The total number of Europeans at Ranghee Hoo, including men, women, and children, is twenty-five. Among them are the Missionaries Messrs. Kendall, Hall, and King. The land obtained is about 200 acres. The grant is drawn up in the European form. DEATH OF DUATERRA. Before Mr. Marsden quitted the island, on which he could not stay beyond the time limited by the Governor at Sydney, he was called to a painful duty, of which he gives the following account. I found Duaterra dangerously ill. This was a very distressing circumstance to me. I called to see him; but the superstition of the Natives would not permit me. His people had fixed a guard about him, and would suffer no person to approach. He was so very ill, that they expected him to die in a short time. I entreated them, time after time, for two or three days together, to admit me to see him; but they had tabooed" the inclosure in which he lay, and dared not admit any person in to him. I was very much mortified, and understood that he was to have nothing to eat or drink for five days. I went again to the people that attended him: they would only speak to me through the fence, and still refused me admittance. I then told them I would bring the Active near the town, and blow it up, if they would not admit me. They said, if I thought proper, I might: and, finding I could neither persuade them by entreaties, nor intimidate them by threats, I went to the Chief, a nephew of Tippahee, who possessed the greatest influence and principal authority in the place, and told him how I had been refused admittance to see Duaterra for several days, and that Duaterra had neither wine, tea, sugar, rice, nor bread; all which he had been used to; and that if he did not get these nourishments, he would die. I further told him, that I was determined to fire the big guns belonging to the Active on the town, as soon as I went on board. He expressed his concern that they would not allow me to see him; and desired me to go with him, and see what could be done. When he approached near the inclosure, he seemed much alarmed, walked slowly and whispered as if he expected some divine judgment to come upon him; he made signs to some of the attendants who spoke to him through the fence, and pointed out to them what destruction the guns would make in the town, and that there was no guarding against them, as they could not be seen. After several consultations with those along with Duaterra, and the messengers who came with the chief, permission was granted for my admission When I entered the inclosure, I found Duaterra lying on his back, facing the sun, which was intensely hot, in a high fever, his tongue very foul, violent pains in his bowels, and, from every appearance, not likely to survive long. I found two of his wives with him, his father-in law, the priest, and several attendants. He was very much pleased that I had come to see him. I asked him if he had any thing to eat or drink: he replied he had not, excepting potatoes and water. I told him, whatever he wanted he should have; and ordered him a supply of tea, sugar, rice, and wine: he expressed his gratitude. I ordered some wine and water to be got for him as soon as possible, part of which he took. He also ate some rice, and took some tea, and seemed a little revived. It had been his intention to lay out a new town, with regular streets, to be built after the European mode; in which, ground was to be set apart for a church. I had gone to examine it before. The situation was delightful, on a rising hill, in front of the harbour's mouth, distant about eight miles, and commanding all the harbour. He again mentioned his intention to me, and hoped he should be better, so as to have the town marked out before I sailed. I told him I should be ready to attend him, and hoped to see him recover, and recommended him to take what nourishment he could. They now gave me permission to see him at all times. I called the following day, and found he spoke much better, and entertained hopes of his recovery. The day after, he appeared worse; but was supplied with all the necessaries he could wish, by Messrs. Kendall, Hall, and King, who willingly offered to do all they could for him. Whatever vessels were taken with refreshments for Duaterra, we were obliged to leave: the people said, if they were removed, Duaterra would die. He was himself of that opinion:-so strongly rooted is superstition in the human mind, when once admitted! So far as natural causes can be consi dered to operate, I attribute Duaterra's sickness to his exertions. He was a man of great bodily strength, with a very active and comprehensive mind; and on his return to New Zealand, he exerted himself 109] 1 [110 Consecration of Bells. day and night to carry the plans which he | been at first extremely simple, mere lines, had formed into execution. His grand object was agriculture. He calculated, that, in two years, he should be able to raise sufficient wheat for all his people, and to supply other Chiefs with seed; and, in a short time, to export some to Port Jack-lations given to the warriors among the but they recorded the character and exploits of the wearer, like the devices on the shields of ancient heroes, like the armorial bearings among ourselves; like the appel. son, in exchange for iron, and such other articles as he might want. With this view he had visisted his