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Gleanings.-Literary Notices.

English Trade in Horses.-By an official French table of the importation of horses into that country, it appears that our neighbours are in the habit of borrowing at the rate of from fifteen to twenty-five thousand annually from us. It is said that the supply is almost entirely of stolen horses, accounting for the prevalence of the crime of horse-stealing in this country. Supposing the mean price of each horse to be 500 francs, or £20. 16s. 8d. and this supposition is moderate, the sum expended by France has been 32,988,000 francs, or £1,374,916 sterling in five years.

Who are Esquires ?-The title of Esquire is coeval with the Conqueror, but in its present application it takes its date from Henry the Fifth. Some go so far back as Edward the Third, but this is mistake, as in that reign an esquire was only, as it originally implied, an attendant on a knight. Eustace and Mercoeur were the esquires or attendants of Edward the Black Prince. The word is derived from the Norman equiere, from whence also is derived the word equery. Henry the Fifth, after the battle of Agincourt, reads from a paper, presented by a herald, the names of the principal characters who were slain "Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Richard Ketley, David Gam, Esquire, None else of name; and, of all other men, But five-and-twenty."

The late Lord Barrington was once asked by a German prince, Pray, my lord, of what rank is an esquire in England?" when his lordship replied, "Why, sir, I cannot exactly tell you, as you have no equivalent for it in Germany; but an English esquire is considerably above a German baron, and something below a German prince." Nothing can be more absurd than the commonly received notion that a certain property constitutes a man an esquire; in the country, however, every village has its 'squire, and to dub him less would be an affront not easily to be forgotten. The fact is, none are esquires de facto but the following-viz: all in his majesty's commission of the peace; all members of and appertaining to his majesty's government; all officers in the regular army down to a captain, and all officers in the navy down to a lieutenant. These are the only esquires de facto: however, the title or distinction is generally given to professional men, to persons engaged in literary pursuits, and to wealthy people in general. Doctors of the three learned professions, and barristers, rank above esquires. Attorneys are gentlemen by act of parliament.

The Jews. In 1825 the Jewish nation amounted to about 3,165,800 individuals, not comprising 15,000 Samaritans and 500 Ishmaelites. In Europe, 1,916,173; Asia, 738,000; Africa, 504,000; America, 57000;New Holland, 50-Total 3,165,000.

Benevolent Anniversary.-The anniversary meeting of the Society for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Protestant Dissenting Ministers, will be held on Wednesday, the 7th April next, when a Sermou will be preached at the Old Jewry Chapel, removed to Jewin Street, in Aldersgate Street, by the Rev. John Scott Porter, of Carter Lane.-Service to begin at 12 o'clock precisely. The friends of the Society will afterwards dine together, at the Albion Tavern, in Aldersgate Street.

Ardent Spirits. At a late meeting of the New York City Temperance Society, one of the speakers alluded to various facts, in proof that the use of spirits is not only a useless but pernicious indulgence. He mentioned the schools in England for training prizefighters, in whom the perfection of muscular strength and activity is aimed at, and in which ardent spirits are entirely expelled, and even ale is very rarely allowed. In those prisons in which spirits are forbidden, even constitutions broken down by intemperance are restored to healthfulness and vigour. The Roman soldier, he added, who fought the battles of his country with a weight of armour which a modern spirit-drinker could hardly stand under, drank nothing stronger than vinegar and water; and multitudes of farmers and mechanics, engaged in hard labours of all kinds, and exposed to every change of weather, have made fair trial of the plan of entire abstinence, and with one voice declare themselves gainers by it in every respect. As many as 600 Temperance Societies are already in existence in the United States. In the lower part of Middlesex county, Connecticut, 612 men have agreed, since September last, to abstain entirely from distilled liquors. In many places dram-drinking is almost wholly abolished. In one town, where there were last year nine persons who retailed ardent spirits, there is now not one; and more than 1,500 venders and distillers have discontinued all traffic in the poison.-Christian Observer.

Literary Notices.

Just Published.

304

National Portrait Gallery, No. XI. with Heads of the Earl of Liverpool-Lady Georgiana Agar Ellisand of Dugald Stuart, Esq.

No. VII. of Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated, with four beautiful Engravings: Oreston and the Cat Water-Freemasons' Hall, Plymouth-Shaugh Bridge-and Tiverton Church.

Mental Discipline. By Henry Forster Burder. 2d edition. 12mo.

Part I. of an Edition of the Old Testament, according to the established Version; with the substitution of the Original Hebrew Names, in place of the English words Lord and God. Royal 8vo.

Counsels to a Newly Wedded Pair. By Rev. John Morrison.

The Grammatical and Pronouncing Spelling Book. By Ingram Cobbin, A.M. 2nd edition.

The Pulpit, Volume Thirteen, containing upwards of Fifty Sermons on important subjects, by the most popular Preachers of the age; original Essays; select Reviews, Poetry, &c. &c.

Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India, from 1820 to 1828. By Elijah Hoole. A concise System of Mathematics. tion. By Alex. Ingram.

Second edi

A Compendium of Modern Geography, &c. Second edition. By the Rev, Alexander Stewart.

Conversations upon Chronology and general History, from the Creation to the Birth of Christ.

India's Cries to British Humanity. Second edition. By J. Peggs.

A Topographical and Historical Account of Wainfleet, and the Wapentake of Candleshoe, Lincoln. By Edmund Oldfield.

Answer to Mr. Henry Drummond's Defence of the Heretical Doctrine promulgated by Mr. Irving. By J. A. Haldane.

The Causes of Declension in Christian Churches; a Discourse. By John Arundel.

A Grammatical Collection of Phrases and Idioms of the French Language. By C. P. Buquet,

A Reply to the Remarks of the Rev. P. Penson Durham. By James Matheson Durham.

Prayer; a Poem. By Frederick Edwards.

Weeds and Wild Flowers. By the late Alexander Balfour, with a Memoir of the Author,

A Manual of the Economy of the Human Body in Health and Disease.

The Toy Shop; or Sentimental Preceptor. Revised by E. H. Barker, Esq.

The Traveller's Prayer. Second edition. By Adam Clarke, LL.D. &c. &c.

Memoir of Jane E. J. Taylor. By J. Lewis.

A Christian View of Trade, present Distress, and Remedy. By William Crofts.

An Historical Account of the English Stage.
The Young Wanderer's Cave, and other Tales.
In the Press.

On the 2d of April will be completed, Vol. I. of The National Portrait Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Individuals of the XIX. Century, edited by W. Jerdan, Esq. F.S.A. &c. &c.

Essays on the Lives of Cowper, Newton, and Heber; or an Examination of the Evidence of the Course of Nature being interrupted by Divine Government.

The Three Temples of the one true God contrasted. By the Rev. Samuel Hinds, vice-principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford.

Notices of Brazil in 1828--9. By Rev. R. Walsh, LL.D. M.R.I.A. &c. &c.

The History of an Enthusiast; the History of an Enervé; the History of a Misanthrope. By Maria Jane Jewsbury.

Chronicles of a School Room; or Characters in Youth and Age. By Mrs. S. C. Hall.

Forty Family Sermons. By the Editor of the Christian Observer.

A Volume of Sermons. By the Rev. Jas. Parsons, of York.

A complete History of the Jews in Ancient and Modern Times. In three vols. 8vo. By the Rev. George Croly.

A Memoir of Samuel Hick, by James Everett.

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LONDON PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER, SON, AND CO.

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THE

Emperial Magazine;

OR, COMPENDIUM OF

RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.

APRIL.]

" PERIODICAL LITERATURE 19 THE GERM OF NATIONAL LEARNING."

MEMOIR OF THE REV. DANIEL ISAAC. (With a Portrait.)

WHEN a biographer attempts to catch the likeness of a living character, who was never solicited to sit to the task, and who, if requested, would modestly decline, he should, in addition to the greatest precision, have at immediate command much quickness of perception, that every feature and peculiarity may be instantly caught, as the subject, unconscious at the moment of the design of the artist, flits before the eye. The same diffi. culties are not to surmount in other cases, as in this, when, for instance, a father sits to his son, or one friend to another; or, in other words, when the subject himself cautiously deals out select materials for the composition, furnishing not only the easel, the canvass, the stretching frame, palette, and pencil, but even descending to the sponge on the one hand, in order to wipe off any imperfection, and ascending to the colours on the other, not forgetting the tulip and the rose, which never fail to bring with them the breath of spring. Self-furnished tints are invariably improved by admixtion, by softening and toning down with colours of a sedater character; for whatever may be the boast of disinterested friendship, it will be generally found to be more kind than honest, and will withhold from the canvass those broad masses of shade, which go to complete the picture, and give full effect to the sudden openings and streaks of light, flickering like patches of sun-shine over the face of a landscape.

In the present instance, and it may serve as an apology for any apparent poverty of incident, though more might have been added—in the present instance it may not be improper to state, that a thorough knowledge of Mr. Isaac's hostility to appear in public, like others whose memoirs have often been published, prevented all personal communication with him on the subject; and than himself, no one will be more surprised to find that he is both in letter-press and copperplate. He has been caught flying, but caught by those who have been on the wing with himself; and while they have been toiling for the gratification of his numerous friends, without any expenditure of 136.-VOL. XII.

[1830.

time or talent of his own, he ought not to be displeased with that gratification, though at the expense of a little personal feeling. His own modesty, not to notice other reasons, leads him to resist the solicitations of appearing elsewhere; and his real worth, without his own knowledge, and consequently consent, brings him forward here, brings him forward as a man, a christian, a talented minister of God, and a profound controversialist.

