which country, at a former period, were well known to have been in the frequent habit of manufacturing birds of Paradise from the feathers of the parrot; they were sold to Europeans as great curiosities. It was because they chose to save themselves the trouble of putting legs to these fabri quently rise with a sea plant in its mouth, toss it up and catch it again, playing with it a thousand tricks. The only difficulty I find in arriving at the conclusion that this is the iden- | tical creature to which the term mermaid has properly been applied, is derived from the circumstance, that the place of its residence is the north-cated birds, that an opinion was forwest coast of America, from whence merly entertained that the bird of Pait could arrive on our shores only by radise never perched! traversing the icy ocean, or by the still longer voyage round Cape Horn. Even the former, however, cannot be regarded as an insuperable obstacle; since our voyagers at Melville Island saw a seal in that dreary region.— What the seal could do, it might not be impossible for the siren to effect; and we know that these tribes have very erratic dispositions. It may perhaps excite some degree of surprise, that amidst all the evidence which I have brought together, relative to the subject under discussion, I have entirely passed over that which many have considered as the strongest proof of all-the creature which was exhibited to the public a short time since, and of which a description is contained in the Imperial Magazine for 1822, col. 783, and a figure at col. 1075 of the same volume. If indeed this creature were one of nature's unadulterated productions, the question would at once be set at rest; but the following reasons compel me to believe that this creature is wholly fictitious. If such a creature exists as popular belief has imagined the mermaid to be, according to the affinities of nature it ought to have an horizontal tail; whereas this is placed in the perpendicular position. Passing by other reasons that might be mentioned, as less conclusive, there is one which I shall only hint at, that must decide the question. This creature is decidedly mammiferous, the mammæ being of a very large size, and, contrary to other marine mammalia, prominent; yet the lower parts are in complete contradiction to this, being so formed as to render it impossible that they should produce to life a creature capable of sucking the teat. Neither let it be imagined that I am accusing the fabricators of this figure of imposition on trivial grounds. This creature, whatever it be, came from some part of China; the natives of THE CAMERA OBSCURA. (Continued from col. 723.) No. X.-The Search for Happiness. "A painful passage o'er a restless flood, A vain pursuit of fagitive false good." COWPER. How busy is all the world. How different the employments in which the inhabitants of it are engaged! Could we have placed before us, as in a panoramic view, the different characters of mankind, each occupied as he may be at present, and could our eye take in the whole, and our hearts comprehend all that was presented to us, what a picture should we behold! There lies before me a map of Europe. I behold cities, and nations, and rivers, and seas, and I fancy that inhabitants are scattered over the surface of it. When I view the whole, I am totally lost in the contemplation. If I take a nation from the multitude who for the most part speak one language, I find the subject nearly as bewildering. If I select a city from that nation, the difficulty is scarcely diminished. Let me then choose an individual, and confine my thoughts for a few moments to him. He is like the rest of mankind, a being composed of body and soul; one who can think, and who can act. Let us observe him in those two views as he at present may exist. He is thinking. It will be unnecessary to inquire what he is thinking about; suffice it to say, that he is thinking, and upon some subject or other his understanding is em ployed. He is a free agent, or, if he put his thought under restraint, he does so for his benefit; and under either of these views he is thinking in the way he supposes for his good, and consequently his thoughts are enployed about his happiness. He is acting. If (to suppose the worst) he be acting because compelled so to do, he is an instrument, and not an agent; or if the concurrence of his will harmonize with his destiny, he acts either to avoid some greater evil, or is animated by hope, which conveys in it some notion of future happiness; but if (as is generally the case) he be acting from choice, either formerly conceived or at present adopted, he must be acting under at least the supposition of good-the idea of happiness. Now, then, let me trace this being, thus conceived, backward. ness, regardless of himself as a part of the universal creation of the Deity, and as a being who should act in conformity to the plans to which that creation must be subject: regardless of all behind him, of all around him, and of all before him, and only wrapt up in the contemplation of himself, and the gratification of his own