absurd it is to expect that
the ground will be improved by persons who may be
turned out of their possession whenever the proprie-
tor or his steward is disposed by caprice, whim,
enmity, or interested motives, to give them a warn-
ing of removal ." and, alter referring to Arthur
Young's decided' expressions of opinion, published
twenty years before, " that the improvements
which had taken place in England had been
almost owing to the custom of granting. leases,
and that in those counties where it was
unusual to grant them, agriculture had continued
much inferior to what it was to be found where they
were usual," the writers add, •' the general custom of
not granting leases in the West Riding must deserve
reprehension ; and, if we are to judge of its husbandry
by the rule laid down by Arthur Young, we are
under the necessity of declaring that however flou-
rishing the country may be, and however much it
may be improved in every branch of its agriculture,
still, if leases had been granted, and a security
thereby offered to the farmer for enjoying the fruits
of his labour, these improvements would have in-1
creased; and, consequently, the interest, not only of
the public, but also of the proprietors themselves,
would have been materially promoted." Then. hav-
ing stated varioas details, showing that a long time
must often elapse before the farmer can reap the re-
ward of improvement ; and that, when yearly tenants
improve they may lose all benefit " by a six months'
warning," they go on to say, " These are
not imaginary apprehensions, but arc founded
on real and solid prine:ples; and which will
operate leas or more upon every farmer,
according to his situation and eireumstancere."
After mentioning an estate in the West Riding on
which the tenants had "got warnings of removal,
merely because they had turned methodists," the
reporters ask, "where is the liberty enjoyed by the
farmer who sits without a lease Ills words and
actions are under the most absolute subjection to
another. Let the abject situation of such a man,
placed under a capricious landlord, be considered; he
is exposed to every indignity without daring to
complain; if he has made improvements, the fruits
of them are wrested from him by an arbitrary re-
moval. . . . The want of a lease precludes the
farmer from acting as a free agent, and renders his
pronerty insecure and precarious.' And these obser-
vations, made more than half a century ago, are
equally just as applicable to the present time; the
want of rational leases is everywhere the great ob-
stacle to agricultural improvement, and has a most
important effect in diverting the most intelligent and
active minds from adopting husbandry as a business.
The West Riding contains 1,618,610 acres, esti-
mated to produce an average rental of about IBs.
per acre. The great Yorkshire coal formation
occupies one-third of the West Riding, reaching from
the southern boundary to some miles to the north of
Leeds, and varying in width from twenty to thirty
miles. The surface of this formation is undulating,
hill and dale succeeding each other in constant va-
riety, some of the hills rising to a considerable alti-
tudL This formation, which on the surface consists
for the most part of strong clay Roil, is divided from
the lower level of the vale of I ark by a strip of mug-
nesian limestone. which runs through the Riding,
commencing at Tiekhill on the south to the boundary
of the North Riding beyond Ripon. In the more
elevated parts of the coal formation, beds of sand-
stone and shale rise to the surface, and a dry friable
soil is formed ; but by far the greater part consists of
strong soil lying on a subsoil of yellow clay, such as
is generally tact with in the coal districts. Much of
this land requires to be drained, and the pure clay
is usually a thin and weak soil; but where the clay
and sandstone join, as about 'Wakefield, a productive
loam is formed. The limestone tract on the cast of
the coal measures, passes by I toneaster, Ferrybridge,
Sherburn, Aberfor Wetherby, Knaresborough, and
Ripon, and varies in width from five to eight miles.
Throughout this limestone belt the soil is dry and
light, and when well manured produces good crops.
It is chiefly arable land managed by turnip hus-
bandry. The surface, though undulating, is less
marked in its character than the strong land on the
west side of the riding. East of the limestone to the
boundary of the riding. formed by the Cre and
Ouse, the new red sand stone formation is continued,
though there are some parts which consist of alluvial
soils, such as the low district between the Don, the
' Ouse, and the Thorne and Snaith road; along the
Ouse from the junction of the Itiver Aire, to that of
the Wharfs, at Cawood. The northern portion of
this formation consists of fine rich land, which, both
as arable and pasture, is abundantly productive.
Near Ripon there is an under stratum of gravel,
through which a great body of water flows, and
which has occasionally washed away so much of the
subsoil as to cause the surface to falfin, leaving circu-
lar ponds. Towards Lancashire and Westmoreland
there is a large tract of mountain limestone, and be-
tween that and the coal measures in one place and
the magnesian limestone in another, lies an irregu-
larly shaped tract of the millstone gilt formation,
which extends through the centre of the riding. The
soil of the latter is poor, cold, and wet, consisting in
many places of high moorlands of little value. It is
principally in grass, and where care is bestowed
upon it will give fair crops of hay. The Craven dis-
trict is on the mountain limestone, and presents an
irregular surface of much beauty, the high rocks offer-
ing a striking contrast to green and fertile vales
which lie between them. The soil is thin, but dry,
and produces a short sweet herbage, which is very
nutritious. Some of the vales, by good manage-
ment, have become rich feeding pastures. Lime is
much used, and the floods to which the district is
liable, bringing with them some of the limestone
particles, have generally a fertilising effect. here
was the seat of the old Craven longhorns, cattle at
one time in great request, but which have now
been superseded, even in their own locality, by the
more profitable shorthorn—that is the Yorkshire
shorthorn, which is essentially a different animal to

