great haste to walk. There were no such things as omnibuses when he was a young man, and he positively hates them, and forthwith falls into a long train of serious reflection upon the degeneracy of the times, which lasts till the obnoxious vehicle has turned the neighbouring corner.

With two more characters we will close our rough sketch: the one is a little dapper man in spectacles, and a glance sharp enough to break the glasses, as the Americans would say. He walks very quick, and looks about him with a restless air. It would be difficult to guess what is his exact occupation: he may be either an auctioneer or one of the lower class of attorneys, or perhaps an amalgamation of several other trades; but after all, we should certainly conjecture that his attention was more directed to the oversight of his neighbours' affairs than his own. The last whom we notice is the real man of business, probably an elderly gentleman; he seems to take every step with caution, as if it were quite inwoven into his nature. He looks around him with his cold grey eye, and seems to take little interest in what is passing around, for his heart is engrossed by the one great object, from which few things have sufficient interest to divert his attention. He has probably passed a long life in a course of successful speculation, although his appearance does not bespeak any great superiority in wealth above the generality of the passers by.

The road is become more passable, the crowd is growing thinner and thinner, and we are now only obstructed by a few lazy fellows, who, having no dinner to go to, stand open-mouthed listening to the melodious strains of a ballad-singer, who is chanting the praise of the popular hero Stephens. We have been so much occupied in observing our neighbours, that we have forgotten our own important business; we also must withdraw and hasten to dinner!

PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS.

Past are the glories of the Summer sun;
Past is the mildness of th' autumnal ray;
Another year its silent course has

run,

And, ne'er to be recalled, has past away.

Again have we beheld the forest wide

Rich with the first fruits of the opening year;
Again we've seen the leaves, its summer pride,
Shoot forth, increase, curl, wither, disappear!

Again we've seen the flowers of summer gem
The verdant fields, rejoicing in their birth;
Again we've seen them quit the sapless stem,

And seek the bosom of their mother earth.

Again we've seen with joy the golden corn
Yield up its fullness to the reaper's hand;
Again we've seen it to the garner borne,
A rich provision for the craving land.

Throughout the year, each season in its turn
Hath wrought some change upon the earthy scene;
But ye, O Israel, at repentance spurn,

Unchanged and hardened as ye e'er have been!

Repent! Repent! Turn from your evil ways!

Nor longer tempt your Maker and your Lord;
Lest He at once should close your term of days,
And not another year of grace afford!

THE ESSAYIST.

No. 4.

THE CONSTITUTION OF ENGLAND, AS COMPARED WITH THAT

OF ROME.

IN treating this subject, we do not intend to go through the whole form of government, laws, and constitution of courts of justice in England, which, according to Paley, form a Constitution, but merely to make a few remarks on some of the laws which have been enacted for the benefit of the community at large, and which may strike us as being worthy of notice. Yet at the same time we may venture to assert, that taking them generally, all in all, the laws of England are equal-we may almost say, superior-to those of all other nations of the world, and that no other country can be found in which the liberty of the people is so well protected. Our principal object in this essay is briefly to remark the superiority of the English form of government over that of Rome, when under the consular power.

We may observe, in the first place, that the laws of England are framed in such a manner, that the meanest subject can obtain redress for any injury he may have received, even though that injury be committed by one of the highest persons in the realm. When a person has a complaint to prefer against another, it is necessary, according to law, that the person accused be first served with a writ or summons, some time before, by a public officer appointed for the purpose, requiring him to attend, at a specified time, to answer the charge preferred against him, before he can be brought to trial. Now, here we may remark a wide difference between the laws of the two countries. In Rome, every person became, as it were, a public officer in his own cause, and, without any legal authority whatsoever, had a right to seize, by force, the person against whom he had a complaint, whereever he might happen to meet with him. In the one case, we see that the person of the accused is perfectly safe until a writ or summons is served upon him in the regular manner; while in the other he is

liable, at the will and pleasure of his accuser, to be seized at any moment, and that too in a violent and forcible manner, and hurried to trial without a sufficient time being allowed him to prepare for his defence.

Again, we read that in Rome the magistrates were not only ambitious of power, but that they used that which they possessed in the most unjust and tyrannical manner. And as an instance of this, and to show upon what slight grounds the citizens might be put to death, we will mention this one, as it is related by Livy :-Spurius Malius being accused of attempting to make himself king, was summoned to appear before the dictator.* This he refused to do, and took refuge amongst his friends. He was immediately pursued by the master of the horse, and killed on the spot. Upon seeing this violation of all justice, the people began to vent their indignation, upon which they were summoned by the dictator, who said that Spurius had been "lawfully put to death, even though he was innocent of the crime laid to his charge, for having refused to appear before the dictator when summoned by the master of the horse."+

The Roman laws with regard to debt were equally tyrannical. When the debtor was insolvent, the creditor had a right to put him in irons or to sell him as a slave. After a certain number of summonses, the law granted to the debtor thirty days of grace, to give him time to raise the sum for which he was accountable. After thirty days, if the debtor had not discharged the debt, he was led to the prætor, who delivered him up to the mercy of his creditors. These kept him in chains for sixty days. Afterwards for three market days successively, he was brought to the tribunal of the prætor. Then a public crier proclaimed in the forum the debt for which the prisoner was detained, after which the creditor had a right to sell him, or make him a slave in his own house.

