ave been of more value than
as many chaldrons of sermons, and taking even the explosions of the
inspector into the bargain. But it is well, that this is at length to be
compulsory; since it is never too late. Thieves and rogues are like
moths in blankets: bring the sun to shine on them, and they can neither
live nor breed. Let the Duke of Wellington place a gas-lamp at every
door of these infernal abodes; and since they cannot be smoked out, make
their houses as much like glass, on the principle of the old Roman, as
we can compass. This is the remedy; at least till common sense will
condescend to the better expedient of pulling down and laying open all
these retreats of misery and vice; the disgrace and the nuisance of
London, and not less a standing inhumanity to the poor
themselves.--_Westminster Review._

* * * * *

CAPE WINES.

The commerce at the Cape is wine; and the vine has already increased
tenfold, since the colony became British. But unfortunately more
attention has been hitherto paid to quantity than to quality, except on
the farms which yield Constantia. The latter have an eastern exposure,
and are sheltered from the south-west, the only injurious blast. The
soil being a deposit from the neighbouring mountains, is light, but
enriched by manure. The subsoil, which is even more important, is still
lighter, being mixed with sand and broken stone; on the contrary, in
Drachenstein, where the chief vineyards are at present, the subsoil
being clay, the wine receives an unpleasant flavour, the idea of which
is inseparably associated with the very name of Cape wine. It is
unnecessary to enter into the subject of its manufacture. If the subsoil
be bad, so will the wine be. The vine does not require a rich subsoil.
In Italy, flags are laid to prevent the roots from penetrating into
clay; and in England, rubbish is thrown in to make a subsoil that shall
not be so rich as to produce leaves, instead of fruit. It would be
advantageous were premiums offered for wine that had not been produced
from clay of subsoil, but had been reared in trellis, as requiring less
labour than the standard, and made on a pure and good system, instead of
being mixed with Cape brandy, or sulphuric acid, &c. Notwithstanding all
these disadvantages, Cape wine is generally sold in England under the
names, and at the prices, of Madeira, Sherry, Teneriffe, Stem, Pontac,
and above all, Hock.--_Gill's Repository.