country, justice is administered by bailiffs, magi- | by these circumstances to a sense of the difficulty of strates, and patrimonial judges. The chief officers of the court are, a first marshal of the court, and a grand equerry. The present Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was formerly Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld, but, in 1826, he ceded the latter, and obtained the duchy of Gotha, with exception of the lordship of Kranichfeld. After this change of territory, one of the first acts of his government was the creation of a privy-council, consisting of the officers of government both in Coburg and Gotha. A decree of October 30, 1828, established in each duchy a separate college of justice, which takes cognizance of matrimonial matters, formerly falling under the jurisdiction of the consistorial court. Each duchy has its own system of internal administration, taxation, and excise. On the other hand, for both Coburg and Gotha, there is only one high consistorial court for ecclesiastical affairs and for public instruction, and only one war-office. According to the new regulations, the fees which were formerly claimed by the officials, are now the property of the state. In 1830, a journal was established for the more prompt promulgation of laws and edicts. On the 1st of July, 1829, the army was reorganized, so that the soldiers of both duchies (1366 in number) were made to form one infantry regiment of the line, divided into two battalions. The funds for the preservation and increase of the books, pictures, and coins, at Gotha, have been lately enlarged. The government has particularly distinguished itself in encouraging trade and commerce. Monopolies were abolished in Coburg, so early as 1812; in Gotha, in 1829. Exhibitions of home products and trade schools have been established; and all impediments to commerce have been removed. The French revolution of 1830, produced a temporary sensation in Coburg and Gotha, which led to no important results. But in the distant principality of Lichtenberg, which had been ceded to the duke by the Congress of Vienna, in 1816, its effects were such as not only to disquiet the inhabitants, but also to weaken the moral force of the government. Awakened governing a separate territory, inhabited by a restless population, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha has since sold the principality of Lichtenberg to the King of Prussia. In this duchy no preference is given to birth in electing officers of state. Difference of religion does not affect the equal enjoyment of political rights. Every citizen is bound to serve for a certain period in the army, should he be chosen by lot, or to find a substitute. No citizen can remain in arrest for the space of twenty-four hours without being informed of the cause of his apprehension. The territories of the Duke of Gotha lie in Thuringia; they are extremely fertile, well cultivated, and thickly populated. Agriculture is their principal source of prosperity. The northern districts are plains, intersected by chains of hills; the south is mountainous and woody. The principal products are corn, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables, flax, poppies, aniseed, woad, and an immense quantity of wood, which is the staple article. A few hops are grown; there is not much fruit, and the wine is only made for vinegar. There are plenty of pigs and poultry, but the horses are of an inferior breed. The country contains mines of iron, manganese, coal, and slate. There are numerous worsted-spinners and linen-weavers, particularly in the hilly districts. There are also woollen and cotton manufactories, but they are not very numerous. Other articles of manufacture are iron-ware, wire, copper goods, stockings, tobacco, glue, leather, and soap. There are five paper-mills, three porcelain, and three hardware manufactories. The exports are corn, wood, wool, woad, manganese, pitch, potash, bilberries, coriander-seeds, aniseed, butter, linen, iron goods, sausages, and livers of geese. Coburg, the capital of the principality of Coburg, and formerly the residence of the duke, is situated in a delightful country; it contains more than 800 houses, and about 9000 inhabitants. One of the most prominent public buildings is the palace of Ehrenburg, in which the present duke has made large improvements. It now contains a library, a cabinet of natural history, of medals and prints, and an armoury. In the neighbourhood of the town is the castle of Coburg, which contains a workhouse and a house of correction. In the town itself is a gymnasium, supplied with a library, with specimens of natural history, and medals. There are a senate house, an orphan asylum, a casino, an armoury, and a government house, built in an Italian style of architecture. Amongst the curiosities of the place are Luther's room, which contains some beautiful woodwork, and the alabaster monument of Duke John Frederic, in the church of St. Maurice. The principal places of amusement are the theatre, the casino, the redoute, and the musical club. In the neighbourhood are the beautiful old and new walks, the ruins of the castles of Callenberg and Lauterburg, and