certain fees of office; two unpaid suppléants; a clerk, and two ushers. In most cases, no one dared commence a lawsuit until he had summoned his opponent before a justice of peace, with a view to attempt an amicable settlement. The justices, moreover, conducted the preliminary investigations in criminal matters, sealed the repositories of the dead, gave certificates of marriage, &c. They were judges in all complaints of trespass, or disputed marches, and all disputes between landlord and tenant, or master and servant. They were judges in purely personal cases to the amount of 50 francs without, and of 100 francs with appeal. The practitioners in these different courts were notaries, avoués, and avocats. In order to become a notary, one must have satisfied the conscription laws, passed his twenty-fifth year, and served from four to six years in the étude of a practising notary. Before one begins to practice, he must deposit a sum of money (by notaries of the lowest class about 1000, of the highest, 24,000 francs) in the government bureau, in security for his conduct, upon which he receives four per cent interest. They were intrusted with much the same department of the business of active life, as falls to the charge of their namesakes in this country. According to law, the average number of notaries was fixed at one for every 6000 citizens. The good-will of a notary's business used to sell in Paris for a sum varying from a hundred to three hundred thousand francs. The character of the notaries in France stood deservedly high. The avoués supply the place of our procurators in the supreme They were nominated by government, and their number throughout France might amount to 3847. The candidate for such an appointment, after studying for some years at a school of law, and receiving a certificate of proficiency, purchased the étude of an avoué retiring from business. If an avoué took his degree as licentiate in law, and took the advocate's oath, he was entitled to plead at the bar without ceasing to be an avoué. The character of this body did not stand very high in public estimation. Every person who had completed his legal studies, and passed licentiate of law, was entitled to be admitted to take the oath of advocate in a court of appeal (cour royale.) The office of advocate was to give advice in private respecting the conduct of lawsuits, and to plead the cause of parties orally or in writing before the tribunals. The avoué is a servant of the state; the advocate is a private person, whose profession it is to assist his fellow-citizens in their legal affairs. A well-employed advocate in Paris draws from his profession between fifty and a hundred thousand francs yearly. The members of this body are regarded as qualified for the highest offices of state. So much for the legal institutions of France, and those connected with their admi-puties consisted of 430 members, chosen by the different nistration. ception of condemned criminals, were a matter of great importance in France, which had no external colonies in which she could deposit this refuse of society. The Minister of Finance, by means of his Chamber at Paris, controlled the post, registrations and domains, fe rests (France is divided into twenty forest districts) the lottery, the douane, the indirect taxes, the lifting of direct taxes, the mint, the public salines, the general paymaster, the sinking fund, the Bank of France, thirty-one of the principal chambers of commerce, and the Exchange. The direct taxes were collected in a simple and unop pressive manner; the domains and regalia were, for the most part, farmed out; but some of the indirect taxes, such as the tolls and tobacco, required a great number of officials. The army of France has attracted too much attention to render it requisite for us to enter into the details of the Minister of War's office. The army can scarcely exceed 100,000 men. It was assembled in divisions of twenty-one military posts, scattered at practicable distances through France. At each of these was a governor and lieutenant-general. France has 178 fortresses, of which the most important form the triple line extending along the frontiers towards Germany and the Netherlands, from the sea to the Alps. court. The Minister of the Interior had the superintendence of the church, the university, the police, the general management of bridges, roads, and mines, the care of prisons, the preservation of registers, &c. Under this minister was the prefect of police, with his secretary; and immediately under him a prefect at the head of every department, with a secretary who managed his bureau, and from three to five counsellors. In every arrondissement there was a mayor, with one or two adjuncts. To these was added, when the number of inhabitants exceeded 10,000, a commissary of police. Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants had a general-commissary of police. The office of the mayors and the sub-prefects was to fix, with the assistance of their councils, the quota of the direct taxes payable by each individual within their district, and to report on its condition and prospects to the Minister of the Interior. Under their command, and in the different cantons under the command of the justice of peace, were the troops appointed to carry police regulations into effect-the gens d'armerie. This body consisted of 15,500 men, divided into legions, and these into companies. The prisons, especially those destined for the re The Minister of Trade and the Colonies, besides the important duties which naturally belonged to his office, had intrusted to him the management of the fleet. It consisted, in 1821, of 58 ships of the line, 39 frigates, and 289 smaller vessels. These were manned with 11,000 seamen. Many of the vessels were unfit for service. They were dispersed under five commandos,— Brest, L'Orient, Toulon, Rochefort, and Cherbourg. There were several marine schools for the education of cadets. The extension of the French fleet was chiefly retarded by the difficulty of obtaining materials and seamen. There yet remains the Minister for Foreign Affairs, whose office was much the same as in other countries; and a minister-so termed by courtesy-of the royal house. Upon the King and these ministers in council depended the whole management of state affairs in France. The only rule prescribed to them was, that they should act in conformity to the laws of the land. This consideration brings us to the other constituent part of the constitution of France the legislative. The Legislative Power was vested in the King, the Chamber of Peers, and the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Peers consisted of 278 members. No peer was admitted before he had attained his twenty-fifth year; and even then he was not allowed to take a part in the discussions before he was thirty. The Chamber of De electoral colleges. The King had the initiative of all laws, and it lay with him whether he would first present it to the Peers or the Deputies. In both Chambers, a simple majority was sufficient to pass a law. A law was only valid after it had received the assent of the whole three orders. Either Chamber had the right to suggest a law to the King, as a proper one to be laid before them. All money bills, as with us, were first submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. The Chancellor of France was ex officio President of the Chamber of Peers; the Presi dent of the other Chamber was named by the King from a list of five, presented to him on the part of the Deputies. As to its products, agriculture, manufactures, and trade, though France is naturally a rich soil, husbandry has made comparatively little progress. Agriculture is prosecuted with most success in the north. In districts to the west of Paris, stretching from the English Channel to the Garonne, the breeding of cattle seems at present to be pursued with considerable interest. But the vineyards are the pride of France. From the Rhine to the Pyrenees there is scarcely a hill whose sunny side is not covered with vines. In the manufacture of wine, too, the French are allowed to excel all the other nations young men could receive education to fit them for the universities, or the study of the learned professions, were extremely defective. In the 38,990 communes of France were, five years ago, 25,900 elementary schools, with upwards of a million scholars. Much had been done, too, in different districts, by the private exertions of some spirited noblemen and large capitalists. Still much remained to be done, for, on a large calculation, one-third only of the nation could read and write; and the education of females was extremely neglected. of Europe. Vegetables are raised in immense quantities in the neighbourhood of all the populous towns; fruit is in great quantity, and excellent quality. Olives, and the oil extracted from them, succeed well in Provence, although produced in less quantity than the consumption of the land requires. The fisheries are important-both in the rivers and the deep sea. The forests have, in a great measure, recovered from the devastations of the Revolution. The mines are of little consequence. The French have hitherto succeeded best in manufacturing articles of Juxury. Lyons, Paris, Valenciennes, and Alençon, pro- Before passing from this sketch of the provisions for duce immense quantities of silk and laces; Rouen, Gre- general education, to give a still more brief sketch of the noble, and Sedan, cotton and woollen stuffs, and leather. state of literary and scientific exertion in France, a moPorcelain, musical instruments, soap, and hardwares, are, ment's glance must be cast at the state of the press-the after these, the chief manufactures. The home trade is atmosphere necessary to the life of intellect. For a short strong, and promoted by good roads and numerous canals. time it had been free from censorship. Every person France has also a flourishing commerce up the Levant, to who published was answerable for any offence given to America, the East Indies, and the Baltic. The Bank at the laws in his writings. It was chiefly against the peParis has 90,000 shares of 1000 francs each. There are riodical press that the jealousy of the government was public exchanges in sixty-three of the principal towns. directed. The office of printer was a monopoly: one or One characteristic is