I took some trouble to obtain my information, and I can answer for not being wilfully in error.

During the Spring of 1831, I made some enquiry into the state of agriculture in Normandy. The following are the results, after having taken the data from one parish. I was assisted in my enquiry by Lieut. Watt of the Navy, who had resided twelve years in the parish of Allemagne, and twentytwo years in France. There are four distinct qualities of soil in Allemagne: first, that above the quarries, which is but a thin layer with a great mixture of stone, yielding little return for labour, except in very wet seasons. There is also a portion of half reclaimed heath, which must be classed with the former as very bad, but is a slight improvement in the depth of soil, still very much mixed with stone: it, however, sometimes produces good crops of buck wheat. The third quality has a tolerable depth of soil over clay, which renders it cold, yielding however good crops, particularly in dry seasons; and its rental is estimated at fifteen sous the perche (26 feet English, each side), or 40 sous the English acre, and is by far the most general in the parish. There is however a fourth quality, consisting of a strong dark loam, the rental of which is 20 sous the perche, or 21.198.1d. the acre. There is also a considerable quantity of meadow land, which is included in the fourth quality as yielding the best return to the farmer. There are some small portions of coppice distant three miles from the market of Caen.

The quantity of land in the parish is 1650 acres, 11 perches; and the number of inhabitants is 800. There are 11 farming establishments in the parish, and about 20 persons who cultivate land upon a small scale, belonging to themselves, in addition to their other trades or business.

The largest farms consist of 100 arpens (or 155 English acres); the least of about arpens (or 124 English acres) in the parish, and of an equal number in an adjoining one. This not being sufficient to occupy the small farmers, they plough and sow for the small occupiers. The average rent is about 15 sous the perch (27. 10s. the acre), including every description of land. This, on enquiry, is found

too high, as there is a considerable quantity of bad land; and perhaps il. 128. the acre is a juster average. The tenants of the larger farms do, in general, agree to pay in kind to their landlords a few articles, but so trifling as not to cause the rent to exceed what I have stated. For instance, one of Mons. St. Marie's tenants, who farms 100 acres, agrees to cart six loads of wood, or of any other article, to town each year; and to supply for the house twelve fat fowls, twelve chickens, twelve ducks, and a quantity of straw. But the rent is below 21. the acre; the farmer pays no tax except that called personal (poll) and mobilier (furniture) nor does he pay anything to the poor, but what he gives in alms at his door; nor to the clergyman, but for his seat in the church, and the fees for marriage and burial. The poll and furniture-tax about equals our window and land-tax.

:

The average quantity of wheat produced is one hectolitre on eight perches, or about twenty-four English bushels the acre; cole seed about the same quantity; and barley from 36 to 42 bushels the acre. Oats are not suited to the soil, and are seldom cultivated. The rotation crops are wheat, barley, and cole seed; and sometimes artificial grasses are sown with the barley. Sainfoin remains three years on the ground, after which it is usual to sow two successive crops of wheat.

The rents mentioned are nearly the same for several leagues round; towards the sea they are higher. Each farm of 155 acres employs twelve men and a boy; besides the farmer and a female servant, a shepherd, and one or two threshers, who are usually paid by the day, and are not lodged. The principal servant, or grand valet or ploughman, has eight guineas a year wages, and about two guineas profits; a boy, called his domestique, gets from 21. 10s. to 31. wages; and a man or lad, called petit valet, gets 51. a year. The shepherd has the same as the grand valet (or sometimes less wages, with permission to keep a given number of sheep with his master's flock, which amounts to the same thing). These are all boarded and lodged; their food consisting (except in harvest time) of bread and small cider for breakfast; at dinner they have soup and meat five days in the week; on the fast days soup maigre

and a dish of vegetables, green or dry, according to the season: in short, they have two beef days, three pork days, and two banian days. Their supper is generally soup au lait, milkporridge, or soup of some description always. The bread has generally a mixture of barley, except that used for the soup, which is entirely of wheat. The shepherd has soup morning and evening; the threshers have the same food, and 15 sous (74d.) per diem, but are not lodged, as they are in general married. The farmers do not sit at the same table, though they eat of the same food, with perhaps the addition of butter for their breakfast, and an additional meal called collation betwixt dinner and supper. Day-labourers and harvest labourers are nearly invariably boarded by the farmer: besides which, at harvest time a labourer earns from 30 sous (15d.) to 40 sous (20d.) per diem, by the piece. The expense of a day-labourer's lodging with his family may amount to 30 livres (251.) per annum.

