V. "I sleep, but my heart waketh."-1 Cant. v. 2. I sleep-and in the dreams of night Though ceaseless roll the ages by, Beneath the weight of years. I sleep-as in a magic glass No shade upon the smile they wear, I dream-and in my thrilling ear Through wood and welkin ring. One name upon those lips of love How vainly gaze my longing eyes, VI. "And she became a pillar of salt."-Gen. xix. 26. 'Twas but a little band, From the dark fate of that doomed city spared; Yet of the few who climb the mountain's side Breathes one of heaven accurst! Her guilty soul Pined for the world below; her tottering feet, Now lingering, pause; and on the city fair, Outspread in gorgeous beauty far beneath, The wanderer turns to gaze. Its golden sheen Gleams in the rising sun. All tranquil still It seems, deep slumbering in the soft lap cradled What storm hangs reddening o'er the shadowy plain, One guilty soul, BONG Ог LIFE. I. Close, old companions, round my hearth That beats around us from our birth- If strong, we dash the waves aside, And breast the currents, brave the blast; If weak, we float along the tide, And, like the strongest, sink at last :- Floats our soul through life away, Drifts through waves of night and day. II. Great Nature measured forth the hours To shape themselves by circumstance: That yields the largest happiness. III. Gauge well your spirits' strength, and note A peaceful heart, in summer's breath Float toward your rest, with pinions furled; A daring soul, in love with death, Storm through the waters of the world. IV. The spirit of the expanse around Shapes all conditions to our weal; None miss the truths they cannot sound, Still moon-bright memory sways the years And sorrow wings to purer spheres The heart that earth consoles no more. V. Come! let us make our heaven of earth, With pleasures purer than a throne. While yet our bosoms breathe the day; And from the grave the guardian powers Will light our souls, and lead the way. T. I. THE INDUSTRIAL CONDITION OF IRELAND CONSIDERED. SINCE our last number was placed in the hands of our readers, our Great Industrial Exhibition has closed. It behoves us, now that the excitement of the scene has passed away, to call attention to the lessons which it was calculated to teach. Much, no doubt, has been already given to the world, with reference to the Exhibition, and its probable results; so much, indeed, that we do not pretend to offer any reflections that may not have been previously suggested. It would ill, however, become the position which, as a national publication, we have ever endeavoured to maintain, to allow an event, which is certainly unprecedented in the annals of this country, to pass by without an attempt, at least, to deduce from it the instruction which it conveys. We are not about to attempt any general description of the collection, or of its varied contents, all of which has been already made known to every one. We have already, in previous numbers, offered many observations which seemed to be called for by the occasion, and which we shall not now recapitulate. Our endeavour, in the present instance, will be simply to take a survey of our own industry, and to try to estimate the position which we are fairly entitled to hold as a manufacturing, a commercial, or agricultural country. To this we shall address ourselves with, at least, an earnest desire to arrive at such conclusions as may be just, even though they should, in many instances, fall short of what national vanity might desire. A nation is as open to adulation as an individual, and is not the less susceptible of flattery on points on which it is half conscious it is undeserved. But however it may comport with the dignity of a people to yield themselves to cajolery in political concerns, when they enter into the lists of industrial competition, they have stern realities to encounter, and practical truths to grapple with; and if the Great Exhibition is to be of any lasting benefit-if it is to prove anything more than a passing pageant, or to leave any impression beyond the memory of pleasant scenes and happy hours-it will be by forcing our lamentable short-comings upon our attention, by teaching us how we may attain to the position which we might have held, and kindling within us a resolute determination-a calm but steadfast purpose of doing so. Happily we have got some topics of congratulation to cheer and to encourage us; we are not without some instances of success to indicate the path we should pursue. Pre-eminent amongst these has been the progress of the linen trade in the north of Ireland. The chief seat of the manufacture, Belfast, has advanced with a rapidity which is wholly without precedent in this country. But five-andtwenty years ago, there was scarcely a spinning-factory in that whole county. Belfast alone now numbers thirtynine; the number of spindles exceed in amount those of England or of Scotland, or of any other nation; it has a larger mercantile marine than the chief port of France, and exports a greater quantity of linen and of yarn than both France and Belgium taken together; it has entirely outstripped the French manufacture, even in that peculiar branch in which the latter had long the pre-eminence- the manufacture of cambric; and by producing the best and cheapest linen in the world, has driven French, Belgians, Germans, and all other foreigners out of the markets of both North and South America, and, indeed, out of every other market in which we were suffered to meet them on fair terms of equality; and has only not yet succeeded in beating them in their own, because of the stringent tariff which they have been obliged to impose for their protection. We cannot resist "The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853." June, 1853. "Industrial Education." September, 1853. |