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We will first refer to the Holy Bible, that greatest and best of all authorities, where we find it recorded, that

him upon the supposition, that the power of imagination is exercised with more liveliness during that state, than when a man is in the full possession" thou shalt not see thy brother's ox of his faculties. We should, therefore, naturally expect, that he would have proved this fact before he made it the foundation of his subsequent reasoning. On the contrary, however, he has taken this for granted, and has at once jumped to the conclusion, so that his superstructure thus stands without a base to support it.

Having thus briefly noticed this petitio principii, I will not now enter into the question, Whether the power of imagination be, or be not, exercised with more liveliness during a state of sleep, than during a state of mental health, but will here conclude; as it was not my intention, at the commencement of these remarks, to discuss the merit of Dugald Stewart's hypothesis fully, but merely to shew that his reasoning, in support of it, was not conclusive.

or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them to thy brother." And again," Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his or fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt help to lift them up again." (Deut. xxii. 1-4.) And, moreover, "If thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou seest the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldst forbear to help him; thou shalt surely help with him." (Exod. xxiii. 4, 5.) When the ALMIGHTY was speaking with Moses on the observance of the sabbath-day, it was most undoubtedly his all-wise design in commanding that the cattle within our gates should rest on the seventh day, to intimate to man, that he must be merciful to animals-not to injure them with continual labour, but occasionally to per

ENGLISH LAW.-CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. mit them to cease from toil, and to MR. EDITOR.

SIR,-Having been requested by one of your respected readers to furnish him, through the medium of your very valuable miscellany, with some observations on "Cruelty to Animals," together with a reference to the Law which has been enacted for the punishment of such as are convicted of that cruelty; I beg leave to trouble you with this address, for the length of which, I can offer no other apology, than that of my feeling so particularly anxious to acquiesce in the request of those who peruse these columns, as humbly to take up my pen in the cause of a suffering portion of the creation, well knowing" that blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

I rejoice that your reader wished me to furnish him with the names, and, I presume, the opinions, of some of those excellent men, who have written against cruelty to animals; because it has afforded me an opportunity of offering my own sentiments on a subject, which has engaged the attention of great, and noble, and good men, without a fear of being deemed presumptuous-since, where they have led, the more humble may safely follow.

share in the rest which is so solemnly enjoined on a sabbath-day.

Sir Matthew Hale says, "I never thought but there is a certain degree of justice due from man to the creatures, as from man to man; and that an excessive use of the creature's labour is an injustice for which he must account. I have, therefore, always esteemed it as part of my duty, and it has been always my practice, to be merciful to my beasts; and upon the same account I have declined any cruelty to any of the creatures, and, as much as I might, prevented it in others as a tyranny. I have abhorred those sports that consist in the torturing of the creatures; and if any noxious creatures must be destroyed, or creatures for food must be taken, it has been my practice to do it in the manner that may be with the least torture or cruelty to the creature. Ever remembering, that though GoD has given us a dominion over his creatures, yet it is under a law of justice, prudence, and moderation; otherwise we should become tyrants, not lords, over God's creatures; and therefore those things of this nature which others have practised as recreations, I have avoided as sins.”

That great ethical writer, John

Locke, speaking of cruelty, writes thus, "The custom of tormenting and killing of beasts will, by degrees, harden children's minds even towards men; and they who delight in the suffering and destruction of inferior creatures, will not be apt to be very compassionate or benign to those of their own kind. Our practice takes notice of this, in the exclusion of butchers from juries of life and death."

I might quote many other authors, who have most laudably employed their pens on this subject; (vide Philan. v. ii. and Young Gent. &c. Instructed) amongst whom are several of our poets, as Cowper, Thomson, &c. and latterly some well-written pamphlets on the same subject have issued from the press. Yet we do not learn that any law was passed previously to the Act of 3d Geo. IV. c. 71. (of which I will give an abstract,) for we find Mr. Justice Heath saying, on the trial of one Mr. Parker in 1794, for tearing out the tongue of a mare, that" in order to convict a man for barbarous treatment of a beast, it is necessary it should appear that he had malice towards the prosecutor."

