Lastly, Equanimity is an essential | reason which public utility can sugattribute of the manners we are recom-gest, every plea which necessity can mending. This is the illustrious badge of a fine character, and is that which singles him out from all pretenders. The most stingy, sullen, and melancholy beings will sometimes be sprightly and pleasant. But to maintain an uniformity of deportment, and that always an agreeable one; to be cheerful in affliction, and sober in prosperity; to sustain provocations without resentment, and caresses without vanity ;— this is the virtue which gives the dignity, and furnishes the beauty, of agreeable manners. Rainton. W. ROBINSON. urge. The justice of the sentence is forgotten in the severity of punishment. The dawn of youth so suddenly overcast, or the silvered locks of age brought low, by an unworthy fate; the calm resignation, or the unbroken spirit, of the sufferer, are alike the theme on which we dwell with rapture; the cruelty of persecution, and the tyranny of man, the objects of our abhorrence. To this proneness in our nature ever to sympathize with the distressed, we may refer the obloquy attached to the character of Edward the First, for putting to death the Welsh bards. Humanity appears to be more than THE POLICY OF EDWARD THE FIRST IN Usually interested in the fate of these sacred Sons of Song, for she ever denounces vengeance against the powerful, "if their swords have been stretched over the feeble, if the blood of the weak has stained their arms." In vindicating, therefore, the charac have to combat feelings which every liberal mind is proud to acknowledge, and of which even the depraved and abandoned cannot entirely divest themselves. We have not only to assert the policy of the deed, but to repel the imputation of cruelty and inhumanity. Difficult, however, as the task may appear, the endeavour, surely, to wash away so foul a stain, to remove so infamous a stigma from a great and illustrious character, cannot fail to meet with approbation. To this end, let us advert to the circumstances themselves, and consult the history of the events connected with this action. BARDS, IS JUSTIFIABLE. AMONG the various passions of human nature, which have afforded subject of discussion for the writers of every age, none have been more frequently illus-ter of Edward on this occasion, we 'trated by the reasonings of philosophy, or delineated by the pencil of fancy, than Pity. The poet Collins has sung" her eyes of dewy light;"the moralist has described her as pouring balm into the wounds of sorrow. It is an affection the most congenial to our nature, the inmate of every breast. Though vice may have depraved the heart-though prejudices interfere, or reason herself declare that human misery is the offspring of human folly; man cannot contemplate the sufferings of a brother, without yielding in some degree to the common feelings of humanity. The sordid mind may restrain the active hand of benevolence, the tear of sympathy may not, perhaps, glisten on the cheek at the tale of wo, -yet nature still asserts her rights, and compels us to turn with emotion from all that pictures to the imagination the unavoidable evils, the entailed calamities, of life. In no instance is this disposition more forcibly displayed, than in the sentiments of concern which we on all occasions express for those unhappy victims, whom the stern decrees of law and public good have consigned to the sword of justice. Absorbed in the contemplation of the miseries before us, we look not back to the causes which have produced them. The uplifted arm of the executioner dispels, in a moment, every At the close of the thirteenth century, Edward the First, a prince endowed with all the manly virtues of that age, nor uninfluenced by the milder spirit of more enlightened periods, rendered the principality of Wales subject to the English crown. It is not ours here to discuss the rights of conquest, or to judge the actions of the past by the refinements of the present days; suffice it to observe, that in the reduction of the Welsh, Edward had the glory of subduing a people, who, for upwards of eight hundred years, had withstood the power of his predecessors on the throne; that in the person of their prince, he punished the supporter and ally of the rebellious Montfort, who, with factious insolence and bold enterprise, nearly wrested the sceptre from the weak hands of his father Henry; that he secured the fertile borders of his kingdom from the ravages and incursions of a restless foe, whom no treaties could bind; robbers, rather than soldiers, to whom the occupations of peace were intolerable-whose subsistence was rapine and war; and, what was of still greater moment, he ensured the maintenance of the laws against the efforts of his mutinous barons, in the suppression of a rival power, whose interest it was to inflame the discontented subject, and cherish the sparks of civil dissension in the government of its more powerful neighbour. Actuated as he was by these motives, we cannot surely lament that fortune crowned his undertaking with success. We behold him now occupied in civilizing his newly acquired subjects, endeavouring to unite the two nations by an equal dispensation of justice, to harmonize their manners by including them under the regulations of the same policy and the same laws. Insurrection and revolt soon manifested that his labours were fruitless. Compelled