seventeen to the Staples, or Fern islands, off the coast of Northumberland. But of the whole number, those with inhabitants, found and distinguished by the enumerators on the morning of March 31, 1851, amounted to one hundred and seventy-five, of which eighty-one belonged to the Hebrides, twenty-eight to the Orkneys, twenty-seven to the Shetlands, six to the Scilly, and six to the Channel islands. The gross insular population, as it may be called, amounted to 423,120, of which the greatest proportions were as follows: 16,668 Numbers dwindle to hundreds, tens, eights, and fives, down to units. Barry island, Glamorganshire, had four inhabitants; Chapel, Lancashire, three; Calne, Argyleshire, two; Inchcolm, off the west of Fife, one, a farm-labourer, having charge of thirty acres of land; and Little Papa, one of the Shetlands, one, a woman!! We should like to say something about this solitary lady-the queen of the rock-but the tables are provokingly silent upon the subject, and so must we be. MARK THE END OF THE UPRIGHT. than once, The calmest man there!-I could not have 'Dr. Young, who was present, said afterwards, more conceived it. I have been by hundreds of death-beds, and never saw anything like it. Not a look-not a tone! and they seemed to have loved him so!' Mean "In the course of the following day he said to his wife, 'Oh, M- I have had during this illness such an insight into the eternal world, that death seems a 57,318 mere transition. I believe heaven to be only an expan57,020 52,344 sion of that intense happiness which I am now enjoying 50,320 in communion with God. Oh, what a bauble is this 29,757 22,918 world! what a mere bubble to be caring about!' 21,528 "Early on Friday morning, the 19th, Mr. R. acci20,936 dentally set the bed on fire whilst giving his patient 12,334 some barley-water, and the whole furniture above his head was instantly in a blaze; but, happily, it was soon extinguished by the exertions of Mr. R., and sir M. Blakeston, who was then in the room. while the bishop was perfectly calm and placid, and did When the fire was put not speak or move a muscle. out, he said, You should never hold a candle inside a bed; it should be put on a table near it.' To Dr. Young, who inquired on coming into the room if he had not been agitated by the frightful accident, he replied, No; I am in God's hands; it would not certainly have been a pleasant death; but if it were His will that I should die so, what have I to say? I cannot help myself. Nothing can happen to me without God's permission.' Dr. Young immediately felt his pulse, and declared that not the slightest alteration in it had been occasioned by this strange and alarming occurrence. Every morning he had a chapter from the bible read to him, and afterwards a prayer offered up suitable to his state. He always chose a passage of the chapter on which to make a short practical comment. When Mrs. Shirley was reading to him 1 John iv., he stopped her at the eighteenth verse, and repeated, 'Yes, perfect love casteth out fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.' In the course of the afternoon he illustrated the meaning of the passage by saying, in answer to her question whether he was happy or comfortable, 'Yes, I am quite content to live or die. I am in perfect peace. Yes, perfect love casteth out fear. I have no little scruples; a child who loves its father is not always thinking whether he is offending. He does his best to please him, and feels assured of his love.' At another time, he exemplified the same text thus to Dr. Young; on a female servant's entering the room, he addressed her in terms of great kindness; when she left it he said, 'I cannot treat servants as some people do; I could not bear to be served with fear; where there is fear there is no love. Perfect love casteth out DR. SHIRLEY, the subject of the following sketch, shortly after having been appointed bishop of the diocese of Sodor and Man, was, while travelling, attacked by an illness, which, without at first seeming very dangerous, speedily assumed a fatal aspect. The subjoined extract from his biography will show what "perfect peace" attended the closing scene of his eminently holy and useful life. "The bishop had earnestly requested his wife not to conceal the result of the consultation, adding, I should wish to know it, whatever it may be.' Accordingly, when sufficiently recovered from the dreadful shock (the physicians' report had been decidedly unfavourable) to be able to speak, Mrs. Shirley, accompanied by her son, went into the room, and asked if she should read to him a chapter from the Bible. John xiv. was proposed; when he immediately said, Why do you choose that chapter? Walter read it to me yesterday.' It was then changed to 2 Cor. v. He listened with great attention, repeating