different lands for near forty miles distant from Ranghee Hoo, and had laid out the grounds which he intended to clear and cultivate; and had marked out the work for his men, having first inquired of me how much ground a man broke up per day at Port Jackson. He was seldom at home, but constantly at his farms, excepting when he went with me to the River Thames. Under all these circumstances, I fear he will be a great loss to his country. One consolation he has bequeathed to them, however, is that of having introduced agriculture, and paved the way for the civilization of his countrymen. When he came to New South Wales last August, in the Active, he brought his half-brother with him, and left him with me, desiring he might be instructed in useful knowledge. He is now about sixteen years of age, and is a very fine and intellegent youth, exceedingly well disposed, and truly industrious. This youth is next in authority, and will succeed Duaterra in his estates. I intend him to remain till he speak the English language, and gain the knowledge of agriculture. He is every day at work, either as carpenter or farmer; and I entertain hopes, in the event of Duaterra quitting this mortal life, that he will soon be able to fill his place. I have also a person instructing him to read a little, be fore he returns. We cannot quit this article without submitting to our readers, a conjecture on the possible origin of letters and writing, of which it suggests an idea. We see that these savages practised the art of personal ornament, while destitute of the art of writing; and that these ornaments differed according to the rank of the wearer; un American Indians-and their signatures, also,-as-great elk-a bear-a tortoise an eagle, &c. The calling of these marks constantly by the same names, would at length transfer to the sign the name of the thing signified: and, this once fixed, the most difficult step towards the Art of writing was over come. CONSECRATION OF BELLS. Our readers may recollect, that in seve ral of the early volumes of the Literary Panorama, the subject of Bells, with their history and uses, was brought before them. A writer in the Times, who evidently is not unacquainted with our work, has lately combined the following points of compa. rison, which may give rise to serious reflec tions. Whether the same ceremonies, with the same intentions, are absolutely to be practised in the present day, we have not yet received intelligence. If they are to be revived, the Catholic church must answer for the cousequence;-that is to say, All men of sense will stand aloof from such mummery, such vitiated religious ceremonies: if they are to be suffered to remain unused, it may be well to inform rationał Catholics, what their church was, and from what they have been delivered. Mr. Editor, Having read in your paper that the King of France" has been pleased to grant to the parish of Notre-Dame, at Nismes, two unserviceable pieces of cannon from the arsenal of Montpellier, for the purpose of forming a parish bell," it has occurred to me that the following description of the practice of baptizing bells, used by the Roman Catholics, may not be unac doubtedly, they had names for the purpose ceptable to your readers. This account is of distinction, and if these were the names of things, as snake, bird, &c. they would gradually become the representative of those things, whence delineation would become the basis of writing, as it confessedly is in China. These tatoo marks must have a true translation from a book entitled, Pontificate Romanum, Auctoritate Fontificia, impressum, Venetus, 1698. Lib. ii. Cap. de Benedictione Signi vel Campana." I have run parallel their method of baptizing children and bells, in twelve particulars, 88 follows:- are Ata child's-baptism At the baptism there are public pray- of a bell there ers made. more prayers used, and (excepting salvation) greater things are prayed for, and more blessings on the bell, than on the child. But for the better proof of this point, I shall here give part of one of the very curious prayers put up for the bell at its baptism: "Lord, grant that wheresoever this holy bell, thus washed (or baptized) and blessed, shall sound, all deceits of Satan, all danger of whirlwind, thunder, lightings, and tempests, may be driven away, and that devotion may increase in Christian men when they hear it. O Lord, sanctify it by thy holy Spirit; that when it sounds in thy people's ears they may adore Thee! May their faith and devotion Jucrease, the Devil be afraid, and tremble and Av at the sound of it. O Lord, pour upon it thy beavenly blessing! that the fiery darts of the Devil may be made to fly backwards at the sound thereof: that it may deliver from danger of wind and thunder, &c. &c. And grant, Lord, that all that come to the church at the sound of it, may be free from all temptations of the Devil. O Lord, infuse into it the heavenly dew of thy Holy Ghost, that the Devil may always fly away before the sound of it, &c. &c. The doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning bells is, first, that they have merit, and pray God for the living and the dead; secondly, that they produce devotion in the hearts of believers; thirdly, that they drive away storms and tempests; and, fourthly, that they drive away devils. The dislike of evil spirits to the sound of bells is extremely well