Now, if the steam-engine and the waggons on the rail-way, should here be suddenly substituted by some Capitalist,' for the hardworking colliers and the little vendors with carts and panniers, the probability is, that our small seam of coal would be presently exhausted; that the very men and boys who might, at first, have retained a little work, would soon be deprived of it, and the inhabitants, (such of them as are now customers,) obliged to resort again, with carts and asses, to the coal-pits they formerly frequented; or to go to a still greater distance; our capitalist being, in the mean time, ruined by charges. But something like this is continually resulting from the enormous increase and extended application of machinery, and its continual encroachments on the market for human labour in this country, without a provision in Equity to indemnify the losers by the change: and yet we go on, and go on-as if, because it is shewn that the thing can be done, therefore it may and must be done, (which is the common law, at present, of mechanical improvements,) let the consequence to society be what it may. And so fixed are we in this principle, so far gone on this road, that whilst I write my own honest sentiments as a bystander, (and not without a fear of trespassing on the patience of my friends,) I am obliged to confess, that I have not a single specific point of reform to mention, but must confine myself to the discharge of the duty which I impose on myself as Editor of this work; of advancing the great principles of equity, humanity, benevolence, and public spirit; and entreating an increased attention to these, on the part of such as may know better than myself how to apply a practical remedy to the evil. Having said what is needful at present on my side, I am willing now to pause, and hear some one on the other. Ed. ART. IV. FABLES IN VERSE &C.- CONTINUED. The Wolf prosecuting the Fox. Phædr. I. 10. The Fox, arraign'd for theft at suit The Ape, well versed in Sylvan laws, The plaintiff's tale most false I find: A Judge (they say‡) is bound to place 6 And while the letter kills,' 'tis fit Striving with might and main, to save There lurk'd, forsooth! some hidden flaw May sell the plunder, pay his fees, Where we read 'plaintiff' Counsel may Could due appropriate punishment The Miser. Æsop. A covetous wretch, who had acquired a large property in money, had it all melted into an Ingot of gold, which he buried in the ground, not considering, while he went every night to look at his treasure, that his heart was left there also, and his happiness thus placed in the power of another. As might have been expected, one of his own servants watched him to the spot, unearthed the spoil and went off with it. The next night the owner discovered his loss, and was bewailing it bitterly; when a person came by who being informed of the cause of his grief, told him he perceived he did not know the difference between use and possession. If the latter would satisfy him, he might yet in a certain way succeed, by providing a stone of the shape and size of the Ingot, which he might gild over, and imagine it solid, and treat it as he had done his gold; if not with equal satisfaction, at least with equal profit to himself. See Blackstone's Commentaries. To Correspondents :-The Editor has to thank two intimate friends for the following notices, "I was a little puzzled by the quotation from Montesquieu [in Art. II. No. 1.] which describes Pepin as the father of Charles Martel, and subsequently mentions king Pepin as holding a council, after the death of Charles Martel, to redress the injuries which Charles had during his reign inflicted on the clergy. On referring to Montesquieu I found that the quotation was perfectly accurate; and a little further research in French history (with the details of which I am not so familiar as I should be) set the matter all straight. The first Pepin was Pepin Heristal, Mayor of the palace; who was never actually king. It would have been clearer, if Montesquieu had called him Pepin Heristal. Charles Martel was his son, and was also not strictly king. The latter left two sons, Carloman and Pepin, which last eventually became King. tr "With regard to the original distribution of Tithes, I think it may not be amiss to mention that, though it is very often stated, (as by Montesquieu in this passage) that they were divided into four parts, Hall, who is in general extremely correct, says they were divided only into three; one of which went to the Bishop and his clergy, a second to the poor, and the third to the fabric of the church. See Hall, Mid. Ages, vol. ii. p. 6. He gives references, but I have not had time to examine them." There is yet a third point to notice in that passage. In rapidly reading, and translating the while, my French extract, the Church has been made to usurp its own rights in this matter; which the Reader will be pleased to correct, by letting the words on its part,' stand for nothing. Ed. "There are two or three Latin quotations [in No. 1.] which most will at once understand; yet there are not a few in our society, who know only their mother tongue for the sake of such it might be as well always to let the translations follow. The late Professor Porson, the most learned man of the last century, used often to quote both Latin and Greek authors, but he invariably translated, whatever might be the Classical attainments of his companions." I shall hope not to forget this intimation in future quotations, where the sense is likely to be left incomplete without the English. But the short motto, which serves to point a sentence or head a tale, may surely be left unrendered, as the lawful perquisite of some youth in the circle; who having learned the Latin at one or other of our private or public schools, will be glad to undertake the office of interpreting to the company. My Readers of the mother tongue' may rest assured, meanwhile, that I shall never laugh at them under this vizor; or introduce thus what would be unfit to stand in plain English. 