the pure Durham. The Yorkshire farmers of the
coal formation arc somewhat better than are gene-
rally to be found in the manufacturing districts,
though no general system is followed, each occupier
adopting a rotation suitable to his locality and the
abundance of manure it affords. All around Leeds,
Sheffield, Halifax, Bradford, Huddersfield, &matey,
and Wakefield, the proportion of gram land is much
beyond that of arable, and though much of it is
made productive by heavy dressings of manure, yet
its general appearance betokens neglect and slovenly
management. In many instances though manure as
easily attainable, the grass land is constantly mown
without receiving manure, and its produce is said to
be declining. The arable land is commonly cropped
with two or three grain crops in succession, with a
green crop every third or fourth year.
There is a field at llorhury, near Wakefield, occu-
pied by its owner, Mr. Ilolt, which for upwards of
thirty years has been cropped constantly with wheat,
with the exception of four or five years only. The
manure used was about .1 dozen of lime and some

ashes each year; and the produce is said to havo
averaged from 39 to 42 bushels per acre. The same
person has another field, on which he has grown
wheat eleven years out of fourteen, and the other
three years it 'had barley. beans, and turnips. Deep
and careful tillage may enable the small occupiers to
adopt such a course. But even some of the larger
farmers follow a severe course of cropping. 'finis I
met with many instances of the following rotation
upon the strong soils of the coal measures: Ist year,
turnips, fed off with sheep, eating corn and oilcake;
and year, wheat; 3rd and 4th years, seeds and white
clover, also fed oft' by sheep, aud limed the last
year ; 3th year, wheat ; fith year, wheat or
(where the land is somewhat lighter) barley would
take the place wholly or in part of the wheat crop.
And though this course does not meet the approval
of some rural martinets, I confess I see no reason
why it should not be adopted with profit to the occu-
piers, and certainly without injury to the land itself.
It is well known that some of the effects of very
high arming long continued is to nresluce too great
an abundance of straw, and render the wheat, in
such seasons as last, liable to mildew, and in such
cases, I have no doubt that two grain crops, even two
wheat crops in succession, may be very pod hus-
bandry. Land may have too much creditgiven to it,
as well as too little--though the latter is the more
common error, and where, from proximity to manure,
or by means of high feeding, the farmer is enabled
to keep his hind in good heart, there is no reason he
should not grow a much larger bmulth of wheat than
is commonly done. Some of the best Yorkshire
farmers adopt a four course rotation, in which they
take two wheat miss, namelv—l styear, turnips fed by
sheep; 2nd year,wheat; 3rdyear,clover limed; for 4th
year wheat: and I have no doubt that On soils of
good staple and somewhat inclined to clay wheat may
be profitably grown every other year. 'fhe Secretary
(Mr. Briggs), of the Wakefield Farmers' Club, iltl6
grown wheat for several successive years on the
same land, and kis account of its results is worth ad-
verting to. Ile says "with regard to growing
wheat, year after year on the same land, effectively
and profitably, I see no difficulty, except in keeping
the land clean. In one field, we have hod wheat
five years successively, and the fifth was us pod, if
not better, than any of the previous ones, and yield
thirty-six bushels of good merchantable corn per
acre, of excellent quality. The means adopted have
been, to pare the stubble as soon as possible after the
crop was cleared away, then to collect and burn
stubble weeds." The land was then scarified and

the weeds so drawn up collected and burnt ; and after
that the land was ploughed, and the seta either
drilled or sown broadcast, two cwt. of guano and two
ewt. of salt being sown broadcast and harrowed in
with the seeds. Mr. Briggs was fully impressed
with the belief that by following up the Milne plan
he would increase, not impair, the fertility of his
field, a point on which I have much doubt.
On the mag,nesian limestone tract the six-course
rotation is very general; but some of the best farmers
adopt the four-course rotation, using ten or twelve
ha:Awls of rape-dust with every crop of wheat. Near
Gook and Selby the alluvial land Is used fin' potato
cultivation, which, until the recent attack of the
potato disease, was very profitable, as much as 20/..
and 25/. profit per acre having been made for several
years in succession.
To accomplish such a return, two crops a s ear
must be grown, which is managed by having the
land very highly manured and well prepared by
February, when sets are planted which had been
previously sprouted, care being taken not to rub off
the sprouts. These are early potatoes, which are
ready for market by June. The laud is then I,:anted
with th., small potatoes, which produce the sets used
for the main crop of the next year. Leeds is the
chief market for this district.
No one can go through the rural districts of this
county without being struck by the marks of breed-
ing displayed by the horses. Around Ripon. Wi-
therby, and Doncaster a good many useful
hunters and powerful carriage horses are
bred. Sheep and pigs, too, are very good—
, the latter particularly so ; the more eminent
breeders paying as much attention to the pi digrees
of their swine, as is paid to horses or cattle in other
places. There are some herds of short-horns in the
%Vest Riding, but it is nut the breeding district of
the county. Nothing can be more various than the
management of different farms in the same pus Aides
throughout this riding, and for Which there is
no apparent reason; the true causes probably
being in the difference of the capitals and
tenures of the occupiers. I was told that 40
bushels of wheat to the acre would be grown on
one farm, and from 20 to 25 on another adjoining, the
land of which is no worse in quality, but then per-
haps it may be undrained, and the tenant has nut
the means of draining, or such a tenure as would
render it prudent to do so if he has. Drainage is
decidedly the great want on mast of the strong lands
of this riding. Agriculturally the North and East
Ridings are more interesting districts than the West;
and to these I shall shortly call your attention.
A MIDLAND COUNTIES FARMER.