after his wife parts that particularly struck him; especially the fourteenth verse, For the love of Christ constraineth us,' which he dwelt on with great emphasis; making, however, no remarks excepting on the vividness and earnestness of feeling displayed by the apostle in that chapter, so different from our own lukewarmness. Prayer was then offered up, his wife and son both kneeling by his bedside; after which he was told that the chapter and prayer had his case in view, and that the fatal termination of his illness was but too probable. The look of earnestness which he turned on his wife and son can never be forgotten by them; but he said nothing, and showed no signs whatever of emotion, excepting that a slight perspiration appeared on his forehead. In about a minute after he said,What a very happy and blessed life I have had! After this, some necessary allusions were Varieties. THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.The following facts and figures are from the Census Tables. They allude to the 1st of June, 1850. Circulation. No. Daylies 350 750,000 Tri-Weeklies 150 75,000 Semi-Weeklies 125 80,000 Weeklies 2000 2,875,000 SUBTERRANEAN RAILROAD.-The projected railway under London, from the lower end of the Edgware-road to the King's-cross, will, for the most part, run beneath the No. Copies Printed New-road. The length will be less than two miles and Annually. a half. There will be stations at very short distances, 235,000,000 say at every quarter of a mile; and it is intended that the 11,000,000 8,320,000 charges shall be so moderate, that the omnibuses will be 149,500,000 superseded. The charge for the whole distance in the ' 7,200,000 first-class will be only 2d. Every carriage will be abun10,800,000 dantly lighted. 900,000 20,000 80,000 5,000,000 422,600,000 Of these, 424 papers were published in the New England States, 876 in the Middle States, 716 in the Southern, and 784 in the Western States. Average circulation in the United States, 1785. There is one publication for every 7161 free inhabitants in the United States and terri-place was 97; and in 23 corps soldiers were punished, and 23. Rome 2,362,236 | 33. Venice 786,990 35. Prague 522,766 36. Barcelona 478,437 37. Genoa 441,931 39. New Orleans CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS IN THE ARMY.-A return to the House of Commons has been printed of the number of persons flogged in the army of Great Britain and Ireland in each of the years 1847 to 1852 inclusive, specifying the offence, the regiment, the place of station, the sentence, 1847, the number of corps in which no punishment took and the number of lashes inflicted. It appears that, in the number of men punished was 42. No return had been received from 12 corps. In 1848, no punishment occurred in 82 corps, and punishment in 35: the number of men punished was 94. In 1849, there were 93 corps without punishment, and punishment in 32: the number of men punished was 55. In 1850, no punishments occurred in 90 corps, and punishments in 37: the number of men punished was 58. In 1851, there were no punishments in 104 corps, and punishments in 28: the number punished was 58. While last year there were no punishments in 101 126,768 corps, and punishments in 31: the number of men punish125,000 ed was 45. For the last two years full returns were re124,181 ceived, but in other years returns had not been received. 120,000 The number of lashes inflicted was generally 50; in some 120,000 cases 25. The offences range from disgraceful conduct, making away with necessaries, violence to superiors, and 112,410 insubordination. Last year only two were flogged for 106,776 drunkeuness, and one for stealing from a comrade. 104,000 102,154 116,716 92,214 91,277 90,823 RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.-The following parallel view of 100,265 the relative rate of railway accidents between Great Britain 99,660 and America will show that, numerous as are those that take place in our own country, they are vastly exceeded by those occurring across the Atlantic. During the year 90,000 1852, of 89,135,729 railway passengers in Great Britain, 216 were killed, and 486 injured. During the same year, in the state of New York, of 7,440,653 passengers, 248 were killed, and 269 injured. 88,800 18. Amsterdam 200,000 51. Cork 77,587 21. Baltimore 189,054 53. Bologna 75,100 22. Palermo 180,000 54. Leghorn 74,530 172,382 55. Trieste 70,846 24. Warsaw 25. Leeds 26. Milan 28. Boston 29. Brussels 30. Turin 31. Copenhagen 32. Bordeaux 135,000 62. Frankfort 66,000 60,000 58,012 57,550 56,692 THE STRAW PAPER.