the lovely seat of the duke, the Rosenau. Gotha, the capital of the duchy of Gotha, and also a residence of the present duke, contains about 1300 houses, and 13,000 inhabitants. The palace of Friedenstein contains a very good library, a collection of coins, a museum of natural history, a Chinese cabinet, a picture gallery, and remarkable collections made by the late duke, the whole forming a treasure of literature and art, such as few moderate towns can boast of. In 1824, the museum, which was given to the country by the late duke, Frederic, was opened. The ducal libraries contain 150,000 volumes. The walls and fortifications of the town have been changed into ornamental walks. Near the town is the observatory on the Seeberg, 1189 feet above the level of the sea. In the neighbourhood, too, is the palace of Friedreichsthal, containing some valuable monuments of Italian art, and the orangery and park, where the Dukes Ernest and Augustus are buried. The chief places of amusement and public resort here, are the theatre, ball-rooms, and public gardens. In the neighbourhood of Gotha are two ducal palaces, and the Moravian colony of Neudietendorf. The house of Saxe-Coburg is indisputably the most fortunate of all the existing great families of Europe. No common lot has attended them in our time, and they appear destined to fill a remarkable place in modern history. The reigning duke has succeeded to the inheritance of the duchy of Saxe-Gotha, which he enjoys in addition to his original sovereignty of Coburg. His brother, Leopold, was born under an extraordinary star; he first married the heiress to the British throne, and subsequently a daughter of the King of the French; two ladies not less amiable than elevated; and, after declining the throne of Greece, he has been chosen King of Belgium. One sister espoused the Archduke Constantine of Russia, and thus in the ordinary course of events would have become Empress of all the Russias. The history of another sister, the Duchess of Kent, is too well known to require comment; she is the mother of the Queen of England. Another brother has married one of the greatest heiresses of the Austrian empire, the daughter of the Prince of Kohary, and occupies the high post of lieutenant field-marshal, in the service of the emperor. Finally, a nephew of the Duchess of Kent is the reigning King of Portugal. An impartial review of the progress of this distinguished race compels us to add that it does not owe its success to unworthy intrigue; its members bear their great estate with prudence, with good sense, and with moderation; and their domestic qualities form an antidote to the venom which generally pursues a career of success. From Germany; the Spirit of her History, Literature, Social Condition, and National Economy, &c. By Dr. BISSET HAWKINS. THE LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS. THERE is a land in distant seas Full of all contrarieties. There beasts have mallard's bill and legs, FOR men to judge of their condition by the decrees of God which are hid from us, and not by his word which is near us and in our hearts, is as if a man wandering in the wide sea, in a dark night when the heaven is all clouded about, should yet resolve to steer his course by the stars which he cannot see, but only guess at, and neglect the compass, which is at hand and would afford him a much better and more certain direction.-TILLOTSON. THE brave only know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at. Cowards have done good and kind actions, cowards have even fought, nay, sometimes even conquered; but a coward never forgave: it is not in his nature; the power of doing it flows only from a strength and greatness of soul, conscious of its own force and security, and above the little temptations of resenting every fruitless attempt to interrupt its happiness.-STERNE. THE knowledge we acquire in this world I am apt to think extends not beyond the limits of this life. The beatific vision of the other life needs not the help of this dim twilight; but be that as it will, I am sure the principal end why we are to get knowledge here, is to make use of it for the benefit of ourselves and others in this world; but if by gaining it we destroy our health, we labour for a thing that will be useless in our hands; and if by harrassing our bodies, (though with a design to render ourselves more useful,) we deprive ourselves of the abilities and opportunities of doing that good we might have done with a meaner talent, which strength to improve it to that pitch which men of stronger God thought sufficient for us, by having denied us the constitutions can attain to, we rob God of so much service, and our neighbour of all that help, which, in a state of health, with moderate knowledge, we might have been able to perform. He that sinks his vessel by overloading it, though it be with gold and silver, and precious stones, will give his owner but an ill account of his voyage.-Lockỵ. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MONTHS. | cold alone, a re-arrangement of particles takes place, I. JANUARY. Then came old January, wrapped well Yet did he quake and quiver like to queil; And blowe his nayles, to warm them if he may: And from the trees did lop the needlesse spray.