- y ' - - . ;. x, ; ?. - j ...... .j-.,".- -. ..- ....'. S
CALVIN H. WILEY,
A! FAMILY N E W S PA P E R-M TJT R A L I POLITICS.
arTTT.TAM D- COOKE.
EDITORS.
TERMS:(TWO DOLLARS
,rrrTP.T,TON WADDELL, JR
u x a -- .- -
PER ANNCJMr
BeUotc to all tfj $nttw$te of Moify Carolmaj
ton, mlture, Citoturc, 3js, flje iWrltcts, &c.
-1
VOL. II, -NO. 50.
RA LEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY, NOV. 12, 1853.
WHOLE NO 102.
SELECT POETRY.
V LINES.
ET M. E. M.
'Tis sweet to mark at evening hour
The lamp gleam forth from distant tower,
And know its light is kindled thus
By one vk fon:7thnks of us. : ; v
-Tlff-T wo.-' 1 ?.n.biT:tt u an car
Will list our coming step to hear ; -Tis
sweet to know there is an eye .
"Will brighten when it sees ua nigh ;
To know there is a kindred heart
Will sink in sorrow when we part;
'Tis sweet to soothe the mourner's pain
With whisper'd vows " we meet again."
'Tis sweet to hear our vigil broke
By the shrill clock's expected stroke ;
i Whose warning summons, slow yet true,
Proclaims the hour of interview.
'Tis sweet that meeting hour, to while'
With braken phrase and speaking smile,
And question kind, and mute reply.
Or glanc'd in look, or breath'd in sigh,
And fond reproach, that not the less
Springs from the soul of tenderness.
Then, while the time glides swift away,
And leaves a thousand things to say,
Sweet the impatient thrill we feel
O'er all our fluttering senses steal,
That prompts our hasty tale to tell,
Ere forced to sever with " farewell."
But love may die, grow cold or change,
Or yield to arts that faith estrange !
Then what a dull and dreary day
Succeeds when all has passed away !
O weary doth' the spirit seem
Of one who wakes as from a dream ;
"Who sees the lamp extinct above,
Or lighted for another iove ;
Who sees no more from kindling eye
The radiant glance of welcome fly;
Who feels the meeting hour now glide
In silence down time's darkened tide ;
Whose heart i4one, whose hope is fled,
Whose ardent feelings all are dead.
To spirit thus forlorn of mood,
The world is " peopled solitude."
ED STORY.
THE JOURNEYMAN'S : SECRET.
fKOM THE DIART OF 'A JOURNEYMAN PRINTER.
"You can take this case," said the foreman;
".here -is a stick here is some copy ; and if you
I- would like a quiet and steady partner, you will
find this gentleman still enough in all conscience.
; The " partner " merely looked up and faintly
smiled in acknowledgment of the foreman's com
pliment, and kept on with his work, while the
foreman turned a waylo attend to something else.
We v.-orked on steadily until dinner, as we were
fin a hurry to get the paper out, without exchang-
ing a 'word, pr even a look. In the afternoon, I
had nimf leisure to study the physiognomy of my
neighbor. lie was a young man of about three or
.v. ,- .. ) i: .i ...iii l j .1
luui auu nveiuy, wuii iianasome leaiures uuu a
J rather intellectual cast of countenance. His face
J was quite pale, and the raven darkness of his hair.
eye-brows and eyes, made me immediately come to
the conclusion, after thoroughly studying his phy
siognomy, that he was a hard student during his
leisure hours, or that, depriving himself of the' re
creation of books, or other sources of ... enjoyment,
he spent all h.isfwaking hours at the case. The
latter supposition time proved correct. ,
As day after day passed away, I became ac
quainted with him ; and I found him to be a sinrii-
lar character. Beneath his stand he bad construc
ted a kind of a. closet; 'which contained a spirit
lamp, a mattress, with bedding, a few cooking
. utensils, and a small stock of the plainest kind of
food. When the hours for meals arrived, he would
light.his lamp, and putting some. fod over it to
cook, woukl work until all the rest of. the hands
had left the office, when he would sit down to his
frugal repast, He worked incessantly during work
hoors, hardly leaving the office, unless to purchase
food, or upon some errand of that kind. Morning,
noon and night, when I returned from my meals,
I invariably found him at the case, working away
with all his might as if some great issue depended
upon the improvement of every minute. I suppose
he si en t unon thp. onf. whiMi ho Vpnf. in lna rlnset.
