Part 1
THE PENNY MAGAZINE
OF THE
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.] PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. [April 14, 1832
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOMERSET-HOUSE.
[Illustration: Old Somerset-House.]
The history of Somerset-house is, in a great degree, a history of the variable characteristics of successive ages. The present building is of modern date. But upon the same site stood the old Somerset-house, erected in the year 1549, by the Protector Somerset. This was the age of arbitrary violence and lawless power. Somerset-house originally rose upon the ruins of ecclesiastical edifices and of private dwellings. The proud man who degraded and abused his authority, by making it the minister to his personal gratification, pulled down an ancient church, an inn of court, and a number of houses, to make room for the magnificent palace which he here erected. Not the slightest compensation was made to the owners. But Somerset did not long enjoy the poor gratification of his splendid abode. He died on the scaffold in the year 1552.
In succeeding times Somerset-house became the residence of various queens. The great Elizabeth sometimes resided here. Anne of Denmark, Queen to James I., here kept her court, which was remarkable for its grotesque amusements, being, as an old author says, “a continued masquerade.” The unfortunate Queen of Charles I. resided here after her husband’s execution; and here the Roman Catholic Queen of Charles II. kept a separate court. Those were the ages in which royalty displayed itself in cumbrous pomp; and in which religious contentions of the most intolerant character interrupted the quiet of the people, and degraded the faith which, as it was professed, they were meant to uphold.
At length arrived the age of regulated freedom,--of national wealth produced by unfettered industry,--of science applied to the manufacturing arts,--of diffused comforts and enjoyments. In the reign of George III. a building of sufficient magnitude for the business of several of the most important departments of public affairs was required, and old Somerset-house presented an eligible site. The present extensive pile was commenced in 1774, from the design of Sir William Chambers.
The principal departments of Government which are here carried on, are the Stamp-Office, the Victualling-Office, the Audit-Office, and the Navy-Office. The front of Somerset-house to the Strand contains the apartments belonging to the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society, and the Royal Academy of Arts.
---------------------
EMIGRATION TO THE NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES.
The Commissioners appointed by his Majesty’s Government to superintend and facilitate emigration to the Colonies have just published a little tract[1], the extensive circulation of which, we think, will be productive of much benefit. The reliance which may be safely placed on an official document gives this publication a superior value. It should be in the hands of every one who is interested (either on his own account, or on that of others) in possessing accurate information respecting the facilities which are afforded to persons who wish to emigrate to the Canadas, or to New Brunswick. The great difficulty which formerly beset the emigrant, was his helpless condition on his arrival in a strange country. For want of knowledge of the country--for want of an acquaintance with persons who possessed that knowledge--and too frequently from acquaintance with persons who possessed that knowledge, but who turned it to their own account and to his disadvantage, the emigrant, to use a common phrase, not knowing which way to turn himself, frequently turned wrong, and the bad consequences of a mistake, at so critical a moment, can seldom be retrieved. The offer of a grant of land rather increased his difficulty; for when a poor man had got this bit of land, he soon found that he had not the means of living during the interval necessary to raise a crop, and that if he had the means of doing so, he did not know how to apply his labour and his money to the best advantage. So that he was, after all, forced to work for wages, until he could get together a few savings, and could learn a little of the way of living and farming in Canada. Now, in Canada, there is plenty of work and very high wages; so that an industrious man has not long to wait for good employment under any circumstances. But it is very vexatious to have spent time and money, and perhaps health, and to find oneself obliged to begin all over again. The Commissioners, therefore, recommend the emigrant, who has little to depend upon but his own manual labour, to begin by working for wages. _Land_ is no longer given for nothing, but it is to be had so cheap, and labour is so well paid, that if a man is thrifty as well as industrious, he ought to be able to become a purchaser by the time he has learned enough of the way of the country to be a successful cultivator.
It is clear, therefore, that the best thing that Government can do is to secure immediate employment for the emigrant labourer. And, for this purpose, Agents are maintained at the principal colonial ports, whose duty it is to protect emigrants against imposition on their first landing, to acquaint them with the demand for labour in different districts, to point out the best roads and conveyances, and to give them such advice as may set them in a fair way of doing well. For this valuable assistance no fee or reward will be accepted by the agents. When a private engagement cannot be had without loss of time, employment will be afforded on some of the public works which are going on. No emigrant should lose a minute after his arrival in going straightway to the _Government Agents for Emigrants_, where he will find what he most wants--advice and employment.