to lay aside the olive branch of peace, and wield again the sword of battle; in a short time he reduced the insurgents to their former subjection. Subsequent revolts, though quelled with the same vigour and with equal facility, convinced him that other measures must be adopted, to establish his authority on a firm basis. Experience pointed out what the force of arms would not avail. In his presence all was submission and obedience; but the moment the affairs of his own kingdom called him away, troubles and commotions ensued. With scrutinizing eye, therefore, he pervaded and examined the manners and spirit of the natives, determined to eradicate at once every incentive to rebellion, rather than suffer that rebellion to lead its deluded followers to fall by the more powerful arm of a conqueror. And soon he fixed his eye on the Sacred Groves, the hallowed residence of the bards, who nightly, thence, arrayed in their white robes loose floating on the breeze, with their golden harps glittering to the stars, hymned the song of the days of old,-the tale of other times. In the shades of retirement he detected the plans of enterprise, in the seats of inactivity he discovered the springs of vigour, in the habitations of peace he traced the progress of discontent. Superstition foresaw, in the diffusion of the arts, her tyranny suppressed. Pride could ill brook foreign yoke. Barbarism revolted at the idea of an union with refinement, Enthusiasm told her dreams of liberty, and whispered of revenge. Opinions generated in the gloom of solitude, and conceptions inspired by frenzied zeal, were instilled into the breasts of the people, with all the fire of expression, all the charms of poetry, the rhapsodies of the times could boast. 66 Go," said the bard to his followers, "degenerate offspring of a valiant race, go fawn at the feet of a conqueror, and tremble beneath the hand of oppression: in the courts of the victor shall be gladness and joy; then shall he spread the festive board, while the blast of the desert shall howl amid these hallowed fanes, and all be desolate and sad." But soon their influence ceased. Too many victims had already been sacrificed at the shrine of enthusiasm. Policy marked the abode of insurrection, and the bards were numbered with the dead. Edward sent forth the ministers of his vengeance, and the voice of their song was heard no more. In discussing the policy of this action, to many it will be a sufficient justification to state, that it was the result of the counsels of a prince, whose wisdom and equity entitled him to the appellation of the Justinian of his country. To the more incredulous few, we will only observe, that it was justified in the event; that the tranquillity which success in arms could not establish, was thus rendered permanent and secure. Succeeding ages have beheld the two nations united by the strictest ties, mutually cultivating the arts of civilization. It were unnecessary to dwell longer on this part of our subject: as a statesman, the policy of Edward must be unquestionable; it is worthy the encomium passed on all the enterprises and projects which he formed and brought to a conclusion, which, says the historian, "were more prudent, more regularly conducted, and more advantageous to the solid interests of his kingdom, than those which were undertaken in any reign either of his ancestors or suc cessors. every thing above the earth, and every thing below the earth, was convulsed? That very humanity, which the sacri The more pleasing task remains,—to vindicate his feelings as a man, to re-fice to such alternatives now excites, pel the imputation of cruelty, by an explanation of the motives, and a reference to the consequences, of the action. shuddering with the horrors of impending evil, forbade it. These, then, were the motives. To the judgment of the candid we may with safety submit them, and proceed to a defence of his conduct by a reference to its consequences. "The proper end of human punishment," says philosophy, "is not the satisfaction of justice, but the prevention of crimes." On the same principles, we may now assert, that the views of human policy are directed to the completion of oppressive and coercive measures, only as they are productive of the general good. As we acquit the magistrate, therefore, in the discharge of the duties attached to his office, of a desire to glut his sight by the effusion of blood, with equal justice we may absolve the statesman from the imputation of cruelty and inhumanity, when regulating his conduct by the suggestions of foresight, or the dictates of prudence. In adapting these principles to the present circumstances, we have only to determine whether the conduct of Edward was productive of the general good, whether it eventually established that se In the prosecution of any undertaking, either important in itself, or the advantages resulting from the completion of it, every inferior consideration is to be neglected, which might clash with the interests, or obstruct the progress, of the grand object of pursuit. In the instance before us, the end proposed was the welfare of a great kingdom; the resulting good, the stability of that welfare; the inferior consideration, compassion for a few individuals. Edward was convinced in his own mind, that the security of England depended on an union with Wales, and that that union would not be lasting, unless cemented by the blood