hut as he was always at work when Pretumed in
the morning, i could not positively assert that he
' did so. I 2LXXX lint. VPrv orfi VMiIrviio oc-iniollr urlin
employed at the case, and as he would not first
address me. I would
the
SELECT
be fun and joke were passing round the otheKht' and forcinS hhn inf a corner' 1 claimed -tscjs,
we were silent as the enSve. I was notions "Gentlemen, one word, if you please ! It would
ca
m discovering that there was some mystery ' con
nected with him, and that his intense annlication to
labor was not prompted merelv lv n Aa;. v
money; for if there is anything in phrenolorv.
judging from the formation of his head, he was the
very one wnom.l would have selected from a scdre
for a spendthrift. Occasionally- his cheek would
-flush, his eyes light up, and a happy ;smile bpjr-
spread his features; than the smile would go awav
l.:, . - n ii....:.L . i !
uip eyes wouiu mi wim tears, wmie an expression
ot sadness almost despair would seat itself upon
his countenance. . I have been tempted a thousand
times to ask him the cause of this, but as he ap
peared so cold and isolated, I refrained from doing
so, as it is not pleasant proffering sympathy un
asked.
" Well, how do you like your neighbor ?" ksked
one journeyman of me, as we were descending the
stairs one evening
" I can hardly make i iirn out," said I ; he appears
to be a strange sort of .being. You are better ac
quainted with him thanj I; how do you like him?"
u For my part I hale i him, and what is more, he
has not a friend in the I whole office. That fellow
has been here for three jnonths, and he has hardly
poken to any one. A; man who makes such bills
as he does, : andJ jMiirp his jnoney like a miser
f have Very J illi rneud&lii p for." - - Weouldh't any"""
of its care so much if he! would be a little sociable,
and spend a dollar, or even a dime occasionally;
but no- every five-cent piece he gets he hangs on
to as if he was afraid the eagle on it would spread
his wings and fly away with it, doing him out of a
five-cent piece. But he can't stay here long." We
have insulted him a .doien times ; and he has less
spunk than I think be ijas, if he don't resent it some
day. We'll get him into a quarrel then, and have
him discharged." ' "
" But," said I, " do you know anything about his
history ? lie may have some all absorbing end to
accomplish, which is the cause of his untiring assi
duity. You should have a little charity for the
fellow, and taking Crockett's motto, ' be sure you're
right before you go ahead.' " .
" No, we know" nothing of him ; andif circum
stances are as you suppose, it will be his own fault
if they are discovered too late, for we have tried
often enough to scrape an aequaintance with him.
You had fetter not take up on his side if you do
not wish to incur the displeasure of the whole office.
"Good night.
I had some charity for the fellow, and was re
solved to see him. righted should he set into a dif
ficulty. I soon saw that he was very unpopular,
and that I, as I felt rather disposed to make allow
ances for him, was considered his friend. Many
were the jokes, craeked at our expense. Whenever
the " Quaker corner" (as the place occupied by us
hod been dubbed) was inentioned, a universal tit
ter ran round the office. These little things irri
tated me some, but as I was not the priucipal ob
ject at whoin. these . arrows were aimed, I resolved
to forbear and let him be the first to speak.
" I say, fellows," said a rowdy looking customer,
who went by tiie name ot'Zeke, " do the Quakers
ever have a camp meeting ?"
" Yes," answered another, " they have a camp
meeting over there iniQuaker corner every night.
That fellow camps out uponthe floor every nap he
takes."
" Well," said another, " I've heard of boarding
at the market house and sleeping on the bridge,'
but I never saw an illustration of it before.
" Wonder if they wouldn't take in boarders?"
asked the first speaker. " I'll see if they don't want
the rules and regulations of the house printed. If
they do, I'll board out the bill." '
I glanced at my neighbor to see how lie bore this
ridicule. Ilis face was .flu shed and his lips firmly
compressed, as if to choke down the rising indigna
tion, but tie s ua not a word. . 1 fancied, however,
that he picked up the type faster -than usual. u
Things could not go on this way much longer,
for' as God-like a qualilty as forbearance is, it cannot
hold out against every, thiug. I saw that a storm
was gathering, and prepared to act my part as a
pian when it burst forth.