6 My Matter having rather accumulated on the Printer's hands, I find it expedient at this time to go to press again without delay; and No. IV. may be expected accordingly on the 1st of next Month; in which will be treated the subject of National Wars and the practice of Swearing, considered in respect of their unlawfulness to professors of the doctrine of the Gospel. Ed. Communications may be addressed, POST PAID, "For the Editor of the Yorkshireman" at the Printer's, Pontefract; at Longman & Co's, London; Baines & Newsome's, Leeds; and W. Simpson's, York. CHARLES ELCOCK, PRINTER, PONTEFRACT. ART. I. On the Affirmation, allowed by Law to the people called Quakers, in certain cases, in lieu of an Oath. The controversy on the subject of Swearing lies, with respect to the scruple or belief of the Friends, in a smaller compass than either of the other chief points of difference between them and their FellowChristians. They have always chosen to take Christ's and the Apostle James's prohibition in the literal and most extended sense their opponents endeavour to restrict it to profane and needless oaths, justifying those administered by the Magistrate. I shall not at once enter upon the question, in reference to the most important point which it involves, the apparent reason of the prohibition of Christ; but shall prefer letting my readers see, first, what I find at hand among my papers, of a former date. The following communication was prepared for insertion in a Morning paper, about the close of the year 1819, but never sent; being reserved (as it now appears) for a more seasonable occasion. LETTER ADDRESSED BY THE EDITOR OF THIS JOURNAL ΤΟ THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. "The Times of Nov. 5, [1819] in giving an account of the proceedings of the City of London Auxiliary Bible Society,' makes me state, that the true criterion of the right use, or abuse, of the liberty of the Press is to be found in the verdict of twelve honest men upon their oaths, This is in part incorrect; I said nothing about the oath. I should not however have troubled thee with any notice of this inaccuracy, but that I find the sentence interpreted by some of thy readers as a concession in degree, on my part, of the well-known Quaker principle against swearing. Do me therefore the favour of a small space in thy columns, in which to avow, that I am not disposed to surrender either this, or any other clause of the little Bill of Rights of Quakerism; of that liberty of conscience which, after a long series of civil privations, and sufferings on a religious account, and by a conduct uniformly peaceable, however firm, and loyal (in the best sense of the word), however uncourtly-has been won for this Society from the justice and good sense, the humanity and Christian feeling, of the Legislature. to me. a “I am well aware that, at present, no juror can be such, in the eye of the law, until he have been sworn; and I may therefore be supposed, though I shunned the mention of the oath, to have included it in the idea before me. I did so; and having the privilege of thinking for myself, the while, I coupled with it in my own breast another thought: to wit, the possibility (however improbable some may deem the thing) of the future existence, in some corner of the world, of a jury, some of the 'honest men' composing which might be affirmed (instead of being sworn) to the due discharge of their trust. Things often come closer to my understanding than the sounds by which they happen to be denoted: and I own I have, at times, been at a loss to know how it happens, among us Christian Englishmen, that' Mahometan may be sworn upon the Koran, and a Gentoo according to the custom of India, and their evidence received in a criminal case,' while a body of Christians, whose civil integrity is not attempted to be placed below that of their fellow-citizens, remain, with the exception of a few cases provided for by statute, mere ciphers to the criminal justice of the country; and in a great degree useless in the civil. There may be reasons for this, however, which have not yet appeared In the mean time this exclusion from juries is to the Quaker, in the present state of our criminal code, a real privilege and exemption from distress and difficulty. It saves his feelings many a pang, his judgment many a buffet, and his conscience many a call to active or passive struggle against impossible requisitions. A Quaker, with or without the prelude of his affirmation, would never be brought, I trust, to find in court, that the sum of eighty pounds in notes of the Bank of England was of the value of less than forty shillings; or to agree in other verdicts of common occurrence and of equal absurdity. While the penal code, therefore, remains as it is, Quakers are perhaps better excluded from juries than admitted and I perceive I have now found a reason for myself. But the question whether the salus populi, the good of the community in the strict, sound, and prompt administration of criminal justice, would not be promoted by the removal of such disqualifications and impediments as I have ventured here to hint at, is one which I must now leave, with entire deference, to those to whom belongs the inquiry and the decision in these matters. Blackstone says of the Trial by Jury (Comment. Book 3, chap. 23): It is therefore upon the whole a duty which every man owes to his country, his friends, his posterity, and himself, to maintain to the utmost of his power this valuable constitution in all its rights; to restore it to its antient dignity, if at all impaired by the different value of property, or otherwise diverted from its first institution; to |