is advertised to commence running between that city and Belfast, on
the 1st Feb. and is to run from one city to the other, and return
every day. It is calculated to run at the rate of about 13 Irish
(equal to about 20 English) miles an hour. It is to carry the mail
between the two cities. It is calculated that it will be found a
safer mode of conveyance for passengers than carriages drawn by
horses. The whole weight of the carnage and apparatus is estimated
at about 4 tons.
_Fires._--A letter from St. Thomas, of the 2d March, mentions that
the whole city of Ponce, in Porto Rico, with the exception of one
church, was destroyed by fire on the 27th of the preceding month. On
the 1st of January last, a fire broke out at Smyrna, which consumed
1500 buildings. On the night of the 2d March, a spacious hotel in
Lexington, (Ken) was consumed--loss estimated at 40,000 dollars.
From Pittsburg, it appears that a part of the vast beds of coal
in the hills surrounding that place, has been on fire for about
25 years past; that the fire has, until lately, remained in a
smouldering state, but has at length got vent, and that during the
night it now exhibits the appearance of flame like a volcano. It
is apprehended that much of the valuable material of coal, in the
vicinity of that place, will probably be consumed before the fire
will become extinguished.
At Canton, the imports from the U. States, for the last season, are
stated at 7,414,000 dollars, in specie, and 2,693,011 dollars, in
merchandize; exceeding that of the English Company three or four
millions.
Congress have passed a law for taking another census of the United
States. The enumeration to commence on the first Monday of August
next, and to be completed in six months thereafter. Accounts of
manufacturing establishments, and of the numbers is employed
therein, are to be duly noted.
_A Check to Intemperance._--The select men in Bedford, (Mass.)
have posted up, at the tavern in the town, a list of the names of
persons notoriously addicted to drunkenness, and forbidden the sale
of liquor to them, under penalty of the laws of that state against
intemperate drinking.
The steam-boat Swift, rigged as a brig, is to depart from New York,
_for Rio de Janeiro_, on the 5th of May--is now advertising for
freight and passengers.
The grand jury of Putnam county, (Geo.) lately presented, as a
grievance existing there, (and probably not less there than in
many places elsewhere) the practice, indulged in by the bar of
villifying, without sufficient cause, the characters of suitors and
witnesses. They request the aid of the court in discountenancing
insolence of this kind.
From a late Petersburgh, (Va.) paper, we have the following account
of part of the remains of the formidable confederate tribes of
Indians, found in Virginia when Sir Walter Raleigh first ascended
St. James' river, at the head of which confederacy was Powhattan,
the father of the celebrated Pocahontas. These remains are a few of
the tribes of the Nottoways, to which tribe Powhattan belonged, the
Panunkies and a few of the Mattahonies. Of the Nottoways, says the
account, only 27 now remain, at the head of which is a woman, styled
their queen, of the name of Edie Turner, of the age of about 60, and
said to be quite intelligent, though illiterate. She is comfortably
situated in a cottage, with the necessaries of life about her, and
her share of the lands, (about 7000 acres, on Nottoway river,)
tolerably well cultivated. The language of her tribe is only spoken
by her and two others. It is said to be of Celtic origin, and as
harmonious and expressive as the Erse, Irish, or Welch.
_'Benefit of Clergy.'_--Paper was not made earlier than the
fourteenth century--and printing in the century following. The art
of reading made a very slow progress. To encourage it in England,
the capital punishment of death was remitted if the criminal could
read, which is termed 'Benefit of Clergy.' Yet so small an edition
of the Bible as 600 copies translated into English in the time of
Henry VIII. was not wholly sold off in three years.
_Nugæ Antiquæ._--Before A. D. 1545, ships of war in England had no
port-holes for guns; they had only a few cannon placed on the deck.
There is no mention of writing in the time of Homer. Ciphers,
invented in Hindoostan, were brought into France from Arabia about
the end of the tenth century.
_Respiration in Frogs._--It appears from a series of curious
experiments, performed by M. Edwards, that frogs, toads, and
lizards, are preserved alive and in health under water for weeks, by
means of the air contained in the water, which they abstract, not by
the lungs but by the skin.
_Chinese Alphabet._--The Chinese have 11,000 letters in use, and in
maters of science they employ 60,000, but their articulate sounds do
not exceed thirty.
