{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48759/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48759","id":"gutenberg_48759","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48759","summary":null,"tags":["Agriculture","Agriculture -- Periodicals","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Category: Philosophy & Ethics"],"text":"Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nMinor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected\nwithout note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have\nbeen retained as printed.\n\nMismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where\nthe missing quote should be placed.\n\nThe cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the\ntranscriber and is placed in the public domain.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nRURAL MAGAZINE,\n\nAND\n\nLITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE.\n\n\n  VOL. I.  PHILADELPHIA, _Fifth Month, 1820.  No. 5_.\n\n\n\n\nFOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.\n\nTHE DESULTORY REMARKER.\n\nNo. IV.\n\n\nSpring, that delightful visiter, to whom beauty and melody, Zephyrus\nand Flora, pay their opulent but willing tribute, has once more\narrived. Let us welcome the enchanting stranger with joyful hearts,\nand let feelings of gratitude ascend to the bountiful source of all\nour enjoyments. Nature is now\n\n  All beauty to the eye, and all music to the ear.\n\nIt is said by an eminent historian, in his memoirs of his own\nlife, that the disposition to \"see the favourable rather than the\nunfavourable side of things, is a turn of mind which it is more\nhappy to possess, than to be born to an estate of ten thousand a\nyear.\" Such a temper is not only a prolific source of complacency\nto the individual who cherishes it, but by all who move within the\ncircle of its influence, its amiable and excellent effect is felt\nand acknowledged. What a fortunate circumstance would it be for the\nluckless wight, denominated by that pure and fascinating writer Dr.\nGOLDSMITH, a _Magaziner_, as well as for his correspondents, should\nnone but critics, under the influence of this temper, undertake to\nadjust their humble claims to merit. They are frequently selected,\nby those who have not even read what they undertake to condemn,\nas the objects of illiberal and unmeaning censure. The right to\ncriticise, is unquestionably perfectly valid; but, like other\nrights, it is liable to abuse. By accustoming himself to indulge a\nquerulous, fault-finding propensity, on all occasions, even the most\ndistinguished orator may descend from the high station claimed for\nhim by his friends, to that of an inconsistent, petulant declaimer.\nAnd notwithstanding the alternate epigrammatic point of his wit, and\nthe brilliant coruscations of his fancy, his speeches may at length\nscarcely be heard with patience.\n\nCourteous reader! if thou desirest to make the most of human life,\nand to realize its positive blessings which are placed within thy\nreach, listen to the counsels of experience, and pursue an opposite\ncourse of conduct. Sedulously avoid the indulgence of a splenetic\nhumour, consult thy own gratification, and the happiness of those by\nwhom thou art surrounded, in contemplating\n\n  The gayest, happiest attitude of things.\n\nIf thou art now scanning our present number, with no other\nobject than to detect errors and expose omissions; if thou\nart pre-determined to censure, be pleased to defer a further\nexamination, until thou art more disposed to view the \"_favourable\nside of things_:\" when this is the case, the editors will be\ndelighted to pay the most respectful attention to any judicious\nsuggestions, promotive of improvement, either in the plan or conduct\nof this Miscellany.\n\nIf thou art placed in the truly responsible situation of head of\na family, thy children and domestics, if thy deportment convey to\nthem the beautiful moral lesson, afforded by a uniform contemplation\nof the \"_favourable side of things_,\" will derive from it the most\nsubstantial advantages. Domestic happiness is of such an exquisite\nand sensitive organization, that it cannot endure, no not for a\nmoment, the scowling visage of harshness or discord.\n\nIn the ordinary daily intercourse of life, nothing conduces more\nto smooth the rugged path of existence, than urbanity and mutual\nindulgence. We are so constituted, that the influence of our\nconduct, whether exemplary or otherwise, is powerful on that of\nthose with whom we associate. It should, therefore, be our object\nto cultivate the habit of viewing, on all occasions, the most\n\"_favourable side of things_.\"\n\nOpinion is so much the child of education, of association, and of\nother adventitious causes, that it is next to impossible to find\ntwo individuals, whose sentiments on all subjects are perfectly\ncoincident. In politics, and on a subject which is infinitely more\nimportant, religion itself, different sentiments as to minor points\nare no doubt _honestly_ entertained. Let us, therefore, avoid\nimpugning the motives of those from whom we differ, particularly\nwhere no conclusive evidence appears as to the absence of integrity\nof intention, with an eye of charity. Let us in this instance, also,\ncontemplate the most \"_favourable side of things_.\"\n\nWhen overtaken by adverse circumstances, we are too prone, without\nhesitation, to assume the privilege of complaint and to infer that\nwe are indeed peculiarly unfortunate. But how frequently have\nincidents of this character been subsequently ascertained to be\nblessings, although disguised in the most repulsive form.--When they\noccur, instead of being overwhelmed with despondency, it is wise to\ndwell on the more \"_favourable side of things_.\"\n\nWhen public measures receive the sanction of the civil government,\nwhich are deemed destructive to the best interests of the nation,\nand in utter hostility to every principle of morality and\nreligion,--disheartening as the fact may be, this consolation still\nremains to the humble and sincere believer in the superintendence\nof an overruling Providence, that truth and virtue will eventually\nbe signally triumphant. This cheering conviction, where there is a\nconsciousness of duty faithfully performed, will gild with radiance\nthe most gloomy prospect. The present is emphatically the season\nof genial feelings, and nothing imparts a livelier relish for its\nbeauties, than that amiable temper of mind which on all occasions\ndelights to dwell on the most \"_favourable side of things_.\"\n\n\n\n\nFOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.\n\nTHE VILLAGE TEACHER.\n\n\nThe three great periods of life have each their natural and\nappropriate characteristic. The eager expectation, the buoyant\nhope and elastic energy, which lend their own joyous brilliancy to\nevery object around them, and build in the unknown future so fair\nand beautiful a fabric of happiness, last not beyond the period of\nyouth. The anxious brow, the cold and untrusting prudence, which\nsucceed, but too surely indicate how many of our fairy visions have\nbecome dim in the reality; while the steady industry and calculating\nforesight with which manhood pursues more practical and perhaps\ngrovelling objects, stamp upon it a peculiar character of strength,\nand seriousness, and sternness. As this relaxes in the course of\nyears, our ability and inclination for active pursuits give way;\nand as the termination of our journey is approached, the hope of\nfuture distinction ceases, and we naturally fill up the void which\nis thus left in the mind, by a retrospect of our past actions.--Thus\nit is that the seasons of life, like those of the year, are each\nmost beautiful in its own proper adornings, and that there is none\nmore delightful or endearing than reverend age. The long experience\nwhich has tried the worthlessness of so many empty and vanishing\nhopes, and which can pronounce with certainty respecting that which\nremaineth; the knowledge of those past events, that form the link\nas it were between us and history, and which not only aids us in\ndeciphering the past, but is endued with a prophetic gift; the\nattempered zeal, the tranquil repose of the passions, so finely\nand happily compared to the decline of day--impart their pure and\nelevated feelings to the mind of the beholder.\n\nIt is in such society that youth may best learn to prune the\nluxuriance of its hopes, and manhood to elevate its views beyond the\nnarrow scene of action where they now expatiate. It is in age that\nthe noble instinct of immortality is most conspicuous, that we feel\nmost surely that the horizon of this life cannot bound our mental\nvision. The consolations of youth and manhood may have no higher\nsource than in surrounding objects--in love, or friendship, or\nambition; but age is dead to these impulses, and must be reanimated\nand warmed by the influences of the life which is to come.\n\nSuch an old age is that of my friend Parmenio. He has survived\nnearly all the companions of his childhood, and seen successive\ngenerations swept away before him. After a life of useful and\nhonourable enterprise, he has retired to end his days in our little\nhamlet amidst the scenes of his earliest youth. He has dandled on\nhis knee the fathers of many who now look up to him for counsel and\nfriendship, yet is there no supercilious air of dignity or reserve\nabout him. His placid eye bespeaks the serenity of his soul, and the\nhope which abideth there; and though you see in his sprightliness\nand activity the energy of his earlier life, it is most happily\nblended with the meekness and tranquillity of age. He wears away his\nremaining years in the social converse of his children and their\nfriends, and looks forward to his close without fear or anxiety.\n\nI often meet him in my solitary evening walks, and we usually finish\nthem together. We were loitering one evening on the brow of the\nhill which overlooks the course of a beautiful stream that flows\nat a small distance from the village, and marking the glories of\nan autumnal sunset.--\"The sands,\" said he, \"are fast ebbing in my\nglass, and I feel that my allotted days are but few. I have past a\nlife of bustling activity, and seen a thousand forms of hope and\nhappiness rise and vanish before me. They have all vanished--all,\nbut that which is centered in heaven. I am not a votary of that vain\nphilosophy which would pronounce all things to be vanity; yet could\nmy voice be heard by the myriads of human beings who are wasting\nthe sinews of life in the pursuit of wealth and power, I would warn\nthem, from my own experience, that happiness is not in these things.\nWere I to guide the course of a young person, I would bid him extend\nthis view, from the first, beyond the horizon of this world. I would\ntell him of the utter emptiness of all human distinctions. I would\nbid him pursue his avocations as a means only of health and support,\nand of invigorating his mind. I would turn his feet from the paths\nof fame and wealth, to those of retirement and privacy, and would\nthere feed his soul with immortal contemplations. Thus would I fit\nhim to ennoble his youth, to preserve his manhood unspotted, and to\nenjoy his age. How many events are there in the course of my own\nlife, which I would now give the world to have prevented--duties\nundone, labour misapplied, talents wasted, feelings perverted; and\nall from sharing in the delusions to which the world around me is a\nvictim. In how many events which I once thought were accidents or\nmisfortunes, do I now trace an invisible hand, guiding me against my\nwill, and pointing to that path of unostentatious virtue which He\ndelights to bless. These things, however, cannot be recalled; and\nas yonder sun, after a cold and cloudy career, is setting at last\nin serene and tranquil beauty, and throwing his own glorious hues\nupon the clouds which darkened his mid-day splendour; so do I feel\nthat my latter days are peaceful, and that the lights of experience\nand wisdom, though late, are yet illuminating my past errors, and\nenabling me to point them out as beacons and waymarks to those that\nsurround me.\"\n\n\n\n\n_Extract of a Letter from William Coxe, Esq. on the Cultivation of\nthe Sugar Maple._\n\n  BURLINGTON, March 7th, 1820.\n\nDEAR SIR--I understand that you have been directing your attention\nto the Sugar Maple, in the belief that it will be found an\nadvantageous substitute for the several varieties of poplars, as\na useful as well as ornamental tree; and that you are desirous of\nobtaining any information respecting its culture, or properties,\nthat I may be able to communicate.\n\nI have for some time been convinced that none of the poplars would\nprove a beneficial kind of timber to our farmers, from their\ndisposition to extend their roots, and propagate suckers at a great\ndistance, and from the offensive cotton which is produced by the\nAthenian and Georgia varieties--and I have made many experiments\nin the hope of discovering a tree, valuable for its timber, and\nclean and ornamental in its foliage, which could be propagated by\nseedlings. Among others, I planted the Sugar Maple and am happy to\nfind it one of the hardiest and handsomest trees, even on the light\nsandy soil around my house; capable of withstanding the severity of\nthe drought of the last and preceding summers, the most intense that\nare recollected in our country. Of eighteen trees I lost but two,\nwhile the native chesnuts, raised from the nut, all perished; and\nlittle better success was experienced in a variety of trees planted\non the same ground, such as the pine, sycamore, larch, spruce, &c.\nThe American elm is thought to be a hardy tree, but with me it\nproved less so than the sugar maple. It is generally believed that\nall the varieties of the maple require a damp soil: this is the case\nwith several of them, but the _acer saccharum_ flourishes in a loamy\nwheat soil, in many districts of our western and northern country.\nThe facility by which it may be propagated from the seed, renders\nits diffusion through our country, to any extent, very easy and\ncheap.\n\nFew of our native trees are more useful for fuel, and the\nmanufacture of potash; and as the means of affording a great and\nalmost inexhaustible supply of sugar, it becomes an object of great\nimportance, even to the farmer, who is desirous of transmitting\na valuable inheritance to his children. It is my intention to\nplant this tree in the place of a line of the Athenian poplars,\nwhich I have been obliged to cut down after eight years luxuriant\ngrowth, from their injurious effect on the adjoining fields, by the\nextension of their roots to sixty and seventy feet, throwing up a\nlittle forest of suckers.\n\n\n\n\n_Treatise on Agriculture._\n\nSECT. III.\n\nTheory of Vegetation.\n\n\n3d. Of _air_, and its agency in vegetation:\n\nA seed deprived of air will not germinate; and a plant placed under\nan exhausted receiver, will soon perish. Even in a close and badly\nventilated garden, vegetables indicate their situation; they are\nsickly in appearance, and vapid in taste.--These facts sufficiently\nshew the general utility of air to vegetation: but this _air_ is\nnot now the simple and elementary body, that the ancient chymist\ndescribed it to be. Priestly first,[1] and Lavoisier after him,\nanalyzed it, and found, that when pure, it consisted of about\n70 parts of azote, 27 of oxygen, and 2 of carbonic acid. In its\nordinary (or impure) state, it is loaded with foreign and light\nbodies; such as mineral, animal and vegetable vapours, the seeds\nof plants, and the eggs of insects, &c. Is it to this _aggregate_,\nthat vegetation owes the services rendered to it by air? And if not,\nto _how many_, and to _which_, of its regular constituents, are we\nto ascribe them? This inquiry will form the subject of the present\narticle.\n\n  [1] See Priestly's Experiments and Observations on different kinds\n  of Air, begun in 1767.\n\nAll vegetables in a state of decomposition, give _azote_; and\nsome of them (cabbages, radishes, &c.) give it in great quantity.\nThis abundance, combined with the fact, that vegetation is always\nvigorous in the neighbourhood of dead animal matter, led to the\nopinion, that azote contributed largely to the growth of plants: but\nexperiments, more exactly made and often repeated, disprove this\nopinion, and shew that in any quantity it is unnecessary, and that\nin a certain proportion it is fatal to vegetation.\n\nIn _hydrogen gas_, plants are found to be variously affected,\naccording to their local situation; if inhabitants of mountains,\nthey soon perish--if of plains, they shew a constant debility--but\nif of marshy grounds, their growth is not impeded.\n\n_Carbonic acid_ is formed and given out during the process of\nfermentation, putrefaction, respiration, &c. and makes 28 parts\nout of 100 of atmospheric air. It is composed (according to Davy)\nof oxygen and carbon, in the proportion of 34 of the former to\n13 of the latter. It combines freely with many different bodies;\nanimals and vegetables are almost entirely composed of it; for the\n_coal_ which they give, on combustion, is but _carbon_ united to a\nlittle oxygen, &c.--Priestly was the first to discover, that plants\n_absorbed carbonic acid_; and Ingenhouse, Sennebier, and De Sausure\nhave proved, that _it_ is their _principal aliment_. Indeed the\ngreat consumption made of it, cannot be explained by any natural\nprocess, excepting that of vegetation. On this head, we cannot do\nbetter than digest the experiments of these chymists into a few\ndistinct propositions:[2]\n\n  [2] Recherches chemiques sur la vegetation, chap. ii.\n\n1. In pure carbonic acid gas, seeds will swell, but not germinate.\n2. United with water, this gas hastens vegetation. 3. Air containing\nmore than one twelfth part of its volume of carbonic acid, is most\nfavourable to vegetation. 