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Sophister. Subject, Shakspeare, Richard II., Act v., s. 1, from "This .way," to 'rightful king." English Poem, by Ebenezer Stinson, B. A. Subject, "The Alhambra." Prizes were also awarded to Ebenezer Stinson, B. A., for Greek Verse, and to R. J. Tyner, Senior Sophister, for English Prose. IV. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTIFICATES OF HONOUR AND PRIZES AND ADMISSION TO SCHOLARSHIPS- Certificates in Law and Medicine; prizes and scholarships in Law and Medicine and Arts.-[Colonist. Trinity College.-We availed ourselves of an invitation to attend the opening lectures of the Faculty of Medicine for the winter term of this Institution, in the temporary rooms in Yonge Street. The number of visitors present on the occasion was not large, but, we were pleased to see a numerous attendance of students. The lectures we listened to were those of Dr. Melville on Surgery, Dr. Bovell on Medicine, and Dr. Badgley on Medical Jurisprudence. Each of these lectures was very able, and a good index to the respective subjects. We understand the curriculum of this College is now complete, and that its certificates are recognized by the various Medical Institutions of England and America. We noticed a good commencement of a library, and a considerable number of valuable anatomical plates.—Ibid.

Trinity College-It is with much gratification that we announce that the Provost and the Professor of Classical Literature in Trinity College have safely arrived in this City. These gentlemen, appointed by the Committee in London on behalf of the Church University, being the highest testimonials of the University honors. The Professor of Mathematics has been appoin'ed, and may be expected in a few weeks. He is also a man of note, having been eighth wrangler at Cambridge for 1850. Thus far the arrangements for effectively carrying out this great work of Christian Education has been completed. The Medical Faculty have commenced their second Winter course of Lectures with the prospect of an increasing class over that of last year. We understand that the building will be opened after the Christmas Vacation, for the reception of students in every department of learning. The building itself promises to be an ornament of great architectural beauty, and even in its yet unfinished state conveys an impression of scholastic sanctity.-Church.

The Toronto College of Medicine.-We learn from the Examiner, that Dr. Russell delivered the introductory lecture of this Institution on Monday evening, to his course on Chemistry, before a large class of students. On the following evening, Dr. Workman delivered his introductory lecture.-Colonist.

BRITISH AND. FOREIGN.

Items.-The by laws and regulations of the Queen's University, Ireland, have been prepared, and have received the sanction of the execu tive. The meetings are to be held in Dublin Castle until further order, and the University, which is a corporation, may acquire property not exceeding £10,000 a-year. The Chancellor (the Lord Lieutenant) is to preside over its meetings, and authenticate its acts..... The office of Professor of English Law in the Queen's Cellege, Cork, has been conferred upon Mr. O'Donnell, the son of a Fellow of Trinity College..... The medical faculty of the Universities of St. Andrew's and Edinburgh, backed by the Royal College of Physicians, have resolved to refuse the degree of D. ctor of Medicine to all students who will not pledge themselves not to practice homœopathy, and the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association of Brighton, assembled for the purpose of promoting the interests and advancing the science of their profession, have unanimously adopted a manifesto againat the system of Hahnemann, as utterly opposed to common sense..... Mr. Michael Barry, of the Munster bar, has been appointed to the Professorship of Law to the Queen's College at Cork, vacant by the death of the late Mr. Walsh. ....The electric telegraph has just been introduced into the principal schools at Bishopwearmouth; the wires being laid throughout the establishment, and the orders of the head master being instantaneously transmitted to the associates and servants.

Educational Incidents of Queen Victoria's visit to Salford and Manchester.-Last month, a very pleasing spectacle was presented in the grounds of Worsley Hall. The children of the schools on Lord Ellesmere's estate, and which are under the special patronage of Lord Ellesmere, were invited to meet the Queen, in the private grounds of his lordship, on occasion of presenting an address to her Majesty, which was drawn up on their behalf by the Rev. Mr. Beechey, the incumbent of Worsley. Accordingly, soon after nine o'clock, the scholars, attended by their teachers, came in procession from Worsley, Walkden, Ellenbrook, Rae Hill, and other places on the Ellesmere estate, and drew up in a semicircle immediately in front of the principal entrance-the whole under the charge of the clergymen of the respective parishes. The procession was headed by a juveuile band from the Worsley School-little fellows from twelve to fourteen years of age-who discoursed most eloquent music from