_Method of rendering Glass less brittle._--Let the glass vessel
be put into a vessel of cold water, and let this water be heated
boiling hot, and then allowed to cool slowly of itself, without
taking out the glass. Glasses treated in this way may, while cold,
be suddenly filled with boiling hot water without any risk of their
cracking. The gentleman who communicates the method, says, that he
has often cooled such glasses to the temperature of 10°, and poured
boiling water in them without experiencing any inconvenience from
the suddenness of the change. If the glasses are to be exposed to a
higher temperature than that of boiling water, boil them in oil.
POULTRY.
From the European Magazine.
SIR--As the following account, together with the few observations
I have made on the management and feeding of fowls, may prove
acceptable, and afford some useful hints to many among the numerous
readers of your entertaining and widely-circulated miscellany, you
will oblige me by giving them a place in your work.
I procured two pullets of the black Spanish kind, which were
hatched in June, 1818, and fed them constantly myself twice a day,
alternating their food, that is, I gave them corn in the morning,
and in the afternoon boiled potatoes mixed with _fresh_ bran, but
I never allowed them to take a _full meal_ of corn. They had a
small orchard to range in, where, in the course of the day, they
occasionally picked up worms and other insects; and, I have observed
that poultry of all kinds eagerly seek for animal food even after
they have satiated themselves with corn: indeed, I conceive a
portion of animal food essentially requisite to preserve them in a
healthy state.
The above-mentioned pullets began to lay about the middle of
November, and continued to do so till within the last ten days,
when they began to moult their feathers, having produced _three
hundred and sixty-seven eggs much larger and finer than those of the
common fowl_. Seven eggs weigh 1 pound avoirdupois, so that I have
been furnished with the astonishing weight of more than 53 pounds
of nutritious and wholesome food from _two hens_. They were never
_broody_, nor shewed a disposition to sit at any time during the
whole season, and I understand this property is peculiar to this
species of fowl: it is, however, an advantage than otherwise, as the
common kinds can incubate their eggs, and foster their young.
G. C. JENNER.
_October 14th, 1819._
_Ancient Advice to Parents._
TEACH CHILDREN
Obedience, } and they shall {bless thee.
Modesty, } {not be ashamed.
Gratitude, } { receive benefits.
Charity, } {gain love.
Temperance,} {have wealth.
Prudence, } and {Fortune will attend
{them.
Justice, } {they will be honoured
{by the world.
Sincerity, } {own hearts will not
{reproach them.
Diligence, } and their {Wealth will increase.
Benevolence, } {Minds will be exalted.
Science, } {Lives will be useful.
Religion, } {Death will be happy.
_Comfortable Discovery._--"Laugh and grow fat" was the grand ancient
specific for long life--"every sigh and groan drove a nail into
our coffins," whilst a contrary excitation of the risible organs
drew one out.--Truly every generation groweth wiser, and we may
live to witness ocular proofs that pain is merely an alleviator of
indigestion, and the repudiation of a limb, under the doctor's saw,
a pleasant and exhilarating morning exercise; in short, what may we
not expect after reading the following:
A French surgeon has published a long dissertation on the beneficial
influence of groaning and crying on the nervous system. He contends
that groaning and crying are the two grand operations by which
nature allays anguish; and that he has uniformly observed, that
those patients who give way to their natural feelings, more speedily
recover from accidents and operations, than those who suppose that
it is unworthy a man to betray such symptoms of cowardice as either
to groan or to cry. He is always pleased by the crying and violent
roaring of a patient during the time he is undergoing a surgical
operation, because he is satisfied that he will thereby so sooth
his nervous system, as to prevent fever and ensure a favourable
termination.--From the benefit hysterical and other nervous patients
derive from crying or groaning, he supposes that "by these
processes of nature," the superabundant nervous power is exhausted,
and that the system is in consequence rendered calm, and even the
circulation of the blood diminished. He relates a case of a man,
who, by means of crying and bawling, reduced his pulse from 120
to 60 in the course of two hours. That some patients often have a
great satisfaction in groaning, and that hysterical patients often
experience great relief from crying, are facts which no person will
deny.
As to the restless hypochondriacal subjects, or those who are never
happy but when they are under some course of medical or dietetic
treatment, the French surgeon assures them that they cannot do
better than groan all night and cry all day. By following this rule,
and observing an abstemious diet, a person will effectually escape
disease, and may prolong life to an incredible extent.
_Oats 1000 years old._--In the highest point of a field, a mile
south from Forfar, Scotland, there was a druids' place of worship,
consisting of a circle of large stones, with one (the largest)
in the middle. The field was fallowed last year, and this temple
trenched, from which a very great quantity of stones were turned
up. Nothing particular, however, appeared, except a few bones that
went to dust. The field this year was sown with barley, and this
trenched part with the rest: so far as this trench extended, there
are considerable quantities of oats, of various kinds, sprung up
among the barley, the seeds of which must have remained there more
than 1000 years. Without the trenched ground there is not a head of
oats to be seen. Orders have been given to preserve these oat plants.