The _best_ months for leaving England are March and April.
The price of passage from the different ports is stated to be as under:--
For a grown For a Child Under Seven. Person. under Fourteen. From London & } the Eastern } 6_l._ 3_l._ 2_l._ Ports }
From Liverpool,} Greenock, and } 4_l._ to 2_l._ to 1_l._6_s._8_d._ to the Ports of } 5_l._ 2_l._10_s._ 1_l._13_s._4_d._ Ireland }
For children under twelve months no charge is made. At the above charges the emigrant is supplied with provisions during the voyage, and this is, perhaps, the best mode of making the bargain, as the emigrant is protected by law against the supply of provisions being insufficient, and dangerous mistakes are frequently made by persons who are not in the habit of laying in stores, and who are not able to foresee what they shall want on board a ship. Besides the probability of their being much better provided for by the shipowner than by themselves, it is pretty certain that they will save money by it. The price of a passage, exclusive of provisions, that is, where nothing is found by the shipowner but water, fuel, and bed-places, is one-half of the above rates. To avoid being detained at the port by the vessel not sailing on the appointed day, a particular day ought always to be _named in the bargain_; after which, whether the ship sails or not, the passenger is to be received on board and victualled by the owners. If that is done, the emigrant has a right to be received on board on that day so named, and to consider the ship as his home until she does sail. This prevents his being brought to the place of embarkation too soon, and kept waiting at a tavern, where he may spend the little money he has, or contract debts which will prevent his leaving the country.
Emigrants should bear in mind that the sea-voyage will not bring them at once to the place of their destination, but that at least £2 should be reserved for each grown person for the inland journey. Including the journey from his home to the port where he gets on board, the expense to a grown person of removing to Canada appears, from this document, to be from £7 to £9.
Arrangements have been made by which persons, who may wish to furnish emigrants with money for their use in the colony, may have the means of making the money payable there, instead of giving it into the hands of the emigrant before he leaves this country.
The number of emigrants is considerable already, and the Commissioners have done wisely in directing their attention, in the first instance, to providing for the emigrant on his arriving in Canada; but in the work of facilitating his departure from this county, much remains for them to do. They have begun at the right end, and begun well; but the Commissioners will not fulfil the expectation which the public have formed from their appointment, unless, in due time, they apply themselves to remove the difficulties which attend the first steps of the emigrant. We say, in due time, because we do not wish to see encouragement to emigrate held out to the labouring poor, until preparation is fully made for their well-doing elsewhere, and until the legislature give their sanction to such improvements in our system of poor laws, as shall render the departure of the emigrant a real and permanent benefit to his country as well as to himself. In a future number we shall return to this interesting and important subject.
-----
Footnote 1:
Information published by his Majesty’s Commissioners for Emigration, respecting the British Colonies in North America.--London: published by Charles Knight, Pall-Mall East; and to be had of all Booksellers and Newsvenders. Price Two Pence, or 1_s_ 9_d._ per dozen for distribution.
---------------------
THE SEASONS OF THE ANTIPODES.
The inhabitants of a place occupying a position on the surface of the globe directly opposite to our own country are called our Antipodes, a name derived from two Greek words meaning _opposite_ and _foot_. If Hobart Town, the capital of Van Diemen’s Land, were about fourteen hundred miles farther east, and about five hundred miles farther south, the inhabitants of that place and the inhabitants of London would stand with their feet planted exactly against each other. As it is, the difference in longitude occasions a difference between the time of the day with them and with us of nearly ten hours--or, when it is noon, for example, with us, it is about ten o’clock at night with them. The more remarkable difference, however, between their situation and ours is that arising from the circumstance that we lie on the one side of the equator, and they nearly at as great a distance on the other. The consequence is, that when it is winter in England, it is summer in Van Diemen’s Land; when winter there, summer here; and that all the appearances of the year, in short, are completely reversed in the two countries. Thus the spring quarter of the Van Diemen’s Land year begins in September, on the first day of which month, as is seen by the Calendar in the Van Diemen’s Land Almanack, the sun rises and sets at the same hours as it does with us on the 4th of March; and the day is lengthening, as in our spring. It continues to do so till the 21st of December (our shortest day), when it is at the longest; and then it gradually diminishes in length through the summer and autumnal months of January, February, March, April, and May, till on the 21st of June (our longest day) it reaches the utmost limit of its contraction. The latitude of Hobart Town, however, being not quite so high as ours, the longest day there is not so long, nor the shortest day so short, as with us. The length of their 21st of December is about 15 hours 12 minutes, that of our 21st of June being 16 hours 34 minutes; and that of their 21st of June is 8 hours 48 minutes, that of our 21st of December being only 7 hours 44 minutes. Our earliest sunrise is at 43 minutes past 3, theirs at 24 minutes past 4; our latest sunset is at 17 minutes past 8, theirs at 36 minutes past 7. At no period of the year, therefore, do their days either increase or decrease so fast as ours. In reviewing the different seasons with reference to this particular of the continuance of the sun above the horizon, it may be stated generally that September, October, and November in Van Diemen’s Land answer very nearly to March and April in England; December, January, and February there, to May, June, July, August, and about the first third of September with us; March, April, and May there, to the remainder of September, October, and the first third of November with us; and June, July, and August there, to the remainder of November, December, January, and February here. There are other circumstances, however, besides the mere length of the days, which affect the progress of the seasons; and therefore the succession of the natural appearances of the year in the two countries will not be found to follow exactly the commencement and close of these corresponding periods.
