What hath it been to thee, That Power, the dweller of thy secret breast? A precious odour cast On a wild streain, that recklessly swept by; Even were such answer thine, Are thy soul's hidden springs; there is no line Do not words faint and fail, When thou wouldst fill them with that ocean's power? As thine own cheek before high thoughts grows pale In some o'erwhelming hour? Doth not thy frail form sink, Where thy beloved are not? Is not thy very soul Oft in the gush of powerless blessing shed, And wouldst thou bear all this, Not thus, not thus-oh no! But as the sky-lark springs Vainly it shall not strive As light might wake a lyre. And oh! its blessing there Powerless no more, a gift shall surely bear, Let me then, let me dream LITERATURE vs. FASHION. Ir is the certain indication of a weak mind to suppose that any subject can be exhausted. Magazine-critics, indeed, and drivelling newspaper-mongers may arrive at that sage conclusion, and may divulge such conclusion to their as sage readers-and the sage readers may coincide in that opinion, because their heads, not being overburdened with sense, they swallow the chaff and wheat mixture, thus administered by these physicians to the mind, although perhaps aware that little or no nourishment will follow. But the physicians are pseudo-practitioners-living by an impudent exercise of their quackish legerdemain on the foolery-propensities of the public. The booksellers, too, are much afraid of exhausting subjects; they are,-say these intellect officekeepers and purveyors-general of table-talk and idleness, practical men, and must therefore know whence cometh and whither goeth the faintest breath of public opinion-from the dexterity with which they can toss up the trialstraw or directing-feather. Public opinion, however, in the view of these worthies, is only "Cannibals that each other eat, heads In these volumes, antiquities, which deserve and Scandal-Stock. The still small cloud bas already risen, and is now visibly collecting its scattered energies which will set the heavens in a ferment, and sweep the earth of all uncleanliness with the rushing and resistless fury of a deluge. Not that things impure will not at some future period again crawl into existence, but our hearts will, for a time at least, be gladdened with the sight of the newly awakened verdure and luxuriance of the woods and fields. WALTER ERRICK. (Concluded from page 6.) How those few words rang in my brain for long weary years! Well, we set sail on as fair and still a night as ever shone in the moonlight; and James was in high spirits, and laughed and talked incessantly; but there was a weight on my heart nothing could take away. At length it seemed all of a sudden to strike him that I was not the same as I had been; and, after a short silence, which was only broken by a heavy sigh which burst from me, he said, Walter, you are unhappy: don't let there be secrets between brothers, but tell me what ails you.' It wasn't the words he said, but something in his manner, and the kind tone of his voice, that stole upon me, and I all at once resolved that I would tell him allmy love and my struggles, and so save myself from being at the wedding, and sail away for a time till they were settled: and some feeling of making a sacrifice, and being pitied and loved by both, came across me; and I felt that I should be happier afterwards. And I spoke long and sorrowfully: I told him what I had never breathed before, not even to Mary. I described my feelings through the four past years,-how I had thought of her when I was absent, and loved her when present; and how she had been the one hope of my life, looked forward to in storm and in sunshine, in calm and in danger; and with a breaking and a bursting heart I confessed that I had believed her affections were mine, that I had mistaken the love of a sister for the passionate affection I bore her, and that I had never thought it possible, even for an instant, that she could become the wife of another. And then I paused and looked out, far out, over the waste of waters, with the tears swelling and choking in my throat. And James answered a very few words spoken lightly and in jest: he rallied me on my blindness, and, finally, as he repeated my last words about the impossibility of Mary preferring any one to me, he gave way to hearty and uncontrolled laughter. God forgive me! but I do believe if it had not been for that, I sliould not be the miserable wretch I am. That laugh rang through my brain and maddened me. I could have borne reproaches, angry words, or even coldness and jealousy but to be laughed at in my agony!—my blood boiled; my hand trembled; and I looked at James with my teeth set together. He still laughed on-I struck but one blow with the boat-hook-the echo of that laugh died away upon the water. There was a plash, a moan, a faint call upon my name; and I sat the one living thing in that boat on the lonely seaalone, in the depth and darkness of night! Oh God! Oh God! what would I have given to have heard that voice again, though it were in execration and taunts for evermore! I thought it was impossible one instant could have finished all-one blow destroyed so much of life, vigour, and beauty. I called 'James! James! my brother!' but no echo answered me, no sound smote my ear, but the sullen waves, plash-plash-against the anchored We hope indeed that the day is not far dis- boat. I looked fearfully over the side, and tant when a change will come over the predi- to my straining eyes the ocean seemed tinged lections and propensities of the reading Com- with blood: