General Lopez was attacked on the 13th by a large body of Spanish troops

at Las Pozas; the action was severe, and the Spaniards were repulsed.

The loss of Lopez was considerable, and among those who fell was Colonel

Pragay, an officer who had served with distinction in Hungary. He lost

in all about fifty men, but retained possession of the place. He soon

perceived that all his hopes of aid from the inhabitants were

groundless, and that it would be impossible to maintain himself against

the Spanish troops; and determined to conceal himself in the mountains.

On their march thither they met several Spanish detachments with whom

they had successive engagements, suffering severely in each, and

inflicting losses more or less serious upon their opponents. Among the

Spaniards who fell was General Enna, a distinguished officer, who was

buried at Havana on the 21st, with military pomp. At Martitorena on the

24th, while the remaining body of the invaders were breakfasting, they

were surprised by an overwhelming Spanish force, and completely

scattered; and from that time forward they seem to have been zealously

hunted by the inhabitants of all classes, and by every means. The

official reports of the Spanish officers state that the peasants pursued

them with dogs, that the negroes aided in their capture, and that every

part of the population evinced the most active and devoted loyalty to

the Spanish government. On the 28th, Lopez with only six followers, was

endeavoring to conceal himself and escape to the sea coast, and on the

29th, he was captured in the Pinos de Rangel, by a guide named Jose

Antonio Castañeda, with fifteen peasants. He was at once handed over to

a military force under Colonel Ramon de Sago, who had him conveyed by a

night march to Havana, where orders were immediately issued for his

execution, which took place at 7 o'clock on the morning of September

1st. He perished by the _garrote vil_, an instrument in common use among

the Spaniards. It consists of an iron chair, with a back, upon which, at

a point even with the head of the person sitting in it, is the

instrument of death. This consists of iron clasps made to fit the sides

of the head, and a clasp to pass round the throat. From behind is a long

iron bar attached to a screw, which put in motion by the executioner

giving it a single turn, draws the throat and side pieces tight and at

the same time sends an iron rod into the spinal marrow at the neck from

behind, causing instantaneous death. This machine was placed upon a

scaffold about ten feet high, in the middle of a large square,

surrounded by troops. An eyewitness has given an account of the

execution. He states that Lopez behaved like a brave man throughout--and

walked, surrounded by a guard, to the steps of the scaffold, as coolly

as if he were at the head of his troops. He was dressed in a long white

gown, and a white cap; his wrists were tied in front and above his

elbows behind, with the cords held by soldiers. He ascended the steps

with two civilians, friends, but without a priest. He faced round and

looked upon the soldiers, and the immense throng of people outside of

the square, and then turned round and knelt in prayer for about one

minute. He then rose and turned toward the front, and in a clear, manly

voice, and in tones loud enough to be heard by the thousands present

(for it was still as night), spoke as follows:--"Countrymen, I most

solemnly, in this last awful moment of my life, ask your pardon for any

injury I have caused you. It was not my wish to injure any one, my

object was your freedom and happiness;" here he was interrupted by the

commanding officer in front. He concluded, by saying, "My intention was

good, and my hope is in God." He then bowed, and turned round and took

his seat, apparently with as much coolness as if he were taking a chair

in a room with friends. He placed his head back, between the iron

grasps, the negro hangman then adjusted the iron throat clasp and tied

his feet to bolts on each side of the seat. During this preparation,

Lopez was in conversation with his friends. The executioner, then took

his place at the iron bar behind. Lopez kissed the cross handed to him

by his friend; the negro then gave one turn of the wrench, and Lopez

died instantly without the least struggle. The military at once returned

to the city, the band playing a quick step; the thousands dispersed with

little or no noise; and thus ended the second invasion of Cuba.

The intelligence of these proceedings, as it reached the United States,

caused an intense excitement throughout the country. In the Southern

States, and especially in New Orleans, where the expedition had been

planned and prepared, the popular agitation was overwhelming. When the

news of the execution of the fifty men under Colonel Crittenden reached

New Orleans, with the report of the indignities shown to their dead

bodies, a mob destroyed the office of a Spanish newspaper in that city,

menaced and injured the shops of sundry Spanish inhabitants, and even

sacked the house of the Spanish consul. Large meetings were held in all

the principal cities of the United States, at which the conduct of the

Spanish authorities was denounced, and active preparations were made for

sending fresh reinforcements to the invaders. Subsequent accounts,

however, and the interference of the Government, prevented the execution

of these designs. The failure of Lopez cooled the ardor of that class of

our population whose opinions of the morality and legality of any

action, depend upon its success or failure; while the slightest

reflection was sufficient to show the great mass of our people, that

without a declaration of war against Spain by our Government, we had no

right to invade her colonies. If a revolution had existed there, our

people, as in the case of Texas, could have emigrated thither, and after

becoming Cubans and abandoning all claims to American citizenship, have

taken such part as they might see fit in the affairs of the island. But

no such revolution existed. Lopez and those who acted with him were

undoubtedly deceived as to the state of public sentiment in Cuba. No one

can fail to regret the loss of so many noble spirits; but they put their

lives upon the hazard of the die, and expected, in case of failure, the

fate which they met. About 150 prisoners still remain in the hands of

the colonial government; it is understood that their punishment will be

commuted to imprisonment and transportation.

Political conventions have been held in several States during the past

month, to nominate officers for the coming elections. In Massachusetts

the Whigs assembled at Springfield on the 10th of September, above one

thousand delegates being in attendance. Hon. Robert C. Winthrop was

nominated for Governor, receiving 811 out of 1033 votes, and George

Grinnell, of Greenfield County, was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor.

Edward Everett, George Ashmun, and Seth Sprague were chosen delegates

from the State at large to the National Convention. A series of

resolutions was adopted, declaring substantially, that the Constitution

of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof, are the

supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of any

State to the contrary notwithstanding, and that no citizen or State has

any right to resist their execution, except in such extreme cases as

justify violent resistance to the laws, on the principle of the natural

and indefeasible prerogative of self-defense against intolerable

oppression;--that the preservation of the Union transcends in importance

any and all other political questions;--that the Whigs of Massachusetts

will faithfully perform every duty imposed upon them by the Constitution

of the United States, and they call upon their brethren in every section

of the State to respect and observe all its provisions;--that they

"cordially support the national administration in all its just and

patriotic measures; in its generous sympathy with oppressed nations

struggling for liberty in every part of the world; in its able and

vigorous management of our foreign affairs; in its unwavering purpose to

maintain inviolate our public faith with all nations; and in its sworn

resolve to vindicate the integrity of the Union against all assaults

from whatever quarter;"--that they have undiminished confidence in the

comprehensive statesmanship of Daniel Webster;--that they cordially

approve the agreement entered into by the Whigs of New York;--that they

disapprove very decidedly of the present administration of State affairs

in Massachusetts, and that they will use every exertion to secure the

election of the Whig candidates put in nomination. The Democratic party

held their Convention on the 20th of August. A series of resolutions was

adopted declaring that "the Democratic party is preëminently national,

anti-sectional, and for the Union as a whole Union--that it has always

sustained, and can only regain its supremacy in the Union, by adhering

to its own men and measures; reposing on its fundamental principle of

excluding all tests marked by sectional lines, South or North, East or

West; and by leaving to the sound sense of the people of each State and

Territory their domestic policy and institutions;"--that they recommend

a National Democratic Convention to be held at Baltimore in May,

1852;--that they "deprecate as disunion in its worst form the attempts

of any party or class of men to stigmatize and denounce one portion of

the Union for its domestic institutions with which the Constitution does

not interfere, and of the propriety of which each State is its own

independent judge;"--that they approve the resolutions adopted in the

National Democratic Convention of 1848;--and that they "go for a

faithful execution of and acquiescence in all the Compromise measures

settled by the last Congress." Charles G. Greene, Henry H. Childs, and

Isaac Davis were appointed delegates to the National Convention. George

S. Boutwell was nominated for Governor, and Henry W. Cushman for

Lieutenant-Governor.

In New York the Whig Convention met on the 11th at Syracuse. Only part

of the State officers are to be chosen at the election this fall. George

W. Patterson was nominated for Controller, James M. Cook for Treasurer,

Samuel A. Foote for Judge of the Court of Appeals, James C. Forsyth for

Secretary of State, Daniel Ullman Jr. for Attorney-General, Henry

Fitzhugh for Canal Commissioner, and A. H. Wells for State Prison

Inspector. Four very brief resolutions were adopted, declaring that the

action of the two Whig State Committees at Albany, which was sketched in

our last, was "the result of honorable and patriotic devotion to the

Constitution, and for the best interests of the whole people, and that

it is adopted and approved by this Convention;"--that to the entire

completion of the Erie Canal and kindred public works the Whig party is

fully pledged;--that those who supported the canal bill rendered a

service to the State of such eminent value, that it has obtained for

them the gratitude of every friend of the true prosperity of the State;

and that the candidates nominated for State offices deserve and will

receive the united support of the whole Whig party.--The Democratic

Convention met at the same place on the 10th. Two days were spent in

effecting an organization. A series of resolutions was adopted

reaffirming the views and principles set forth in the resolutions

adopted by the State Convention at Syracuse last year. The following

gentlemen were nominated as the Democratic candidates for the several

state offices:--John C. Wright for Controller; Henry S. Randall for

Secretary of State; Levi S. Chatfield for Attorney-General; Benjamin

Welch Jr. for Treasurer; Horace Wheaton for Canal Commissioner; W. J.

M'Alpine for State Engineer; Gen. Storms for Inspector of State Prisons;

and A. S. Johnson for Judge of the Court of Appeals.--In Maryland P. F.

