IRELAND.

In the absence of commensurate undertakings to meet all the evils which have and do afflict this fine unhappy country, a new and improved practice has, with the avowed sanction of the Lord Lientenant, and under the recommendation of the Judges, been recently adopted by the county magistrates, for the adjustment of minor differences and the cognizance of trifling offences. Petty sessions are to be held and attended by four or five justices, who are to determine upon cases which had been formerly brought before a single magistrate.

Five men, among whom were a father and son, were lately executed at Cork, for the alledged offence of setting fire to the mills and dwelling-house of Charles Hennesey, near Castletown, in that county. Previously to being turned off, the Rev. Justin. F. M'Namara made the following observations on behalf of the unhappy men. "These men, now about to die, have severally and individually directed me to say, what in their presence I now say, that though they die with respect for the laws of their country, yet, in justice to their own characters, they think themselves bound, as before God they are in their conscience enabled to do, that they are innocent of this single transaction for which they are about to suffer."

Married.] At Bishop's Court, the Earl of Fitzwilliam, to the Dowager Lady Ponsonby. At Dublin, F. Bruen, esq. to Lady Catharine, daughter of the Earl of Westmeath.-The Hon. and Rev. G. Gore, dean of Killala, to Mary, widow of T. B. Isaac, of Holywood-house, county of Down.-Lieut. James Knight, R.N. to Miss C. Christmas, of Whitfield, Waterford. Died.] At Dublin, in Fitzwilliam-square, Lady Saxton, widow of Sir Charles S. bart. of Goosey, Berks.

At Derry, 76, the Rev. C. O'Donnell, esq. D.D. Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Derry. During thirty years that he exercised the prelatical functions, his conduct secured the regard of all ranks. At Dungannon, Capt. J. Anderson, R.M. At Glasnevin, near Dublin, Viscountess Mountmorres.

DEATHS ABROAD.

At Magdeburgh, 70, Count Carnot, one of the ablest, honestest republicans, which the revolution of France produced. Hẹ was born on the 13th of May, 1753, and was one of the most extraordinary men of his time. A member of the Convention, one of the committee of Public Safety, alternately war-minister, and one of the execntive directory in the senate, in the war bureau or the Tuileries, he never laid aside the plainness of republican simplicity. Under his admini. stration, seven hundred thousand men appeared on the froutiers in arms, as repub lican defenders of resuscitated France; and, in the language of the eloquent Barrère, Carnot “organized victory and rendered her permanent." He subse quently saw the feeble Directory and Republic overthrown by the ambition of an individual, backed by military force, while the cold and metaphysical Sièyes, with Barras, pandered to the power of the popular and aspiring victor. During Bonaparte's career, as first consul and consul for life, and his subsequent assump. tion of the imperial dignity, Carnot remained in retirement. He emerged from it when the tide of misfortune begau to roll heavily on Napoleon and France; and he offered his services in the hour of danger. Antwerp was committed to his charge, and the ability with which he defended that important city, until after the recall of the Bourbons, is fresh in the memory of all. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, he was again appointed war-minister, and accepted the title of count. The second return of the Bourbons again brought exile and po verty on Carnot. He addressed one or two able and powerful remonstrances to Louis, on the policy then pursuing; but the advice of Carnot was rejected, and he retired, proscribed, first to Warsaw, but, on the invitation of Frederick, came to Magdeburgh, where he died. Carnot is still survived by Barrère and David, both of whom reside in the Netherlands, and in the fate of Spain behold the justification of the Committee of Public Safety. At Rome, 81, Pope Pius the Seventh.

to consider the science of civil and criminal legislation as only in its rudiments,-alleging that different means of decomposing and accurately analysing, of rendering it more correct and simple, are what we should now pay the most attention to.

Whether such language is admissible and can be tolerated, whether we should readily take for true whatever is thus plausibly and positively asserted, is a questionable proposition, which different authors will either establish, or consider as erroneous. It appears, however, to be a matter of which nothing can be really known, but by a combination of theoretical generalities, with numerous practical particulars. It requires a knowledge of human nature, not only in the abstract, but as modified by the intricate relations of property, and the influence of civilization. Legislation is difficult, but that system of government seems to be the best, which is best 'suited to the character, habits, and genius, of the people for whom it is designed.

The late long interval of European revolutionary tumults was only a suc. cession of tyrannics, exchanging one species of usurpation and despotism for another. But there is this singular result, this remarkable and serious consequence,-an important and extensive conclusion has been drawn, in favour of the political principles defended, with ardour, in the course of it, so that men no longer entertain different opinions on the common ground of reforming the general economy and order of society.

According to this opinion, now circulating in almost every part of polished Europe, political integrity, the science of morals, and virtuous philanthrophy, should give to the whole body of civil institutions, among the people with whom they have their intimate connexion, that general impression of character which is now ascribed to the principle of justice.

