mixture of finery with rags and dirt is a most disgusting sight. You understand now, I hope, that whatever is of value must not only be desirable for its use, or beauty, or some pleasure it affords, but also scarce; that is, so limited in supply, that it is not to be had for nothing. And of things which are desirable, those are the most valuable which are the most limited in supply; that is, the hardest to be got. This is the reason why silver and gold are of more value than iron. If they had been of no use or beauty at all, no one would have ever desired them; but being desirable, they are of greater value than iron, because they are so much scarcer and harder to be got. They are found in but few places, and in small quantities. Gold, in particular, is obtained chiefly in the form of dust, by laborious washing of the sand of certain streams. It costs only as much in labour and other expenses to obtain about fifteen pounds of silver, as to obtain one pound of gold; and this is the cause that one pound of gold will exchange for about fifteen pounds of silver. But besides being desirable and being scarce, there is one point more required, for a thing to have value; or in other words, to be such, that something else may be had in exchange for it. It must be something that you can part with to another person. For instance, health is very desirable, and is what every one cannot obtain; and hence, we sometimes do speak of health as being of value; but this is not the strict use of the word value. For no one can give his health to another in exchange for something else. Many a rich man would be glad to give a thousand pounds, or perhaps ten thousand pounds, in exchange for the healthy constitution and strong limbs of a poor labourer; and perhaps, the labourer would be glad to make such a bargain: but though he might cut off his limbs, he could not make them another man's; he may throw away his health, as many do, by intemperance; but he cannot transfer it; that is, part with it to another person. PART II. Ox these elementary points such questions as the following may be usefully put to themselves by those to whom the subject is new: 1. Why is air not an article of value ?-Because, though it be very useful, it is to be had for nothing. 2. Why is some scarce kind of stone, that is of no use or beauty, not an article of value-Because, though it be not a thing that every one can get, no one desires to get it. 3. Why is a healthy constitution not an article of value?-Because, though it be very desirable, and is not what every one can get, it is not transferable— that is, cannot be transferred, or parted with by one person to another. 4. Why is a spade an article of value?-Because it is, 1st, desirable, as being of use; 2ndly, limited in supply, that is, it is not what every one can have for nothing; and 3rdly, transferable, that is, one person can part with it to another. 5. Why is a silver spoon of more value than a spade-Because, though it be not more useful, it is more limited in supply, or harder to be got, on account of the difficulty of working the mines of silver. When any thing that is desirable is to be had by labour, and is not to be had without labour, of course we find men labouring to obtain it; and things that are of very great value will usually be found to have cost very great labour. This has led some persons to suppose that it is the labour which has been bestowed on any thing that gives it value; but this is quite a mistake. It is not the labour which any thing has | cost that causes it to sell for a high price; but on the contrary, it is its selling for a high price that causes men to labour in procuring it. For instance, fishermen go out to sea, and toil hard in the wet and celd to catch fish, because they can get a good price for them; but if a fisherman should work hard all night, and catch but one small fish, while another had perhaps caught a thousand, by falling in with a shoal, the first would not be able to sell his one fish for the same price as the other man's thousand, though it would have cost him the same labour. It has now and then happened that a salmon has leaped into a boat by chance; but though this has cost no labour, it is not for that reason the less valuable. And if a man, in eating an oyster, should chance to meet with a fine pearl, it would not sell for less than if he had been diving for it all day. It is not, therefore, labour that makes things valuable, but their being valuable that makes them worth labouring for. And God, having judged in his wisdom that it is not good for man to be idle, has so appointed things by his Providence, that few of the things that are most desirable can be obtained without labour. It is ordained for man to eat bread in the sweat of his face; and almost all the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, are obtained by labour. [Our next article of this series will embrace the subject of "Wages."] ARGUMENTS AGAINST PRIDE. REMEMBER what thou wert before thy birth! Nothing. in all thy life?