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toes annually. When this man was turned adrift upon the world by the enclosure of the common, if he had been without hope, or if the rood of land for which he asked had been denied, he and his six children, and his pregnant wife, might have gone to the workhouse, and become a burden to the public, instead of setting it an example, and teaching a most important lesson to their superiors. We will transcribe Sir Thomas Bernard's words, and print them, as he has done, in a manner which may tend to excite the attention they deserve. Five unsightly, unprofitable acres of waste ground would afford habitation and comfort to twenty such families as Britton Abbot's.' The quarter of an acre which was granted him was not worth a shilling a year before it came into his hands.

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Joseph Austin, a bricklayer in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, had often looked with a longing eye upon a bit of ground by the road side, part of what is called the Lord's Waste, by a which reflects little credit upon manorial rights, or parochial management. Whenever he looked at this spot he used to think what a nice place it would be for a house: and being a house-builder by trade, and something of a castle-builder by nature, he used, as soon as he fell asleep at night, to dream that he was at work there with his bricks and his trowel. At length he applied to the manor court, and got a verbal leave to build there. Two of his neighbours, moved by envy as he says, threatened that if he began

his house they would pull it
down; upon this he applied a se-
cond time to the court, and ob-
tained a legal permission with
the assent of all the copyholders,
paying for the entry of his name
And here we
on the court rolls, and sixpence
a year quit rent.
must do our country the justice
to observe, that if a man of known
industry and good character, like
Joseph Austin or Britton Abbot,
applies for an indulgence of this
kind, there is very little proba-
bility that the application will
be refused. Austin was at this
time about forty-two years of age;
he had a wife and four children,
and his whole stock of worldly
riches amounted to fourteen shil-
lings: but men who deserve
friends are seldom without them;
and a master, with whom he
usually worked at harvest, sold
him an old cottage for nine gui-
neas, which he was to work out.
He had for some time in his lei-
sure hours been preparing bats, a
sort of bricks made of clay and
straw, well beaten together, eigh-
teen inches long, twelve wide,
and four deep, not burnt, but
dried in the sun; with these and
the materials of the old cottage
he went to work. The bats make
a better wall than lath and plaster
with a coating of clay, less wood
is required, and the house is
stronger and warmer; but they
must be protected from rain as
As he had
much as possible, and especially
toward the bottom.
to live and support his family by
his daily labour, this building
could only be carried on when his
regular day's work was done; he
has often continued it by moon-
twelve
light, and heard the clock strike

twelve before he withdrew from an occupation in which his heart was engaged; this, too, when he

had to rise at four the next morning, walk to Cambridge (nearly four miles distant) to his work, and return in the evening. If his constitution had not been unusually strong, it must have sunk under these extraordinary exertions-a fate more frequent than is generally supposed among the industrious poor. But he seems to have possessed an unweariable frame of body, as well as an invincible spirit. When the building was one story high, and the beams were to be laid on, the carpenter discovered that the timber from the old cottage would not serve for so large a place. This was a severe disappointment nothing, however, discouraged him; he covered it over with a few loads of haum, and immediately began a small place in the same manner, at the end, working at this with such perseverance that he got his family in within four months after the foundations were laid. This great object being accomplished, he went on leisurely with the rest as he could save money for what was wanting after five years he raised the second story, and in ten it was tiled and coated; the inside was not completed when Mr. Plumtre communicated the story to the society, but there was house room for himself and his family, and another apartment was let for a guinea a year.

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'In this manner,' says that gentleman, Joseph Austin, with singular industry and economy, in the course of ten years built himself a house, which he began

with only 14s. in his pocket. During that time his wife had four children, and buried as many more. The money which it cost him was about 501., the whole of which was saved from the earnings of daily labour. The house and garden occupy about twenty poles of ground; and the garden is as creditable as the house to the industry and good sense of the owner; one of the fences was made of sweetbriar and roses mixed with woodbine, another of dwarf plum-trees, and against the back of the house he had planted a vine, a nectarine, and a peach-tree.'

PARODY OF A CAMBRIDGE EXAMINATION PAPER.

[The following jeu-d'Esprit is written with perfect goodhumour, and we have no doubt will excite nothing but corresponding good-humour even in the persons against whom it is principally levelled. Every Cambridge man, who has undergone

the ordeal of an examination for an university scholarship, will, we think, find amusement in reading this Parody of the usual style of the Papers of Questions.Times.]

UTOPIA UNIVERSITY,

Undecember 9657.

1. Give a comparative sketch of the principal English Theatres, with the dates of their erection, and the names of the most eminent Candle-snuffers at each. What were the Stage-boxes? What were the Offices of Promp

ter

ter-Ballet-master-and Sceneshifter? In what part of the Theatre was the one-shilling Gallery? Distinguish accurately between Operas and Puppet-shews. 2. Where was Downing-street? Who was Prime Minister when Crib defeated Molineux-and where did the battle take place? Explain the terms milling-fibbing-cross-buttock-neck and

crop-bang up-and-prime.

3. Give the dates of all the Parliaments from their first institution to the period of the hard frost on the Thames. In what month of what year was Mr. Abbot elected Speaker? Why was he called the little man in the wig ?" When the Speaker was out of the chair, where was the mace put?

4. Enumerate the principal houses of call in and about London, marking those of the Tailors, Bricklayers, and Shoemakers, and stating from what Brewery each house was supplied with Brown Stout. Who was the tutelary Saint of the Shoemakers? At what time was his feast celcbrated? Who was Saint Swithin? Do you remember any remarkable English proverb respecting him?

5. Give a ground plan of Gilead House. Mention the leading topics of the Guide to Health, with some account of the Anti-Impetigines-Daffy's Elixir-Blaine's Distemper Powders Ching's Worm Lozenges-and Hooper's Female Pills.