I drew my head back with a cold munity. When it shall arrive, it will be of shudder, and covered my face with my hands. portent and annihilation to the schemers and And dreams passed through my burning brain jobbers in the impurities of Fashionable Life-dreams of childhood and of later years: I But, thanks be to Heaven, the stomachs of all men are not of vitiated and pudding-loving appetites. There are those who love wholesome food, though it be difficult of attainment. We have lately read in the newspapers that the officers of the Lord Mayor have been busy. ing themselves most laudably in purifying the butcher's shambles, in the civic markets, of all the corrupted flesh and poisonous offals which had been atrociously exposed for public sale. Could officers be appointed for the purification of the shop-boards of our literature-venders, the intellectual health of the British population would be materially benefited, and the measure would be one of unqualified utility. It would be worth twenty such police bills as the sagacious Home Secretary has been pleased to spin and manufacture for the home consump tion. was on the beach with James as when we were children, sorting shells and sea-weeds; and I felt his round soft arm over my shoulder. And then I was with him and Mary, bidding farewell for my last voyage; and his bright eye glanced on mine through the darkness, and I fancied he rowed the boat along to take me back to the merchant ship. And then the morning when I had saved him came to my mind: I heard again his faint answer to my call, and prayed with yearning agony to hear that whisper once more: and then I fancied I heard that mocking laugh repeated, but it had no longer the sound of mockery; it was only as his voice I heard it-his young glad voice which I might never hear again. "I know not how I reached the land: I only remember that the sun was shining warm and bright over my head, and that Mary and my mother were standing weeping on the beach, and watching for us; and I got out of the boat and stood by them, and watched too. And they said to me, 'Is he drowned, Walter? is he dead?' and I stared, and repeated the words like a maniac. And there we sat while the waves rolled in-in silence and in sorrow. At last there was a black speck visible: it heaved over that wave and another, and yet another, and the last brought to shore the body of Mary's bridegroom. There he lay at my feet-my young, unoffending brother-bruised and breathless; and my hand had sent him to his last account!" Walter Errick paused from exhaustion: his voice had become so hollow and broken, that I could scarcely distinguish the words he uttered. I waited till he seemed to have recovered a little, and then spoke of the consolations of religion. He listened patiently, but apparently with little hope; and when I paused, he continued his story in a low mournful tone. "Two years and more had passed away, and my poor mother and Mary appeared to have recovered from the stroke of James's death. It was only now and then, when some trifling word occurred which awoke the sealed fountain of her sorrow, or when her eyes wandered to his empty place at our meals, that the latter would come and sit down by me, and murmur his name, and lay her weeping head upon my arm, and sob in uncontrollable grief. During all this time, I followed my occupation as fisherman. You will perhaps feel surprised, Sir, at my being able to endure the going out at night alone, after what had happened: but so it was, that, after the first agony of despair, I ceased to think of aught but self-preservation. It was not that I wished to live, but that I feared to die-feared it, Oh Sir! with a shuddering dread which no one can conceive who has not done a deed of blood like me! I grew a very coward; I ventured out only on the calmest nights; and often, when I had been out but a few hours, the reniembrance of that one evening would come over me, and I would pull for the land, and rush up the beach home again, pursued by insupportable terror. mur against God, and sit mourning all the days of one's life, because it has pleased him, in his wisdom, to take away one of our blessings. So do, my Mary,' continued she earnestly, to the weeping and trembling girl, do take my son Walter by the hand, and promise me that you will both be one, to love and to work for one another when I am gone.' And Mary rose, sobbing bitterly; and she came and stood between my mother and me; and she placed her small thin hand in mine, and said, 'You know, Walter, that I have no love left to offer, such as I once felt; but, as my dear James's brother you are, and ever will be, the dearest thing earth contains: and if that, and the duty of a wife will content you' "She could say no more; but, sinking on a chair, and covering her face, she gave free course to her tears. Then suddenly rising, she said, Good night! Walter, and God Almighty bless you! You are not going out tonight, and to-morrow She left the little room; my mother followed, and I remained alone,-bewildered, stupified, horror-struck. Strange as it may seem, the possibility of such an event as my marriage with Mary had never occurred since my brother's death: now, when it did strike me, it was with loathing, with terror, I thought of it: it gave a motive to the murder-it made me feel, if possible, doubly criminal. I resolved to fly and never see Mary's face again. I rushed out of the house, fled along the beach, and clambered over the rocks,-any where, so I might but flee from home. Exhausted by the struggle of contending emotions,-the storm that raged without, and that within,-I sunk with my face on the sand. I lay there still-Oh! Sir, lift me up! lift me up! I am dying-Mercy!mercy!" I turned to the bed, and raised the wretched man in my arms: after a few faint convulsive struggles, he again murmured the word "Mercy!" He made an attempt to clasp his hands in prayer; but they sank powerless by his side: his eyes fixed-he heaved a long deep sigh-and I stood by the side of the corpse of WALTER ERRICK. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CAYMANS OR ALLIGATORS OF GUIANA. By John Hancock, M. D. Communicated by the Author. IN reviewing the Indian vocabulary, I find three of the crocodile kind mentioned, as follows: 1st, The Poupou of the Caribs, i. e. the Cayman or common great alligator. 2d, The Akari of the Caribs, Kykoty of the Arowaks, or common alligator. 3d, The Teriterion of the Caribs, the largest of all. The Makusies and Akawais call it Atokary. The Porocotos call it Tiratirēma. I may here give the names of the crocodiles of Guiana in several Indian dialects, viz. The Common. Carātu. CARIE. AKAWAI. Poupou. Arära. Akääri. Takāāri. Teri-teri-ou. Atohari. ATTORIA. POROCOTOS. Wahdu. Aroweima. Attori. Areewa. Attohari. Tiratireema. "It was on a dark windy night in November, when my fears had prevented my stirring from the little room where we sate, (though I knew we had scarce a meal for the next day,) that my mother, who had sat silently netting for some time, turned and addressed us. Mary was mending an old jacket; and when she heard my mother speak, she laid down her work and fixed her eyes on the withered face of the good old woman- Mary, and you Walter, my dear children, I have been wishing to say this to you for long; but something has always tied my tongue. I feel that I am going from you-nay, do not look so mournfully upon me: I am an old woman and one who The reader will observe that the Attoris has seen sorrow-but, before I go, I do wish-give the name of their own nation to the allivery, very much-to see you both married together. Walter, my only remaining son! I am sure the love of your young heart was no other than my sweet Mary; and you, Mary, surely, there is none other left now on earth that you would love or live with more willingly than Walter: and it is a sinful thing to mur ARAWAKOS. Cayman. Kaikooti. WARROW. Niaribuca-ya. Niaribuca. gator.-This is a most extraordinary language, if so it can be called. The above names in *It is curious to observe, that the term cayman means, in Spanish, cunning, subtle, sly; in Arowak, fierce, ferocious; but the name, I presume, must be entirely of Indian origin. Attoria are only approximations to their strange sounds, which are uttered as it were entirely from the glottis, not moving the lips, with a clack of the tongue, however, which it is impossible to imitate, much less to convey on paper. They throw back the head in speak, ing, showing that the utterance is difficult even to themselves; and it almost gives one pain to hear them talk. They inhabit about the southern branches of the Essequibo, where the Teriteri-ou are said to be most common. This accounts for the Ackawai and other tribes having borrowed their names for the animal. The Mandavacas live on the Rio Negro and Cassiquiari or Casicari. It is singular that there are no large species of crocodile inhabiting those rivers, although the alligator is numerous there. They have not even a name for any other species. Mr. Humboldt must have been strangely misinformed, when he speaks of the dangerous and ferocious crocodiles of the Cassiquiari; no species but the inoffensive alligator inhabiting there. This exception is the more extraordinary, as most of the other great rivers of Guiana, so far as I know, abound with the Cayman. Perhaps it may be owing to the porpesses which are numerous in the Cassiquiari and the Rio Negro. The Spaniards call one (the second here described,) Cayman Negro; another of the same size they call C. åmarilla, or yellow; and a smaller, which they say inhabits the Lagunes, is called Baba or Babilla, of grey colour. The Cayman is in length eleven feet three and a half inches, and in girth four feet. Teeth, thirty-six in the upper-jaw, and the same in the under, not corresponding, but alternate; foro legs, fifteen inches long, with five toes, the two outer without nails; hind legs twenty-two inches, with four toes, three with strong nails, the outer ones without any. The belly and under jaw are white; the rest of the body black. Many caymans are killed for the sake of their teeth and fat, which lies in a deep oblong mass on each side the tail, or along the posterior part of the spine. The cayman runs fast in a straight direction, but cannot turn quickly. It travels far over land at night, to remove to other waters, for which it instinctively directs its course from great distances. In procuring its food, the cayman has the sagacity to lay the Fortuga on its back to prevent its escape, if not hungry. The large tigers (jaguar) fall sometimes a prey to the cayman in the water, but generally conquer on land. The strength of the tiger is so great, that he lacerates and lays open the side of the neck where the cayman is most vulnerable. The battle between them when they meet on the land is said to be tremendous. There the jaguar makes the attack; and the contrary, if they meet in the water. As the cayman lies basking his scaly carcass in the sun, his enemy often encounters him; on the contrary, if the tiger is seen swimming, the cayman plunges in after him, and pulls him under the water. The caymans, however, usually