good guarantee for the faithful discharge of duties of a stationary or gentle nature, and age the same. Misfortune is often a sort of fortune in obtaining a preference for pity's sake; as a boy with one arm will be selected from a number of competitors to hold a horse. If all persons felt obliged to hawk about their services for the best price they could get, all persons would be provided for. Customers are always to be met with, partly actuated by compassion, partly to get services cheap, partly taken by a plausible or earnest manner. Even want of character, whatever may be supposed to the contrary, is by no means an insuperable obstacle, because personal application continually supersedes inquiries as to character, and, in charges for misbehaviour, to the question, “Had you a character with this person," the constant answer is, " I cannot say that I had." The course frequently is to ask for some reference, with which to be at once content, or to intend to inquire the first opportunity, but to neglect so to do. It is curious to hear in the world the positive assertions that are made as to the modes in which the affairs of men are conducted, which are directly at variance with practice. I constantly hear it said, "How is a person to get a situation, who cannot get a character? It is impossible." And again, "How is such a man to find employment? Nobody will have him." One thing to me is certain, and that is, throw people on their own resources, and under circumstances the most untoward, they will get through so often, as to make the exceptions not worth calculating. This brings me to conclude with a case which happened last week. An aged female, on crutches and with only one leg, was charged before me by an overseer, with abusive language and violent conduct in a workhouse, to an extent beyond all bearing. Her defence, amongst other things, was that she was kept a close prisoner; to which it was answered, that the parish had gone to the expense of thirty shillings to purchase her a wooden leg, and that the first time she was allowed a holiday she got drunk,

pawned her leg for a shilling, and was brought back in a helpless state of intoxication. This woman is one of a very numerous class, who are brought to utter ruin by a reliance on the poor-laws, and on mistaken private charity. I have no doubt, when it serves her purpose, her cant is equal to her abuse.

THE PARKS.

It would be curious if London could be conjured back for a day or two to what it was only thirty years ago, that those of the present time might be aware of their advantages, as compared with those enjoyed even at that recent period. Amongst other changes, the pavements, independently of macadamization, have undergone immense improvements, and besides the widening of many of the principal streets, the art of driving must have made great progress, for in Fleet Street, in which the carriage-way has been in places narrowed, I remember it no uncommon occurrence to see stoppages for nearly an hour together, though now there is scarcely such a thing for five minutes, notwithstanding the introduction of omnibuses and cabs, and a great increase of private carriages, and of traffic of all sorts. I cannot account for this, unless that men's wits sharpen as occasion demands. At that time the flagways were generally much narrower than they are now, and so ill laid, that what were called beau-traps were to be met with in almost every street; that is, loose flags, which, being pressed upon, splashed the leg up to the knee. I think even the term is now all but forgotten. The crossings were neither raised nor swept, and both carriage and foot-ways were so unskilfully laid, that they were scarcely ever free from mud. To add to these inconveniences the town was dimly lighted with oil, much more dimly than later, when improvements were introduced in opposition to gas. The first exhibition of gas was made by

Winsor, in a row of lamps in front of the colonnade, before Carlton House, then standing on the lower part of Waterloo Place, and I remember hearing Winsor's project of lighting the metropolis laughed to scorn by a company of very scientific men. To the honour of the east, Finsbury Square was the first public place in which the new system was adopted, and to the disgrace of the west, Grosvenor Square was the last. But amongst the many improvements, which have contributed to the convenience and ornament of the metropolis, none are more striking than those in the Parks. The state in which they are kept does great credit to those who have the management of them. The right-lined formalities of Saint James's Park seemed almost to defy the efforts of taste; and I could not have conceived, that without any advantages of ground, the straight canal and unpromising cow-pasture could have been metamorphosed into so graceful a piece of water and so beautifully varied a shrubbery. In walking round the water, almost at every step there is a new and striking point of view of buildings and foliage. Buckingham Palace, Carlton Terrace, the Duke of York's column, St. Martin's Church, the Horse Guards, Westminster Abbey, and other inferior objects, seen between and over the trees, form a combination and a variety I have never seen equalled. I cannot help here noticing a nuisance and a drawback to the enjoyment of the place, which has lately arisen, and which I perceive is rapidly on the increase; I mean a number of persons of the lowest description standing and moving about with baskets of fruit. Two rows of them are allowed actually to obstruct the principal entrance into the interior of the garden, whilst others are spread in various directions, all incessantly calling out after the manner of a penny fair. If it is thought that thus vulgarising a place, which ought to be kept in a manner sacred, will be for the advantage of any class, it is a great mistake. The exhibition and noise last Sunday were quite disgraceful; and the innovation is really an insult to the respectable portion of the humbler classes, whose principal gratification almost in fre