The late Lord Erskine, about the year 1809, (I think,) endeavoured to pass a bill for making "the wantonly and maliciously abusing" any of the domestic animals therein specified, a misdemeanor triable before a jury; and also to invest the magistracy with a summary power in certain cases. The lamented Sir Samuel Romilly (a man of great legal talent) was a very strong advocate for the bill; but it did not succeed. On which occasion, Mr. John Lawrence, in his Philosophical Treatise on Horses, &c. has the following observation: -"But for the Records of Parliament itself, posterity would scarcely credit, that men of the first distinction for rank, learning, and talents, have, in the nineteenth century, stood forth as the avowed defenders and advocates of infliction of the most excruciating torture upon brute animals, on the wretched pretence of affording sport and diversion to the people.' This remark is applicable to many who have opposed Mr. Martin's further exertions to promote the legal protection of domestic animals: and I will say, Mr. Editor, and that most fearlessly, that such opponents merit a far severer ostracism than what the

Grecians ever voted, or what charity will allow us to pass. Mr. Lawrence devotes upwards of one hundred pages, in his work, to what he terms" the rights of beasts."

The abominable diversions of bullbaiting, bear-baiting, and cock-fighting, reflect upon us, as a nation, the most indelible stains of guilt and disgrace. Let us for a moment leave the closet, where, on bended knees, we have prayed the LORD OF HOSTS to bless the land of our nativity-let us, I say, cast an eye towards the many of our wretched fellow-beings who are crowding around some scene of torture-perhaps some poor beast that's lacerated, and enraged, and tormented by dogs-and what are our feelings? Do we not exclaim with Dr. Young,

"How sad a sight is human happiness, To those whose thought can pierce beyond an

hour!

O England! whilst thy sons view the rays of gospel-light dispelling gross darkness and misery from the mountain-tops of far and distant lands

let cruelty be banished from thy shores, and mercy cherished throughout thy favoured isle! No longer let thy soil be stained with the reeking gore of tortured animals, but let the brute creation share a Creator's smile. If the infamous and savage pursuits of our hard-hearted countrymen be not annihilated, the inhabitants of those lands whereon the standard of the cross is only now erecting, will, I may venture to say, without any pretensions to mantology, soon surpass us in the exercise of every Christian virtue, and perhaps have to mourn over us as one friend mourneth for the fall of another!

The labours of Mr. R. Martin, the member for Galway, in obtaining the bill for preventing cruelty to cattle, deserve the best thanks of every Christian;-yet, lest I should be accused of adulation, I will simply say, that never shall I hear of " Mr. Martin's Act" but with feelings of the most respectful esteem towards the humane individual who procured it. The contents of Mr. Martin's bill should be known in the cottage of every peasant.

Below, you have a short abstract of the act alluded to, and I believe there is now a bill pending in Parliament for the further protection of animals

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those who think their present state dark, and whose eye cannot pierce the thick cloud which hangs over their destiny. Every one must have drawn from his own experience the conclusion, that circumstances change from they do unexpectedly; and every readverse to prosperous as suddenly as flecting mind, instead of attributing

such events to chance, will learn from them, in the midst of trouble, to trust on the unseen arm of Jehovah, who alone knoweth what is best for us here, and, when he sees fit, will relieve us from difficulty.

THE OLD OAK TREE.

"By statute 3d Geo. IV. c. 71, It is enacted, (s. 1.) That if any person or persons shall wantonly and cruelly beat, abuse, or ill-treat any horse, mare, gelding, mule, ass, cow, heifer, steer, oxen, sheep, or other cattle, and complaint thereof on oath be made to any magistrate, within whose jurisdiction such offence shall be committed, it shall be lawful for such magistrate to summon the offender; and if the party accused be convicted, he, she, or they, shall forfeit and pay any sum of money not exceeding five pounds, nor less than ten shillings, to his majesty; and if the person so convicted shall refuse, or not be able, to pay the sum forfeited, such offender is to be committed to prison for any time noted down from the sky, and the thunexceeding three months.

"S. 11.-Complaint to be made within ten days after the offence. "S. III.-Proceedings not to be quashed for want of form.

"S. Iv.-Form of conviction. "S. v.-Justices to order compensation to persons vexatiously complained against.

"S. VI. and last.-Actions or suits brought against any person or persons for any thing done in pursuance of this act, to be commenced within six calendar months next after the cause of action shall have accrued."

