IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 1.25 U^m "■■'•■■■2.5 |5o "^B iHKas ■;£ 2.0 1.8 1.4 m m ^ ^. '>' y /^ PhotDgraimc Sciences Corporalion '^V 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 '%'■ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreprodiictions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ D Couverture endommag6e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^ et/ou pellicul6e I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes gtographiques en couleur □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) |~~| Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ D D Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre c" cie la distortion le long de la marge intArieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout£es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas At6 filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplimentaires: Th< to 1 L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sent peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. I — I Coloured pages/ D D This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked bel^w/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagtes Pages restored and/oi Pages restaur^es et/ou peiliculies I — I Pages damaged/ I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/ Thi pot oft filn Ori be( thfl sio oth fin sio or sT\ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Jji Pages dicoior^es, tach';^6es ou piqu6es □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality inAgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplAmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partieilement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont it* fiimAes A nouveau de fapon A obtenir la meilieure image possible. Th( shi Tir wh Ma dif enl bei rig rec mfl lOX 14X 18X i— - 22X 26X 30X J 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmad her* has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia L'exempiaire filmA fut reproduit grAce A la gAnArosit* de: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les Images suivantes ont AtA reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de I'exemplaire fllmA, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning w: signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Las cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmA A pbrtir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A d^oite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ] { A FAMILY JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION AND llECREATION. No. 7.] THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, lSo2. ( Pkicb Irf. \ 81AMFBD 2d, SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. " WTiither «»il you, Sir .Tohn FrnnklinP" Cried a whaler in Baffin's Hav ; " To know, if between the lanel and the Pole, I may find a broad sea-way." " I rharpe you baek. Sir John Franklin, As VDU would live and thrive, For between the land and the frozen Pole, No man may sail alive." But lightly IftUKhod the stont Sir John, And apoko unto his men j — " Half England is wronR, if he in right; Bear off to westward then." All that seamansWp, and science, and conrag'e could accomplish towards the discovery of a north- VOL. 1. — NO. 7. west passage by sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, may be said to have been already done before 1815. But when a ftu-ther attempt was re- solved on, it conld not have been entrusted to .abler hands than those of Sir John Franklui. Nor did the Admiralty grudge any expense in the outfit of the ships d(!stined for the hazardous midcrtaking. The vessels selected were the Erebus and Terror, both originally built for bomb ships, and therefore strongly framed, and both already tried in similar serWce. The Terror had been beset in Repidse Bay in 1830-7, for more than eleven months, in drifting floes of ice, and exposed to everj' variety of TT ll;33r 98 THE LEISURE HOUR. assault and pressure to which a vessel is liable, in such a dangerous position. In this severe and lenf^hened trial slie liad been otten pressed more or less out of the water, or thrown over on one side. Botli ships, before beind, the expedition sailed from I^ngland, on the IDth of May, 1815, and reached Whale Fish Islands, on the Greenland coast of Davis's Straits, early in July. And the last hitters that have been received from the officers or crew are those which were sent by the transport ship which accomjianied thorn thus far. If the reader would follow us intelligently, he should now examine our map. and trace the various coasts that are laid down therein. He will observe Lanca.ster Sound and Harrow's Straits, leading almost due westward to Melville Island. On the right hand of this channel he will iind a region called North Devon. Prosecuting his travels, he will reach Wellington Channel, and beyond it Corn- waUis Island. Another channel