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familiar. Have we heard that voice before? Surely. Has it ever been lifted in a far different locality without the hush of marked attention proving how dearly it is prized-how certainly it could not be heard without profit and delight? It is the voice of the distinguished statesman, and not only statesman, but true philanthropist, the voice of one who undeniably seeks and is gratified in obtaining the applause of the elevated and gifted amongst his fellow-men, but who also seeks, and is gratified sincerely and heartily in the having it in his power to move the minds and consciences of these his poor, neglected, lowly brethren, and raise them something, at least, towards assimilation with himself.

Instruction may be imparted to the poor very suitably and very effectually through the medium of lecturing. A poor man will listen to a lecture for the best part of an hour, while he would not read a book for half. The case is nearly the same with those who are better off. A comparatively dry subject may be so enlivened by the phraseology, and delivery, and incidental remarks of the lecturer, that the heavy may be thoroughly administered through the assistance of the light matter, as pleasant contrivances are used as vehicles for nauseous medicines. We believe boys may best be taught through a system of lectures. When a man stands up before numbers, and proceeds earnestly, vigorously, with real heartiness, and with at least some oratorical power, to speak upon a topic with which he is well acquainted, he can scarcely fail of producing a certain effect, and of leaving more or less impression. However dry the topic may be, and however distasteful it might be if placed before the members of the audience in any less engaging way, there will be something in the evidence afforded by the speaker's fervour, in his sincere energy, which will so plead for attention to him and to his subject, that parts, at all events, will seriously be listened to, and the lesson they seek to convey, learned. It is a wonderful thing for a man to appear in earnest. You may listen to him for a time unmoved, but the chances are many that you will be roused at last, and begin to think there must be some truth in what he is saying, that he may be right, and that it will at least be well to listen. Herein, then, lies the advantage of lecturing, especially to the working classes. I look at this mass of poor, worn men and women. They can write and read a little, and I am thankful to know it. How I wish they could read well enough to sit down quietly and read aloud to their families this extract from Charles Dickens's works! It is an extract from the product of a master pen, which knows so well the sufferings and wants of the poor, which can so mercifully point out their failings and their follies, and so lightly and cheerfully bring to view those points within them worthy of commendation. But reading is a task to these poor men. I can hardly expect them to undertake it when they have just concluded with a sigh of weariness the hard labour of the day. And the fact is, that if they did read this extract after their fashion, it would fail almost entirely of its due effect. He must be no common reader who can give to the narrative all the stress of which it is capable. Every word is full of meaning, and every sentence a study. "Oh! now, therefore, can I not do something for these poor men and women, hardfeatured, rough-looking, begrimed as they are? Can I not do something for these children, who have never known childhood's prattle or enjoyments, whose minds are becoming warped, whose hearts are closing from the absence of any exhibition before them of those higher and

better things which rouse, and warm, and dignify our nature? I have lectured in the stately hall or handsome public room, upon the elevated or inspiring topic, before the fashionable and refined audience. Yet I can do something better. In yonder ill-shaped, uncouth, chilly schoolroom I can gather the poorest of my brethren, fresh from toil. I can take a book, and I can read to them, and explain that which I read. I can point out meanings and unravel mysteries. I can give familiar illustrations, and enforce the text by my advice and my testimony. Oh, how I wake up those dull, heavy countenances, how their eyes begin to glisten, how I see their hearts warm, and know that they are full! I have made them feel, these poor brothers and sisters, that they are not all forgotten; that in their struggles, and toils, and trials, in their sickness, bereavements, and distress, there are those whose hearts sympathise with them, ponder their condition, striving to find means for its amendment, and yearn for their happiness and peace. How simple and easy my sacrifice and my labour, and how substantial my reward! I have rescued from the revel and debauchery, and I have imparted true nourishment. I have stricken vice, and lent a hand to virtue. I have painted pictures so dark that they have wholesomely scared and terrified. I have raised visions so bright that they fascinated with their holy lustre. Have I disgraced my powers? Shall I care for the jeer or the scoff of those who remind me of the carefully prepared lecture, delivered in the noble hall before the educated audience? The uncouth expressions of delight, coming from this huddled mass, are sweeter to my ears than the ordinary shouts, fifty times louder, proceeding from the far more gifted assemblage. I have to-night thrown light and life into hearts where before light and life were not. I have breathed into souls which were at the point of death. I have to-night shown glimpses of heaven where before all was 'darkness which might be felt.' The triumph is in the performance of to-night. Every moistened eye, every touched heart has been a trophy, and in a later day, even more than now, my own eye will moisten, and my own heart glow as I think of this night's humble effort afternot glory-simply good."