4. Turf, or other carbonaceous earth,\nwhich contains much carbonic acid, is unfavourable to vegetation\nuntil it has been exposed to the action of atmospheric air, or of\nlime, &c. 5. If slacked lime be applied to a plant, its growth will\nbe impaired, until the lime shall have recovered the carbonic acid\nit lost by calcination. 6. Plants kept in an artificial atmosphere,\nand charged with carbonic acid, yield, on combustion, more of that\nacid than plants of the same kind and weight growing in atmospheric\nair. 7. When plants are exposed to air and sunshine, the carbonic\nacid of the atmosphere is consumed, and a portion of oxygen left in\nits place. If new supplies of carbonic acid be given to the air,\nthe same result follows; whence it has been concluded, that air\nfurnishes carbonic acid to the plant, and the plant furnishes oxygen\nto the air.--This double function of absorption and respiration,\nis performed by the green leaves of plants.[3] 8. Carbon is to\nvegetation, what oxygen is to animal life; it gives support by\npurifying the liquids, and rendering the solids more compact.\n\n  [3] This was a discovery of Sennebier.\n\n4th. Of _light_, _heat_, and _electricity_, and their agency in\nvegetation:\n\nWhen deprived of light, plants are pale, lax and dropsical;\nrestored to it, they recover their colour, consistency and odour.\nIf a plant be placed in a cellar, into which is admitted a small\nportion of light through a window or cranny, thither the plant\ndirects its growth, and even acquires an unnatural length in its\nattempt to reach it.[4] These facts admitted, no one can doubt the\nagency of light in vegetation; but in relation to this agency,\nvarious opinions exist; one, that light enters vegetable matter,\nand combines with it; another, that it makes no part either of the\nvegetable or of its aliment, but directly influences substances\nwhich are alimentary;[5] and a third, that besides the last effect,\nit stimulates the organs of plants to the exercise of their natural\nfunctions.[6]\n\n  [4] It is by a knowledge of this fact, that gardeners bleach chicony\n  and cellery, &c.\n\n  [5] See Fourcroy, vol. viii.\n\n  [6] See Chaptal on vegetation.\n\nWithout doing more than state these opinions, we proceed to offer\nthe results of many experiments on this subject. 1st. That _in the\ndark_, no oxygen is produced, nor any carbonic acid absorbed; on the\ncontrary, oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid produced. 2d. That\nplants exposed to _light_, produce oxygen gas in water. 3d. That\n_light_ is essential to vegetable transpiration; as this process\nnever takes place during the _night_, but is copious during the\n_day_; and, 4th. That plants raised _in the dark_, abound in watery\nand saccharine juices--but are deficient in woody fibre, oil, and\nresins; whence it is concluded, that saccharine compounds are formed\nin the _night_, and oil, resins, &c. in the _day_.\n\nWhen the weather is at or below the freezing point, the sap of\nplants remains suspended and hardened in the albumum;[7] but on the\napplication of _heat_, whether naturally or artificially excited,\nthis sap is rendered fluid, is put into motion, and the buds begin\nto swell. Under the same impulse, through the medium of the earth,\nthe roots open their pores, receive nutritive juices, and carry them\nto the heart of the plant. The leaves, being now developed, begin\nand continue the exercise of their functions, till winter again,\nin the economy of nature, suspends the operations of the machine.\nNor is its action confined to the circulation of vegetable juices.\nWithout vapour (its legitimate offspring) the fountain and the\nshower would be unknown--nor would the great processes of animal and\nvegetable fermentation and decomposition go on. Without rain or\nother means ameliorating the soil, what would be the aspect of the\nglobe? what the state of vegetation? what the situation of man?\n\n  [7] Knight's Observations, &c.\n\nThe diffusion of _electrical_ matter, found in the air and in\nall other substances, furnishes a presumption, that it is an\nefficient agent in vegetation. Nollet and others have thought that,\nartificially employed, it favoured the germination of seeds and\nthe growth of plants; and Mr. Davy \"found, that corn sprouted more\nrapidly in water, _positively_ electrified by the voltaic battery,\nthan in water _negatively_ electrified.\"[8] These opinions have\nnot escaped contradiction, and _we_ do not profess to decide where\ndoctors disagree.\n\n  [8] Davy's Elements.\n\n5th. Of _stable yard manures_, _lime_, _marl_, and _gypsum_, and\ntheir agency in vegetation:\n\nWe have already said, that vegetables in the last stage of\ndecomposition, yield a black or brown powder, which Mr. Davy calls\n\"_a peculiar extractive matter, of fertilizing quality_,\" and which\nthe chymists of France have denominated _terreau_. This vegetable\nresiduum is the simple mean employed by nature to re-establish\nthat principle of fertility in the soil, which the wants of man\nand other animals are constantly drawing from it. It was first\nanalyzed by Hassenfratz, who found it to contain an oily, extractive\nand carbonaceous matter, charged with hydrogen; the acetates\nand benzoates of potash, lime and ammoniac; the sulphates and\nmuriates of potash, and a soupy substance, previously noticed by\nBergman.--Among other properties (and which shows its combustible\ncharacter) is that of absorbing, from atmospheric air, its oxygen,\nand leaving it only azote. This was discovered by Ingenhouse, who,\nwith De Sausure and Bracconnet, pursued the subject by many new and\ninteresting experiments, the result of which is--\n\n1. That the oxygen thus absorbed, deprives the terreau of part of\nits carbon, which it renders soluble and converts into mucilage; and\n\n2. That the carbonic acid, formed in the process, combines with the\nmucilage, and with it is absorbed by the roots of plants.\n\nIf we put a plant and a quantity of slacked lime under the same\nreceiver, the plant will perish; because the lime will take from\nthe atmospheric air all the carbonic acid it contains, and thus\n_starve_ the plant. Vegetables, placed near heaps of lime in the\nopen air, suffer from the same cause and in the same way; but\nthough lime, in _large_ quantities, destroys vegetation, in _small_\nquantities it renders vegetation more vigorous. Its action is of\ntwo kinds--mechanical and chymical; the first is a mere division\nof the soil by an interposition between its parts; the second, the\nfaculty of rendering soluble vegetable matter, and reducing it to\nthe condition of terreau.\n\nThe _mechanical_ agency ascribed to lime, belongs also to _marle_\nand to _ashes_, and in an equal degree--but their _chymical_\noperation, though similar, is less.[9]\n\n  [9] Vegetable ashes are _lime_, combined with an earthy saline\n  matter.\n\n_Gypsum_ is composed of lime and sulphuric acid. Mayer was the\nfirst to present to the public a series of experiments upon it, in\nits relation to agriculture. Many chymists have followed him, and\na great variety of opinion yet exists with regard to its mode of\noperation. Yvart thinks that the action of gypsum is exclusively the\neffect of the sulphuric acid, which enters into its composition; and\nfounds this opinion upon the fact, that the ashes of turf, which\ncontain sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina, have the same\naction upon vegetation as gypsum. Laysterie, observing that plants,\nwhose roots were nearest the surface of the soil, were most acted\nupon by plaster, concludes, that gypsum takes from the atmosphere\nthe elements of vegetable life and transmits them directly to\nplants. Bose intimates, that the _septic_ quality of gypsum (which\nhe takes for granted) best explains its action on vegetation; but\nthis opinion is subverted by the experiments of Mr. Davy, who found,\nthat of two parcels of minced veal, the one mixed with gypsum, the\nother left by itself, and both exposed to the action of the sun,\nthe _latter_ was the first to exhibit symptoms of putrefaction. Mr.\nDavy's own belief on this subject is, that it makes part of the food\nof vegetables, is received into the plant and combined with it. The\nlast opinion we shall offer on this head, is that of the celebrated\nChaptal. \"Of all substances, gypsum is that of whose action we\nknow the least. The prodigious effect it has on the whole race of\ntrefoils, (clover, &c.) cannot be explained by any _mechanical_\nagency--the quantity applied being so small--or by any _stimulating_\npower--since gypsum, raw or roasted, has nearly the same effect;\nnor by any _absorbent_ quality, as it only acts when applied to the\nleaves. If permitted to conjecture its mode of operation, we should\nsay, that its effect being greatest when applied to the _wet_ leaves\nof vegetables, it may have the faculty of absorbing and giving out\nwater and carbonic acid, little by little, to the growing plant.\nIt may also be considered as an _aliment in itself_--an idea much\nsupported by Mr. Davy's experiments, which shew, that the ashes\nof clover yield gypsum, though the clover be raised on soils not\nnaturally containing that substance.\"\n\n  [_Alb. Argus._\n\n(To be continued.)\n\n\n\n\nMANURES OF GREEN CROPS.\n\n\nAll _green succulent plants_ contain saccharine or mucilaginous\nmatter, with woody fibre, and readily ferment. They cannot,\ntherefore, if intended for manure, be used too soon after their\ndeath.\n\nWhen _green crops_ are to be employed for enriching a soil, they\nshould be ploughed in, if it be possible, when in flower, or at the\ntime the flower is beginning to appear, for it is at this period\nthat they contain the largest quantity of easily soluble matter,\nand that their leaves are most active in forming nutritive matter.\nGreen crops, pond weeds, the paring of hedges or ditches, or any\nkind of fresh vegetable matter, requires no preparation to fit them\nfor manure. The decomposition slowly proceeds beneath the soil; the\nsoluble matters are gradually dissolved, and the slight fermentation\nthat goes on, checked by the want of a free communication of air,\ntends to render the woody fibre soluble without occasioning the\nrapid dissipation of elastic matter.\n\nWhen old pastures are broken up, and made arable, not only has the\nsoil been enriched by the death and slow decay of the plants which\nhave left soluble matters in the soil; but the leaves and roots of\nthe grasses living at the time, and occupying so large a part of the\nsurface, afford saccharine, mucilaginous, and extractive matters,\nwhich become immediately the food of the crop, and the gradual\ndecomposition affords a supply for successive years.\n\n  [_Davy's Agric. Chem._\n\n\n\n\nESSAY ON AGRICULTURE.\n\n\nThe judicious and increasing attention of our citizens to\nagricultural pursuits, must be regarded, by every enlightened\nfriend of his country, as among the happiest presages of its future\nprosperity. Agriculture, the most ancient and useful of the arts,\nthe inseparable companion, if not the parent, of civilization,\nis rapidly obtaining that rank in public estimation, to which\nits intimate connexion with the cardinal interests of every well\nregulated community gives it so unquestionable a claim. The absurd\nprejudice, which has associated the cultivation of the soil with\nthe idea of an ignoble servitude, is fast disappearing under the\ninfluence of milder systems of government, and has already ceased to\noperate on minds having the least pretensions to discrimination or\nenlargement of view.--The Patriarch of the human race was commanded\nby his Creator to \"_replenish the earth, and to subdue it_;\" we may,\ntherefore, infer, that a limited attention to agriculture was among\nthe happy employments of Adam, in the days of primeval innocence.\n\nBut, in the language of a distinguished prelate, that original\ntransgression which banished man from Paradise, banished Paradise\nfrom the earth. The primal curse is still in unmitigated operation,\nand, without \"_the sweat of the brow_,\" the least reluctant soils\nwill yield but scanty fruits for the sustenance and the comfort of\nman. Toil is an indispensable pre-requisite in every department of\nlife, where wealth, or honour, or even _daily bread_, is sought\nwith a reasonable prospect of success. The scholar, amid the lofty\nabstractions of the closet, when fatigued by incessant vigils,\nrealizes the painful truth, that \"_much study is a weariness of\nthe flesh_.\" The merchant, though stimulated by the incitements of\nenterprise and the bustle of occupation, must occasionally feel\nthe energies of his body and mind relax under the pressure of\nbusiness, without variety and without remission. And how grievous\nare the toils of those _choice spirits_ who discover no enterprise\nbut in the pursuit of pleasure--who disdain to \"_eat the bread of\ncarefulness_,\" and seek, amid the fugitive joys of sensuality, a\ntemporary refuge from the torpor of dejection, or the oppressive\nlistlessness of voluntary inaction.\n\nLet not the unobtrusive husbandman fear to compare his lot with that\nof those whose proud externals and apparent exemption from toil are\nextremely fallacious indications of their just rank on the scale\nof human happiness. Living in a land of promise and of plenty, and\nunder the government of mild equal laws, the American Farmer must\nexult in the consciousness that \"_the lines are fallen to him in\npleasant places_\"--that his is, in truth, a goodly heritage. He\nloves the soil, because it is the legacy of his fathers, and because\nhe derives from its fruitful bosom the means of sustaining life, and\nprotecting his feelings and opinions from the dictation of arrogance\nand the various temptations of penury.\n\nHis quiet and unsophisticated modes of thinking and living,\nindispose him to listen with eagerness to the solicitations of\nintrigue or sedition, and it is proverbial that the contagious\nfrenzy of revolution, extends not without difficulty, to the\ncautious, reflective, and well balanced mind of the farmer.\n\n  [_R. I. American._\n\n\n\n\nON DRESSING FLAX.\n\n     _Extract of a Letter from R. H. Harrison, Esq. to J. Wood,\n     Corresponding Secretary of the Cayuga Agricultural Society, N.\n     Y. dated_\n\n  NEW YORK, March 27, 1820.\n\n\nDEAR SIR--Every farmer is acquainted with the method of raising\nflax, and also of _rotting_ it; or, as it is generally called,\nwater and dew _retting_, and the method of separating the boon, or\nwoody matter, from the harle, or useful fibre. Flax has deservedly\nthe character of being one of the most impoverishing crops, in the\npresent method of treating it: it makes no return, either as animal\nfood, or as manure, to the land; it is therefore surprising that a\ndiscovery which was to obviate all these disadvantages should only\nhave been brought into practice within a few years.\n\nA Mr. James Lee, in England, discovered that the process of steeping\nand dew retting flax, or hemp, was not necessary; and that if\ntreated and dressed dry, it will be superior in every respect,\nproduce more, and make considerable return to the land, as fodder\nfor cattle and as manure.\n\nA patent was granted to him in 1812; and of such importance was\nit considered, that he obtained an act of parliament to keep his\nspecification secret for seven years. This may be a reason why so\nlittle has been known of it in this country. I have, however, one\nof his machines in my possession, and have dressed flax with it.\nIt consists of a break, or as he called it, a scraper, to separate\nthe boon out of the stem, &c.--it is then passed through a pair of\nfinely fluted rollers, and is finished and ready for the hackle.\n\nThe flax plants, when ripe, are to be pulled, to be spread and dried\nthe same as hay, laying the roots in one direction; when dry, to be\ncarried into the barn: And from the report of a committee of the\nhouse of commons on the petition of James Lee, and also on petition\nof Lee and Bundy, respecting their new machine for this purpose, it\nappears that the following are the results of Mr. Lee's discovery:\n\n1st. That preparing flax and hemp, in a dry state, for spinning,\nanswered most completely; the cost of preparing is less, it avoids\nthe risk of steeping, and saves _time_ and _material_.\n\n2d. The _strength_ and quality of the cloth is much superior to that\nfrom flax, water steeped or dew rotted.\n\n3d. The great advantage from the quantity of food for cattle, and\nalso manure obtained by this new method, the boon, or outer coat of\nthe flax, containing a sixth of the gluten of oats, the woody part\nbeing excellent for manure.\n\nIt also appeared in evidence before the committee, that\n\n  100 _lbs._ flax, in a dry state,\n  produced one fourth,                      25 lbs. fibre\n\n  100 _lbs._ flax, dew retted,\n  produced one eleventh,                     9  1-1/2\n                                             ________\n                           Excess,    _lbs._ 15 14-1/2\n\nor a saving in proportion as 90 to 33.\n\nIn confirmation of this I can only say, I procured some flax, in\nits dry state, which had been thrown away as not worth _retting_--4\nlbs. of dry flax produced 1 _lb._ of fibre fit for the hackle: when\ndressed in Lee's machine, the samples of flax, tow, and thread,\nthough, from the poor quality of the flax, inferior to some samples\nof English flax dressed in the same manner, were greatly superior to\nany that had been retted.\n\nI have, however, never made the experiment of weighing the flax, and\nthen ascertaining its produce when retted; but from the knowledge\nof those who gave evidence to this point, have no doubt of its\ncorrectness.\n\nThere is another advantage; the flax dressed in a dry state becomes\nmuch whiter, and is easier bleached--merely washing it in soap and\nwater makes it white: the finest particles of flax are also saved,\nwhich are essential to the manufacture of lace, or very fine linen:\nthe seed is also all preserved.