There is no case of extreme poverty in the parish; nor any distress except from casualties, which are always kindly attended to by the neighbours. And sometimes, in an extreme case, a collection is made either by the priest, or by some person taking an interest in the party requiring relief. Bread is sometimes distributed by the priest on the occasion of a funeral service, at the expense of the relative of the deceased, for whom the prayers of those receiving the bread are requested in return.

The poor are perhaps not more contented here than elsewhere; but they are not loud in their complaints. In fact, I conclude their wants are fewer than with the same class in England, as they have little or no idea of domestic comfort, food and clothing comprising all their wants; and they do not care to work for anything further this being easily procured, they are consequently very independent. The ordinary price of a substitute for the army was two thousand francs (801.); it is however considerably encreased since the late and present demand for men, and I think I may rate it at double that sum. This fact speaks volumes as to the relative state of the lower orders in the two countries.

The price of grain is more readily obtained at Caén. This year is how

ever decidedly a dear one. Meat is eight sous the pound (4d.); in the country the pound being equal to eighteen English ounces; and this is probably the rate at which it is bought by the butcher, when he has the hide, tallow, and offal for his profit.

There are no manufactures at Allemagne; but a great portion of the inhabitants derive their support from the stone quarries, which they rent for a trifle from the proprietors of the soil, and they sell the stone which they extract for their own profit. They thus clear by their labour 50 sous a day (25d.), whilst the women and female children all make lace, by which they can earn from 15 to 20 sous a day, sparing a little time for their household affairs, in which they are never particularly neat, as is very observable.

In all the market towns in France, most articles of consumption are subjected to a heavy toll called Droit de l'Octroi. Grain, with the exception of oats, is exempt; and the toll varies according to the class of the town. In Caén the toll is as follows: an ox or cow 18 francs (15s.); a sheep 30 sous (15d.); pigs of every size 4 francs (38. 4d.); calves from 6 to 12 francs (58. to 10s.); lambs 1 franc (10d.); hay 2 francs (18. 8d.) for every 1500 lbs. ; straw half that sum; cider 2 francs, 12 sous (2s. 2d.) for each cask of twentyfive gallons; oats 3 sous the bushel.

The price of grain, &c. at this moment at Caén (and which is considered very high) is as follows:-Wheat is 18s. 4d. the hectolitre of 160 lbs. French, equal when good to 179 lbs. English. The hectolitre I consider equal to three Winchester bushels. Oats 8 francs 11 sous the hectolitre, weighing 100 lbs. French, or 102 lbs. English. Barley 10 francs 10 sous, or 88. 9d. the hectolitre, weighing 130 lbs. French, or 145 lbs. English. Cole seed 21 francs (178. 6d.) the hectolitre. Meat is, for the best, 5d. the lb. (18 ounces English). Eggs in summer 5d. the dozen. Butter from 7d. to 1s. according to the quality. Poultry is very good and cheap, in comparison to England. Bacon, by retail, 74d. Candles the same price. Salt very dear; coarse, 2d. pound; fine, 4d. Cider, the usual drink, 2d. the quart. Clothing is considerably dearer than in England. Landlords are subject to a very heavy property tax, or

land tax. It is not equally levied, as it is raised on an old valuation; but if I state it 16 per cent. upon the present valuation, I am, I believe, not much above the mark.

From these remarks on rents and prices, a parallel may be drawn between the two countries; from which I think it will appear that the difference of prices fully makes up for the difference of charges, as rents are higher in France than in England. I have seen no crops equal to those usually seen in England. Fuel I should say here is dear, very dear; English coals 21. 10s. per ton, and reckoned cheaper than wood; however, I do not think there is much difference between them.

SAMUEL CHAMBERS, Capt. R.N.

ADVERSARIA.

A NEW English translation of the Bible, however earnestly desired in some quarters, would probably fail of giving the expected satisfaction. If it were conducted by members of one communion, to the exclusion of the rest, they would be accused of bending particular passages to their own views: if, on the other hand, the translators were selected from all communions, they would not agree in rendering such words as involved a point of controversy. The translators of the received version appear to have had but one object in view, that of faithfully turning the original into English. If they have ever deviated from its plain meaning, a reason may be found for their doing so: thus, in their translation of Ephesians iv. 32, where they have rendered ἐν Χριστῷ, for Christ's sake, they were evidently influenced by the expression in the second verse of chap. v.

