ter, in the white part with myriads of globules, intermixed with a shapeless substance. The globules are the seeds. If a little iodine is then given to the flannel, it is readily absorbed, and the contents, shapeless matter, globules, and all, become deep violet, showing that all this substance is starch.

"Hence it appears that the water flannel is a microscopical plant, composed of jointed threads, secreting carbonate of lime on their surface, and forming seeds composed of starch within them. And when we consider that the joints are smaller than the eye can detect, while each contains from 50 to 100 seeds, it may easily be conceived with what rapidity such a plant is multiplied; and, as their contents consist to a great extent of starch, the most readily organizable of all vegetable materials, the means of growth with which the plant is provided are far more ample than any. thing we know of in the higher orders of the vegetable kingdom.

"This curious substance has of late years attracted the attention of people in various parts of England, and the inquiries that have been made of naturalists have been so incorrectly answered that it is full time to put an end to the mistakes about it. In the year 1840 the Royal Agricultural Society submitted specimens of it to the late Librarian of the Linnæan Society and the Secretary of the Royal Dublin Society. Mr Don declared it to be the Oscillatoria corium-one of the half-animal half-vegetable productions which form entangled layers in the bottom of streams in the colder parts of England. But it is difficult to conceive what could have given

rise to this statement; for the water

flannel has no one of the peculiarities of Oscillatoria corium, which, moreover, is glossy and slimy. Mr Hardyman reported it to be a water-plant called Conferva sordida, or, as he called it (Hibernicè), a kind of fresh-water sea-weed; and he was nearly, though not quite, right; for it is really the Conferva crispa of Dillwyn, or the C. capillaris of Linnæus, known for years for the singular property it has of forming beds of rough, entangled curling threads.

"And for what purposes, we may ask, is this small plant intended? Is it for food for man or animals, or for decorating the waters in which it grows, or for adding to wealth or comfort in any way? It is hard to answer questions of this sort. That it has its use we may rest assured; but whether for us or our fellow-creatures it is scarcely within my province to determine. One quarter of its weight consists of starch and azotised substance; that is to say, of the nutritious matter that gives bread its value. Why, then, might not the water flannel be converted into food in times of scarcity? It would certainly be far better than the

bread of bark and straw which has been sometimes used."

This account is so extraordinary that we hardly know whether we ought to treat it seriously. To see a modern Musidora, while taking her bath, provide herself with a flannel robe is certainly strange, but that this said garment, when done with, may be turned into bread is still more wonderful. Looking at the important discoveries that have occurred within the last half century, we see such vast additional means at our command for multiplying food, clothing, and all the necessaries of life, that it is hardly too much to hope that the world, or at least this favoured portion of it, will shortly make its fortune, and want, in the absence of misconduct, be unknown before the present generation passes away.

JUDICIAL SLAUGHTER.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE A CENTURY AGO.

Ir has latterly been common to speak of the reign of George III as one of frightful severity; as if by him executions had been wantonly multiplied. This is not the fact. That the punishment of death was in his time much more frequently inflicted than it is now, cannot be denied. William IV abated the number of capital punishments, once so mournfully frequent, and during the present reign still geater mildness has prevailed.

But it is due to the memory of George III to say that while he sat on the throne the march of humanity had more than commenced. During a very considerable portion of his reign so many as five or six sufferers was a very extraordinary sight. In the days of his grandfather, George II, the case was different. The reader will be amazed at the evidences afforded by a single year, and that a year not distinguished by any remarkable outbreak, as exhibited in the following notices extracted from the 'London Magazine' for 1750:

"Wednesday, Feb. 7.-This day the nine following malefactors, condemned the two last sessions (Hammond having obtained a respite, Lidd being pardoned, and the rest to be transported for life), were executed at Tyburn, viz. J. Edwards, for breaking open and robbing the house of Mr R. Fleming; Pat Dempsey, for assaulting and robbing Mr Evan Saxe of his watch, &c.; Edward Dempsey, for assaulting and robbing Mr Thomas Brown of a gold watch, diamond ring, &c.; R. Hixon, for the highway; James Aldridge and Thomas Good, for divers robberies; Lawrence Savage, for robbing Mr Constantine Gagahan of a silver watch; with Dennis Branham and William Purnell, for robbing Mr Whiffin in Shoreditch of a hat and wig. The criminals set out from Newgate about nine in the morning, in four carts, which (pursuant to ancient custom, but by a new order made by a vigilant city magistrate)