sinful passions. His This, and this alone, accounts for the contradicting circumstances which happen in this world where we dwell; judgment and mercy, justice and compassion, seem all huddled together in But it is not wondrous disorder. God who has thus made it. plans are perfectly righteous, fixed, steady, and unaltered; and man, the creature for whom these plans were drawn out, has by sin and transgression confused the whole order of the scene, and turned to ruin and destruction the beautiful paradise in which he dwelt. It is not only duty, therefore, that should prompt him to seek the proper source of happiness and comfort, but interest also should lead him to fly to the Being who first ordered and regulated the scheme of his life, lest he be overwhelmed in the destruction with which he hath threat As we look upon a city, we see a vast number of beings such as he; they have agreed to live in one place, are bound by certain regulations, and shave, in some sense, one common interest. And what, I ask, is this abiding together, this regulation, and this interest for? General good; happiness.-That city is part of a nation: a nation with a government, laws, policy, and institutions. And what is the end of all this? Happiness.That nation is a part of a world, a world governed and ruled by a supreme God, under whose sway we all are, and who exercises over us a moral, and offers to exercise a religious, government. And what is that government for? Universal happiness.ened the incorrigible. It perhaps is Thus, then, it manifestly follows, that if God be the governor of the world, and if his government be for benefit, (which no man in his senses will deny,) nations, cities, and individuals should co-operate in his rule, and act according to his will and his plans. -Nay, more.-As God works for their benefit, nations, cities, and individuals, in consulting their general and particular happiness, should act according to the plans laid down by him their supreme ruler: for a contrary conduct is like that of a city not acting according to the law of the nation of which it forms a part, or an individual doing contrary to the established regulations of the city in which he dwells. And is this the way man searches for happiness? Is it thus he forms his conduct? Does he look at the seeming way in which God rules the world, or at the positive commands contained in his word? Ah! no. He confines himself to the mean and paltry objects here below, on which his short-sighted gaze is fixed intently, and in them he places all his happi almost needless to say, that the Bible, as it contains the revealed will of God to fallen man, and a new plan by which happiness is placed within his reach, and by which he may be extricated from the danger that threatens him, is the only book which can teach him how he may be united to God, and may co-operate with him through all his life. The argument here presented to the reader is offered, to induce him to shun the paltry objects which attract his attention to so little purpose, and, in seeking for joy, to seek it in religion. (To be continued.) ENGLISH LAW.-WEIGHTS AND MR. EDITOR. rities, she immediately turned the leaves over, and sought some more amusing subject. Now, Mr. Editor, I fear that if this letter, animadverting on the use of false weights and measures, were to fall into the hands of those remorseless traders, whose chief object is the accumulation of riches to the detriment of others-it would not even be so far perused as our former papers have been by the lady above alluded to; for I presume that it would, on its very first appearance, be indignantly thrown aside as intrusive and impertinent. Reproof, Mr. Editor, is a duty not more seriously imperative than peculiarly delicate; and as I may not have so faithfully performed that obligation as I ought to have done, I will humbly tender this address, as one mean of atoning for my disregard of so important a requirement: and if in any of the following remarks I should betray an unbecoming warmth of feeling, I trust that the suavity and candour which you have so long evinced, will throw a veil over the unintentional transgression, and that I shall be exonerated from the charge of adopting any rash or ill-natured expressions. Amongst the various avenues which lead to guilt and disgrace, none is more frequently trodden than that of fraud. It is a most awful truism, that there are thousands of persons in the present day, who, though they may be neither gamesters nor drunkards, swearers nor blasphemers, yet if weighed in the balance of God's justice, would, like the impious king of the Chaldeans, be found wanting; yea, and false as the measures they use. The odious and dishonest practice of keeping short weights, is an offence to be detested for its direct contravention to the sacred mandates of GOD, and its egregious infringement upon the laws of our country. It causes a breach of that faith which is "the bond of union, and the basis of human happiness; and without which virtue, there is no reliance upon language, no confidence in friendship, and no security in promises or