separates, or seems to separate, this land from Batlun-st Island, which is the nearest land to Melville Island. The regions uorth of the coast we have thus traced constitute a terra incognita,* or, perhaps, a mare incognitum. Returning to Lancaster Sound, we trace the south- em coast of the channel, and, having no ice to in- ternipt our progress, we soon reach the Prince Regent's Inlet, down which — that is, southward — is the way to Boothia Felix, where Sir James Ross discovered the position of the magnetic pole. Tra- velling westward fi-om the entrance of Prince Re- gent's Inlet, wo arrive at another opening, and observe Cape WiUker beyond it. Here discovery fails us, but hitherto it has been supposed tliat there is a channel at no gi'cat distance, passing southward to Coronation (iulf, wliich it is sup- posed to enter near Victoria Land. Resuming our course, and passing the region which is thus blatdr, we reach Banks's Land, of which nothing is known beyond the existence of its coast, and which lies due south of Melville Island, from wliich it is separated by a part of the Polar Sea. All beyond this, in the bilitudo of Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Straits, is unknown. A few minutes' study of these places on our map will render our narritive clear and simple. Sir John PranliUn's instructions were, to pass through Lancaster Sound, and push on to the westward in the latitude of 74 j°, without loss of time or stopping to examine aiiy opening to the northward, until he reached the longitude of Cape Walker, which is situated in about 1)8° west. 1 lo was to use every elfort to penetrate to the south- ward and westward of that point, and to pursue as direct a course for Behring's Straits as circum- stances might permit. He was cautioned not to attempt to pass by the western extremity of Mel- ville Island, until he had ascertained that a pcrma- • Terr* incognitR, an uuknotrn land ; ma*o incognitum, au unknown sea. nent hairier of ico or other obstacle closed the prescribed route. In the event of not being able to ])C'iietrate to the westward, he was to enter Wellington Sound in ins second summer. He was further directed to transmit accounts of his proceedings to the Admiralty, by means of the natives and the Hudson's Bay Company, should opportunities offer; and also, after passing the Goth meridian, to throw overboard daily a copper cylinder, containing a paper stating the sliijis' position. It was also understood that he would cause piles of stones or signal posts to be erected on cons])icuous headlands at convenient times. Wlicn the transport ship parted company with the expedition in July, 18 15, the oflicers and crews of the two ships, amounting to 130, were in good health and spirits. "Of our prc-.pects," wrote one of them to a friend at homo, " we know Uttle more than when we left England, but lonic for- ward with anxiety to our reaching 72°, where it seems we are likely to meet the first obstruction, if any exists. On board we arc as comfortable as it is possible to bo. I need hardly tell you how much we are all delighted with our captain. He has, I am sure, won not only the respect but the love of every person onboard, by his amiable man- ners and kind' ess to all ; and his influence is always employed for some good purpose, both among the ofTicrrs and men." Sir John himself, writing at the same time to Colonel Sabine, after noticing that the Erebus and Terror had on board provi- sions, fuel, clothing, and stores, for three years, complete from that date, adds, " I hope my dear wife and daughter wUl not be over anxious if we should not return by the time they have fixed upon ; and I must beg of you to give them the benefit of your advice and experience wheii that time arrives, for you know well that without success in our ob- ject, even after the second n^itifer, v-o should wish to try some other channel, if the state of our pro- visions and the health of the crews justify it." The two sliips were seen on the 2()th of the same month, in latitude 74" 48' N., longitude GO^ 13' W., moored to an iceberg, waiting for a favourable op- portunity of entering or rounding the middle ice, and crossing to Lancaster Sound, distant in a direct westerly line from their position aboat 220 geographical miles. On that day, a boat, manned by seven officers, boarded the Prince of Wales whaler. They were all in high spirits, and invited Captain Dannett to dine with Sir John Franklin on the foUowmg day. But, meantime, a favourable breeze sprang up, and the whaler sailed. They were seen in the same place (Melville Bay) still later, by Captain Martin, of the whaler Enter- prise. Sir John told Captain Martin that he had five years' provisions,* which he could " spin out" for seven, and that his people were busily engaged • Ttiia fact wns mnde known to the publin only in December last, tliroiinh Captain Penny, who received his informatioD at Peterhead from Captain