It was Saturday afternoon ; the hands were rang
ed around the "stone," with their bills in their
hands waiting to be paid off. " Quaker" happened
to be at one end of the "stone," and immediately
opposite him stood " Zeke." As usual " Quaker"
was the "observed of all observers," and sly whis
pers, which were answered by a titter or a nudge
of,the elbow, passed around the group. As the
foreman paid " Quaker" the amount due him, he
gave him a new quarter dollar to make out change.
This did not escape " Zeke's" eye, and he said in a
tone loud enough to be heard by all
" If that eagle on that quarter had life, -and I
were a State prison convict, I would'nt swap places
with it, for my confinement would be far preferable
to being squeezed to death.".
This was the hair that broke tle camel back.
With the' exclamation, " You scoundrel 1" he
made one bound, and with a stunning blow, brought
" Zeke" to the floor. Then jerking off his coat and
placing himself in a fignting attitude, he turned to
the astonished group with " come on, now, cow
ardly ruffians ; if you cannot hit me alone peaca
bly, I will make you do it by force. I have borne
your insults long enough, and if you have any
more to offer come on with them !"
This challenge was sufficient. Coats came off
and sleeves were1 rolled up in a minuted I saw that
my friend would be apt to get the worst of the
be cowardly for you all to attack this man ; I will
not see it done. And if you will attempt it, I have
something here (tapping my breast significantly,)
that will stop it. He is hot to blame ; he has on
ly resented an insult, which any of you would have
done. You have insulted him because he has con
ducted himself strangely ; let him explain his con
duct, and perhaps we can make up our quarrel.
He owes you an explanation if not to you, he
certainly does to me. . And now, sir, said 1, turn
ing to him, "I demand it of you as a right.
- He hesitated a moment. 41 Come, my mend,,
said I, " let us have it, whatever it is, and at once
put an end to this quarrel."
" Well, gentlemen," said he, " I am not disposed
to lay my private affairs1 open to public gaze, but
I suppose I must do it for once. You must know,
then, that from my earnings I must not only sup
port myseii, but my mother, two sisters and three
small brothers, who reside'n adistant State. . ' I
could earn enough at home to support bem well,
but my reason for coming here is this : One of jmy
sisters,, who is now a beautiful girl of sixteen, and
the pet of the family, lias" been blind ' from : birth, j
We had bo hope of her ever acq ninng the facility
. of sight, and were content, toalide bv ' what we
thought ;satiodfjEmvidenceL J3;.t u7
centTyT "liave seen a case similar to here a young
man-
who was restored to sight by an eminent
physician of Paris. I have corresponded with that
physician, and he has high hopes that in my sis
ter's case lie can effect a eure. This, gentlemen,
is what I have been laboring for since I have been
here to raise funds sufficient to take her to Paris.
I love that sister as I do my life ; I have labored
day and night have deprived myself of many
comforts, and borne your taunts and jeers for her
sake. But I can bear it no longer. If you are
men you will desist; if you do not, I warn you of
the consequences !"
" Zeke," had risen to his feet and heard all my
friend had said. As he listened to the " Quaker,"
I could see the moisture coining to his eyes ; and
when he had finished, he stepped forth, and grasp
ing " Quaker's" hand, while the tears trickled down
his face, he said, in a voice quivering with emo
tion! I
"My noble fellow, we have wronged you deeply,
and I, for one, ask your forgiveness. Had you but
told us what your object was, we would not have
placed a single obstacle in your way."
" I forgive you freely, sir I forgivo you all,"
said "Quaker." ' V
" And how much have you to raise yet," I ask
ed, " before you will have tlie requisite sum ?"
"About one hundred and fifty dollars. If I
have my health and continue to make good bills, I
shall be ready to start to Europe in about two
months."
" You wont have to wait that long,'' said " Zeke"
laying the money he held in his hand, upon the'
stone, " if my week's wages, every cent of which
you're welcome to, will help you along any. Come
boys," he added, " how many of you will follow
suit?"
" Well, there's mine," said Jim, laying an X
upon the . p, 5,n "atid mine, said a
dozeit voices, as each had deposited an equal amount,
until they had made quite a pile of bank bills.
