this penance upon himself to expiate the murder of his brother, to which act he had been goaded by motives arising from jealousy. 'Vile traitor, yield that lady up!' With mortal hate their vigorous arms And laid the stranger low.-Hermit of W. In the postscript to this poem, Dr. Percy asserts, that the memory of the first hermit was held in such regard and veneration by the Percy family, that they afterwards maintained a chantry priest, to reside in the hermitage, and celebrate mass in the chapel, whose allowance, uncommonly liberal and munificent, was continued, down to the dissolution of the monasteries; and then the whole salary, together with the hermitage and all its dependencies, reverted back to the family, having never been endowed in mortmain. On this account we have no record which fixes the date of the foundation, or gives any particular account of the first hermit. [Our Engravings are from Drawings by Mr. T. M. Richardson, an eminent artist, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.] CHRISTMAS, 1833. How kindly do we think of those we honour upon earth, And shall not one kind thought of Thee raise up our hearts above, The Saviour Thou! if all our love to others be sincere. H. PITCAIRN'S ISLAND, AND THE MUTINEERS OF THE BOUNTY, [CONCLUDED.] PITCAIRN'S ISLAND is about six miles long by three broad; the soil is very rich, and it is mostly covered with wood. It lies under the parallel of 25° of South latitude, and in the midst of the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The climate is fine, and adapted for the growth of all the vegetable productions of every part of the globe. The coast is fringed with formidable barriers, which seem to present insurmountable obstacles to all access; tall spiral rocks appear on every side; and lofty cliffs, skirted at their bases with thickly branching evergreens, afford a welcome retreat and shelter from the burning rays of an almost vertical sun. Groves of Palm-trees, Cocoa-nut trees, the Tee-tree, and other tropical productions cover the valleys and the slopes towards the centre of the island, which is occupied by a mountain, the ridge of which rises 1109 feet The ridge itself is a narrow ledge, running above the sea. from one pinnacle to another, and is in some parts not more than three feet wide, with fearful precipices on each side. At the northern extremity of this ridge, is a cave of some interest, as being the intended retreat of Christian and his companions, in the event of a landing being effected in pursuit of them; and here he always kept a store of provisions, against any emergency that might occur. On all points the island is terminated by cliffs, or rocky projections, detached from which lie scattered numerous fragments of rocks, rising like so many black pinnacles amid the surf, which on all sides rolls in upon the shore. The path down the ravine, leading from the mountainridge, is precipitous in the extreme, and dangerous to all but the natives, who, young and old, unconcernedly trudge up and down its formidable sides. The "Rope Cliff," so called, because it can only be descended by the aid of a rope, is on the east side of the island. It overlooks a small sandy bay, lined with rocks, which render it dangerous for a boat to attempt to land; at the foot of the Rope Cliff, some axes and a hone were found, the manufacture of the former natives. On the left of it, is a peak of considerable beauty, overlooking what is called Bounty Bay, on account of the Bounty having been burned there. Upon this peak the mutineers found four images, about six feet high, on a platform, similar to the maraes at Easter Island. The natural vegetable productions of this island are numerous, as the Cocoa-nut, Banana, Bread-fruit, Plantain, Water-melon, Pumpkins, Potatoes, Pease, Sugar-cane, Ginger, Turmeric, Tobacco, the Tee-plant, and various other tropical trees and plants. Of Quadrupeds they have only those which were introduced by the mutineers. Åt the period of Captain Beechey's visit, the colony consisted of sixty-six persons, of whom only six, namely, Adams, and five Otaheitean women, were original settlers, the remainder being the children of the mutineers, or of the black men who accompanied them. These interesting islanders are tall, robust, and healthy; the average height of the men is five feet ten inches, their limbs are well proportioned, round, and straight; and simple diet, and early habits of exercise, have given them great muscular power. The perfect simplicity and good-nature depicted upon their countenances, and the cheerfulness, and vivacity that prevail throughout the colony, render them highly interesting to visiters. Captain Beechey was delighted with their manners, and spent some time amongst them, receiving the greatest attention and hospitality from them. Adams was looked up to as a patriarch, and nothing affected their minds so much as the fear of losing him. The females are rather above the size of Europeans, and their limbs, from their being accustomed to work, and to climb the hills, are unusually muscular, but their features and manners are perfectly feminine. Their complexion, though fairer than that of the men, is of