---------------------
DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE AUTHORS OF IMPORTANT INVENTIONS.
Almost every one who has rendered a great service to mankind, by striking out inventions, whose objects are misconceived or imperfectly understood by the world, has had to complain of the neglect or coldness of his own generation. Even his best friends are apt to suspect his motives and undervalue his labours. The real recompense, in such circumstances, as in all others, is the consciousness of doing one’s duty. Fulton, the inventor of the steam-boat in North America, which, in a few years, has produced such an astonishing change in that vast country, by connecting together its most distant states, sustained the mortification of not being comprehended by his countrymen. He was, therefore, treated as an idle projector, whose schemes would be useless to the world and ruinous to himself. At a discourse, delivered at the Mechanics’ Institute, Boston, in 1829, by Judge Story, the feelings of Fulton, upon his first public experiment, are thus related:--
“I myself have heard the illustrious inventor of the steam-boat relate, in an animated and affecting manner, the history of his labours and discouragements. When, said he, I was building my first steam-boat at New York, the project was viewed by the public, either with indifference or with contempt, as a visionary scheme. My friends, indeed, were civil, but they were shy. They listened with patience to my explanations, but with a settled cast of incredulity on their countenances. I felt the full force of the lamentation of the poet,
‘Truths would you teach, to save a sinking land, All shun, none aid you, and few understand.’
As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard, while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered unknown near the idle groups of strangers, gathering in little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, or sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh often rose at my expense; the dry jest; the wise calculation of losses and expenditures; the dull but endless repetition of the Fulton Folly. Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish, cross my path. Silence itself was but politeness, veiling its doubts, or hiding its reproaches. At length the day arrived when the experiment was to be put into operation. To me it was a most trying and interesting occasion. I invited many friends to go on board to witness the first successful trip. Many of them did me the favour to attend, as a matter of personal respect; but it was manifest that they did it with reluctance, fearing to be the partners of my mortification, and not of my triumph. I was well aware, that, in my case, there were many reasons to doubt of my own success. The machinery was new and ill-made; many parts of it were constructed by mechanics unaccustomed to such work; and unexpected difficulties might reasonably be presumed to present themselves from other causes. The moment arrived in which the word was to be given for the vessel to move. My friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety mixed with fear among them. They were silent, and sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat moved on a short distance, and then stopped, and became immoveable. To the silence of the preceding moment now succeeded murmurs of discontent, and agitations, and whispers, and shrugs. I could hear distinctly repeated, ‘I told you it would be so, it is a foolish scheme; I wish we were well out of it.’ I elevated myself upon a platform, and addressed the assembly. I stated that I knew not what was the matter; but if they would be quiet, and indulge me for half an hour, I would either go on, or abandon the voyage for that time. This short respite was conceded without objection. I went below, examined the machinery, and discovered that the cause was a slight mal-adjustment of some of the work. In a short period it was obviated. The boat was again put in motion. She continued to move on. All were still incredulous. None seemed willing to trust the evidence of their own senses. We left the fair city of New York; we passed through the romantic and ever-varying scenery of the highlands; we descried the clustering houses of Albany; we reached its shores; and then, even then, when all seemed achieved, I was the victim of disappointment. Imagination superseded the influence of fact. It was then doubted if it could be done again; or, if done, it was doubted if it could be made of any great value.”