Thomas was nominated for Controller, James Murray for Commissioner of

the Land Office, and T. R. Stewart for Lottery Commissioner, by the

Democratic State Convention held on the 12th of September.

A very severe storm swept over the whole southern coast of the United

States and the West India Islands on the 18th of August. The damage to

vessels and other property was very great. In the island of Porto Rico a

great number of plantations and an immense number of cattle were

destroyed, and many persons lost their lives. In the middle of West

Florida, Georgia, and Alabama the gale was terribly destructive. The

tobacco crop is said to have suffered severely.

Advices from Texas give encouraging accounts of the cotton crop in that

State. In both quality and quantity it will exceed that of ordinary

years. A new military post has been established in the Clear Fork of the

Brazos; and in the immediate vicinity, it is said, very large deposits

of iron ore and of coal have been discovered. A very large trade in

cattle has sprung up of late between Texas and New Orleans; the net

proceeds of the trade this year are estimated at $120,000. The Boundary

Commission is progressing slowly. When last heard from it was at the

copper mines. The survey had been temporarily suspended, owing to an

error in running the Boundary, making it 60 miles above El Paso, instead

of 16, as required by the treaty. About 130 persons are attached to the

American Commission, while the Mexican Commission has only seven. From

El Paso we learn that a conflict occurred early in June between a

considerable body of Apache Indians and a party of twelve Americans, on

their way to California. The affray took place near the copper mines.

The Americans were defeated, with a loss of two men killed and two

wounded. Writers in the Texas papers, who have passed over the route to

California from San Antonio and El Paso, state that it is far preferable

to the usual route by way of Independence, Missouri. It is said to be

shorter, cheaper, and less dangerous.

Two more cases of the surrender of fugitive slaves have occurred in the

State of New York during the month. A colored person, living at

Poughkeepsie, and named John M. Boulding, was arrested there and brought

to New York. Evidence was submitted to Mr. Nelson, a Commissioner under

the law of 1850, which showed him to be the slave of Mr. Anderson, of

South Carolina, whither he was immediately sent. The other case occurred

at Buffalo, where a negro called Daniel was brought before Commissioner

H. K. Smith. He was claimed under the tenth section of the act of 1850,

a certified copy of the records of a court of Kentucky being produced,

as required by that section, to prove him the property of a Mr. Rust.

The Commissioner decided that the evidence was sufficient, but a _habeas

corpus_ was granted by Judge Conklin of the U. S. District Court, and

the case was argued before him. He decided that the tenth section of the

law of 1850, could not apply to slaves who had escaped previous to the

passage of the law; and as Daniel was alleged to have fled before that

time, the evidence provided for by that section was insufficient. He was

therefore discharged. This decision is one of a good deal of importance,

as it essentially modifies the operation of the law.

An election was held in Mississippi, on the 1st and 2d of September, for

delegates to a State Convention, to consider what action Mississippi

ought to take in regard to the action of the last Congress on the

question of slavery. The majority of _Union_ delegates returned was very

large; so decisive, indeed, was the result regarded as to the feeling of

the State upon the subject, that Gen. Quitman, who was running against

Senator Foote, as the secession candidate, immediately withdrew from the

canvass.

The American Association for the Advancement of Education held, the last

of August, a very interesting meeting at Cleveland, Ohio. Many of the

most distinguished teachers and friends of Education from widely distant

parts of the country were in attendance, and the discussions were of

decided interest. The new system of collegiate education recently

introduced in Brown University, and adopted in the new University at

Cleveland (allowing students to select such studies as they may deem

most important to prepare them for their several pursuits in life, and

giving them certificates of their actual attainments, instead of the

usual diplomas), was thoroughly canvassed, both by its friends and its

opponents. The chief defenders of the new system were President Mahan of

Cleveland, and Prof. Greene of Brown University. Many other important

subjects were also discussed, and the proceedings of the Association

generally were such as are adapted to exert a wide and beneficent

influence upon the cause of education.

J. E. Caldwell, executor of the will of Elihu Creswell, of New Orleans,

has addressed a letter to Gov. Hunt, of New York, asking him for

suggestions as to the most desirable locality for fifty-one slaves,

emancipated by Mr. Creswell, with directions that they should be removed

to a free State. Gov. Hunt has published the letter of Mr. Caldwell,

with an extract from the will, in order to elicit the desired

information.

The United States Commissioner to the Western Indians, with his suite,

recently arrived in Galena, Ill., from Mendota and St. Paul. The treaty

with the Lower Sioux bands was signed on the 5th of August. These bands

are to receive, when they have reached their destination, some $225,000,

to pay their debts and expenses of removal, and an annuity in money of

about $30,000, for fifty years. The lands treated for with the lower

bands amount to some sixteen millions of acres. They lie along and west

of the Mississippi, from the Iowa State line north to the Falls of St.

Anthony, and above. The amount to be paid for this immense territory,

when the treaties will have been fully carried out, will amount to the

sum of nearly three millions.

From _California_ we have news to the first of August. There is little

intelligence of special interest. The excitement in regard to Lynch law

executions had subsided, and it was believed that the courts of law

would hereafter be left to the exercise of their functions. The reports

from the mining districts continue to be encouraging and the shipments

of gold for August and September were likely to exceed those of any

previous month. Numerous canals are to be constructed for the purpose of

diverting the water of streams known to be rich in gold, and abundant

preparations had been made for mining the quartz rock with heavy

machinery. The belief is general that this is hereafter to be the main

source of profitable mining. Agriculture is attracting increased

attention. Indian hostilities have ceased on the southern and eastern

borders, and broken out on the northern frontier. A military expedition,

under command of Gen. J. M. Estell, is to accompany the Indian

Commissioners, in their tour of negotiation, to Clear Lake, thence to

the sources of the Sacramento. After which they will proceed to Klamath

River. The hostile Indians on Rogue's River have been dispersed but not

subdued. Navigation on the upper rivers is suspended on account of the

low state of water. The two political parties were holding conventions

in the various counties to nominate for the Legislature and for county

offices. The four candidates for Congress have been busily engaged in

canvassing. The project of dividing the State is still urged in some of

the southern counties, which were once the seat of nearly all the

Spanish establishments in this State, but which have lost all their

political importance under the new _regime_.

Rev. Stephen Olin, D.D., President of the Wesleyan University, died at

his residence in Middletown, Conn., on the 16th of August. His health

had not been strong for many years, and an attack of epidemic dysentery

proved too much for his enfeebled frame. Born in Vermont, on the 2d of

March, 1797, he received his academical education at Middlebury College,

where he graduated with the highest honor. In 1824, he entered upon the

ministry of the Gospel, in South Carolina, and soon became eminent as a

pulpit orator. In 1830, he was called to a professorship in Franklin

College, Ga., and in 1832 to the Presidency of Randolph Macon College,

Va. The years from 1837 to 1841, he passed in an extended career of

travel through Europe and the East: and the fruit of his observations in

the latter region, have appeared in his two excellent volumes of

"Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land" (Harper and

Brothers). In 1842, he was chosen President of the Wesleyan University,

and filled that office to the time of his death.

Dr. Olin's reputation as an author must depend upon his Travels, and

upon his published Discourses, which, it is to be hoped, will be

gathered together in permanent form. The Travels are marked by quick and

sagacious observation, considerable power of graphic description, and

sound judgment. Dr. Olin's account of Egypt is the best, on the whole,

in the language. The Discourses are massive, full of thought, and yet

glowing with fervor. In breadth and comprehensiveness they are perhaps

equal to any thing that the American pulpit has produced. It was,

indeed, as a pulpit orator that Dr. Olin shone pre-eminently. His power

consisted, not in any single quality--in force of reasoning--or fire of

imagination--or heat of declamation--but in all combined. His course of

argument was always clear and strong, yet interfused throughout with

passion--the two inseparably united in a torrent that overwhelmed all

who listened to him. Dr. Olin's personal qualities were those of the

highest style of man. His nature was imaginative--so full of genial

kindness as to win all hearts. None could be in his company even for a

few moments without feeling this fascination, and at the same time

without imbibing a deep reverence for the intellectual majesty of the

man. He had, in a very remarkable degree, what Coleridge calls one of

the highest characteristics of genius: "the power to carry forward the

fresh feelings of childhood on through youth, and manhood, and age:"

there was no decay of feeling, no sign of senility in failing of human

interest or sympathy. With these qualities, it is not strange that he

was sought for to fill high places in literary institutions, and that as

President of a University, he was eminently useful and successful. He

would have been equally distinguished, we are sure, in the world of

letters, had not his work been hindered by lifelong disease. As it was,

it is wonderful indeed that he accomplished so much.

The Hon. Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, died at Portsmouth, N. H., on

the 4th of September, where he had suffered for a long while, under a

painful disease. Mr. Woodbury was born at Francestown, New Hampshire,

about the year 1790, was graduated with a high reputation for

scholarship at Dartmouth College in 1809, and was admitted to the bar in

1812. He practiced his profession with distinguished success, and

rapidly rose to a high rank in it. When the Democratic party acquired

the ascendency in the State, in 1816, he was appointed Secretary of

State; and at the commencement of the next year, a Judge of the Superior

Court. In 1819 he removed to Portsmouth, the commercial capital of New

Hampshire, where he resided the remainder of his life, with the

exception of the intervals when his official duties called him to

Washington. Mr. Woodbury was elected Governor of New Hampshire in 1822,

and in 1825 a Senator of the United States. General Jackson appointed

him Secretary of the Navy in 1831, and subsequently, on the rejection of

Mr. Taney by the Senate, Secretary of the Treasury. He continued in the

office till the close of Mr. Van Buren's presidency, when he resumed his

seat in the Senate. During the administration of Mr. Polk, he was

appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and had withdrawn from

the more active scenes of political life.