-A great sinner. What in all thy excelWhat wert thou for many years after?-Weakness. What lencies ?—A__mere debtor to God, to thy parents, to the earth, to all the creatures. But we may, if we please, use the method of the Platonists, who reduce all the causes and arguments for humility, which we can take from our1. The spirit of man is light selves, to these seven heads. and troublesome. 2. His body is brutish and sickly. 3. He is constant in his folly and error, and inconsistent in his manners and good purposes. 4. His labours are vain, intricate, and endless. 5. His fortune is changeable, but seldom pleasing, never perfect. 6. His wisdom comes not till he be ready to die, that is, till he be past using it. 7. His death is certain, always ready at the door, but never far off. Upon these or the like meditations, if we dwell, or frequently retire to them, we shall see nothing more reasonable than to be humble, and nothing more foolish than to be proud. —JEREMY TAYLOR. SIN NOT WEAKENED BY OLD AGE.-I know scarce any THE COTTAGER'S SABBATH. Let all that is anxious and sad pass away; Let us say to the world, should it tempt us to wander, Our hearts then will feel, thine high influence possessing, LONGEVITY-OLD PARR. By a wise provision of the great Author of our being, we are fond of life, and desirous, as far as we can, of extending the short span allotted to us on earth. For this purpose, health, which forms a large ingredient in human happiness, must be promoted; and whatever tends to health, tends also to old age. When, therefore, we meet with persons who have reached their eightieth or ninetieth year, or read of those whose age has amounted to a hundred and upwards, it is no less instructive than interesting to observe the means, which, under Providence, have led to their arriving at such an advanced period of life. proposed to him a journey to London. The earl accordingly provided a litter and two horses for him; and, with some difficulty, in consequence of the crowds of people who pressed to see the old man, got him safe to London, where he was well entertained at his lordship's cost. The following amusing anecdote is told of him.His three leases of 21 years each, making 63 years, being expired, he took his last lease of his landlord, Mr. John Porter, for his life, with which lease he lived more than fifty years. But he wished, for his wife's sake, to renew his lease for years, which his landlord would not consent to; upon which Old Parr, who had been long blind, and was sitting in his chair by the fire, being told by his wife that young Mr. Porter, the landlord's son, was coming towards the house to call: "Is he so," said Parr, "I prithee, wife, lay a pin on the ground near my foot, or at my right toe," which she did; and when young Mr. Porter came, the old man said, after the usual salu. tations, "Wife, is not that a pin that lies at my foot?" "Truly, husband," (quoth she,) "it is a pin, indeed!" so she took it up, and Mr. Porter was amazed that the old man had recovered his sight again; but it was quickly found to be " a witty conceit, thereby to have him suppose him to be more lively than he was, because he hoped to have his lease renewed for his wife's sake." The longevity of Thomas Parr seems to have descended as an heir-loom to his posterity: as his son lived to the age of 113, his grandson to 109, and his great grandson to 124! Perhaps the most extraordinary instance on record of liveliness such as is shown in the anecdote above, at an extreme old age, is that of the Countess of Desmond, who died 140 years old. Her death happened at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, it was said at the time, "by a fever occasioned by a fall from a walnut-tree!" M. A MAN should guard, in his youth, against sensuality; in his manhood, against faction; and in his old age, against covetousness.- Chinese Maxim. A PRAYER WRITTEN IN SICKNESS, It will generally be found, on inquiry into such BISHOP CUMBERLAND, being told by some of his friends that he cases, that certain modes of living have been adopted, would wear himself out by intense application, replied, in the which may be called some of the conditions of lon-words of Bacon, "It is better to wear out, than to rust out." gevity; and the tables which have been given of the respective ages and residences of certain very aged persons, with some sketch of their history, establish this fact, with few exceptions. They have, almost all, been born of healthy parents, and have been early accustomed to exercise, temperance and simplicity of food. To these may be added, in the greater number of instances, early rising, and a due regulation of those passions which are bestowed on man for good and wise ends; but which, when abused, invariably hasten on his decay. With these remarks, which we trust may prove acceptable to some of our readers, we have prefaced a likeness and short account of the celebrated THOMAS PARR, or, as he is called, in a portrait of his own time; "The