oaths." Since those who are guilty of this fraudulent habit may be considered as some of the greatest enemies with which the children of poverty have to contend, they can scarcely be too strongly censured; and, I had almost said, too severely punished. The scanty mite of the widow, and the hard-earned pittance of the cottager, compel them to obtain their common necessaries of sustenance in the smallest quantities; whereby, and from the want of education, they are rendered more liable to the frequent imposi tions of those nefarious trades-people with whom they unsuspiciously deal, than the affluent; because the latter not only obtain their requisite articles of consumption in much larger proportions, but the seller is more solicitous as to his character, and more anxious to retain the good-will of his customers;—in addition to which they generally possess the means of a more speedy detection. Let us accompany those philanthropic beings, who, whilst the wintry winds are howling around, seek within the storm-beaten walls of some lowly shed, the widow, the fatherless, and the afflicted! There let us view those objects of compassion, seated by a cheerless fire, sharing their scanty meal, for which they may have given the earnings of a cold and toilsome day: and then let us ask,-are there any so base, are there any so cruel, as to wrong those wretched mortals of bread? Alas! there are indeed, and to their shame be it recorded. Some, too, there are, who can boast of the moral rectitude of their conduct, assume the garb of religion, and talk of their charitable deeds from night to morn, whilst from morn to night they are surreptitiously adding to the sum of their ill-gotten gains, the wages that have been earned by the sweat of a poor man's brow! Oh! how lost to such is the contemplation of that "Great day! for which all other days were made; For which earth rose from chaos, man from earth; And an eternity, the date of gods, Oh! that it may please the Almighty truly to christianize all who bear the Christian name! That the cursed love of " money-the white man's god"—may be overwhelmed in an ocean of benevolence, and that we may become more charitable, solacing the last days of the widow, and brightening the hopes of the orphan! It is difficult to conceive how a man who is living in the daily commission of the crime to which we have turned our attention, can perform aright the duties of a husband, father, or friend: his heart must be steeled against all the soft endearments of life, and he knows not the sweet joy of feeling for "another's wo." His conscience will be continually goaded with remorse, and if a true repentance be not wrought, and some twofold return made to his fellow-creatures, or in the immediate service of GOD, his death will be awful indeed! However he may prosper in this world's goods, let him remember, that the royal psalmist saw the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree-yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, he sought | him, but he could not be found. And however he may pass through this world with impunity, the day of retribution will arrive! Many will appear as witnesses against him: all his actions will then be brought to light; and the recollection of the wrongs he did on earth will strike afresh upon his mind, whilst through eternity he will realize, in his own sad and awful <experience, an answer to that important inquiry," What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose =his own soul?" of the poor; and, in default of payment, be imprisoned till paid. By 22 and 23 Car. II. c. 12. s. 2. it is enacted that every person who shall sell or buy any corn in any other manner than is by the former act directed, shall forfeit and lose, besides the penalty of such act appointed, all corn bought or sold contrary to the act, or the value thereof. It has been decided (Rex v. Arnold, 5. T. R. 353.) that no custom or prescription shall prevail against the uniformity of measures, notwithstanding such custom may exist beyond all memory, and has been used without any visible interruption. By the 35 Geo. III. c. 102. and 37 Geo. III. c. 143. it is enacted, that the justices at the petty sessions may appoint one person or more to examine the weights and balances within their district. These inspectors shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their office; and, as often as the justices shall direct, shall enter into any shop, mill, house, stall, or other premises, of any person who shall sell by retail and weight, to search for and examine his weights and balances, and shall seize those which are not according to the standard in the exchequer, and bring them before the justices at their petty sessions; and the offender being there convicted, shall forfeit not less than 5s. nor more than 20s. at the discretion of the justices, together with costs, to be levied by distress. The false weights and balances are to be broken, and the materials sold. And whoever obstructs the inspectors in the execution of their duty, or shall refuse to produce his weights and ba"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in lances to them, shall forfeit from 5s. judgment, in meteyard, in weight, and to 40s. The inhabitants of any parish, in measure." (Lev. xix. 35.)