common to the manufacturing and two only were licensed in every town. Attempts were commercial industry of France, with that of every mo- made, on the part of government, to frighten the printers dern European nation, except England and Holland. The from lending their assistance to liberal journals; but the first impulse has been given to it, not so much by an in-courts of law, before which the question was brought, stinctive love of trade, as by a conviction, upon reflection, of the benefit it brings a nation. In France, the educated and influential classes have striven to give a commercial turn to the national mind. The consequence is, that we recognise in its exertions, not unfrequently, the need of an additional stimulus, a love of external show, a tendency to yield to the influence of over-refined theories. These drawbacks were, however, rapidly disappearing at the time when Charles X. took his mad step: a manlier and more practical tone was visibly gaining the ascend-ledge; the Academy of Music; the Royal Museum, and ency in the national mind. found, that as the right of printing was a monopoly, the printer was not entitled to refuse to work for any one who could pay him. He was a public servant. The number of institutions in France for the encouragement of science and art exceeded those in any other nation of Europe. There was the Institute, with its four Academies; the Royal Medical, Geographical, and Statistical Societies; the Society for the promotion of national industry, and that for the propagation of know that of French Antiquities; the Jardin des Plantes; the We have next a few words to offer on the subject of numerous hospitals; the Royal and other libraries; toeducation, moral and intellectual, of science, literature, gether with innumerable private societies for the furtherand art. The first school of every nation is its church. ance of art, science, and literature, dispersed through From it the tone of domestic morals is taken. The church France. The intellectual activity corresponded to such in France was no longer the fair outward cover of inter- encouragement. France stood foremost in the physical, nal rottenness, which it was before the Revolution. As chemical, and mathematical sciences. In natural hislittle was it such an object of scorn and loathing as at tory, she was equal to Germany. In metaphysics, juristhe time of that event. It had not the same firm hold of prudence, history, and antiquities, a new era was commenpopular feeling as in the other countries of Europe. The cing. France gave the first impulse to the study of Oriental Catholic was the national church; but all churches were languages and literature. In art, there was no deficiency protected by law, their clergy paid by the state, and sub- of industry or enthusiasm; learned and ingenious artists Y jected to the control of the minister of the interior. In failed (if they did fail) only from that over-vivacity of the Catholic church were 12 archbishops, with 43 suf- temperament, which is characteristic of their nation. fragans, pretty equally dispersed over the surface of There were plenty of talented dramatists and lyrical France; and under them 35,286 resident and officiating poets-men of fine fancy and happy conceptions. In the clergymen, and 25,437 seminary priests. There were other departments of imaginative literature, there was about 2,200,000 Lutherans. Their clergy were divided something vacillating and unfixed in the national taste. J into six inspections, and the whole stood under the imme- The French mind was in a state of transmutation, and diate superintendence of the General-Consistory in Stras- nothing great was produced. But it was not within the 1 burg. The number of the Calvinists, which is still greater narrow limits of France that the minds of her sons conthan that of the Lutherans, we have not been able to fined themselves. They were to be found in Egypt, ascertain. They were divided into synods and consisto-measuring the pyramids; in Syria, exposing themselves ries, and had 101 consistorial churches. The Jews stood under a central-consistory in Paris, and had six consistorial synagogues. $ France long presented the strange spectacle of the most enlightened capital, and the most ignorant territory, in Europe. The exertions of the inhabitants of the principal mercantile towns were rapidly removing this absurdity. Under the minister of the interior stood a royal commission of sixteen persons, upon whom devolved the care of all the educational institutions in the kingdom. There were two universities, each with five faculties, at Paris and Strasburg. There were, besides, twelve high schools of law or medicine, or both, which bore the name of universities. There were 36 royal colleges, and 59 theological seminaries. Next in importance to these, were l'école polytechnique, and a variety of schools for instructing artillerists, engineers, architects, ship-builders, soldiers, and sailors. The preparatory schools, in which to the plague, in order to extend the bounds of medical science, and over the wide continent of South America. Such was France, and such her prospects for the future, some ten days ago. A rich soil and