old, old, very old man, of Winnington, in the parish of Alderbury, in Shropshire; who was born in the reign of King Edward the Fourth, in the year 1483. He lived 152 years, 9 months, and odd days, and departed this life at Westminster, November 15, 1635." There is but little mentioned of his life; but, perhaps, the most remarkable incident in it was the occasion of his being brought from his native village to London. Thomas, earl of Arundel and Surrey, earl marshal of England, was visiting some manors which he held in Shropshire; and, hearing of Parr's great age, he BY BISHOP HEBER. When sickness to my fainting soul, And let my wound be heal'd. The bounteous Giver and the boon, If health's unmerited return MEN are Atheistical, because they are first vicious, and question the Truth of Christianity, because they hate the practice of it.-SOUTH, The White Tiger. The native country of these creatures is central and southern Asia, and the Asiatic islands; in Sumatra, in particular, the ravages of the Tiger are almost incredible, whole villages being at times nearly depopulated by them; yet, from some superstitious prejudice, the natives can hardly be prevailed upon, by the offers even of large rewards, to endeavour to destroy them. The Tiger appears to prefer (when it has once partaken of it) the flesh of man to all other food, and in that case, will haunt the village or town that has been the scene of its depredations, until it is destroyed by the inhabitants; it never again returns to its native forests, but lies concealed in the day-time in some neighbouring jungle. In spite, however, of all that has been said of the savage nature of these animals, it is very doubtful if they display more ferocity than is absolutely necessary to furnish them with the means of supporting their existence, or of defending themselves against their enemies. The strength, the size, and the swiftness of the prey on which these tyrants of the jungle and the desert exist, require on the part of the latter superior power, activity, and watchfulness: again, the ravages they necessarily commit in the pursuit of their sustenance, has raised up enemies to them in every direction. Man, in a state of nature and of civilization,-the enor mous dwellers in the forest, the Elephant and Rhinoceros, and, in addition to this, the enmity of even their own species, all combine to keep them in a continued state of excitation; can it be wondered at, then, that armed as they are at all points with strength and courage, their acts should appear to a cursory observer as the result of an indiscriminate appetite for blood and destruction. are sufficiently large and formidable to remove the skin from any part the animal may lick. Hunting the Tiger is a favourite diversion of the great in the eastern parts of the world, and is always conducted with much pomp and ceremony. When the monarch, princes, or nobles, engage in this sport, they are usually mounted on Elephants, and their retinue, consisting of hunters and soldiers, attend, some on horseback and others on foot. Combats in enclosed spaces between the Tiger and Lion, or Elephant, are also on some grand occasions the barbarous amusements of those Eastern nations; but as they consider the Elephant the most valuable of the two, so many precautions are taken to prevent its defeat, that the Tiger is in general the principal sufferer. The Bengal Tiger, of which the White Tiger figured above is but a variety, is about four feet and upwards in height, and more than nine in length; and its strength is such, that when it has killed a deer, a horse, or even a buffalo, it carries off its prize with such ease, that it seems no impediment to its flight. THE CLOUDED OR TORTOISESHELL TIGER is a native of Sumatra ; a specimen, about fourteen months old, measured nearly three feet in length, and one foot four inches in height. Sir Stamford Raffles, in speaking of a younger specimen, has added the following particulars respecting its manners. "While in a state of confinement, it was remarkable for good temper and playfulness: no domestic kitten could be more so. On board the ship, there was a small dog who used to play round the cage and with the animal, and it was amusing to observe the playfulness and tenderness with which the latter came in contact with his inferior-sized companion. "He never seemed to look on men or children as prey, but as companions; and the natives assert that when wild, they live principally on poultry, birds, and small deer; they are not found in numbers, and may be considered rather a rare animal even in the southern part of Sumatra. They are generally found in the vicinity of villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except as far as they may destroy their poultry." IF we look with wonder upon the great remains of human works, such as the columns of Palmyra, broken in the midst of the desert, the temples of Paestum, beautiful in the decay of twenty centuries, or the mutilated fragments of Greek sculpture in the