•
AMERICA,: MATT. PACKET STATION.—WC received
front London, on Wednesday, letters announcing that the
government commission on the mail station macs:ion had
d,tidt.l to report in favour of Holyhead. We do not un-
tie:it:mil that the got ernment has as yet sanctioned the
proposed removal from Liverpool, but we recommend the
adoption of sorong and instant measures to meet the
threatened danger. Deputations of leading men ought
immediately to be despatched to protect the interests of the
American trade of Liverpool and the north of England.—
Licerpoot Aotiwa.

---- •
IMPORTANT TO VALUERS AND RAILWAY COMPA-
NIE4.—PAILKIN4ON T. LORD GALWAY.- At the Itetford
County Court, on Wednesday hist, a cause was tried before
Rd. Wildman. Esq., judge, or which Mr. John Parkinson,
valuer, lay-fields, woo plaintiff; and Lord Viacount Galway,
M.P., was defendant. It appeared that his lordship 'wing
the owner of some land taken by the Great Northern Rail-
way Company, Lad employed Mr. Parkinson as hi, valuer;
Mr. G. I). Simpson, of Loveroall, was valuer fir the com-
pany ; and Mr. Cbri.tophcr Paver, of Peekfield, wa, railed
in as umpire. After the amountofpurchuse money li:A been
agreed upon Mr. Parkinson sent his account to Lord t
charging a commis.ion of 2i per cent. upon the compeiviAlon
awarded. His lordship forwarded the account to the rail-
way company, who refused to pay it on the ground that the
charge was exorbitant; awl Lord Galway being also of the
same opinion, refused to pay; upon which Mr. Parkinson
brought an action against him, and the sum consiihriA rea-
sonable woe paid into court. Mr. Burnaby, of the firm of
Tallents, Burnaby, and Griffin, solicitorsi, Newark, appeared
for the plaintiff, and Mr. W. E. Smith of Doncaster for the
defendant. Most of the leading velum in Yorkshire and
Nottinghamshire attended the inquiry; and, after along
discussion on both sides, judgment was given in favour of
the defendant—thus establishing the principle that a valuer
is not entitled w charge a per centage.— Doncaster Gazette.

Rut. AT ACCIDINT..— We have just learned from
the guard of the mail; train which arrived from the south
at half-past one this (Monday) morning, that an accident of
a serious nature occurred near Euston, about ten miles be-
yond Preston, on Saturday afternoon, about half-past four
o'clock. As the mail train—which should have arrived at
Glasgow at half-pan oneo'clock on Sunday (yesterday) moan-
ing—was proceeding northward at the ordi nary speed, the en-
gine started from the rails inwards, crossed the other rails,
carrying along with it, of course, the three carriages and
the tender by which it was followed, and the whole were
precipitated down the embankment, stated to he about
thirty feet in height. The injuries attendant upon this
accident were nut so severe as might have been anticipated.
The guard suffered mast ; three of his ribs are said to have
' been broken, an al o his thigh-bone. The engine-driver
and stoker lust iined considerable injury, as well as some
1 of the passengers, of whom there were not, however, many
in the train. The carriages were literally smashed, and
6
rendered perfectly useless. Information vies immediately
sent to Preston, whence an engine and carriages . Ars
warded to true .olit the passengers of the wrecks -,iliaief;
' and the loss of time thus occasioned delayed the .iparet
the mail at Glasgow long past the usual time. On
of this unfortunate occurrence, there was no postf
ton to Carlisle. The cause of the accident we hat in
yet asvartainad.—Daily Mail. "' -I '',..
11:,.. ii-?:: 5 •
. -t.? •_.
~ ..._