Martin himself. The latter as- siRnod as a reason for not raontioiiini' the circumstanco sooner, that lie diil not consider it of any importance, and that when Lady Franklin wa» at Peterhead about two years ago, he did not like to intrude on her. We ha»c private com- munications on which tie can rely, atteatinfi that Captain M. is a man of the strictest integrity and veracity. And if his memory is at all at fault as to tlie numl)or of years meutioncd by Sir John Franklin, yet the eircmnstance of such a convep- sat ion havinR occurred, strengthens the impression now almost universnl, Ihnt the olHcers of the Erebus and Tepfop oonttm- plated the puisibility of a rory luU|{ absence. i i in casi ing of THE LEISURE HOUR. 99 in saltingf dovra birds — of which they had several casks fiill alread}', and twelve men were out shoot- in^r more. This is the last si^^ht that was obtained of Franklin's ships. In January, 1817, a year-and-a-half after the above date, Captain Sir John Ross expressed his con- viction to the Ad-riralty that the discovery ships were frozen up at tne western end of Melville Island, from whence their return woxdd be for ever pre- vented by the accumulation of ice behind them, and volunteered his services to carry rehef to the crews. Althouf,'h it was judt^ed that it was too early to entertain apprehensions for Sir John Franldin's safety, the Admiralty called for the opinions of several naval officers who were well acquainted with arctic na%'if?ation, in order to concert plans of relief to be carried out when the proper time should arrive. The opinions of the officers consulted varied considerably. Some thouth July, 18 IS, three years exactly after Sir John Franklin's ships were last seen near the same plao«. After an xuiavailing ■carcb, in which, strange to tell, was found a memorandum left by Sir Edward I'arry in 181'J. the ships were hove into winter quarters on the 12th of October, on the eastern side of tlie entrance of the Prince lU'gcnt's Inlet. During the winter, many wliito foxes were taken in traps ; and copjier collars, on which were inscril)ed notices of the situation of the vessels, aud of the depots of provision, having been secured round their necks, t icy were set at liberty igain. In May and June of the following year, exploring parties were sent out from the ships in various directions, but without any suc- cessful result. It was not till August that they were able to cut a way out for the ships through the ice. Wliile contending with the loose packs in the neighbourhood of Wellington Channel, and struggling to advance to the westward, a strong gale of wind on the 1st of September suddenly closed the ice around them, and they remained helplessly beset until the 25th, by which time they had drifted out of Lanciustcr Strait. As the season was now far advanced, further search that year wiis tlius frustrated by an accident often expe- rienced in the navigation of the arctic seas ; and all harbours in that vicinity being closed for tie winter. Sir James reluctantly gave the signal to bear up for England. The North Star w;ls sent out with supplies for Sir James Ross in the spring of 1849, but did not succeed in falling in with him. Owing to the unusual quantity of ice in Batlin's Bay that summer, and the frosts which glued the floes into one impenetrable msuis, this vessel waa unable to cross over to Lancaster Sound, and be- came involved in the ice, with whicli she drifted the whole of September, until, on the last dav of that month, she was providentially driven mto Wolstenholme Sound, on the east side of Baffin's Bay, where, there being a pool of open water, she was at length extricated. Here she wintered, ami lay till the 1st of August, 1860, being the most north- erly position in which any vessel has been known to have been laid up. The second of the three searching expeditions which left England in 1848, waj that overland, under the command of Sir John Richardson, the old friend and fellow-traveller of Sir John Frank- lin. The volumes just published, entitlwl " A Boat Voyage through Rupert's Land," to which we are indebted for many of the preceding facts, prove that nothing that eiperieiwe and zealous affection could accomplish was left undone. The expedition found its way across Rupert's Land, the teri-itories of the Hudson's Bay Company, to the Mackenzie River, and along the course of this stream, amid many obstacles, to the Arctic Sea — then along the coiist to the neighbourhood of the Coppermine River. One great purpose of the Bcarch along the coast was to afford relief to detached parties from the Erebus and Tcitot, or to tlie entire crews, had they directed their way to the conti- nent ; and Sir John Richardson's researches i)roved, at least, that none of the party, having gained that coast, were dragging out a miserable existence among the Esquimaux, witliout (lie means of re- pairing to the fur-posts. In (he following