James Fenimore Cooper, the distinguished American novelist, died at his

residence at Cooperstown, N. Y., on the 14th of September. He was born

at Burlington, New Jersey, on the 15th of September, 1789. His father, a

judge of some distinction, was a large landholder in Otsego County, and

gave his name to one of its townships. Mr. Cooper received the rudiments

of his education under a private tutor in Burlington, and entered Yale

College in 1802. In 1805 he entered the navy of the United States as a

midshipman, and remained in that service six years. No reader of his sea

novels can fail to trace upon them the influence of this portion of his

experience. In 1810 he left the navy, married, and settled in

Westchester County, New York, whence he soon removed to Cooperstown and

wrote his first novel, entitled Precaution. Although this work gave

small promise of the brilliant literary career upon which he entered, he

continued to write, and soon published that series of tales of early

American life which have won for him such enviable distinction. In 1826

he sailed for Europe, and remained there several years, where he wrote

several of his best sea novels. Since his return he has written several

tales, using them chiefly as a medium of political opinions, and of

course sacrificing much of the success and distinction which his

previous works had acquired. Some of his strictures upon the faults of

American character and social life, subjected him for some years to a

very warm and bitter hostility. His health had been seriously impaired

for the last few months. Intelligence of his death will be received

with profound regret throughout the world.

Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet, LL.D., well known as the pioneer of deaf-mute

instruction in this country, died at Hartford, Conn., on the 10th of

September, at the age of 64. Dr. G. first became interested in the cause

to which his after life was devoted in 1807, having succeeded in

conveying instruction to a deaf and dumb daughter of Dr. Cogswell in

Hartford; and through the efforts of that gentleman he was commissioned

to visit Europe for the purpose of qualifying himself to become a

teacher of the Deaf and Dumb in this country. Seven gentlemen of

Hartford subscribed a sufficient amount of funds to defray his expenses,

and on the 25th of May, 1815, Mr. Gallaudet sailed for Europe.

Meanwhile, the friends of the project employed the interval of time in

procuring an act of incorporation from the Legislature of Connecticut,

which was accomplished in May, 1816. In May, 1819, the name of "the

American Asylum at Hartford for the Education and Instruction of the

Deaf and Dumb," was bestowed by the Legislature on the first Institution

for the deaf-mutes established in the United States. After spending

several months in the assiduous prosecution of his studies, under the

Abbé Sicard and others, Mr. Gallaudet returned to this country in

August, 1816. He was accompanied by Mr. Laurent Clerc, a deaf and dumb

Professor in the Institution of Paris, and well-known in Europe as a

most intelligent pupil of the Abbé. Mr. Clerc is now living in a

vigorous old age, and is still a teacher in the American Asylum at

Hartford. The Asylum was opened on the 15th of April, 1817, and during

the first week of its existence numbered seven pupils; it now averages

220 annually. Mr. Gallaudet became the Principal of the Institution at

its commencement, and held the office until April, 1830, when he

resigned, and has since officiated as Chaplain of the Retreat for the

Insane at Hartford. His interest in the cause of deaf-mute education has

always continued unabated, and his memory will be warmly cherished by

that unfortunate class of our fellow beings as well as by a large circle

of devoted friends.

Rev. Sylvester Graham, the founder and untiring advocate of the

Vegetarian System of dietetics, died at Northampton, Mass., on Thursday,

Sept. 11. Dr. Graham was chiefly known for his strict adherence to the

system which, for some time, bore his name. His writings on the subject

were numerous and popular, and his labors, as a lecturer, were

incessant. The most important of his works are, _Lectures on the Science

of Human Life_, first published in Boston in 1839; and _Lectures to

Young Men on Chastity_. The "Science of Human Life," is a work in two

large volumes, containing a systematic and in some degree, a scientific

exposition of the author's peculiar views, and has had a rapid sale. It

passed through several editions in this country, and has lately been

reprinted in England, where its sale is quite extensive. Dr. Graham was

a native of Suffield, Ct., and at the time of his death was aged about

55. His character evinced energy and decision, and his influence on the

public mind was rather beneficial than deleterious. Of his theories,

each will form his own judgment; the projector, at least, was

undoubtedly honest and sincere in sustaining them.

Prof. Beverly Tucker, of William and Mary College, Virginia, died at

Winchester on the 26th ult. Mr. Tucker was one of the Federal Judges of

the Territory of Missouri before its admission as a State; and was

subsequently State Judge in Virginia for a number of years, when he

resigned, and accepted the chair of Professor of Law at William and Mary

College. He was a member of the last Nashville Convention, and is known

as the author of a work published fifteen years ago, entitled _The

Partisan Leader_. Mr. Tucker's age was about 67.

CANADA.

The Canadian Parliament was prorogued by the Governor-General on the

30th of August. The Royal Speech represents the revenue as in a

satisfactory state, and refers to the grants for improving the

navigation of the St. Lawrence, and to the reduction of the emigrant

tax. Six bills were reserved for the approval of the Queen, three of

which relate to churches and rectories, two to the reduction of

salaries, and one to the incorporation of the Fort Erie and Buffalo

Suspension Bridge Company. The reciprocity question was left unsettled.

The reductions in the civil list authorized by the Imperial Government

have been carried out by the Legislature. The salaries of the Chief

Justices and that of the Chancellor are to be reduced from $4,800 to

$3,600 a year, upon the departure of the present incumbents from office.

The question of seignorial tenure was discussed at this session, and

although no final action was taken upon it, a bill was introduced which

will probably come up again. The subject is one of great interest to the

people of Canada, and will not be allowed to drop. The law of

promogeniture in the succession of real estate has been abolished in

Upper Canada. This is the most democratic measure that has been passed

during the present Parliament, and it can not fail to exert a highly

beneficial influence on the future condition of the Province. A set of

resolutions has been passed granting 50 acres of land each to certain

companies of enrolled military pensioners from England, whom it is

intended to station in different parts of the province. It is intended

that they shall be ready to act as a local police, and also be employed

on the public works.

SOUTH AMERICA.

The arrival of the steamer Georgia, on the 7th of September, put us in

possession of later news from the Pacific coast of South America. In

_Guayaquil_ a military outbreak, excited, so far as appears, solely by

personal resentments, has resulted in a complete change of the

administration. The President, Gen. Neuva, left Querto on the 17th of

July for the purpose of visiting his family at Guayaquil. On approaching

that city he was met by a military cavalcade, ostensibly for the purpose

of escorting him in: but he was immediately seized by them, and hurried

off to sea in a vessel lying in the river; the destination of the

vessel, and the fate of the captive were unknown. Gen. Urbina

immediately entered upon the administration of affairs. In _Chili_, Don

Manual Montt has been elected President by an overwhelming majority. He

was understood to be in favor of internal improvements and of a more

effectual promotion of education. The Copiapo Railroad was to be opened

in September. Congress was in session the last of July, but no important

business engaged its attention. In 1850 the public revenue amounted to

$4,334,314, and the expenditures to $3,610,837, including over three

hundred thousand dollars remitted to England to pay interest on the loan

contracted there. The whole English debt is now about seven millions of

dollars. A very severe storm swept the harbor of Valparaiso in the early

part of July. The damage to shipping, both Chilian and American, was

very considerable. In _Bolivia_, the decree allowing foreign goods to be

entered at a lower duty from vessels that had not touched at other

ports, has been revoked. In _Peru_, Congress was still in session. The

legislative and executive branches of the government are represented as

being on the best of terms with each other, so that affairs are

conducted with a good degree of promptness and efficiency. A bill has

been urged in Congress for the greater extension of the freedom of

trade, and another to prohibit the circulation in that Republic of

Bolivian money. Several bills of decided local importance engaged the

attention of Congress. There has been during the past year a very large

export from Chili, chiefly of wheat and flour, amounting to two hundred

thousand dollars more than during the previous year. In _New Grenada_,

it is said there are new disturbances. The government levied a forced

loan, and further decreed that the friends of the government should be

exempted from its payment. In several provinces the decree had the

effect of converting nearly the whole population into a government

party; but in Bogota and Carthagena it had the opposite effect.

Arrangements were in progress for an extensive revolt, and it was said

that it had commenced at Bogota, but with what result is not clear.

From _Mexico_ later advices have been received,--to August 22d from the

capital and the 29th from Vera Cruz. The hostility of the government to

the fulfillment of its treaty stipulations concerning the Tehuantepec

Canal continues unabated; and it is stated that two vessels sent from

New Orleans to commence the work were seized by the Mexican authorities.

The financial condition of the country continues to engross attention,

but no one of the numerous projects offered for its relief seems likely

to be adopted. The ministerial plan calling a convention of the

Governors of the several Provinces, meets with very little favor. The

appropriation of the Church property to the necessities of the

Government has been warmly recommended by some of the public journals.

The estates of the clergy and of various religious incorporations amount

to $50,000,000. This sum, which has been accumulating in unproductive

hands for the last three centuries, it was maintained, would save the

country from bankruptcy and ruin.

The Mexican Senate has passed an act recommending a general

Confederation among the Spanish American republics. A plan for

accomplishing this object is detailed, of which the most marked features

are a general Congress, a uniform political system, a general act of

navigation and commerce, an alliance offensive and defensive, and a

tribunal for the settlement of differences. The project is a good one,

but there seems to be little chance of its being carried out. In

Durango, a popular commotion occurred on the 17th of August, in

consequence of the high price of corn, but it was quelled without

bloodshed, by an order from the government compelling the holders of the

article to reduce its price. In Vera Cruz, on the 21st, a very large

number of the inhabitants, including some of the National Guard,

assembled to ask of the local government relief from recent and very

oppressive taxes. Some of the soldiers were ordered out to oppose them,

when the people retired to their houses and prepared for defense. A

brisk action ensued in which several were killed, but quiet was restored

by the announcement that the local government had yielded to the popular

demands. President Arista's birthday was celebrated on the 25th of July.