In France, both before and since the revolution, there is a growing moral fitness for the precious gift of civil liberty. But in Great Britain the genuine love of it is the ruling passion among the people, which shows that they are not yet become ready for slavery. It is here that we meet with true philanthropy, as the striking characteristic trait, principally founded on an

inviolable regard for sublime moral considerations. It is here that a sense of personal worth, of real dignity and importance, is preserved, which prevents individuals from forgetting that they are men.

With a portion of political freedom, North Britain certainly unites no common share of the beneficent talents. The author of this sketch, M. Jullien, had read the late work of Mr. Owen, wherein that well-informed and ingenious man describes with minuteness, and explains, all the circumstances of his laboured exertions and affectionate attentions to his colonial family. lo the month of September 1822, ˇM. J. personally visited the establishment of New Lanark, prosecuting his enquiries with spirit, into the subjects, details, and occurrences, which render the situation of that institution so pecu liarly comfortable. Here he spent a day in noting the labours of the workmen employed; the instructions, the exercises, the sports for recreation, of the young persons brought up in that obscure, picturesque valley, that delicious retreat. In the administration, he traced a superior spirit, sufficient to incline and direct well all the proceedings and exertions, with all their graceful accessories. The whole formed a safe asylum, wherein the poor man has left his distresses and his difficulties behind bim, has to struggle with none of those feelings and pas sions, the gratification of which is what ambition covets almost every where else.

It was a primary object of the author, in his tour through England and Scotland, in the summer of 1822, to visit Mr. Owen's institution, to learn whether it was fairly entitled to the celebrity which fame had conferred on it. He set out from Glasgow to New Lanark, a distance of twenty-three English miles: through this district, in most branches of agriculture, he notices with approbation the improved culture that prevails in the fertile and productive fields, meadows, gardens, orchards, &c. The crops were wonderfully luxuriant, and the success was proportioned to the attention paid, in no common degree, to the particular cultivation of each. In this excursion M. J. had a companion, M. B, a judicious and candid Frenchman, long resident in England, who also, from motives of curiosity,

1

wished

wished to form a distinct idea of the nature of the scene of his observations. We left our carriage (says the author,) in the old town of Lanark; and, with a young peasant for our guide, proceeded to New Lanark. The distance was not more than a quarter of a league; but appeared to be much more considerable, from the immense disparity, as to civilization, and the expansion of its various powers, operating in conjunction with a notion of elegance and refinement, be tween the place we had left, and Mr. Owen's system in its actual establishment. In one, the sentiment of mutual accommodation displays itself; a preference being given to its tendencies, to all the means that, when fully assisted and improved, point to it as a certain end. In the other, feelings of comparative indifference are excited both towards the means and the end. The neatness, the regularity of the buildings, the moral and social state of the inhabitants, whatever is useful or conducing to support them in ease and comfort, whatever is expedient to escape the wild inconveniencies of poverty, to preserve and secure from oppression, all the charities of life, to promote the general welfare, these data we find distinctly delineated, as outlines of the social compact, at New Lanark.

In our descent to the place, we pass over a green swarth, then traverse a little wood or grove, and along a rather rapid declivity, enter a solitary valley, encircled with hills, forming a picturesque and romantic situation, with the river Clyde, famous for its cascades, and the beautiful scenery of its banks, running at the bottom. The first object that presents itself, at some distance from the village, is a building of a very agreeable exterior, both vast and commodious, surrounded with tufted woods and verdant pastures, and remarkable for its elegant simplicity. On reaching this, we discover, at the end of a long alley, planted with trees, in a hollow recess, and on the banks of the river, the buildings occupied by the colony, and which compose the village called New Lanark. Here we perceive Mr. Owen in the midst of his workmen and children, and hasten to salute him, without waiting for a formal introduction.

Mr. Owen, at the age of fifty-one, hardly seems to exceed that of forty. His aspect, when examined, is sufficient to authorise the persuasion, that it resembles his character, exhibiting a correct copy of mildness, of a well-informed, active, sagacious, and enterprising, mind,—of an ardent wish to be useful to the laborious classes, in whatever may be found subservient to their health, morals, and convenience.

It is now about twenty-four years since he undertook the management of these

establishments; for twelve years preceding they had formed a large manufactory, wherein, as in other like places, the poor were neglected, and suffered to do their daily labour in savage stupidity. In the first ten or twelve years, however, a complete metamorphosis was effected, and the regenerated colouy now enjoys all the benefits which the wisdom and experience of ages could have prepared for it. How striking the contrast between its former ignorance, disorder, immorality, and misery; and the moral, intellectual, and physical, improvement, that the efforts of time and attention have been capable of producing. The truth of this remark is now generally admitted. The advantages derived from his superintendance have been long observed; the world is so far acquainted with them, that they form topics of conversation; and many have ac⚫ quiesced in the propriety of his rules, however little they may have adhered to their observance.