a dark gipsy hue; their dark glossy hair, nicely oiled, hangs down over the shoulders in long waving tresses, and tastefully turned back from the forehead and temples, and secured by a chaplet of small red or white aromatic flowers, newly gathered from the Flower-tree, (Morinda citrifolia,) or the blossoms of the Tobacco-plant. Their countenances are cheerful, their eyes dark and animated, and their teeth white and even. Their affection for Adams was displayed in a very striking manner, upon Captain Beechey's first visit. It being ascertained that the ship was a British man-of-war, fears were entertained, that it came for the purpose of conveying him a prisoner to England. The whole colony were in a consternation, and the females in tears; but as soon as his perfect safety was assured to them, the affectionate manner in which his daughter Hannah Young, and, indeed, all the young females, embraced and congratulated him, was extremely moving. They welcomed the officers with great cordiality, and conducted them to the village, which consisted of five houses, built upon a cleared piece of g ound sloping on one side to the sea, and on every other side bounded by lofty crags, or groves of Palms, or Cocoa-nut and other tropical trees. The houses are substantially built, and consist of two floors, both boarded; as are also the sides, in sliding panels. The upper floor is the bed-room, around which the beds are arranged in the neatest order. These consist of a fixed bedstead, raised about eighteen inches, and boarded; upon these is laid a mattress, covered with native cloth; and the sheets are of the same material. In the lower room stands a large table, with seats round it. The floor is raised about a foot from the ground, and boarded: it communicates with the upper by a ladder, placed at a trapdoor in the centre of the ceiling. At the back of the houses are the places for fattening pigs, fowls, and goats; and beyond are the cultivated grounds, producing the Yam, Banana, Plantain, Water-melon, Potato, and various other roots and fruits, upon which the natives chiefly subsist. The occupations of these people do not present much variety, but their strict attention to the duties of Religion, and their uniform regard to the precepts of the Gospel, are very remarkable, and put to shame those, who, residing in more civilized countries, possess much greater advantages. They rise with the sun, and offer up a prayer before leaving the room. They have morning and evening prayer together, and, on going to rest, never fail to commit themselves to the care of the Divine Being. The Sabbath is invariably a day of rest to them from the ordinary labours of life. They have built themselves a place of worship, where they have three services on that day. A seaman, named John Buffet, was so struck with the simplicity of their lives that he took up his residence amongst them, and, at the time of Captain Beechey's visit, officiated as clergyman. That officer attended the various services, and was delighted with the simple piety and fervent devotion manifested, by both young and old, throughout the little congregation. The church services were always read, partly by Buffet and partly by Adams; but the former delivered the sermon. He acted, also, as schoolmaster to the colony, and found among the children willing and attentive scholars. We are sorry, however, to be obliged to add, that the subsequent conduct of this man has been far from correct, and has proved him to be unfit for the office he had assumed. Adams, who had attained his sixty-fifth year, was unusually strong and active for his age. He still retained his sailor's habits, doffing his hat, and smoothing down his forehead with his hand, when addressed by the officers. To the surprise of Captain Beechey, he expressed a desire to go to England, although aware of the fatal consequences that might result from such a step; but the universal grief and lamentation of the whole colony, at the prospect of losing him, induced him to give up all idea of leaving them, and he continued with them until his death, which took place in March, 1829. During his life, he was looked up to as the father of the whole family; and, when on his death-bed, he expressed a wish that they would choose a chief to succeed him, but it does not appear that they have yet done so since his decease. These islanders eat very little animal food. they have hogs and goats, but the flesh and the milk of the latter are not much relished by them. The hog is invariably baked in an oven made in the ground, as is practised in Otaheite. Fowls, also, are fattened in considerable numbers; but the yam and the cocoa-nut, dressed in different ways, constitute their chief subsistence. Their bill of mortality for thirty-five years must be an object of speculative curiosity to the political economist. It appears that up to Captain Beechey's visit, in 1825, the population consisted of nine Englishmen and six male, and twelve female, Otaheiteans, the survivors of the original party, together with sixty-two children born on the island. Seven English and six Otaheitean men had been murdered; one Englishman, four women, and two children, had