\n\nMr. Brande, professor of chymistry at the Royal Institution, made\nsome experiments on the nutritious quality of the chaff: the result\nwas, an eighth of nutritious matter. Mr. Lee says, it is equal to a\ncrop of oats for feeding cattle; and it appeared also, that horses,\nwhen accustomed to it, prefer it to clover chaff.\n\nHaving thus briefly stated the advantages of the dry method of\ndressing flax, I will proceed to give some account of the machines\nfor preparing it, which have been invented since Mr. Lee's. The\nbest appears to be Hill and Bundy's, for which Mr. Bundy obtained\na patent, in England. It consists of two machines, a breaker and\na rubber; the first for separating the harle from the boon; the\nsecond cleanses it from small particles of wood and bark, left by\nthe breaker.\n\nThe breaker consists of fine fluted rollers, so disposed as to\ndraw the flax through them, at the same time to take off the woody\nparts from it; once passing through is generally sufficient. It\nis a machine combining great mechanical skill, and on an entirely\ndifferent principle from Mr. Lee's, and is not liable to get out of\norder.\n\nThe rubber is made to have the same effect as rubbing by hand would,\nto cleanse the fibre, and open and subdivide it, to produce the\nfinest thread.\n\nMr. Lee has invented a new machine, consisting of fluted rollers, to\nwork by water or horse power: it is different from Hill and Bundy's,\nwhich is worked by hand; and the rollers work differently.\n\nFrom experiments made by the different machines, it appears by the\nreport of the committee of the house of commons, that in Hill and\nBundy's, one breaker and two rubbers would produce 80 _lbs._ of\nprepared flax in a day, and would require one man or woman and three\nchildren: the work is light--a man can turn two breakers and two\nrubbers.\n\nLee's machine would produce about 11 _lbs._ a day; his new machine,\nworked by water, will product 50 _lbs._ in a day, and requires three\nmen or women to attend it.\n\nHaving never made any of the machines, I can only state the probable\ncost. Hill and Bundy's one breaker and two rubbers, could be\nfurnished for about $200. Lee's machine, at from 60 to $70. His new\nmachine I have never seen a draft of, and could not tell the cost.\n\nThe high cost of Hill and Bundy's machine will prevent our farmers\ngenerally from obtaining it. But what better business can be done,\nthan purchasing the flax, in its dry state, from the farmer, to\nmanufacture it in this way; and every town might employ its paupers\nin dressing flax by these machines: they might also be introduced\ninto our state prisons and penitentiaries with good effect.\n\nHaving given you this hasty sketch of the recent improvement in\ndressing flax, I would suggest to our agricultural societies\ngenerally, to procure one of the machines, as there can be no doubt\nof their answering. The general introduction of them would not only\npromote greatly our agricultural prosperity, but also the domestic\nmanufactures of this state.\n\n\n\n\n_To dress Flax to look like Silk._--Take one part lime and between\ntwo or three parts of wood ashes; pour over them a due proportion\nof water to make a strong ley, after they have stood together all\nnight, which must be poured off when quite clear. Tie handfuls of\nflax at both ends, to prevent its entangling, but let the middle of\neach be spread open, and put it in a kettle, on the bottom of which\nhas been first placed a little straw, with a cloth over it, then put\nanother cloth over the flax, and so continue covering each layer of\nflax with a cloth, till the kettle is nearly full. Pour over the\nwhole the clear ley, and after boiling it for some hours, take it\nout, and throw it in cold water: this boiling, &c. may be repeated,\nif requisite. The flax must be each time dried, hackled, beaten and\nrubbed fine; and, at last, dressed through a large comb, and through\na very fine one. By this process the flax acquires a bright and\nsoft thread. The tow which is off, when papered up and combed like\ncotton, is not only used for many of the same purposes, but makes\nlint for veterinary surgeons, &c.\n\n  [_Am. Farmer._\n\n\n\n\nAGRICULTURAL MEMORANDA.\n\n\n_Caterpillars._--Hemp is a great enemy to caterpillars. By\nsurrounding a bed of cabbages with a row of hemp, the cabbages will\nbe preserved.\n\n_Churning._--After churning some time, throw into the churn one\nspoonful of distilled vinegar for every gallon of cream. When\nchurning proves tedious, this will greatly hasten the separation of\nthe butter.\n\n_To cure Hams Westphalia fashion._--Sprinkle your ham with common\nsalt for one day; then wipe it dry. Take 1 _lb._ brown sugar, 1/4\n_lb._ saltpetre, 1/2 pint bay salt, and 3 pints common salt. Stir\nthese well together in an iron pan over the fire till moderately\nhot. The ham to lie in this pickle for three weeks.\n\n_Rue._--The growth of this plant ought to be cherished in every\nstock yard; nothing being more salutary or even pleasant to fowls.\n\n_Guinea Corn._--The stalks of this grain, if pressed, are said to\nyield a juice sweeter and of greater body than the sugar cane.\n\n_Carrots._--According to some agricultural reports, carrots will\nyield 600 or even 900 bushels per acre.\n\nAt the last meeting of _The Columbian Institute_, some valuable\nspecimens of _American plants_, beautifully preserved, were\npresented by Dr. _Darlington_, a representative in Congress from\nPennsylvania; and several fine specimens of _American minerals_,\nchiefly collected in the valley of the Mississippi, by Mr.\n_Schoolcraft_, the ingenious author of a work which has lately\nappeared on the lead mines of Missouri, and natural history, &c. of\nthe western country.\n\n_To make fat Lamb._--\"To make or fatten lamb for the market, let\nyour ewes be well attended to, and fed upon a patch of rye; upon\nturnips, or other corresponding food; affording abundant milk. As\nfast as your lambs fall, and can run well alone, all you have are to\nbe shut up together in a dark pen or stall, of proportionate size\nto the number of lambs you expect, having a narrow trough, breast\nhigh to them, to be daily supplied with Indian corn meal; with the\nbran in it; and hanging up within their reach one or more wisps\nor small bundles of fine hay for them to nibble, at. This stall\nmust communicate with, or adjoin, a larger apartment, into which\nyou are to turn ewes twice or thrice a day, to suckle their lambs,\nand to sleep all night with them.--Before turning the ewes out\nto pasture, each time, the lambs must be lifted into their small\ndark pen, or stall, (one six or eight feet square, is sufficiently\nlarge for thirty lambs or more,) where they will have no room to\nskip or play their fat away; here they will nibble so much of the\nfine hay, and eat so much of the dry Indian corn meal, from want\nof other employment, as to render themselves voraciously thirsty\nagainst the next meal of milk from their dams; which, with the other\ncauses mentioned, makes them grow surprisingly large and fat in a\nshort time. Lambs thus educated, will often promiscuously suck the\newes, without knowing or being attached to their own dams.--Hence\na very great advantage: for when all grow large and strong, they\nbecome capable of consuming more milk than a single ewe can afford;\nand more especially those ewes which have two or more lambs each.\nFor upon killing off all the lambs of a ewe, that ewe continues\nto give suck to the other lambs promiscuously as before, to the\ngreat advantage of the surviving lambs, now requiring additional\nnourishment. This is not the case when lambs run out at large with\ntheir dams.\"\n\n_New method of inoculating trees._--A common method of inoculating\nis by making a transverse section in the back of the stock and a\nperpendicular slit below it; the bud is then pushed down to give\nit the position which it is to have. This method is not always\nsuccessful; it is better to reverse it, by making the verticle slit\nabove the transverse section, and pushing the bud upwards into its\nposition--a method which rarely fails of success; because as the\nsap descends by the bark, as has been ascertained, and does not\nascend, the bud thus placed above the transverse section, receives\nabundance, but when placed below, the sap cannot reach it.\n\n_Grape Vines._--About one month since, I trimmed a very luxurious\ngrape vine, calculating that I was early enough to allow the wound\nmade by the cutting to heal before the sap began to rise; but to my\nsurprise I found, three days since, the sap issuing from every part\nwhere the knife had been used, the ground was completely wet with\nit: I tried rosin and other things to stop it, without avail. In\nconversation with a neighbour he informed me, that to stick a potato\non the part would stop the sap. I tried it and found it to succeed\ncompletely. Apprehending that many persons may, at this season,\nhave vines similarly situated with mine, I thought communicating\nthe above might give them an opportunity of benefiting by the\ninformation. A. B.\n\n  [_N. Y. Daily Adv._\n\n_To dry Peaches._--The following mode of drying peaches is adopted\nby Thomas Belanjee, of Egg Harbour, New Jersey:--He has a small\nhouse with a stove in it, and drawers in the sides of the house,\nlathed at their bottoms. Each drawer will hold nearly half a bushel\nof peaches, which should be ripe, and not peeled, but cut in two,\nand laid on the laths with their skins downwards, so as to save the\njuice. On shoving the drawer in they are soon dried by the hot air\nof the stove and laid up. Peaches thus dried are clear from fly\ndirt, excellently flavoured, and command a high price in market.\nPears thus dried eat like raisins. With a paring machine, which may\nbe had for a dollar or two, apples or pears may be pared, and a\nsufficient quantity dried, to keep a family in pies, and apple bread\nand milk, till apples come again. With a paring machine, one person\ncan pare for five or six cutters.\n\n\n\n\nCANKER ON PLUM TREES.\n\n\n  _Lansingburg, April 5, 1820._\n\nS. SOUTHWICK, Esq.\n\n_Sir_--I observe in your _Plough Boy_ of the 1st inst. some\nobservations on the disease in Plum Trees, called _Canker_, wherein\nthe writer states that the disease is probably caused by the trees\nbeing bark-bound. I have had sufficient proof to convince me that\nit is caused by insects only. From a variety of observations and\nexperiments, I find that when young shoots are throwing out of the\ntrees, they are stung by a species of fly, and a number of eggs or\nnits are deposited through the tender bark, where they remain until\nthe tree commences growing the next season; those places then begin\nto swell, and after a few weeks, small worms can be distinctly\nobserved by the naked eye, which, after about one month more is\nelapsed, eat out of the protuberances, then become black, take to\nthemselves wings, and commence operations as before stated.\n\nThe only remedy that I can discover, is to cut off every limb\naffected, on its first appearance; and if the tree be so much\naffected as to be past cure, it should be totally cut down, in order\nto destroy the whole race of insects which cause the disease. The\nfirst discovery of this complaint was on the sea-board: and it has\nadvanced north about twenty miles a year. At present nearly all\nthe bearing trees on the sea coast to the southeast, are totally\ndestroyed, and it pervades all this part of the country. The poorest\nnatural blue plums are first attacked--the dark coloured grafts,\nnext--and lastly, the light coloured fruit fall victims. Some\nfew kinds as yet withstand their attacks. By observing the above\ncaution, my trees are entirely free from them, and bear abundantly.\nI am, Sir,\n\n  Yours, &c.\n      ARBOREUM.\n\n\n\n\nON DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.\n\n\nSIR--The Montgomery Agricultural Society have announced the\nfollowing 40 premiums to be awarded to ladies in October, 1820. As\nsome of them are novel, their publication in the Plough Boy, I am\npersuaded, will have an excellent effect, as an example.\n\n  W.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n  To the lady who shall produce the best\n  piece of cloth, made of merino wool,\n  spun in the family, not less than 15\n  yards,                                      $8\n\n  2d best do.                                  6\n\n  For the best piece of cloth made of\n  common wool, spun in the family, not\n  less than 15 yards,                          6\n\n  2d best do.                                  4\n\n  For the best piece of flannel, spun in\n  the family, of merino wool, not less\n  than 20 yards,                               6\n\n  2d best do.                                  4\n\n  For the best piece of flannel made of\n  common wool, spun in the family,\n  not less than 20 yards,                      5\n\n  2d best do.                                  4\n\n  For the best pair of rose blankets, spun\n  and made in the county,                      5\n\n  2d best do.                                  4\n\n  For the best piece of carpeting, spun\n  in the family,                               6\n\n  2d best do.                                  5\n\n  For the best external covering for beds,\n  spun in the county,                          4\n\n  2d best do.                                  3\n\n  For the best hearth rug, spun and made\n  in the family,                               3\n\n  2d best do.                                  2\n\n  For the best pair of worsted stockings,\n  made and knit in the family,                 1\n\n  2d best do.                                 75 cents\n\n  For the best pair of woollen stockings,\n  spun and knit in the family,                 1\n\n  2d best do.                                 75 cents\n\n  For the best pair of cotton stockings,\n  knit in the family,                          1\n\n  2d best do.                                 75 cents\n\n  For the best pair of linen stockings,\n  spun and knit in the family,                 1\n\n  2d best do.                                 75 cents\n\n  For the best half pound of sewing linen\n  thread, spun in the family,                  4\n\n  2d best do.                                  3\n\n  For the best pair half stockings, knit\n  by a girl not over 14 years of age,          1\n\n  2d best do.                                 75 cents\n\n  For the best 15 runs of linen yarn, spun\n  by a girl not over 14 years of age,          4\n\n  2d best do.                                  3\n\n  3d best do.                                  2\n\n  For the best pair of double mittens,\n  spun and knit by a girl not over 14\n  years of age,                              $1\n\n  2d best do.                                75 cents\n\n  For the best table linen, not less than\n  15 yards,                                   6\n\n  2d best do.                                 4\n\n  For the best piece of linen, not less\n  than 15 yards, spun in the family,          6\n\n  2d best do.                                 4\n\n  For the best Lady's straw or grass bonnet,\n  made in the county, of materials\n  of the growth of the state,                 8\n\n  2d best do.                                 7\n\n  3d best do.                                 6\n\n  To the Lady who shall attend the next\n  annual fair in the best homespun\n  dress,                                     20\n\n  2d best do.                                18\n\n  3d best do.                                16\n\n  4th best do.                               14\n\n  5th best do.                               12\n\n  6th best do.                               10\n\n\n\n\nWOODEN SOALED SHOES.\n\n\nMr. Custis of Arlington, near Alexandria in a letter to the editor\ndated 1st Feb. last, observes--\"Wooden soaled shoes are the very\nbest for labourers that I ever met with. They keep the feet warm and\ndry in ditching, and in all kinds of labour, to be performed out of\ndoors in winter, and are a saving in expense of fully 80 per cent.\nMy people are all shod in this way, and themselves declare that they\nnever were so comfortable in their feet before, while my leather\nbill from $100, has been reduced to scarce $20.\n\nYou form the soal, after the appearance of the leather soal and\nheel, the wood about half or three fourths of an inch in thickness,\naround the upper edge, is cut a rabbit, into which is nailed (with\nordinary sized tacks) the upper leather.--Not a particle of thread\nis needed, except to close the two parts of upper leather.--Every\nman may be his own shoemaker, and a man would put together a dozen\npair a day. In slippery weather, small plates of iron are nailed\naround the toes and heels, and frost nails driven in them, which\nalso protects tects the soal from wear. Gum, ash, or dogwood, are\nbest for the soals, and about two sets will last the winter.--The\nfeet are never cold, or wet, and hence will be remedied those\nchronic pains and evils, to which labourers are subject, from\nexposure to cold and wet. For any purpose but a foot race, these are\nthe very best shoes, and I doubt whether even Sir Humphrey Davy has\nmade a more useful discovery in the last twenty years.\"\n\n  [_Am. Farmer._\n\n\n\n\n_Republican Manners._--A gentleman, who lately visited the Atheneum\nat Boston, told us, that he saw a book there, on the title page of\nwhich was written these words, by the hand of Mr. Jefferson--\n\n  \"_From Thomas Jefferson to his friend\n  John Adams._\"\n\nNow, to my way of thinking, all the flowers of rhetoric might be\nculled, and yet be wanting of the \"sublime and beautiful\" that\nirresistibly attaches itself to this little sentence--\"Thomas\nJefferson to his friend John Adams.\" It affords a practical result\nof our glorious system of government, more \"precious than rubies.