6. Give characters of Wat Tyler, Jack Cade, and Sir Francis Burdett. Did the latter return from the Tower by water or land? On what occasion did Mr. Lethbridge's "hair stand on ind?" VOL. LVIII.

Correct the solecism, and give the reason of your alteration.

7. Enumerate the roads on which double toll was taken on Sundays. Did this custom extend to Christmas Day and Good Friday? Who was toll-taker at Tyburn, when Mrs. Brownrigg was executed ?

8. Distinguish accurately between Sculls and Qars-Boat and Punt-Jack-ass and DonkeyGauger, Exciseman, and Supervisor Pantaloons, Trowsers, Gaiters, and Over-alls-At what place of education were any of these forbidden? Which? and Why?

9. Express the following words in the Lancashire; Derbyshire, London, and Exmoor dialects— Bacon-Poker-You-I-Doctor-and Turnpike-gate.

10. Mention the principal coach Inns in London, with a correct list of the Coaches which set out from the Bolt-in-Tun. Where were the chief stands of Hackney Coaches?-and what was the number of that in which the Princess Charlotte drove to Connaught House? To what stand do you suppose this removed after it set

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15. What was the distinguishing title of the Mayors of London? Did any other city share the honour? Give a list of the Mayors of London from Sir Richard Whittington to Sir William Curtis, with an account of the Cat of the first, and the Weight of the last. What is meant by Lord Mayor's day? Describe the Apothecaries' Barge, and give some

account of Marrow-bones and Cleavers.

16. When was Spyring and Marsden's Lemon Acid invented? Distinguish between this and Essential Salt of Lemons. Enu

merate the principal Patentees, especially those of Liquid Blacking.

17. Scan the following LinesBut for shaving and tooth-drawing, Bleeding, cabbaging and sawing, Dicky Gossip, Dicky Gossip is the man!

What is known of the character and history of Dicky Gossip?

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

HISTORY. The district of Columbia was originally inhabited by a tribe of Indians called the Manahoacs, who, who according to Smith, were at constant enmity with the Powhatans of Virperfectly known. ginia. Their history is but imWar, the small-pox, and the introduction of spirituous liquors, thinned the population rapidly. In 1669 a census was taken; and it was found that in sixty-two years onethird of their former numbers was wanting. They are said to have migrated westwardly, and to have become blended with the Tuscaroras. This district was ceded by Virginia and Maryland in 1794, and became the permanent seat of the general government in 1800. At the time of its

cession, the principal proprietors on the eastern side of the Potomac were D. Carrol, N. Young, and D. Burns, who cultivated corn, tobacco, and wheat, where the city now stands. The selection of this site enriched those proprietors, particularly the former, who, however, from a mistaken policy, has withered the growth of that section of the city in which most of his property lies. The heir of the latter, Mr. Von Ness, pursued a different systeni, and by disposing of his ground on moderate terms, has contributed to the rapid improvement of his section of the metropolis, and to the consequent increase of value in property.

TOPOGRAPHY.

TOPOGRAPHY. This district is 10 miles square, and includes within its limits the city of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown; its diagonal lines are north and south, east and west. The southern angle is at Fort Columbus, at the mouth of Hunting Creek, on the left bank of the Potomac. From this the lines run at an angle of 45 degrees to the distance of 10 miles.

The district is composed of portions of Virginia and Maryland on the east and west side of the Potomac, a grand and beautiful river, which rises in the Allegany Mountains, and after a meandering course of near 400 miles, empties itself into the Chesapeake Bay. The Potomac is navigable to vessels of considerable burden as high as George-town; and by means of locks which have been erected at the great and little falls, a navigation is afforded to boats of no inferior magnitude, for 100 miles nearer its

There are several fisheries on the Potomac very productive and valuable, not only to the proprietors, but to the inhabitants, who are thus easily and cheaply furnished with the means of subsistence during the remainder of the year.

Shad are sold at the different landings for three dollars per hundred, and herrings at fifty cents per thousand. The following is a list of the principal fish caught at these fisheries:-viz. shad, herrings, sturgeon, rock, gar, carp, pike, six varieties of the perch, mullett, and cat-fish.

The soil is various-on the banks of the Eastern Branch and Potomac there is a deep and rich

alluvium, which contains "frag-
ments of primitive mountains,
pyrites, gravel and sand, shells,
and the remains of vegetable sub-
stances." Mr. Goden says, that
Rock Creek, which divides George-
town from the city, separates the
primitive from the alluvian soil.

Though the soil in parts of the
district is steril, it is capable of
being highly improved by the ap-
plication of plaster or any other
species of compost, and might,
from its convenience to an excel-
lent market, be made, by enter-
prising and industrious agricultu-
ralists, eminently productive and
fertile. Its natural productions
are such as are common to the
adjacent states. There is, con-
venient to it, an extensive quarry
of free-stone on the Acquia Creek,
and another of beautiful marble
on the Seneca, which has recently
been discovered.

CLIMATE, &C.-The climate of the district is liable to frequent and sudden changes-in summer excessively hot, and in winter but it does not appear very cold; to be more pregnant with diseases than other portions of the United States. The healthy appearance. and longevity of the inhabitants indicate its salubrity; and, indeed, when we consider the flowing nature of its surface, the free admission of pure and wholesome air, and the excellence of its water, in which it stands unrivalled in the United States, we cannot but believe it must be healthy.Mr. Blodget estimated the annual 48 to 50: at New York, one of deaths in Washington at one of 44 to 50; Baltimore, one of 42 to 49; and in Charleston, one of superior 2 R2 35 to 40, which establishes the

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