watch their prey in the water, submersing the whole body except the snout and eyes, which are prominent. A terrible encounter ensues when the cayman and camaiduor, or great water serpent, meet. Their tumbling and splashing may be heard at a great distance. The serpent, when they meet on the brink of the water, avoiding the enormous jaws of the cayman, rapidly throws itself about his body, is often untwisted in the struggle, lashing the water with tremendous violence, and returns like lightning to the gripe, till he completely squeezes his antago nist to death, unless the cayman succeeds in getting his jaws to bear upon him, in which case the battle is quickly decided. Mr. James Fraser, being in the river Waieny, on a tour to the Oronooko, in 1826, heard some loud noises, seemingly like the discharge of great guns at a distance; and all his Indian attendants said it was caused by the tail of a camudi thrashing the water in a battle with the cay. man. The porpess is the natural eney and entire master of the cayman, so much so, indeed, that the natives enter the water without fear when the tonina (porpess) is in sight. It attacks the cayman wherever they meet. The cayman is driven into the water by other enemies, as the tiger; but it is made to scamper ashore by the porpess. The ideas of the ancients respecting the dolphin's attachment to man, seem to be in some measure realized in this species of delphinus. It is well known that they accompa ny ships to considerable distances, as does the shark, but with different motives. This is doubtless a distinct species from the common porpess or the D. Phocæna of naturalists, Phokaina of Aristotle. We even saw them in the Rio Maou and the Parima, whence they must make a journey of many hundred miles to reach the ocean. Two caymans in combat make a dreadful noise, standing up chopping together their jaws, tumbling down, and thrashing the water with great violence. An instance is related of an Indian caught by a cayman at the Lake of Marawareta, procuring his release by having the presence of mind to stab the cayman in the eyes with a knife, the water being shoal. This manœuvre is inculcated from their infancy. This, or a similar occurrence, is related by Humboldt while at Angostura. At Metanza, the caymans are more shy than those of the Essequibo, and take to the water before one can approach them. These animals have become incomparably more bold and ravenous than formerly in the Oronooko, since the feasting they have had on human flesh during the carnage of the late war. Before that time they were scarcely dreaded, and up the Essequibo they would rarely attack a man, or endeavour to shun him, being, in those solitary retreats, quite unmolested. They were so numerous, that my travelling companion, Mr. Sertema, at the same time, and without changing place, stood and counted thirty caymans at a stagnant pool or lagune on the Repoononie, the animals lying just below the water, and their snouts projecting above it. Travelling, in 1811, in the vicinity of the Takotu with some Portuguese, we had several times occasion to swim across the smaller rivers and pools. To frighten away the caymans, we had only to throw ourselves into the water with violence, beat and cause a great splashing. Such experiment in the Oronooko would now be a very dangerous one, as they overthrow small corials, and instantly seize any person in the water. The cayman, it is said, does not strike, as generally supposed, with its tail, but with its head, and that suddenly and with tremendous force. The alligators do the same. The cayman of Oronooko takes its prey both on land and in the water indifferently; but it can devour it only on land, as it cannot swallow under water without letting it in, such is the formation of the glottis. The larynx is provided with a valve which excludes the water by shutting over the orifices both of the sophagus and trachea. It cannot, however, bear long exposure to the sun. The cayman swallows stones in considerable quantities. Some think this is to satisfy hunger; others to assist digestion; while others believe it arises from an instinctive faculty to render the body specifically heavier, and to enable the animal to sink in the water. I found, in a young cayman, two pieces of lead as well as stones. The harder pebble stones, of the agate and crystal kinds, are frequently found in the stomach. In opening one to determine this fact, I found the stomach and intestines membranous; the former consisting of an extended canal, very thick in its coats and narrow, and having a small quantity, of half digested animal and vegetable substances within it. Below this, in a large paunch or perhaps second stomach, were found 4 lb. or 5 lb. of pebble stones of various sizes, from that of a pea to that of a walnut. Nothing else was found within it except a bit of indigested skin of some animal. As to the incubation of the cayman, if any one stoops over the nest, places his ear close, and strikes over it,-if ready to come out, the young fry will be heard croaking. It is said the cayman takes this method of trial. The cayman waits about its eggs laid in the sand, places itself to the landward, and when the lit tle ones are rising from the ground, it devours all that run that way: the others go clear and find their way to the water. The cayman is not known above the falls in the Rio Caroni, as the people there think from inability to ascend the falls; but this is a great misconception. This river, above the falls, is quite unfit for its abode, being shallow, rapid, and full of rocks., It seems