There is a curious specimen of a bull in one of the notes in Franklin's translation of Lucian; speaking of Trophonius, the Doctor says, he made no figure in life till after he was dead.

When Homer mentions Sidonian manufactures, we are not to assume that they existed in the age of Troy, but that they were famous in his own time.

It is difficult to believe that the Alexandrian libraries possessed so

great a number of volumes as is generally supposed, without presuming that these were not all different works, but that several duplicates were kept of each, for the convenience of readers. The productions of those times, which are still extant, bear no proportion to the alleged number of volumes; while those which are only known by references (such as are found in Photius, &c.), would not increase the amount in so great a degree, as to bring it near the computation.

Hebraists are of opinion, that Arabia takes its name from the Hebrew y (Arab), to mix, because the Arabians are a mixed people of Esau's and Ishmael's descendants. Libya is also derived from 5 (Lob), which signifies drought, as being the name first given to that sultry country. Europe is derived from the Arabic WRAB, which signifies the West.

Doddridge considers that the words in Romans vii. 24, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? allude to the tyrannical practice of tying the living and the dead together. May we not go a step further, and

ask whether an allusion is not made to the passage in Virgil, where Mezentius is thus spoken of? The Æneid was a recent production; and, in writing to Romans, the Apostle may very likely have been anxious to use such images as were familiar to their minds.

M. Levesque, in his Studies of Ancient History, remarks, that the winevessels (doi) of the Greeks, were not casks, but jars. This observation may seem unimportant, but it is not so for artists; modern painters represent Diogenes in a barrel such as ours; but an ancient bas-relief exhibits him coming out of a jar." Vol. ii. p. 166. In the Greek and French Lexicon of M. Planche (formed on the model of Stephens, but in a single volume,) occurs this proverb, ev πιθῳ την κεραμειαν (subaudi μανθάνειν) "which applies to such as meddle with great undertakings all at once, before they have practised little ones. The Greek means literally, to learn pottery by beginning with making tubs ; barrels of clay being the largest works in pottery." Art. IIos. This Lexicon, which is an octavo of about 1250

pages, may be recommended to the student who passes his time in France, or to such as wish to exercise themselves at home in French as well as in Greek.

Basnage has very sensibly remarked, in reply to Bossuet, that while we condemn Cranmer for vacillation, we forget that St. Peter himself denied his Master thrice.

Lepelletier de Saint-Fargeau, one of the regicides of France, had been president à mortier (so called from the shape of the cap usually worn) of the Parliament of Paris. After the death of Louis XVI. he was assassinated at a restaurateur's named Février, by an ancient garde-du-corps of the King. The following epitaph, which was made upon him, is a curious specimen of trifling with awful events :

Ci gît Lepelletier,
Président à mortier,
Qui mourut en janvier,
Chez Février.

The common expression of a dilemma, an ass between two bundles of hay, seems to be borrowed from the Commentary on Aristotle of Jean Buridan, Paris, 1518, folio. Gorton, in his Biographical Dictionary, says, that the ass is actually placed as in the proverb; but M. de Beauvais, who in this case is better authority, makes him place the animal, equally hungry and thirsty, between a pottle of oats and a pail of water, each of which appeals in an equal degree to his appetite. The author asks, What will this ass do? If it be replied that he will remain motionless, then he will die of hunger and thirst: if another answers, he will not be such an ass as to kill himself,-then he will turn to one side in preference to the other,then he has free-will. The sophism is aimed at the Necessitarians. ridan was regent of the University of Paris, and latterly resided as its agent at Rome, during the reign of Philip de Valois. He was living in 1358.

Bu

There is a law in the state of Mexico, by which whoever kills another in a duel, becomes answerable for his debts. (Le Semeur.)

CYDWELI.

THE ENDEAVOURER, No. V.

THE STUDENT OF THIRTY-FIive.

Serò intelligunt miseri, tam diu se, dum nihil agunt, occupatos fuisse.-Sen. de Brev. Vit.

To the Endeavourer.

SIR, AS I see that your paper is open to Correspondents, I take the liberty of offering you a letter to form your next number; and think that, when you shall have read my account of myself, and learned how much I have attempted, and how little I have performed, you will not be unwilling to allow the history of my life a place in the Endeavourer.