Acropolis of Athens, or in our own Museum, as proofs of the genius of artists, and the power and riches of nations now past away; with how much deeper feelings of admiration must we consider those grand The claws of all this tribe, that is, the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Panther, common Cat, &c., are retractile ; that is, the animal has the power of withdrawing them at pleasure into a hollow provided for that pur-globe; continents broken into islands; one land produced, pose, in the substance of their feet; and by this means, when not employed in seizing their prey, these formidable weapons are preserved from injury. Even the tongue, in the larger tribes, is no despicable means of offence in the Cat we feel its roughness, but if its construction was examined by means of a powerful magnifying glass, we should perceive its whole surface covered with small sharp-pointed hooks, pointed backwards; and these, in the Lion and Tiger, monuments of Nature, which mark the revolutions of the another destroyed; the bottom of the ocean become a fertile soil; whole races of animals extinct; and the bones and exuviaæ of one class, covered with the remains of another, and upon the graves of past generations-the marble, a rocky tomb, as it were, of a former animated worldand a system of life and beauty produced, as it were, out new generations rising, and order and harmony established, of chaos and death; proving the infinite wisdom, power, and goodness of the GREAT CAUSE OF ALL BEING!SIR H. DAVY. ENGLAND. In a former article we sought to correct a most mistaken opinion as to the unhealthiness of our climate by the most certain test-the length of life which Englishmen enjoy beyond the inhabitants of other countries. We shall now proceed to show, from the same good authority *, that the idle notion which too commonly prevails, of Englishmen being more disposed to suicide than foreigners, is equally unfounded. With regard to the dreadful crime of self-murder, we may remark, that though there is unhappily much of evil and suffering in the world, too large a portion of it is the consequence of our own vices; and in cases where suicide is the consequence of distress, and not of actual insanity, in how many instances has that distress been the fruit of idleness and extravagance? It is both sinful and foolish to impute so flagrant a breach of God's laws to the climate, or the weather, or to any similar cause, as it has been ascertained that the English are, in fact, less disposed to commit suicide than the inhabitants of other countries, and that the month of November, which is proverbially marked as the season for suicide in England, has, for the last thirteen years, produced a less number than the month of June. We may take the population of London and Westminster at only 1,000,000 inhabitants, and as the suicides annually committed in these cities are about 100, they will be 10 in 100,000 persons; whereas at Copenhagen, of late years, the annual average has been 100, in Berlin 34, and in Paris 49, annually, in the same number of persons. In the memorable year 1793, at Versailles, the fearful number of 1300 occurred. In 1806, the suicides in Rouen, in June and July alone, amounted to 60. In the same year in Copenhagen there were 300. Against these facts, we may state, that from 1812 to 1824, the total number of suicides in the city of Westminster, properly called "the centre of dissipation for the whole empire," was 290; and that in nearly 152,000 persons insured at the Equitable Life Office in London, only 15 cases of suicide occurred during 20 years. Before we close this article, let us observe that imilation (a principle which, it is to be feared, is but too frequently the cause of other offences) seems to produce suicide; and the long and laboured details given in our newspapers, unhappily fix the attention of unoccupied and ill-governed minds. After the trial of Madame Cornie, six cases occurred of persons seized with a desire to destroy their children. This fact should induce us neither to dwell ourselves upon such shocking statements, nor to put them into hands where they are likely to do mischief. ON THE FOOD OF THE ANCIENTS. FROM what we read in the book of Genesis, it appears that the earliest food of man, was the production of the earth; for, "out of the ground, made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;" and it is highly probable that before the Deluge, vegetable food was alone eaten. The first permission to eat flesh was given to Noah and his sons immediately after; and in process of time, they learnt how to prepare it for eating, by various methods, as baking, boiling, &c., incidental notices of which are scattered throughout the Sacred Volume. Oxen, sheep, and swine, formed the chief articles of food with the patriarchs and warriors of old; and in Isaiah xxv. an allusion is made to the ample provision at the ancient banquets. At periods when particular honour was intended to be shown to a guest, the tenderest