their pipes and drums. There were six schools in all, comprising about 1,400 children. To add to the interest of the scene, the mothers of the children-their fathers were for the most part doing duty as special constables on the canal bank-were ranged on a terrace immediately behind their iittle ones, and commanding a full view of the spectacle. When all was arranged, the Queen, attended by Lady Ellesmere, and accompenied by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, came to the door of the entrance hall, when the whole party sang very sweetly the National Anthem. After which the Rev. Mr. Beechly presented an address. Cheers followed the presentation of the address, in the midst of which, after graciously bowing her acknowledgments, the Queen and Royal children retired; but soon after, the Princess Royal, as if wishing to have a nearer view of so many children of her own age, returned with Lady Ellesmere, and walked close up to the line, while the noble band already mentioned played several inspiriting airs. Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, the superintendents of a blind school in the neighbourhood of Manchester, were admitted to her Majesty's presence to explain the operation of a machine invented by Mr. Hughes for enabling the blind to print-a machine which, it appears, had attracted her Majesty's notice in the Exhibition, and which she was anxious to have further explained. This was done at much length, and one of Mr. Hughes's pupils, a blind girl, named Mary Pearson, was also introduced, and printed off the inscription "God save the Queen," and "May God bless our Queen," on slips of silk, which her Majesty was pleased to accept.

Owens' College, Manchester.-Professor A. J. Scott, M. A., Principal of Owens' College, Manchester, (and late of University College, London,) delivered his inaugural address upon commencing his duties at the new institution on Friday. The proceedings on this occasion took place in the Town Hall, the Mayor presiding, and amongst the principal persons present were-The Lord Bishop of Manchester, Mr. J. Heywood, M.P., the Rev. Hugh Stowell, Dr. Vaughan, Principal of the Lancashire Independent College; D. Halley, Independent Minister, the Rev. J. J. Taylor, Unitarian Minister; and some of the leading merchants of the town. The college was founded by the late Mr. Owens, a Manchester merchant, who, after providing for his relatives, left the residue of his estate (£100,000) to establish a college in Manchester, on the principle of the national universities, but without any religious test of admission. Professor Scott, having been called upon by the Chairman, delivered an eloquent and lengthy address, which was loudly applauded. The Bishop of Manchester, Dr. Vaughan, and other gentlemen addressed the meeting.

Congregationalist New College.-On Wednesday the ceremony. took place of formally opening the new College which has recently been erected by the Independents in the Finchley-road, St. John's Wood. The new college is the result of a union of three existing similar institutions, at present belonging to the Independents-namely, Coward, Homerton, and Cheshunt Colleges; and it is anticipated from such a concentration of Nonconformist resources and energies, hitherto divided, that the standard of secular and theological learning among the preachers of that community will be effectually raised. Although the training of young men intended for the ministry will be the primary object of the institution, provision has also been made for the reception of lay students; and we understand that several scholarships have already been established through the munificence of the wealthier members of the denomination. The college is an extensive building, constructed of Bath stone, and comprises some eight or ten lecture-rooms, a library, a museum, and a laboratory; and at the north end there is a residence for the principal of the institution. The frontage extends about 250 feet in length, having a tower in the centre, under which is the chief entrance. The hall is lined throughout with stone, and connected with it is a handsome staircase leading to the upper floor. The library, which is situated at the south end of the edifice, is a lofty room 60 feet by 26 on the plan, with an open timber roof, the walls being of stone; and the shelf accommodation (which is expected to be entirely filled) is sufficient for 20,000 volumes. The central tower is above 80 feet in height and commands an extensive view of the metropolis and the surrounding country. Besides the entrance hall, it contains the council-room on the first floor, philosophical lecture rooms, and the laboratory. The whole of the interior dressings are of Caen stone, and the joiner's work and the fittings throughout are of oak. The ceilings are of wronght wood-work, exhibiting their construction, those of the museum and the council room being highly ornamented. The entire fittings have been carefully designed in harmony with the style of the building, which is of a Tudor date. The front elevation is of considerable elegance, and the principal features are a beautiful oriel window in the tower, and the end windows of the library, which are of a rich and rather elaborate design. The architect, Mr. Emmett, of Hutton-garden, has evidently bestowed the strictest attention to rendering the building perfectly consistent in all its details, and the success he has attained in the unity of his design is certainly remarkable, considering that the whole work has been executed in the space of eighteea