balmy climate -a race of men high-spirited and enterprising-braced and sobered by adversity-inclined to repose in the forms of a government free and energetic, not perfect, perhaps, but consolidating daily-all this was the heritage of Charles the Xth. Of such a people, under such laws, and possessed of such natural wealth, he might have made any thing. There is a natural inclination in a Frenchman to love a gallant and kind monarch. All that was asked of him was to love his people-to promote their intellectual and moral improvement. But this emasculated nursling of the saloon and the cloister could not see the happiness and honour of such a career. His model of kingly greatness was an old Spanish monarch, before whom all bowed in trembling obedience, while he in turn did the same before a fantastic image, which, in his bewilder- towards America as a fit place for the exercise of their ed imagination, had usurped the place of the Deity. This dreamer opposed himself to the natural current of human events. He has succeeded in showing that a man too weak to do good may yet do an infinite deal of harm. The security, the happiness of a gallant and mighty nation, have been put to the hazard to gratify his self-will. We confess we have little fears for the result. A really influential class has grown up in France, from the body of the people, during the storms of the Revolution. Their politics have been sobered by the sad realities of fifty years. There is no fear that they will now peril the safety of their country in an attempt to gain an ideal perfection. The only danger results from the possibility that a part of the army may adhere to the king. Even in that case, he could not ultimately succeed. Almost every third man in France has been trained to arms-officers of the highest talent and experience, and who deeply hate the Bourbons, are scattered through the country-the intel- | ligence and capital of the nation are at present opposed to Charles and such adversaries no army can subdue. But the struggle may be long-the idle and the worthless may increase in numbers and impunity-and the progress of the country be indefinitely retarded. All this possible evil, and the blood which has already flowed, lies at the door of that madman, whom thirty years of exile and privation could teach neither humanity nor common sense. Recollections of a Six Years' Residence in the United Ir is a very difficult thing to write a first-rate book about America. We are by no means sure that any such book has yet been written. In the first place, it ought to be recollected that America is a world of itself, almost as large as Europe, Asia, and Africa put together, and that if a" Six Years' Residence in the Old World" would be considered a comprehensive title for a book, a " Six Years' Residence in the New" is nearly as much so. In the next place, this immense country is still in a state of infancy, and is undergoing changes of importance every day, so that an author has scarcely time to see his remarks on its various laws, customs, and institutions, fairly through the press, before circumstances may have made it necessary entirely to remodel the whole of them. Writing about America is like writing for periodicals; your book may possess some interest, only till a still more recent one appears, and in the course of a few months at most, it becomes useless as a last year's almanack. The tourist through the continent of Europe, finds a more stable state of things, and is consequently enabled to build his remarks upon a less sandy foundation. But it is a dangerous experiment for him who aims at having his name of long continuance in the mouths of men, to exercise his pen on the subject of America—a nation without any permanent classical associations, without any splendid works of art, without any established literature, without any noble public institutions which have stood the test of time and experience. Notes on America we are at all times delighted to see, for we watch with interest the growing dispositions of the youthful giant; but for any thing like a full and faithful biography, or even fragment of biography, likely to be long referred to as a standard and authority, the time has not yet arrived. Mr Peter Neilson's volume makes pretensions to no such character. It is the volume of a plain sensible man, who possesses eyes with which he sees, and ears with which he hears, and who sets down in good and very readable English, all that strikes him as remarkable and peculiar. Belonging himself to the industrious portion of society, he professedly writes for those who may look respective callings, and furnishes, we do not hesitate to say, a number of valuable hints for their guidance and instruction. His observations on American character and habits, on the commercial prospects and statistical resources of the nation, on its morals, feelings, prejudices, and amusements, are in general both shrewd and sound. Nor does he confine himself to dry detail and abstract disquisition, but mingles with his information much of the pleasant liveliness of a personal narrative. He does not appear to have traversed the United States to a very great extent, but he has