" There, stranger, take that, and may God pros
per 'ou," said " Zeke," tendering him the money
" No, gentlemen," answered the " Quaker," " I
thank you for your liberality, but I cannot take
your money. I am no beggar ; all I ask is that I
may be allowed to do my work without being dis
turbed." "But you must take it," urged "Zeke," grow
ing warm, " we owe it to you, and you shall take
it. We've done you a great wrong we've abus
ed you, we have no other way of making amends.
Besides, if you don't take it, it will be spent before
Monday moiniug, and I know that for my part it
will be much pleasanter to commence the week
with the consciousness of having appropriated my
money in a sensible way, than with the foggy head,
aching limbs, and empty pocket, which always fol
low a. "free and easy."
Still the stranger hesitated. "Take it take it
for your sister's sake," said two or three voices.
"I. accept it, gentlemen," said the "Quaker," "as
you say, ' for my sister's sake,' and I hope to be
able some day to return it, principal and interest."
"Quaker" left for Paris shortly after; and in a
few months we had the satisfaction of hearing that
his sister was completely restored to sight, and
that they were on their way home.,
I have heard from him several times since. His
lines have been drawn in pleasant places, and he is
now a judicial functionary in a neighboring State
(Kentucky.)
Ghost Storie(s. There is a foolish and perni
cious practice with some people, of relating stories
to young children to excite alarm and terror. If it
was only foolish or unreasonable, it might, not
justly call forth strong expressions of censure. Yet,
even in such case, the practice had better be dis
continued and condemned as quite improper. Sto
ries to aroifse curiosity and excite inquiry, if the
subjects tend to utility, are certainly proper and
commendable. But the common tales of Blue
Beard and giants, of spectres and ghosts, are ex
tremely injurious in their influence and effects.
Unfounded and absurd notions are received, that
serve only to . terrify, and Which, even by correct
knowledge afterwards received, cannot be entirely
subdued or eradicated. It is in vain to reason
against them, or to oppose to them the knowledge
derived from natural philosophy' and the sciences.
I have known men of great learning, who were un
able to get rid of early but unreasonable fears.
produced in childhood by the stories of nurses or
illiterate parents, and who are always occasionally
under their unhappy influences, though their so
ber judgment told them they wre fictitious. Let
children be taught that the great Creator has im
pressed laws on all things, which operate uniform
ly ; and that they are in safety when they behave
well and have a reverence for that great and good
Being. They should be taught that ghosts and
apparitions are wholly fanciful 5 that all the spee
tres they need guard against are guilty fears ; and
if they are virtuous, these will never haunt them,
nor ever exist. Qodey's Lady's Book.
A word cuts deeper that a dagger, and the wound
is longer healing.
I -
." MISP.EU-.llWEnilS I
i EAST INDIA JUGGLERS.
- An- East India correspondent of the "Post,"
give the following account of a recent exhibition
of t 3 Jugglers jn the East who seem to have lost
T.cr of that skill for which they long since became'-.
In Madras are found, in perfection the celebra
ted Eastern Jugglers. Groups of them are daily
at the hotels upon the arrival of a steamer, to exhi
bit their wonderfu feats and receive rupees. Snake
dancing, sword swallowing, fire-bating, tumblingj
&c, are shown to the crowd who search for amuse
ment. With some others, I hired a party to exhi
bit on the verandah5 of the hotel, and I am quite
assured of their superiority over all other magici-
M . !. .l t-1 . ..
ans, protessea or amuteur, in uie worm. At the
time assigned, thej were on the spot arranging
their implements preparatory to great wonders and
marvelous deceptions. While thus preparing, I
took a cheroot from my case, the more readily to
find out everything about what was to go on, and
searched among the circle of passengers for a light.
Perceiving the desire, one of the jugglers came to
me, went through i pantomimic request to regard
his face attentively, and commenced blowing like
a pair of bellows. ,
Much to my surprise a slight stream of smoke
issued from his lipt, and finally a pointed jet of
flame, shaped as gracefully as a gas light, and ex
tending two inches u my direction, which he kind
ly placed at my convenience. I availed myself of
it by lighting the cigar, expressed my obligation
and also a desire to examine intrinsically so polite
a salamander. I opened his mouth, looked in,
looked around and felt outside, but I could not dis
cover any cause for the sudden and approp s con
flagration. But the magic was about to commence
and I forgot my friend with the port-ible furnace
in other wonders, less individual, perhaps, but quite
as mysterious. They danced cobra capellos, operi
ing thjir fiat heads to show them sound in fangs
and venom bags, and- made them perform a varie
ty of poses. The snakes danced in a circle, kept
admirable time with the music, and exhibited the
i , ... ... .
i .. 1 1 1, i fc ... .11.1. i.i . ...ii.
date Europeans. A handful of sand taken from
the road was made to mark every color, and finally
to produce a shovel full of every variety by a sim
ple manual operation.