summer of 181',), Mr. Rae, IJichardson's able and zciilonfl coadjutor, u.scertaincil tliiit Uic Esiiuimaux inli;>bit- ants' of Wolla-ston Laud had seen ncillisr the ships nor white men. v2 100 THE LEISURE HOUR. As only small packs of ico, and few in number, were seen off' the Coppermine by Sir John Frank- lin in 1820, by Sir Jolin Riehavdson in 1820, and by Dease and Simpson in 18:5(> and 18;J7, beinj^ four several summers, the si'i'ht of the sea en- tirely covered in the end of Aufjust, 1818, was wholly unexpected by Sir John Richardson, and was attributed by him to northerly and easterly gales. Rut it was afterwards ascertained that the season was equally unfavourable throuj^hout the arctic seas north of America. And this has led liim to speculate on the idea of a cycle of good and bad seasons, which has often been mooted by me- teorologists. In a paper published in the " I'hilo- sophical Transactions for 18o0," Mr. Glaisher has shown, from eighty years' observations in London f,n(l at Green widi, that groups of warm years alter- nate with groups of cold one?, in such a way as to render it most probable that the mean annual tem- peratures rise and full in a series of elliptical curves, which correspond to periods of about fourteen years, though local or casual disturbing forces cause the means of particular years to rise above the curve or fall below it. " The siime laws, doubt- less, operate in North America," ~iys Sir John Richardson, " producing a similar g» ^dual increase and subsequent decrease of mean heat, in a series of years, though the summits of the curves are not likely to be coincident with, and are very probably opposed to, those of Europe .... It can be stated only as a conjecture, though by no means an im- probable one, that Sir John Franklin entered Lan- caster Sound at the close of a gi'oup of warm years, when the ice was in the most favourable condition of diminution, and that since then the annual heat has attained its minimum, probably in 1817 or 1818, and may now be increasing again. At all events, it is conceivable that, having pushed on boldly in one of 'he last of the favourable years of the cycle, the ice, produced in tlit unfavourable ones which followed, has shut him in, and been found insurmountiflblc." The third, or Rehring's Straits expedition, was composed ot the Herald, Captain Kellett, then eniployed m surveying the Pacific coasts of Ame- rica, and the Plover, Commander Moore. The vessels were expected to arrive in Rehring's Straits by way of the Pacific, about the beginning of July, 18^18, and were directed to "proceed along the Ameiican coast as far as possible, consistent with the certainty of preventing the ships being beset by the ice." Two whale boats were to go to the eastward in search of the missing voyagers, and to_ communicate, if posiuble, with the Mackenzie River party. This important part of the expedi- tion was accomplished in the summer of 1840, and a survey of the entire coast from Rehring's Straits to the Mackenzie river was efl'ectcd, but again in vain. Sir James C. Ross, it will be remembered, re- turned to England in 1819. Rut the search was not yet considered hopeless. The Admiralty re- solved that a still more vigorous effort to discover traces of the missing voyagers should bo made, and accordingly the Enterprise and Investigator were again fitted out and despatched to R(>hring's Straits, the former under the command of Captain CoUinson, C.R., and the latt«r of Commander M'Clure. For the seai-ch on the side of Lancnster Sound preparations were made on a largo scnlo. The Resolute was comuiisrfioned by Capt. Horatio T. Austen, and the Assistance, Captain Erasmus Omnumey, was put under his orderf ; together with the Pioneer and Intrepid, steam tenders to the two vessels. Captain William Penny, an ex- perienced whale fisher, was also engaged for the search, and placed in command of the Lady Frank- lin and So'jhia. In addition to these expeditions fitted out by the Admiralty, others furnished from privito sources showed the interest that was widely and deeply felt in the cause. Captain Sir John Ross, notwithstanding llfc advanced years, sailed in the Felix schooner ; and by the nnmificence of Mr. Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant, the United States sent forth the Advance and Rescue* on the same humane quest, under the command of Lieut. De Haven, U.S.N., and Mr. S. P. Griffin. Lady Franklin likewise, with that imtiring energy and conjugal devotion which iias marlvcd ber eon- duct throughout, despatched the Prince Albert, under the orders of Commander Forsyth of the royal navy.f This squadron was assembled in Lancaster Sound in the month of August, 1850, at which time the North Star was also there, forming in all a fleet of ten vessels. We cannot follow the details of the operations now prosecuted. Enough to say that the daring, the energy, and the endurance of those engaged in them catmot be too highly praised. Ry well-planned and thoroughly organized travelling parties, the whole coast north and south of RaiTow's Straits, and round the south-west end of Melville Island, was traced, but without any practical result. The longest journey was performed by a party under the command of Lieut. M'Clintoeh, in the spring of 1851. On their return the ice began to thaw, so that their sufterings were most trying. At each step they sank in the melting ice, and at times dark slushy pools would open before them, whose bottom might be in the fathondess sea. Rut the men's courage never flagged, and after nearly four montiis' absence they were welcomed back by their companions in the month of July. In our second paper we shall have the satisfac- tion of recording the traces that have since been discovered of Sir John Franklin's expedition, and the projects for further search that are now con- templated. Meantime, there are many facts in the history of arctic navigation to sustain our hopes that some at least of our missing countrymen may yet be restored to tb<>ir families. In 1713, a vessel sent by Jeremias Ottamk-off, of Mcsen, in Scrgovia, for the piu'pose of fishing, was frozen in oft" East Spitzbergen. J Unprepared for wintering, and anxious to secure to themselves a homo on land, four men were sent in search of a hut or its remains, which they had heard had been left by a ship that had wintered in the same place, some time before. Tliesu men provided themselves with • The chronometers used in the GrinrcU Arctic expptlilion woro Bubjoelpil to the severest tests, yet so exmiisitely were those deiientely cuMstrneted instruments proriued with od- justnients nnd comjicnfiiilions lor the (jreat extremes of tern- peniture, that oue of them, ntller having l)een exposed to a Foln- winter, is lelurnetl with » ehnuj»o in its daily rute, di.rin^ 17 months, q/ only thv three -humlrcdlh pwt of one sc- cofid in time. + Sir John nichnrdson'a Jonrual, Tol. ii. p, 161. % Ar«lie MincoUauics, p. 2U3. 10 Is [r 10 In |y In |d r i* THE LEISURE HOUR. 101 a musket, powder-horn, containing' twelve ^ liargcs of powder, some lead, an axe, a small kettle, a stove, a piece of touchwood, a knife, a tin box, full of tobacco, and each man a pi])e. They succeeded in findin{? the hut, when the wind, which had been blowing hard, now increased to a frale, and obli<;ed them to take shelter that night within the wretch- ed dwelling-. To their horror, on seeking the beach the next morning, they found that ict:, ship, and all hands had disappeared. _At the thought of being thus abandoned, despair seized upon them, but it yielded to the pressing ne- cessity of seeking food. Happily, reindeer abound- ed, and the twelve charges produced as many deer. The flesh of these animals was almost consumed, when a portion of wood and a nail were found on the beach, with which they made a lance, and succeeded in killing a bear. Of the tendons they made strings for a how, and with arrows they killed all the reindeer, aTid blue and white foxes, which served them for food during the period of their stay on this desi rted spot. After six dreary years had passed ovo- their heads, they lost one of their comrades. The remaining three were taken away in 1710, by a Russian ship, whose attention they had succeeded in attracting, having passed six years and three months in this di'eadful seclusion. The Russian traveller, Heshnew, who first had the honour of sailing from the Kolyma river, through the Polar into the Pacific ocean, as far as the Anadyr river, set out on his expedition in June, 1<)'J8. Though he was at last completely lost sight of, and his fate never ascertained, news was heard of him up to 1(551. And during these six years he pursued his object with unexam])led activity and perseverance, overcoming the difficul- ties which hunger, the climate, and the inhabitants placed in his way. And to come to later times, it is well known that Sir John Ross was frozen in, in Prince Regent's lidet, for four years, and was given up by all the world as lost, and 3«.t he was saved, and still survives to tell his own tale. In the face of these facts it is too soon to despair of Su' John Franklin and liis brave comrades. CONSEQUENCE ; OR, DO YOU KNOW AVHO 1 AM ? BT OLD HUUPUBEr. It has been said, though we suspect the remark must have emanated from one short in stature, "that all great men are little men;" Alexander the Great, IJuonaparte, Doctor Watts, and a score others, being cited as illustrations of the fact. Without sto))]iing to gainsay an opinion so mani- festly apocrypiial, we will content ourselves with the observation tliat, to our certain knowledge, all little men are not great men. Mr. Silas Sydney was a little man, being barely five feet in height, but, as many a six-foot man loses an inch by stooping in the shoulder, so he gained an inch by his unusually erect jjosition ; Jind besides, he wore l)oots