He has dissolved a club formed for the purpose of regulating the annual

celebration of Mexican Independence, as some of its regulations did not

meet his approbation. An abortive attempt at a pronunciamiento in favor

of Santa Anna has been made at Guanajuato. The plot, which probably had

plunder for its chief object, was discovered before it had come to

maturity, and the leaders were taken into custody. A revolution has

broken out in Chiapas, aiming at the abolition of the internal Custom

Houses. Col. Munoz, commanding the battalion of Guerrero in Tehuantepec,

was ordered to proceed to Chiapas and aid the government party in the

suppression of the rebellion. His men began to desert soon after the

commencement of the march, and before he had advanced fifty miles from

Tehuantepec he had not more then seventy men. The revolt is headed by

Meldono, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the State.

A good deal of excitement has been produced in Mexico by the publication

of the letters of Payno, to the President of the Committee of Mexican

bond-holders in London. It seems that the assertion of Payno that he was

Chargé d'Affaires of the Mexican Legation in London, and was

commissioned to adjust certain matters pending in Europe, was entirely

destitute of foundation. On the publication of the letter containing

these statements, and others equally untrue, a resolution was introduced

into the Chamber of Deputies, inquiring by what authority Payno had

received the appointment of chargé, and how much money was appropriated

to his mission. The Minister replied that Payno had never received the

commission from the Government, but that $20,000 had been applied to

defraying the expense of the voyage. In consequence of this information,

a complaint was lodged against the former Minister of Finance, and of

Foreign Relations. The affair was also taken up by the Senate, which has

recommended Lacunza as Minister to England.

From _Montevideo_ we have intelligence to the first of July. The aspect

of affairs in Brazil and Buenos Ayres was by no means pacific. The

Brazilian force under Admiral Grenfell, the Commander-in-chief, had

penetrated the waters of the Uraguay, and were stationed at commanding

points along the north bank of the river. The disaffection of the

province of Entre Rios had been followed by that of Corrientes, warlike

preparations were in train; and every thing threatened a general

outbreak. The mediation of Great Britain had been accepted by Gen.

Rosas. The slave-trade on the coast of Brazil was at a low ebb, a deep

laid scheme for its revival having been defeated by the British

squadron. Only 1000 slaves were landed during the first six months of

1851, while no less than 20,000 were landed in the same period of 1848.

From the island of _Hayti_ our advices are to the middle of August.

Every thing was then quiet. The Emperor had returned to Cape Haytien

from his tour, having crossed the Dominican frontier without being

molested, and it was reported that the difficulties between the

Dominican and Haytian governments have been amicably settled.

An eruption of the long dormant volcanoes of the Pellée Mountain, in

Martinique, took place on the night of August 5. It was accompanied with

a noise similar to the approach of thunder, and with a strong vibration

that was felt to a considerable distance. The town of St. Pierre, as

well as all the surrounding country, was covered over with gray ashes.

The population of Prêcheur were obliged to flee from their homes, and to

take refuge in St. Pierre. There was no shock of an earthquake.

GREAT BRITAIN.

Parliament was prorogued on the 9th of August by the Queen in person,

until the 4th of September. The speech of her Majesty contained nothing

of special interest or importance.

No event in England has created more excitement, or engaged more

attention, during the past month than the visit and performances of the

yacht _America_, built in New York, and owned by John C. Stevens, Esq.,

who commands her. She arrived at Cowes early in July, and her commander

immediately offered to sail her against any vessel of a similar

construction in the world, for any wager up to $50,000. Public attention

was instantly attracted to her by the reports of pilots and others who

had seen her, and she was visited by thousands and thousands of people

from every part of England, but her challenge was not accepted. On the

18th there was a race of seventeen yachts, owned by gentlemen from every

part of the kingdom, contending for the prize of the gold cup, which the

Queen gives every year to the best yacht in the kingdom. The _America_

was entered for the race, and won it so easily, as to excite the

unbounded admiration and applause of the unsuccessful competitors. On

the 25th there was another race, by the squadron; but the _America_ was

not entered. The wind was light, and the last vessel of the squadron had

been under weigh sixty-five minutes when the _America_ hoisted sail and

followed. The race was round the Isle of Wight, and she came in only ten

minutes behind the winner. Mr. Stephenson, the distinguished engineer,

offered to sail his yacht, the _Titania_, for a small wager against the

_America_. The offer was accepted, and the race came off on the 28th of

Aug. The wind was fresh, and the course was forty miles out, and forty

back. Earl Wilton was umpire. The _America_ won the race by a long

distance. The Queen, with Prince Albert and the royal family, visited

the yacht on the 20th. The spirit of England is thoroughly roused by

this unlooked-for defeat; but they are unbounded in their expressions of

admiration for the vessel which has conquered them. Several new cutters

are to be built immediately for the express purpose of contending with

the _America_.

The Royal Commissioners of the Great Exhibition have resolved to close

it on the 11th of October. A meeting of the Commissioners will be held

on the 15th, for the purpose of taking leave of the exhibitors, and

immediately after they will have permission to remove their goods. The

number of visitors has fallen off considerably.

A great meeting was held in Dublin on the 19th of August, of Roman

Catholics from all parts of the kingdom, to protest against the

Ecclesiastical Titles Bill just enacted. Immediately after the call was

issued, a Protestant clergyman, named Tresham Gregg, issued a notice

that he would be there to confront the Catholics, and summoned all true

Protestants to his aid. This notice, and the general excitement which

prevailed, led to anticipations of violence. An immense concourse of

people was present. Admittance was refused to Mr. Gregg and his party,

and the collision was thus avoided. A large number of Roman Catholic

prelates were in attendance. The most Rev. Dr. Cullen, Archbishop of

Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland, presided, and read a long address,

urging Catholics every where to take measures to preserve their

religion. Several speeches were made by distinguished Catholics,

generally urging a political union of all Catholics, without reference

to other political questions. An ostentatious disregard of the late law

was shown in the constant use of the ecclesiastical titles prohibited by

it.

The condition of laboring men in parts of England finds striking

exemplification in an incident which occurred at a colliery in

Bedminster. Several persons had been killed by the breaking of the rope

upon which the miners daily descended 240 feet to their work. It

appeared upon the trial that the workmen knew that the rope was unsafe,

but they had not dared to complain, lest they should lose their

places--"poor men are tied down so tight now." One of the witnesses, a

collier, after giving his testimony, said, "for the evidence I have

given this day, I shall be out of work."

The Exhibition, and the official visit to Paris, have aroused writers in

England to a sense of their own clumsiness and artistic inferiority to

the French. In all departments of art, and especially in the graces and

elegancies of life, the English feel themselves to be far behind their

neighbors. The _Times_ suggests, as one step toward remedying the evil,

that Cleopatra's Needle should be brought to London, as the Luxor was to

Paris, and erected as a monument to Sir Ralph Abercromby. It can be

procured, and the cost of removal is estimated at £2500.

The English Government has granted new pensions of £200 a year to Mr. J.

Silk Buckingham, who is well known in this country, and the same amount

to Col. Torrens, the author of several works on political economy. Mrs.

Jamieson, whose admirable books upon Shakspeare's female characters are

universally known, has received a pension of £100.

Alderman Salomons, the Jewish representative of Greenwich, whose

forcible exclusion from the House of Commons was noticed in our last,

has been honored with a public dinner by his constituents. He declared

his belief that public opinion would demand the rescinding of the

obnoxious oath, but declared his purpose to commence a systematic

canvass of the country for the purpose of hastening that event. He

assures his constituents that, with their support, he "will not be got

rid of" by the government.

The management of English railways is generally supposed to be so nearly

perfect that accidents never occur. Though their police is, as a general

thing, superior to that of the American railways, recent accounts

chronicle a very large number of serious mishaps. On the Great Western

road, a train, having broken down in a tunnel, was run into by another

which was not warned of the danger. On the Lancashire Railway, near

Liverpool, part of a bridge had been taken down for the purpose of being

repaired. A luggage-train was suffered to come up in the night without

any notification, and of course ran into the gap. Several minor

accidents in various parts of the kingdom are chronicled, showing very

culpable negligence on the part of the railway police.

The leading authors of England have petitioned the Master of the Rolls

for leave to examine the records of the realm gratuitously. Their

request has been granted. At a time when the historical records of the

past enter so largely into the literary productions of the day, this is

a boon of decided importance.

Mr. Jerdan, who was for many years the editor of the London Literary

Gazette, is said to be engaged in preparing his Reminiscences of

Literary Men, and his Correspondence with them, for the press. His long

connection with the literary circles of England must have given him

unusual facilities for making such a work valuable and interesting.

Among the London announcements of new books in press we observe a novel,

entitled "Marian Withers," by Geraldine E. Jewsbury, the author of

_Zoe;_ one of the most powerful novels of the day.

The London _Examiner_ states that Haynau, the notorious Austrian

General, has taken up his residence upon a large estate which he has

just purchased in Hungary. It is said that he omits no opportunity of

making himself popular with the Magyars; that he pays assiduous court to

the nobility, many of whom were sentenced by his courts-martial; that he

joins the Hungarians in denouncing the Austrian attempt to monopolize

the sale of tobacco, and says that throughout the Hungarian war, he was

only the tool of the Austrian government. He declares that there is no

country in Europe he likes so well as England, and speaks of the beating

he received there with perfect complacency. It is difficult to believe

all these statements, though the _Examiner_ vouches for their accuracy.

FRANCE.