Plants grew perceptibly, balls danced in the air,
swords, hooks, j igged pieces of iron and steel were
used iike sounding-leads to penetrate abdomens ;
eggs made birds and birds made rabbits, and rab
bits in their turn underwent various transforma
tions ; common cotton balls moved at command,
going away an immense distance but returning on
the ground very obediently, until we we-e complete
ly tried up and turned inside out ourselves with
amazement, and credulity. Then came the great
feat of the greatest juggler in India ; the most no
torious and wonderful of all descriptions and " for
this night only." The performer, the leader of
the party, had rested quietly with his wife and
child outside of the circle, watching the entire pro
ceedings of his men, and noting the general effect
upon the assembl ge. At the conclusion of an
nouncement proportionate with his dignity and
elevation, he stepped in the enclosed space to give
a grand finale to the whole performance. Taking
the child, a little boy five or six years of age, from
its mother, despite her tears and entreaties, he
signed the attendants to procure the required ira-
plements for his feat, directiug their arrangement
and position according to his mind.
A large basket six or seven feet deep, made of
straw, wfjs shown to the spectators, that they
might assure themselves of its "being a basket with
outj any addition or improvement simply a bas
set of straw, very common in all parts of the world.
Inverting it, after the diligent investigations of the
entire party, he stood his little boy in the centre of
the circle and covered him with the basket like an
extinguisher on a candle. The room allowed the
ittle fellow an upright and apparently comfortable
position. We were permitted to see him under
the basket and-to satisfy ourselves of his being
there without any doubt.
A naked sword having received an equally close
examination, was placed in the man's hand, and
the feat commenced. Assured of the child's con
cealment under the basket, of the keenness and va
lidity of the sword, we waited in silent horror for
his next proceeding. There was no table with its
apartment, no trap in the basket, nothing but the
hard stony floor, and no confederate near him.
Taking the weapon in his hand, he waved it in the
air, muttered a jargon and commenced a series of
rapid thrusts through the basket, making the point
penetrate every time the opposite side, down into
the basket, and all over it until it could hardly
support its own weight from mutilation. It was
perforated like a seive.
A cry came from the interior, and a stream of
blood began to trickle from under it along the stone
floor on to the feet of the spectators. Cries of horror
pierced the air, the smother ran shrieking to the
basket to seize her horribly gashed and bleeding
boy ! She overturned it no child was there, noth
ing but a pool of blood. Every body looked fright
ened and relieved, while the juggler coolly wiped
the blood from the sword blade..; Suddenly burst
ing from the middle of the group of observers the
little fellow came running to his mother, unhurt,
unharmed, and a pretty smile on his brown child
ish face. Taking hold of her hand he seemed to
ask the cause of her tears, and began fondJing her
in affectionnte sympathy. It was a trick a de
ception a humbug. But how to explain it. I
saw the child under the basket a moment before
the thrust; I saw the sword; its plain iron handle,
no shelter for the keen sharp blade; I stood on
the same stone floor upon which rested the basket,
I watched the whole carefully while, the sword
p,assi4 around there was no refuge in' the basket?
there was no confederate, no mantIe;"no trapoorT
The noise of the straw was distinctly heard at each
thrust ; the blood was there, and yet at the end
the child came from the crowd and quite alive! I
was within six feet and could not understand it ;
perhaps you who were farther away will be more
successful. But isn't it a point or two in advance
of Alexander, Blitz, and those men ?
THE HIGHLAND COTTIERS.