made good use of the opportunities he enjoyed in those parts which he happened to visit. He sailed from Greenock, for New York, about the year 1823. After remaining there some time, and making himself familiar with all that is remarkable in that capital and its vicinity, he took an excursion up the Hudson to the state of Vermont, for the purpose of visiting some Stirlingshire relatives who were settled in that quarter. Having returned once more to New York, he again left it, some months afterwards, for Philadelphia, of which he gives a full and interesting account. From thence, after having gone up the Delaware, and explored the surrounding country with accuracy and attention, he sailed for the southern state of Carolina, and fixed his headquarters in Charleston. This seems to have been the extent of his travels in America; but, in the course of them, he has picked up a fair collection of interesting particulars, and has approved himself one fond of knowledge, and able to communicate it. stowed upon Mr Neilson's work, by a few miscellaneous We shall make good the commendation we have beextracts, which, we feel confident, though not possessed of much eloquence of diction or depth of reflection, will nevertheless be read with satisfaction. We begin with a passage illustrative of the state of crime in New York: AMERICAN PENAL LAWS AND STATE PRISONERS. "Were the penal laws of Great Britain as severe in the execution, as in the letter, it might be truly said, they were written in blood,-more than 200 different crimes incurring sentence of death. The Americans have framed the most of their laws and institutions after the manner of their ancestors, and, in some cases, with considerable improvements. with death,-the law blending mercy with justice in a very There are, however, but few crimes in America punished eminent degree, having the reformation of the criminal as much an object to be desired as the mere satisfying of the law. Many an unfortunate wretch, whose life alone could atone for his offence in Britain, would, under the American criminal laws, have had the opportunity of acquiring with proper notions of that equity which man owes to his habits of industry and honesty, and returned to society, fellow. and good principles; and, in many instances, have been The American state prisons are established on wise actually profitable to the state in which they are erected,condemnation to the state prison for life being a more formidable punishment to many a desperado, than the gallows itself; the very idea of being cooped up from their compahabits, operating upon their uncontrollable passions as a nions, and compelled to observe industrious and regular York is a large building, enclosed by high walls, capable of continual succession of penalties. The state prison of New containing 500 convicts: it is sometimes full of inmates. No criminals are sentenced to this prison for less than three` years. Upon admission, they are required to clean themselves, and are accommodated with a new dress of striped ticular dress is put upon those who have been more than cotton, if in summer; and of woollen, if in winter. A paronce committed. They are immediately set to work at some trade, and in case they have been brought up to none, are instructed in some one of the branches which are carried on in the prison, viz. shoemaking, weaving, brushmaking, coopers, turners, blacksmiths, tailors, painters, carpenters, carding, spinning, and whip-making. They in winter, and continue until six in the evening. They are commence work at six o'clock in summer, and at daylight locked up in separate rooms, which accommodate eight men each, at nine o'clock in summer, and eight in winter. The prison is kept comfortably warm in cold weather; and should any prisoner fall sick, the utmost attention and kindness is paid by physicians who daily visit the prison, shown at times to the bench or council, and the plaintiff and a young surgeon constantly resides in the house. The and defendant are sometimes at the point of a battle-royal utmost decency and order is observed in the prison, a keeper before the court-doors. The laws here give too much enand sixteen assistants being constantly on the look-out. couragement to petty suits, and the most trivial occurrences "The prisoners receive cocoa and molasses for breakfast, give occasion to a prosecution. The low pettifogging tricks and soup made of shins of beef, &c. for dinner, with plenty practised by many of the lawyers and justices, are only of potatoes, and once a-week a dinner of pork; their supper equalled by their want of information and arrogance ;consists of Indian meal porridge and molasses; many of some of the latter can hardly sign their name; and as for at the workmen who are remarked for industry and sobriety, orthography, few of them know the meaning of the word. are occasionally indulged with a pint of beer. Every in- "To illustrate the matter, I may mention an occurrence ducement is held out to encourage them in good conduct, or two which took place within the scope of my own oband their sentence is curtailed a fourth part, provided they servation. My family having suffered much from the ague, have