\"\nIt is a diamond of the finest water, which the republican should hug\nto his bosom as a rich legacy to his children and his children's\nchildren \"to the thousandth generation\"--an evidence in favour of\nthe simplicity of the truth never to be parted with, while the\nmighty Mississippi rolls her floods to the ocean! It is worthy of\nthe best days of Greek or Roman history; and there is, doubtless,\na sincerity in it that Greece or Rome hardly knew to exist between\nmen so illustrious. The time has passed away in which either of\nthose venerable men can be regarded as at the head of a party in\nthe state, however much they were once opposed. They are preparing\n\"for another and a better world;\" but, like the patriarchs of old,\nwith joyous hearts, survey the rich fruits of independence, planted\nby their toil and nurtured by their care. Passion has long ceased\nto influence either; oblivion has passed over their political\ndifferences of opinion; ancient friendships are renewed, and a\nspirit of harmony and reciprocal esteem prevails in each bosom.\n\nWhat a magnificent sentence--\"from Thomas Jefferson to his friend\nJohn Adams!\" Let us consider how great a space those men have filled\nin the world. Each has been the rallying point of simultaneously\ncontending parties--each filled the highest office in the gift of\nthe only free people existing, to relieve the sombre despotism of\nthe civilized world.--Each has lived to see his early vows to the\nrepublic fulfilled; and their present good understanding affords us\na delightful proof of the inestimable aphorism, that \"a difference\nof opinion is not a difference of principle.\"\n\nWhat are now John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, so recently\nthe leading politicians of the day, the heads of mighty\nparties?--private citizens, wholly abstracted from the bustle of\nthe times, and leaning on their good intentions, like Jacob on his\nstaff, to offer up thanksgivings to the Most High for the benefits\nwhich He has been pleased to bestow upon their beloved country!\nNeither holds a court, or is courted with sinister views; for it is\nwell understood that both have retired from the influence that might\nhave attached itself to them;--but the trace of their footsteps are\nas blessed by a grateful people, and a good old age has come upon\nthem in peace!\n\nMay we imitate the plainness and sincerity of this little sentence!\nWhat could ten thousand high-sounding titles add to the reputation,\nor contribute to the internal satisfaction of these sages? Yet\nwe practise them and there are hundreds of little things among\nus, creatures of the moment--here to-day and gone to-morrow,\nand forgotten, who feel insulted if they are not called of men\n_honourable_, written at full length, as if the title made them so.\nI believe I never wrote this word, as prefixed to a man's name, but\nonce, and think that, while I preserve my reason and sense of moral\n_honesty_, I never will write it again, to a fellow citizen.\n\nIt would not do any _harm_ if there was much more of this\nmagnificent simplicity at the seat of government, where comfort\nis often sacrificed to form, and chilling etiquette keeps back\nfrom those in office the very persons that they ought to have\nfamiliar communication with. It is the yeomanry of the country,\nwho are to carry to the chiefs of the government, the feelings\nand wishes of the nation: but they are frozen by the ceremony of\ntheir introduction to men in power--congressmen and others. It is\nhateful even to some who _seemingly_ exact it--because _it is \"the\nrule.\"_ Why not abrogate the rule, and while impertinent intrusion\nis kept at a distance, receive honest worth on the level, as man\nshould receive man? A little anecdote, which I have recently heard,\nmay illustrate this remark--a certain gentleman, who now is a\nquaker, or at least conforms to many of their manners, a veteran of\nthe revolution, and one of Mr. Monroe's earliest friends, having\nbusiness at Washington, was specially sent for by the president,\nwho had not seen him for more than forty years. The old man went to\nthe president's house; he was met in the hall by the servants, who\nseparately asked him for his cane, his coat, and his hat. The latter\nhe would not part with, and it was intimated to him that he could\nnot go into the president's room unless he dispossessed himself of\nit; but he observed, 'if he couldn't go in, he could go out,' and\nbegan to prepare for his departure. Then it was said, he might go in\nwith his hat on, if he was willing in risk it! He was willing, and\nentered, and was received by the president as a true friend ought to\nbe received; and they had a very interesting interview, grateful to\none another. How much pleasure was nearly denied to Mr. Monroe for a\nmatter of form!--for, if the sturdy old republican had once left the\nhouse, they never could have prevailed upon him to enter it again!\n\nAll _mere_ ceremonies are easy, and even in matters of the highest\nimport, become mechanical to those accustomed to perform them\ndaily--but are always irksome to those who never went through\nthem--nor do they form any part of our habits of thinking and\nacting, as conformable to the nature of our institutions. I am\napprehensive that they are on the increase, though well convinced\nthat they are not desired by the president himself, and others\nthat I could name. But they are _fashionable_; and it is easier\nto correct a positive vice than to do away an idle fashion. This\nfashion keeps no one from the presence of influential persons who\nhas sinister designs to accomplish, but checks the warm flow of the\nblood with which an honest farmer or mechanic would meet his own\nelected rulers, and prevents that freedom of discussion by which\ntruth is manifested. Let us all endeavour to imitate the simplicity\nand frankness of Jefferson--under this solemn assurance, that the\nfurther we are removed from this plainness, the greater is the\ndanger of despotism. I am very far from being an enemy to what\nare called the elegancies of life, and am quite willing that, if\na couple of dancing masters meet, they should bow to each other,\n\"according to rule,\" for half an hour before they approached near\nenough to touch the tip of each other's finger, as the _sign_ of\nshaking hands! Let those enjoy it who can, and practice it who\nmay--but it is not the _manner_ in which sincerity is shown, or good\nfellowship promoted. The homage of the heart, such as the republican\nwill feel in reading the _text_ of this article, is worth more than\nall the forms of etiquette ever devised. It is as a rock in the\nmidst of the sea--faction assails it in vain; it is _principle_ only\nthat takes effect upon it. The tide of popularity may rise and fall,\nbut the foundation is not to be shaken.\n\n  [_Niles' Reg._\n\n\n\n\n_On the Importance of Manner._\n\n\nTo exasperate is not the way to convince: nor does asperity of\nlanguage or of manner necessarily belong to the duty of plain\ndealing. So far otherwise, a scolding preacher, or a snarling\nreprover, betrays alike a gross ignorance of the philosophy of the\nhuman mind, and the absence of Christian meekness; and how zealous\nsoever be his aim to do good, the provokingness of his manner will\ndefeat the benevolence of his intentions.\n\nThe following remarks are from the pen of a man as distinguished\nfor Christian piety as for superiour genius--the immortal Cowper.\n\"No man\" (says that _evangelical_ poet) \"was ever scolded out of\nhis sins. The heart, corrupt as it is, and because it is so, grows\nangry if it be not treated with some management and good manners,\nand scolds again. A surly mastiff will bear perhaps to be stroked,\nthough he will growl under that operation, but if you touch him\nroughly, he will bite. There is no grace that the spirit of self can\ncounterfeit with more success than that of zeal. A man thinks he is\nfighting for Christ, when he is fighting for his own notions. He\nthinks that he is skillfully searching the hearts of others, when he\nis only gratifying the malignity of his own, and charitably supposes\nhis hearers destitute of all grace, that he may shine the more in\nhis own eyes by comparison.\"\n\nNor is scolding, or ridicule either, the proper way to cure men\nof their religious prejudices: for, by inflaming their anger, it\nrenders their prejudices the more stubborn and inveterate. It is no\nmatter how absurd or even how monstrous their errors and prejudices;\nif you offend them by the grossness of your manner, there is little\nhope of your convincing them afterwards by the cogency of your\nreasoning.\n\nThe Baptist Missionaries in India, at the first insulted, as we\nare told, the superstition which they attacked, and ridiculed and\nreviled the Bramins in the streets, and at their festivals, when the\npassions of the blinded and besotted populace were most likely to be\ninfluenced. But experience taught those pious and apostolical men,\nthat this was not the right way to make converts: for which reason,\nin 1805, they made a declaration of the great principles upon which\nthey thought it their duty to act. \"It is necessary,\" say they,\n\"in our intercourse with the Hindoos, that, as far as we are able,\nwe abstain from those things which would increase their prejudices\nagainst the gospel. Those parts of English manners which are most\noffensive to them should be kept out of sight; nor is it advisable\nat once to attack their prejudices, by exhibiting with acrimony, the\nsins of their gods; neither should we do violence to their images,\nnor interrupt their worship.\"\n\nNow if this forbearance from every thing provoking, whether in\nlanguage or manner, was expedient in dealing with the errors of\nthe grossly idolatrous pagans, it is assuredly not less expedient\nfor fellow Christians, in their treatment of the real or supposed\nreligious errors of one another. Bitter revilings and contumelious\ndenouncements always provoke, but never convince. If they are used\ninstead of argument, they betray a conscious weakness; for it is\nmuch easier to revile and denounce than to argue. And furthermore,\nwe are quite as apt to be furiously in the wrong, as to be furiously\nin the right: or even if we know ourselves to be right as to matter,\nwe put ourselves in the wrong as to manner, if we make use of foul\nweapons rather than those which the armoury of reason supplies.\n\n_Manner_ is to be carefully studied by every one, whether in a\npublic or a private station, who undertakes to reclaim the vicious,\nor to convince the erring: for what would be beneficial if done in\none manner, would be worse than labour lost, if done in another.\nA haughty, supercilious manner never wins, seldom convinces,\nand always disgusts; whereas that which indicates meekness and\nunmingled benevolence and compassion, rarely fails of some salutary\nimpression; especially if suavity of manner be accompanied with\nforce of reasoning, and a due regard be had to time, place, and\ncircumstances.\n\nNo very long while ago, Mr. ----, an American clergyman, as\ndistinguished for pious zeal as for eminent parts, was passing a\nriver in a ferry boat, along with company of some distinction, among\nwhich was a military officer who repeatedly made use of profane\nlanguage: Mr. ---- continued silent till they had landed, when\ntaking him aside, he expostulated with him in such a moving manner,\nthat the officer expressed his thanks, and his deep sorrow for the\noffence; but added withal: \"_Sir, if you had reproved me before the\ncompany, I should have drawn my sword upon you._\"\n\nThere are some who glory in it, that by their plain dealing they\nwound the pride of those they deal with. Peradventure with greater\npride they do it. Often, we are so little aware of the obliquities\nof our own hearts, that we may be feeding and nourishing pride\nwithin ourselves whilst we are zealously aiming our blows at the\npride of others. Our love of chiding, our coarse bluntness, which\nwe fondly term an honest plain heartedness, or a warmth of zeal,\nmay possibly spring from other motives than those of pure Christian\nbenevolence.\n\n\n\n\nEXTRACT FROM WILKINSON'S MEMOIRS.\n\n_Sentiments of an Old Soldier._\n\n\nLet those parents who are now training their children for the\nmilitary profession, let those misguided patriots, who are\ninculcating principles of education subversive of the foundations\nof the republic, look at this picture of distress, taken from the\nlife of a youth in a strange land, far removed from friends and\nrelations, comingled with the dying and the dead, himself wounded,\nhelpless, and expiring with agony, and then should political\nconsiderations fail of effect, I hope the feelings of affection, and\nthe obligations of humanity, may induce them to discountenance the\npursuits of war, and save their offspring from the seductions of\nthe plume and the sword, for the more solid and useful avocations\nof civil life; by which alone peace and virtue, and the republic,\ncan be preserved and perpetuated. A dupe during my whole life,\nto the prejudices I now reprobate, I speak from experience, and\ndischarge a conscientious duty, when I warn my country against\nmilitary enthusiasm, and the pride of arms; and against the arts and\nintrigues by which the yeomanry, the palladium of the republic, are\ndepreciated, and standing armies and navies are encouraged. For what\nwould it avail the citizens of the United States, if in a political\nfrenzy, they should barter their rights and liberties for national\nrenown? And who would exchange the blessings of freedom, for the\nrepute of having eclipsed the whole human race in feats of valour\nand deeds of arms? This is a serious question! It affects the vital\ninterests of every freeman; and the course of the government makes\nit proper and necessary, that these states should pause and reflect,\nbefore it be too late. We have escaped from one war with a crippled\nconstitution; the next will probably destroy it; therefore let the\nmotto of the state be--PEACE.\n\n\n\n\nDR. FRANKLIN.\n\n     _Extracts from a letter of Mr. Jefferson, dated December 4th,\n     1818, respecting Dr. Franklin._\n\n\n\"Dr. Franklin had many political enemies, as every character must,\nwhich, with decision enough to have opinions, has energy and talent\nto give them effect on the feelings of the adversary opinion.\nThese enmities were chiefly in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.\nIn the former they were merely of the proprietary party: in the\nlatter they did not commence till the revolution, and then sprung\nchiefly from personal animosities, which spreading by little and\nlittle, became at length of some extent. Dr. ---- was his principal\ncalumniator; a man of much malignity, who, besides enlisting his\nwhole family in the same hostility, was enabled, as the agent\nof Massachusetts with the British government, to infuse it into\nthat state with considerable effect. Mr. Jay, Silas Deane, Mr.\nLaurens, his colleagues also, ever maintained towards him unlimited\nconfidence and respect. That he would have waived the formal\nrecognition of our independence, I never heard on any authority\nworthy notice. As to the fisheries, England was urgent to retain\nthem exclusively, France neutral, and I believe that had they been\nultimately made a _sine qua non_, our commissioners (Mr. Adams\nexcepted) would have relinquished them rather than have broken off\nthe treaty. To Mr. Adams' perseverance alone on that point, I have\nalways understood we were indebted for their reservation. As to\nthe charge of subservience to France, besides the evidence of his\nfriendly colleagues before named, two years of my own service with\nhim at Paris, daily visits, and the most friendly and confidential\nconversations, convince me it had not a shadow of foundation. He\npossessed the confidence of that government in the highest degree,\ninsomuch that it may truly be said that they were more under his\ninfluence, than he under theirs. The fact is, that his temper was\nso amiable and conciliatory, his conduct so rational, never urging\nimpossibilities, or even things unreasonably inconvenient to them;\nin short, so moderate and attentive to their difficulties, as well\nas our own, that what his enemies called subserviency, I saw was\nonly that reasonable disposition, which, sensible that advantages\nare not all to be on one side, yielding what is just and liberal,\nis the more certain of obtaining liberality and justice.--Mutual\nconfidence produces of course mutual influence, and this was all\nwhich subsisted between Dr. Franklin and the government of France.\n\n\"I subjoin a few anecdotes of Dr. Franklin, within my own knowledge.\n\n\"Our revolutionary process, as is well known, commenced by\npetitions, memorials, remonstrances, &c. from the old Congress.\nThese were followed by a non-importation agreement, as a pacific\ninstrument of coercion. While that was before us, and sundry\nexceptions, as of arms, ammunition &c. were moved from different\nquarters of the house, I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, and observed\nto him that I thought we should except books: that we ought not to\nexclude science, even coming from an enemy. He thought so too, and I\nproposed the exception, which was agreed to. Soon after it occurred\nthat medicine should be excepted, and I suggested that also to the\ndoctor. 'As to that,' said he, 'I will tell you a story. When I was\nin London, in such a year, there was a weekly club of physicians,\nof which Sir John Pringle was president, and I was invited by my\nfriend Dr. Fothergill, to attend when convenient. Their rule was to\npropose a thesis one week, and discuss it the next. I happened there\nwhen the question to be considered was, Whether physicians had on\nthe whole, done most good or harm? The young members, particularly,\nhaving discussed it very learnedly and eloquently till the subject\nwas exhausted, one of them observed to Sir John Pringle, that,\nalthough it was not usual for the president to take part in a\ndebate, yet they were desirous to know his opinion on the question.