rather strange, however, that they are not found in the river Pomeroon, which is very deep, still, and darkcoloured; but some of the natives have a fancy that they are deterred by the camuduors, the great water serpents, which inhabit this river, for these are inveterate enemies, and the It is asserted that the animal buries itself in the mud, to pass the summer or dry weather, when the water of the lakes is drying up. Jose Yustre, however, says that the cayman and great serpents do not inter themselves in the ground, as represented by Humboldt; that they do not roar; and that the tiger always kills the cayman in combat, the latter being so inflexible that he cannot get a grasp of the tiger, who springs upon his back and gores the neck. He confirms the story that the cayman ever avoids the porpess. Literary Port Folio. THE recent intelligence from Colombia cannot fail to excite a painful interest in relation to the proceedings of Bolivar, and we regretdeeply regret, to find in it so much to confirm the worst apprehensions of those who have hitherto continued incredulous of his reiterated professions of patriotism and disinterestedness-professions which have ever been at variance with his actions. However the contradictory statements, which from time to time have appeared in our papers relative to this extraordinary individual may have contributed to keep up an uncertainty as to his real character in the minds of many of our countrymen, those who have been led to make a closer deep black water of this river must give a de-scrutiny into his conduct, have long since satisfied themselves that he is far from possesscided advantage to the water serpent. ing the exalted qualities which have been so lavishly ascribed to him by his admirers, and that he was only waiting a favourable opportunity to act over, upon the petty theatre of Colombia,the part which his great archetype had so successfully performed on a grander stage. But though they could readily detect his ambitious designs under the flimsy disguise with which he thought to conceal them, they probably consoled themselves by the reflection that his unquestionable abilities and stern inflexibility of purpose, rendered him better qualified than any other, for the arduous task of governing a half civilized and disorganized people; and entertained too high an opinion of his prudence to suppose that he could be deluded by the magic of a name," and when so fully possessed of the substance, to.hazard all by grasping at the shadow of royalty. A cayman was killed, in 1815, before the house of Mr. Loranda at Angostura: I examined and found it measured eleven feet. It had a series of thin cartilaginous appendages on both sides of the back, extending to within 18 inches of the extremity of the tail. The head was long and narrow. It had soft crescent-shaped nostrils near the end of the snout. There were 19 teeth on one side of the upper jaw, 20 on the other, and 15 on each side the lower jaw. The two fore-teeth in the lower jaw projected through the upper. There were 5 toes on the fore feet; and 4 on the hind ones. Its colour was black, except the belly. Internally, there was a folding membrane, valve like, before the gullet, but no tongue. This was a young female, and had small eggs the size of pistol bullets. A Carib called it Acárou, or Acaàru, in his language. There is a large species of crocodile inhabiting the interior rivers, which is quite unknown to naturalists, and even to the littoral tribes of Indians; but all the inland tribes recognise it by a distinct name. The Macosi Indians call it Teri-teri-ou. They described it as having an appendage or extension of the skin along each side of the belly, and a forked or divided tail. It is said to grow near the size of the cayman of Oronooko; but to be less dangerous than it. Some Arowaks say the Teri-teri-ou is second in size, and inhabits deep waters. I should doubt the existence of this last, were it not that all the inland nations have a name for it distinct from that of the cayman and alligator. The united testimony of so many tribes renders it certain that such an animal does exist. Don Francisco Yustre, an intelligent Savanero, says there is another smaller species of baba, yellow, with short head, and nose turned up. William and Johnson, two Arowak Indians, say there is a white kykoty; and both agree in representing it as about 13 inches long. A Monthly Magazine is to be established by a number of Undergraduates of Harvard University, entitled, The Collegian; the first number to be issued on the 1st of February. The monarchical bias of his disposition, though it had shown itself in his addresses, his dislike of our countrymen and institutions, and on various other occasions previously to the promulgation of the celebrated constitution of Bolivia, has never been so openly avowed as in that curious document. The writer of these remarks was in Lima about the period of its publication, when, of course, it was the subject of general discussion, and has repeatedly heard its author charged by those of the constitutional party with the daring design of consolidating both Perus and Colombia-perhaps all Spanish South America, into one grand government, the direction of which he was to his intention, the whole tenor of his conduct assume as perpetual president. That such was at that time and since has fully tended to prove. Under the new constitution, Sucre, one of his most devoted adherents, had been elected president for life of Bolivia: by intrigues with the deputies of Lower Peru, assembled at Lima, intimidating some, and