The French National Assembly met on the 9th for the last time of the

session, and then adjourned until the 4th of November. A manifesto was

at once issued by the Republican members, complaining that the sovereign

power was in the hands of men opposed to all reforms, but predicting a

certain victory as the fruit of union, perseverance, and devotedness on

the part of the people. The document declares that the Constitution is

the supreme law, and must be maintained inviolate; and that any attempt

to re-elect Bonaparte, or to prolong existing powers, will not be a

crisis, but a revolution; that resistance to all such attempts will be

"legitimate as right, holy as justice, sacred as liberty;" and that the

Republican members, under the flag of the Constitution, will not fail in

any of the duties which the salvation of the Republic may impose upon

them.

Preparations for the coming Presidential election are in active

progress. The Orleanists seem to be settling down upon the Prince de

Joinville as their candidate, and several of the most distinguished

among them, recently paid a visit to the Duke of Nemours to ascertain

the feelings of the family in regard to it. The conversation seems not

to have been very satisfactory: the most that the Duke would say was,

that they would not be responsible for the action of their friends. The

Republicans have not yet fixed upon a candidate.

Public attention in France has been drawn to the trial at Lyons of a

number of persons charged with conspiracy. It seems that in November

last a club was discovered there, of which a person named Gent was a

leading member. His plan is said to have been to give the southern

provinces a thorough secret organization, so as to enable them to rise

on a given signal, to secure the frontiers of Switzerland and Savoy as a

means of assistance or retreat, and to take steps to inflame the whole

country, and thus bring about a general republican movement. The trial

had not been concluded at our last advices.

A singular accident occurred at the funeral ceremonies of Marshal

Sebastiani, at the Invalides in Paris, on the 13th. The flame of a wax

candle was brought in contact with the hangings of the catafalque, and

the whole splendid drapery of the church was speedily in a blaze. Before

the fire could be extinguished, nearly one half of the magnificent

collection of trophies taken by the French armies were destroyed.

The grand fête given by the authorities of Paris to the Lord Mayor of

London and the Commissioners of the great Exhibition, had a brilliant

and successful termination. The mutual compliments of the visit were

closed by a correspondence between M. Charles Dupin, the President of

the French Commission, and Prince Albert. M. Dupin wrote to acknowledge

the courtesies received by the Committee during their visit to the

Exhibition, and to thank the Prince for the conspicuous part he had

taken in it. The constant attendance of the Queen, and her success "in

conquering suffrages and good wishes among the representatives of all

nations, in favor of a work which she still cherished as that of the

father of her children," are gracefully noticed. M. Dupin, after

remarking that "Art, like Nature, loves to scatter her gifts among the

children of great national families, and that they could thus honor, on

different grounds, genius, taste, imagination, reason, in nations whose

brilliant variety constitutes the riches and splendor of the human

race," designates the real service which the Great Exhibition will

render the world, by saying, that "each nation, without affecting its

character, may add to its well-being, its riches, its power, by

judiciously borrowing from the discoveries and improvements of other

nations. Here," he says, "each people sees its products side by side

with those of all others, and often sees them surpassed. Pride, which

grows while favored by isolation, is here abased, and reason profits by

the opportunity. Each nation, instead of dreaming of self-sufficiency

and inborn superiority, vows to improve in the future. Thus we shall see

new efforts attempted in every country, to ameliorate the productions of

the human race." Prince Albert, in his reply, tendered his thanks to the

President for his kind expressions, and to the Commissioners for their

attention and care.

GERMANY AND SOUTHERN EUROPE.

The intelligence from Germany is neither interesting nor important. The

Sovereigns of Austria and Prussia seem to be acting together for the

entire suppression of every thing like constitutional rights and liberty

in the German states. A proposition is about to be laid before the Diet

by these two powers, declaring that "the so-called fundamental rights of

the German people," proclaimed in the Constitutions of 1848 and 1849,

are neither valid as a law of the Empire, nor binding on the several

states, and they be therefore repealed, with all laws based upon

them.--In the Italian dominions of Austria, the state of things is

gloomy and ominous. Arrests of compromised persons are continually made

in Milan and Verona. In the latter city, one of the new prisoners was a

lady of rank, accused of forwarding a correspondence to Mazzini. A

system of espionage has been adopted in the Venetian provinces of

Austria, unparalleled for its inquisitorial and oppressive character, in

the history of the most despotic states. Many persons belonging to the

higher classes have been arrested in Verona, and nearly every night

domiciliary visits are made by the police. The public mind throughout

Austrian Italy is described as in a state of the most violent

excitement, and insurrection is apprehended by government. Marshal

Radetzky published a proclamation to the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom on

the 9th of July, and from his head-quarters at Monga. The

Lombardo-Venetian kingdom is declared to be in a state of siege; the

communes are made responsible for all assassinations similar to that of

Vandoni at Milan; and the inhabitants will be severely dealt with if

they do not immediately surrender all such offenders to the military.

Two musical artists have been made victims to the paltry prosecution of

the Austrian government. Mdlle. Anna Zerr, for having visited two of the

Hungarian exiles resident in London, and for having consented to sing at

a concert for the relief of the Hungarian refugees, has, on her return

to Vienna, been deprived of her place of Imperial Chamber-singer,

prohibited from appearing on the stage of the Imperial Theatre, where

she was one of the most distinguished performers, and placed under the

surveillance of the police. And Leopold Iansa, an eminent violinist,

who has been for many years in the Imperial Chapel, was dismissed for a

similar offense.

The Austrian authorities recently opened packages addressed to the

United States consulate at Venice. Mr. Flagg, the American consul,

remonstrated, and was told in reply, that the government claimed the

right to examine all publications introduced into the Venetian States,

no matter from what quarter or to what address. Several communications

have passed upon the subject.

In _Switzerland_ there have been heavy inundations which in the canton

of Berne alone have caused losses to the amount of about £100,000.

Active preparations are making for the coming election, in which it is

supposed the radical party will resort to extreme measures, if

necessary, for the accomplishment of their purposes.

Dr. Paulus, a distinguished German scholar, died at Heidelberg, on the

10th of August, at the advanced age of 94 years. In 1784 he was

appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at Jena, and in 1793 succeeded

to the chair of theology. His profound learning, penetrating judgment,

marked courage, and unwearied assiduity, obtained for his numerous

writings a very wide circulation. He was exceedingly amiable in private

life and was always employed in endeavors to promote the interest of

piety, virtue, and humanity.

A terrible catastrophe took place at Moscow, on the 20th July. As the

monks of the convent of Wladimir were setting out in procession to visit

an image of the Virgin at a neighboring village, a wooden bridge thrown

over the moat of the convent (formerly a fortress) gave way, and out of

200 of the monks, 158 were drowned; the water being 45 feet deep, and

the sides of the moat perpendicular.

The Austrian authorities in Hungary are resorting to the most unheard-of

cruelties in order to crush the spirit of the people. At a peasant's

wedding lately, near Groswardein, the _gendarmes_ approached the bride

and ordered her to take off the red, white, and green ribbons which she

wore in her hair, as these colors were revolutionary. The reply was that

it should be done after the ceremony. While the bride was kneeling at

the altar the _gendarme_ rushed forward and cut her tresses from her

head. The peasants resented the indignity, and an affray ensued, in

which three of the _gendarmes_ and four of the peasantry, including the

bridegroom, were killed.

We mentioned last month the release of Mr. Brace, the American traveler

in Hungary, who had been arrested and thrown into prison by the Austrian

authorities upon the most frivolous grounds. His release was procured by

Mr. McCurdy, who threatened to demand his own passports, if it was not

conceded. It seems that further proceedings of interest may be expected.

Mr. M. promised that Mr. Brace should present himself for trial. The

London _Spectator_ remarks that "this trial will be watched with

interest, it will take place in the sight of Europe and America, and

also in the sight of Hungary. The oppressed subjects of Austria will see

the right of personal freedom vindicated, in the person of a gentleman

whose own government will do no more than insist on the strict

fulfillment of the law, but will not be content with less. Austria will

be obliged to submit to the law, and will be forced to that hateful

submission at the dictation of a distant State. It will be brought to

that submission, that dictation, before the eyes of Europe, even before

its own subjects. It will be a very instructive trial."

It is stated upon what is believed to be good authority, that the

Turkish Government has definitively determined that Kossuth shall be set

at liberty on the 1st of September. The Austrian Government has warmly

and steadily protested against his release, but without effect. The

government of the United States has sent a national vessel to receive

him upon his liberation, and his arrival in the United States may be

expected by the 1st of November. No man living would receive a warmer

welcome.

THE EAST.

The English government has directed the seizure of another large

_Indian_ territory, part of the Nizam's dominions, to enforce the

payment of a large sum of money with interest. It is thought that the

Nizam can and will pay at the last moment; but if not, it is not

probable that his sway over his own dominions will hereafter be more

than nominal. At Gobindpore on the 14th of June, seventy prisoners were

chained together in a hut for safe keeping. During the night, the hut

took fire and all but five perished.

The news from _China_ represents the insurrection in the southern

provinces as one of magnitude and great political importance. It is said

that one of the leaders has assumed to himself the title of sovereign,

and that the insurgents, numbering a hundred thousand, menace the city

of Canton. The Chinese journals take very different views of the

character of this disturbance, some considering it as merely the work of

a few desperadoes, seeking only pillage, and others attributing to it

the highest political consequence. The emperor is said to be

considerably alarmed, and has sent against them his choicest troops.