_State of the Rain Guage in Philadelphia._
January, 1 inch 40-1/100
February, 2 68
March, 5 70
_Longevity._--In the parish of Acton, Middlesex, still exist the
lineal posterity of the famous Bishop Cranmer, who was burnt at the
stake by order of Queen Mary, nearly 300 years ago. One of them, an
old lady, named Whytell, has completed her 112th year, and retains
her intellectual and bodily faculties to a surprising extent.
_West's Painting._--The Earl of Egremont has purchased the
celebrated easel study of "_Death upon the Pale Horse_;" painted by
Mr. WEST; one of the most sublime productions of modern art.
MARRIED,
In Hebron, Connecticut, the celebrated LORENZO DOW, to Miss LUCY
DOALBEAR, of Montville.
At Harrisburg, Dr. PHINEAS JENKS, a member of the House of
Representatives, from Bucks County, to Miss AMELIA, only daughter of
the late governor Snyder.
_Deaf and Dumb Marriage._--Nov. 20, 1819, a singular marriage was
solemnized at Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, between Joshua Barker
and Mary Moorehouse. The man being deaf and dumb, could not repeat
the necessary forms of the marriage ceremony; but this difficulty
was obviated in an ingenious manner; as he was able to read, the
book was presented to him, and he traced the words over with his
finger.
DIED,
On the 4th instant, in Tewksbury, near New Germantown, (N. J.)
FREDERICK PICKLE, aged 100 years. When he was 94 years of age, he
cut with a cradle 500 sheaves of rye in a day. At 97 he went into
the woods and split 100 chesnut rails in less than a day. He was
regular and temperate in his habits, and enjoyed good health until
within about a year before his death. His widow is 90, and they have
lived in the marriage state 70 years.
TIME.
I saw him hasting on his way,
And mark'd his lightning flight,
Where'er he mov'd, there stern decay
Spread its destructive blight.
Rapid the gloomy phantom hied,
Envelop'd in the storm--
His eyes shone out in sullen pride,
And fearful was his form.
I saw him grasp the Warrior's wreath,
Won in the gory fray--
The laurel withering sunk in death,
Its beauty fled away,
That wreath was stained with bloody dew,
Unhallowed was its bloom--
It met the phantom's chilling view,
And bow'd beneath its gloom.
I saw him pass by Beauty's bower,
And listen to her lay;
Around the spot was many a flower
Blooming its summer day;
With icy heart the spectre came,
Her lovely form compress'd;
She met his lurid eye of flame--
The tombstone tells the rest.
On Youth's warm brow his hand he prest,
'Twas cold as mouldering clay--
He laid his hand on Manhood's breast,
The life-pulse ceas'd to play.
His fell siroc o'er Nature passed,
And low she drooped her head--
Her blossoms withered in the blast,
And all her verdure fled.
FLORIO.
[_Hudson Whig._
WINTER EVENING'S AMUSEMENT FOR JANE AND ME.
In summer days I till the ground,
And tug and toil and get my bread--
No interval can there be found,
Between my labour and my bed,
My wife declines to knit by night,
And I to read by candle-light.
But when the south receives the sun
Beyond the equinoctial line--
When all my summer work is done
Substantial pleasures then are mine,
Then Jane begins to knit at night,
And I to read by candle-light.
I'm then content, and never sigh,
Nor fly from home some bliss to find;
And Jane is pleased as well as I,
It so completely feasts her mind,
To sit her down to knit by night,
And hear me read by candle-light.
For when I read she always hears,
And what she hears, she tries to scan;
When ought to her obscure appears,
Then I explain it if I can,
O how she loves to knit by night
And hear me read by candle-light!
But when she drops a stitch, and gapes,
Soon gapes again, and nods her head,
I close my book, and say, perhaps
'Tis time, my dear, to go to bed--
So knit again to-morrow night,
And hear me read by candle-light.
[_Olive Branch._
YOUTH AND OLD AGE.
Days of my youth! ye have glided away;
Hairs of my youth! ye are frosted and gray;
Eyes of my youth! your keen sight is no more
Cheeks of my youth! ye are furrow'd all o'er;
Strength of my youth! all your vigour is gone;
Thoughts of my youth! your gay visions are flown.