behaved well, and have earned fifteen dollars per an- and receiving no relief from the principal doctor in the vilnum. An account is opened with each prisoner, who re- lage, I was informed by a neighbour, that a Quaker doctor, ceives credit for his earnings, and at the end of his confine- who resided a few miles in the country, was much famed bment he receives 20 per cent of what sum may be at his cre- for curing the ague, and made a rule of charging nothing adit, deducting his expenses; the balance goes towards the if unsuccessful; in despair almost, I applied to this infallisupport of the institution. In certain cases, the prisoner's ble physician, but, in case of mistakes, made an agreement family are allowed to receive his earnings while in prison. that he should not charge me over five dollars, even if It is no uncommon thing for a prisoner to leave this place successful. After a few visits from this gentleman, I with 150 dollars in his pocket to begin the world with: found matters getting worse, as he evidently displayed they generally emigrate to some part of the country where the utmost ignorance of his profession; and the whole they are unknown, and many of them have turned out of his secret seemed to consist in administering most un good members of society, after having gone through the conscionable doses of common charcoal to my wife, who ordeal of the state prison. A chaplain attends to the esta- was his chief patient. Being apprehensive that this mode blishment, and such of the prisoners as are ignorant, receive of treatment would end in nothing good, I gave him as instruction in reading. A specimen of the convictions, for civil a hint as possible, that no more of his medicine would one year, may be given-viz. 173 Americans, 15 Irish, be swallowed. A few days after this, without first de13 English, 1 Scot, I Frenchman, 1 German, 3 Nova Sco-manding it, he sent me an account through the hands of tians, 3 West Indians, 1 Portuguese, 1 Swede, and 1 Dutch man. Passing from man to an animal of an inferior description, we beg to introduce to the attention of our readers THE POLECAT, OR SKUNK. "I cannot help taking notice of a small animal which is frequently to be met with here, namely, the polecat, or, as the Americans appropriately term it, the skunk. When closely pursued, the chief defence of this creature consists in its possessing from nature the instinctive faculty of wetting its tail, (not with aqua pura, at all events,) by flourishing which all around it with wonderful celerity, it besprinkles its enemies, of every description, with a liquid, the effluvium of which is the most abominable to be imagined. I once, in company with a young man, gave chase to one of these animals in Long Island, which at length took refuge beneath the stump of a decayed tree, and immediately commenced offensive operations. In a few seconds, my friend and I discovered the native we had to deal with, and retreated as speedily as possible from the scene of action; but to retreat from an odour the most villainous in nature, which adhered to our clothes and to our persons, was impossible. Before entering our lodging, we were under the necessity of casting off a considerable part of our apparel; but in spite of all that soap and water could do, and our having recourse to the aid of perfumes more congenial to the olfactory nerves of civilized mankind, for several days did the vile scent of the skunk predominate. A terrier dog which assisted in our hunt, and received the greater part of the skunk-water, did nothing for some days but roll in the mud, rub himself upon the grass, and use every method in his power to get rid of the odious flavour. I have heard it asserted, and by no means doubt the truth of the affirmation, that the smell of the skunk has been known to reach to the distance of two miles." a constable for fifteen dollars; and this appendage of justice delivered me a summons at the same time, to appear before the Squire.' Being well aware that I would receive any thing but fair play at such a court, (for I had observed previously, that a verdict is almost invariably given against a stranger, especially if he be defendant,) I took a young lawyer along with me, and upon our entering the court, found the justice, with my friend the doctor, each seated upon a chair, with their legs upon another, smoking most socially. The justice having called the case, handed me a copy of the account, and merely asked if the doctor had attended upon my family. Having assented to this, he said, Why, then, what is the use of saying any more about it? I will enter judgment against you. Not so fast, friend,' answered f, if you please; this gentleman agreed to charge me a much less sum than what is specified in his account, even if he had fulfilled his engagement; and I can bring you witnesses in a few minutes, who can bear ample testimony to the truth of this.'