*.
• -.1

i

LITERATURE.
.
igrINNTI of a Literary rreeram ; including SketrAer asset
Asseastes ef the Mid distiagmisAedt Literary (name-
ten, from Int Is 1419. By It. P. tillittga 3 vols.
Bosley.
Here is a work which ought to excite as much
eurimity as the memoirs of a Southey or Leigh Hunt;
and yet we hawse nut one out of a handled of our
readers will recognise the name of the writer. }Tow
fatal a policy continued anonymity is fur a literary man
1132111.Ver NO atrikiu lyexemplified.l'or genius,
snua-
induatry, and a devotion to literature, which
nothing could deaden or destroy, Mr. (fillies might
worthily rank as a compeer of the men we
have named. His productions have been very varied,
and have exercised a decided influence on his gene-
ration; and yet, outside purely literary circles, his
name is namely known. Many. of his best writings
are uncollected, others of them inaccessible, and not
a few, it would appear. altogether lost. Either the
MSS. have been destroyed; or of some which were
privately prhited, not a copy is known to exist!
Never has literary man been so careless' of the future
as Mr. Oillies. The improvidence of which they are
mewed in money matters, has, in his ease extended
to the name and Genie which they generally
hold ws dear. No epecies' of unthnft is so
certain to be avenged and repented of. It
is all very well, so long as such a mien can abide
among the scenes and mix with the friends of his
youth ; but when death has taken the one and
;haws. removed him from the other, he finds himself
in age and exile, a stringer to the new generation ;
friendless and obscure, where he ought to be esteemed
and honoured. And worst of all, he feels that for
this he himself is principilly to blame. had he taken
hut ordinary care of his reputation; had he given his
best works to the public in a distinctive form, and
with his own name, few would rival him in popu-
larity. Old friends might die off, or be estranged; but
the New generation would supply their place, nut with
regard only, but with that reverence which the young
in literature naturally feel for the old. .A conscious-
nese of all this necessarily throws a shade of hitter-
neon and despondency over what would otherwise be
a meet genial and attractive work.
It is, indeed, peculiarly painful to be let. as we are,
into the secret of Mr. (fillies' regrets; because never
slid Leman being more signally merit a better fate.
Ilesdiows himself in these memoirs, and we have
reason to know, has been throughout a long life, the
gemieel• kindest, must generous, unselfish, en-
thusiastic. and warm-hearted of men. We
query if there was ever a man so thoroughly
der seed to literature, and yet lie free from the
worst views as distinct from the foibles to which the
literary character is subject, -in a word, so
perfectly amiable as Mr. Gillis.. What man more
worthy of an honoured and prosperous old age?
Dictated as they ought to have been, amid the tom-,
hal and repose which old age demands, and which
NU IN, II spent a life deserved, these memoirs might
have been one of the must beautiful hooka of the age.
There 'redol nothing but full play to the frunkness,
amiability, and wo must not forget to add, wisdom
and experienee of the writer. But this, alas, he has
nut had. The work has plaiuly been written
under ninst unfavourable eirtumstances, with-
out that rase and leisure,—nay, even without
that au cc- sto his own and others' writings which is
indispensable to the literary historian. Hence a
diffuseness in some places, and in others a Lenent-
able brevity or u total silence regarding %hut would
have been meet gencially interesting to the public
of sew day. 'flie only way to produce such a work
wills sues INN—the only MAIMS of tdovisiting the gar-
rulousness and inequality which attend mu the runti-
ness nets oruld age is to write at great length,
and then reduce the matter to half. This is cuss
1-
seedy lie mune which Mr. (fillies 'Asada have
tulopteil had he been at liberty to follew his better
judgment. But a n-vision of this kind neither his own
exigencies, nor the inipatiente of his publisher pre-
mium'. And hence we have a sketch or a torso, in-
stead of a work of that force and finish which might
have been repeats( from the stuthsr under more
Lwow shit. eumetanees, and which might have
tended in mime degree to repair the neglect which
his own improvidence and the tald'e ingratitude
have Nought upon his name.
But it is seureely fair to find fault with these vo-
lume. far a want of elshonit• which is NU commonly
met with, where there is nothing like the saine
ex(11/11e for it. We litee mad them with gnat plea-
sure. end with much snort' sympathy for the writer
than el itiess of our experience art• ordinarily be-
trayed into. Painful as u great deal of the writer's
personal history is, it is delightful to meet with a
man No unspoiled, aid in fact utopuilable. by any-
thing that adverse fate could do.
Not the least in sable ere the sketches of the
authar's contemporaries. Indeed, few of our ear-
wiring literary men are no well qualified to contri-
bute to the literary history of the age. The friend
and asseeiate of Stott, Campbell. Jeffrey, Mackin-
tosh, I rugahl Stewart, I loos Wilson. Lockhart,
Worlsworth, Southey. lie Ouineey. Kemble, and
almost every man of literary or artotie note in his
day; one of the most regular contributors to Pluck-
sr.r.d in its early. glorious days ; founder and
editor id' the /4.reign Ostarfs.r/y Cie it ; a
ressielsid for lengthened period, in the literary
tireless of Edinburgh, London. °erne:inv. tend Frante
--there is no phase isf literary fit.... at halme
or thread. with which Mr. Gilliet few not been fami-
liar. llis personal experientes and eicissitueles have
likewise, sex may be inferred from what we have
already said, leen very various. So that. on the
whole. it would be difficult to name another man
whose rerninisecisesse embrace so wide a range of '
own and ma ass or oho is better entitled to the
appellation of a "literary setenui," under whieli ho
now appears, beton. the public.
say that such a work is interesting. is a matter
of course. It is more than interesting - -it is des ply
electing and instructive; and not the low so, be-
came its author was none. of the most provident of
mortals, and has had inure than his clam of those
difficulties and sufferings to which literary men ate
peculiarly expessl. It ought lest to have been Ash,
he begun life with a handsome fortune. But a po-
em' for old Lemke and old pictures, aided by a reek-
less generosity which knew not how to refuse him
that asked, early impaired his intones and he was
still young. when his brood acne were brought to
the hammer' and he found himself without other re-
sauna, than his pen. But those were flourishing
times for the ready litter.strur, and fur many scar'
Mr. Dillies led a busy and posperous life in the
Northern Athens. It was only in the fatal year
1826, which ruined Scott and ets many other brethren
of the craft, that he began to feel how sad a mistake
he ha.l mode, in not taking more care of the ample
means bequeathed to him.
It is not, however, so much for vicissitudes of this
kind that Mr. (fillies history is remarkable, 1151 far
the frankness with which they We recount's( Many
literary men hare beets unthnity, and meet of them,
at oile time or another of their fives, pecuniarily em-
barrassed. But few or none have been so unreserved
on this subject of their private affairs as our author.
Mr. Prior and Mr. Cottle have been greatly blamed,
and not altogether unjustly. for a good deal of the
humiliating details which they published rt.eme
--blamith and Coleridge. But what is to be said
find a living author making similar rove-
, concerning himself—telling us the whole story
struggles with adverse fate—his debts and di&
s, arrests, imprisonments, liberations. privations,
aunts he earned, and the sums he borrowed;
salt he paid or contracted to pay. and the law
which were incurred because they were not paid
What, unless that the narrator is the moeltl
ale of mortals, and in his perfect friendliness to
mankind (save lawyers and landsharks). forgets
all these details are less interesting to others
they have unfortunately become to himself.
we is, however, for those who can profit by the
not a little that is instructive in these revela-
Thcee especially who are entering upon a
• career, would do well to perpend and profit
n. The revolutions in public taste which Mr.
deplores, will be followed in their turn by
not less disastrous in their coneequences to
who do not keep abreast with the tastes and
of a new generation.
earlier half of Mr. Galles' reminiscences will
se welcome to the Scotch than the English
Soros of them are racy and characteristic
A; but, on the whole, they occupy a larger
than was judicious in one who had so much to
II Mr. Galin. Possibly, however, the work has
designed principally for the authorhs country-
, sad in that cue it would not have been jMil-
s to omit these sketches of the ecoentric person-
, who flourished in Scotland half a century