of the bards. This, then, was the sacrifice. Here he was called upon to consult the solid interests of his kingdom, by an assumed insensibility to the impressions of humanity. As, therefore, the motives influencing his conduct on this occasion shall carry with them, in a greater or less degree, conviction to the minds of others, accordingly will he stand ab-curity which was avowedly its aim? solved from, or remain obnoxious to, And that it did, we may defy the enthe present aspersions on his charac- venomed tongue of slander herself to ter. And what were these motives? fabricate denial. It is a truth unconHe had achieved a conquest, which troverted, unquestionable; it stands spread abroad the fame of his abilities sanctioned by the voice of reasonas a statesman and a warrior. Was ratified by the concurring testimony of then the laurelled wreath of victory to all succeeding ages. Hence it folbe torn from his brow? The martial lows, that, as the resulting good could spirit of the times forbade it. He had not be too dearly purchased, the policy forced the stubborn necks of a factious of Edward cannot be branded as inand violent nobility to bow beneath human; that, as the lives of thousands the yoke of authority, and submit to of Englishmen were preserved, pity the restrictions of law and equity. for the bards was not unworthily saWas, then, a rival power to be estab-crificed? her plaintive voice is drownlished, as a place of refuge for the guilty and seditious? The interests of his kingdom forbade it. He had obliterated the vestiges of devastation, closed the wounds inflicted by the robber and the spoiler, recalled peace and security to the valleys, and caused them to sing for joy. Were, then, those scenes to be renewed, when the fury of discord blew her horn on the mountains, the rocks poured down their goatherds, and the deep caverns vomited forth their miners, when ed in the cries of a whole people, lost amid the expressions of a nation's joy. Let us admire, therefore, that active vigilance, that quick penetration, that spirit of enterprise, which looked beyond the present moment, to the establishment of good; let us extol that conscious integrity, that resolute courage, which thus soared superior to the influence of prejudice and passion; for, in whichever light we view the conduct of Edward, we shall find, that the motives for action did more than authorize, that the event has more than justified, him. On these grounds, I am confident to assert, that the policy, that the humanity, of Edward the First, have, in this instance, been unjustly vilified; that the aspersions on his character have gained strength from an amiable weakness of human nature, not from any conviction of their truth. In an appeal to the passions, his adversaries may for a time be heard with indulgence; but in the cool hour of deliberation, when reason acts with her wonted energy, his conduct will extort from us, not only simple acquiescence, but admiration and applause. "Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, His honour and the greatness of his name shall be. His foes shall, like a field of beaten corn, Hang their heads with sorrow." SHAKSPEARE. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. INorder to aid the humane endeavours now making to protect animals, and save men from barbarizing themselves, care must be taken to draw a boundary line of distinction, strongly marked, that the objectors may not prevail, by alleging we shall not know where to stop. 1. There must be an allowance for all the ill fate of creatures, unavoidably necessary to supply man with animal food. 2. A regulated permission to exterminate those, which, if permitted to increase in number, would invade all the comforts of human life. 3. There is, in the management of vicious animals, a necessity to subdue them, as a lesser evil to the mischief they may do to other animals or man. 4. The destruction of animals that have infectious and incurable dis eases. The method of slaughtering requires regulation. Why should a butcher, who ministers so essentially to the sustenance of the human race, be in the practice of breaking the skull of the animal with a hammer, or shooting a marble into its brain, when death is so easily and speedily procured at the spine and the vein? If the butcher proceeded, in this Italian manner, with a small chisel on the back of the neck, and the use of a lancet, he could no more be excluded from a jury, than a surgeon, anatomist, or physician. The value of animals to the owners is their sufficient protection from injury, until they are sold for slaughter, but from that moment they have no protection from cruelty, except that cruelty which would disfigure the meat or hide, and make it less saleable, and therefore many cruelties are practised, exclusively of the unfaithfulness of servants, who injure their master's property; and as these cruelties are not to be remedied by action of damage or dismissal of servants, they require legislative provision, along with the regulations for slaughtering: the injuries should be well defined, as the fine for an eye or a broken limb; but if cattle drivers were prevented from subduing the animals in their charge, the damage done to the human race, by withholding the drivers' coercive power, may preponderate the evil in the scale of humanity. Bull-baiting, and worrying the ox with dogs, to make it tender, may easily be prohibited. No