—" Thou township, or place, may at a vestry shalt not have in thine house divers mea-meeting nominate any substantial sures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Deut. xxv. 14, 15.)—“ A false balance is abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is his delight." (Prov. xi. 1.) Any one, sir, but a textuarist, would be surprised at the repeated injunctions that are to be met with in the sacred scriptures against using false weights and measures; some of which I will quote, as tending to shew upon what authority are founded the Laws of our country, and how reasonable and just it is that we should obey those laws. On turning to the statutes, we find that By 22 Car. II. c. 8. it is enacted that if any person shall sell corn otherwise than by Winchester measure, sealed and stricken by the brim, he shall forfeit forty shillings to the use No. 69.-VOL. VI. householder or householders, who, if approved of by the justices, shall be the inspectors within that parish, township, or place; but such nomination cannot be made till the inhabitants have procured standard weights, to be paid for out of their poor-rates. The justices at the quarter sessions shall fix the allowance of the inspectors, to be paid out of the county rate, And they shall also order, to be purchased out of the county rate, standard weights, to be deposited with proper persons and in convenient places, which shall be produced to any person 3 F paying a reasonable sum for produ- | immediate transition to heaven or cing the same. Prosecutions must hell, without any intervening state. commence within one month after the offence. And by 3 Geo. IV. c. 77. Alehousekeepers, &c. are to use standard measures, or forfeit a sum not exceeding 40s. (half to the person suing, and the other half to the poor,) to be levied | by distress. I will now close this address in the impressive and solemn language of Scripture "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new-moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.”—Amos viii. 4-7. Your's, Mr. Editor, very sincerely, East Retford, Aug. 2, 1824. CONJECTURES ON THE STATE OF THE DECEASE OF THE BODY AND THE THERE seem to be three opinions held The first of these opinions is that of the materialists, who do not admit of any thinking principle distinct or detached from the body, which principle must therefore, according to them, die, or come to an end with it.-This opinion, however, I think, receives but little, if any, countenance from Scripture, in which what little is hinted on the subject tends to favour the notion of the soul's surviving the body, as is instanced in the parable of Dives and Lazarus,—the penitent thief,—and St. Paul's desire of speedy departure to be with Christ. And although the first of these may be objected to, as being not the statement of a fact, but only a parable or fable; yet I cannot help thinking that our Saviour would hardly have grounded any parable upon a matter that did not exist. But his declaration to the penitent thief is still more to the purpose. Here, it is to be observed, our Saviour not only assured him of his pardon, but that he should immediately have his reward; emphatically as serting, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise;" which it is hardly to be supposed he would have promised, had he been conscious that the object of his mercy would have first to continue for perhaps thousands of years in an inanimate state. Were this inanimate state certainly to intervene, it must, with the knowledge communicated to St. Paul, when taken up into the third heavens, have been evident to him, who would then hardly have expressed such an earnest desire to depart and be with Christ, as his quitting the mortal state would not bring him one jot nearer to his being with Christ in heaven. I am aware that it may be said, it would appear, both to St. Paul and the pardoned thief, as if their reanimation at the day of judgment (after this torpid 2dly. That on the death of the body, the soul survives, and immediately goes, either to dwell with Jesus Christ and the saints in heaven, or else with Satan and the fallen angels in hell;-interval) had taken place immediately and, 3dly. That on quitting the body at its decease, it is immediately conveyed to a place called Hades, there to remain till the time of the general re surrection. Of these three states, the third is the only one that can truly be termed an intermediate one; the first being, as it were, a state of annihilation, or no state at all; and the second an after quitting their mortal state: yet, as both the thief and the bearers of St. Paul must have inferred that their transition to some happier state would take place immediately after their death, it would be impious to suppose that either our blessed Saviour or the apostle Paul meant, in the least, to deceive them. But perhaps the strong est argument against the doctrine of materialism may be adduced from |