-----------
The whole gallery of the Edinburgh philosophes is
psined in review. We hive only room for the sketch
done, not a few of whose political peculiarities may
be attributed to his being brought up at the feet of
such Gamsliels:
During my time (not in but two years later) one
of the most lively and facetious debaters in the dingy old
I
of .• the Speculat," was our present prime minister.
I doubt nat that Lord Jolut Russell, young as he then was,
thought the mock dignity and solemnities of the society
rather quantal. However, he kept up his attendance,
and eMerfolly took part io its goiugs-on. His lordship
possibly may remember those meetings like shadowa or glimp-
ses out of ream-land;d and possibly, too, may have wished
that he could recall the past and escape from the turmoils of
ottlee to the quietude of his drawing-room, well-stored with
books, at good old Professor Playletr s, or from the glare of
St. Stephen's tee the twilight glimmer of the debating-hall
aforesaid. I recollect some of those evenings—one
in par-
ticular—when a hapless member had been appointed to a
the part of advocate for Queen Mary ; how Lord John did
cut him up, and, by aff.ctedtpity and sly sarcasms, demo-
lished all chance of acquittal or that unhappy printers,—at
least within the walls of " the Speculative."
Seeing that the important events of our " time-life "
may often be traced back to very trifling causes, the hvpo-
thesis is natural and unavoidable that possibly Lord John
Russell would never have accepted the cares of office, if he
had not suce.msfulle spoken, as many eminent men had
done before him, within the humble arena of this in,titu-
lion. By-the-bye, I must not leave out out of its remark-
able characteristics, namely, that members already risen to
eminence and in full employment, held it in such kindly
remembranc,,, that they would reappear on the held, and
resume their parts, as if grown young again. Of this
Jeffrey &traded a remarkable instance. I think the most
imaginative and effective speech I ever heard from him was
made at one of those chance visits to the Speculative Society.
Of Sir Walter Scott,oue of Gillies oldest and most
intimate friends, there is less mention than might
lime been anticipated. But this is owing to his
baying. published, many years ago, a special volume
of reminiszences of the great novelist ; which was, in
effect, the first work in which his character and
habits were faithfully delineated. There is a good
deal about llogit : characteristic and amusing as
everything told of that primitive being invariably
is. llogg's influence on his generation was
i much greater than could have been expected
from so rough-grained and illiterate a man.
Ile gave a stimulus to the Edinburgh wits,
which a courtlier and more cultivated man might
have failed to apply. Mr. Gillies does him no more
than justice in the view which he takes of his

charaCter.
We come now to one. of whom the public know
much le.ss than of the rather noisy and self•demon-
strative cliques of the northern Athens. Mr. Gillies
was on intimate terms with Wordsworth, and his
account of him will surprise many, even among the