The following story of a Highland eviction is
very simple, but very touching: "Many poor
crofters or cottier tenants lived on the estate of
Knoydart, in Glengary, owned by Mrs. MacDon
nell. For a long while the crofters, for the most
part, have been unable to pay their rents, and many
of tligm were in heavy arrears. To clear the way
for a more profitable class of tenantry, the propri
etress resolved to clear the estate; but in order
that the crofters might be placed in circumstances
which, in her judgmeut, would be for their benefit,
she offered them a choice of enjgratiou to Ameri
ca or Australia, undertaking 10 eniracn a-vessel at
her own expense, to provide them with suitable
clothing, to let them sell their little stock, and for
give them all arrears of rent. The proposal ap-v
peared to be accepted by the crofters generally, and
they preferred Canada to Australia, a colony of
Glengarry men having been established there for
half a century. A vessel was then engaged and
sent to the Isle of Onisey, in Skye, where the em
igrants were to be shipped but when the hour of
trial came, about sixty persons, who had agreed to
the terms of removal, refused to leave their crofts,
and the vessel had to sail without them, taking out
two hundred and eighty emigrants in all. In these
circumstances, summons of removal were served on
the refractory crofters and cottars, but they were
unheeded. Notices to quit in forty-eiht hours
Laere J.hcn 2iven.and these alsofkiliux in fef$ut, tin
legal officers were' instructed tto eject the people.
They met with no forcible resistance. First, the
little furniture the crofters had was taken out. The
officers, with their assistants, next proceeded to un
roof the cottages, and then to pull down the mud
walls. The scene now was truly a painful one. So
long, as there was a hope of being left with a cov
ering over their heads, the cottars were compara
tively quiet; but now that they were homeless,
many of them became frantic with grief, and were
driven to seek shelter in some of the neiirhbourinor
quarries, where some are now living, and others
among the caves of the rocks with which this wild
district of the Highlands aboun i. The crofters
who were on the poor roll wre allowed to remain,
but the others are ail scattered. The weather has
been tine since their ejection, and thus far they
have been supported by the benevolence of their
poor neighbors, and what little they can do at fish
ing;cbut un ess something is done for them before
long, there can be little doubt but starvation will
ensue ; the wives and children -are most to be pit
tied. They all admit that their proprietress was
liberal in fulfilling her engagement; and they seem
conscious that they are legally in the wrong ; but
they ;ling to the home of their fathers with des
perate tenacity, and judging from their conduct in
preferring ejection to emigration, and the strong
feeling which they show, it is clear that the7 look
on their case as one of expatriation." It is said,
as an excuse for Mrs. Macdonnell and others who
act like her, that sheep walks and shooting grounds
are more profitable than farms with peasants ; but
it is a mean policy that refuses to improve men,
and strives only to increase cattle.
APPLICATION.
If young persons enter into their various pursuits
witlT becoming ardor, and steadily persevere in a
course of diligent application, ;it is impossible to fore
see the eminence to which they may attain.
Difficulties, which timidity and jndolence would
deem insurmountable, are overcome; and knowl
edge in all its variety, and with all its honors
advantages, and pleasures, is rapidly and effectually
gained. Among the students who obtained classi
cal honors and distinction in a late examination at
the University of Oxford, in England, was a Mr.
Seymer, who, notwithstanding the disadvantage of
blindness from his infancy, was placed in the high
est class but one. Let no youth despair.
Humility is not the pliant, supple thing that
the superficial suppose it to be. Columbus was
humble, when refusing to sacrifice to the ridicule
of the multitude the belief which he deemed prov
identially given, that a new.world awaited his ad
venturous fleet. Luther was humble, wheD, lifting
up the Bible before the Imperial Diet, he refused
to recant, and stood boldly upon the ground of the?
New Testament against royal threats and Papal
anathemas. Paul was humble, when, at Athens,
and before Agrippa, and at Rome, he boldly pro
fessed his allegiauce to Christ, and confirmed his
allegiance at last under the executioner's sword.
What, indeed, i3 humility, but the surrender of
man's will to the Divine will a surrender that
may give proof of itself, now in lowly . penitence
and prayer, and now in bold confession find heroic
daring ?
! i 1 ' i
It is not sufficient to have great qualities, we
J must be able to make proper use of them.
Curious Literary and Artistic Project. .