---------------------
THUS I THINK.
[From Locke’s Miscellaneous Papers, published in his Life by Lord King.]
It is a man’s proper business to seek happiness and avoid misery. Happiness consists in what delights and contents the mind; misery in what disturbs, discomposes, or torments it.
I will therefore make it my business to seek satisfaction and delight, and avoid uneasiness and disquiet; to have as much of the one and as little of the other as may be.
But here I must have a care I mistake not; for if I prefer a _short_ pleasure to a _lasting_ one, it is plain I cross my own happiness.
Let me then see wherein consists the most lasting pleasure of this life, and that, as far as I can observe, is in these things:--
1st. Health,--without which no sensual[2] pleasure can have any relish.
2nd. Reputation,--for _that_ I find every body is pleased with, and the want of it is a constant torment.
3rd. Knowledge,--for the little knowledge I have, I find I would not sell at any rate, nor part with for any other pleasure.
4th. Doing good,--for I find the well-cooked meat I eat to-day does now no more delight me, nay, I am diseased after a full meal;--the perfumes I smelt yesterday now no more affect me with any pleasure; but the _good turn_ I did yesterday, a year, seven years since, continues _still_ to please and delight me as often as I reflect on it.
5th. The expectation of eternal and incomprehensible happiness in another world is that also which carries a constant pleasure with it.
If, then, I will faithfully pursue that happiness I propose to myself, whatever pleasure offers itself to me, I must carefully look that it cross not any of those five great and constant pleasures above mentioned. For example, the fruit I see tempts me with the taste of it that I love; but if it endanger my health, I part with a constant and lasting for a very short and transient pleasure, and so foolishly make myself unhappy, and am not true to my own interest.
Innocent diversions delight me: if I make use of them to refresh myself after study and business, they preserve my health, restore the vigour of my mind, and increase my pleasure; but if I spend all, or the greater part of my time in them, they hinder my improvement in knowledge and useful arts, they blast my credit, and give me up to the uneasy state of shame, ignorance, and contempt, in which I cannot but be very unhappy. Drinking, gaming, and vicious delights will do me this mischief, not only by wasting my time, but by a positive injury endanger my health, impair my parts, imprint ill habits, lessen my esteem, and leave a constant lasting torment on my conscience; therefore all vicious and unlawful pleasures I will always avoid, because such a mastery of my passions will afford me a constant pleasure greater than any such enjoyments, and also deliver me from the certain evil of several kinds, that by indulging myself in a present temptation I shall certainly afterwards suffer.
All innocent diversions and delights, as far as they will contribute to my health, and consist with my improvement, condition, and my other more solid pleasures of knowledge and reputation, I will enjoy, but no farther; and this I will carefully watch and examine, that I may not be deceived by the flattery of a present pleasure to lose a greater.
-----
Footnote 2:
[Footnote 2: As opposed to intellectual.
---------------------
A regulated habit of looking beyond our immediate situations is justly considered the parent of all laudable enterprises. But the habit _must_ be regulated, and strictly regulated, or it will become the source of miseries and crime. The secret for its regulation may be shortly expressed. He who pursues a future happiness, prosperity, or honour, by the right path, does not cast away the good in his possession, nor neglect the duties which lie before him; but he endeavours to shape them by slow degrees to that model of perfection which his feelings or his reason have set up. On the other hand, he who views some distant object of desire, without connecting it with his immediate obligations, neither attains the blessings within his reach, nor approaches a single step to the ideal good; he has cast away the link which connects the present with the future.
---------------------
_Advantages of the Diffusion of Knowledge_.--An intelligent class can scarce ever be, as a class, vicious; never, as a class, indolent. The excited mental activity operates as a counterpoise to the stimulus of sense and appetite. The new world of ideas; the new views of the relations of things; the astonishing secrets of the physical properties and mechanical powers, disclosed to the well-informed mind, present attractions, which, unless the character is deeply sunk, are sufficient to counterbalance the taste for frivolous or corrupt pleasures; and thus, in the end, a standard of character is created in the community, which, though it does not invariably save each individual, protects the virtue of the mass.--_Everett’s Essay._
---------------------
BRITISH ANIMALS.
[Illustration: A mole lying on the ground.]
THE MOLE.