------- - -
admirers of the latter.
But to return ; among convivial spirits no one could be
more joint'. than Wordsworth; no one could enter more
heartily and readily into the humours of the passing hour ;
and among eminent authors no one could ever be found
more willing than he was to make allowances for the faults of
others, or to afford instruction whenever he met with a pupil
I whine attai liment to literature was not founded on vanity
et effeetati in. His own lofty and buoyant spirit very ob-
viously resulted from three causes—lst, natural energy of
constitution and character; 2d. calmness and wisdom,
founded on moral principles inflexibly hem; 3d, of a course
of training to hint become habitual, namely, the hydro-
gothic (though the name of Prieanits was not then dreamed
of), for he d...lrsrlll wine and other fermented liquors, and
every day climbed the mountains, composing his poems,
and giving them utterance in the deepest tone of invocation
and aspirated as he ascended. Truly it was a laborious
sod joyous life, and it was needful for him to say—" labor
ipsa rii;ilp,irs real," seeing that our excellent world under
the exeneilary reigns of Charles the Second and James the
Second, was not more obtuse to the poetical merits of John
Milton than our modern world in the enlightened era of
George the Fourth, to those of William Wordsworth. In
Scotland, its already said, it had lean currently believed
that our Eihsesscilli Sissies, hail lig ever demolished his
pry tensions; and it could only be by a species of mono-
11117111iA that he continued travelling up bill in the teeth of
those niereili <ft blasts from the cold north! It would, how-
ever, Is• itnpoasible in any words to do justice to the calm-
ness) of contempt with which Wordsworth regarded such
attacks. In Isis own words applied to Milton—
' Ili. ..Ka ea. nee aat a and dwelt apart."
How eompletely his Rennes triumphed at last:lnd established
its empire over the public mind " fur all time," it would be
very needless to say.
My recollection is vivid of his brief sojourn at Edinburgh
in 1811. I cannot overlook how, on the day of tin arrival,
I was kindly invited to meet him at dinner, by the late
Mrs.Wilein ; and having 'Mr. C. K. Sharpe and another friend
already engaged, din moi, it was arranged that they should
join the party; and how that other friend (a brother advo-
cate) olsert iig that the poet during dinner did not say
mush, benevolently thought that lie must patronise him
anti draw hint nut, then by assuming a lead is the conver-
sation : and what and blunders resulted, and how the port
hineself, Mr. Sharpe and the family, with whom wi. dined,
were at Length convulsed with laughter; whilst, for my
own part, I tilt indignant and wrathful at such well-intese
tioned hot unsuitable demonstration's.
It was kindly agreed that the afternoon and evening of
nest slay .41./1111 he ;riven to my insignificant self; and by
agreement also Mr. Wordsworth came at two o'cleck. is
order to join in my then favourite walk to the top of Coe-
torphin Hill. whither we were accompanied by Mrs. Words-
worth, Mss Hutchinson, and Mr. James Wilson. Gladly,
should I record the whole of that day's conversation, of
which, however, only the heads or leading drift remain on
my mind. It was not difficult to discern that my humble ]
admiration of poets, and preference of literary pursuits,
were at least sincere ; also, that I had already adopted on
these matters certain dual notions, which were radically
wrong; and this negative qualiticatiou was a quite sufficient
incentive to Mr. Wordsworth, duriug a three hour' walk,
to expoac such errors and illustrate the truth (as in after ]
years by his kind letters he continued to do). In his own '
words again, as applied to Milton, he could " lay on himself
the lowliest duties," and so would try to enlighten the
humblest tyro, provided he found a willing and attentive
auditor. Acconlingly we carried on an animated debate, 1
which never for an instant tliiaticdi
These remarks are followed by several letters of '
Wordsworth, remarkable for their calm good e•ense
and searching criticism, and from which we would
gladly extract if our spuee permitted.
It is due to Mr. Chilies to mention that he shines
peculiarly in treating of those' towards whom the
world has been prejudiced and unjust. The follow-
ing is the best sketch we have seen, of one of the
must remarkable and least appreciated men of the
a During the winter of 13fisl6 (or tha next) Mr. De
Quinces. accompanied his friend, the author of the '• Isle of
l'allTl4," from Westmoreland to Edinburgh. I had then
an opportunity of observing the literary character in an
entirely new phasis, fur up to that tame, Dr Quincy,
though he had spent long years in assiduous study, and by
his friends was regarded as a powerful author, had not, so
fat as I know, published a single line. Uc marina!, indeed, '
to live for the sake of the labour alone, and to ding over- '
board all considerations either of the patina or petunia.
His various literary compositions, written in his exemplary
hand tits. lost I ever saw, except Southev's) on little oceans I
of piper, must have reached to a great; extent, but in his
own estimation they were by no means " ready for the
prow ;" like an over-cautious general, he withheld his tire,'
and nonainsd "toultit ut putehra mints." Not only for I
this reasen, but in other respects, Mr. De Quincey seemed
to me to bring nut the literary character in a new light. I
Very deeisirely he realised my plan of moving in a sepa-
rate world (having no doubt realities of its own) ; moo-
over,he neither spoke nor acted in the every-day world
like an, one else, for which, of course, I greatly honoured
him. lie was then in the habit of taking opium daily as
an article of food, and the drug, though used for years, had ]
scarcely begun to tell on his constitution, by those effects'
which, «oiler or later• overtake every one of its persevering ]
votaries; and which, when they once appear, make quick
work in demolishing together the man physical and the
man intellectual ; the latter being reduced to the pitiable
plight of a musician who essays to play by means of a harp
unstrung and broken. But in his case, it had not worked
any such evils as yet, and in after rear% though not with-
oat a long and tough battle, Mr. De. Quincey succeeded in
vanquishiug the narcotic devil.
His voice was extraordinary; it came as if from dream-
lend ; but it was the most musical and impresaire of voices.
In convivial life, what then seemed to me the moat re-
markable trait of De Quincey's character was the power
be sad of easily changing the tone of ordinary thought
conservation into that of his own dream-land, till his
auditors, with wonder, found themselves moving pleasantly
along with hum in a sphere of which they might have heard
and read, perhaps but which had ever appeared to them
inaccessible, and ea., far away ! Seeing that he was always
good-natured and social, he would take part, at commence-
ment, in any sort of tattle or twaddle. The talk might be
of " beeves. ' and he could grapple with them if expected
to do so, but his musical cadences were not in keeping with
mach work, and in a few minutes (not withoutsome strictly
logical sequence) he could escape at will from beeves to
butterflies, and thence to the sours immortality, to Plato,
and Kant, and Schelling. and Fichte, to Milton's early
years and Shakspeare's sonnets, to Wordsworth and Cole-
ridge. to Homer and Eschylus, to St. Thomas of Aquin,
St. Basil, and St. Chrysostom. But he by no means ex.
eluded themes from reel life, according to his own views of
that life, but would recount profound mysteries from his
own experieneee—visions that had come over him in his
loneliest walks among the mountains, and passages within
his own personal knowledge, illustrating, if not proving,
the doctrines of dreams. of warnings, of second-right, and
mesmerism. And whatsoever the subject might be, every
one of his sentences (or of his chapters I might say) was
woven into the most perfect logical texture, and uttered in
a one of sustained melody.
Sash powers and swinissamtis meld not fail to excite
wonder at Edinburgh. He had, indeed, studied "all such
books as are never read" in that enlightened capital, and
was the tirst friend I had ever met who could profess to
have a command over the German language, and who con-
sequently was able (es cathedra) to corroborate my notions
of the great *totes that were contained therein. I flatter
atylaf that he found our house not altogether uncongenial,
at he WJa kind enough to visit there mere frequently than
in any Mbar.