-SPENSER. by which the crystalline form of the solid which is about to be produced occupies more space than the particles in the liquid form." "Now supposing," says Mr. Tomlinson, "that water regularly contracted from its liquid to its solid state, it is quite clear that a certain bulk of ice would occupy less space than the bulk of water which formed it. Its weight would be, in short, bulk for bulk, greater than that of water, and THIS month derives its name from JANUS, a deity it would consequently sink; and our streams in winrepresented by the Romans with two faces looking inter, instead of the superficial crust of ice which covers opposite directions, and typical of the past and the future. JANUS was the god of gates and avenues, and held a key in one hand, and a rod in the other, symbolical of his opening and ruling the year. This month is chosen as the commencement of the year, in preference to March, when the ancient year began, probably because the lengthening of the days being the chief cause of the return of Spring, may therefore be considered in reality as its commencement. The time of the renewal of nature varies greatly in different countries, but in our own there is certainly less appearance of such a change in the month of January than at any other period; for "as the days begin to lengthen, the frost begins to strengthen." them, and which is easily thawed, would become one solid mass of ice, destroying all that life with which the waters teem, and would take a whole summer to become again liquid, since water is so imperfect a conductor of heat." One effect of this property of water to expand during the process of congelation is to diminish the height of mountains; for the rain and melted snow remaining in their cavities and fissures during the summer season, become frozen, and seeking to occupy a greater space than before, force out masses of rock with irresistible power, and send them thundering down to the valley beneath. Another, and a generally useful effect, is the preparation of the earth to The weather during this month is frequently clear, receive its destined seed, in consequence of the crumcold, and bright, and the beautiful effects of hoar-bling to pieces of the heavy clods of the field, by the frost are often sufficient to give animation to a land- expansion of the frozen moisture within them. scape, which would otherwise look blank and dreary. Every branch and spray is fringed with delicate crystals, sparkling in the sun's rays with the lustre of diamonds; and there is not a single blade of grass, or a plant, however insignificant, but may become, when adorned with these radiant gems, the object of our highest wonder and admiration. The very weeds which we are accustomed to pass unnoticed, or to tread beneath our feet, Now shine Conspicuous, and in bright apparel clad, And fledged with icy feathers, nod superb. All those effects which are produced by the transient morning dew of summer, are now exhibited, and still more strikingly, in the brilliant hoar-frost; and were it not that the constant recurrence of the wondrous scene has taught us to look on it with some degree of indifference, we could not fail to be struck with feelings of admiration and delight. In the remembrance that Nature is but a name for an effect, Whose cause is God, such a scene is well calculated to inspire us with enlarged ideas of the power of that wonder-working Hand, which, whether in the vast or in the minute, is equally faultless in performance, inexhaustible in resource, infinite in variety, and unwearied in operation. The examination of a blade of grass, or even of a spider's web, laden with this frozen dew, will prove how inimitably beautiful, and passing human art to imitate, are the least of the works of God. The beautiful hoar-frost is nevertheless only one of the effects of the absence of heat during this season of the year. As the cold increases, the surfaces of rivers and lakes become fixed, and converted apparently into floors of marble, and during this change the water expands, and in its solid state occupies more space, at the same time that it becomes lighter than before. This remarkable circumstance appears at first sight to contradict the general law of the expansion of bodies by heat, and their contraction by cold, that is, by the diminution of heat; but the difficulty is lessened by considering that water does contract by cold, according to this law, within a certain limit, and that having reached this limit, and become condensed in the greatest degree of which it is susceptible by At the time when the frost is severe enough to produce these effects, how beautiful, how elegantly diversified, are the forms it assumes on the windows of our apartments, where we may sometimes fancy a resemblance to the fretted roof and clustered columns of some ancient building, or trace what may seem "the sparkling trees and shrubs of fairy-land," or seek in vain, among its thousand capricious shapes, "the likeness of some object seen before." These beautiful appearances are due to the condensation of moisture from the atmosphere of our dwellings, on the cold panes of