months. The total cost of the structure is estimated at about £20,000. The contractor is Mr. Myers, of Lambeth. The celebration of the opening of the institution took place in the library in the presence of a numer ous attendance of the ministers and leading members of the metropolitan Independent and other dissenting congregations. Among those present we noticed Mr. Samuel Morley, Mr. Charles Hindley, M.P., Mr. Wm. Smith, L.L D., the Rev. Alfred Morris, Mr. Henry Spicer, Mr. Reming tou Mills, (who has subscribed £1,000 towards the foundation of Scholarships,) Mr. Silk Buckingham, the Rev. George Smith (secretary of the Congregational Union), the Rev. Dr. Massie (of Manchester,) the Rev. Henry Allon, of Islington, the Rev. T. Binney, &c. Appropriate dedicatory prayers were offered up by the Rev. Thomas Binney, the Rev. Geo. Clayton, of Walworth; the Rev. Dr. Burdor, of Hackney; and the Rev. Dr. Morrison; and various hymns were sung by the audience. The Rev. Dr. Harris, the Principal of the new college, then delivered an inaugural address, the subject of which was the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The Rev. Lecturer began by alluding to the religious aspects of the present day, in which he said tradition assumed to supplement the Bible; while, on the other hand, reason and man's emotional nature were both set up as of co-ordinate authority with that sacred book. Having remarked upon the prevalence of rationalism and transcendentalism, and ascribed the disposition to call in question the claims of Holy Scriptures to that love of change, and not of progress in spiritual things, which he considered to be one of the characteristics of the present age, he proceeded to discuss at great length what was the Biblical idea of inspiration. In an elaborate argumentative, and ingenious discourse, which occupied upwards of two hours in its delivery, but which was listened to with great patience and attention, the rev. gentleman developed, and endeavoured to vindicate, his own theory of Divine inspiration, which appeared to be a qualified form of "plenary" inspiration. The Rev. James Stratton, of Paddington, then closed with prayer, after which the assemblage retired to another apart. ment, where a cold collation had been provided, and after drinking a variety of toasts, amongst which was "Prosperity to the new College," and the Health of the Professors," the proceedings terminated.

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Wesleyan Training Institution, Westminster.—Yesterday afterternoon, at three o'clock, the Institution was formally, though privately,, opened. The officers of the Committee, with the Ex President, the Rev. W. Naylor, Rev. C. Prest, Rev. J. Rattenbury, Mr. Hoby, and Mr. Armstrong, met the students who had arrived on the previous night. After singing the 327th hymn, the Rev. J. G. Wilson read a portion of the last chapter of St. John's Gospel, and the Rev. C. Prest engaged in prayer. Mr. Wilson then introduced the students for reception into the Institution; and, after the reading of the rules by the Rev. M. C. Taylor, Dr. Beecham, in the name of the Committee, gave an affectionate and appropriate welcome to the students, in an address of great weight and value. He dwelt impressively on the importance of personal piety to their happiness and usefulness; and on their responsibility, as the first draft of students, for the character and influence of the Institution. Mr. Hoby reiterated the welcome given by Dr. Beecham, and added some touching words of fatherly counsel. After singing the doxology, the Revs. W. Naylor and J. Rattenbury concluded with prayer. It was very delightful to witness the deep and devout feeling of the students, and gather from their bearing a cheering promise of serious diligence in acquiring the qualications for their future work. We need hardly say, that the absence of the Principal, the Rev. J. Scott, on account of illness, was the subject of great regret, and an occasion of earnest prayer for his recovery. A second draft of students is expected next week, and a more public meeting will shortly follow,

Proposed Legal University.-Lord Brougham intends during the ensuing session of Parliament to submit to the government (with a view of improving the system now in force for admitting gentlemen to the bar) a proposition for consolidating the Middle and Inner Temples, Gray's and Lincoln's Inn, into one Legal University, to be governed by a senate and chancellor, similar to other universities. In this university, professorships are to be established in the different branches of law and equity, who are to lecture as the professors do at Oxford or Cambridge. It is also proposed to abolish the immense fees which are at present charged for entering."

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Roman Catholic University.—A special meeting of the Committe: was lately held in Dublin, to consider the arrangements for the organization of the Roman Catholic University. There were twenty two members of the committee in attendance, including the Prinate, Dr. Cullen, and eleven other Roman Catholic prelates. The amount of subscriptions received during the last month was £6,500. and the contribu tions now amount to upwards of £26,000. A number of letters were read from America, chiefly from Roman Catholic bishops, promising zealous support and large pecuniary aid. The Archbishop of New York, Dr. Hughes, has suggested that four more clergymen should be sent out as

collectors to the United States. The report of the sub-committee, on appointments, and other matters connected with the organization of the university was submitted, and is to be taken into final consideration on the 12th of November. A gorgeous chair, surmounted by the Papal arms, the tiara and cross keys, supported by a roll of shamrocks, and intended for the president of the contemplated university, was presented to Dr. Cullen by Mr. Nugent Skelly, one of the honorary secretaries.

SANDWICH ISLANDS

Report of Schools in the Sandwich Islands.-There are at present in the Sandwich Islands 441 Protestant schools, with 12,949 scholars, and 102 Roman Catholic, with 2,359 scholars. Total number of schools, 543; of scholars, 15,308. The amount paid for teachers' wages in 1850 was 24,630 dollars. The income of the Island, for the year ending March 31, 1851, was 330,546 dollars; the expenditure 250,707 dollars. In Honolulu, the metropolis of the Islands, there are 540 common schools, containing 15,620 pupils, a royal school and a seminary with 75 pupils supported by the Government, and three boarding schools, containing 145 pupils, supported by the Mission. During the past year, 3,000,000 of pages were issued from the press, and more than 45,000 volumes put in circulation.

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UNITED STATES.