one can object to the drowning of kittens and whelps; wild cats are often a nuisance in England, and wild dogs would be a national calamity not easily removed, as appears in Rome and Constantinople, and therefore the dog-tax is a salutary check on their increase. As horses are protected by their value, under the present statute law, a special legislation must produce more ills than it could cure. The destruction of vermin authorizes fox-hunting; time was, when food must be procured by stag-hunting, and to hunt a stag now must be placed on a par with hunting a bagged-fox; it is an exercise, to prepare the horsemen and horses for hunting the fox and hare. However hare-hunting has been ridiculed, it should be recollected, that a hare brings forth two or three leverets eleven times a year, and although they are diminished by hunting, coursing with greyhounds, shooting, and tracking in the snow, gardeners have often to lament the destruction of their crops from this timid, but mischievous animal, whose powers, if hares were increased in number, would devour the crops of the field, like the all-destroying locusts of southern climates. It may be argued, that hares could be destroyed without the apparatus of hunting, and they are protected from the gun, to reserve them for a ridiculous pursuit: but the preservation of hares is a question of the game-laws, not connected with this subject; and the killing of hares, in every way that any man chooses, according to law, is desirable. The otter, mole, martin, sparrow, and badger, have a price on their heads, in many parishes in England. In the present state of artificial life, man may live on the ox, heifer, calf, wether, lamb, kid, and pig, without using his gun for the feathered game, or hook for the finny tribe; but are wild fowl and fish to increase ad libitum? The fisherman, with his trawl, obtains a subsistence as honestly as the shepherd and butcher; and since animal food has been associated with vegetable, the supply of fish has prevented many disorders, being a much less morbid or concentrated food than flesh. Bear-baiting in England does not amount to the number of fifty bears; a clause of a line or two in an act of parliament should prevent it, but a separate act is absurd. the human species, what shall we say of pugilism? The gentry and nobility who delight in these exhibitions, and engraft gambling on barbarous vulgarity, should have attended the funeral of the NOBLE PUPIL of Eton College, and feasted on the fruits of their favoured science. However, the Fancy has nearly cured its own evils; fictitious defeats have disgusted the gamblers, and frequent manslaughter has deterred the champions from their amusement. In comparison to this, the heroism of game-cocks is a lesser evil, and the destruction of rats against time, by a single terrier, is one of the fine arts! A clause in the act, to fine the pugilists £50, and the duellists £100, would, perhaps, have more moral effect than appears from the sum, at first sight. THE STATE OF THE HEATHEN (BY DION.) PHILO and Junius were strolling along a path which encircled the brow of a lofty hill, beneath which the calm waters of the ocean were spread on the one side, and a verdant valley adorned it on the other. The sun had just set; a few faint rays still illumined the heavens; a peculiar stillness and beauty rested on the scene, which, like an ethereal mantle, was drawn over nature, preparatory to the veil of night. The prospect was calculated to induce reflection. At this time there was nothing boisterous to arouse the mind, as when the majestic waves broke in upon the rocks beneath. There was no sound in the valley, no mower whetting his scythe, or milkmaid tuning her voice, but "all the air a solemn stillness held." With regard to public courses of anatomy on living subjects, it is an unnecessary hardening of the human feelings, where scarcely one person in fifty derives useful knowledge. It must be admitted, that many material phenomena in physiology cannot be discovered in dead subjects, and these experiments, not made for vain curiosity, or wanton abuse of power, may prevent many ills that flesh is heir to, even in the species subjected to examination. A glandered horse must be killed, he cannot be cured; and he gives not only the disease he has, but the water-farcy, as proved by inoculating an ass in the nostril above the hair. The method of killing him may be improved; for when a horse is condemned and shot, he lies for hours in the agony of death; but there is a discovery, that human breath or air, conveyed into a vein on the receding side of the current, will, as soon as it arrives at the heart of the horse, cause instant death, without convulsions. A tube and lancet will serve instead of the barbarous method used to a great extent, in England, ongenuity to form any idea of resemcart-horses. Among cruelties to animals, and sports that degrade and deteriorate The natural state of mind, which had gradually crept on both, was disturbed by the heavy footsteps of a labourer, returning from his daily toil. A conversation ensued on the beauty of the situation, the salubrious nature of the atmosphere, and the stupendous character of creation. Philo remarked-how insignificant is man, compared with the Lord of the universe! and how much does it exceed our in blance between the creature and the Creator! Man is but a worm, which wanders among the declivities or |