glass, and its subsequent expansion into crystals. The same kind of starry crystals are found in the frozen water of the clouds, or snow, which forms a covering for the earth of unrivalled purity, and affords protection from the extreme severity of the frost to the plants which lie beneath it. But while the plants are thus protected from the rigour of the season, how fares it with the minstrels of the grove? where do they find a substitute for the leafy shelter of the trees, and how are they able to supply their wants, when the rivers are frost-bound, and the land covered with a fleecy deluge? Doubtless when the frost is of long continuance, thousands of them die of cold and hunger, or become the prey of man, as they venture near to shelter themselves in the warm neighbourhood of his dwelling. Blackbirds, thrushes, and fieldfares, nestle together in banks, and under hedges, and frequent the vicinity of towns. Larks find shelter in the warm stubble, and tribes of small birds courageously surround our houses, and take possession of our farm-yards, in search of their precarious sustenance. The yellow-hammer, the chaffinch, but especially the audacious sparrow, beset our path, and seem to claim a share in the food with which we are so abundantly supplied; while the friendly redbreast seeks and finds a welcome everywhere. Redwings, fieldfares, skylarks, &c., find a partial supply in wet meadows, and along the water's edge, while these remain unfrozen. The ringdove subsists on ivy-berries; water-fowl quit the frozen marshes for the neighbourhood of rapid streams, where the swiftly-passing-current escapes its icy fetters, and leaves its richly embroidered banks to display the wonders of the mighty agent. Sea-birds also leave the shore, and frequent the larger rivers, while nearer home we observe the effect of the severe weather in the sad and half-petrified appearance of the cattle, which are seen creeping to the corner which seems best adapted to shelter them from the keen air, and waiting in mournful silence for their customary supply of fodder. Many animals remain in a deathlike state of torpor, during the winter, and many others sleep away the greater part of the season, receiving nourishment from the fat which they had acquired in summer. Thus it happens that the bear, marmot, &c., come out in the spring greatly emaciated, but during summer they gain so much in bulk as to be able to undergo another season of torpor. Intense cold and deficiency of food embolden the fox, the weasel, the polecat, and other predatory quadrupeds to attack the hen-roost and the farm yard. The fearful attacks of hungry wolves are happily known to us only by tradition in our own country, or by the reports of travellers in Alpine lands. Even the timid hare approaches the abodes of man to feed on the garden vegetables. Rabbits greatly injure the young trees by nibbling off the bark as high as they can reach. The tit-mouse sceks food in the thatched coverings of houses and walls, and the farmer keeps his early lambs and calves within doors, tending them as carefully and as gently as his own children. The vegetable kingdom too has put on winter dress or retired to winter quarters. The roots of herbaceous plants are safe under ground, ready at the return of warmth to throw up their young shoots. The soft and tender parts of shrubs and trees, are wrapped up in hard buds; the larger kinds of which, such as those of the horse-chesnut, the sycamore, and the lime, are covered with a sort of resin which resists the most intense cold. Sometimes, however, a tree which is less securely guarded than its fellows by those kind provisions of nature, has its juices frozen, and it then spilts asunder by the formation of the ice, and perishes. By the end of the month the leaves of the woodbine appear ready to expand; the winter aconite and bear's foot are often in flower, and in sheltered situations the red dead-nettle and groundsel. The snow-drop is preparing its modest bell and the catkins of the hazel begin to open. On mild days the slug or shell-less snail is moving about to the injury of the young wheat and garden plants. The bodies of these animals are covered with slime, as the whale is with blubber; this non-conducting substance enables them to withstand the cold. The frost suspends most of the out-door work of the farmer. His team can now move over the frozen fields as easily as on the high-road; he, therefore, carries out manure to his fields; or he lops his timber, or repairs hedges. The labourer warms himself in the barn by the constant use of the flail; or when work is over, he retires to his snug chimney corner, and if honest and industrious, he need not fear the want to his family of "meat, clothes, and fire." But still there is no season of the year in which charity is more efficacious than in this. Those who from their warm and snug retreats hear the cold wind without, should think upon their poorer fellow-creatures and relieve their necessities. Rivers and canals are no longer the high-roads for watermen and bargemen: these are out of employment, while troops of skaters and sliders usurp the domain of the boat and the barge. It was at such a season as this that