were double guarded, all the proper officers being commanded to attend. The procession closed with the two under sheriffs (who had never attended an execution before) holding their white wands. Endeavours were used to get the carts to stop, in order for the criminals to drink, but this indulgence was prudently refused them. It was discovered, about Turnstile, that one of the criminals was untied, but he was soon made fast again. They behaved with great decency at Tyburn. The two Dempseys and another Irishman died Roman Catholics. Near the gallows stood a hackney coach, in which was a welldressed young woman, accompanied by two gentlemen. She wept bitterly, and afterwards took one of the executed criminals into the coach. Most of the bodies of the rest were delivered to their friends. The great decency and regularity with which this execution was performed, is a second proof that a military force is quite unnecessary, whenever the civil power will exert its just and proper authority. Our ancestors executed the laws without an unnatural aid, and so may we, if we will but employ the safe and laudable methods so wisely ordained by them."

In the following month a like tragedy

was acted:

“Monday, March 26.-Eleven of the male factors, condemned last sessions at the Old Bailey, were executed at Tyburn, viz., Jones, Carbold, Young, Scott, Gawen, Doe, Russel, Busbey, Oldfield, Roney, and Bastow. The rest were reprieved for transportation (see the seventh day). Jones and Young rode (pinioned together) in the first cart; a precaution judged absolutely necessary, as the former was a great favourite of a desperate gang, who had rescued him out of the Gatehouse; and the latter had like to have escaped out of his cell in Newgate, he having sawed off his irons, &c. The other nine criminals followed in three carts, three in each. Mr Sheriff Janssen attended, preceded by the two under sheriffs. There were between two and three hundred constables, with their several high constables, viz., Mr Carne, for Westminster; Mr Welch, for Holborn: Mr Adlington, for the Tower Hamlets; and Mr Harford, for Finsbury division. The attendance of the two last and of their posses had never been required before. The several carts are lined by constables within, and by civil officers on horseback without; and no persons, either on horseback or on foot, suffered to mix with them; by which means the whole proceeded regularly and without interruption. During the procession, and at the place of execution, great numbers of the poplace either threw away, or gave up (upon their being required to do it) their bludgeons; a remarkable example of the influence (superior to any other) of the civil power, when duly exercised."

Two months afterwards thirteen more wretches suffered at the same place:

"Wednesday, May 16.-When the report of the eighteen condemned malefactors was made to the Lords of the Regency, Capt. Clark was respited sine die, and Thrift the

.

hangman for a fortnight: Andrews was ordered to be transported for life, and Readhead for fourteen years. Vaughan died in Newgate, and the remaining thirteen were this day executed at Tyburn. Nunnan, for counterfeiting the coin, was drawn in a sledge, the executioner riding with him; and the other twelve were conveyed in four carts. Mr Sheriff Janssen, with five high constables, and a very great number of their officers, attended the procession, which proceeded from Newgate to Tyburn, with the utmost decency. There being, at the place of execution, crowds of soldiers and sailors, to receive some of the bodies, they were ordered by the sheriff (on the sailors, &c. having behaved peaceably) to be delivered to them, after being cut down by the executioner. By this prudent regulation, the barbarous custom of fighting for the bodies after execution, and the many cruel mischiefs arising from thence, were prevented. Benjamin Campbell Hamilton, a boy of sixteen, behaved with great indecency all the way to Tyburn, and even there. John Groves protested at the gallows that the goods for which he suffered had been lent him by the prosecutrix, in order for him to get a shirt of his out of pawn, in which he designed to mount guard the day after the pretended robbery. "Tis assured that the sheriffs never had the least thoughts of applying to their own use any property which might happen to be found of the above mentioned Capt. Clark, but merely to assert their right to it, as a perquisite belonging to their office."

In these days what would be thought of a procession of three vehicles, filled with sufferers, passing up Holborn to the place of execution! The following we add to show how cheaply human life was

then valued.