expressed by Wynkin de Worde, in the Golden Legend: " It is said, the evil spirytes that ben in the region of th' ayre, doubte moche when they here the belles rongen: and this is the cause why the belles ringen whan it thondreth, and whan grete tempeste and outrages of wether happen, to the ende that the feinds and wycked spirytes should be abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of tempeste". As to the names given to bells, I beg leave to add, that the bells of Little Danmow Priory, in Essex, new cast A. D. 1501: were baptized by the following namees: Prima in honore Sancti Michaelis Archangeli. Quinta in honore Sancte Trinitatis, et omnium I conclude with remarking, that the Abbé Cancellieri, of Rome, lately published a work relative to bells, wherein he has inserted a long letter, written by Father Ponyard, to M. de Saint Vincens, on the history of bells and steeples. The Abbi wrote this dissertation on the occasion of two bells having been christened, which were to be placed within the tower of the capitol. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AGRICULTURAL INTEREST. The following articles are precisely consistent with opinions which have appeared from time to time in the LITERARY PANORAMA. They now cease to be opinious, and become questions of practice and ex perience. Is it true, that where a bit of land is attached to a cottage, the cottager gives no trouble to the parish?-ls it true, that in such parishes the poor-rate is no more than SIXPENCE in the pound? The fact is a complete answer to the complaints on the subject. Where farmers have been so greedy and grudging as to take every inch of ground into their own power, let them pay the value of that ground as a compensation to the poor, in poor-rates; together with a fair ADDITION, by way of fine or smart money, for their folly. It is the proper reward of covetousness. But, if there be a due attention to live and let live, to render cottagers comfortable, by means of a humble property, let such good management receive its full reward, in the diminution and almost extinction of poor rates-rendered unnecessary. The first of these letters is from Mr. [114 culated to meet the evil under all its aspects: every variety of situation may demand a variety in the means of affording relief, and therefore, the more numerous the proposals, the greater the probability of their being applicable in specific cases. publications which have issued from the 't is astonishing to me, that in the various press on the subject of agricu'tural distress, none of their authors appear to have searched for cases exempt from the common calamity; ong such case is worth twenty argume.ts; are any such to be found? to inform you, that such cases do exist at Now, Sir, it is with great pleasure I have present, have existed for many years past, and stood the test of the two secarcities; a lished fifteen years ago, in the Annals of most minute description of them was pubAgriculture, by a Gentleman employed by the Board of Agriculture expressly for every circumstance attending such cases, the purpose of examining minutely into and who travelled through an extent of nearly one hundred mies of country abounding with a great number of instances, upon the whole sufficient fully to ascertain the effects of the plan pursued. the practice is, to attach land to cottages, In the counties of Rutland and Lincoln, sufficient to support that number of Cows they are tenants to the chief landlords, and which the cottager is able to purchase; not sub-tenants to farmers, yet these latter are very generally steady friends to the Arthur Young, to the Editor of the Far-system: well they may be so, for the poor mer's Journal: the additional articles are extracted from the Reports drawn up by the Board of Agriculture, a few months back, in consequence of letters received by that Board in answers to its questions on the then actual state of the Agricultural Interest, with the causes of that state. ON THE STATE OF THE LABOURING POOR. Bradfield Hall, Sept. 2, 1916. SIR, There never was a period in which the condition of the Labouring Poor, in Agriculture, demanded more particular attention than the present; the difficulty of finding employment with farmers, who can scarcely pay their rent, and among them | there are many who cannot pay it at all, is such, that the distress is not only great but general: much has been spoken and written upon this subject; many ideas suggested, and plans proposed for relief, which are either impracticable in themselves, or too difficult to be adopted: probably, the truth is, that no plan whatever is well calVOL, V. No. 25. Lit. Pan. N.S. Oct. 1. rates are next to nothing, when compared this admirable system is not established. with such as are found in parishes wherein In the late minute enquiries made by the Board of Agriculture, into the state of the Labouring Poor throughout the kingresided in the districts where this system is dom, many persons were written to who common, and it was found by their replies, that the practice stands the test of the opposite difficu'ties of extreme scarcity. the preseut distress, as well as it sup; orted able an example is not copied in every part It is much to be regretted that so admirof the kingdom; and should a Committee of the House of Commons meet in the next Mr. Curwen, it will be strange indeed if