There is a brief and capital sketch of Goethe; but
the substance of this has, we believe, appeared in a
former publication. Our last extract must be the
vindication of one of the most misjudged and ill-
requited men of our day. Here, us always, Mr.
Wks steps forward to the rescue, with a iaet and
Massa which do him infinite credit.
lip to the year 1827, and for some years afterwards, Dr.
Magien retained all that buoyancy and elasticity of spirit
for which, naturally, he was so remarkable, and which it
thee seemed es if no trials or pressure could subdue. So
little had his habits, either of daily. task-work or convivia-
lity, injured his nerves, that he enjoyed our excursion with
all the zest of a !school-boy broke louse for a holiday. The
only darkening trace left by his intercourse with the world
and its ways were betrayed by his disposition to make
sarcastic remarks on leading- characters of the day, sparing
neither tory nor whig. et his was ever played
kind of sarcasm, entirely free from any bitter alloy of
misanthropy and rancour. To such feelings, indeed, he
was of all men I ever knew the most impassive, insomuch
that if his worst enemy had fallen into a state of suffering
and distress, on hearing of the circumstances he would have
hurried away at his most rapid pace to find out whether he
could render any assistance.
At this distance of time, to attempt recapitulating OUT
conversation during • two miles' walk would be absurd;
wild and desultory it was no doubt, • very perfect example
of the style which the French call " abandon a" and yet I
remember that some part of our talk turned on subjects
which, it might have been supposed, were very much motel
his way. The discussion, however, arose naturally enough,
bee, as editor then of a new Quarterly Review, I hail
received some elaborate papers on metaphysical subjects,
by the contents of which I felt puzzled. if deep, they
were not clear, either in matter or style ; and on this occa-
sion I felt astounded, as many of his friends must at other
times have been, at the extent and variety of his reading,
and the accuracy and readiness with which he could
bring it to bear on any. analogous topic of the moment.
Nut only mediaeval logicians, but fathers of the church,
folios of St. Gregory, St. Buil, and St. Thomas of Aquino,
which, judging by his usual occupations and disposition,
he never could have opened, were even familiar to him. lie
could cite their decisions on intricate questions, and under•
take to point out the identical passages if needful.
In Dr. Maginn's literary character there was one leading
trait, which, during the course of a long life, i have rasp
found to be of most rare occurrence—namely, that to great
vivacity and quickness of apprehension and feelings' he
united patience, perseverance, and amenity of temper. For
this virtue of perseverance, indeed. as applicable to any
separate and exclusive line of study, his life in London,
from its commencement to its untimely close, allowed him
no opportunities whatsoever. In Ireaaud, us I believe, his
position had been such, that by continuing his employment
there he might have enjoyed a competent income, and yet
have had wine hours daily at his cummaud for literary un-
dertakings; but London allured him, as it has allured
hundreds of others, into its fatal vortex. The well-inttn.
tioned, but not so well-judged, advice and iuvitations of
friends, conspired to rivet his destiny. That perfect com-
mand which he seemed to exercise over his own facusties,
the almost unexampled facility and readiness with which
he could write in verse or prime on any given subject, ten
dered his aid of pre-emineut value in periodical literature,
but especially in productions of the daily and weekly press.
The result naturally was, that engagement* in this depart-
ment were proffered to him, nay, crowded on his attention
from the first week of his arrival in town. lie accepted
such as a matter of course, and never afterwards, until dis-
abled by adversity and illness, was allowed to pause in his
desultory career—a career, indeed, unworthy of his high I
talents, and uncongenial to the real bent of his mind, winch
I suspect was, even among his professing frieuela, but little
underatuoil and appreciated.
At our first meeting iu Edinburgh, when I earnestly
pressed on his attention the plan of aujourniug there, he de-
signated himself as a mere "scrap writer," for which occu-
pation London, as he said, Worded the best field. The
fare jarred on my cars then, as it does now. Too true it
was, that in consequence of his daily engagements to the
organs of a party, be had become a scrap writer, and not
Irving any independent fortune, be never could emanci-
pate himself from the yoke. By talents, by acquirements,
ay unconquerable patience and equanimity, "Legion was
qualified for works of lung laborious research, and the
nicest critical investigations. Nor was lie less capable of
romantic and poetical invention. But a faultily depended
on his exertions; the wants of the day and of the week
must be supplied. lie must write, although intik; Minerra,
on the topics of last night's debate, evanescent and paltry
r their interest might be. The longest and must sustained
efforts which circumstances allowed him to make, were
only fugitive chapters for magazines and reviews.
Patience and good humour might and did render this
kind of life supportable; the burthen was borne with such
apparent ease that byatandera did not suspect its weight;
but by no landlady could such broken and desultory ap-
plication prove sanative, cheering, or in the long run pros-
perous. Ilia contributions to magazines had, no doubt, a
liveliness and :Tree, joined with a command of language
which few have equalled. And yet, these essays were for
the most part, written so hastily, and under such pressure,
that I have heard him avow again and again, with tran-
sient bitterness, that he searcely ever sent such papers to
the printer without feeling au almost irrepressible impulse
to throw them into the fire. It argued, indeed, but little
presumption on the part of Maginies nearest friends and
relatives if they sometimes entertained hopes that, after his
long services and atedfast adherence to the tory party, he
should be protected against such pressure. ut neither
place nor pension, rarely even a well-tilled purse to meet an
emergency, fell in his way. It is true eneugh that excuses
can easily be made for the wealthy leaden, of that party;
fur his own conduct was such as to leave them in ignorance
of his real situation. Ilia constant habit of suppressing all
notions of self, his cheerfulness and willingness, to be occu-
pied with engagementa which. did bring remuneration,
however vacillating and inadequate, were enough to deceive
Lookers-on, and lead them to talieve that lie had sufficient
resources. During his last days of suffering, Sir Robert
Peel, as on some former occasions, steed pre-eminent iu his
kindness and liberality to this man of learning lied genius,
I do nut forget that towards the same melancholy epoch the
King of Hawser and Lord G. Somerset manifeated their
s We ympathy.
must not conclude, without expressing our
hope that Mr. Gillies will not be forgotten, when
next a pension falls at the disposal of her Majesty's
ministers. No literary man of the day is more de-
serving of such a testituony of the national gratitude
and respect. Ile has done more than any other man
to popularise continental literature in this country.
It' next May, we are found to be not alto-
gether strangers to the literature of any of
the nations who shall visit us, it is to
the many years' labour of Mr. Gillies that we prin-
cipally owe it. Let it not be said that they found
the true herald and pioneer of this new cm uf inter-
national communion abandoned in his old age to
poverty and neglect. Little as the English public
know or care about Mr. Gillies, he has a continental
reputation ; and our visitors next summer will look
on his non-requital as little short of a national dis-
grace. We repeat that it was he above all men who
effectually broke down the barriers of our insular
exclusiveness, so far as literature is concerned. And
thebresent is peculiarly the time to appreciate the
value of such a service.