with thick soles, and a hat with a high crown. Trees and plants are su])posed to stretch themselves upwards m quest of air and light, but the upward aspirings of Mr. Sydney may, without doing him injustice, be attributed to a different origin. If ever the self-important con- sequence of a would-be great man was set forth in a miniature scale, it was in the stinted propor- tions of Mr. Silas Sydney. Deficiency in personal appearance is, by no means, a proper object of reproach, for a plain casket may contain a lovely jewel, and homely bodies have often been the abodes of exalted minds; but when one of mean ajjpearance alfects the great and consequential, he invites derision and makes himself a target for the shafts of ridicule. Mr. Silas Sydney had been a small tradesman, and though sadly deficient in general knowledge, a natural cunning and quick-sighttdness in regard to his own interest enabled him to extend his business and acquire wealth. He was chosen churchwarden, and in course of time ajtpointed a magistrate. Like many others who have risen rapidly, he became insufl'erably vain and conse- quential, so much so, that his appearance alone seemed to say, " Do you know who I am P" We have sometimes wished that a scale of ex- cellence could accompany degrees in societv, and that the higher a man rose in station, the higher he should be required to ascend in wisdom and virtue. Position would then really be the standard of the man, and rank and dignity would receive the willing homage of the head and luc he.irt. Such a state of things, however, is fixr beyond our expectation, or our hope ; still we do think that it behoves every one who rises in life to do his best to fill the position he occujues creditably, and to fit himself for a discharge of its duties. In acting as a magistrate, Mr. Sydney, who had never so nnich as ojjened " Coke upon Littleton," or " Blackstone's Connnentaries," in his fife, till the very week in which he was appointed to the com- mission of the peace, was of necessity greatly dc- pondent for informaticm on his brother magistrates and the clerks. Little inconvenience might have arisen from this circumstance, had he conducted himself with becoming diffidence and modestv ; but, instead of this, his upstart consequence and insuf- ferable conceit led him into continual altercation. It would be difficult to decide which is the more lamentable spectacle, that of a feeble man striving with one of greater strength ; or a man of limited intellect playing the mental gladiator against one of acknowledged understanding. In each of these unenviable positions Mr. Sydney was occasionally to be found. It happened that a disagreement took place between Air. Silas Sydney and one of his work- people, and things were carried to such a pitch that the latter was given into custody. Evciy one expected, when the afiair was about to be decided, that Mr. Sydney, as a matter of course, would re- tire from the bench, and not sit in judgment on his own case. So far, however, from this was the fact, that he remained as a member of the court, and persisted in adjudicating in the most arbitrary nuumcr. Rather than sanction such barefaced injustice, his brother magistrates unanimously quitted the bench. Thus left to himself, Mr. Sydney soon involved himself in a quarrel with the chief clerk, io whom, in his consequential aiTogance, he cried out, " Do you know who I am, sir?" Whereupon the clerk, excited far beyond discretion, replied in open court, 103 THE LEISURE HOUR. "Yes, sir, I do know who yon arc. You arc a mnjin'strate without lav, and a man without mo- desty." On onn ocposion when passingf nlonc? the street, Mr. Sydney mr^ a stout fellow in his cups, who was brawlinp: al"ud. Such a one was a mora fit subject for the a^^tcntion of a policeman, than ibr that of a magishate. It is by no means a mark of discre- tion to struggle, citlicr mentally or bodily, with a drunken man, and still less so if he bo powerful in his frame. Mr. Silas Sydney, however, not beinj? a man of discretion, was free from prudential regula- tions. He Icnew that ho was a majcistrate, and being thus " drest in a little brief authority," pvo- ceedinl at once to reprimand the drinikard. " Do you Iniowwho I am?" said he, finding that little attention was paid to his reproof. "No!" replied the brawler, " who arc you?" "I am a magistrate." "Then here's at you, Mr. Map-is- trate," and down went his worship, measuring his length in the mire. No sooner was Mr. Sydney reinstated on his logs, than he again consecpu'n- tially vociferated, "Do you know who I am?" " Who arc you ?" cried out the drunkard. " I am a magistrate," cried out Mr. Sydney, with even more consequence than before. " Tulvc that then," was the instantaneous reply of the staggerer, again prostrating Mr. Sydney on the ground. A rush was now made by some bystanders, not to rescue the man from the magistrate, but the magistrate from