The London _Spectator_ thinks it highly probable that the malcontents

are masters of all the provinces south of the Yellow River, and have

seized upon the great entrepot of Canton. This, it adds, would be a

revolution; for Pekin, which derives its supplies of provisions by the

great canal from those southern provinces, would be starved into

submission; and the principal seat of foreign commerce would fall into

the hands of a party more bigotedly hostile to intercourse with

foreigners than even the Celestial Government. Nor is such a revolution

either impossible or improbable. Our knowledge of Chinese history is dim

and obscure; yet enough appears to show that the Mantchoo authority has

never been so firmly established to the south as to the north of the

Yellow River--that the purely Chinese element of society has always

preponderated in the southern provinces. In _Siam_, too, changes of

policy appear to be impending. The king who refused to treat with Sir

James Brooke is dead; and a contested succession has been temporarily

avoided by the simultaneous nomination of a king and a vice-king. The

new king has always been remarkable for his disposition to cultivate the

acquaintance and friendship of foreigners, and he is said to understand

and even to write English. The institutions of the Chinese and

Hindu-Chinese nations are thus shaken and sapped at the very time when

the traders of Europe and America are making more vigorous and

continuous efforts than at any former period to obtain a footing in

them.

Twenty-three British seamen belonging to the ship Larpent, were wrecked

over a year ago upon the coast of the Chinese island of Formosa. They

were immediately set upon by the savage inhabitants, and all but three

butchered in cold blood. These three were taken into servitude, and

after about eight months' captivity made their escape in a boat to an

American brig which happened to be passing.

Editor's Table.

In the extreme western portion of the North American continent, and of

the North American National Confederacy, there are now to be found,

growing side by side, two of the most singular phenomena of the age. We

allude to the new social and political organization, constituting the

State of California, and the new theocracy, as it is assumed to be, of

the Mormon Commonwealth or Church--the one the most decidedly secular of

all known modern enterprises, the other the only example of the rise of

a new religion, and of a distinctly new religious people in the 19th

century. Mormonism, it is true, has some decidedly secular elements. In

this respect it easily assimilates itself to the gross spirit of worldly

enterprise by which it is surrounded, and even finds itself at home in

the midst of the most turbulent scenes. But this is far from accounting

for its wonderful success. It is also true, on the other hand, that the

present age has been marked by the division and subdivision of religious

denominations. Yet still, none of these come up to that idea or

pretension of Mormonism, which seems now to have presented itself in the

world for the first time since the days of Mohammed. Although,

therefore, acknowledging Christianity and the Old Scriptures, just as

Mohammed did, it is distinctly a new religion. It claims a new

revelation, and a new prophet. It has a new law, a new spiritual polity,

and a new mission. Instead of being merely a new interpretation of an

old theology, it professes to have renewed the long-suspended

intercourse with Heaven and the supernatural. Instead of presenting a

new dispensation growing out of an old ecclesiastical history, to which

it assumes to impart a new life, it has actually created a past history

of its own, which, though severed from the main current of our common

traditional Christianity, connects it back, through passages never

before suspected or explored, with the early Jewish revelation--or that

original fountain from which the Gospel and Mohammedanism may be said to

have derived, the one its reality and its purity, the other the

materials for its fanatical perversions.

Whatever may be the truth in respect to the real origin and authorship

of the book of Mormon, there can be no doubt of its wonderful

adaptedness to the purposes to which it has been applied. We can not

agree with those who would deny to the work either genius or talent. The

Koran bears with it that prestige of antiquity which always insures some

degree of respect. It is written in a dead, and what is now regarded a

learned language. It has its Oriental imagery, together with frequent

allusions to what most interests us in Oriental romance. Above all, it

has had its centuries of scholiasts and commentators, extracting the

aroma as well as the dust of its assumed divinity. In short, there is

about it a show of learning and "venerable antiquity," and yet, we do

not hesitate to say it, Joe Smith, or whoever was its author, has made a

book superior to that of the Arabian prophet; deeper in its philosophy,

purer in its morality, and far more original. There are, doubtless, many

faults both of style and language; but centuries hence may convert these

into precious archaisms, and give to the bad Anglo-Saxon of the Mormon

book all the interest which ages of scholiasts have imparted to what was

once the irregular Arabic of the rude tribes of the desert.

It may startle some to be told, that Mormonism has actually pressed

itself more upon the attention of the world than Christianity had done

at the same age. We carry back into the early days of the Gospel's

progress the clear light and outline of its later history. We can hardly

realize that even for a century, or more, after its first promulgation,

it was an object of little interest to the world, and that when it first

began to demand a passing paragraph from the historian, it was only as

an "_execrabilis superstitio_," creating a disturbance barely visible on

the surface of society. Of course there is no intention, by any such

remark, to make any comparison between the intrinsic merits of the two

systems. A true believer in Jesus, and of "the truth as it is in Jesus,"

will never suffer himself to be disturbed by any parallel, real or

seeming, between Christ and Socrates, or Christ and Mohammed, or

Confucius, or the founder of any new religion, or of any pretended

social reform, either in ancient or modern times. He can have no nervous

fear of confounding the immeasurable difference between any such

pretension and "that name which is above every other name." The strength

and success of the counterfeit only adds lustre and assurance to the

original. Neither does the great idea of a revelation suffer any

detraction by being associated in thought with such attempts. The Koran

only confirms the Gospel. It never would have been what it is without

it. The false prophet never would have arisen had it not been for the

true. All religious imposture and fanaticism may thus be regarded as

involuntary witnesses to an absolute truth, of which they are but the

frenzied caricatures. The grossest delusions only show, by their very

extravagance, the indestructibleness of the religious principle in the

human soul, and how it clings and ever must cling to the idea of some

Divine revelation, some lifting of the vail, as the etymology of the

word imports, which hangs so densely over man and nature.

There is a more inexplicable phenomenon than Mormonism or any false

religion. It is the disposition manifested in some parts of the

philosophical, and even professedly religious world, to depreciate, if

not directly to deny the supernatural--to put as far away as possible,

or to receive as the last allowable explanation of any difficulty, the

thought of any direct communication from Heaven to earth. It is on this

principle some would even interpret, not only present phenomena, but

also all that during countless ages have left their mark upon our globe.

On this principle another class would unspiritualize as far as they

could, even the acknowledged Scriptures. But why should it be so? Why

this strange delight in believing in the omnipotence and

unchangeableness of a blind and unrelenting nature? What comfort has it

for the soul, or what enlargement even for the intellect? What happiness

in the thought of being bound in such an adamantine chain, even if we

are compelled to admit its stern reality! It may be, peradventure, that

philosophy here is in the right, but, if we may employ the paradox, her

reverence for nature must certainly seem most unnatural. Nature, even

our nature, longs for some Divine or supernatural communications. For

this "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together until now."

The wonder, then, is not that there have been in the world so many

mythical accounts of Divine intercourse, but that there has been so

little of the reality. Why does not God speak to us here? Why has "_He

made darkness his pavilion round about him?_" Why "cometh He not out"

more frequently "from the _hiding-place of his power?_" Why has He ever

been called--by Homer, and Hesiod, and Orpheus, as well as in the

Bible--"_The Dweller in the cloud?_" Why does not our Father's voice

oftener break the fearful stillness of nature, and give us that evidence

of His existence, His government, and His providence, without which

nature is but a gloomy prison-house, while life is but a smothered

effort to escape from its terrible immutability, and breathe the freedom

of a spiritual and supernatural atmosphere? Is it said that He is always

speaking--that the Great Cause of causes is always exhibiting itself in

its effects? But what comfort in this? It speaketh not to us--it

manifests no knowledge of our present thought, of our present individual

wants. The voice that is alike _in_ all things, and comes alike _to_ all

things, we can not distinguish from nature herself. The true ground for

marvel, then, is not that men are led astray by false prophets, but that

such vast multitudes should be so utterly immersed in nature and

worldliness, "caring for none of these things," and finding in such

phenomena as Millerism and Mormonism, only occasion for insane

merriment, instead of deep religious and philosophical inquiry.

The indestructibleness of the religious principle in the human soul!

This is the great lesson read to us by such events. Even this nineteenth

century with all its secularity, has not wholly drowned it. It breaks

out in the midst of every form of worldliness. When untaught in respect

to the true path, it follows the wildest imposture; and, as though in

awful derision of the inability of the mere secular spirit ever to

satisfy the deepest human wants, a Kingdom of the Saints settles itself

in nearest contiguity to what would seem to be the exclusive territory

of Mammon.

We can only call attention to this strange phenomenon without going into

any discussion of the causes of its remarkable success. As we have said,

it is the only case of a distinctly new religion since the days of

Mohammed. Yet still it may be compared with other anomalous religious

movements that have characterized the present century. Most of these

have already had their growth and decline. Some that started with more

enthusiasm than has ever been claimed for the Mormons, have, for years,

been dying out, or only manifesting an outward and formal existence. On

the other hand, too, a similar fate has attended most of the schemes of

Socialists, and of those reformers who have relied solely on some

doctrine of political economy, while ignoring, as far as they could, any

recognition of a supernatural religionism. In distinction from both

these, Mormonism has flourished because it has possessed the element of

vitality which was respectively wanting to each. The religious sects to

which we have alluded (and we mean of course such as may be justly

characterized as unscriptural delusions) have been too unworldly for

success. They have lacked the secular element. Schemes of mere social

reform, on the other hand, have been dead from the beginning. They have

been wanting in that vitality which alone can come from a real or

pretended connection with a future life, and a supernatural world.