quenting such a place, is to witness, and feel themselves partakers of, the refinements of higher life. Through whatever channel the practice has crept in, I hope the proper authorities will soon put an end to it. The widened, extended, and well-kept rides and drives in Hyde Park, with the bridge and the improvement of the Serpentine, and in other respects, form a most advantageous comparison with the former state; whilst the beauties of the Regent's Park, both as to buildings and grounds, seem like the effect of magic, when contrasted with the remembrance of the quagmire of filth, and the cow-sheds and wretched dwellings, of which they occupy the place. Amidst all these improvements it is to be lamented that the Green Park has been so much neglected, seeing that it is the most conspicuously situated, and, notwithstanding its inferior size, is by much the most advantageously disposed as to ground. There was a talk some years since of its being terraced in part, and wholly laid out in a highly ornamented style, which, by way of variety and with reference to its situation, seems a judicious plan. I would his Majesty would give orders to that effect; and then, as its present name would become inappropriate, it might be called after its Royal Patron. It is to be hoped that whenever the opportunity occurs, the ranger's house will not be permitted to stand in the way of the very great improvement its removal would cause both to the Park and to Piccadilly. I do not believe there is any single thing that would add so much to the ornament of London, as the embellishment of the Green Park, to the extent of which it is capable. What a pity it is that the original design of making a gradual descent from Waterloo Place into St. James's Park, was not allowed to be carried into execution! Besides the beauty of the plan, a horse entrance there would have been such an immense convenience to such a numerous class. As it is now out of the question, the nearest practical approach to it seems to be by the macadamization of Pall-Mall, with an entrance to the

Park, if that could be permitted, between Marlborough House and the palace. I do not know how that would affect the palace, but if it would be no inconvenience to Royalty, it certainly would be a great boon to the equestrian public. As to the pavement in Pall-Mall, a more stupid obstruction, I think, cannot well be conceived, and the removal of that, even with the present entrance to the Park, would be a very considerable improvement.

SAILORS.

There is no class of men who meet with such ill treatment from their fellow-creatures as sailors. After suffering the hardships of the sea, and toiling with unconquerable labour, they are beset on their return from each voyage by the most villainous and the most profligate of the species, for the purpose of robbing them of their hard-earned wages; whilst those who should step forward to protect them, leave them to their fate, or even hold that they are capable of nothing better. When a vessel arrives from a long voyage, the crimps, or keepers of sailors' lodging-houses, are on the alert to get as many of the crew into their power as possible. Boats are sent to fetch the men a-shore, and the watermen receive a fee from each crimp for every sailor they can bring. The sailors leave the vessel, often I believe made half drunk, without money, and with nothing but their chest, upon which the crimps advance them money, till they receive their wages. Every temptation is put in their way to lead them to extravagance and recklessness. An exorbitant bill is made out, the amount of which is deducted from their wages, and they are very soon robbed or defrauded of the balance. As soon as they land, they are sponged upon by a set of idle fellows, who hang about the docks, pretending to be unable to get employment, or to have been old shipmates; they are defrauded by low Jews under