Still however, though the subject of the present memoir is to be contemplated as a whole, and the whole can only be constructed out of the detail, it is not so much with his private character as a christian, that we feel ourselves concerned, as with his character in the capacity of a public teacher from the pulpit and from the press. In reference to the latter, he is public property, and here it is that we find our justification for the public part which we now take; and as it regards the former-christian character, his admission to the sacred office among the body to which he belongs, together with his continued union, are sufficient securities against what suspicion might surmise or malice invent ;-a body, to its honour be it proclaimed! rigid in its adherence to the sacred writings as a guide, in keeping the WAY as narrow for the walk of its members, as the GATE is strait on their entrance.

Mr. DANIEL ISAAC was born about the year of our Lord, 1780, at Caythorpe, in Lincolnshire, a small village situated between Lincoln and Grantham, about eighteen miles from the former, and only a few from the latter. Like the founder of Methodism, who also was born and cradled in the same county with himself, he had a narrow escape from death by fire. This was occasioned by his falling against the grate of the fire-place, when a child; a circumstance of which he has been heard to state, he retains but an indistinct recollection. He was severely burnt, and although he grew away from most of the scars left by the accident, two of them, one on each side of the mouth, are still slightly visible. Both of these, which he is destined to carry with him to the grave, are left as mementos of that overruling providence, which thus snatched him

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noble, independent spirit, which he has exhibited through life, living not upon others, but rejoicing in its own.

Lincolnshire, which has not yet lost the glory of its mud floors, could boast of a village, when Daniel was yet a boy, which had made such slender advances towards the gaieties and fineries of life, that neither gentle nor simple, the wealthy farmer nor the thrifty husbandman, indulged themselves with a carpet. A patriarchal simplicity pervaded the domestic circles; the ancient pewter dishes, the heirlooms of the family, shining like silver on the shelves, the clean swept floor of the kitchen, and the still more cleanly scoured boards of the upper chambers, possessed a charm to the eye of purely rural spirits, which no modern decorations could afford, while the drapery of the floors would have been considered an useless expenditure of money, much better employed in purchasing clothing for the poor, than carpets for the house. Caythorpe seems to have been a nook by itself; and the village, which could not furnish books sufficient for the head, thus refused, not from poverty or parsimony, but simplicity and hardihood, a carpet for the foot. Mr. Isaac has been heard to relate, with his characteristic humour and keenness, his first introduction to a carpeted floor, which was about the twelfth year of his age, at Grantham, in the house of a respectable grocer.

Some of the peculiarities of his contemplative mind were manifested at an early period, in the indulgence of various reveries; and once in particular, when between three and four years of age, rolling on the ground, and looking up to the heavens, he was awed and delighted with some of the most sublime thoughts of God, of space, and of eternity, which it is possible for the infant mind to possess, and which, though perfected in riper years, never afterwards so completely absorbed, filled, and affected the soul in the same way. This will be readily credited by the more intellectual of our species, from finding similar coincidences in their own personal history. Such impressions are also partially recognized in the experience of the Hebrew bard, whose words may be considered as divinely poetical: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength.-When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" He acquired an early taste for reading; and this, as in all such cases, excited a restless anxiety for literary food. The village itself could furnish but few supplies of works from the press, and his resources from domestic quarters, had they been much greater than they were, would not have been equal to his wants. Never, however, was a bibliomanist more inventive, more honest, and more independent in procuring means to enable him to go beyond the line of regular and ordinary purchases, than was little Daniel; for while still in boyhood, he spent some of his leisure hours from school in going into the fields and woods to collect goose and crow-quills, and in making pens, which he carried to the nearest market towns, sold them to the stationers and book-encing the gospel of Jesus Christ to be the sellers, and made literary purchases with the cash. In this way he enlarged his little library, looked upon it as chiefly the fruit of his own industry, and quenched his thirst for knowledge at these springs of learning. No conqueror ever returned from the field with the spoils of war, in greater triumph than did our youthful tyro with his books; and here it is that we perceive the buddings of that

His thirst for knowledge was ever on the increase, and his improvement kept pace with the means within his reach. At an early period we find him usher in an academy at Denton, in Lincolnshire; and in the nineteenth year of his age, residing in Nottingham. Here he became acquainted with T. Jerram, Esq. now of Beeston, near Nottingham, with whom he associated as a companion, and slumbered on the same couch. Mr. Jerram, whose brother is a highly gifted clergyman of the established church, and who himself has long been an ornament of christian society, experienced a lively interest in the religious welfare of Mr. Isaac, and invited him to the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. Here he soon found that something more was necessary to form the christian, than moral character; and on experi

power of God to salvation, he united himself to the Wesleyan body. After a residence of between one and two years in Nottingham, he removed to the city of Lincoln, where he kept a seminary for the instruction of young people, acting at the same time in the capacity of a local preacher. While a resident in this city, he was "in labours more abundant." He taught his pupils in the course

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