66

Wednesday, Aug. 8.-This day were executed at Tyburn Henry Web and Ely Smith, for robbing Henry Smith in Bream's buildings; Benjamin Chamberlain, for robbing Mr Powel in Chancery lane; Thomas Crawford, for robbing Capt. Harris, in East Smithfield; with Samuel Cook and James Tyler, for robbing farmer Darnel near Hackney. They were carried in two carts from Newgate, at eight in the morning. Mr Sheriff Janssen attended with the high constables; as likewise did the city marshal (for the first time) with his officers, as far as Holborn bars. Most of these malefactors discovered an unconcern which no ways suited their condition. The procession went on with great order, and the execution was over by half an hour past ten. Crawford, who had shown great resolution in his way to the gallows, turned exceeding pale when the rope was about his neck. The bodies of the criminals were delivered to their friends; three hearses attending for that purpose. The regulations made in the Sheriffalty of Mr Alderman Janssen have been productive of two excellent effects (among others): First, the reviving the former decency and solemnity of executions: Secondly, the restoring the civil power to its ancient use and lustre. May future magistrates copy the example here set them!

"It is remarkable, that the above six malefactors suffered for robbing their several prosecutors of no more than six shillings. "Little villains must submit to fate,

That great ones may enjoy the world in state."
GARTH."

The same volume contains further notices of the same dismal character. In the next group is a sort of Macheath of the time.

"Wednesday, October 3, 1750.-Twelve of the sixteen malefactors, who were condemned at the last sessions at the Old Bailey, among whom were William Smith for forgery (who was also charged with divers other forgeries) and James Maclean, were this day executed at Tyburn, pursuant to their sentence. Smith, who was the son of a clergyman in Ireland, after he was haltered in the Pressyard, went to a bench, and kneeling down, made a devout extempore prayer, acknowledging his crimes, dying in charity with all mankind, and hoping for forgiveness at the great tribunal. Maclean was the son of a dissenting minister in Ireland, and has a brother of the same persuasion now living at the Hague, a worthy and pious man, as ap

pears by his excellent and most affecting letters, published in Dr Allen's account, one to his unhappy brother and the other to a friend. Both Maclean and Smith had been educated in virtuous and religious principles, but unhappily counteracted them; though the force of them returned to their misery, and made them both, as is to be hoped, sincere penitents. These twelve malefactors were carried from Newgate to Tyburn in four carts, Maclean, Smith, and Saunders being in the last. Maclean, when he came to the gallows, looked up and said, with a sigh, Oh Jesus! He took no notice of the populace, but was truly attentive to his devotion, and spoke not at all, except to the constable who first took him up, who desired to shake him by the hand, and hoped he would forgive him; which he said he did, and hoped that God would bless his friends, forgive his enemies, and receive his soul. Smith was a man of parts, and had a very gentlemanlike appearance: he was very devout, as were all the others, and died very penitent. No soldiers attended at the above execution; the excellent regulations made (in this and other respects) during the late sheriffalty, having rendered the aid of the military power quite unnecessary. The following lines were wrote on Smith's going to

execution.

"With talents blest to charm the mind and eye, What pity thou, at Tyburn tree, must die! Cover'd with crimes, no king cou'd well forgive; What pity so complete a wretch shou'd live.' "Wednesday, November 7, 1751.-The five following malefactors were executed at Tyburn, viz. Thomas Reynolds, Thomas Pryor, George Robins, George Anderson, alias Jeffery Everett, who were condemned the last sessions at the Old Bailey, and William Riley, condemned the preceding sessions. They all, except Everett, behaved in a man ner becoming their unhappy circumstances; but he seemed hardened and unconcerned, and, as by several symptoms he appeared to

be a desperate fellow, he was carried to the place of execution handcuffed. The rest who were condemned the last sessions were reprieved for transportation. Reynolds, executed for enlisting men into foreign service, declared in the Press-yard, whilst his irons were knocking off, that he went to be hanged with as much satisfaction as if he was going to be married, for that he was innocent of the crime for which he suffered, and freely forgave his prosecutor."

THE CEMETERY.
(By the American Poet Bryant.)
I GAZED upon the glorious sky

And the green mountains round,
And thought, that when I came to lie
Within the silent ground,
"Twere pleasant, that in flowery June,
When brooks sent up a cheerful tune,

And groves a joyous sound,
The sexton's hand, my grave to make,
The rich, green, mountain-turf should break.
There, through the long, long summer hours,
The golden light should lie,

And thick young herbs and groups of flowers Stand in their beauty by.

The oriole should build and tell

His love-tale close beside my cell;

The idle butterfly

Should rest him there, and there be heard
The housewife bee and humming bird.
And what if cheerful shouts, at noon,

Come from the village sent,
Or songs of maids, beneath the moon,
With fairy laughter blent;
And what if, in the evening light,
Betrothed lovers walk in sight

Of my low monument:
I would the lovely scene around
Might know no sadder sight nor sound.
I know, I know I should not see

The season's glorious show,
Nor would its brightness shine for me,
Nor its wild music flow;
But, if around my place of sleep
The friends I love should come to weep,

They might not haste to go.
Soft airs, and song, and light and bloom,
Should keep them lingering by my tomb.