and best meat was slain. Thus, when Abraham entertained the three angels, “he ran and fetcht a calf tender and good, and he gave it to a young man, and he hasted to dress it." And also, on kind-hearted and indulgent father ordered his serthe return of the prodigal but repentant son, the vants "to bring hither the fatted calf and kill it.” illustrate the Inspired Writings. Accordingly, in It is pleasing to find that the works of profane authors Homer, the heroes whom he introduces, entertain each other with exactly the same fare as is mentioned in the bridal banquet, in Matthew xxii. 4. Garlick, leeks, onions, &c. appear to have been considerable articles of food, as the Hebrews complained in the wilderness, that manna grew insipid; they longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt. Bread was, at a very early period, considered wholesome and nutritious, and has constituted the principal part of human food in almost all countries. The process of bread-making is frequently alluded to "And Abraham hastened into the in the Scriptures. sons. tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes that the mistress of every family baked the supply of upon the hearth." From this passage, it would seem bread. When the trade of a baker was introduced, is a subject on which the learned are divided. The fine meal of the ancients, we are to presume, was the flour produced from wheat, but barley-bread was in common use, and John says, (vi. 9,) that our blessed Lord and his Apostles had but five barley loaves and Dr. Casper, who has collected many of the above two small fishes, on which to feed five thousand perfacts, attributes a large share of the increase in BerThe term cheese (implying, in the original, lin (where suicide prevails to an alarming extent) to curdled milk), and many phrases expressive of the DRUNKENNESS. From 1812 to 1821, a fourth of the methods of cooking, &c., are frequently met with. whole number arose from this vice, and which may archs must not be forgotten, and the Scriptures The hospitality that characterized the ancient patribe attributed to the increase of liquor-shops in that city. The increase of drunkenness in England of be mentioned, that delightful picture of genuine prifurnish many pleasing examples-among which may late, amongst the working classes is, alas, too per-mitive manners recorded in Genesis xviii., " and he ceptible. The following alarming fact was stated by the Bishop of London, in his evidence before the House of Commons, on the observance of the Sabbathday. God grant that the same result as at Berlin may not be the consequence in London. "Between the time I first took the church of Bishopsgate, and the time when I left it, the increase of intemperance was most frightful. I never saw, when * Elements of Medical Statistics, by Dr. F. Bisset Hawkins, chap. xi. stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." It of hospitality even to their enemies; saying, "The tree does not withdraw its shade even from the woodcutter." The following extract from Forbes's Oriental Memoirs shows that the inhabitants of the east still retain many of the patriarchal customs. "Hospitality to travellers prevails throughout Guzerat: a person passing through the province, is presented, at the entrance of a village, with fruit, milk, butter, firewood, and earthen pots for cookery: the women and children offer him wreaths of flowers. Small bowers are constructed on convenient spots at a distance from a well or lake, where a person is maintained by the nearest villages, to take care of the water-jars, and supply all travellers gratis. There are particular villages, where the inhabitants compel all travellers to accept of one day's provision; whether they be many or few, rich or poor, European or native, they must not refuse the proffered bounty." Dover. H. I. AT Calicut, in the East Indies, (whence the cotton-cloth called calico derives its name,) the price of labour is oneseventh of that in England; yet the market is supplied from British looms.-BABBAGE. BISHOP HOUGH. BISHOP HOUGH is one of those persons, who, however loved and honoured in their own generation, might have been little known to posterity, had not peculiar circumstances obliged him to act an important and conspicuous part at a memorable period of our history, and thus inseparably mixed his name with the great events of the day in which he lived. At the same time, the manner in which he sustained his part, would show that the seeds of magnanimity and patriotism exist in many an obscure individual, and only require a favourable conjuncture of circumstances to call them into life and activity. JOHN HOUGH, the son of a citizen of London, was born in 1651, and the first six-and-thirty years of his life were passed in a state which gave little promise that his name would afterwards become illustrious in history. But in the year 1687, James the Second was vigorously prosecuting his design to supplant the Protestant faith in this kingdom; and, among other