died a natural death; and two women had been killed by falls from the cliff. They have no medicine, except salt-water, ginger-tea, and abstinence, according to the nature of their simple complaints. Their principal disorder is a tendency to plethora, but in most cases the patient is relieved by bleeding at the nose. They live together in perfect harmony and contentment, and are virtuous, religious, cheerful, and hospi table. No serious differences have occurred to mar their social comfort; and their disputes, to use their own language, are only "quarrels of the mouth." They studiously avoid those amusements which are likely to lead to dissipation or immorality, and their manners in this respect are a perfect contrast to those of the native women in the Polynesian groups. Adams assured Captain Beechey that not a single instance of immoral conduct had occurred among the females, since the death of Quintal; and both sexes are remarkable for the strictness with which they adhere to their word. A striking instance of this occurred, in the case of Polly Young and George Adams. The latter had, when quite a youth, conceived an attachment for Polly, but she declared to her companions that she never would marry George Adams." They grew up however, and it appears that no suitable partner for either could be found, and at the time of Captain Beechey's visit, Adams referred the case to him and the other officers for consideration. These gave it as their opinion, that a rash Vow was more praiseworthy in the breach than in the observance; that, as the parties were both very young, and incompetent to form a mature judgment, at the time the declaration was made, it would be wrong to adhere to it. Polly, however, could not see the affair in the same light, and although she admitted that her opinion of her lover was altered, she declared "she would not break ner word on any account," nor had the persuasions of the officers any effect upon her. The marked difference between the sexes which prevails in all the Islands of the Pacific is kept up here, in consequence of which, the females are never suffered to sit down at the same table with the men; but they do not appear to feel this as a grievance, and neither sex were much pleased with the interference of the officers to relieve them from this mark of supposed inferiority. At the time of Captain Beechey's visit, considerable apprehensions were entertained, that by the rapid increase of the colony, the island might prove inadequate to the support of its inhabitants. It therefore appeared desirable to remove them to some other island, which offered a more certain prospect of support for their increasing numbers. Accordingly, an arrangement having been effected between the British Government and the authorities of Otaheite, for a grant of land for their use, on that island, the Comet Sloop, Captain Sandilands, arrived at Pitcairn's Island on the 28th of February, 1831, and offered to take on board any of the inhabitants who were lesirous of removing to Otaheite. On the 7th of March, the whole colony had accepted the offer, and with their little property sailed for that island. Their reception was cordial and friendly, and they were located on a rich tract of land; but the experiment did not succeed. The manners of the Otaheiteans were so different to their own, and the dissolute conduct of some so disgusted them, that they were unhappy; they were also attacked with diseases new to them, and seventeen of their number died. They requested to be allowed to return, and were, accordingly, put on board an American vessel, and taken back to their native island. Subsequent accounts state, that their transient stay at Otaheite was by no means favourable to their morals. It had unsettled them, and some had addicted themselves to drunkenness and other bad vices. In addition to this, John Buffet, and two other Englishmen of dissolute habits, had married native women, and settled on the island, and their influence had tended greatly to demoralize the colony. The latter, however, had been brought to a sense of their duty by the timely arrival of a respectable gentleman, named Joshua Hill, who, at the age of seventy years, had left England to settle amongst them, as their pastor and preceptor. At his suggestion they destroyed their stills, established a Temperance Society, and returned in some measure to their former state of order and moral discipline. They are happy at having got back; and the three Englishmen who had done so much harm by their immoral example, agreed to leave the island. The latest return made their numbers seventy-nine, and a closer examination of the island has proved that it is capable of supporting one thousand persons; so that no apprehensions of an overgrown population need be enter tained for many years to come. Their situation, however, is critical, and requires the attention of the religious world, which, we trust, will not be withheld. THE HAMPSHIRE FOWLER. GILPIN describes the occupation of fowling on the Hampshire coast as very hazardous. The fisherman, who in summer plies the shores at high water, with his line or his net; in winter, takes his gun as evening