Items. In 1829 there were 24,953 pupils and 484 teachers in all the schools, public and private, in the city of New York. In 1851, it is computed that there are 127,000 children under tuition there, and 1,227 teachers, exclusive of Sabbath schools..... Miss Minerva Evans, of Pickaway County, Ohio, has given one thousand dollars to the Ohio Wesleyan University, toward the erection of a new church.....The Rev. Robert L. Stanton has been elected President of Oakland College, Miss., in place of the Rev. Dr. Chamberlain, who was killed by a student..... Professor Perkins, Principal of the New York State Normal School at Albany, was on a visit to the Educational Institution of Toronto the early part of this month.....S. S. Randall, Esq., the able and active Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools, in the State of New York, has been obliged to retire from his post in consequence of ill health. He intends to reside at Washington..... At Yale College there are said to be 548 students enrolled the present term, divided as follows :-Theological students, 37; law do., 30 ; medical do., 27; do. in philosophy, 14. Of the under graduates, there are, seniors, 92; juniors, 115; sophomores, 121; freshmen, 115..... The Board of Education have appointed Mr. William B. Franklin professor of natural philosophy in the Free Academy, with a salary of $1,500 a-year. Assistant Professor Gibbs has been chosen professor of chemistry, with an annual salary of $1,500....In the nineteenth annual report of the Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, the director condems public exhibitions of the blind in terms which will apply as well and perhaps more forcibly to other pupils. He says "The sensitive minds of youth at first recoil from the very thought of them. This is especially true of girls. It is easily overcome, to be sure. A few exhibitions will remove all scruples-but it is a question whether they do not remove something else which had better have remained."

Education in Factory Towns.-The Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, which was instructed to consider the subject of educating children employed in mechanical, manufacturing, or manual business, have recently reported a bill providing that no child under 15 years of age should be employed without having attended such public school, as the bill specifies, at least 11 weeks in the six months preceding the commencement of such employment; and such child must also attend school 11 weeks in each year employed in such labour up to such age; persons employing children contrary to these provisions are liable to penalty; and a certificate is necessary from the schoolmaster, certifying under oath the time the child has been under tuition, so that the enforcement of such act is securely guarded. This will somewhat remedy the ignorance likely to be prevalent in factory towns (-NY. Paper.

Literary and Scientific Entelligence.

Items. The proposal to establish a central college of arts and science, for the education of artizans of promising talents and acquirements, has met with much success in most of the large towns. Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Bristol, and Nottingham, have already memorialized the royal commissioners in favour of it.......A. M. Montheulin, lately deceased, has left a legacy of £100 to any person who shall invent the means of guiding baloons in a straight line....... Mrs. Sherwood, the well-known

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authoress, died rather suddenly at her residence, Yelverton-place, Twicken
ham, on Monday, the 22nd ult. This venerable lady was in the 77th year
of her age.....
A Druidical monument, consisting of the stone on which
human victims were offered up by the Gauls, has just been discovered near
the forest of Lucheux. It is about 7 feet long, 44 feet wide, and a foot and
a half thick. The hollow destined to receive the blood is about nine inches
deep, and eighteen in superficial extent. The stone has been raised with-
out any fracture......A map of France, which was begun in 1817, is not
yet finished. It is to contain 258 sheets, of which 149 are already published.
There yet remains five years' work in surveying and nine years' work in
engraving to be done. The total cost will exceed £400,000 sterling.. Up
to this time 2,219 staff officers have been employed in the work.......
A Spanish journal contains the following singular summary:
"There are
3064 languages spoken throughout the world-587 in Europe, 737 in Asia,
276 in Africa, and 1264 in America. The number of males is nearly equal
to females. The average of human life is 33 years; a fourth of the popu-
lation die before the age of four years, the half before that of 17 years; such
as survive these periods enjoy a measure of health which is denied to the
other half of the human race."

The Great Exhibition.-The following statistics of the Great Exhibition will, we doubt not, be found interesting:-The income of the establishinent has been as follows up to the present date:-Public subscriptions, £64,344; privilege of printing, £3,200; privilege of supplying refreshments, £5,500; amount received for season tickets up to first May, £40,010; Royalty of 2d per copy on catalogues-Total funds in hand on the 1st of May, £113,044. Amount received at the doors up to August 30, £252,141 9s. 6d. ditto up to the end of September, £62,007 128.; ditto up to Saturday, October 4, £12,128 0s. 6d. Grand total, £439,321 2s. The liabilities incurred, so far as they have been at present ascertained, are as follows:-To Messrs. Fox and Henderson for the building, £79,300; to Messrs. Munday for rescinding of contract, £5,000; extra galleries, counters, and fittings, £35,000; management, including printing, &c., up to May 1, £20,943: police force, £10,000; prize fund, £20,000. Total, £170,743 It is understood that the royalty to be paid by the Messrs. Spicer and Clowes will not be enforced, in consequence of the sale of catalogues not having been as profitable as was anticipated. The expenses of management, gas, water, &c., will probably amount to £50,000, and the sum likely to be received this week for admission will be at least £20,000. This would bring the total income up to £460,000, and the total liabilities to about £220,000, leaving the very handsome balance in hand of £240,000, or nearly a quarter of a million sterling. The total number of visitors was 5,547,238.