-'No, no,' said his honour, 'I want no proof whatever; my mind was made up on the subject yesterday.' My friend the lawyer attempted to say a few words, but without effect. Having left the office, I said to the young attorney, And must I really be obliged to pay such an exorbitant charge, with expenses, to this rascally quack, for a few ounces of charcoal? I would much rather give it to the hospital in Philadelphia-Is there no remedy?" The young gentleman, having then mused a little, said, Why, I can easily put you on a plan of at least keeping that fellow out of the money for a few years; I will enter an appeal for you to the Court of Doyleston-the capital of the county and appear for you at the proper time, as you mention that you intend removing to Carolina in winter, so you can just pay me the money, and I guess it will cost him some trouble to take it out of my fingers.' No one can appreciate talents and honourable feeling in gentlemen of the profession of physic more than myself; and I do think that they are truly deserving of a fair and just recompense for In many of his remarks on the different classes of the their services; but to suffer such imposition from a quack, American community, Mr Neilson is at once smart and science; so of two evils I chose what I deemed the least, merely because I was a Scotsman, went against my conlively, without, however, exhibiting any symptoms of na- and paid over the amount to the young lawyer, leaving him tional bigotry. We have been, in particular, not a little and the infallible doctor to settle the matter at their conveamused with the following graphic sketch of the pecu-nience. I am thus particular on this subject, as it may liarities of at least some of the AMERICAN COUNTRY JUSTICES. serve to show how matters are conducted here in law affairs. "I recollect a circumstance which afforded me not a "In the country towns of America, there are generally little amusement. It was the case of a young man of the two or three justices of the peace, and an attorney or two. village, who got half-seas over' one day, and, either through These justices, or judges, (in fact, they are both judge and mischief or accident, had shot an honest woman's pig; she jury,) as may well be imagined, are not men who have much had him instantly arrested, and brought before one of the law at their finger-ends. In almost all cases, they subsist justices. As near as I can remember, the following colchiefly by following some mechanical trade, and not un-loquy took place. The judge was a Quaker and a mechanic: frequently the dignity of village Squire' is conjoined with the more humble, but probably as useful occupation, of carpenter or shoemaker. They most commonly give a verdict in favour of the plaintiff.. It is well worth one's while to attend one of these courts. Little reverence, indeed, is "Justice. Well, Jane, what hast thee to say against neighbour Bill, here? "Plaintiff. Say? Why, I've too much to say about the waggabone; would you believe it, the good-for-nothing fellor has killed my pig, without no manner of provocation! "Justice. And did thee not want thy pig slain, friend Jane? "Plaintiff No; I guess my pig would have fed five hundredweight come Christmas. I calculate I had good feed for the poor thing; but that there Bill, the low fellow, shot him. I guess he would be none the worse of a good spanking with a clever stick. "Justice. Peace, Jane, peace, we shall find law for theewe shall find law for thee, woman, I say; but be not violent against Bill.-Why did thee slay that pig of Jane's, Bill? "Bill. Why, Squire, I expect that I was shooting at a mark on the fence, when that dar'nt porker poked his nose too near the mouth of my rifle, and I being slewed a bit, I guess he was shot. court. "Justice. Why, then, Bill, you must pay Jane the price of the pig, and two dollars damages, besides the expense of "Bill. No, Sammy, no, 'nation sink me if I do pay a cent of damages! I guess I must pay for the porker, but hang me, Sammy, if ever I take a shoe from you in my life if you talk of damages; I calculate I'll get them cheaper at all events from John B. "Justice. Now, friend Jane, since Bill has confessed his mistake, you must let him pass this time free of damages. I guess Bill will treat. "Bill. Why, Sammy, I vow that's clever-I'll treat, I swear I will. Come over to Bill S's tavern, and I calculate we'll have some good sling there, and fix our matters." At Charleston, Mr Neilson had an opportunity of investigating pretty fully the condition of the negro population, and his remarks on the subject are temperate and judicious. It is not our intention, however, to enter at present on this much-canvassed theme. We content ourselves with making a short extract relative to one peculiarity in the negro constitution, which ought, at least, to interest the phrenologists: ENVIABLE HARDNESS OF THE NEGRO'S HEAD. evening, and continued till after two o'clock next morning. The whole atmosphere seemed to be one mass of blue flame, attended with a strong sulphureous smell; the rattling of the thunder seemed quite lost in the more awful and uncom mon noise produced by the wind, which, in occasional gusts, carried every thing before it with inconceivable fury. It would then seem lulled for a few minutes, as if collecting fresh strength, and in a moment burst forth like a volcano. The crashing of houses and chimneys, and the rattling of tiles, bricks, and timber, rushed down the streets with a noise hardly to