persuading others, he procured the extension of his own authority as Dictator, for another year, and ultimately the adoption of the Bolivian code, and his own appointment as perpetual president. These however were but secondary objects-Colombia, where his popularity was unbounded, was to be made the founda- | which cannot be so fully discussed, nor so and light. While upon this subject we take the liberty to make a suggestion, (to which we shall hereafter return) that when the public debt shall have been paid off, it will perhaps be found to be the most useful, most general, most equitable, and least objectionable of all the plans which can be devised for the use of the surplus revenue-to make the post office free. Varieties. from the city of New York to Missouri-with The Constitutionalists openly charged him States not only as a nation, but as a people, with instigating the insurrections, which about need not be argued. We believe there are no this time broke out in various parts of Colom- advocates for ignorance and barbarity among bia, and from some personal knowledge of the us, and that not only is it an axiom that manner in which that of Guayaquil was effect-knowledge is power," but that it is also life ed, we have no doubt of the truth of the accusation. Admiral Illingrot or Ellinsworth, (formerly the captain of Lord Cochrane's brig, the Rose,) a gentleman high in the confidence of Bolivar, had been despatched by him from Lima to Guayaquil, some time before the news of the rebellion of Paez in Venezuela had reached that place, in order, doubtless, to take advantage of the excitement which that event would naturally occasion; through his management, a meeting of some of the principal persons, chiefly creatures of Bolivar, was called, and the proceedings in Venezuela were made Grand Project -Col. De Witt Clinton, ena pretext for inviting him to assume the dic-gineer, has published a project of a railway tatorship, and overthrow the constitution which he had solemnly sworn to preserve inviolate for the prescribed term of ten years. What followed is yet fresh in the memory of most of our readers-the counter-revolution interesting one. Peru, and the appointment of the excellent La Mar as president of that republic, effectually checked his views in that quarter; and in Colombia, some individuals of the constitutional party, unable openly to make head against his superior power and address, engaged in a desperate attempt upon his life, from which he very narrowly escaped. The patriotic Santander was accused of being concerned in the conspiracy-with what justice we are unable to determine-and by commuting the sentence of death passed upon him, into banishment for life, the Liberator managed to make a show of magnanimity, while at the same time he rid himself of his most formidable antagonist. Since that event he has been enabled to advance more uniformly towards his object, and if our recent intelligence be true, it would seem that he had at length resolved to throw off the mask altogether. Canada is now supposed to have a popula population can read. In 1828, when sir James Canada is rapidly improving, but its growth The Ruling Passion.-It is related in a recent biography of Lambert, the astronomer, of Mulhausen, that on being asked how he liked an opera at Berlin, to which he had been taken by some of his friends, he replied, that he had not seen it as he had been occupied during the entire evening in calculating the refraction of light from the lustre. DRAWN FOR A SOLDIER. [From Hood's Comic Annual.] A bill is before Congress to reduce the postage on other periodicals, to the rate assessed upon newspapers, and we hope that all the newspapers throughout the United States who wish to promote the interests of literature and "I was once-for a few hours only-in the science, will give it their immediate and hearty militia. I suspect I was in part answerable for support. Our literature arises generally to my own mishap. There is a story in Joe Miller of a man, who, being pressed to serve his meet the immediate occasion. The host of Majesty on another element, pleaded his polite newspapers already published is sufficient evi- breeding to the gang, as a good ground of exdence of the prevalence of this habit. But al-emption; but was told, that the crew being a though they form the arteries and veins of our system, by which our political strength is maintained and increased, and every man in the community may know what is doing by his representatives, yet there are many questions set of unmannerly dogs, a Chesterfield was the pleasure-te myself down in the descriptive column as Quite a gentleman.' The consequence followed immediately. A precept, addressed by the High Constable of Westminster to the Low ditto of the parish of St. M***, and indorsed with my name, informed me that it had turned up in that involuntary lottery, the ballot. At sight of the orderly, who thought proper to deliver the document into no other hands than mine, my mother-in-law cried, and notion of any distinctions in military servicemy wife fainted on the spot. They had no a soldier was a soldier-and they imagined that, on the very morrow, I might be ordered abroad to a fresh Waterloo. They were unfortunately ignorant of that benevolent provision, which absolves the militia from going out of the kingdom-'except in case of an invasion.' In vain I represented that we were locals; they had heard of local diseases, and thought there might be wounds of the same description. In vain I explained that we were not troops of the line;-they could see nothing to