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From The Economist. UNIFORM WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

ent places. This is not creditable :—it savcrs much more of the inveterate character of THE important object of uniformity of habit than of earnest love of practical imweights and measure has not made much pro-provement :—and we will venture to say that gress by the discussion upon Mr. Lock's Bill, if the change had, from its nature, been one introduced with a view to that end, and re-within the compass of the exertions of private jected upon the second reading. It is not merchants or engineers, in place of being creditable to the legislative wisdom of the only possible by an effort of legislation, the House of Commons that an object with re- difficulty would have been solved long ago. gard to the necessity and convenience of which Take the article of grain alone:-in some all are so well agreed, should offer difficulties districts it is sold by measure, in some by in its accomplishment apparently insurmount-weight, in others by measure and weight comable. Committee after Committee has con-bined. In some districts it is sold by the sidered the subject;-attempts one after an- load; in some by the imperial quarter; in other have been made to reduce the general some by a bushel different in contents from wish into legislative form;—and now in the the imperial bushel; in some by a bushel year 1858, we are just where we were, so far weighing 70 lbs. (wheat); in some by the as uniformity is concerned, when the first boll; in some by the barrel:-nay, it is not Committee was appointed nearly twenty-five too much to say that not only the terms, but years ago. This was just one of the ques- the actual quantities represented by a quoted tions which we were fairly entitled to expect price, vary in almost every county-somewould be successfully handled by the practical times in the different parts of the same counmen who have been introduced into Parlia- ty. But is there no general practice common ment under the Reform Bill. What is the to all these varieties of terms which indicates evil we have to remedy? It is plain and a solution of the difficulty? We think there simple, and one that is really of practical in- is. With regard to grain, there are many convenience to a large number of persons:- elements which enter into the consideration landowners, farmers, corn-dealers, merchants, of its value. There is white wheat and red and all that class of politicians who watch the wheat, and of each of these there is a great progress of the great material interests of variety, as well of sorts as of qualities, influthe country. The United Kingdom is a small enced by the soil and place of growth :-so space;-intercourse from its extreme corners, of barley and oats. But there is one element by means of railways and steamboats, has common to all, which more than any other become as general as a quarter of a century consideration indicates the value of grain ;— ago it was between the different parts of the and that is, its weight. So much is this the same county. The very essence of the ad- case, that among all the various denominavantage in one point of view, and that nation- tions in which it is by custom dealt in, in pracally speaking perhaps the most important tice the weight is always an ingredient in the one, of the increased facilities of intercourse | bargain :-nay, in many cases has this practice which recent improvements have provided, is been carried so far, that a denomination of the more easy distribution of the productions measure no longer represents a cubical conof its different parts over the whole, by which tent, but a given weight. For example, in supply is adapted exactly to the requirements Ireland, a barrel of oats, which was originally of each place, and prices are as nearly as pos- a measure, is now simply a uniform weight. sible equalized everywhere. Well, we have In Liverpool, the bushel of wheat is no longer been able to make railways, to construct a measure, but the weight of 70 lbs. ;-a canals, to build and establish steamboats; weight, by the by, which a bushel of wheat all these means of communication are, and never reaches. And even where the measure have long been, at our command, while as yet is still adhered to, the quarter, the sack, the we have not discovered the means of reducing load, or the boll, though only quoted by those to one common term or denomination the different names, yet in actual transactions, a weights and measures in which the price of condition that the grain shall be of a given commodities is expressed, and which is essen- weight is part of the bargain. Wheat is sold tial to the public at large being able to appre- to weigh 60 lbs. to 64 lbs. to the bushel; or ciate the real comparison of prices in differ- oats to weigh 36 lbs. to 40 lbs. to the bushel.

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The buyer is not satisfied unless he gets both | weight, say by the fifty pounds or the hundred the measure and the weight; and if the meas-pounds, a comparison as nearly exact as is ure does not give the stipulated weight, he is possible might be easily made. And if weights entitled to as much more as will make it up. corresponding with the existing imperial But does not all this show that weight is the measures were adopted, the practical change essence of the bargain? If transactions take would be very small, and the means of complace by weight, it is not needful to stipulate parison with former years very easy. For exfor measure :—if they take place by measure, ample, if wheat were sold by a uniform weight it is necessary to stipulate for weight. If all of sixty pounds, and oats by a uniform weight the country sold by measure, even though the of forty pounds, such weights would corressame, the prices quoted would afford but an pond so nearly with the imperial quarter, that indifferent criterion of the relative cheapness the statistics of the trade for all purposes in each place, unless the weight also were would remain perfect and complete; and an added; but if all sold by weight, a comparison easy comparison between the old and new as accurate as can possibly be made would be system would be practicable. easy without any additional information as to measure. Prices quoted in different places, though all in the imperial quarter, could not be compared with exactness; but quoted in

We trust the matter will not be permitted to rest where it does, but that some solution will be found to the great inconvenience which attends the present system.