-All our printing and writing papers, with the exception of coarser qualities of printing, for which cotton and other waste is sometimes used, have hitherto been made from old rags. The supply of material 62,000 is necessarily limited, and the price has lately increased. Within the past ten years we have known a difference of 50 per cent. in the value of rags. A plan was proposed some years since for the manufacture of paper from straw; but the article produced was extremely brittle. A large prevented their general employment. A firm in town quantity of packing papers was made, but the reason stated have lately advertised a paper made from straw for writing purposes. It is remarkably cheap, and although without that uniform appearance which we meet in good post papers, yet the finish of the surface is admirable. Some gentlemen who have used it for a short time prefer it to fine post of the ordinary make; and from the nature of the paper and the quality of the surface, we think that it is inore useful for those who use steel pens than the ordinary descriptions of writing paper. The importance of this application can only be known to persons who have experienced the famine for old rags.-The Expositor. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.-The church stands on 2 acres 16 perches of ground, and the iron balustrades by which it is surrounded stand on a dwarf stone wall, having seven gates; the balustrades are 5 feet 6 inches high, and 2500 in number; they are among the first specimens of that article manufactured in this country, and weigh, it is said, no less than 200 tons 81 lb.! They cost the enormous sum of 11,2027., whereas the entire building itself cost only 747,9541.-Daily Paper. FLOW OF FRESH WATER INTO THE THAMES.-It appears, from the evidence before the committee on the water supply of the metropolis, that the immense volume of fresh water derived from the area of the drainage of the Thames, which comes over Teddington lock and mixes with the water below, is calculated at 800,000,000 gallons a day, or about sixteen square miles of water ninety feet deep. NEW VIEW OF AN OLD TRUTH.-A modern philosopher, taking the motion of the earth on its axis at 17 miles a second, says that if you take off your hat in the street to bow to a friend, you go seventeen miles bareheaded without taking cold. COFFEE AND COFFEE-HOUSES.-The first mention of coffee in our statute books is in 1660 (12 Car. c. 24), when a duty of 4d. was laid upon every gallon of coffee made and sold, to be paid by the maker. The statute 15 Car. II. C. 11, s. 15, directs that all coffee-houses, should be licensed at the general quarter-sessions. In 1675, Charles the Second issued a proclamation to shut up the coffee-houses, but in a few days suspended the proclamation by a second. They were charged with being seminaries of sedition. THE next Monthly Part, published on the First of January, and containing the completion of the second volume, will be charged SIXPENCE, instead of Fivepence, it being necessary to issue 53 numbers in the year. Just published, THE LEISURE HOUR FOR 1853: Consisting of 848 pp. of letter-press, with numerous Engravings, handsomely bound in cloth boards, 6s.; extra boards, gilt, 7s. 6d, The VOLUME FOR 1854 will commence with a TALE ILLUSTRATIVE OF AUSTRALIAN LIFE, and a Series of Papers entitled "ECHOES OF WESTMINSTER HALL." ADAPTED FOR A PRESENT, THE CHRISTIAN WREATH OF PROSE, POETRY, AND ART: Foolscap, 8vo, with Eight beautiful Oil Coloured Engravings, extra boards, gilt edges, price 5s. STARS OF THE EAST; OR, PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. BY REV. JOHN STOUGHTON. THE BROTHER AND SISTER; or, The Way of Peace. 18mo, with Engravings; 1s. 6d. cloth bds.; 2s. extra bds., gilt. MODERN EDINBURGH: Monthly Volume, No. XCVII; 6d. fancy covers; 10d. cloth boards, gilt edges. THE SCRIPTURE POCKET-BOOK FOR 1854: With a beautiful Engraving of EDINBURGH, in Oil Colours; 1s. 4d. neat cover; 2s. roan tuck; Containing an Almanack-Passage of Scripture for every day-an arrangement for reading the Bible through in a Year-and a great variety of useful information. "It is a copious, carefully compiled, and most useful Pocket Companion-a boon to those who desire a serious and loving monitor and companion in the dusty ways of the world." THE CHRISTIAN ALMANACK FOR 1854: With a Frontispiece of the Interior of the New House of Commons. It contains Astronomical and other Information of popular Interest; and is a copious and cheap Almanack. Price 6d. in neat cover; 8d. superior cover, gilt edges; 1s. 4d. half-bound and interleaved. THE SHEET ALMANACK. PRICE 1d. THE TRACT SOCIETY PENNY ALMA- THE POCKET-BOOK ALMANACK, In- CHRISTIAN TITLES: a Series of Practical Meditations. By STEPHEN H. TYNG, D.D. Royal 18mo. 2s. cloth boards. CHARLES ROUSSEL; or, Industry and THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 64mo. SUCCESSFUL MEN OF MODERN TIMES. Monthly Volume, No. xovI. 6d. fancy cover; 10d. cloth boards, gilt edges. |