the man, which timely assistance in all pro- bability saved Mr. Silas Sydney from another roll in the dirt. On a subsequent occasion, a dog, from a cottage at the skirts of the town, ran alter him barking. This so much excited his anger, that he forthwith proceeded to reprove in no measured terms the poor cottager who owned the animid which had ofleuded him. '• Do you know who I am ?" said he, in his customary consequential way, towering with indig- nation. "Yes, sir," replied the simple cottager, " I knows who you be ; but the misfortune is, that my dog doesn't know it, sir." As the little great man walked away, smarting with woimded pride, his mortification was height- ened by hearing a band of boys, who happened to be playing near, mimicking his voice and manner, crying out to one another, " Do you know who I am ? Do you know who I am ?" This is a world of ups and downs, and Mr. Syd- ney found it to be such. His consequential dispo- sition led him to abandon trade, and to affect the fine gentleman -, but the littleness of his real worth so ill suited the largeness of his pretensions, that those who were of the grade to which he aspired had no desire for his society. His arrogance made liim enemies, and his measures brought upon him contempt. At last Ids name disappeared from the commission of the peace, his property declined, and by degrees, without the sympathy of a shigle being, the little great man became a neglected nobody. When he left the neighbourhood he was too un- important to be missed, and too worthless to be regretted. M;my years have now rolled away since IMr. Silas Sydney's career, and the records of his history are very scanty ; he never had a friend, and therefore cannot, as such, be remembered. No almshouse is inscribed with his name, aud no widow or orphan pronounces his name as a benefactor. In siiort, whether he is dead or alive, nobody seems either to know or care. Some time ago the inquiry was put to an old inhabitant of the place, " Do you remember any- thing of one Silas SydiicyP" "Oh yes!" said he, "a con cquential httle man, who wore thick-heeled boots, and a high-crowned hat. He was made a magistrate — more's the pity — and got laughed at by everybody for his aiTogance and conceited ques- tion, ' Do vou know who I am, sir P Do you know who I am?'" WORKMEN'S CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES. CoNSiDEn.vT5LT: attention has been drawn of late* to certain industrial associations which have been formed among the working classes, with the avowed purpose of improving their temporal con- dition. Such a design was worthy the respectful notice of ever}' philaiitliropist, not only because it emanated from working men, and bespoke an ear- nest desire to rise in the social scale, but because it brought before the world an untried principle, and predicted large results from its extensive ap- plication. The plan proposed was, briefly, that the working classes should become, to a great extent, their own employers, by subscribing among them- selves, or bon'owing on interest, sufficient cajjital to set themselves to work. It was argued that such a step would not only be beneficial to the in- dividuals immediately concerned in it, by enabhng them to appropriate the profits of the employers ; but that, by lessening competition in the labour market, it would have a general tendency to raise wages. It would, perhaps, be premature to say that the experiment has failed, since the time during which the vaiious associations have been in existence is not sufficient for a fair trial. More than thirty have been commenced in Lancashire and Yorkshire alone, but scai-cely one of these can number more than three years, while the great buUc have been formed within the last twelve months. But however the experiment may turn out, the mere working of it is a remarkable phe- nomenon of our times, and caimot fail to exert a powerfiU and beneficial influence upon the opinions of the working classes. It has furnished them with an oppovtunity for taking a practical lesson on some of the fundamental doctrines of political economy, and has already thrown more light upon the relations which subsist between the employer and the employed, than coidd have resulted from the zealous labours of twenty lecturers. We shall watch the progress of these industrial associations with much interest, and occasionally repoit upon them to the reader ; meanwhile, it may be both interesting and instructi'"* to give a brief account of one with which we arc personally acquainted. It will afibrd us some clue to the nature of those aspirations after an improved condition, which are the true basis of the present movement, and bring out some features of the moral state of our opera- tives, which may be of some service to those who • Tli'i3 pnppr was writ (on bcfoi'o the recent cnpinpors* strike ; but dpi'i%os much additioual iinpoi'tauco Iroiu its bearini; uu that question.