Sessions, pursuant to the notice given by they do not call before them the persons residing in those districts, who are most able to give them full information relative to a system which has stood the tes of such long experience, and encountered difficulties of the most opposite tendencies. In those counties where no such practice is met with, it is very rare indeed to meet F with a labourer who has saved any money: | nity should be taken for any decisive regu their reliance is entirely on the parish, and their present earnings are dissipated at the ale-house: not so in Lincolnshire; the man who wishes to marry, saves his money to buy Cows; and girls who design to have husbands, take the same measure to secure them; sobriety, industry, and economy are thus secured; and children are trained from their infancy to the culture of a garden, and attending Cattle, instead of starving with unemployed spinning wheels. No object can better deserve the attention of men of considerable landed property: if some change of management, decisive in its nature, does not take place, poor rates will continue to increase, till they will absorb the whole landed revenue of the kingdom; at the present moment they are rising in a manner that ought to, alarm every proprietor of land; and this, not to assist or sapport such objects as were described in the 43d of Elizabeth, but hearty strong men, in the full vigour of life; which must be considered as so absolute an abuse of the system, that not one Session of Parliament ought to pass without some effective remedy being applied. It is a question whether Mr. Curwen's proposed parochial Committees can answer the great end which every one ought to have in view. To transfer those debates upon questions really political from the House of Commons to Parish Committees, composed of men, on the one side solicitous only to pay as little as possible, and on the other to receive as much as possible, may be productive of continued discord, but does not promise any beneficial settlement of that variety of questions which must necessarily come before them. I cannot but be much inclined to think that an Act of Parliament for limiting the demands for parish assistance might be framed, which would be far more effective. It might, for instance, be proper to cut off at one stroke every possible demand arising from bastardy, which has been so fertile a source of parochial burtheus. Might not all asDistance be denied to men and women in the possession of health and strength, and who have only a limited number of young children? Might not the same refusal be given in cases of distress, ensuing after a certain number of years of health and strength, in which no saving had been invested in Saving Banks? These, and a variety of other cases which might be named, for limiting the application of poor rates, would cause a very considerable reduction in this increasing burthen. But it must be admitted that a proper opportu lations, and such an opportunity can be found only in a period not abounding with general distress; and the misfortune is, that when the time of difficulty is past, it would not be an easy business to fix the attention of Parliament to questions not immediately pressing for notice. .. I am, Sir, your's &c. ARTHUR YOUNG. COTTAGES, LAND, AND COWS. In The Board of Agriculture, on occasion of the scarcity in the years 1795 and 1796, made various inquiries into the state of the labouring poor, which produced some interesting memoirs on the best means of supporting them. Among these, one from the Earl of Winchelsea, on a practice which had been common in Rutlandshire for time immemorial, that of attaching land to cottages, to enable the poor to keep cows, was particularly distinguished: and queries on the same subject were also satisfactorily answered by the late Lord Brownlow, and some other correspondents. the year 1800 the Secretary of the Board was directed to employ the summer in examining the effect of a great number of Parliamentary enclosures, as well in respect to the interest of cottagers, as to those general beneficial results well known to flow from the measure of enclosing; and as it appeared upon that inquiry, that many cottagers were deprived of the benefit of cows, without any necessity for such deprivation, the Board, in order the better to understand the question, dispatched a person in 1801 for the express purpose of fully ascertaining it in the two counties of Rutland and Lincoln: the report of that journey was one of the most interesting memoirs ever laid before the public; and proved unquestionably the immense advantages resulting from the system, to the landlord, the farmer, the cottager, and the public. A few short extracts will fully support the assertion.Lord Winchelsea thus expresses himself "I am more and more confirmed in the opinion I have long had, that nothing is so beneficial, both to the cottagers and the land owners, as their having land to be occupied either for the keeping of cows, or as gardens, according to circumstances. By means of these advantages, the labourers and their families live better, and are consequently more fit to endure labour; it makes them more contented, and more attached to their situation; and it gives them a sort of independence, which makes them set a higher value upon their character. In the neighbourhood in which I live, men |