Mormonism professes to wield both powers. Whatever may be thought of the

first founders of the sect, the multitudes who from all parts of the

United States, and from England, and even from the Continent, are now

crowding to the Salt Lake and the modern Canaan, give evidence of a

power of tremendous reality, however much it may be above the

comprehension of the shallow witling, or the mere secular political

economist. The cause must have a universality in some way corresponding

to the wide effect it is producing. But be it what it may, the lesson

taught is most timely as well as important. It is, we repeat--and it

will bear to be repeated--_the indestructibleness of the religious

principle in the human soul_. If this have not the true nourishment, it

will feed on falsehood; but nourishment and life of some kind it must

have. The most secular age, instead of destroying, only causes it to

burst out in some new and monstrous form. And even in this idea there is

light and consolation for true faith. It derives new evidence from every

spurious manifestation. The religious principle can not be wholly

annihilated--

Merses profundo pulchrior evenit.

Let all worldly causes combine to drive it seemingly from the earth--let

the edifice of supernatural belief be leveled with the ground, it would

only be the signal for reconstruction. Take away the true, or quench it

in the worldly spirit, and some form of false belief will start up in

its place. _There will be faith in the earth_--there will be a sacred

book--there will be a ritual, or system of worship, ever maintaining

itself as a symbol of the inextinguishable trust in the reality of

"things unseen and eternal." The naturalizing philosophy may endure, and

even be strong as the antagonist of a revealed supernaturalism. But take

away the latter, and the former falls with it. Its success is suicidal.

Its triumph is its own utter defeat. All true interest in nature and

science must expire, when every where the soul ceases to acknowledge any

thing higher than either. Without a return to a true faith, spiritual

delusions, on the one hand, or the grossest secularity and sensualism,

on the other, will be the only alternative. And, if we must come to

this, can any thinking mind have difficulty in deciding where we should

look for the truest exhibition of human dignity--in Utah or

California--in the Land of the Saints, or in the Land of Gold?

* * * * *

And there was evening--_and there was morning--one day._ (Gen. i. 5.)

Why has the inspired historian placed the night first? It must doubtless

be because it actually came first in the order of our present creation.

What was this first night but the long chaos of darkness that covered

the face of the deep, and over which the Spirit brooded when the command

came forth for the first morning to appear--when God said, _Let there be

light_ on that dark world, and immediately _light was there?_ But still,

night was first, and hence in all the traditions that have sprung from

this account it has ever been an object of religious reverence. In the

old mythologies Night is the mother of day; and hence the epithets that

poetry has ever conferred upon her--Sacred Night, Divine Night, Holy

Night, Most Venerable and Religious Night. But not only has she been

regarded as the mythological _mother_ of creation, but as ever the

_nurse_ of the purest emotion and the truest thoughts. On this account

the Greek poets gave her that beautiful name _Euphrone_--indicating the

season of good feeling--the hour of hope, of calm yet joyous

contemplation. It is true, the inspired description of the heavenly

state says, _There shall be no night there_. But in our present

imperfect being, the idea of the highest earthly bliss would be marred

by its absence from the picture. As yet we can not dispense with the

shade. The

Sacred, high, eternal noon

is for beings of another order, and another life; and however much we

may admire the pure sublimity of this fine line of Doddridge, we feel

that we must be endowed with new emotions before we could truly enjoy

the never to be remitted splendor of such a state as it describes.

Although affected by particular circumstances, and expressed with great

variety of imagery, there has been a wonderful harmony in the spiritual

conceptions which the contemplation of night has ever called forth. We

have, therefore, thought that it might interest our readers to present a

few of the most striking night scenes from ancient and modern poets. The

first from our port-folio, of course, is Homer's. The selection is from

the close of the eighth book of the Iliad. Its introduction partakes of

the warlike character of the poem, but softened into that holy calmness

which the scene ever assumes, whatever may be the circumstances in which

it is presented. We give Pope's splendid translation, although some

might prefer the more accurate version of Cowper.

As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,

O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light,

When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,

And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;

Around her throne the vivid planets roll,

And stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole,

O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,

And tip with silver every mountain's head;

Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,

A flood of glory bursts from all the skies.

But neither Pope nor Cowper can be said to have caught the spirit of the

original as well as the old ballad version of Chapman.

As when about the silver moon, when air is free from winde,

And stars shine cleare to whose sweet beams high prospects and

the brows

Of all steep hills and pinnacles thrust up themselves for shows;

And even the lowly vallies joy to glitter in their sight--

When the unmeasured firmament bursts to disclose her light,

And all the signs in heaven are seen that glad the shepherd heart.

Apollonius Rhodius, in the _Argonautica_, presents a greater diversity

of imagery. He has not in view, like Homer, the unity of a single scene,

but calls up similar emotions by a dispersed variety of the most

impressive pictures. We present a translation, which, if it have no

other merit, may at least be said to be almost word for word--

Now Night had thrown her shadow o'er the earth.

Far out at sea the sailors stood and gazed,

On wheeling Arctos and Orion's stars.

The traveler longed to hear the warder's voice

Invite to rest; and even the mother's eyes

That drowsy hour pressed downward, as she watched

By her dead child--the watch-dog's voice was mute;

The city's thronging noise had died away,

And stillness reigned o'er all the shaded realm;

Save in Medea's restless soul--

Virgil closely imitates the Greek poet in the designed contrast, if not

in his scenery. As we have not troubled them with the Greek, our fair

readers, and others, we hope, will pardon us for putting on our page the

Latin. Even those may appreciate its exceedingly liquid flow, who are

compelled to resort to the translation for its meaning.

Nox erat, et placidum carpebat fessa soporem

Corpora per terras, sylvæque et sæva quiêrant

Æquora: cum medio volvuntur sidera lapsu:

Cum tacet omnis ager, pecudes, pictæque volucres,

Quæque lacus late liquidos, quæque aspera dumis

Rura tenent, somno positæ sub node silenti,

Lenibant curas, et corda oblita laborum

At non infelix Dido--

_Æneid, Lib._ iv.

'Twas dead of night when wearied bodies close

Their eyes in balmy sleep, and soft repose.

The winds no longer whisper through the woods,

Nor murmuring tides disturb the gentle floods.

The stars in silent order moved around,

And peace with downy wings was brooding on the ground.

The flocks, and herds, and particolored fowl,

Which haunt the woods, or swim the seedy pool,

Stretched on the quiet earth securely lay,

Forgetting the past labors of the day.

All but unhappy Dido--

Dryden is very far from doing justice to Virgil in the translation of

this passage, and yet, we must say, that the original, much as it has

been praised, falls greatly short of the exquisite description by

Apollonius. How much does that most impressive image in the sixth line

of the Grecian poet exceed any effect produced by Virgil's _pictæ

volucres_, or "particolored fowl," however ornate the language, and

liquid the melody of his highly wrought lines.

But Byron--shall we risk the criticism--Byron, in our judgment,

surpasses every example we have quoted, and even had we added, as we

might have done, Shakspeare and Milton to the list.

'Twas midnight--On the mountains brown

The cold round moon shone deeply down

Blue rolled the waters, blue the sky

Spread like an ocean hung on high;

Bespangled with those isles of light,

So widely, spiritually bright.

Who ever gazed upon them shining,

And turned to earth without repining!

The sea on either shore lay there,

Calm, clear, and azure as the air;

And scarce the foam the pebbles shook,

That murmured meekly as the brook.

The winds were pillowed on the waves;

The banners drooped along their staves;

And that deep silence was unbroke,

Save where the watch his signal spoke;

Save where the steed neighed oft and shrill,

And echo answered from the hill.

_Siege of Corinth._

Our concluding example is from the Scriptures. We challenge not for it a

superiority simply on the ground of its inspiration. Every reader may

judge for himself how immeasurably it excels any thing of the kind to be

found in ancient or modern poetry. How full of _natural_ sublimity, and,

at the same time, how profoundly impressive the _moral_ lesson of this

night scene from Job!

In thoughts from visions of the night,

When deep sleep falleth upon men,

Fear came upon me, and trembling,

And made all my bones to shake.

Then a spirit passed before my face;

The hair of my flesh rose up.

It stood. An image was before mine eyes,

And yet I could not discern the form thereof.

There was silence--

And yet I heard a voice--saying--

Shall a mortal be more just than God?

Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

* * * * *

We hear often of popular fallacies. Books have been written on them. But

there are also learned fallacies, and among these we know of no one more

common than that which prevails respecting the word _education_. It is

quite usual with lecturers and essayists to derive a profound

philosophical meaning from the bare etymology of the term. It is from

_educo_, they tell us, to _lead or draw out_. It means the _drawing_ out

or developing the faculties. It is the bringing out the unwrought man,

like the polished statue from the rough block of marble. All sorts of

changes are rung upon the word. With some it is the _educing_ of the

individuality, with others, of the humanity. Others again talk much of

_drawing out the ideas_, and that, too, without any previous exact

_in_struction, or the furnishing of what might be styled the prepared

material of thought--about as wise a course as to attempt to develop, or

draw _out_ the faculties of a nail-making machine, without ever thinking

of putting any well-wrought iron _into_ it. Now, all this is pedantic

nonsense. The old Roman Roundheads, from whom the term is derived, never

dreamed of any such transcendental conception. The word, in its primary

sense, simply means _nursing_, _fostering_, _rearing_. Hence is it

afterward applied to knowledge and discipline. It is educed from the

simple conception of holding the child by the hand, and leading him

forth when he first begins to walk. From the same primitive thought

comes the word _pedagogue_, which simply means, _one who leads a boy_,

and was first applied to the slave, or servant, who conducted the

Athenian child to and from school. It would, however, be hardly worth

our while to show the fallacy of this very common etymological

deduction, were it not sometimes made the ground of very false ideas.

The old view, although it have no great philosophy, will be found to be

the true one. It is to hold a child up, and lead him forth by the hand,

before you set him to walk alone by himself, under pretense of

developing his _faculties_, either of thinking or of locomotion.