Awards at the Great Industrial Exhibition.-Of the 17,000 exhibitors in the Crystal Palace, 170 received first class or council medals; 2918 received second class or prize medals; and 1912 "honourable mention." Of this number the United States exhibitors received 5 council medals, 75 prize medals, and 47 honourable mentions. The list of awards occupies twenty-four columns of the London Times.

Catalogue of the Great Exhibition.-Some curious statistics connected with the preparation of the catalogue of the World's Fair, are given in Dickens's best vein, in the Household Words. The article is entitled "The Catalogue's Account of itself." Denuded of the adornments with which the author has embellished his account, the following are some of the principal facts he communicates. Fifteen thousand persons had to be written to for the modicum of "copy" for the catalogue, or a description of what each was about to send to the Exhibition. Fifty thousand printed circulars were sent out. The catalogue, the labour upon which was commenced in January, 1851, was classified, made up, printed and bound in four days. The first perfect impression was only produced at 10 o'clock on the night preceding the Exhibition, yet 10,000 bound copies were punctually delivered at the Crystal Palace on the following morning. The two copies presented to the Queen and Prince Albert, on that morning, bound in morocco, lined with silk, and gilt-edged, were bound, lined and gilded in six hours. Of the "Official" catalogue 250,000 copies have been printed, consuming 105 tons of paper, the duty upon which was one thousand four hundred and seventy pounds sterling. Besides these, 5010 pages of lists, other catalogues, reports, &c., were printed. The weight of type thus employed was 52,000 pounds.

Mr. Fox of the firm of Messrs. Fox, Henderson and Co., the contractors for building the Crystal Palace, Mr. Paxton, the designer, and Mr. Cubitt, the engineer, have had confered upon them the order of knighthood.

The American and Austrian Commissioners have notified the public that another edition of the Crystal Palace project will be published in the commercial emporium of the new world. They say, as the Exhibibition will open on the 15th of April, all goods must be in New York by the 1st of March next, and for the convenience of those exhibitors who

desire to send the articles which have been displayed in the Crystal Palace, vessels are ready to take the same forthwith. The duration of the Exhibition will be a period of four months. -[N. Y. Com. Advertiser.

Magnetism.--Most extraordinary and inexplicable discoveries have been made, and are making, as experiments irrefragibly prove, in regard to magnetism. They have been performed in Brighton, to the entire conviction of persons of the highest science, both Foreigners and British, and are yet altogether so incredible that we almost fear to allude to them as realities. They will, however, come before the Royal Society, at its earliest re-assembling, and be stated in all their details. Meanwhile, what will our readers, and especially our scientific readers, think of the fact, that the magnetic force runs in transverse directions, as it may be employed by the male or female sex; that is to say, that if in the hands of a male operator it proceeded from east to west, or west to east, the same current in the hands of a female operator would immediately change to from north to south, or south to north, and cut the former line at about right angles. Thus magnetism is shown to derive different influences from the two sexes! But this is not all. A letter written by a woman, weeks before, produces an effect upon the current of a like peculiar nature. And again, any part of a dead animal, as the horn of a deer, a bit of ivory, and à dead fly held in the hand of any individual in contact, stops the magnetic action, which silk, the material from living worms, does not interrupt. In fine, there are wonders the most astonishing in store; and it does seem that we are, indeed, on the eve of what has for some time been prophesied, viz., penetrating deeply into the profoundest secrets and mysteries of this pervading agent in the whole economy of the universe, the globe we inhabit, and the human kind! It i stated that a gentleman in Newport, Ky., is perfecting an application o electricity for propelling a box containing letters over wires from place to place, on the telegraphic principle. The experiment over wires of 600 yards in length, has, it is said, worked well.

Library Catalogue.-The Library of the Paris Observatory has just received a valuable addition to its scientific catalogue. When Laland, the French astronomer, died in 1807, he left a vast number of manuscripts to be divided among his numerous heirs. One of his descendants, an officer in the army, has been for a long time engaged in attempting to get these manuscripts together again. In this attempt he has at last succeeded, and has made a present of the whole, forming thirty-six volumes, to M. Arago. The latter, fearing that they might again become separated, has, in his turn, caused them to be deposited at the Observatory.

The Imperial Geographical Society of St. Petersburg, which recently sent an expedition in search of the Nile, has set about the preparation of a new mission to explore the peninsula of Kamschatka and other Russian possessions in the Pacific Ocean. This latter expedition is to be placed under the direction of a young Polish geographer, the Count de Czapski, who has volunteered to contribute an annual sum of 5,000 silver rubles ($4,000) towards its cost.