We venture, then, respectfully to suggest these thoughts to the amateur lecturers who have in such numbers lately made their appearance. We are sure that scarcely any means could be devised calculated more effectually to benefit the poorer classes than some extensive arrangement for delivery amongst them frequently of lectures by men of ability, upon subjects of close interest-subjects which they could readily comprehend, and from which they might learn ideas which might be taken home, and there being pondered and acted on, might make that home. happier and brighter. We know that there are many mechanics' institutes, and that there lectures to working men are now delivered; but our proposition would be to make these lectures (these simpler lectures, or rather addresses, of which we speak) entirely free. We would deliver them constantly, and anywhere, and everywhere. In summer-time, in the broad field-it might be in the market-place; in the winter-time, in the schoolroom, in the public-house parlour, any place which could be obtained, and from which the poor would not shrink. Much more efficacious than any Beer Bill, any method of coercion, would be this quiet, persuasive, gradually overpowering means of drawing from evil and enticing to good. We should like very much to see an association started

for gratuitous delivery of these unostentatious addresses throughout the kingdom. We venture to make the suggestion, being assured, if it be worth anything, that in this age, when undoubtedly the poor are cared for, there are plenty with power to embody it in a suitable and effectual

scheme.

In our humble opinion it is in such a way as this that the highest in the land may come in close contact with the lowest, and there may spring up between them feelings of good-will and kind regard, without the smallest diminution-rather with an increase-of the due respect which should be entertained by the latter for the former. We doubt very much the wisdom of the nobleman playing at cricket with his labourers. We doubt any gratification to the labourers, and we are sure that, constituted as is our common nature, there must be a loss of respect on their part as a consequence of the unnatural association. But our project would bring as close an approximation, with this difference: the act performed by the lord, while a very kind and affectionate proceeding, would be one nevertheless in itself a witness of his superiority and a guard against its assailment. The companionship in the cricket must be a nuisance. The near approach in the lecture-room would be productive of sincere pleasure and mutual esteem.

THE LADIES' COLLEGE.

BY ALFRED A. WATTS.

A DIFFERENCE rose the other day,
I've heard in Fashion's College,
Upon the most authentic way

To dress the seat of knowledge.

Some thought the little bonnets "sin,"
Some voted them delightful,

Some hoped the hats would quite come in,
And others vowed them frightful.

The council couldn't quite agree,
When a strange voice was heard in
The hall: "I'm Taste! pray suffer me,"
It said, "to put a word in.

"For though with Fashion I've no war,

I'm sure she must acknowledge

At once, that Taste is fitter far

To rule the Ladies' College.

"If any fashion of the day

On you should seem unsightly,

Bring me, fair ladies, into play,
And modify it slightly.

"And don't take other people's test,
Which may not do for you, ma'am,
But wear whatever suits you best,
And let them do so too, ma'am-
"Lest Taste should be compelled to fly
From sight so melancholy,

As Wisdom's seat surmounted by
The cap and bells of Folly."

THE FISHERIES ON THE WEST COAST OF IRELAND. ONE of the most satisfactory evidences of the increasing prosperity of Ireland that the present time affords, is the readiness with which the capitalists of England embark their money in projects for developing the material resources of the sister-island. Torn by domestic differences, neglected by the owners of the soil, uncared for by those whose interest no less than whose duty it was to assist in bringing her resources to light, Ireland has too long lain comparatively fallow, her fertile valleys scantily tilled, her wastes unreclaimed, her broad mountains left to barrenness, her teeming shores only imperfectly explored.

The dark days of Ireland prevailed, indeed, so long, and misfortunes accumulated so heavily around her, that even her most sanguine friends began to fear she was past all help; but out of her very misfortunes have sprung the germs of a brighter and "more renewed existence." The Encumbered-Estates Act, that measure the necessity for which proclaimed the widely-spread poverty of the country, has already proved of inestimable advantage: a fresh impulse has been given by fresh men, the timid have taken heart, confidence has been re-established, capital diffused, and all that Ireland now wants, to give her the rank she deserves to hold in the scale of productiveness, is the means of rendering her almost exhaustless riches available.

