dance, in which he wrought himself up to a height of fury, he loudly dwelt upon the warlike achievements of his sovereign lord, Women sang of the thousands and tens of thousands slain in battle by Saul and David, 1 Sam. xviii. 7; but the military glory of Ashantee's king was thus proclaimed by a monarch only inferior to himself. The king and his attendants close the procession. All his officers of state display their respective insignia as they pass along; among which are prominent the executioners, with their blood-stained stools, and the great death-drum, decorated with jaw bones and skulls of vanquished foes. This drum is beaten at the moment when a human victim is beheaded. The people well understand its sound. On one occasion, when Mr. Freeman was in a distant part of the capital, the drum was heard; on which his interpreter said, "Hark! do you hear the drum? A sacrifice has just been made, and the drum says, 'King, I have killed him."" A circumstance occurred on Mr. Freeman's public reception, which forcibly illustrates Ashantee manners. The king had saluted Mr. Freeman with great courteousness as he passed; but he had not proceeded many paces, when he suddenly snatched a sabre from one of his attendants, and aimed a violent blow at an individual who was beating a drum. The drummer, terrified, ran and placed himself under the protection of a powerful caboceer, who, as Mr. Freeman afterwards learned, pleaded for him; when the king consented to spare his life, but sentenced him to lose an ear, saying, "The drum ought to have been played properly, in honour of the Englishman who had paid him a visit." sions, will not cause surprise, when it is remembered that the Ashantees are a nation of warriors; all the males being trained to arms from their youth. Bowdich calculates that Ashantee Proper can alone send two hundred and four thousand soldiers into the field; and its disposable force, since the Ashantee invasions, has been estimated by old residents at upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand. The discipline of the Ashantee army has ever been spoken of with commendation by the English, as often as they have had opportunity to witness it. When the Ashantees first came down to the sea, in the year 1807, the governor and his officers, on entering into negotiation with the king at Annamaboe (Anamabú,) were surprised to find, not only that the king himself was polite and well-behaved, but that he and his troops understood and observed the rules of war as they are maintained among civilized people. And Mr. Williams, the secretary of the unfortunate Sir Charles M'Carthy, who was for some time a prisoner in the enemy's camp, stated, on his return, that he was astonished at the dicipline of the Ashantee army, and at the regularity with which the officers and soldiers performed their respective duties. The Ashantee monarchy is hereditary; but the order of succession is peculiar. The crown does not descend from father to son, but passes from brother to brother. This arrangement most probably originated in the necessities of a military government, which would not allow the sceptre to be placed in the hands of infancy; an event that doubtless would have been of frequent occurrence, had the lineal order been preserved amongst a people whose principal occupation is war. A female cannot ascend the throne; but if, when the last of the line of bro At those state exhibitions, the marketplace, which is about a mile in circum-thers dies, his sister has a son, the crown ference, is generally crowded. Mr. Freeman calculated that forty thousand persons, half of whom were soldiers, were present at his public reception. Such a length of time is occupied with the formalities which etiquette prescribes on those occasions, that the day sometimes closes before they are concluded; and the glare of torches, which are fed by oil contained in vessels of gold, and the brilliant glow of the stars in an African sky, throw a new interest over the extraordinary scene. That the king should be able to parade so large a body of troops on public occa descends to him. The heir apparent, it would appear, is generally marked out during the life-time of the reigning sovereign. When Bowdich was at Coomassie, Ockoto, the brother of the king, who actually succeeded him at his death, was then acknowledged as his heir; and Quako Kujoh, son of the sister of the present king, is at this time recognized as the future sovereign of Ashantee. The native term used as the title of the heir apparent, and indeed of all the princes of the blood, is Ossu.