The Bamboo.-There is no plant in Bengal that is applied to such a variety of useful purposes as the bamboo. Besides being employed in the construction of the implements of weaving, it is used for almost every conceivable purpose to which wood is applied in other countries. It forms the posts and frames of the roofs of huts; scaffoldings for building houses; portable stages used in the various processions of the natives; raised floors, for storing rice and various kinds of agricultural produce, in order to preserve them from damp; platforms for merchandise in warehouses and shops; stakes for nets in rivers; bars, over which nets and clothes are spread to dry; rafts; the masts, yards, oars, spars, and decks of boats. It is used in the construction of bridges across creeks; for fences around houses and gardens; as a lever in raising water for irrigation; and as flag poles in bazaars, police stations, akharas, &c. It is the material of which several agricultural implements are made, as the harrow, and handles of hoes, clod breakers, &c. Hackeries or carts, doolees or litters, and biers are all made of it. The common mode of carrying light goods is to suspend them from the ends of a piece of splint bamboo laid across the shoulder. The shafts of javelins or spears, and bows and arrows, clubs, fishing rods, &c., are formed of it. It is employed in the manufacture of fire-works, as rockets, &c. A joint of it serves as an holder for various articles, as pens, small instruments, and tools, and as a case in which things of little bulk are sent to a distance. The eggs of the silk worm were thus brought from China to Constantinople in the time of Justinian. A joint of it also answers the purpose of a bottle, and is used for holding milk, oil, and various fluids ; and a section of it constitutes the measure for liquids in bazaars. A piece of it, of small diameter, is used as a blow pipe, to kindle the fire, and by gold and silversmiths in melting metals. It also supplies the place of a tube in a distilling apparatus. A cleft bamboo is employed as a conduit for conveying water from the roofs of huts. Split into small pieces, it is used for making baskets, coops for poultry, bird cages, and various traps for fishing. A small. bit of it, split at one end, serves as a tongs to take up burning charcoal; and a thin slip of it is sharp enough to be used as a knife

in shelling betel nuts, &c. Its surface is so hard, that it answers the purpose of a whetstone, upon which the ryots sharpen their bill-hooks, sickles, &c.

The Palo de Vaca, or Cow-Tree, of Brazil-This is one of the most ren.arkable rees in the forests of Brazil. During several months

in the year when no rain falls, and its branches are dead and dried up, if the trunk be tapped, a sweet and nutritious milk exudes. The flow is most abundant at sunrise. Then, the natives receive the milk into large vessels, which soon grows yellow and thickens on the surface. Some drink plentifully of it under the tree, others take it home to their children. One might imagine he saw a shepherd distributing the milk of his flock. It is used in tea and coffee, in place of common milk. The cow-tree is one of the largest in the Brazilian forests, and is used in ship-building.

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Antiquarian Exploring Missions.-The French government has lately made a literary acquisition of no ordinary value. A French gentleman, M. Perret, has been engaged for six years in exploring the catacombs under Rome, and copying with the most scrupulous fidelity the remains of ancient art which are hidden in those extraordinary chambers. Under the authority of the Papal Government, and assisted by M. Petit, an accomplished French artist, M. Perret has explored the whole of the sixty catacombs, together with the connecting galleries. Burying himself for five years in this subterranean city, he has thoroughly examined every part of it, in spite of difficulties and perils of the gravest character; for example, the refusal of his guides to accompany him; dangers resulting from the intricacy of the passages; from the necessity for clearing away through galleries choked up with earth, which fell in from above almost as fast as it was removed; hazards arising from the difficulty of damming up streams of water which ran in upon them from above, and from the foulness of the air and consequent difficulty of breathing and preserving light in the lower chambers-all these and many other perils have been overcome by the perseverance of M. Perret, and he has returned to France with a col. lection of drawings which extends to three hundred and sixty sheets in large folio, of which one hundred and fifty-four sheets contain representations of frescoes; sixty-five of monuments; twenty-three of paintings on glass -medallions inserted in the walls and at the bottom of vases-containing eighty-six subjects; forty-one drawings of lamps, vases, rings, and instruments of martyrdom to the number of more than one one hundred subjects; and finally ninety contain copies of more than five hundred sepulchral inscriptions. Of the one hundred and fifty drawings of frescoes, two-thirds are inedited, and a considerable number have been only lately discovered Amongst the latter are the paintings on the celebrated wells of Platonia, said to have been the place of interment, for a certain period, of St. Peter and St. Paul. This spot was ornamented with frescoes by order of Pope Damascus, about A. D. 365, and has ever since remained closed up. Upon opening the empty tomb, by permission of the Roman Government, M. Perret discovered fresco paintings representing the Saviour and the apostles, and two coffins (tombeaux) of Parian marble. On the return of M. Perret to France, the Minister of the Interior (M. Leon Faucher) entered into treaty with him for the acquisition of his collection for the nation. The purchase has been arranged, and the necessary amount, upwards of £7,500 obtained by a special vote of the National Assembly. The drawings will be published by the French Government in a style commensurate with their high importance, both as works of art, and as invaluable monuments of Christian antiquity.