THE CAMERA OBSCURA.
(Continued from col. 336.)
No. VI.- -Providence.
"Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face."-Cowper. IN looking over some manuscripts, written by an ancestor of our family, who lived in the reigns of Charles I. and II. I found the paper inserted below. It treats upon a subject which must have been observed by every one who has at any time reviewed the past occurrences of his life, and is calculated to afford consolation to

-It was a beautiful scene.-The hoary sage sat on a green mossy elevation, as the departing sun shot its last softened gleam of crimson light from the verge of the western horizon. Before him a company of children were reclining upon the grass,-with their eager eyes fixed upon his timeworn face: and behind them, some older youths, and men, and women, leaned forward to catch every word, as he thus addressed the group :

"The rain in pelting torrents pour

he

der rolled in awful grandeur, while the lightning flashed in fast continuing intervals, and desolation seemed spread over the face of nature, and dreariness reigned on every side.-A poor old man, shattered with age, whose garments were ragged and torn, and on whom poverty and misery had fixed their seals, ran swiftly along, as if trying to escape from the rage of the merciless storm, which unrelentingly pursued him as traced the far extending waste before him; and ever and anon he cast his eye backward over his shoulder, and fearfully viewed the forked destruction, as it seemed rending the dark black clouds above him; and then he crouched before the voice of thunder which succeeded, as dreading to be crushed with its noise. And there stood near, an old oak tree, which spread far and wide its sheltering branches, and it moaned and sighed in the whistling wind which furiously blew all around it: and the wretched old man ran with increased speed, and sought a shelter beneath the boughs of the wide spreading oak; and he leaned his back against the trunk of the tree, and, clasping

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his hands, he cast up his eyes to the heavens, and thus did he sadly bemoan: I have suffered the accumulated evils and perils of life, and my earthly cup has run over with sorrow, affliction, and misery: Oh! do Thou, who sittest and rulest over all, now end my affliction with my death!'—He said, and he looked around him; and the rain still poured from the darkened heavens, and the thunder still rolled with increasing sound, and the lightning still glaringly flashed; and just as he had ceased to speak, a welldressed young man ran along from the storm, and came to the tree on which the old man was leaning, to screen himself from the rain. The misery-stricken mortal looked wistfully in the face of the youth, and he pitifully said:-Oh! hast thou any thing wherewith to stay my hunger, for I have not tasted food; no, not for three days? I am a poor dejected outcast, and have not wherewith to supply myself with bread, for I have no friend to help me.'-And the youth replied, as he put money into his hand: I cannot relieve thine immediate necessities, but here is what may befriend thee, when thou canst use it; and I, like thee, am a stranger, for, lately returned from the Western Indies, I have crossed over the briny ocean; I went away poor, but I have returned with wealth, and now I cannot find my former relations and friends.'' And didst thou,' said the old man, and his eyes sparkled with the fire of hope as he said it, 'didst thou ever hear, where thou hast been, of one named Joseph B..?' -'And what,' said the youth, hast thou known of Joseph B....?'-He is my son,' said the aged mortal. 'Then,' cried the young man, as the emotions of joy almost hindered his utterance, ' then thou art my father!'

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"And the lightning ceased, and it flashed no more from the sky, and the thunder gave over its rumbling sound, and the rain was laid up in the buckets of heaven; for the wind drove away the dark black clouds from view, and the sun poured its rays upon the earth, and shone with bright splendour from its seat in the firmament, as the poor old man walked away with his son from beneath the shelter of the old oak tree.

always remember never to mourn, and repine, and complain, when dangers are near, and call death to your aid, in the midst of trouble; for you know not what next is approaching." (To be continued.)

OBRERVATIONS ON THE ARBITRARY IMPORT OF WORDS.

MR. EDITOR.

SIR,-I make no apology in offering for insertion in your justly styled Imperial Magazine, the following observations on Grammar; the object of which is, to draw the attention of some of your ingenious correspondents to what I conceive to be a fundamental error, tending to mislead and embarrass the learner.