Days of my youth! I wish not your recal;
Hairs of my youth! I'm content you should fall;
Eyes of my youth! ye much evil have seen;
Cheeks of my youth! bathed in tears have ye been;
Strength of my youth! why lament your decay;
Thoughts of my youth! ye have led me astray;
Days of my age! ye will shortly be past;
Pains of my age! yet awhile ye can last;
Joys of my age! in true wisdom delight;
Eyes of my age! be religion your light;
Thoughts of my age! dread ye not the cold sod;
Hopes of my age! be ye fixed on your God!
CURE FOR TROUBLE.
BY S. OSBORNE.
Ben Brisk a philosopher was,
In the genuine sense of the word;
And he held that repining, whatever the cause,
Was unmanly, and weak, and absurd.
Tom Tipple, when trouble intruded,
And his fortune and credit were sunk,
By a too common error deluded,
Drown'd trouble, and made himself drunk.
But Ben had a way of his own,
When grievances made him uneasy;
He bade the blue devils begone!
Brav'd trouble, and made himself--_Busy_.
When sorrow imbitters our days,
And poisons each source of enjoyment,
The surest specific, he says,
For trouble and grief, is--_Employment_.
LINES,
Inscribed to William Willtshire, Esq.
Heaven's noblest attribute! a richer gem
Than ever deck'd the monarch's diadem,
Art thou sweet mercy! yet alas, how rare,
Amid this world of crime, thy triumphs are!
How dimly burns thy pure etherial fire!
How seldom does its warmth the clay wrapt heart inspire!
Yet, now and then, upon the path of time,
It blazes forth with dazzling ray sublime;
Sheds o'er this vale of tears it's heaven lit flame;
And throws a halo round the human name.
See! on the desert's verge, those wasted forms,
Which life's expiring spark but feebly warms;
Wore down by pain, toil, care, and wretchedness,
And clad in squalid misery's abject dress:
And mark the hectic flush, the broken sigh,
And the wild glance that lights each sunken eye--
The thrilling pulse of hope--the withering fear
That checks the quick throb in its full career--
The eager, half form'd question, and the start,
As if the accents shook the bursting heart--
"Oh! Heavens! and will he come, and shall we be
Restor'd once more to life, and liberty?
Or must we in our galling bonds remain?--
But hush!--hark!--Lo a horseman on the plain!"
'Tis he! he comes, he pities, succours, saves
The captives from their chains, the dying from their graves.
Thine, Willtshire, was the deed; and oh! to thee
Is due the tribute of the brave and free!--
Noble, and generous! round thy brow shall twine
A fairer wreath, a laurel more divine,
Than that which e'er the blood stain'd hero wore:
Or science' sons in proudest moment wore.
And when the sculptur'd bust, the burnish'd urn,
The victor's trophies shall to dust return:
When gone are all that wealth and power bestow;
Thy fame, undimm'd, shall shine--thy worth shall brighter glow.
N.
[_N. Y. Evening Post._
ON INTEMPERANCE.
----"But, at last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an
adder."--Prov.
O, Take the maddening bowl away!
Remove the poisonous cup!
My soul is sick--its burning ray
Hath drunk my spirit up:
Take--take it from my loathing lip
Ere madness fires my brain;
Take--take it hence! nor let me sip
Its liquid death again.
O dash it on the thirsty earth,
For I will drink no more:
It cannot cheer the heart with mirth
That grief hath wounded sore;
For serpents wreath its sparkling brim,
And adders lurk below:
It hath no soothing charms for him
Who sinks oppress'd with wo.
Say not, "Behold its ruddy hue--
O press it to thy lips!"
For 'tis more deadly than the dew
That from the Upas drips;
It is more poisonous than the stream
Which deadly nightshade leaves:
Its joys are transient as the beam
That lights its ruddy waves.
Say not "It hath a powerful spell
To sooth the soul of care;"
Say not, "It calms the bosom's swell
And drives away despair!"
Art thou its votary?--ask thy soul--
Thy soul in misery deep--
Yea, ask thy conscience if the bowl
Can give _eternal sleep_!
Then, hence, away! thou deadly foe
Of happiness the whole;
Away--away!--I feel thy blow,
Thou _palsy_ of the soul!
Henceforth I ask no more of thee,
Thou bane of Adam's race,
But to a heavenly fountain flee,
And drink the _dews of grace_.
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
HOPE.
For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb. iv. 15.
When gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark, and friends are few,
On him I lean, who, not in vain,
Experienc'd every human pain,
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.
If aught should tempt my soul to stray,
From heavenly virtue's narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the sin I would not do,
Still he who felt temptation's power,
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.