Discovery of Glaciers in New Zealand.-The following account of the discovery of glaciers at an elevation of 2,000 feet, at Millord Haven, west coast of the Middle Island, New Zealand. is from a letter received from Dr. Lyall, Surgeon of H. M. steam-vessel, Acheron, Captain Stokes, employed surveying the coasts in that locality. The writer is known to most of our readers as a zealous naturalist, who accompanied Sir James Clark Ross during his three adventurous south polar expeditions:-"Milford Haven, New Zealand, 13th March, 1851. Since my last date we have been in two or three sounds, where the water was so deep that we had to let go the anchor close to the shore, and then make fast to the trees by hawsers. We spent about a fortnight in the celebrated Dusky Bay, of Cook. The harbour we are now in is one of the most remarkable I have ever seen. It is about nine or ten miles deep, and not above a mile or two across at the widest part. The entrance is narrow, and immediately on entering you have precipices of three thousand feet towering right over head on both sides. As we went in, the engineers could see the mountains on both sides at once, from the stokehole of the steamer. I wish you were here to take some sketches of the scenery. The hills surrounding the harbour vary in height from upwards of 4,000 to near 7,000 feet, and on many of them unbroken streams of water are seen, originating at a height of 4,000 or 5,000 feet. There is one large waterfall on the side of the sound 1,200 feet, and a fine one close to where the ship is, between 400 and 500 feet. There are glaciers in the clefts near the tops of some of the mountains. I succeeded yesterday in getting to the lowest of

them, which I calculated to be about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. I had a tremendous scramble at one place, having to surmount an almost perpendicular precipice of about 1,200 feet. I was amply rewarded for my trouble, however, by the number of new plants which I found beside the glacier." It may be remembered that Mr. Dawin noticed the curious phenomena of glaciers descending to the level of the sea in the Gulf of Penas, on the similarly mountainous and stormy west coast of Patagonia; (lat. 48 deg S.;) and no one can compare the opposite east and west coasts of Scotland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden, South America, and Tasmania, respectively, with those of the New Zealand Islands, without being struck with the similarity of their prominent features. The eastern side in all these cases is tolerably continuous in outline, flatter, drier, and morel sunny; while the western, which is the windward, is, on the contrary, indented by fingering fiords, running deep into the heart of the country, which is mountainous, perennially humid, foggy, rugged, and boisterous, more uni orm in temperature, and rarely visited by the sun's rays.-Literary Gazette.

Assyrian Discoveries--Departure of Colonel Rawlinson.-We are glad to hear that the Lords of the Treasury have at length consented to advance to Colonel Rawlinson the sum of £1,500, to enable him to continue his explorations and exhumations in Assyria. We may doubt if this step would have been even thus tardily taken, but that the value of the discoveries has been so recently exemplified by Colonel Rawlinson, in relation to the history of Hezekiah and Sennacherib. The grant, too, is small, compared with tie sums and means devoted to a similar purpose in the same country by the French Government; it is only very recently that a new expedition of several ships, with abundant appliances, set sail from one of the French ports. Colonel Rawlinson is to proceed immediately to Bagdad, where he is the resident of the East India Company, and from thence he will go to any quarter where his directions may be needed, and where the best promises of future discoveries may be held out. He will also keep open the works already commenced, but he is to act entirely independently of Mr. Layard.

Lithography-The Art of Printing from Stone. The process of Lithographing is based upon the fact, that printing ink, being largely composed of oil, will not adhere to any surface which is wet with water. Every one knows how utterly impossible it is to mix ail and water. To lithograph, then, all that is necessary, is to draw on the surface of a dry slab of stone, with a greasy crayon, whatever is desired to be printed. A weak solution of nitric acid is then rubbed over the stone, which fastens the drawing so that it cannot be rubbed off. After this, a solution of gum arabic is passed over the surface, and then the stone is ready for printing. By means of a sponge, water is now rubbed on the stone, and while yet wet the inking roller is applied. The ink of course adheres to the lines of the drawing, because they are oily, but to the wet stone it does not stick. The paper is now laid on, and with the stone passed through the press; the result being a beautiful and exact copy of whatever is drawn. The stone employed for lithography, is of a peculiar kind of lime and clay nature, resembling in appearance a smooth yellow hone, yet possessing the quality of absorbing water. It is found chiefly in Bavaria, though there are quarries of it in England. The Bavarian stones, however, are those most universally employed, and their importation is a considerable object in commerce. They are worth, in New York, from 5 to 10 cents per pound.-[N. Y. Sun.