ONE of the most interesting passages in mod- Our bodies die, and turn to dust. The whole ern literary history, is that in which the great animal and vegetable creations have their period ornithologist of our time met the sudden de- of growth and decay. The waters wear the struction of the treasures he had accumulated in stones. But in this change, there is no loss or fifteen years of incessant exploration. At the destruction of elementary particles. Dissolving shock of what seemed an irremediable disaster elements appear again in new combinations, and he was thrown into a fever which had well-nigh new forms of utility and beauty. The waters proved fatal. " A burning heat," as he described absorbed by the atmosphere, go up by the it, "rushed through my brain; and my days mountains, gather into clouds, and descend in were oblivion." But as consciousness returned, showers to water the earth, and enter into the and the rally of nature fought back the sudden structure of all living things. And may not a incursion of disease, there sang again through law something like this exist in Gods spiritual his wakening thoughts the wild notes he had kingdom? Will He, who watches over the heard on the bayous of Louisiana, the ever-changing clements of senseless matter, so that glades of Florida, the savannahs of the Carolinas, no one particle is ever lost, or comes short of its and the forests that fringe the sides of the destination, permit those good influences which, Alleghanics. He saw again the Washington eagle, as it soared and screamed from its far rocky eyrie. He startled again, from her perch on the firs, the brown warbler of Labrador. He traced in thought the magic hues on crest and wing, that so often had shone before the dip of his rifle. And the passion for new expeditions and discoveries, arising afresh, was more to him than medicine. In three years more, passed far from home, he had filled once more the despoiled portfolios; and at every step, as he told his biographer, "it was not the desire of fame that prompted him; it was his exceeding enjoyment of nature."

No GOOD LOST. It is a law in the material world, that nothing is absolutely lost. The place, the form, the material of objects change.

by grace, have originated in the faith of his people, ever to be lost, or to come short of their end? Will they not certainly enter into this glorious building, and contribute something to the completeness of its form and perfection of its beauty? The good influences exerted by pious men, often seem to men to be utterly dissipated. When the blood of the Christian martyrs was poured on the sands of Rome, their persecutors imagined that they had made an end of their doctrine. But that blood washed into the Tiber, was carried by its waters into the sca, and by the sea into the ocean, and by its waves to every kingdom of the earth: and thus became a type, not more of the spreading doctrines of Christianity, than of the augmented and widely diffused influences of those holy men.

Extracts from the Defence of Guenevere, and other | If I were rich I would kiss her feet, Poems. By William Morris.

RIDING TOGETHER.

FOR many, many days together

The wind blew steady from the East; For many days hot grew the weather, About the time of our Lady's Feast. For many days we rode together,

Yet met we neither friend nor foe;
Hotter and clearer grew the weather,
Steadily did the East wind blow.

We saw the trees in the hot, bright weather,
Clear-cut, with shadows very black,
As freely we rode on together

With helms unlaced and bridles slack.
And often, as we rode together,

We, looking down the green-bank'd stream, Saw flowers in the sunny weather,

And saw the bubble-making bream. And in the night lay down together,

And hung above our heads the rood, Or watch'd night-long in the dewy weather, The while the moon did watch the wood. Our spears stood bright and thick together, Straight out the banners stream'd behind, As we gallop'd on in the sunny weather, With faces turn'd towards the wind. Down sank our threescore spears together, As thick we saw the pagans ride; His eager face in the clear fresh weather, Shone out that last time by my side. Up the sweep of the bridge we dash'd together, It rock'd to the crash of the meeting spears, Down rain'd the buds of the dear spring weather The elm-tree flowers fell like tears. There, as we roll'd and writhed together, I threw my arms above my head, For close by my side, in the lovely weather I saw him reel and fall back dead.

I and the slayer met together,

He waited the death-stroke there in his place,
With thoughts of death, in the lovely weather,
Gapingly mazed at my madden'd face.
Madly, I fought as we fought together;
In vain the little Christian band
The pagans drown'd, as in stormy weather
The river drowns low-lying land.
They bound my blood-stain'd hands together,
They bound his corpse to nod by my side;
Then on we rode, in the bright March weather,
With clash of cymbals did we ride.
We ride no more, no more together;
My prison-bars are thick and strong,

I take no heed of any weather,
The sweet Saints grant I live not long.