-Beecham's Ashantee and the Gold Coast. WOOLLEN CLOTH. SHORT Wool is used for the manufacture of cloth. The first operation is intended to open the matted fleece of the wool stapler, and to cleanse it of all impurities. The machine is called a willy, and the wool is frequently passed through it to effect these objects thoroughly, and afterwards to imbue the fibres with oil. The following is a description of the wool machine, from Mr. Barlow's excellent Essay on Manufactures in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. "This is differently constructed in different manufactories; but the most common form consists of a cylindrical drum, about three feet long, and two and a half feet in diameter, furnished with teeth, or spikes, throughout its surface or circumference; this turns on an axis fixed in a strong wooden frame, enclosed on all sides, but the ends of the case turning on hinges which allow them to be let down; the lower part is not, however, close boarded, but splintered, so as to admit any dirt, extracted by the operation, to fall | through. On the axle of this drum is a wheel, and over the cylinder, within | the case, are five small rollers, or cylinders, also covered with teeth, and turning on axles fixed in the frame. The teeth of the rollers and those of the drum, or cylinder, intersect each other during the rotation, as do, also, the teeth of the rollers themselves; motion is given to the whole by a fast and loose pulley, or other contrivance, to connect the maIchine with the first mover. The front door is now turned down on its hinges, and a quantity of raw wool, as it is received from the wool stapler, is laid upon it; the door is then closed, by which means the wool is brought within reach of the teeth of the drum, or central cylinder, which carries it upwards, so as to work it between its own teeth and those of the upper rollers. The motion of the cylinder is very rapid, and as the wool is drawn from tooth to tooth, it is opened, and the long fibres broken; after a certain number of revolutions, a door, similar to the one last described, is opened at the other end of the machine, and the wool is thrown out by the centrifugal force of the cylinder; it is then again closed, the former one opened, and supplied with another charge of wool, which is in like manner ejected, and so on with fresh charges, each being about a pound in weight." The wool being thus prepared is submitted to the first carding process, called scribbling, the object of which is to convert the wool into a broad fleece. The machine has some resemblance to that just described; but the central large cylinder, and the smaller ones in pairs, are covered with cards instead of strong teeth. By the motion of these the wool is scribbled from its passage between the cards; and the fibres are separated, and spread evenly over the surface of the cylinders; so that being transferred from one roller to another, the wool is stripped off the cylinder which last receives it, called the doffer, by a comb made for that purpose. The whole of this process closely resembles the carding of cotton. The thin fleece, or woollen lap, is then passed on to the carding machine, from which it is delivered as a narrow band, or sliver. The wool being brought into this state, the separate cardings are to be converted into a continuous spongy cord, slightly twisted, which is done in a machine called the slubbing billy. When taken from this machine, the thread is in fact continuous, so that a slubbing is, in woollen manufacture, what a rooing is in the cotton. It is afterwards spun, and the thread or yarn being thus produced, is handed over to the weaver, to be converted into a fabric. Of the method of weaving we have already spoken, and therefore we have now only to describe those processes which follow it, and by which the cloth is prepared for the market. When the fabric is delivered by the weaver, it is in a very greasy and rough state, for the use of oil is absolutely necessary for its production. To remove the oil is then the first process, and to facilitate this operation, the cloth is immersed in some alkaline mixture, in which it is kept for several hours, and afterwards washed in clear water. It is then taken to the fulling mill, which is a machine employed for cleansing and thickening cloths, and appears to have been of great antiquity. The process of fulling is nothing more than a mechanical agitation of newly-manufactured cloth, in some liquid. The usual method is, to place the cloth in a trough of water, or some reservoir through which a stream of water flows, so as to supply a continued amount of clean water. During the immersion, the cloth is to be constantly agitated, which is done by two or more arms, or, as they are technically called stocks, which in form greatly resemble mallets. These successively rise and fall, striking the cloth, and turning fresh surfaces. Some cloths are fulled with soap, in which case they are exposed for a short time to a strong solution of soap, if we may so speak, and afterwards scoured in hot water. When the fulling has been completed, the cloths are removed to the tenter field, so called, because they are there stretched on tenter frames. When dry, they are taken down, and being carefully examined, are repaired in such parts as may be found necessary. The milling which follows is little more than a repetition of the fulling. The threads of the cloth are distinctly seen, when it is taken from the tenter field, and the process of milling is intended to give it a greater thickness, and to produce the necessary felt. The cloth is therefore