\nHe said, they must first tell him whether, under the appellation\nof physicians, they meant to include _old women_; if they did, he\nthought they had done more good than harm; otherwise more harm than\ngood.'\n\n\"The Confederation of the States, while on the carpet before the old\nCongress, was strenuously opposed by the smaller States, under the\napprehension that they would be swallowed up by the larger ones. We\nwere long engaged in the discussion; it produced great heats, much\nill humour, and intemperate declarations from some members. Dr.\nFranklin at length brought the debate to a close with one of his\nlittle apologues. He observed, that 'at the time of the union of\nEngland and Scotland, the Duke of Argyle was most violently opposed\nto that measure, and among other things predicted that, as the whale\nhad swallowed Jonas, so Scotland would be swallowed by England.\nHowever,' said the doctor, 'when Lord Bute came into the government,\nhe soon brought into its administration so many of his countrymen,\nthat it was found, in the event, that Jonas swallowed the whale.'\nThis little story produced a general laugh, restored good humour,\nand the article of difficulty was passed.\n\n\"When Dr. Franklin went to France on his revolutionary mission,\nhis eminence as a philosopher, his venerable appearance, and the\ncause on which he was sent, rendered him extremely popular; for all\nranks and conditions of men there, entered warmly into the American\ninterest. He was therefore feasted and invited to all the court\nparties. At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of Bourbon,\nwho being a chess-player of about his force, they very generally\nplayed together. Happening once to put her king into _prise_, the\nDoctor took it. 'Ah,' says she, 'we do not take kings so.' 'We do in\nAmerica,' said the doctor.\n\n\"At one of these parties, the Emperor Joseph II., then at Paris,\n_incog._ under the title of Count Falkenstein, was overlooking\nthe game, in silence, while the company was engaged in animated\nconversations on the American question. 'How happens it, M. Le\nComte,' said the Duchess 'that while we all feel so much interest in\nthe cause of the Americans, you say nothing for them?' 'I am a king\nby trade,' said he.\n\n\"When the Declaration of Independence was under the consideration\nof Congress, there were two or three unlucky expressions in it,\nwhich gave offence to some members. The words 'Scotch and other\nauxiliaries,' excited the ire of a gentleman or two of that\ncountry. Severe strictures on the conduct of the British king, in\nnegativing our repeated repeals of the law which permitted the\nimportation of slaves, were disapproved by some southern gentlemen,\nwhose reflections were not yet matured to the full abhorrence of\nthat traffic. Although the offensive expressions were immediately\nyielded, these gentlemen continued their depredations on other parts\nof the instrument. I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who perceived that\nI was not insensible to those mutilations. 'I have made it a rule,'\nsaid he, 'whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman\nof papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from\nan incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman\nprinter, one of my companions, an apprentice hatter, having served\nout his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern\nwas to have a handsome sign-board, with a proper inscription. He\ncomposed it in these words:--'John Thompson, _Hatter_, _makes_ and\n_sells hats for ready money_,' with a figure of a hat subjoined.\nBut he thought he would submit it to his friends for their\namendments. The first he showed it to, thought the word '_hatter_'\ntautologous, because followed by the words 'makes hats,' which shew\nhe was a hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word\n'_makes_' might as well be omitted, because his customers would not\ncare who made the hats; if good and to their mind, they would buy,\nby whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said, he thought the\nwords '_for ready money_,' were useless, as it was not the custom\nof the place to sell on credit: every one who purchased expected to\npay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood, 'John\nThompson sells hats.' '_Sells_ hats?' says his next friend; 'why\nnobody will expect you to give them away. What then is the use of\nthat word?' It was stricken out, and '_hats_' followed it, the\nrather, as there was one painted on the board; so his inscription\nwas reduced ultimately to 'John Thompson,' with the figure of a hat\nsubjoined.'\n\n\"The Doctor told me, at Paris, the following anecdote of the Abb\u00e9\nRaynal.--He had a party to dine with him one day, at Passy, of whom\none half were Americans, the other half French; among the last\nwas the Abb\u00e9. During the dinner he got on his favourite theory of\nthe degeneracy of animals, and even of man, in America, and urged\nit with his usual eloquence. The Doctor at length noticing the\naccidental stature and position of his guests, at table, 'Come,'\nsaid he, 'M. l'Abb\u00e9, let us try this question by the fact before us.\nWe are here one half Americans, and one half French; and it happens\nthat the Americans have placed themselves on one side of the table,\nand our French friends are on the other. Let both parties rise,\nand we will see on which side nature has degenerated.' It happened\nthat his American guests were Carmichael, Harmer, Humphreys, and\nothers of the finest stature and form; while those of the other side\nwere remarkably diminutive, and the Abb\u00e9 himself, particularly, was\na mere shrimp. He parried the appeal however, by a complimentary\nadmission of exceptions, among which the Doctor himself was a\nconspicuous one.\"\n\n\n\n\n_An Act for the Appraisement of Estates taken in execution._\n\n\nSECT. 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives\nof the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general assembly met, and it\nis hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That in all cases\nwhere lands, tenements or hereditaments, have been or hereafter\nshall be levied on, by virtue of any writ of _fieri facias_ or other\nwrit of execution, and an inquest of twelve men summoned by the\nsheriff or coroner of any of the cities or counties agreeably to\nthe existing laws of this commonwealth, shall find that the rents,\nissue, and profits of such property, are not sufficient, beyond all\nreprises, within the space of seven years to satisfy the damages\nand costs or the debt, interest and cost in such writ mentioned, it\nshall be the duty of the same inquest to value and appraise the said\nproperty. And in all cases where the defendant or defendants shall\nconsent to a condemnation agreeable to an act entitled \"a supplement\nto the act, entitled, An act for taking lands in execution for the\npayment of debts,\" passed on the sixth day of March, one thousand\neight hundred and twenty, and in any case where an inquisition\nand condemnation of such estate as aforesaid shall not be deemed\nnecessary in law, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or coroner of\nthe proper county to summon an inquest of twelve good and lawful men\nof his bailiwick, who shall be under oath or affirmation, and shall\nreceive the same pay as jurors are entitled to in similar cases, to\nvalue and appraise the same; and the sheriff or coroner shall make\nreturn of such valuation or appraisement, with the writ aforesaid,\nto the court from which the same issued, and which valuation or\nappraisement shall be conclusive in any future execution which may\nbe levied on the same property; and in case any writ of _venditioni\nexponas_ or other writ shall issue for the sale of said lands,\ntenements or hereditaments, and the same cannot be sold at public\nvendue or outcry for two-thirds or more of such valuation or\nappraisement: that then and in such case the sheriff or coroner\nshall not make sale of the premises, but shall make return of the\nsame accordingly to the court from which the execution process\nissued, and that thereupon all further proceedings for the sale of\nsuch lands, tenements or hereditaments, shall be stayed for one year\nfrom and after the return day of the _venditioni exponas_, or other\nwrit for the sale of the premises: _Provided_, That the sheriff or\ncoroner, shall not be entitled to poundage unless in those cases\nwhere a sale of the property shall take place.\n\nSECT. 2. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_,\nThat in all cases where lands, tenements or hereditaments, have\nbeen heretofore levied on and condemned in virtue of any writ of\n_fieri facias_, and in all cases where any lands, tenements or\nhereditaments, have been or hereafter shall be seized or levied on\nby virtue of any writ of _levari facias_, it shall be the duty of\nthe sheriff or coroner, before exposing the said property to sale\npursuant to any writ for that purpose issued, or in pursuance of\nsuch writ of _levari facias_, to summon twelve good and lawful men\nof his bailiwick, who, being first sworn or affirmed, shall make a\ntrue valuation or appraisement of the property aforesaid, and the\nsame proceedings shall be had as is directed by the first section of\nthis act.\n\nSECT. 3. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_,\nThat in all cases where a life estate, or for a term of years, in\nany lands, tenements, or hereditaments, have been or shall be seized\nand levied on by virtue of any writ of execution, it shall be the\nduty of the sheriff or coroner, before he shall proceed to advertise\nand sell the premises aforesaid, to summon an inquest of twelve\ngood and lawful men of his bailiwick, who, being first duly sworn\nor affirmed, shall make a true valuation and appraisement of the\nsame. And if such life estate, or for term of years as aforesaid,\nafter having been advertised and offered for sale by public vendue\nor outcry, according to the laws of this commonwealth, cannot be\nsold for two thirds or more of the amount of the valuation and\nappraisement aforesaid, the sheriff or coroner shall make return\naccordingly; and thereupon all further proceedings for the sale of\nthe said premises shall be stayed for one year from the return day\nof the said execution process.\n\nSECT. 4. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_,\nThat in all cases where personal property shall be taken in\nexecution by virtue of any writ of _fieri facias_ issued out of any\ncourt of common pleas in this commonwealth, or by virtue of any\nexecution issued by a justice of the peace, it shall be the duty\nof the sheriff, coroner, constable or other person, to whom such\nwrit shall be directed, respectively, when it shall be requested by\nthe debtor, to summon three respectable freeholders or citizens of\nthe vicinage, who, being first duly sworn or affirmed by the said\nofficer, shall value and appraise the personal property aforesaid,\nfor which service they each shall be entitled to receive fifty cents\nper day; which valuation or appraisement, signed by the appraisers,\ntogether with a schedule of the property taken in execution, shall\nbe annexed to the return of said writ. And in case said personal\nproperty, or any part thereof, cannot be sold for two thirds of\nthe amount of said valuation or appraisement, at a public vendue\nof the same, of which notice shall be given to the plaintiff or\nplaintiffs, his, her or their agent or attorney, agreeably to the\ndirection of the first section of this act, that then the sale of\nsuch property shall be stayed for the term of twelve months from\nthat date: _Provided_, That the said defendant or defendants shall\nexecute and deliver to the sheriff, coroner or constable, as the\ncase may be, a bond, with one or more sufficient sureties, in a\npenalty double the amount of the said valuation or appraisement,\nconditioned for the faithful forthcoming and delivery of all and\nevery part of the said personal property, upon the expiration of the\nsaid stay of execution, to the proper sheriff, coroner or constable,\nor his successor in office, in like good order and condition as when\nthe same was so as aforesaid offered for sale, or other personal\nproperty equal in value and like good order, to be ascertained in\nthe manner aforesaid; or in default thereof, for the payment of the\namount of the appraisement or valuation, with interest and costs,\nor the amount of the debt, interest and cost, for which the levy\nwas made. And upon the execution and delivery of such bond, the\nsaid personal property shall be returned and redelivered into the\npossession of the said defendant or defendants: _Provided also_,\nThat nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to prevent\nany judgment creditor or creditors from having the property of any\ndebtor or debtors exposed to sale, in the usual manner, at any time,\nand as often as he, she or they may think proper, after it may have\nonce been exposed to sale as aforesaid, by paying all the costs\nwhich may accrue in consequence thereof, except the time which a\nsale may be effected, which cost shall be paid out of the proceeds\nof the sale as in other cases.\n\nSECT. 5. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_,\nThat this act shall be and continue in force for the term of one\nyear and no longer.\n\n\n\n\nMORTGAGES.\n\n\n     The Legislature of Pennsylvania, at their late session, passed\n     the following act relative to Mortgages.\n\nSECT. 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives\nof the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in general assembly met, and\nit is hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That from and\nafter the first day of October next, all mortgages, or defeasible\ndeeds in the nature of mortgages, made or to be made or executed\nfor any lands, tenements or hereditaments within this commonwealth,\nshall have a priority according to the date of recording the same,\nwithout regard to the time of making or executing such deeds. And\nit shall be the duty of the recorder to endorse the time upon the\nmortgages or defeasible deeds when left for record, and to number\nthe same according to the time they are left for record, and if\ntwo or more are left upon the same day, they shall have priority\naccording to the time they are left at the office for record. And\nthat no mortgage, or defeasible deed in the nature of a mortgage,\nshall be a lien until such mortgage or defeasible deed shall have\nbeen recorded, or left for record as aforesaid. _Provided_, That no\nmortgage given for the purchase money of the land so mortgaged shall\nbe affected by the passage of this act, if the same be recorded\nwithin sixty days from the execution thereof.\n\nSECT. 2. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_,\nThat the governor be, and he is hereby requested to cause this act\nto be published immediately after the passage of the same, in such\nnewspapers and for such a length of time as he may think most proper\nfor the information of the citizens of this commonwealth.\n\n\n\n\n_Whimsical conflict._--It would be well for society, if all\nduellists were to find themselves in the same predicament as did\nthe celebrated poet, Dr. Akenside, and a gentleman of the bar by\nthe name of Ballow. A challenge had passed from the former--but\nthey did not get into the field; for one would not consent to\nfight in the morning, and the other was equally determined not to\ndo so in the evening! The one wished to fall in a blaze of glory,\nmingled with the brilliant rays of the rising sun, a very fanciful\nand poetic notion; and the other, with perhaps an equal degree of\npoetic feeling and imagination, thought the shades of eve more\ncongenial with the work of death and the hour of dissolution.\nWhether serious or affected, the difference was perhaps a happy\none for the lovers of literature, who might otherwise have lost\nthe keen and inexpressible delight which ever flows from the\nperusal of Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination--a work which will\ncharm and instruct mankind through every age, so long as learning,\ntaste, and genius, shall have a votary or a favourite to relish so\nrich a banquet. The hand of blood, that had deprived the republic\nof letters of that incomparable poem, would have well deserved\neverlasting execration.\n\n  [_Plough Boy._\n\n\n\n\nLAW-SUIT.\n\n\nThe longest law-suit ever heard of in England, or perhaps in the\nworld, was between the heirs of Sir T. Talbot; Viscount Lisle,\non the one part, and the heirs of Lord Berkeley on the other,\nrespecting certain possessions not far from Wotton-under-Edge, in\nthe county of Gloucester. The suit was commenced at the end of\nEdward IV. and was depending till the reign of James I. when a\ncompromise took place, it having lasted above a hundred and twenty\nyears.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAMERONIANS.\n\nFrom Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Nov. 1819.\n\n\nFor the Cameronians, those relicks of the stern enthusiastic\nCovenanters--those resolute maintainers of the unblemished purity\nand rights of the reformed church--those dwellers on the misty\nmountain tops--I entertain the greatest respect and reverence. It\nwas my lot to pass the early part of my life in the neighbourhood of\ntheir hill of worship--often in the company of their leading men,\nand most admired professors--and at all times in the society of a\nportion of their number. They had hovered for many years about the\nmountainous regions of the parish of Kirkmahoe, in Dumfries-shire;\nand as they began to confide in the kindness of their less rigid\nbrethren, they commenced descending, step by step, from a large\nhill to a less, till they finally _swarmed_ on a small sterile\nmount, with a broomy glen at its foot, beside a little village,\nwhich one of their number named \"Graceless Quarrelwood.