draws on, and running his boat up into the little creeks, which the tide leaves in the mud, lies there in patient expectation of his prey. There was an unhappy fowler, who was seeking wild ducks, and intent only on his game, and who found himself suddenly surrounded by the returning tide; and though it was in the day time, his mud-pattens prevented his running fast enough to get out of the danger. As a last resource, he went to a part of the plain which was as yet above the water, and striking the barrel of his fowlingpiece (which was very long) deep into the mud, he held Sea-fowl commonly feed by night, and when the fowler fast by it, waiting for the ebbing of the tide. The water hears the noise of a flight of them in the air, (like a pack made a rapid advance, it covered the ground on which he of hounds in full cry,) he listens attentively, and if he is stood-it rippled over his feet-it gained his knees-his so fortunate as to have them alight near him, he listens waist-button after button was swallowed up-till at with still closer attention for any little sound which there length it advanced over his very shoulders. With a beatmay be among so numerous a host (for though they marching heart, he gave up himself for lost. Still, however, he in music, they feed in silence); it is so dark, he can take held fast by his anchor, and looked round in vain for a no aim; he therefore gives his fire at a venture; and boat. While he was making up his mind to the terrors of instantly catching up his other gun, fires again, where he sudden destruction, his attention was called to a new object. supposes the flock to rise in the air. His gains for the He thought he saw the uppermost button of his coat begin night are now decided; and he has only to gather his to appear: still the turn of the tide was so slow, that it was harvest, groping about in his mud-pattens in quest of long before he could assure himself that the button was his booty, and picking up, perhaps a dozen, or perhaps fairly above the water. At length, however, a second button appearing, his transports of joy may be imagined, and they gave him spirits to wait till the water had entirely retired.. not one. Mud-pattens are flat pieces of wood, tied to the feet to prevent their sinking in the mud JOHN FREDERIC OBERLIN. NEAR the junction of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, in France, and separated by a deep valley from the chain of mountains called the Vosges, is another mountainous range, whose volcanic origin is marked by one of its names, the Champ de Feu, or Field of Fire. On this range is situated the Ban de la Roche, a district high, bleak and barren, but possessing an interest which many a more genial region might claim in vain, as having enjoyed the ministry of one of the most apostolical men that have ever adorned the Church of Christ, John Frederic Oberlin. against his plans of improvement, the pastor was seen, with his pick-axe in his hand, heading the gang of road-makers. By his persuasions, and under his direction, a bridge over a mountain-torrent was also constructed, and afterwards known by the name of the Pont de Charité. A communication with the neighbourhood being thus opened, his next care was to improve the cultivation and husbandry of his parish. He exhibited new fruits in his own garden, as well as new processes of grafting and managing trees. He taught his people how to plough and to sow more profitably; how to augment their store of manure; and he introduced among them flax, clover, and a new species of potato. He instituted a sort of agricultural society in the district, with prizes for the best farmers; and formed a deposit of agricultural tools, establishing, at the same time, a loan-fund, to enable his poorer neighbours to purchase the new and improved implements of husbandry. As another means of improvement, he sent out some promising boys to the neighbouring towns, to learn the trades of carpenter, mason, glazier, cartwright, and blacksmith. It was also his anxious desire to introduce greater cleanliness and order into the houses of his parishioners; and he was, himself, as usual, their example; his own mansion being remarkable for its propriety and modest embellishments, with the walls covered with books, prints, and texts of scripture. And, as in his own person he was peculiarly neat, so he always commended the children whom he observed to be clean and tidy in their dress. We This exemplary pastor was born of protestant parents, at Stratsbourg, in 1740. Many remarkable traits of his youthful piety and benevolence are on record. His character, however, seems always to have been firm and decided; and his earliest wish was to embrace the profession of arms. But from this purpose he was diverted by a still stronger desire to devote himself to the Christian ministry; and, without dwelling on his history till the year 1767, we will at once state, that he then, in his twenty-seventh year, accepted an invitation to undertake the spiritual charge of one of the two protestant parishes of the Ban de la Roche, comprising the hamlets of Fondai, Belmont, Waldbach, Billefosse, and Zolbach. To that uninviting spot he at once