again removed to the fulling mill, and a piece, which is sixty-two yards, is treated with about six pounds of soap, dissolved in water, and about a handful is spread upon each yard in length. By working thus in the fulling mill the fibres are washed, and a felt obtained. After about three hours, the cloth is taken out, and again soaped, when it is returned for three hours more, and this is done four times; after which water is admitted into the trough, and flows through it, until all the soap is washed away. The cloth is then removed to the tenter field, and is found to be reduced in length about one-third. Being thoroughly tried, there are but two operations more, dressing and shearing. The process called dressing is intended to raise the nap of the cloth. It was formerly done by hand. Most of our readers must be acquainted with the plant called the teasle. It is a species of thistle, and bears a hard ball, covered with stiff points, or rather hooks. A number of these were fixed in a frame, and the cloth being hung up, two men worked it over the face of the fabric, until the nap was obtained. The same operation is now effected by a machine called the gig mill. Shearing is the process by which the nap is cut down, and a smooth fine surface obtained. This was also, at one time, performed by hand, with an instrument called the clothier's shears, but it is now done by the aid of machinery.-H. ENGLISH MANUFACTURES ABROAD. I AM more impressed with the wealth and resources of England since I left it, says Mr. Bullar in his visit to the Azores, but I am the less surprized at them. The compass of this Portuguese vessel was made at Wapping; the quadrant in Holborn; the knives are stamped "shear steel;" the bell for the watch, and the iron of the windlass, are from an English foundry; the captain uses an English watch, and calculates by John Hamilton Moore's "Seaman's Complete Daily Assistant;"" Sailmaker" is stamped on one of the sails, and the passengers are dressed in Manchester prints, or Leeds cloth. Every where it is the same you meet in the solitary mountain paths of these almost unknown islands, a pedler with two square boxes slung on each side of his ass, and see him in the villages tempting the women with the bright handkerchiefs and gay prints from Manchester. In the obscurest village, the neat blue paper needle case from Birmingham hangs from a string at a cottage doorway, to tell that English needles are sold within; and in crossing in an open boat, between two of the remotest islands, Flores and Corvo, an English sailmaker's name and residence were printed legibly on the sail. V tells me, that the other evening he had just landed in a fishing hamlet, a lonely place at the mouth of a deep ravine, which parts two gloomy mountain ridges, when his reveries were disturbed by a fellow passenger, who, having caught sight of some village girls, suddenly exclaimed, "Look, these are all my prints!'' TEA. "THE introduction of tea," says Mr. Jacob, "but especially the extensive preference which it gradually received, till it has become the daily fare of almost the whole community, had an influence on the consumption of silver for small spoons. They were scarcely known in the previous reign, but multiplied in that of Anne, and have gone on increasing from that time to the present, when they may be counted by millions, perhaps by hundreds of millions." PRUDENCE. JOHN Howe used to say of prudence, "He was so far from doubting whether it was a virtue, that he considered imprudence to be a great vice and immorality." Bramshill, Hants. The intended residence of Henry, Prince of Wales. ENGLISH HISTORY. JAMES I. by archbishop Bancroft and the king. He stated, "Either the king is above the parliament, that is, the positive laws of his kingdom, or else he is not an absolute king." And elsewhere, "The king is above the law by his absolute power; and, his coronation oath notwithstanding, he may alter or suspend any particular law that seemeth hurtful to the public estate." The Commons applied to the Lords, who joined in a remonstrance to the king against the diffusion of such doctrines. In the existing state of affairs, the king could not refuse; the book was suppressed by proclamation, and the author was imprisoned for a short time. AFTER the meeting of parliament in 1610, dissensions soon arose. One of the earliest matters that caused debate, was a dispute between the common lawyers, who practised according to the laws of the land, or statute law, and the practitioners of the civil law, which, originally based on the law of the Roman empire, embodied in the code of Justinian, had become a part of the legal practice of most of the nations of Europe; it favoured the regal prerogatives, and the views of the clergy; while the common law tended to place restrictions on both. In the existing state of things, the disputes Next came under debate the taxes levied of these parties excited general interest, on goods imported by the royal authority and involved the other questions that agi- alone. James did not hesitate to assert tated the public