lt.suwAY ExcettatoNs.—Yesterday, the Shore-
ditch terminus presented a scene of extraordinary hustle in
consequence of the multitude arriving by the excursion
trains from Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely,
and Essex. The Colchester line train came in shortly after
twelve o'clock, bringing nearly 1,000 passengers. At two
o'clock about 1,100 were brought by the Cambridge district
line, the train consisting of 38 carriages. These results are
indications of the spirit of the new executive, especially
when contrasted with last year's policy, owing to which
there were nu holiday trains at this season, greatly to the
regret of the inhabitants of the eastern district, and equally
detrimental to the lien:rest' of the company, fur the working
expenses of these trips are ascertained to be but a small per
tentage on the aggregate receipts derived faom them. The
Brighton, the South Eastern, and the South Western lines
also displayed a great increase in the number of their pa-
trons, although the weather was far from favourable.
EPISCOPAL CAPITCLAR ESTATES.—Lord Car-
lisle has brought 14 bill into the House of Lords, which ban
just been printed, for the management of episcopal and en-
pitular estates and revenues in England and Wales. There
are as many as 112 clauses iu the bill, the object of which
is to give effect to the recommendations, iu a modified form,
contained in two reports to her Majesty, by the commis-
sioners appointed some time back to inquire into the reve-
nues arising from the real property of the church, and also
into the incomes of the archbishops and bishops, so as best
to secure to them fixed instead of fluctuating annual in-
comes. It is proposed that the Church Estates Commis-
sioners shallbo comminsioners for the purpose of executing

the intended art They may ausamins 'and examine wit--
atom ; and their reports on the property of the church, as
to leases and other mutters, may be confirmed or varied by
her Majesty in council. All episcopal Mates are to be un-
der the management of the commissioners, and salaries and
incidental expenses arc to be defrayed out of the revenues of
the sees in respect of which they are incurred. It is also
proposed that after existing incumbencies the corn-
minipump may pay fixed incomes to ere bishop. The
measure has reference to the property ves7 in the Ecclesi-
astical Commissioners, and has been framed in accordance

with the suggestions set forth in the report to the Queen
church matters.

EITENSION OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGZAPIL—The
Select Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for
the cliuuification of private bills have referred the five hav-
ing for their object the extension of the electric telegraph,
by land and submarinely, to be considered by one and the
same committee; they are—The Electric Telegraph Com-
pany (Amendment of Act); United Kingdom Electric Tele-
graph Company (Allan's patents, incorporation of company,
ant purchase and use of patents in England and Ireland,
and elsewhere) ; European and American Printing Tele-
graph Company (Brett's patent, Incorporation of company,
and purchase and use of patents) ; Submarine Telegraph
Company between England and France ; Blego-Electric
Telegraph Company (Incorporation of companynet and pur-
chase and use of patents in Great Britain, Ireland and else-
where).
LYNCHING IN SHIELDS.—The mate of a vessel
named the Amity, of South Shields, was "tarred and fea-
thered " on Wednesday night, for having signed artieles for
lower wages than the amount fixed by the Seaman's Asso-
ciation.

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