repaired; and there, without ever changing, or wishing to change his place, he remained for half a century, a burning and a shining light, and exhibiting a glorious example of ministerial skill, assiduity, and devoted-will, however, add no other proofs of the anxiety of ness. Oberlin, in his religious principles, was eminently spiritual. He ever looked to Jesus Christ as the author and finisher of his faith, with the hope of salvation but through faith in his blood, and deeply sensible of his own insufficiency to do any good work without the aid of the Holy Spirit. The Bible, as he termed it, the beloved Bible, was his delight and his treasure; and a striking feature in his religious creed was his persuasion of a Providence acting by frequent and direct interposition. The religious principles which he himself entertained, he was unremitting in his labour and anxiety to impress on the people committed to his pastoral charge. In this brief sketch, it is, however, our wish to dwell less on the opinions and tenets of Oberlin, than on his extraordinary skill and happy success in rendering his ministerial cares efficacious. The great secret of his influence was, that his people could not fail to perceive that he himself was deeply impressed with the sacred truths he taught to others; that he was unfeignedly solicitous for their temporal and eternal welfare; that he devoted all the energies of his mind and body, was ready to spend and be spent in their service. The heart is not human, that is able to resist such claims on its gratitude and attachment; and by "this conjunction and mighty magic," Oberlin bent the hearts of his parishioners, as the heart of one man, to himself. Thus much in general. But we wish to enter a little more into the details of his ministerial labours; and what first strikes us, is his strong anxiety, even with a view to lead his people to godliness, to civilize them and to improve their temporal condition. The district of the Ban de la Roche was cut off from communication with the rest of the world, by want of roads. Accordingly, one of the earliest cares of Oberlin was to persuade his people to set about the constructing of a new road to Stratsbourg; and, in order to overcome the opposition raised Oberlin to improve the external circumstances of his people, than that, among a number of questions addressed to them, on a particular occasion, in the most solemn manner, with a view to their spiritual edification, we find the following;—" Do you punctually contribute your share toward repairing roads? Have you planted trees, and planted them properly? Have you proper drains to carry off refuse water?” Oberlin was always anxious to see his parishioners industrious and frugal; and, with his elevated piety, and spiritual cast of mind, it is remarkable how much all his precepts were founded on the basis of plain common sense. "Avoid debts," he used to say, " as an evil spirit." And if a beggar applied to him, he said; "I will employ you. There,-carry these planks,-break these stones,-fill that bucket with water,—I will repay you for your trouble.” It was fortunate for Oberlin's ministerial usefulness, that, at an earlier period of his life, he had acted as tutor in the family of a medical practitioner at Stratsbourg, and thus had acquired no inconsiderable skill in medicine and surgery. This information told when he came to settle at Waldbach, and enabled him to act as a physician of the body, as well as of the soul, to his people. Still his chief care was for their spiritual improvement, and, with this view, he laboured to establish schools throughout his parish, for persons of all ages, but mostly for the young. By solicitations from his friends, and by a personal expense which he could ill afford, he built one principal school-house. His parish, however, was widely scattered, and the different parts divided by deep valleys and pathless mountains. Accordingly, in the various hamlets, he established seminaries under conductrices, or female teachers, whom he, himself, trained for their task; but ever reserving the religious instruction to himself. With a view to mould the principles of the children from the first dawn of reason, he also collected them together for the purposes of instruction in their very earliest years, and Oberlin may be said to have been the first founder of that most useful institution, infant schools. | But this was by no means the limit of his pas- Indeed, the hold which Oberlin acquired upon the affections of his people, is something quite delightful to observe. At his first arrival at Waldbach, he had experienced some opposition, and even personal rudeness. But these things he soon subdued by his firmness, tempered by gentleness; and he lived to enjoy, in the highest degree, the love and veneration of his flock. The title, by which he was universally called, was "cher (dear) papa." As an instance of his influence within his parish, we may mention, that he had the satisfaction of putting an end to a lawsuit, which had subsisted for eighty years between the peasants and the lords of the territory, with respect to rights of forest; and the pen, with which the treaty was signed, was