be imagined; while in most houses both windows and shutters were carried in like sheets of paper, and the rain literally fell in torrents. Amid all this confusion, the shrieks and cries of the wounded and terrified inhabitants were most appalling. The effects produced by the violence of the wind is scarcely credible to those who, have not witnessed a similar scene; large trees were broken off within a few feet of the ground, as if cut through with a saw; many wooden houses were fairly overturned with their contents; and the cupola of a church, which was several tons in weight, and mostly made of copper, was carried several hundred feet over the tops of high houses, and lodged in a street which it nearly blocked up. In the country, complete lanes were formed through the forests, as if done by art. In one instance in the city, a family, consisting of nine, were all killed excepting the father, who had some of his limbs broken, and an infant child, which was preserved alive in its cradle, over which a beam had fallen in such a direction as to prevent the ruins from crushing it. The whole number of people who perished in Charleston and the surrounding country was nearly five hundred. Next morning, several vessels were seen outside the bar, bottom up, and on cutting through the bottom of these, a Negro man was found alive, who asked if he was near Savannah! On Sullivan's Island, the inhabitants, during such hurricanes, are placed in great jeopardy: the sea excepting at the fort, where people generally find refuge; frequently makes a complete breach over the whole island, but if too late to find their way thither, are left to the mercy of the tempest, which has sometimes carried houses and inmates fairly out to sea. In attempting to gain the fort, individuals have been blown into the water." We take our leave of Mr Neilson's volume, with the expression of our respect for the good sense and good temper by which it is characterised. Had it "It would appear as if nature had adapted the negroes for working under the rays of a powerful sun. I have repeatedly seen negroes bareheaded, lying asleep under the direct rays of that luminary at mid-day, whilst, at the same time, an European, at least an Englishman, could not have stood in the same place for only a few minutes, without running the risk of a coup de soleil,' or being sun-struck. Nature seems no less lavish in befriending negroes with a skull of such strength and thickness, as renders that organ almost as insensible to the effects of a good hard blow thereon, as it seems impervious to the rays of the sun. I have seen two negroes quarrel in the street, run back a few paces from each other, and then, with great force and velocity, bring their heads in contact, causing a noise somewhat akin to that produced by the sudden rapping together of two heavy wooden mallets. They have been seen frequently to send their cranium through a pretty strong wooden door, with the velocity of a cannon ball (!); and I cannot say whether my astonishment or laughter was most excited on seeing a negro wench take a piece of wood (which I am certain I could not have broken with a heavy stamp with my foot) by the two ends, and bring it down upon the crown of her head with a sudden jerk, which instantly snapt it in two. I have known gentlemen, who have, in the benevo lence of their hearts, applied their fists in a summary way to the head of a young negro, by way of chastisement, found their knuckles to have received the worst part of the bar-odical neglect, with which all human pursuits are sure to gain, while the only expression of uneasiness on the part of the negro was displayed by a slight scratch or two of the head." A Review of the Principles of Necessary and Contingent be visited in the course of every half century. We are informed by the author, that the disquisition and criticism contained in this work were intended to The space we have already allotted to Mr Neilson's form part of a larger and more regular treatise on the work will convince him that we wish to impress the pub-subjects to which they refer; a notice which he thinks lic in its favour. We can afford room for only one other specimen of our author's style: A HURRICANE AT CHARLESTON. "Charleston has at different periods suffered greatly from the effects of hurricanes, which generally happen in the fall of the year. The appearance of the atmosphere, previous to the occurrence of these phenomena, is generally lowering and dull, and people are in some degree prepared for it. "That which happened in September 1822, was very destructive in its effects; it came on about ten o'clock in the necessary, in explanation of that deficiency of plan, and even of connexion, which he apprehends may strike the reader, as well as to account for the allusions that occasionally occur in it to views and doctrines which are but imperfectly unfolded. The essay, in fact, is a mere review of the leading principles adopted by Mr Hume and Dr Reid as the foundation of their respective systems of mental physiology, and is, in a great measure, restricted to the language which these writers employed, while recommending their several tenets to the acceptance of the |