An undertaking, which cannot Jfail to produce no
common degree of interest in the world of litera
ture not only here, but throughout that of Eu
rope and America is beiDg drganized with the
utmost activity and with every! prospect of sue
cess. It is to make, the French; literature of the
day take, its place in the Great Exhibition to be
held here. inBirreehm as
follows : A commission is to eUct a hundred writ-
s
ers, who are to compose a beok bs large as an ordi
nary sized journal, and containing one thousand
pages, ten for each writer. Thi subjects are con
fined to such as spring from the Exhibition- itself
Here a picture or a statue inspires a poem; a piece
of tapestry forms the groundwork of a legend;
the produce of some distant land leads to the de
scription of a voyage; silks and-jewels alas! we
fear female vanity will generally ;be selected as the
theme when they are brought bn the tapis ! in
struments of labor and husbandry will suggest a
pastoral in prose or verse. In short, with so rich
a mine to work upon, the difficulty will be, not to
find, but to select a subject. The form given to
this literary movement will present a luxury in all
its details, for which neither taste nor expense is to
be spared. At the bead of each article, a first rate
artist is to make an illustration of the subject, rep
resenting the portion or object , in the Exhibition
suggestive. of the piece; and a portrait of the wri
ter, taken from a photograph, is; to be appended,
with a specimen of his writing and signature. The
characters for the printing are to be cast expressly ;
and, instead of paper, parchment or vellum is to
be employed. j
Editorial Literature. There was more point
and poetry than propriety or pathos in the cool
effrontery of a Scotch poet, lounging lazily in' his
sung sanctum or library in all the fuxury of London,
and pithily compassionating the j hardships of his
marine brethren by singing j
Ye gentlemen of England,' who stay at home at ease.
Ah, little do you think upon the darigers of of the seas.
But there is no one to parody jthese verses" with
such appropriate effects as to winj for the editors of
city papers (editorials are a ver mechancial con
irlvauce la lAe country ipr W wiJbing
mainly concocted with paste and scissors) li e in
dulgent sympathy of the public, by chaunting in
mournful recitative .. . ' -'
Domestic, politicians, who read r.thbme at ease,
Ah, little do ye reck of an editor's jmiseriea !
Ye loll upon your cushioned Chair land pish nnd psha
amain, I
But ye think not of the racking of in editor's troubled
brain. s
Of all sorts of task-work, of melre day-labour, the
toughest, the most fatiguing, the most exacting,
and the most thankless, is the! dire necessity of
providing day by day the regular pabulum , of
thought, and the prescribed quantum and quality '
of commentary for ii daily papei. Day after day,
through all seasons of the year, the same still-bc-gining,
never-ending duty is to bf performed ; the
freshest thoughts, the most vigorous fancies, the
most judicious reasonings, are to e supplied from
a mind that has no leisure for selfyculture, no rest
for the reviving influnce of n'aturai repose, and no
exemption from disquietude and fat'gue. When
the character of the intellectual prqduce incessantly
exacted is considered, it is amazing that so much
genius and talent, and even profundity, should be
exhibited by the newspaper pressj: but is it not
equally amazing that it should not experience a
juster and more kindly appreciation!
How to Wear Spectacles. llho following ie
copied from a " Treatise on the Eye," by Mr. West,
an eminent optician : j;
"In the proper use of spectaclesfthere is no cir
cumstance of more importance thati their position
on the head. They should be wrn so that the -glasses
may come as close to the ef es as possible,
without touching the eyelashes! They should also
be placed so that the glassed may bp parallel with
the paper when the head is in an i easy position.
To accomplish this, let the sides of j the spectacles
bear on the head about midway between the top
of it and the ear ; the eyes will then look directly
through the glasses to the- paper, and make the
most advantageous use of them, instead of looking
obliquely through them to the paper, as spectacles .
are usually' wornj with their bows i contact with
the ear, in. which position they produce a distorted
image on the retina. The sides of jtbe spectacles
should also be placed at an equal height on the
head."
The genius of the Psalms is the genius of the
principal author, who has given them name and
character. The collection, as it exists -in our Bible,
is to be regarded as the Hebrew Anthology, or
perhaps more fitly, as the hymn-boqkof the He
brew church, David is named in the titles as the
chief writer, although six names are! given in ad
dition to his. Seventy-one of the one' hundred and
fifty are. expressly ascribed to him. What ia his
genius ? Its chief characteristic is eminently this
the power to embody every emotion pf the heart
in language and imagery at once simple, graphic,
exalted. He uses the familiar objectslof nature as
his alphabet of expression, and trees, bills, moun
tains, seas,' heavens, birds, beasts, men,jrange them
selves at his bidding, and become interpreters of
bis soul. Every state of feeling has'lts speaking
1
imagery.
The snake may reach the eminence as certainly,
as the eagle, but he reaches it by crawling and
still remains a snake.
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