What first pleaded the cause of nature and of sense,-what acted as no mean advocate upon a mind unbiassed by private interest, already half persuaded of the duties which belong to superiors,-was reading the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, contemplating what may be called the manual and practical education of necessity, remote from the institutions of men, which are often maleficent. What gave a further stamp and character to his ingenious motives was meeting with some passages in Rousseau's "Emile," together with the example of a beneficent old man in the "Adele and Theodore" of Madame de Genlis. He then began to form a sort of moral and philosophical code of his own, to plan a system of which he would himself undertake the execution, since he could find no one disposed to approve of his theory. Twenty years had matured his scheme, before he published any thing on the subject.

The principles and object of it, as he explained them to me, were to banish every motive that could awaken or foster vicious propensities; to extirpate the fears and hopes that act within the narrow sphere of egotism; to render useless the rewards and labours that excite ambition, pride, envy, cupidity; to find the reward of virtue, in itself, so that good conduct may become a habit; to create a love of labour, order, and discretion: these were the ends that our Scotch philanthropist had projected, and which a long, multiplied, magnified, course of experiments has enabled him to accomplish.

After taking notes of the theoretical part of Mr. Owen's scheme, I made it my business to survey the fair living picture of the persons and localities, as they successively presented themselves to view.

ייזי

The detached mansion which I first mentioned is that wherein Mr. Owen resides. The houses of the colony are of a simple but elegant architecture, adjusted with regularity, as to their exterior fronts; and their interior distributions are correctly adapted to their destination. On our left we see several considerable buildings, that abut against the hill; some contain a number of chambers, or small separate apartments, for one or two workmen, or for a family, of a husband, wife, and one or two children, or families yet more nume. rous. Others, in their upper stories have magazines of provisions of every description, and in their lower parts are shops, -where, at certain hours of the day, the workmen and their wives make purchase of such articles as they are in want of. Each separate workman, or each family, has full credit for goods till they reach the amount of the sum due for the month's labour. Occasionally advances are made, from some extraordinary circumstances,— an unforeseen accident, a fit of illness, the birth of a child, or a journey on family bu siness: these are always proportioned to the wants of the inhabitant, and to the good opinion which the experience of his conduct may have given rise to. The provisions of every kind have been select ed with care, are excellent in quality, and moderate in price: in these respects there is no distinction, for all the colonists fare

-alike.

Besides two vast buildings for the workmen and their families, and the large sepa. rate house that serves for a magazine, there are three others, no less remark able for neatness and regularity, that appear on the right side of the avenue. We first come to a large manufactory, six stories high, for spinning, and different trades; then proceed to a beautiful house, with a spacious court before it, for children of both sexes, with halls for instruction, exercises, prayers; a little further on, close to a canal that communicates with the Clyde, there is a house now building, intended to form a common kitchen, and a common refectory for the unmarried workmen, for such as have no relations with them, and for others, indiscrimiDately.

The Infirmary, with a physician and sur gcon attached, has at present thirty-eight patients, out of about 2300 individuals, in cluding 350 children, of whom the colony consists. Here the vaccination of young persons is attended to. In the looms, warehouses, &c. nearly 1800 workmen are employed; others are at work in the kitchen-gardens, or in household concerns. The number of women exceeds that of the - men by one third. All the inhabitants, though at liberty to quit the establishment

when they choose, adhere to it, as to their family, the situation and settlement being every way desirable: 250 workmen come daily from Old Lanark to take a share in the labours.

The ringing of a bell called the workmen of both sexes to their work, and the children to school. Here every step and proceedure was significantly expressive of health, contentment, and activity. The clothing was simple, but neat, excepting that, according to the Scotch custom, most of the children, and some of the young workmen, were naked about the legs and feet. The children were eager to salute Mr. Owen, and failed not to receive his caresses. A sentiment of affection, of liberty, of happiness, entered into the spirit of this kind of homage paid to the common father of the family, and chief of the colony.

We then proceeded to visit the House of Instruction; it might, with propriety, be termed La Maison Joyeuse,'* the House of Joy, from the pleasure that sparkled in the looks of each countenance. In the first class, the smallest children are tanght to pronounce, distinctly, the letters of the Alphabet. Mr. Owen, however, is averse to the usual method of teaching letters and words before things; he prefers the forming and exercising of the understanding, in the first place. The children of the second class are beginning to read in

By this name was known an establishment for education at Mantua, in the 15th century, erected under the auspices and by the care of Francis Gonzague, Duke of Mantua, who had placed his own children there. The director of it was Victorin de Faltre, professor of the Belles Lettres; his tender paternal care was evinced not only towards the young princes, but, a mul titude of other pupils that he was antho rized to admit. They came from all parts of Italy, France, Germany, and even Greece. In the house were galleries, considered as affording the best models for painting; and about it all nature appeared rich and charming, in a number of delightful promenades. In a dark age, he was capable of being the guardian of literature and the arts; but, like a patriot and a man, his Course of General Tuition was cal culated to enlarge the mind by benevolent ideas, to train his pupils, during the pre cious hours of youth, that short period of which the most should be made, to early habits of virtue, morality, and philan thropy. His end was answered, and he was happy, as were all the individuals of the establishment which he conducted, in the result of his labours. The reputation of his school was equal to that of the most celebrated universities of his time,

books,