The Patricians, or nobles, to whom the framing of the laws was committed, had such a decided hatred for the Plebeians, or common people, that they framed them in such a manner as to be beneficial to themselves, and oppressive and tyrannical to the plebeians. And it was only after many violent contentions between the two orders, that the latter succeeded in obtaining a voice in the formation of them. But such is not the case in England, where the strictest impartiality is observed, both in creating the laws and in carrying them into execution. Whenever any law is brought into parliament, and which seems to be beneficial to one party and injurious to another, the people

* The dictator was invested with despotic power for six months, but was only created in cases of emergency.

"Tumultuantem deinde multitudinem, incertâ existimatione facti ad concionem vocari jussit, et Mælium jure cæsum pronunciavit, etiamsi regni crimine insons fuerit, qui vocatus a magistro equitum, ad Dictatorem non venisset."Tit. Liv. lib. iv. c. 15.

These were the words of the law:- "Confessis æris ac debiti judicatis triginta dies conquirendæ pecuniæ causâ dati sunto. pedibus."

Vincito aut nervo aut com

have, through their representatives, the power of altering or modifying it, till it is reduced into a form agreeable to both, or, if that cannot be done, of rejecting it altogether. And this is another means by which the liberty of the people is preserved. For should the persons who are elected as representatives of the people in parliament act contrary to the wishes of the people at large, they are required to resign those offices to which they were raised by the will of the people, and these are immediately replaced by others who will have their interests more at heart.

Concerning the criminal laws of England we shall say no more, (for we have not space left to enter into them at large,) than that they are constructed with great mildness and moderation, and that the guilty person possesses greater advantages at his trial than under any other form of government. And yet there are some persons who say, and we ourselves have heard the same thing remarked, that the only fault they have is, that too many offenders escape the punishment which they deserved. We allow that there are many guilty persons who escape; yet we would ask those persons who entertain this opinion, if there be any such among our readers, if they do not think it far better that twenty guilty persons (we allude to capital cases) should thus escape, than that the extreme penalty of the law should be carried into execution against one innocent person? Surely such persons would not thus wish to deprive a fellow creature of that existence whlch he received from God, should there be the slightest doubt whether he actually did commit the crime with which he was charged.

Before we conclude, we would mention what redounds to the honor of the English nation, namely, that the torture has never, for upwards of a century, been employed in this country, and that no other more grievous punishment is used by her, than that of a death the quickest and most free from pain or suffering. Long may England enjoy those laws which have distinguished her above all other countries; and should any innovations be attempted, which would reduce her in the scale of nations, may they recoil on the heads of those who first imagined them, and who would, through mistaken ideas, bring England to the lowest brink of ruin!

ENIGMA.

(From the German of Schiller.)

Far, far away in a distant land,

'Mid verdant lawns and meadows gay,
A flock of sheep, all snowy white,
Have fed from all eternity.

And still they feed, and still will feed,
While rolling years their tribute bring;

They ne'er grow old, they drink of life,
From a divine, immortal spring.

And tending them with fostering hand,
A faithful shepherd is their guide;
He leads them forth at morning dawn,
And counts them o'er at eventide.

Close at his heels, his faithful dog

Seconds with zeal his master's care;
Now, reader, can you tell me who

The snow-white sheep and shepherd are ?

THE COUNTRY CORPORATION;

OR, CORRESPONDENCE FROM SHUTTLETON.

(Continued.)

Now, although the people seemed most insensible to the blessings of peace and order, they had every day fresh reason to acknowledge the efficiency of the new police. One instance may suffice to shew how sensitive were their feelings on every point having reference to the discharge of their public duties. It had been tacitly agreed among them that no disrespect towards any of their body was to be permitted with impunity. It therefore sorely galled No. 28, whose round led him past the Free School, to observe that when the scholars were assembled awaiting the opening of the gates, they were most remiss in showing that respect which he deemed due to the importance of his office. It was scandalous to see how little deference they paid him as he passed, scarcely even making way for him on the pavement, and sometimes bursting into a laugh as soon as he had turned his back. This insult he bore for a long time with a stoical firmness worthy of a great mind, until one day, when the laugh had been somewhat louder than usual, he entered the school, and going up to the assistant's table, asked, in a dignified manner, whether it was at his desire that the boys insulted him on his duty. The master at that time was not within; so the assistant declared that he knew nothing of the matter, and that the master must be spoken to about any thing of that kind. The police-man, however, was not to be put off in this manner, and he declared that he would not stir till he had seen justice done. The assistant said that if he would point out the boy who had insulted him, he should be reported to the master. The police-man answered, that all the boys had insulted him, and he should not be satisfied unless he saw them all flogged. The assistant told him he could not listen to any complaint of that kind; that if he had a complaint to make against any boy, it should be attended to, and justice done; but no notice could be taken of such general charges as that. No. 28 then departed, declaring that if the masters chose to encourage the boys in iusulting the authorities, they would not come off so easily as they expected.

Nothing more was heard of the matter for some days. No. 28,