choose between being shot in a line, or in any other figure. I told them, next, that I was not obliged to serve myself; but they answered, 'twas so much the harder I should bo obliged to serve any one else.' My being sent abroad, they said would be the death of them; for they had witnessed at Ramsgate, the embarkation of the Walcheren expedition, and too well remembered the misery of the soldiers' wives at seeing their husbands in transports! I told them that, at the very worst, if I should be sent abroad, there was no reason why I should not return again;-but they both declared, they never did, and never would be 6 lieve in those Returns of the killed and wounded.' The discussion was in this stage when it was interrupted by another loud single knock at the door, a report equal in its effects on us to that of the meinorable cannon-shot at Brussels; and before we could recover ourselves, a strapping serjeant entered the parlour with a huge bow, or rather rain-bow, of partycoloured ribands in his cap. He came, he said, to offer a substitute for me; but I was prevented from reply by the indignant females asking him in the same breath, Who and what did he think could be a substitute for a son and a husband?' The poor serjeant looked foolish enough at this turn; but he was still more abashed when the two anxious ladies began to cross-examine him on the length of his services abroad, and the number of his wounds, the campaigns of the militia-man having been confined doubtless to Hounslow, and his bodily marks militant to the three stripes on his sleeve. Parrying these awkward questions, he endeavoured to prevail upon me to see the proposed proxy, a fine young fellow, he assured ine, of unusual stature; but I told him it was quite an indifferent point with me whether he was 6-feet-2 or 2-feet-6,-in short, whether he was as tall as the flag, or under the standard.' The truth is, I reflected that it was a time of profound peace; that a civil war, or an invasion, was very unlikely; and as for an occasional drill, that I could make shift, like Lavater, to right-(write)-about-face. Accordingly I declined seeing the substitute, and dismissed the serjeant with a note to the War-Secretary to this purport: That I considered myself drawn; and expected therefore to be well quarter'd. That, under the circumstances of the country, it would probably be unnecessary for militiamento be mustered;' but that if his Majesty did call me out,' I hoped I should give him satisfaction.' The females were far from being pleased with this billet. They talked a great deal of moral suicide, wilful murder, and seeking the bubble reputation in the cannon's mouth; but I shall ever think that I took the proper course, for, after the lapse of a few hours, two more of the General's red-coats, or Genera! postmen, brought me a large packet sealed with the War-Office seal, and superscribed Henry Hardinge;' by which I was officially absolved from serving on horse, or on foot, or on both together, then and there after. And why, I know not-unless his Majesty doubted the handsomeness of discharging me in particular, without letting off the rest; -but so it was, that in a short time afterwards there issued a proclamation, by which the services of all militiamen were for the present dispensed with, and we were left to pursue our several avocations, of course, all the lighter in our spirits for being disembodied." Singular Circumstance-Mr. Lowe, a gentleman who has been deaf and dumb from his infancy, will, we understand, be called to the bar by the Society of the Middle Temple. He has had a good legal education, and is considered very clever as a conveyancer. set and stopped not till within sight of the Some very interesting experiments took One horse, with the same apparent ease that he would have drawn a gig over a smooth and hard road, moved two of Winans' cars, laden with forty-one persons, at the rate of between ten and eleven miles an hour. The distance travelled, out and in, was about 5 miles. Another horse drew 25 persons, on a car But vain their skill, Peace to that holy ground! The Pilgrim's God! Fishes in the London Clay.-The remains of fishes are frequently found in the London clay, in various degrees of preservation; not only are the numerous teeth of cartilaginous fishes found here in their figures, triangular, conical, single pointed, tricuspidated, tridentated, lanceolated, &c., and from more than an inch in the rails and back, in a lively trot. A second Ingenious Spy.-It was customary with Marriage of another construction, to the end of shal Bassompiere, when any of his soldiers were brought before him for heinous offences, to say to them, "Brother, you or I will cer tainly be hanged;" which was a sufficient denunciation of their fate. A spy, who was discovered in his camp, was addressed in this language; and next day, as the wretch was about to be led to the gallows, he pressed earnestly to speak with the Marshal, alleging that he had somewhat of importance to communicate. The Marshal being made acquainted with his request, said, in his rough manner, "It is always the way of these rascals; they pretend some frivolous story, merely to reprieve themselves for a few moments; however, bring the dog hither." Being introduced, the Marshal asked him what he had to say? "Why, my lord," said the culprit, "when I first had the honour of your conversation, you were pleased to say, that either you or I should be hanged; now I am come to know whether it is your pleasure to be so, because, if you won't, I must; that's all." The Marshal was so pleased with the fellow's humour, that he ordered him to be released. Old Stories over again.