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I would kiss the place where the gold hems

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Yet even now it is good to think,
While my few poor varlets grumble and drink
In my desolate hall, where the fires sink, -
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.
Of Margaret sitting glorious there,
In glory of gold and glory of hair,
And glory of glorious face most fair;

Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.
Likewise to-night I make good cheer,
Because this battle draweth near:
For what have I to lose or fear?—

Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.
For, look you, my horse is good to prance
A right fair measure in this war-dance,
Before the eyes of Philip of France;

Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite. And sometime it may hap, perdie, While my new towers stand up three and three, And my hall gets painted fair to see

Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite — That folks may say: "Times change, by the rood,

For Lambert, banneret of the wood,
Has heaps of food and firewood;

"

Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite. "And wonderful eyes, too, under the hood Of a damsel of right noble blood; St. Ives, for Lambert of the wood! Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.

SUMMER DAWN.

PRAY but one prayer for me 'twixt thy closed lips,

Think but one thought of me up in the stars. The summer night waneth, the morning light slips,

Faint and grey 'twixt the leaves of the aspen, betwixt the cloud-bars,

That are patiently waiting there for the dawn: Patient and colorless, thongh Heavens' gold Waits to float through them along with the sun, Far out in the meadows, above the young corn, The heavy elms wait, and restless and cold The uneasy wind rises; the roses are dun; Through the long twilight they pray for the dawn,

Round the lone house in the midst of the corn. Speak but one word to me over the corn. Over the tender, bow'd locks of the corn.

No. 738.-17 July 1858.-Enlarged Series, No. 16.

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POETRY.-Taste, 215. Music, 215. The Spreading Speck, 215. Love, 239. Oh, love while love is left thee, 240. Golden Wedding Song, 240. Gone Home, 240. Prayer, 240. SHORT ARTICLES.-Judge Duer, 189. Walled Lakes of the West, 193. Neglected Merit in England 197. Accident on Egyptian Railway, 200. Flood at Cairo, 200. Mormonism, 200. Mr. Church's Picture of Niagara, 205. Greek Funeral Oration, 210. Monster Mortar, 212. Fossil Footprints, 222. Piedmontese Honesty, 222. Our Relation to God, 230. The Rogues' Gallery, 230. Queen of Portugal, 230. Jewish Lady vs. Miss Mutock, 234.

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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IN the article on the Progress of English | as to which of them should gain most advantage Agriculture, we expected to find fuller acknowl- in the eyes of the voters. Grave and experiedgment of American machinery, especially of enced Senators have thus shown how much they ploughs. Much may be learned of the practi- were wanting in high qualities, though we fear cability of great results from large outlay upon they understand "the people better than comparatively small farms. Forty years ago an English visitor expressed his surprise to us at the want of sufficient cultivation upon' American land. He thought a quarter of the surface would produce more with proper tillage. And most of the English improvements have been made since that time:

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Spirits over the Water," is a fair hit upon us. It must be confessed that the credulous folly of which it speaks has not been confined to the ignorant and uneducated-but has spread to the respectable classes. It is mystery which we cannot solve. It has been said that as mere polish cannot make a good sword, when the true metal is wanting, so education can only improve what faculties a man hath already-and cannot give him common sense in addition to them. But many persons of even more than ordinary sagacity are carried away by these pretended spirits and by Mormonism, and other delusions equally baseless.

In the dispute between England and ourselves about the visits to American ships, we cannot avoid feeling how disadvantageously the Senators of the United States compare with the members of Parliament. On one side boasting and bluster; on the other an earnest profession of a desire to do right, and make reparation for wrong;-and a very courteous ignoring, generally, of the tone of the American complaints. It is humiliating to think that the bombast on our side was a strife between contending parties

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If all the moral and material arguments in favor of peace have so little weight in our enlightened republic"-how can we rely upon them as respects European nations. France, armed to the teeth; irritated by the independence and the suspicious scorn of the English press; with demoralized Austria and "downtrodden" Italy within her grasp; and in her own bosom an imprisoned mass of fire gathering strength to burst the outside shell! We look on with awe and dread, awaiting the fearful explosion. As if to fill up the measure of its iniquity the Imperial government which undertook to colonize and civilize Africa, has opened anew the Slave Trade. Add to all these portents the present condition of Asia—and well may "all faces gather blackness" as we try to look into the clouds and darkness which hurry toward us.

We learn that Madam Knight was not originally published by Theodore Dwight, brother of President Dwight, and long the editor of the N. Y. Daily Advertiser-but by his son, still living in the city of New York, a portion of whose extensive correspondence may be found at page 193 of this number.

The article on Stephen Girard is not copied as if correct in all particulars.

That on Trade with China should be read in connection with the Prospects of Peace or War.

NEW BOOKS.

MESSRS. Childs and Peterson, Philadelphia, | phia, has_acknowledged our former notices of have published Mr. James, new novel-Lord Montague's Page; an Historical Romance of the Seventeenth Century.

The Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, Philadel

his New Testament in separate volumes,-by sending a complete set of the same in the Tract Edition, in which 12 small volumes in paper covers comprise the 27 books-price 1.50.

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