* * * * *

Every man has two parents, four grand-parents, eight

great-grand-parents, sixteen great-great-grand-parents, &c., &c., &c. If

we reckon 30 years to a generation, and carry on the above series to the

time of the Norman conquest, it will be found that each one of us must

have had at that period, no less than 32,000,000 of ancestors. Now,

making all allowance for the crossing of genealogical lines, and

consequently for the same person being in many of the intersections,

still there will remain a number sufficient, at that period, to cover

the whole Norman and Anglo-Saxon race. Whatever, therefore, was then

noble, or pious, or princely, or even kingly, stands somewhere in the

line of ancestry of the most ignoble and plebeian among us. Each man of

the present day may be almost certain of having had, not only earls (and

it may be bishops), but even crowned heads among his progenitors. And so

also may we be almost assured that the highest families of that period

have now lineal representatives in persons so low in the social scale,

that all the sounding lines of heraldry would fail to fathom the depth

of their obscurity. In less than a thousand years, the blood of Victoria

inevitably mingles with that of some of the most ignoble of the earth.

Carry the calculation further back, and we soon pass beyond any

population that ever existed on our globe. A thousand years from the

present time brings the number up to 1,024,000,000. Two or three

centuries more carries it beyond a thousand billions, and long before we

arrive at the period of our world's creation, it would have reached a

number surpassing all powers of easy enumeration. It is a consequence,

too, of the same view, that a thousand years hence, each man who has now

an ordinary family of children, will probably have a representative some

way of his blood in each one of 30,000,000 of persons; and that these

will be of all conditions, high and low, rich and poor, unless, as may

be the case, some system of social philosophy may long before that have

swept all distinctions from our world.

Editor's Drawer.

The "monitory season" of Nature has come. The faded garniture of the

fields; the many-colored, gorgeous woods; the fitful winds, sighing for

the flowers "whose fragrance late they bore:" the peculiar yellow-green

of the sky at the horizon, in the twilight gloaming; all these proclaim

that "summer is ended" and autumn is here. Brainard, a poet of true

tenderness and feeling, once asked, "What is there saddening in the

autumn leaf?" Perhaps it would be difficult to tell _what_ it is, but

that it _is_ saddening, in the midst of its dying beauty, most persons

have felt. One of our own poets, too early called away,[10] wrote many

years since, on the first day of October, the following sad and tender

lines:

"Solemn, yet beautiful to view,

Month of my heart! thou dawnest here,

With sad and faded leaves to strew

The Summer's melancholy bier;

The moaning of thy winds I hear,

As the red sunset dies afar,

And bars of purple clouds appear,

Obscuring every western star.

"Thou solemn month! I hear thy voice,

It tells my soul of other days,

When but to live was to rejoice,

When earth was lovely to my gaze

Oh, visions bright--oh, blessed hours,

Where are their living raptures now?

I ask my spirit's wearied powers,

I ask my pale and fevered brow.

"I look to Nature, and behold

My life's dim emblems rustling round,

In hues of crimson and of gold--

The year's dead honors on the ground.

And sighing with the winds, I feel,

While their low pinions murmur by,

How much their sweeping tones reveal

Of life and human destiny.

"When Spring's delightsome moments shone,

They came in zephyrs from the West:

They bore the wood-lark's melting tone,

They stirred the blue lake's glassy breast

Through Summer, fainting in the heat,

They lingered in the forest shade;

But changed and strengthened now, they beat

In storm, o'er mountain, glen, and glade.

"How like those transports of the heart,

When life is fresh and joy is new;

Soft as the halcyon's downy nest,

And transient all as they are true!

They stir the leaves in that bright wreath

Which HOPE about her forehead twines,

Till Grief's hot sighs around it breathe,

Then Pleasure's lip its smile resigns.

"Alas, for Time, and Death, and Care,

What gloom about our way they fling

Like clouds in Autumn's gusty air,

The burial-pageant of the Spring

The dreams that each successive year

Seemed bathed in hues of brighter pride,

At last like withered leaves appear,

And sleep in darkness, side by side!"

[10] Willis Gaylord Clark, for many years Editor of the Philadelphia

Daily Gazette, and author of the "_Ollapodiana_" papers in the

Knickerbocker Magazine.

* * * * *

Carlyle, in his "Sartor Resartus," gives a condensed, but exceedingly

forcible picture of the "net purport and upshot of war," by taking

thirty able-bodied men from a French and English village, and making

them face each other on a pleasant morning, when they blow each other's

souls out, and straightway become "shells of men." We were speaking of

this the other evening with a friend, who was with our army in Mexico,

and in the course of much chat, touching war and its accompaniments, he

mentioned an anecdote of as brave a fellow as there was in his command,

but who had an unfortunate and irresistible habit of occasional

intoxication, whenever, by hook or by crook, he could procure a "horn"

of brandy or whiskey. One evening, the day after an engagement, in which

his coolness and determined bravery had won the admiration and warm

commendation of his superior officers, he was brought before his

commanding officer, who was on parade, in a state of beastly

intoxication. Remembering his services of the day before, the officer

was reluctant to punish him, at least without first trying to make him

ashamed of his offense by exhortation and remonstrance. "Are you not

ashamed of yourself?" he asked, "to be brought before me in this

condition?--you that _can_ be so good a soldier? There was not a braver

man in the regiment yesterday than you; and now you go and spoil all the

honor you acquired, by disobeying orders, and coming before me drunk.

Take him away!--I'm ashamed of him!" "Here--hello--hold on!" said the

soldier--"hold on a minute: you've rep-rep-ri-_manded_ me some, and

praised me a good deal: now look o' here, cap'n, do you expect to buy

all the human virtues for seven dollars a month? It's too _cheap_,

cap'n--too cheap!" He probably thought with Lowell's Yankee, writing

from Saltillo after his first engagement:

"I wish that I was furder!

Ninepence a day for killin' folks

Comes kind o' low, for murder;

I worked out to slaughterin' some

For Deacon Cephas Billin's,

And in the hardest times there was,

I allers fetch'd ten shillins!"

* * * * *

As we sat looking at a conjurer or necromancer performing his tricks the

other evening, at which were some hundreds of other lookers-on, we fell

to meditate upon the influence which any thing that is at all mysterious

has upon the human mind. "To him," says Dr. Chatfield, "who has been

sated, and perhaps disappointed by the actual and the intelligible,

there is an indefinable charm in the unattainable and inscrutable." And

it is so. Infants stretch out their hands for the moon; children delight

in puzzles and riddles, even when they can not discover their solution;

and "children of a larger growth" desire, oftentimes, no better

employment than to follow their example. Look at the fanaticism

engendered by Rev. Edward Irving's "Unknown Tongues; at which," says the

authority we have quoted, "we need not wonder, when we remember the

confession of the pious Baxter, that in order to awaken an interest in

his congregation, he made it a rule, in every sermon, to say something

above their capacity." There are not wanting ministers nowadays who

follow the Baxterian practice, with the difference only, that what they

sometimes preach is as much above their _own_ comprehension as that of

their audience.

* * * * *

Is it not a "little curious" that Harriet Martineau, an old maid, a

"benign cerulean of the second sex," as Lord Byron calls her class, who

"never loved," or if she did, yet who, if published accounts are true,

shrunk from the nuptial bonds, and left her affianced lord in the lurch

at the last moment--is it not a little curious, we say, that such a

woman, should have written so exquisite a picture of true love as that

which ensues? We once heard a distinguished American author remark,

sitting by his "Dutchman's Fireside," that he kept for days out of the

literary lady-traveler's way when she was trying to meet him. "There she

was," said he, "going about with that long India-rubber ear-trumpet of

hers, taking in every thing that was offered to it, just like an

elephant going round with his trunk, drawing in here an apple, there a

piece of cake, now a handful of nuts, and next, perhaps, a chew of

tobacco. _I_ wasn't going to contribute to _her_ trunk, nor to the

lining any others, when she had got home and printed her notes!" If the

authoress, however, _had_ met this unwilling host, and had told this

"tale of love," doubtless he would have listened in "mute admiration."

But we are forgetting the passage: "There is no other such crisis in

human life as the crisis of LOVE. The philosopher may experience

uncontrollable agitation in verifying his principle of balancing systems

of worlds, feeling perhaps as if he actually saw the creative hand in

the act of sending the planets forth on their everlasting way; but he

knows at such a moment no emotions so divine as those of the spirit

becoming conscious that it is beloved; be it the peasant-girl in the

meadow, or the daughter of the sage, or the artisan beside his loom, or

the man of letters musing by his fire-side. The warrior about to strike

the decisive blow for the liberties of a nation is not in a state of

such lofty resolution as those who, by joining hearts, are laying their

joint hands on the whole wide realm of futurity for their own. The

statesman, in the moment of success, is not conscious of so holy and so

intimate a thankfulness as they who are aware that their redemption has

come in the presence of a new and sovereign affection. And these are

many: they are in all corners of every land. The statesman is the leader

of a nation; the warrior is the grace of an age; the philosopher is the

birth of a thousand years; but the LOVER--where is he _not?_ Wherever

parents look round upon their children, there he _has_ been: wherever

children are at play together there he soon _will_ be; wherever there

are roofs under which men dwell, wherever there is an atmosphere

vibrating with human voices, there is the lover, and there is his lofty

worship going on--unspeakable, perchance, but revealed in the brightness

of the eye, the majesty of the presence, and the high temper of the

discourse. Men have been ungrateful and perverse; they have done what

they could to counteract it, to debate this most heavenly influence of

their life; but the laws of their MAKER are too strong, the benignity of

their FATHER is too patient and fervent, for their opposition to

withstand; and true love continues, and _will_ continue, to send up its

homage amidst the meditations of every eventide, and the busy hum of

noon, and the song of the morning stars."

* * * * *