Mining in the Pyrenees.-A gentleman, lately from the Pyrenees, says "The mines opened near the famous Port de Venasque, to within a few feet of the summit of the extraordinary natural obelisk called the Pic de Picade, are the relong, piercing a rich vein of lead ore, mains of a gallery about two hundred feet supposed to have been executed by the Romans, as it is known that the latter were acquainted with the mineral wealth, of the Pyrenean mountains. The situation of this shaft, occupying eight hours of almost perpendicular climbing to attain it, give some idea of the difficulties attendant upon the execution of the work. mines, which are at the base of the Pic have only been opened during the summer, and were yielding 1 oz. of silver in 13 lbs. of lead."

The

THE NOBLE HOUSE OF CATHCART. THIS is an ancient Scottish family. Reinaldus de Kethcart was a subscribing witness to a grant to Alan, the son of Walter Dapifer Regis, of the patronage of the church of Kethcart to the monastery of Paisley, in 1178. His lineal descendant, Sir Alan Cathcart, was distinguished for his valour at the battle of Loudoun hill, in 1307. His worth is thus celebrated:

"A knight that then was in his rout,

Worthy, and withal stalwart and stout,
Courteous and fair, and of good fame,
Sir Alan Cathcart was his name."

He was succeeded by his son Alan de Cathcart, and the great-grandson of the latter was created Baron Cathcart, by James II of Scotland, in 1447. He was Warden of the West Marshes, and on his death was succeeded by his grandson, John, the second Lord Cathcart. He had one son, known as Alan, Master of Cathcart, who "died the death of fame" at Flodden field in 1513. His son succeeded to the title of the grandfather. He married the eldest daughter of Lord Sempill, and lost his life in the battle of Pinkie, fought on the 10th of September, 1547. The son of this nobleman, the grandson, the great-grandson, and the great-great-grandson, all of the same name, succeeded in due course to the honours and estates. The last dying in 1732, the title came to his son Charles, the eighth Baron. He was distinguished as a soldier, and was in the battle of Sheriffmuir. Several important offices in the Court of George II were afterwards held by him. In 1740 he embarked for America, having been appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the British forces there, but died on the voyage on the 20th of December. He had been married in 1718 to Marion, the only child of Sir John Schaw, of Greenock, by whom he had a son and two daughters. Of these the elder, Eleanor, married Sir John Houston, and Mary Anne, Lord Napier. He afterwards married Mrs Sabine, widow of Joseph Sabine, Esq., of Tring. By her

he had no issue. He was succeeded by his son Charles, who married, July 24th, 1753, Jane, daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton, and granddaughter of William, fourth Duke of Hamilton. He served as Aidede-Camp to the Duke of Cumberland at Fontenoy, fought April 30th, 1745; attained the rank of Lieutenant-General in the army, and was invested with the Order of the Thistle. He died July 21st, 1776, and was succeeded by the present peer, William Schaw, who was born in August, 1755. He married, April 10th, 1779, Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Elliot, Esq., Governor of New York. His lordship entered the army, and became a Major-General in 1794, and LieutenantGeneral in 1801. He was Commander-inChief of the expedition sent against Copenhagen in 1807, and on his return was rewarded, Nov. 3rd, 1807, with the Barony and Viscounty of the United Kingdom. On the 16th July, 1814, he was further advanced to the dignity of an Earl. His lordship has also served the country as Ambassador at the Court of St Petersburg. He is a General Officer in the army, Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards, member of the Board of General Officers, a Commissioner of the Royal Military College, and Royal Military Asylum, and Vice-Admiral of Scotland.

GARDENING HINTS FOR NOVEMBER. I.-KITCHEN-GARDEN AND ORCHARD. In-door Department. PINERY.-There is more danger from drips and over-watering than from the plants getting too dry, especially when bottomheat is on the decline, and the pots not well filled with roots; these two causes soon tell on the black pines. A uniform bottom-heat, with the atmosphere rather dry, and not much on either side of 60o in the morning, will do for this month.

VINERY. For the next six weeks a practised eye can see clearly if the plants in the late vineries have been over-cropped, even should the half of the crops be already