\" Quarrelwood\nis a long straggling village, built in open hostility to regular\nlines, or the graceful curves of imaginary beauty. The cottages\nwhich compose it are scattered as if some wizard had dropt them\ndown by random; and through the whole a streamlet winds, and a\nkind of road infinitely more crooked than the stream. This lane is\nfringed chiefly by old plum-trees, and seeks its way to the eastern\nextremity of the village, with a difficulty which a stranger will\nsoon be sensible of, should he be so hardy as to endeavour to\nthread this Cameronian labyrinth. There is also a wide wilderness\nof gardens, hemmed in by strong walls of rough free-stone. It is a\nvery defensible position; and, in case of retreat, the deep channels\nof two scanty streams present direct openings to the upland holds;\nand these are covered ways--for the brooks contrive to maintain\nas many stately trees and flourishing bushes on their steep and\nimpassable banks, as would do honour to mightier streams. To this\nrural encampment several hundreds resorted weekly to hear their\npastor's instructions; and at their great midsummer Festival of the\nSacrament, several thousands usually assembled, many of them from\ndistant parts, even from Fife and Banff. All around were objects to\ncherish their ancient spirit, and remind them of other days. The\nseat of their bitter persecutor, General Dalzell, was within two\nshort miles--the grave of the cruel Laird of Lagg was visible from\ntheir mount; and in the church-yard of Dumfries, in the moors of\nIrongray, and the moorlands of Nithsdale, were buried, under broad\nand inscribed stones, some of the most renowned of the martyrs. With\ntwo of their preachers I had the pleasure of being acquainted; and I\nhave also heard several of the western professors preach during the\ncontinuance of the sacramental holydays. Of their professors I shall\nendeavour to render some account. I still remember, with reverence,\nthe thin long snowy hair and bald shining crown, and primitive look\nof the patriarchal Farely; and it is impossible I should ever forget\nthe familiar and fervent eloquence of that delightful old pastor.\nTowards the close of his life, which was unusually long, he was\naccused of cheering his decaying spirits with other beverage than\nwhat cold brooks afforded. Of this infirmity I have heard some of\nthe sternest of his flock speak with unlooked-for gentleness; and I\nbelieve none of his fellow-preachers chose to rebuke him for this\nindulgence, from a just dread of his powers for keen dry sarcasm. He\nwas a great favourite with the Cameronian ladies, old and young, and\nhis reputation with them was not at all diminished, by the renown he\nacquired by his ability in inflicting the discipline of his sect on\nfair trespassers.\n\nOf John Curtis, the regular pastor of the flock, I do not remember\nso much as I do of Mr. Farely. He was a man unaffectedly pious,\nrather than eloquent, and was deservedly and warmly beloved. He\nadorned his discourses with that melodious tone which some call the\nCameronian drawl, and which the pious Cowper complained of in the\nConventicles. Each sentence has a kind of starting note; and I can\ndiscover remains of this old puritanical fashion in the eloquence of\nWilberforce and also Lord Milton. It would require some constraint\nin a pious stranger to listen, without an inward smile at least,\nto this continually recurring chorus.--With a gifted preacher it\nis less ungraceful, for he contrives to make it tell in better\ntime than an ordinary man--still it might be spared; but a very\nsensible divine told me, he dared as soon renounce predestination\nas part with the \"twang;\" it was as dear to his flock as the memory\nof Richard Cameron. John Curtis, for he abominated the prelatical\ndesignation of \"Master,\" was not an unfrequent, or unwelcome guest\nat my father's house. His coming was a visitation, for it came over\nour mirth as a cloud. He invariably was invited on week days; Sunday\nwas a day that had higher duties. His coming was the signal for\nseven children, I was one of them, to cease their play and pranks,\nand mix trembling with their mirth. We became as quiet as a brood\nof chickens, over which the hawk is hovering. Even the nuts or\nraisins which filled the pockets of this primitive person, and which\nhe divided among us with many a clap on the head and benediction,\nfailed to inspire confidence.\n\nThe chief revolution in the affairs of the Cameronians of\nDumfriesshire, was effected at the death of John Curtis. They had\nbeen driven by persecution to preach on the mountains, and though\npersecution had ceased, on the mountains they remained. It was\ncertainly a beautiful and impressive sight to see a congregation\nworshipping God on a mountain side or a wild glen; to see the\nupright pulpit-rows of bared, and white, and bald heads decently\nranged around--and more extended ranks of beautiful women and\nactive men drawn up in a regular confusion--the whole listening\nto the eloquence of my old friend Farely. This, with a clear day\nand a bright sun, must make an impression of devotion on the most\nobtuse intellect. But as the mason said of the wise man who sung,\n\"Snow is beautiful in its season,\" \"My certes,\" said he, \"it was\neasy for him, with his lasses and his wine to sing so; had he been\na poor free-stone mason, he would have sung another sang.\" For\nthe weather seemed sometimes to inherit the rancour of the bloody\nClaverhouse, or the renowned chieftain of Lagg, to this persecuted\nrace; and, instead of June giving one of her brightest and balmmiest\ndays for the Sacrament, I have witnessed the heavy rain come down\nsans intermission for four stricken hours, as if ambitious to\nmeasure its mercies by the length of the \"Action Sermon.\" By some\nthis circumstance was hailed as a divine acknowledgment of their\npresence and influence; and after some very dry weather I have\nheard Mr. Farely turn a timely thunder shower to good account, by\napostrophizing the Deity for his kindness to \"this dry barren land.\"\nOn another occasion--the morning was serene during the introductory\ndiscourse, and just as my friend Farely began to administer the\nsacrament, a huge black cloud sailed from the westward, and hung\nheavy and ominous over the congregation. Ere the ladies could raise\ntheir plaids, it descended perpendicular plump down, and the huge\ndrops splashed off the bald crown of the preacher, in a manner that\nKemble would have envied in acting King Lear. A Cameronian with an\numbrella, at that time an unusual thing in the country, arose and\nstretched it over the Professor's head, regardless of himself. At\nthis visible interposition between him and heaven, the preacher\nwas wroth, and said audibly, \"Take the Pope's cap off me,\" and his\nconduct was highly applauded.\n\nTo such a congregation, after the decease of John Curtis, my friend\nof the umbrella made a proposition to have a chapel erected. And\nI question much if a proposal to go to mass would have excited\na stronger commotion--particularly among those whom the measure\nmeant to protect--the old and infirm. He of the umbrella offered\nto subscribe largely himself, and promote the subscription among\nothers, hinting that many of the members of the kirk favoured the\ncause, and would be glad of an opportunity to display it. The\nmotion was well timed too, namely, at the close of one of those\nfour-hours benedictions from a thunder cloud, which had urged\nits way through the broad bonnets and thick plaids of the most\nobstinate believers. I cannot enumerate to you all the bitter and\nbrief exclamations of dismay and indignation which this proposal\nexcited. The decided wrath of one old moorland dame I shall long\nremember, \"Foul fall ye,\" said she, starting up and hurling her\nheavy clasped black print Bible at the proposer's head, \"foul fall\nye, ye deserve to be brained with the word ye hae abused;\" and had\nhe of the umbrella not caught this religious missile, as the Curtal\nfryar's dogs caught the outlaw's arrows, namely, as it flew, he\nmight have been numbered with the martyrs. \"Shall _we_,\" said she,\n\"who were hounded like deer to the mountains, there to worship God\nin fear of evil men, shall _we_, whom he marvellously protected\nthere, doubt his providence, and descend to keep yer coupled\ntimber--yer covered cushions--and yer canopied, fringed, and painted\nprelatical pulpits--and yer walls of hewn stane--far frae me--fit\nplaces are they, not for the word, but for ye ken what;\"--and so\nshe sat down. The more sensible part reflecting, however, that\nthe showers of spring were cold--that the winds of autumn were\nnot always gentle--and that winter indulged them with various and\ndubious blessings, under the resemblance of snows and sleets, and\nsudden thaws, resolved, that the erection of a house of worship was\na justifiable measure; and a house was accordingly built. But the\neloquent dame of the moorlands introduced a salvo, by which the\nsacrament was directed to be administered in the open air, and so it\nstill continues.\n\nThe religious festival of the sacrament is commenced after due\nprivate preparation by prayers of unwonted length, and the lonely\nbroomy hollow where it is held, exhibits on Sabbath morn to a\nstranger a grand and solemn spectacle.\n\nThe last time I was present at this meeting I was invited to\nbreakfast at the house of a respectable and recently converted\nmember of the \"Broken Remnant,\" a warm-hearted weaver, a man of\nrare conversation--ready wit, and cutting dry sarcasm. He was also\nas much celebrated for his poetry as the unrivalled productions of\nhis loom. His birds-eye, his barley-pickle, his lowland plaiden,\nand fine linen, were the theme of praise among the young maids in\ndanger of being married--and to their praise I add mine. I have\nproved his hospitality, and proved the labours of his loom. I sat\ndown to an ample breakfast with this Cameronian worthy--his wife\nlively always, and once handsome--his two sons, inheriting their\nfather's powers even to overflowing, and a solemn browed Cameronian\nfrom the borders of the moorlands. This family auxiliary undertook\nto pronounce a blessing on our good cheer; a serious trial of my\npatience and appetite. I endured his sermon for many minutes; it\nwas in its nature controversial. He touched on the adventure at\nDrumclog, and addressed Providence in strong and familiar term\nanent the disaster at Bothwell Brig. I looked piteous but resigned,\nand the good housewife poured forth the tea. But then there came\nheadings and hangings, and finings and confinings, and sad travels\nand sore tortures. The goodwife placed a plate of smoking savoury\ncake before him, but he was not to be tempted; he threw a passing\ncurse or two on patronage, still he was distant from our day\nhalf a century at least. I looked with an imploring eye, and my\nentertainer closed his; but I could see by the sarcastic curl at\nthe corners of his mouth that he was inwardly enjoying my misery.\nOnce I stretched my hand, for I had half a mind, like the renowned\nand impatient good man of Drumbreg, on a time of similar trial, to\nseize my cup with a cry of \"Ye have done brawly man,\" and cut short\nall explanation by falling to. I endured it to an end however,\nand an excellent breakfast enabled me to endure the infliction of\na \"return thanks,\" eminently curious and controversial. We then\nsallied forth to the preaching--the pastor had already commenced; it\nmight be half past 9 o'clock. I was struck with the magnitude and\nrepose of the congregation. Besides the sodded seats which held the\noldest and most respectable members, the broom then, I think, in\nfull bloom, with all its perfume about it, was bent down for many\nacres to form rural seats to Cameronian dames, and dames indeed of\nall persuasions.--There were many dressed in the latest fashion; the\nold simple mode of dress however prevailed. Though all shewed deep\nsymptoms of devotion, and many of awe, the young women by no means\nconfined their eyes, and many had bright ones, to the contemplation\nof the preacher. This festival always attracts an immense\nmultitude, and though the Cameronians are the only communicants,\nall sects and denominations of Presbyterians crowd to the place,\nand occupy the vacant ground. I saw many of the Cameronians with\nwhom I had a personal acquaintance, and a silent squeeze of the\nhand, or an acknowledgment, an austere one, of the eye, was all\nthe recognition to be obtained. The list of offences and sects\nexcluded from communication is extensive and curious--they call it\n\"debarring\"--Socinians, Arminians, Unitarians, Episcopalians, false\nteachers, promiscuous dancers, and playhouse frequenters. I cannot\ninflict the whole of this tremendous catalogue upon you. One prudent\nand warning exclusion I cannot omit to mention, namely, that of all\nwives who disobey their husbands.\n\nIn the green hedge-row lane, leading to the tent of the preacher,\nvarious stalls were established by persons who thought--as godliness\nwas great gain, great gain was godliness. Here refreshments of all\nkinds, particularly liquid consolation, abounded, and one tent,\nrivalling in dimensions the tabernacle of the preacher, looked\npresumptuously down from the very crest of the hill on its more\ndevout neighbour below. Here the owner of a neighbouring public\nhouse had established himself, and into this canvass mansion, in a\nmoment of weakness, I was tempted to enter. I had sundry reasons\nfor this piece of backsliding;--first, I had become wearied with\nthe unexampled length and tediousness of the before-mentioned\nfour hour's sermon; secondly, I was desirous to partake of either\nRam-Jam, Mid-Row, or Pinkie, three denominations of ale, for which\nthe landlord was become deservedly famous, and in the brewing of\nwhich, weak nerves, as well as a good head, had been doubtlessly\nconsulted--and; thirdly and lastly, a dark-eyed damsel from the\nmountains wished for my private opinion anent the sinfulness of\ndancing, and to instruct me in a near road over the hills to her\nfather's house, which stood in a remote glen on the stream of Ae.\nWhile deeply employed in taking a chart of this desart path, I\ncould not avoid remarking with what particular gravity all were\ndrinking, and many getting drunk. Consolation had been poured forth\nin no stinted tide, for a huge wall of empty vessels flanked the\nentrance. The proprietor of this house of call for the thirsty, was\na ruddy carroty-headed rustic, who had contrived to draw down his\ncheeks for the occasion, in a manner unusually solemn. He sat apart\nbusied, or apparently busied, with that chief of all sage books, the\nYoung Man's Best Companion; while his daughter, as active a girl as\never chalked a score to a thirsty man, managed the business. But\nhis mind had wandered into a long and studious calculation of the\nprobable profit in his fermentations, and the Book, which was only\nput there as a decoy to the godly, was neglected. I contrived to\nwithdraw it unperceived from before him, and for this feat I was\nrewarded by a grim smile from a broad bonneted son of Cameron, and a\nsnuff from a tuphorn with a silver lid.\n\nOn returning to the meeting, the stars were beginning to glimmer,\namongst the thin mist of the summer evening, and I could see\ngroupes, already at some distance, of the spectators retiring\nhome. Far differently demeaned themselves the pious remnant. They\ncrowded round their preacher's tent after the repose of a brief\nintermission, and I left them enjoying a mysterious lecture on\nPermission, Predestination, Free Grace, The Elect, and Effectual\nCalling.\n\nI am now, and I say it with sorrow, far removed from the society\nof those exemplary and pious people; and I heard, I confess, with\nsomething of an old Cameronian spirit and regret, that a proposition\nhas been made to remove the meeting house into the neighbouring town\nof Dumfries. Of my old favourites, few I understand survive, and\nyear after year lessens the number of those devout men who regularly\npassed my father's window on the Sabbath morn. Mr. Farely has\nlong since been numbered with the blessed--and Jean Robson, a very\nsingular and devout character, has also rested from her labour of\ninstructing the youth of the Cameronians. She taught the writer of\nthis imperfect account to read--the Bible, and the famed Prophecies\nof Alexander Peden. She tore the leaf from the Bible which said,\n\"James, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith,\" and denounced\nthe name of _Sunday_ as Popish, or what was worse, Prelatical, and\ncaused us all to call it the Sabbath. She died 83 years old. She\nused to flog her scholars, and exclaim,--\"Thou art an evil one--a\nworker of iniquity,\" while the tawse and tongue kept time and told\nsharply.\n\nThe Cameronians make few converts--few people are fond of inflicting\non themselves willingly the penance of controversial prayers and\ninterminable sermons. There is a falling off in the amount of the\nflock.--My friend, the weaver, became a convert from conviction.\nAnother of the converts joined the cause in the decline of life,\nnot without suspicion of discontent, because his gifts had been\noverlooked by the minister of the parish kirk, in a recent\nnomination of elders. He was fond of argument, and seemed not\nunwilling to admit the potent auxiliaries of sword and gun on behalf\nof the cause. On one occasion, he grew wroth with the ready wit of a\nneighbouring peasant, on the great litigated point of patronage--and\nseizing the readiest weapon of his wrath, a hazel hoop--for he was\na cooper--exclaimed, \"Reviler--retire--else I'll make your head\nsaft with this rung.\" On another time, he became exasperated at the\nirreverent termination of an epigram on a tippling blacksmith, which\nwas attributed to Burns, who then resided within sight--at Elisland.\n\n                On the last day,\n    When sober men to judgment rise,\n      Go drunken dog, lie still incog.