measures, was desirous of placing Roman Catholics at the head of the several institutions of education throughout the country. He had succeeded in his intention with respect to Christ Church and University Colleges in Oxford: and, when the presidentship of Magdalen, in the same university, became vacant, he sent to the fellows of the college a letter mandatory, requiring them to elect as their president Antony Farmer, a Roman Catholic, who, besides being of a disreputable character, was not eligible according to their statutes. The fellows braved the king's resentment by rejecting his candidate, and, in his stead, elected the Rev. Mr. Hough, who is described as gentleman of liberality and firmness, who, by the simplicity and purity of his moral character, by the mildness of his disposition, and the happy temperament of his virtues, and many good qualities, had given every reason to expect that he would be a distinguished ornament to the college and to the whole university." It seems that the choice of the fellows could not have fallen on a fitter person. a The king, warmly resenting the refusal to obey his mandate, sent down commissioners to visit the college, who expelled the refractory fellows, and forcibly possessed themselves of the president's lodgings. But Hough asserted his rights with intrepidity and dignity; and, of the twenty-eight fellows, only two submitted to retain their fellowships by acting con trarv to their oath to observe the statutes of the college. It is also pleasing to remark in what manner both the president and the fellows conducted their opposition. With the greatest firmness and determination, there was, at the same time, an evident reluctance to oppose themselves to the king's authority :—there was a modesty of deportment and a decency of language, which showed that their resistance sprung, not from passion nor from faction, but from principle; and, as such, it should have been apparent to all good judges of human nature, that it was more likely to be steady than if it had vented itself in violence. In the event, this aggres sion of the king upon the privileges of the college was as unsuccessful as it was unwarrantable. It excited a great dissatisfaction throughout the kingdom; and, coupled with other arbitrary acts, particularly the prosecution of the seven bishops for refusing to read in their churches an illegal declaration, had a material effect in driving the ill-advised monarch from his throne. Hough was not only confirmed in his presidentship of Magdalen College, but was appointed bishop of Oxford, and afterwards, in succession, advanced to the sees of Lichfield and Worcester. It is also said that he refused the archbishopric of Canterbury on the death of Dr. Tenison. In his highest elevation, his mild and amiable virtues appeared happily combined with the firmer qualities that first brought him into distinction: and, eminent for almost every Christian excellence, he was remarkable for none more than for his boundless munificence. He almost rebuilt, at his own cost, the episcopat residences at Eccleshall and Hartlebury; and one anecdote recorded of him is so pleasing, that it deserves to be given at length.-"He always kept a thousand pounds in the house for unexpected occurrences, perhaps to pay his funeral expenses or legacies. One day, the collectors of one of the excellent societies of this country came to him to apply for his contribution. The bishop told his steward to give them Five Hundred Pounds. The steward made signs to his master, intimating that he did not know where to find so large a sum. He replied, You are right, Harrison, I have not given enough give the gentlemen the Thousand Pounds; and you will find it in such a place :-with which the old steward, though unwillingly, was forced to comply." He lived to his ninety-third year, in the continued possession of his faculties, reverenced and beloved by all for his cheerfulness, his serenity of temper, his beneficence to man, and his heartfelt and unaffected piety toward God. It has been said of him, "His end was peace, and he enjoyed tranquillity to the last. The easiness of his death seems to have been as much derived from the serenity of his mind, and his good conscience, as from his insensibly exhausted spirits; or rather, from the concurrence of both: in scripture language, he gently fell asleep." More brilliant characters than Bishop Hough may easily be found; but few appear more thoroughly to exemplify the workings of the true Christian spirit. He seems, too, by a singular felicity of manner, though he had acted so prominent a part in public affairs, to have lived without an enemy. Pope's lines are well known: Such as on Hough's unsullied mitre shine, And beam, good Digby, from a soul like thine. He received, also, the panegyric of Lord Lyttelton and of Hawkins Browne: and, in later days, Sir Thomas Bernard has introduced Bishop Hough as the principal speaker in his excellent dialogue on the comforts of old age; where he has made the good |