If wounded love my bosom swell,
Deceiv'd by those I priz'd too well,
He shall his pitying aid bestow,
Who felt on earth severer wo;
At once betrayed, denied, or fled,
By all that shar'd his daily bread.
When vexing thoughts within me rise,
And, sore dismay'd my spirit dies,
Yet he who once vouchsaf'd to bear,
The sickening anguish of despair,
Shall sweetly sooth; shall gently dry,
The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.
When sorrowing o'er some stone I bend,
Which covers all that was a friend,
And from his voice, his hand, his smile,
Divides me--for a little while--
Thou, Saviour see'st the tears I shed,
For thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead.
And O, when I have safely past,
Through every conflict--but the last,
Still, still unchanging, watch beside,
My painful bed--for thou hast died;
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear away.
A. B. C.
TO MY WIFE,
_On the Anniversary of her Wedding-day which was also her
Birth-day._
BY SAMUEL BISHOP.
"Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed"--
So, fourteen years ago, I said.--
Behold another ring!--"for what?"
"To wed thee o'er again?"--Why not?
With that first ring I married youth,
Grace, beauty, innocence, and truth;
Taste long admir'd, sense long rever'd,
And all my Molly then appear'd.
If she, by merit since disclos'd,
Prove twice the woman I suppos'd,
I plead that double merit now,
To justify a double vow.
Here then to-day, (with faith as sure,
With ardour as intense, as pure,
As when, amidst the rites divine,
I took thy troth, and plighted mine,)
To thee, sweet girl, my second ring
A token and a pledge I bring:
With this I wed, till death us part,
Thy riper virtues to my heart;
Those virtues, which before untried
The wife has added to the bride:
Those virtues, whose progressive claim,
Endearing wedlock's very name,
My soul enjoys, my song approves,
For Conscience' sake, as well as love's.
And why?--They shew me every hour,
Honour's high thought, Affection's power,
Discretion's deed, sound Judgment's sentence,
And teach me all things--but repentance.
THE ICELANDER'S SONG.
From a MS. Volume of Poems, by Mr. G. RATHBONE.
The southern may talk of his meads crown'd with flow'rs,
Where the gale, breathing incense, unceasingly flies;
He may vaunt the rich hue of his rose-tangled bowers
Or the sapphire and gold of his bright sunny skies;
But it is not a theme that will light up emotion
In an Icelander's breast; since his pride and his boast
Are his hoar-cover'd mountains, that frown on the ocean,
Lit up with the ice-blink that girdles the coast.
When the winter of night darkles round him all dreary,
And his snow-bosom'd hills mourn the absence of day,
With a heart void of care, and with limbs seldom weary,
He launches his bark in pursuit of his prey;
Rough is his bed, and uneasy his pillow,
When far off in ocean he rambles from home;
Blithe scuds his boat, as her prow cleaves the billow
Of the gem-spangled brine, with its ridges of foam.
Dear is the dawn of the fork'd northern light,
That illumines old Hecla's broad cone with its rays;
And dearer its splendour, increasingly bright,
When the peaks of the ice-bergs appear in the blaze:
Brightly it plays on his dart's glossy pride,
When it flies, steep'd in spray, on the snake's scaly crest,
To bury its point in the whale's finny hide,
Or flesh its curv'd barb in the sea-lion's chest.
Dear is the summer of day, when the fountains,
Unfetter'd and free, pour the bright crystal stream;
Dear is the cataract's leap in the mountains,
When sparkling at night in the moon's silver beam;
Dear are the shoals where the sea-horse is bounding,
With his icicled mane and his eyeballs of fire;
But dearer than all, is the comfort surrounding
The wife of his choice, and the hearth of his sire.
TO THE SNOW-DROP.
Joyous Herald of the Spring,
Pretty snow-drop, hail!
With thee, modest trembler, bring
Summer's balmy gale.
Com'st to tell us Winter's fled?
Bright informer, hail!
Welcome guest, why hang thy head.
Why thy cheek so pale?
Dost thou droop thy head in wo,
Poor glory of an hour?
Since not the Summer's heat shall glow
For thee, thou short-liv'd flow'r
Thou art only come, alas!
To tell us spring is near;
Like a fleeting shade to pass,
Droop, and disappear.
Thus some son of Virtue may,
Tread his bright career,
Guide by mild Religion's ray,
Erring Mortals here:
Ere his Winter toils are done,
Or Summer hopes arise,
Sinks he, youth and vigour gone,
Points to heav'n--and dies.--HELEN.
* * * * *
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PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
RICHARDS & CALEB JOHNSON,
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At $3.00 per annum.
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