\n    And dinna stir if ye be wise.\n\nThe honest Covenanter, after three days and three nights meditation,\nbrought forth his expostulation with the mighty bard of Caledonia.\nIt commenced thus--\n\n    Robert Burns ye were nae wise\n    To gie to Rodds sic an advice.\n\nIt has lost all its attraction since the voice of its author is\nmute, for who can repeat it as he did--the pithy preliminary\nremarks on the great poet's morals--the short Cameronian cough--the\nmelodious trail of the tongue--and the frequent intrusion of\nexplanatory notes, which the uninspired could not always distinguish\nfrom the poem itself, all these things are departed and passed\naway, and the verses sleep as quietly as the dust of the poet. Two\nother occasional converts scarcely deserve notice--one of them was\nsaved from thorough conviction by the well-timed exaltation to a\nneighbouring precentorship, and the other has returned to his seat\nin the kirk, since the dark-eyed daughter of an adjacent Cameronian\ngave her hand, and it was a white one, to one of the chosen who was\nlaird of an acre of peat-moss--and I have not heard of any other\ndamsel of the covenant having caused him to relapse.\n\n\n\n\nSHEPHERD'S DOG.\n\n(From the London Sportsman's Cabinet.)\n\n\nThis dog is the most timid, obedient, placid, serene and grateful\nin the creation. He seems studiously conscious of the purposes\nfor which he was formed, and is never so perceptibly gratified,\nas when affording the most incessant proofs of his unsullied\nintegrity.--Instinctively prone to industry, he is alive to the\nslightest sensation of his employer, and would rather double and\ntreble the watch line of circumspection, than be seen indulging\nin a state of neglectful indolence.--The breed is propagated and\npreserved with the greatest respect to purity in the northern parts\nof the kingdom of England, as well as in the highlands of Scotland,\nwhere, in the extensive tracts and uncultivated wilds, their\nservices exceed description.\n\nConstitutionally calm, patient, and philosophic, the sheep dog seems\ntotally lost to every appearance of novelty, and insensible to every\nattraction beyond the protection and indefatigable preservation of\nthe flock committed to his charge.--In the most sequestered and\nremote spots, dreary wilds and lofty mountains, almost inaccessible\nto man, this dog becomes an incredible and trusty substitute; for\nonce initiated in the ground-work of his office, he soon acquires\na perfect knowledge of the extent of his walk, as well as every\nindividual of his flock: and will as regularly select his own, and\ndisperse intruders, as the most faithful and attentive shepherd in\nexistence. This becomes the more extraordinary to the contemplative\nmind, when it is recollected what immense flocks are seen to cover\nthe downy hills of Hants and Wilts, as far as the eye can reach,\nwithout control; and to know that by a single signal from the\nshepherd, this faithful, sagacious animal, replete with energy,\nvigilance, and activity, will make his circle, so as to surround a\nflock of hundreds, and bring them within any compass that may be\nrequired.\n\nThe sheep dog is so completely absorbed in what seems to be the\nsole business and employment of his life, that he does not bestow\na look, or indulge a wish, beyond the constant protection of the\ntrust reposed in him, and to execute the commands of his master;\nwhich he is always incessantly anxious to receive, and in fact is\ninvariably looking for by every solicitous attention it is possible\nto conceive.--Inured to all weathers, fatigue and hunger, he is the\nleast voracious of the species, subsists upon little, and may be\njustly considered truly emblematic of content. Though there is the\nappearance of a somniferous indolence in the exterior, it is by no\nmeans a constitutional mark of habitual inability; on the contrary,\nthe sagacity, fidelity, and comprehensive penetration of this kind\nof dog, is equal to any other, but that there is a thoughtful or\nexpressive gravity annexed to this particular race, as if they were\nabsolutely conscious of their own utility in business of importance,\nand the value of the stock so confidently committed to their care.\n\nAmidst the infinity of cases so constantly issuing from the press,\nin which proofs almost incredible are authentically adduced of the\ncourage, sagacity, fidelity, gratitude, and self-denial of different\nkinds of dogs, many are to be found appertaining to this particular\nrace; if they are not so numerous as some other sorts, it may be\nfairly attributed to the little proportional chance they have (from\ntheir remote and sequestered employment) of displaying those powers\nin an equal degree with dogs more engaged in the bustle of human\nsociety.\n\nDr. Anderson (in his translation from Dr. Pallas) introduces the\nfollowing instance of sagacity in a shepherd's dog, which he\nconsiders truly astonishing; and it will create no surprise with\nthose who are in the least acquainted with their perfections.\n\n\"The owner himself having been hanged some years ago for sheep\nstealing, the following fact, among others, respecting the dog, was\nauthenticated by evidence upon his trial. When the man intended to\nsteal any sheep, he did not do it himself, but detached his dog to\nperform the business. With this view, under pretence of looking at\nthe sheep with an intention to purchase them, he went through the\nflock with the dog at his feet, to whom he secretly gave a signal,\nso as to let him know the individuals he wanted, to the number of\nten or twenty, out of a flock of some hundreds; he then went away,\nand at a distance of several miles sent back the dog by himself\nin the night time, who picked out the individual sheep that had\nbeen pointed out to him, separated them from the flock, and drove\nthem before him by himself, till overtaking his master, to whom he\nrelinquished them.\"\n\nThe shepherd's dog rather shuns than seems anxious to obtain the\ncaresses of strangers, of whom he always appears to be shy and\nsuspicious; it being remarkable, that when refreshing upon a journey\nwith the flock, he seldom reposes but close to the feet or body\nof his master; who well knows if he but deposits his coat or his\nwallet, and gives the animal the accustomed signal; when the sheep\nare at pasture, he may absent himself for hours, and at his return\nfind the whole as safe and regular as if it had been under his own\ninspection. Although it is already observed, these dogs afford no\nevident external proof of quick conception, or rapid execution\n(except in all matters relative to the flock, to which their every\nfaculty appertains) yet their sagacity and fidelity is found equal\nto every other branch of the species, when necessarily brought into\nuseful action.\n\n\"In the month of February, 1795, as Mr. Boulstead's son, of Great\nSalkeld, in Cumberland, was attending the sheep of his father upon\nGreat Salkeld's common, he had the misfortune to fall and break\nhis leg.--He was then at the distance of three miles from home,\nno chance of any person's coming, in so unfrequented a place,\nwithin call, and evening very fast approaching: in this dreadful\ndilemma, suffering extreme pain from the fracture, and laying upon\nthe damp ground at so dreary a season of the year, his agitated\nspirit suggested to him the following expedient: Folding one of his\ngloves in his pocket handkerchief, he fastened it round the neck of\nthe dog, and rather emphatically ordered him \"home.\"--These dogs,\ntrained so admirably to orders and signals during their attendance\nupon the flock, are well known to be under the most minute\nsubjection, and to execute the commands of their masters with an\nalacrity scarcely to be conceived.\n\nPerfectly convinced of some inexplicable disquietude from the\nsituation in which his master lay, he set off at a pace, which soon\nbrought him to the house, where he scratched with great violence\nat the door for immediate admittance. This obtained, the parents\nwere in the utmost alarm and consternation at his appearance, but\nmore particularly when they had examined the handkerchief and its\ncontents. Instantly concluding beyond a doubt, that some accident\nhad befallen their son, they did not delay a moment going in\nsearch of him; and the dog, apparently conscious the principal\npart of his duty was yet to be performed, anxiously led the way\nand conducted the agitated parents to the spot where their son lay\noverwhelmed with pain, increased by the awful uncertainty of his\nsituation.--Happily this was effected just at the close of day, when\nbeing immediately removed, and the necessary assistance procured,\nhe soon recovered, and was never more pleasingly engaged than when\nreciting the sagacity and gratitude of his faithful follower, who\nthen became his constant companion.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe instances of intelligence in the shepherd's dog are recorded\nin all books treating of the manners and habits of the dog tribe.\nOne more may be mentioned from a recent publication. It is given\nfor the purpose of stimulating the American farmer to possess\nhimself of one of the breed as soon as possible.--Speaking of the\n\"Currack of Kildare,\" the author says, \"The commonage is stocked\nby a prescriptive proportion, attached to the adjacent farms:\nevery sheep owner has a particular raddled mark; the shepherd's\ndogs are so trained, that if a sheep, with a strange mark, comes\non his master's front, the dog will single him out and worry him\noff.\"--See Statistical Survey of the County of Kildare, by T. J.\nRawson, Dublin, 1807. p. 121.\n\n  J. M.\n\n\n\n\n_The new steam ship Robert Fulton._--This ship is intended to ply as\na regular packet between New York and New Orleans. She is said to\nbe, in every respect, one of the finest vessels ever built in that\ncity. A communication in the Gazette gives the following description\nof this beautiful vessel:\n\n\"This ship is a splendid piece of naval architecture--the most\nperfect model I ever beheld, and does great credit to her builder,\nMr. Eckford. She is upwards of 750 tons, of a very great length,\nrigged with lug sails; has three kelsons, (the centre one large\nenough for a ship of the line,) together with bilge ways, and the\nwhole secured and bolted in a very extraordinary manner, perhaps the\nmost so of any vessel ever built. Her frame timber and plank are\nof live oak, locust, cedar, and southern pine, copper bolted and\ncoppered.\n\n\"She will afford accommodation for more than 200 persons, is fitted\nup with high and airy state rooms, thoroughly ventilated by means of\nsky lights the whole length of the cabin, which is very extensive.\nHer after cabin is neatly arranged for the accommodation of ladies,\nand separated by means of folding doors, in the modern style. She\nhas also a range of births fore and aft, together with a commodious\nfore cabin. And what adds to the greatest comfort and security of\nall, her engine and other machinery are completely insulated and\nunconnected, as it were, with the other part of the ship. In the\ncentre, lengthwise, is a kind of well-hole, or square trunk, made\nboth fire and water proof; no possible accident, therefore, by the\nbursting of the boiler, can reach either of the cabins. This trunk\nor well-hole being enclosed by very thick plank, caulked and leaded,\nmay be inundated with water at pleasure, without any inconvenience\nto the passengers.\n\n\"The furnace is also completely surrounded by the continuation of\nthe boiler, so that no part of the fire can ever come in contact\nwith the wood. There is a space of about 9 or 10 inches filled in\nwith materials, non-conductors of heat, which answer the double\npurpose of excluding the heat from the cabin, and at the same time\ndeadening the disagreeable noise of the engine. She is also provided\nwith a leather hose, similar to those used by our fire engine\ncompanies in this city, which will enable the hot or cold water to\nbe conveyed to any part of the ship, and furnishing at the same time\nthe great conveniency to the passengers of a warm or cold bath, at\npleasure. Her engine was constructed by Mr. Allaire, and is supposed\nto be the most powerful and most exact piece of workmanship ever\nturned out in this country; and her boiler is said to be the largest\never known to have been made in this or any other country. Take her\nall in all, she certainly presents a spectacle altogether _unique_.\"\n\n\n\n\nMISCELLANY.\n\n\n_Public Lands._--The highly important bill, for changing the mode\nof disposing of Public Lands, so that hereafter they shall be\noffered for sale in half quarter sections, the minimum price to be\none dollar and twenty-five cents, and all to be paid in cash, has\n_passed both Houses of Congress_, by great majorities, and now wants\nonly the signature of the President to become a law.--This bill is\nto take effect from the 1st of June next.\n\nFrom a late London paper it appears, that a new and easy method has\nlately been discovered, in England, of preventing the destruction of\nthe young turnip plants by the fly, and for which the discoverer was\nrewarded with 200 guineas. It is merely to sow about 2 _lbs._ of\nradish seed on every acre of turnip land, with the turnip seed; the\nfly, preferring to feed on the radish plants, will, in such case,\nleave the turnip plants unmolested.\n\nOne of the most effectual methods of preventing the ascent of\ninsects on fruit trees, in the spring, is to draw a streak of tar\nround the body of the tree; but the surface of this soon becomes\nincrusted by the warmth of the atmosphere, and then the insects are\nenabled to pass this barrier. To remedy this, mix a proportion of\noil with the tar, which will prevent the hardening of the exterior\nfor a considerable length of time; and when the effects of the oil\nare dissipated, let the exterior be again softened with oil.--This\nplan is certainly one of the most efficacious for preventing insects\nfrom ascending the bodies of fruit trees.\n\n_The scab in sheep._--The shepherds, in Spain, cure this disease\nwith an ointment made of the trunk and roots of the juniper, by\nbreaking them in small pieces, and infusing them in water. The sheep\nof this country are, however, but little liable to the scab.\n\nIt is a fact well ascertained, that when apple trees are in bloom,\nif the _farina_ be gathered from the blossoms of a tree bearing\nsour fruit, and scattered on those of a tree bearing sweet, the\napples produced from these blossoms will partake of the flavour of\nboth trees. In this way the flavour of fruit may be changed for the\nbetter--a matter worthy of note, though perhaps not very profitable\nin practice.\n\nFrom Munich, Germany, we learn that Dr Vogel has announced the\nimportant discovery, that sulphuric acid, diluted with a certain\nproportion of water, and then applied to saw dust, to old linen,\nto paper, &c. will change these substances into gum and saccharine\nmatter. M. Chaptal, somewhere in his book on chymistry, has ventured\nto offer his opinion, very modestly however, that even the chemical\nart of making gold (the great secret of the philosopher's stone)\nwill yet be discovered--that chymists will yet be convinced that\nall matter is the same, only different modifications.\n\n_Calculation of the Period of a Second Deluge._--According to the\ncalculations of the learned astronomer of Bremen, M. Olbers, after\na lapse of 83,000 years, a comet will approach to the earth in the\nsame proximity as the moon; after 4,000,000 years it will approach\nto the distance of 7,700 geographical miles, and then, if its\nattraction equals that of the earth, the waters of the ocean will be\nelevated 13,000 feet, and a deluge will necessarily ensue! after a\nlapse of 220,000,000 years, it will clash with the earth.\n\nDuring the late inundation of the Rhine, a hare, dislodged by the\nwater took refuge in a tree. One of the boatmen who were traversing\nthe inundated country, in canoes, to pick up the sufferers, observed\nthe hare, steered for the tree, and without making his boat fast,\nclimbed hastily up to seize the poor animal. The hare perceiving his\ndanger, sprang from the tree into the boat, which was put in motion\nby the leap of the hare, and floated down the stream, leaving the\nboatman in his place upon the tree, in the disagreeable necessity of\nwatching the rise of the waters.\n\nThe Rhetorical Society at Cortryk, in the Netherlands, has lately\noffered a gold, and a silver medal, as a prize for a poem of 100\nlines, and an epitaph of 12 lines, upon Kotzebue.\n\nFrom a London paper we have the following advertisement--A _new\nspecies of man_. Among the wonders of nature none have exceeded this\nextraordinary phenomenon--a man covered with scales, that rattle\nat the touch, is now in exhibition at the public rooms, 23, Bond\nStreet. Physicians and natural philosophers will find an extensive\nfield open for their inquiries.\n\nBy another of a late date it appears, that in Dublin a _steam coach_\nis advertised to commence running between that city and Belfast, on\nthe 1st Feb. and is to run from one city to the other, and return\nevery day. It is calculated to run at the rate of about 13 Irish\n(equal to about 20 English) miles an hour. It is to carry the mail\nbetween the two cities. It is calculated that it will be found a\nsafer mode of conveyance for passengers than carriages drawn by\nhorses. The whole weight of the carnage and apparatus is estimated\nat about 4 tons.\n\n_Fires._--A letter from St. Thomas, of the 2d March, mentions that\nthe whole city of Ponce, in Porto Rico, with the exception of one\nchurch, was destroyed by fire on the 27th of the preceding month. On\nthe 1st of January last, a fire broke out at Smyrna, which consumed\n1500 buildings. On the night of the 2d March, a spacious hotel in\nLexington, (Ken) was consumed--loss estimated at 40,000 dollars.