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TORONTO: Printed and Published by THOMAS HUGH Bentley. TERMS: For a single copy, 5s. per annum; not less than 8 copies, 4s. 44d. each, or $7 for the 8; not less than 12 copies, 4s. 2d. each, or $10 for the 12; 20 copies and upwards. 3s, 9d. each. Back Vols. neatly stitched supplied on the same terms. All subscriptions to commence with the January number, and payment in advance must in all cases accompany the order. Single numbers, 74d. each.

All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEORGE Hodgins,
Education Office, Toronto.

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Joseph Lancaster was born in Kent Street, Southwark, on the 27th of November, 1778. His father was a Chelsea pensioner, who had served in the British army during the American war. To the pious example and early instruction of his parents he always attributed, under the divine blessing, any acquaintance he possessed with the power of religion. "My first impressions," he says, "of the beauty of the Christian religion were received from their instructions." There is a touching beauty in his own account of himself as a little child, retiring to a corner, repeating the name of Jesus, and as often reverently bowing to it. "I seemed to feel," he says, "that it was the name of one I loved, and to whom my heart performed reverence. I departed from my retirement, well satisfied with what I had been doing, and I never remembered it but with delight." This little incident was an epitome of the man, and, inconsistent as it may seem to be with his future religious profession as a member of the society of Friends, it truly shadowed forth the enthusiastic, not to say passionate feeling, which through life so eminently characterized him.

About this period, and that of his attaining the age of eighteen, he seems to have been an assistant at two schools, one a boarding, the other a day school; and thus, as he afterwards states in a letter to Dr. Bell, he became acquainted with all the defects attendant on the old system of tuition in both kinds of schools. At eighteen he commenced teaching on his own account in his father's house, and the following description of the undertaking, extracted from an old report of the Borough Road School, is from his own pen. to the year 1798.

It refers

"The undertaking was begun under the hospitable roof of an affectionate parent: my father gave the school-room rent free, and after fitting up the forms and desks myself, I had the pleasure, before I was eighteen, of having nearly ninety children under instruction, many of whom I educated free of expense. As the number

of scholars continued to increase, I soon had occasion to rent larger premises."

On the outside of his schoolroom he placed the following printed notice :-"All that will may send their children and have them

1851.

No. 12.

educated freely; and those that do not wish to have education for nothing, may pay for it if they please." This filled his school.

As the number of his pupils increased, a new schoolroom was provide, chiefly through the benevolent aid of the late Duke of Bedford and Lord Somerville, "who," says Lancaster, "appeared to be sent by Providence to open wide before me the portals of usefulness for the good of the poor." "The children," he adds, "now came in for education like flocks of sheep; and the number so greatly increased, as to place me in that state which is the mother of invention. The old plan of education, in which I had been hitherto conversant, was daily proved inadequate to the purposes of instruction on a large scale. In every respect I had to explore a new and untrodden path. My continued endeavours have been happily crowned with success." Nothing can be more beautiful than the account given of his position and character at this time. He was always domesticated with his pupils. In their play hours he was their companion and their friend. He accompanied them in bands of two, three, and (on one occasion) of five hundred at once, to the environs of London for amusement and instruction.

Nor did he care only for their intellectual necessities. Distress and, privation were abroad:-he raised contributions, went to market, and between the intervals of school, presided at dinner with stxty or eighty of the most needy of his flock. "The character of benefactor he scarce thought about; it was absorbed in that of teacher and friend. On Sunday evenings, he would have large companies of pupils to tea, and after mutually enjoying a very pleasant intercourse, would conclude with reading a portion of the sacred writings in a reverential manner. Some of the pupils would vary the exercise occasionally by reading select pieces of religious poetry, and their teacher would at times add such advice and observations, as the conduct of individuals, or the beauty and importance of the subject required. Is it any wonder that with pupils so trained, to whom so many endearing occasions presented, evidences should abound of affection, docility and improvement! In them he had many ready co-operators, and, however incapable of forming designs, never were agents more prompt aud willing to execute." These were his best and most joyous days.

He was now rapidly becoming an object of public attention. His school-room was visited by "foreign princes, ambassadors, peers, commoners, ladies of distinction, bishops and archbishops;" his publications were passing rapidly through editions, each larger than its predecessor; his school, ably and zealously conducted by youths trained under his own eye, and imbued with his own enthusiastic spirit, was forsaken for lectures in all the principal towns of the kingdom, in every part of which he was received with the most marked and flattering attentions from all classes; even the monarch did not disdain to admit him, uncovered, to his presence, but sustained, encouraged, and applauded him. This interview is too characteristic to be omitted.

"On entering the royal presence, the king said: Lancaster, I have sent for you to give me an account of your System of Education, which I hear has met with opposition. One master teach five hundred children at the same time! How do you keep them in order Lancaster?' Lancaster replied,Please thy majesty, by the same principle thy majesty's army is kept in order-by the word of command.' His majesty replied, Good, good; it does not require an aged general to give the command-one of younger years can do it.' Lancaster observed, that, in his schools, the teaching

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