—Bubb Doddington was very lethargic. Falling asleep, one day, after dinner, with Sir Richard Temple and Lord Cobham, the latter reproached Doddington with his drowsiness. Doddington denied having been asleep; and to prove he had not, offered to repeat all Lord Cobham had been saying. Cobham challenged him to do so. Doddington repeated a story; and Lord Cobham owned he had been telling it. "Well," said Doddington, "and yet I did not hear a word of it; but I went to sleep, because I knew that about this time of day you would tell that story." An Impatient Dog-A gentleman required the loan of a pointer dog from a friend, was informed by him that the dog would behave very well so long as he could kill his birds; but if he frequently missed them, it would run home and leave them. The dog was sent, and the following day was fixed for trial, but unfortunately, his new master was a remarkably bad shot. Bird after bird rose and was fired at, but still pursued its flight untouched by the leaden showers that fell around it, till at last the pointer became careless, and often missed his game; but, as if seemingly willing to give one chance more to his luckless master, he made a dead start at a fern bush, with his nose pointed downwards, the fore-foot bent, and his tail straight and steady. In this masterly position he remained firm till the sportsman was close to his tail, with both barrels cocked, then moving steadily forward for a few paces, he at last stood still near a bunch of heather, the tail expressing the anxiety of the mind, by moving regularly backwards and forwards, when out sprang an old black cock. Bang, bang, went both barrels, but, alas! the proud bird of the heath still soared in the air unhurt. The patience of the dog was now exhausted, and, instead of crouching at the feet of his master, till he reloaded, he turned boldly round, placed his tail close between his legs, gave one howl, long and loud, and off he Another carriage with seven persons, was rapidly driven by a winch, worked by two of them. Two dogs, attached to a car, trotted off with a load of six persons. Those who have not seen, can hardly believe such things; but they are true. Among the experiments on Tuesday, was Hymns, sung at the Celebration in New York, Wild was the day, the wintry sea Moaned sadly on New England's strand, They little thought how pure a light In time should gather round that day; Till when the sun, with softer fires, Looks on the, vast Pacific's sleep, are The following was sung at the close of the ex ercises. With joy I heard them say ing to spinous fishes, varying considerably in their forms and sizes, are found still affixed in their bony sockets. The skeletons of some of these fishes still remain, but so fixed in their hardened matrix as to be very difficultly separable. The teeth are most referrible to different species of the genus squalus, and are spoken of, by former writers, under the different ap pellations, Plectronites, Rostrago, &c. The bony tongue and palates of different species of the genus Raia, particularly of Raia pastinacea, are also found completely mineralized in this formation. Alpine Flowers.-A little above the point where timber disappears, a region of extraordinary beauty commences-intervals of soil of some extent covered with low creeping matted Alpine plants of astonishing brilliancy of colouring. Deep blue prevails; and the penstimon erianthera, the agnilegin cærulea, and other plants, were more intensely coloured than in lower situations. May it not be that the deep blue sky, the atmosphere being for the most part clear and unclouded, influences the colours of this Alpine Flora? Books and Journals received this week, and to which we are indebted for part of this num ber: Asiatic Journal-Monthly Review-BijouNew Monthly Magazine-Museum of Foreign Literature and Science-Edinburgh Philosophical Journal-Niles' Register. SPIRIT OF THE ANNUALS FOR 1830, In press, and will speedily be published by E. Littte!!, & Brother, Chestnut Street. This work will consist of selections, in prose and verse, of the most important articles, literary and religious, from all the English annuals for 1830. MUSEUM OF FOREIGN LITERATURE Its contents are thrice as great as those of ordinary periodical works, and it is composed of choice pieces from the Foreign Journals of the highest character; a partial list of which is given below. Edinburgh, Quarterly, Westminster, Retrospective, British, Monthly, and Eclectic Reviews; New Monthly, Blackwood's, London, Edinburgh, Monthly, European, Ladies', and Pocket Magazines; British Critic, Literary Gazette, Ackerman's Repository, La Belle Assemblee, London Journal of Science, Literature, and Arts; Brewster's Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, &c. &c. &c. As a Review of the Literature of the day-an interesting and instructive Magazine-an amusing Miscellany, and a Repository of Essays on all subjects by the first authors of the age, it is believed to possess the strongest claims to patronage. It commenced in 1822:-a new series began with 1826. The January number of the Museum, now nearly ready for publication, will be embellished with a beau tifully engraved plate. Wishing to render this work still more deserving of the extensive patronage it has received, the publishers have determined to prefix a plate to each successive number, and this will be continued, so long as the circulation of the work will warrant the increased expense. The Museum is published monthly, at g6 per annum, |