given with much ceremony to Oberlin, and suspended in his study, as a trophy of peace. Even during the French Revolution, when Christian worship was elsewhere interdicted, and the clergy of Alsace were imprisoned, Oberlin was permitted to pursue his work of benevolence and instruction unmolested; and his house became a retreat to many religious persons of different persuasions from himself. After the restoration, he received from the Agricultural Society of France a gold medal, and from Louis the Eighteenth a medal of the Legion of Honour as a tribute to his virtues. And, when at length, after a ministry of fifty years, in his eighty-seventh year, he was called to his reward in heaven, then it was that the feeling of his parishioners was fully displayed. They all felt that they had lost their father; and, at his funeral, so great was the concourse of mourners, Roman Catholic as well as Protestant, that the foremost of the train had reached the church of Fondai, where the interment was to take place, before the last had left the parsonage, although the distance was nearly two miles. A paper, which he left behind him, addressed to his dear parishioners, shows that the affection was reciprocal. And, as never, perhaps, since the time when the Chief Shepherd was upon the earth has a flock been more faithfully tended, so never have the feelings of a grateful and affectionate flock been more warmly testified, than by the simple inhabitants of the Ban de la Roche toward the pastor Oberlin. Oberlin was married to an amiable woman, whom he lost in the year 1784, and by whom he was the father of three sons and four daughters. Two of his sons died before him; and his reflections on the occasion were such as we would willingly insert here, if our space would allow it. They breathe the very spirit of pious resignation, or, more properly, of joyful hope and trust in the Lord. But there was one member of his family who deserves a particular mention. On the death of his wife, his housekeeper was Louisa Schelper, who immediately assumed the direction of his family, and the education of his children, devoting herself to his service, but steadily refusing any wages, and asking for nothing but the happiness of waiting on the "cher papa." As Oberlin's reputation spread abroad, the history of Louisa Schelper became also known, and she received from a society in Paris the sum of no less than 5000 francs, being one of the Prix du Vertu, bequeathed by some benevolent person, to be given in rewards for any exemplary act of virtue. But such was the disinterestedness that Oberlin contrived to impress on all around him, that the whole of this sum she appropriated to the poor of the Ban de la Roche, choosing herself to rely for her maintenance on the children of her beloved master. We will conclude this article with a letter which she once wrote to Oberlin. Dear and beloved Papa, Waldbach, Jan. 1st, 1793. Permit me, at the commencement of the new year, to really independent, that is to say, I have no longer my request a favour which I have long desired. As I am now father, or his debts to attend to, I beseech you, dear Papa, not to refuse me the favour of making me your adopted daughter. Do not, I solicit you, give me any more wages; for, as you make me like your child in every other respect, I earnestly wish you to do so in this particular also. Little is needful for the support of my body. My shoes and stockings, and sabots, will cost something; when I want them, I can ask you for them, as a child applies to its father. Oh, I entreat you, dear Papa, grant me this favour, and condescend to regard me as your most tenderly attached LOUISA SCHELPER. daughter, I KNEW a man that had health and riches, and several houses, all beautiful and ready furnished, and would often trouble himself and family to be removing from one house to another and being asked by a friend, why he removed so often from one house to another? replied, "It was to find content in some one of them." But his friend knowing his temper, told him, if he would find content in any of his houses, he must leave himself behind him; for content will never dwell but in a meck and quiet soul. And this may appear, if we read and consider what our Saviour says in St. Matthew's Gospel; for he there says,-" Blessed be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.-Blessed be the pure in heart, for they shall see God.-Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. AndBlessed be the meek, for they shall possess the earth." Not that the meek shall not also obtain mercy, and see God, and be comforted, and at last come to the kingdom of heaven; but in the mean time, he, and he only, possesses the earth as he goes toward that kingdom of heaven, by being humble and cheerful, and content with what his good God has allotted him: he has no turbulent, repining, vexatious thoughts, that he deserves better; nor is vexed when he sees others possessed of more honour, or more riches than his wise God has allotted for his share; but he possesses what he has with a meek and contented quietness; such a quietness as makes his very dreams pleasing, both to God and himself.-IZAAK WALTON. |