Words have justly been defined to be" articulate sounds, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas." From this definition, and other considerations, it would appear, that words in themselves do not possess any distinctive properties resembling those of the ideas for which they stand, but are merely arbitrary sounds, which a certain portion of mankind have agreed among themselves to make use of, for the purpose of transmitting their ideas from one to another; and are proper, or improper, only as they are universally adopted or rejected by the best speakers and writers. Thus, there is nothing in the sound "man," which at all resembles a male individual of the human species, any more than in the sound of, or not, or but; any of which would have conveyed the same idea just as well, had mankind so determined.

I am perfectly aware, that in making these observations, the tide of authority runs strongly against me; but, until the advocates of a universal natural connexion between words and ideas, have shewn in what the connexion between sound, which is purely an object of hearing, and colour, which is purely an object of sight, consists, I see no reason for altering my opinion. It is true, indeed, that in a few instances, where sound or motion is concerned, a sort of resemblance is discoverable; as, hiss, "whistle," "humble," "slide," &c.

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But does not even this resemblance "And from this," said the sage, in tend to prove the arbitrary nature of conclusion, "from this, my children, | language? otherwise, why are not

these ideas expressed by the same sounds in all languages? or, rather, why is there any diversity of language at all?

The error which I allude to, consists in ascribing to words the properties which belong exclusively to ideas. When, therefore, the young student is told that there are nine sorts of words; or, which is the same thing, (for a good definition may always be used instead of the term defined,) that there are nine sorts of articulate sounds; and he attempts, by comparing a number of words together, to ascertain their different properties; he finds that some of of them are long, others short; some smooth and agreeable to the ear, others harsh and discordant; some spelled as they are usually pronounced, others whose spelling and pronunciation widely differ; but the properties which he sought after, he is utterly unable to discover. Nor need we wonder at this, when it is considered, that in words themselves no such properties exist.

The celebrated Horne Tooke, without turning over one-tenth of that vast heap of Saxon rubbish through which he laboured, might have discovered, that there is but one sort of words, instead of two; and then, in all probability, he would have spared a good deal of the ridicule which he so liberally bestowed upon one who was, in many respects, his superior. Was that mighty etymologist not aware, that it is the different sorts of ideas, which constitute what is called the parts of speech; and that words are merely the materials of which language is composed? Had the author of "Diversions of Purley" attempted to prove, that the ideas of our forefathers were confined to two sorts, namely, of things and actions, in part he might have succeeded; but he would by no means have been justified in inferring from thence, that we do not at present possess, in addition to the above, the ideas of connexion, limitation, &c.

That words are merely the raw materials of language, until they are wrought, as it were, into sentences, will appear still more evident, if we consider that the same word is frequently used as the sign of two or three different sorts of ideas; thus, "Calm was the day." "After a storm

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comes a calm." "He is able to calm the raging sea." Would it not, therefore, be just as absurd to call the word calm a substantive when it stands alone, as it would be to call a log of wood a table, before it is cut and formed into that particular piece of furniture? Again, it frequently occurs, that several words are used as the sign of one single idea; thus, Pursuing pleasure too eagerly, commonly occasions pain." The idea of acting, is here expressed by the participle pursuing; the idea of an object acted upon, by the noun pleasure; and the idea of limitation by the adverbs too eagerly, which confine the acting to a particular manner. These ideas, when they are properly joined together, produce in the mind another single idea, quite as compact as that which is expressed by the word libertinism. If a person accustom himself to this mode of resolving sentences into their component ideas, the business of parsing will, I apprehend, in a short time, become extremely easy. -Sir, yours, D. LEE.

Low Lambton, Feb. 14th, 1824.

THE STAGE, A PROMOTER OF
IMMORALITY.

MR. EDITOR. SIR,-Among the variety of interesting and useful discussions, with which your columns are supplied, there appears to me one, not deficient in importance, which has not till lately occupied much of your attention, concerning the morality or immorality of the Stage.

When a disease, that is infectious, exists, and is likely to spread its contagion, it becomes the duty of all persons to warn the ignorant and the unwary, and to apply those antidotes which are the most operative and the most lasting. Although many good men are uniting their efforts to effect the good of the rising generationto train children to habits moral and religious-and to remove them from that heathen darkness which too much, and too long, has pervaded the region of the poorer classes of society-yet, I think, with all their zeal, and all their endeavours, the desired end will not be accomplished, unless the great evil of our theatres be pointed out in a more general and public man

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