the pious Krummacher composed his WINTER LAY of which we offer the following translation. Ah! why reposest thou, so pale, Thou cherish'd Father-land? O'er vales or mountains steep: On all thy trees, on every bough, Firm on the spotless robe we tread, Therefore in peace, thy slumber take, New strength, new light to see. I feel those sighs breathe o'er the plain, With flower-wreaths in thy hair. MIGRATION OF HERRINGS. THE great winter rendezvous of the herring is within the arctic circle, and there they spend many months of the year. In the spring, this mighty army begins to put itself in motion. We distinguish the united shoals by that name. because the word herring comes from the German heer, an army, and expresses their number. They begin to appear off the Shetland Isles in April and May; these are only the forerunners of the great shoal which comes in June; and their appearance is marked by the numbers of birds, as gannet, and other sea-fowl, which come to prey upon them. When the main body appears, its breadth and depth are such as to alter the appearance of the very ocean. It is divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth, and they drive the water before them with a kind of rippling: sometimes they sink, for the space of ten or fifteen minutes, and then rise again to the surface and in fine weather reflect a variety of splendid colours, like a field of the most precious gems; in which light this gift of Providence ought in very truth to be viewed. The first check this army meets with, in its journey south, is from the Shetland Isles, which divide it into two parts; one wing takes to the eastern, the other to the western, shores of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with their numbers; others pass on towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart of herrings; they then pass through the British Channel, and after that disappear. The other wing, which takes a westerly direction, after presenting themselves at the Hebrides, where the great stationary fishery is, proceed to the north of Ireland, where they meet with a second interruption, and are obliged to divide again; one party takes the west of Ireland, and is soon imperceptible in the immensity of the Atlantic; but the other shoal passing into the Irish Sea feeds the inhabitants of its coasts. These last are often capricious in their motions, and do not, like the grand body, show an invariable attachment to their old haunts. The object which induces this yearly migration, is the spawning, or depositing of their eggs. America, as low down as Carolina. Chesapeak Bay is inHerrings are found, also, in vast shoals, on the coasts of undated with them. We find them also in Kamtschatka, and they probably visit Japan. The Dutch are passionately fond of pickled herrings, and the first boat that arrives, is entitled to a prize. The herring dies as soon as it is taken out of the water; hence the proverb as dead as a herring. The Dutch call a merry-andrew, pickle-herring, and from this, also, we borrow some colloquial expressions. LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE FENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE, PROBABLY but few of our readers think of the means by which timber is conveyed from the forest where it grows, to the spots where it is to be applied to the purposes of building. And yet it must be evident that the means of transport form a matter of no small importance. We know that our timber-yards are plentifully supplied with the various kinds of wood necessary for building; and that the timbers are shaped by the axe and the saw. But, in most cases, the wood which we employ is brought from foreign countries, often many miles inland. It is conveyed across the ocean in ships; but the mode of transporting it from the forests where it grows to the ports where it is to be shipped, is a curious subject, and one well worthy of a little attention. The main circumstance that forms the groundwork of all the plans adopted for this purpose is, that nearly all kinds of wood are, bulk for bulk, lighter than water, and will consequently swim on its surface. VOL. XVI. Now as all countries are, more or less, intersected by rivers, which flow from the interior into the sea, a very simple and economical mode of transport for timber is at once attained, by causing it to float down running streams, either by the mere force of the descending water, or aided by mechanical agents. There is no necessity that each piece of wood should be floated separately down the stream; for they may be fastened together, and steered down the middle of the river, in the form of a long and broad raft. Beckmann says:— It is probable that the most ancient mode of constructing vessels for the purpose of navigation, gave rise to the first idea of conveying timber in the like manner; for the earliest ships or boats were nothing else than rafts, or a collection of beams and planks bound together, over which were by the Latins rates; and it is known, from the testimony of placed deals. By the Greeks they were called schedai, and many writers, that the ancients ventured out to sea with them, on piratical expeditions, as well as to carry on com 483 |