I was born with some abilities, received a scholastic education, and felt at an early age a desire to distinguish myself in literature. Whilst at school and at college, I executed my tasks in such a manner as to attract the notice of my preceptors and fellow-students; and, being fond of reading and retirement, indulged in a wider range of studies than the generality of those who resort to universities for instruction. I wrote, however, but little. Thinking that the years of youth were more profitably employed in acquiring knowledge to be produced at a subsequent period, I contented myself with the transient applause which I could obtain among my associates from an essay or a rhyme on some temporary topic.

When I had reached my twentyfourth year, I thought it time to make some serious effort for more extended reputation. As I had succeeded to a competent fortune, I had my time at my own disposal; and, that I might not waste my early vigour and spirit in domestic cares or pleasures, determined to continue for a time unmarried. I collected abundance of books, and fixed my residence near a public library, that I might be at liberty, in the prosecution of my studies, to consult scarce volumes or manuscripts.

But I found it for a long time not easy to fix my mind to a task. I deliberated and hesitated, and amused myself with one project in the morning, and another in the evening, without applying to the execution of any. At length, I grew ashamed of indetermination and delay, and resolved to force myself to steady application.

My first wish was to be eminent in Poetry; and, in the ardour and ambition of youth, I had thought my powers equal to an Epic. I contemplated the great poem of Milton, and thought that I could equal his beauties without being guilty of his faults; rise to his elevations without sinking to his flats; and, instead of producing a poem animated in the early part, and languid at the close, continue a strain unabated in spirit from beginning to end. I sketched my plan, consulted authors with respect to my characters and incidents, composed and corrected similes and speeches, and pleased myself long with the hopes of closely approaching perfection. But when 1 began to reduce my effusions to order, and to revise them coolly after the charm of novelty was abated, I saw that I had incurred many faults attendant on inexperience, and that, through fear of being languid, I had exalted my imagination to such extravagant flights, as it would take long time and pains to correct and curtail. I had sufficient judgment to know that without such correction my labours would be useless; but I was too impatient in the pursuit of renown to allow myself to exercise it. I therefore laid the work aside for a while, with a resolution to improve it on such occasions as I should feel inclined, and to devote myself to some other undertaking more easy of completion.

I still retained my love for the service of the Muses, and proposed to myself to write a poem of the didactic and descriptive kind. I chose Agriculture for my subject, and read the directions of innumerable authors concerning ploughing, sowing, and reaping. I walked in the fields to observe the husbandmen at their work, conversed with them respecting their occupations, and versified their accounts, as I strolled along. I wrote invocations to Ceres, and designed a tale to relieve, like that of Aristaus in the Georgics, the dryness of precept and description. But a friend, to whom I read portions of my verses, was so sparing of commendation, that I lost my esteem for them, and threw them into the fire as flat and spiritless.

A remark which I met with in some critic that I was consulting then, induced me to relinquish for a time original composition, and attempt some poetical translation. Chance fixed my

attention on Vida's Christiad, to a version of which I eagerly applied myself. I had a high opinion of this epic when I began; but, as I proceeded, and the work became a task, I began insensibly to attribute more weight to the objections of the critics against it, and as my esteem for the poem declined, I grew less resolute in the labour of translating it, and at last abandoned it in disgust.

I next looked round among the classic authors, intending to translate some one that had not been translated before, and lighted on Nicander, a version of whose Theriaca I purposed to accompany with learned notes. But this attempt had the same fate as the preceding. I lost all hope of pleasing the general reader by the poem, and I knew that the notes would attract the attention only of the learned. I wished for more general reputation, and sought another subject. I thought proper to try my hand at prose. Having read largely in the works of metaphysicians, I prepared to compose an Essay on the Mind. This was an undertaking sufficient to rouse the exertion of my whole powers, But I found that it was no work for a man in haste to be famous. When I had spent two years on it, I still saw so many particulars to be supplied, and so much of what I had written to be corrected and elucidated, that I shrunk from the task in despair, and left it, like my epic, to be completed on future occasions.

I then made a similar descent in prose to that which I had before made in poetry; I sunk from original composition to translation. I found my attention fixed, I know not how, on the Orations of Isocrates, and sat down resolutely to turn them into English. With my first attempts I was highly pleased, and calculated in how many weeks, working a certain number of hours a day, I should bring my labour to a conclusion. But, as I proceeded, my employment became burdensome, and I laid it aside for the same reasons as I had before relinquished Vida and Nicander.

My thoughts were next turned to compilation, and I commenced a life of Charlemagne. But I had to consult such numbers of records, that I could proceed but slowly, and was soon weary of the toil. I then set myself to make a collection of excel