Liberally endowed as she is on land, the waters which enrich her shores contribute to her wealth in a nearly equal degree. There is probably no part of the globe where the sea offers so much support to an adventurous population as the line of coast which extends from Donegal Bay to the Bay of Galway; but however adventurous, however persevering the Irish fisherman, money and skilled labour have always hitherto, been wanting to turn this local advantage to its right account,' and it is, therefore, with unfeigned satisfaction we have seen, by the pamphlet of Commander Symonds, which now lies before us, that an English Joint-Stock Company has recently been formed, and will very shortly be in full operation, for the purpose of giving their greatest value to the Fisheries on the West Coast of Ireland. From the clear and convincing statements contained in this pamphlet, we cannot doubt that the enterprise will prove a most successful one: beneficial in the highest degree to the part of Ireland which is to be the scene of the Company's labours; of the greatest advantage to the fish-consumers of this country, and especially of the metropolis; and extremely profitable to the shareholders who associate themselves with the undertaking.

In what manner these objects are to be effected we propose to show in an examination of the statements to which we have referred.

The propositions which are laid down, and which we think have been fully established, are these:

1. That the waters of the west coast of Ireland abound with cod, turbot, soles, lobsters, and other fish, of the finest quality.

2. That the want of success which has heretofore attended any development of these fisheries has arisen from the inadequacy of the capital and means employed.

Observations on the Fisheries of the West Coast of Ireland. By T. E. Symonds, Commander, R.N. London: Chapman and Hall, 1855.

3. That there is in London alone a demand for fish exceeding in quantity anything which could be imagined by those who have no practical experience in the matter.

4. That the regular supply of fish to the principal markets in better condition than has hitherto been accomplished, and at a lower price, must necessarily create a more extended demand.

5. That the application of steam in the manner herein suggested, and which forms one of the main features of the London and West of Ireland Fishing Company, is an element of the highest importance in an undertaking of this kind, and, combined with the favourable arrangements which will be made with railway companies, will save the loss of time which has heretofore occurred, and consequently the enormous loss occasioned between the quantity of fish caught and the quantity capable of being delivered at the markets in good condition.

6. That the application of a process for converting the coarse fish and the refuse at the different curing stations into manure or fish guano, will itself form a valuable source of revenue, by turning to profitable account that which is now thrown away.

7. That the application of capital on the west coast of Ireland, in a national point of view, must be attended with most beneficial effect on the national industry of the country, and the conversion of the waste fish into manure must also be hailed as a boon to the agricultural interests.

The first and most essential point of inquiry is the amount of supply. All the writers whose attention has been turned to the subject, and all the witnesses whose opportunities have enabled them to give evidence respecting it, unanimously testify to the great abundance of fish, of all descriptions, which may with ease be captured on the western shores of Ireland, and particularly off the coast of Mayo and Galway. To enumerate the principal of these will give some idea of the marketable value of this produce. They consist of herring, cod, turbot, haddock, soles, doreys, brill, halibut, mackerel, skate, congers, eels, oysters, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, nearly every sea-fish that is edible, and manyscarcely less serviceable-that are not so.

To take some of these supplies in the order in which we have named them :

The herring fishery, notwithstanding the statements that have been made to the contrary, is abundantly productive. Of this fact the pamphlet before us gives the most irrefragable proof, as well from the personal experience of the author as from the testimony of the most trustworthy witnesses. "On one occasion," he says, "I saw Galway Bay, between Black Head and the Arran Islands, literally alive with herrings, when it was reported in Dublin and Galway that there were none on the coast." The Dublin Saunders's News Letter of the 6th of November, 1854, describes a similar occurrence: "The Claddagh fishermen have been blessed by Providence with an abundant harvest, in their line, this week. On Wednesday night the boats were actually laden to repletion with herrings. They had scarcely reached the roadstead, going out to lay their nets, when the shoal met them, swimming against the sides of the boats, and, under the clear and beautiful moonlight, illuminating the bright waters as though it was a sea of silver on which they floated. Next morning the cargoes were sold, but not at a price equivalent to their value: 17s. per 1000 was the highest figure, and from that down to 14s. The herrings were remarkably fine, some of them being nearly the size of bream, or mullet." This enormous size, which by no means deteriorates

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