mind. Dr. Cowell, a his absolute power in the strongest terms, civilian, had published a book, in which claiming his authority to exercise it by he urged the right of the king of England Divine right, though perhaps it might be to make and unmake laws, and raise limited by the laws of England; saying, money without the consent of parlia-"As to dispute what God may do is blasment, his book having been encouraged phemy; so it is sedition, in subjects, to MARCH, 1842. H tune. You have tasted a little hereof in our blessed queen's time, who was more than a man, and in truth, sometimes less than a woman. I wish I waited now in her presence chamber, with ease at my food, and rest in my bed. I am pushed from the shore of comfort, and know not where the winds and waves of a court will bear me; I know it bringeth little comfort on earth; and he is, I reckon, no wise man that looketh this way to heaven.' dispute what a king may do in the pleni- | one's honesty, and yet not spoil one's fortude of his power." The Commons entered boldly into the question, alleging that otherwise they should not leave to their successors the freedom received from their forefathers. They also sought to remove some of the burdens remaining from the feudal system; among these were the exactions practised under the name of purveyance; and the interference of the king by the court of wards, with the property of persons under age, and widows; by which he received large sums from the estates of orphans during their minority, and considerable amounts for bestowing them in marriage. These grievances were strongly felt, and the king at length consented to relinquish them, on receiving an income of 200,000l. The sources for this revenue could not be at once fixed on, and a sum of about 100,000l. was granted as a temporary supply at the end of the session. When the parliament again assembled, it was still more unfavourable to the royal views of prerogative. Some ill-judging spirits influenced the house to oppose the king's demands for compensation, and after an angry speech, and an unsuitable reply, James dissolved this parliament on December 31, 1611. Both parties were to blame, and in these latter measures the Commons were apparently the most to be censured. A fair opportunity for conciliating the king, and obtaining important benefits for the people, was lost. But the royal proceedings also caused needless irritation, and the king's difficulties were increased, as he had no way of obtaining money but by an appeal to his subjects. Cecil, the prime minister, deeply felt these increasing troubles. The sale of the crown lands; and loans partly forced from rich individuals; with the sale of the rank of baronet, then instituted for the purpose, and for which seventy-six country gentlemen paid 1,000l. each;—these were the principal resources to meet increasing debt and diminished popularity. Cecil was already in an ill state of health, his maladies were aggravated by his anxieties, and he died when returning from Bath in May, 1612. His attendants had, for some time, anticipated the result. It was indeed to be expected; for in 1604 he had written to a friend, "You know all my former steps, good knight; rest content, and give heed to one that hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a court, and gone heavily over the best seeming fair ground. It is a great task to prove The death of Cecil was soon followed by another, considered at the time still more disastrous to the nation; but we must return to some previous events. In May, 1610, Henry, the king's eldest son, was created prince of Wales and duke of Cornwall, and put in possession of the revenues assigned to that station: a considerable establishment was also formed for him, and a country seat at Bramshill, Hants, was being prepared for his residence. From this time, he engaged much of the public attention. His manners and disposition wholly differed from those of his father. His bearing was princely; he delighted in warlike exercises, and sought popularity; he already had considerable influence, and professed himself a decided supporter of the Protestant faith. Another event worthy of notice was the death of archbishop Bancroft, who was succeeded by Abbot, a man endowed with a milder spirit than his predecessor, and imbued with real religion. This gave some relaxation to the persecutions for conscience' sake, in which the Puritans had suffered more extensively than the Papists. The lady Arabella Stuart was found to have privately married a son of the lord Beauchamp's. Jealous of her pretensions to the crown, however inferior to his own, the king caused her to be imprisoned; and being taken in an attempt to escape, she was detained in the Tower till her death. The year 1611 saw one matter of great importance, the publication of the new translation of the Bible. Would that James had been as desirous to be guided by the word of God, as he professed to be for its right promulgation; that word, of which a ruler in former ages could say, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way," Psa. cxix. 103, 104. |