\n\nFrom Pittsburg, it appears that a part of the vast beds of coal\nin the hills surrounding that place, has been on fire for about\n25 years past; that the fire has, until lately, remained in a\nsmouldering state, but has at length got vent, and that during the\nnight it now exhibits the appearance of flame like a volcano. It\nis apprehended that much of the valuable material of coal, in the\nvicinity of that place, will probably be consumed before the fire\nwill become extinguished.\n\nAt Canton, the imports from the U. States, for the last season, are\nstated at 7,414,000 dollars, in specie, and 2,693,011 dollars, in\nmerchandize; exceeding that of the English Company three or four\nmillions.\n\nCongress have passed a law for taking another census of the United\nStates. The enumeration to commence on the first Monday of August\nnext, and to be completed in six months thereafter. Accounts of\nmanufacturing establishments, and of the numbers is employed\ntherein, are to be duly noted.\n\n_A Check to Intemperance._--The select men in Bedford, (Mass.)\nhave posted up, at the tavern in the town, a list of the names of\npersons notoriously addicted to drunkenness, and forbidden the sale\nof liquor to them, under penalty of the laws of that state against\nintemperate drinking.\n\nThe steam-boat Swift, rigged as a brig, is to depart from New York,\n_for Rio de Janeiro_, on the 5th of May--is now advertising for\nfreight and passengers.\n\nThe grand jury of Putnam county, (Geo.) lately presented, as a\ngrievance existing there, (and probably not less there than in\nmany places elsewhere) the practice, indulged in by the bar of\nvillifying, without sufficient cause, the characters of suitors and\nwitnesses. They request the aid of the court in discountenancing\ninsolence of this kind.\n\nFrom a late Petersburgh, (Va.) paper, we have the following account\nof part of the remains of the formidable confederate tribes of\nIndians, found in Virginia when Sir Walter Raleigh first ascended\nSt. James' river, at the head of which confederacy was Powhattan,\nthe father of the celebrated Pocahontas. These remains are a few of\nthe tribes of the Nottoways, to which tribe Powhattan belonged, the\nPanunkies and a few of the Mattahonies. Of the Nottoways, says the\naccount, only 27 now remain, at the head of which is a woman, styled\ntheir queen, of the name of Edie Turner, of the age of about 60, and\nsaid to be quite intelligent, though illiterate. She is comfortably\nsituated in a cottage, with the necessaries of life about her, and\nher share of the lands, (about 7000 acres, on Nottoway river,)\ntolerably well cultivated. The language of her tribe is only spoken\nby her and two others. It is said to be of Celtic origin, and as\nharmonious and expressive as the Erse, Irish, or Welch.\n\n_'Benefit of Clergy.'_--Paper was not made earlier than the\nfourteenth century--and printing in the century following. The art\nof reading made a very slow progress. To encourage it in England,\nthe capital punishment of death was remitted if the criminal could\nread, which is termed 'Benefit of Clergy.' Yet so small an edition\nof the Bible as 600 copies translated into English in the time of\nHenry VIII. was not wholly sold off in three years.\n\n_Nug\u00e6 Antiqu\u00e6._--Before A. D. 1545, ships of war in England had no\nport-holes for guns; they had only a few cannon placed on the deck.\n\nThere is no mention of writing in the time of Homer. Ciphers,\ninvented in Hindoostan, were brought into France from Arabia about\nthe end of the tenth century.\n\n_Respiration in Frogs._--It appears from a series of curious\nexperiments, performed by M. Edwards, that frogs, toads, and\nlizards, are preserved alive and in health under water for weeks, by\nmeans of the air contained in the water, which they abstract, not by\nthe lungs but by the skin.\n\n_Chinese Alphabet._--The Chinese have 11,000 letters in use, and in\nmaters of science they employ 60,000, but their articulate sounds do\nnot exceed thirty.\n\n_Method of rendering Glass less brittle._--Let the glass vessel\nbe put into a vessel of cold water, and let this water be heated\nboiling hot, and then allowed to cool slowly of itself, without\ntaking out the glass. Glasses treated in this way may, while cold,\nbe suddenly filled with boiling hot water without any risk of their\ncracking. The gentleman who communicates the method, says, that he\nhas often cooled such glasses to the temperature of 10\u00b0, and poured\nboiling water in them without experiencing any inconvenience from\nthe suddenness of the change. If the glasses are to be exposed to a\nhigher temperature than that of boiling water, boil them in oil.\n\n\n\n\nPOULTRY.\n\nFrom the European Magazine.\n\n\nSIR--As the following account, together with the few observations\nI have made on the management and feeding of fowls, may prove\nacceptable, and afford some useful hints to many among the numerous\nreaders of your entertaining and widely-circulated miscellany, you\nwill oblige me by giving them a place in your work.\n\nI procured two pullets of the black Spanish kind, which were\nhatched in June, 1818, and fed them constantly myself twice a day,\nalternating their food, that is, I gave them corn in the morning,\nand in the afternoon boiled potatoes mixed with _fresh_ bran, but\nI never allowed them to take a _full meal_ of corn. They had a\nsmall orchard to range in, where, in the course of the day, they\noccasionally picked up worms and other insects; and, I have observed\nthat poultry of all kinds eagerly seek for animal food even after\nthey have satiated themselves with corn: indeed, I conceive a\nportion of animal food essentially requisite to preserve them in a\nhealthy state.\n\nThe above-mentioned pullets began to lay about the middle of\nNovember, and continued to do so till within the last ten days,\nwhen they began to moult their feathers, having produced _three\nhundred and sixty-seven eggs much larger and finer than those of the\ncommon fowl_. Seven eggs weigh 1 pound avoirdupois, so that I have\nbeen furnished with the astonishing weight of more than 53 pounds\nof nutritious and wholesome food from _two hens_. They were never\n_broody_, nor shewed a disposition to sit at any time during the\nwhole season, and I understand this property is peculiar to this\nspecies of fowl: it is, however, an advantage than otherwise, as the\ncommon kinds can incubate their eggs, and foster their young.\n\n  G. C. JENNER.\n\n  _October 14th, 1819._\n\n\n\n\n_Ancient Advice to Parents._\n\nTEACH CHILDREN\n\n  Obedience, }  and they shall  {bless thee.\n  Modesty,   }                  {not be ashamed.\n  Gratitude, }                  { receive benefits.\n  Charity,   }                  {gain love.\n  Temperance,}                  {have wealth.\n\n  Prudence,  }        and       {Fortune will attend\n                                {them.\n  Justice,   }                  {they will be honoured\n                                {by the world.\n\n  Sincerity,   }                {own hearts will not\n                                {reproach them.\n  Diligence,   }    and their   {Wealth will increase.\n  Benevolence, }                {Minds will be exalted.\n  Science,     }                {Lives will be useful.\n  Religion,    }                {Death will be happy.\n\n\n\n\n_Comfortable Discovery._--\"Laugh and grow fat\" was the grand ancient\nspecific for long life--\"every sigh and groan drove a nail into\nour coffins,\" whilst a contrary excitation of the risible organs\ndrew one out.--Truly every generation groweth wiser, and we may\nlive to witness ocular proofs that pain is merely an alleviator of\nindigestion, and the repudiation of a limb, under the doctor's saw,\na pleasant and exhilarating morning exercise; in short, what may we\nnot expect after reading the following:\n\nA French surgeon has published a long dissertation on the beneficial\ninfluence of groaning and crying on the nervous system. He contends\nthat groaning and crying are the two grand operations by which\nnature allays anguish; and that he has uniformly observed, that\nthose patients who give way to their natural feelings, more speedily\nrecover from accidents and operations, than those who suppose that\nit is unworthy a man to betray such symptoms of cowardice as either\nto groan or to cry. He is always pleased by the crying and violent\nroaring of a patient during the time he is undergoing a surgical\noperation, because he is satisfied that he will thereby so sooth\nhis nervous system, as to prevent fever and ensure a favourable\ntermination.--From the benefit hysterical and other nervous patients\nderive from crying or groaning, he supposes that \"by these\nprocesses of nature,\" the superabundant nervous power is exhausted,\nand that the system is in consequence rendered calm, and even the\ncirculation of the blood diminished. He relates a case of a man,\nwho, by means of crying and bawling, reduced his pulse from 120\nto 60 in the course of two hours. That some patients often have a\ngreat satisfaction in groaning, and that hysterical patients often\nexperience great relief from crying, are facts which no person will\ndeny.\n\nAs to the restless hypochondriacal subjects, or those who are never\nhappy but when they are under some course of medical or dietetic\ntreatment, the French surgeon assures them that they cannot do\nbetter than groan all night and cry all day. By following this rule,\nand observing an abstemious diet, a person will effectually escape\ndisease, and may prolong life to an incredible extent.\n\n\n\n\n_Oats 1000 years old._--In the highest point of a field, a mile\nsouth from Forfar, Scotland, there was a druids' place of worship,\nconsisting of a circle of large stones, with one (the largest)\nin the middle. The field was fallowed last year, and this temple\ntrenched, from which a very great quantity of stones were turned\nup. Nothing particular, however, appeared, except a few bones that\nwent to dust. The field this year was sown with barley, and this\ntrenched part with the rest: so far as this trench extended, there\nare considerable quantities of oats, of various kinds, sprung up\namong the barley, the seeds of which must have remained there more\nthan 1000 years. Without the trenched ground there is not a head of\noats to be seen. Orders have been given to preserve these oat plants.\n\n\n\n\n_State of the Rain Guage in Philadelphia._\n\n\n  January,       1 inch 40-1/100\n  February,      2      68\n  March,         5      70\n\n_Longevity._--In the parish of Acton, Middlesex, still exist the\nlineal posterity of the famous Bishop Cranmer, who was burnt at the\nstake by order of Queen Mary, nearly 300 years ago. One of them, an\nold lady, named Whytell, has completed her 112th year, and retains\nher intellectual and bodily faculties to a surprising extent.\n\n\n\n\n_West's Painting._--The Earl of Egremont has purchased the\ncelebrated easel study of \"_Death upon the Pale Horse_;\" painted by\nMr. WEST; one of the most sublime productions of modern art.\n\n\n\n\nMARRIED,\n\n\nIn Hebron, Connecticut, the celebrated LORENZO DOW, to Miss LUCY\nDOALBEAR, of Montville.\n\nAt Harrisburg, Dr. PHINEAS JENKS, a member of the House of\nRepresentatives, from Bucks County, to Miss AMELIA, only daughter of\nthe late governor Snyder.\n\n_Deaf and Dumb Marriage._--Nov. 20, 1819, a singular marriage was\nsolemnized at Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, between Joshua Barker\nand Mary Moorehouse. The man being deaf and dumb, could not repeat\nthe necessary forms of the marriage ceremony; but this difficulty\nwas obviated in an ingenious manner; as he was able to read, the\nbook was presented to him, and he traced the words over with his\nfinger.\n\n\n\n\nDIED,\n\n\nOn the 4th instant, in Tewksbury, near New Germantown, (N. J.)\nFREDERICK PICKLE, aged 100 years. When he was 94 years of age, he\ncut with a cradle 500 sheaves of rye in a day. At 97 he went into\nthe woods and split 100 chesnut rails in less than a day. He was\nregular and temperate in his habits, and enjoyed good health until\nwithin about a year before his death. His widow is 90, and they have\nlived in the marriage state 70 years.\n\n\n\n\nTIME.\n\n    I saw him hasting on his way,\n      And mark'd his lightning flight,\n    Where'er he mov'd, there stern decay\n      Spread its destructive blight.\n    Rapid the gloomy phantom hied,\n      Envelop'd in the storm--\n    His eyes shone out in sullen pride,\n      And fearful was his form.\n\n    I saw him grasp the Warrior's wreath,\n      Won in the gory fray--\n    The laurel withering sunk in death,\n      Its beauty fled away,\n    That wreath was stained with bloody dew,\n      Unhallowed was its bloom--\n    It met the phantom's chilling view,\n      And bow'd beneath its gloom.\n\n    I saw him pass by Beauty's bower,\n      And listen to her lay;\n    Around the spot was many a flower\n      Blooming its summer day;\n    With icy heart the spectre came,\n      Her lovely form compress'd;\n    She met his lurid eye of flame--\n      The tombstone tells the rest.\n\n    On Youth's warm brow his hand he prest,\n      'Twas cold as mouldering clay--\n    He laid his hand on Manhood's breast,\n      The life-pulse ceas'd to play.\n    His fell siroc o'er Nature passed,\n      And low she drooped her head--\n    Her blossoms withered in the blast,\n      And all her verdure fled.\n\n  FLORIO.\n\n  [_Hudson Whig._\n\n\n\n\nWINTER EVENING'S AMUSEMENT FOR JANE AND ME.\n\n    In summer days I till the ground,\n      And tug and toil and get my bread--\n    No interval can there be found,\n      Between my labour and my bed,\n        My wife declines to knit by night,\n        And I to read by candle-light.\n\n    But when the south receives the sun\n      Beyond the equinoctial line--\n    When all my summer work is done\n      Substantial pleasures then are mine,\n        Then Jane begins to knit at night,\n        And I to read by candle-light.\n\n    I'm then content, and never sigh,\n      Nor fly from home some bliss to find;\n    And Jane is pleased as well as I,\n      It so completely feasts her mind,\n        To sit her down to knit by night,\n        And hear me read by candle-light.\n\n    For when I read she always hears,\n      And what she hears, she tries to scan;\n    When ought to her obscure appears,\n      Then I explain it if I can,\n        O how she loves to knit by night\n        And hear me read by candle-light!\n\n    But when she drops a stitch, and gapes,\n      Soon gapes again, and nods her head,\n    I close my book, and say, perhaps\n      'Tis time, my dear, to go to bed--\n        So knit again to-morrow night,\n        And hear me read by candle-light.\n\n  [_Olive Branch._\n\n\n\n\nYOUTH AND OLD AGE.\n\n    Days of my youth! ye have glided away;\n    Hairs of my youth! ye are frosted and gray;\n    Eyes of my youth! your keen sight is no more\n    Cheeks of my youth! ye are furrow'd all o'er;\n    Strength of my youth! all your vigour is gone;\n    Thoughts of my youth! your gay visions are flown.\n\n    Days of my youth! I wish not your recal;\n    Hairs of my youth! I'm content you should fall;\n    Eyes of my youth! ye much evil have seen;\n    Cheeks of my youth! bathed in tears have ye been;\n    Strength of my youth! why lament your decay;\n    Thoughts of my youth! ye have led me astray;\n\n    Days of my age! ye will shortly be past;\n    Pains of my age! yet awhile ye can last;\n    Joys of my age! in true wisdom delight;\n    Eyes of my age! be religion your light;\n    Thoughts of my age! dread ye not the cold sod;\n    Hopes of my age! be ye fixed on your God!\n\n\n\n\nCURE FOR TROUBLE.\n\nBY S. OSBORNE.\n\n    Ben Brisk a philosopher was,\n      In the genuine sense of the word;\n    And he held that repining, whatever the cause,\n      Was unmanly, and weak, and absurd.\n\n    Tom Tipple, when trouble intruded,\n      And his fortune and credit were sunk,\n    By a too common error deluded,\n      Drown'd trouble, and made himself drunk.\n\n    But Ben had a way of his own,\n      When grievances made him uneasy;\n    He bade the blue devils begone!\n      Brav'd trouble, and made himself--_Busy_.\n\n    When sorrow imbitters our days,\n      And poisons each source of enjoyment,\n    The surest specific, he says,\n      For trouble and grief, is--_Employment_.\n\n\n\n\nLINES,\n\nInscribed to William Willtshire, Esq.\n\n    Heaven's noblest attribute! a richer gem\n    Than ever deck'd the monarch's diadem,\n    Art thou sweet mercy! yet alas, how rare,\n    Amid this world of crime, thy triumphs are!\n    How dimly burns thy pure etherial fire!\n    How seldom does its warmth the clay wrapt heart inspire!\n    Yet, now and then, upon the path of time,\n    It blazes forth with dazzling ray sublime;\n    Sheds o'er this vale of tears it's heaven lit flame;\n    And throws a halo round the human name.\n    See! on the desert's verge, those wasted forms,\n    Which life's expiring spark but feebly warms;\n    Wore down by pain, toil, care, and wretchedness,\n    And clad in squalid misery's abject dress:\n    And mark the hectic flush, the broken sigh,\n    And the wild glance that lights each sunken eye--\n    The thrilling pulse of hope--the withering fear\n    That checks the quick throb in its full career--\n    The eager, half form'd question, and the start,\n    As if the accents shook the bursting heart--\n    \"Oh! Heavens! and will he come, and shall we be\n    Restor'd once more to life, and liberty?\n    Or must we in our galling bonds remain?--\n    But hush!--hark!--Lo a horseman on the plain!\"\n    'Tis he! he comes, he pities, succours, saves\n    The captives from their chains, the dying from their graves.\n    Thine, Willtshire, was the deed; and oh! to thee\n    Is due the tribute of the brave and free!--\n    Noble, and generous! round thy brow shall twine\n    A fairer wreath, a laurel more divine,\n    Than that which e'er the blood stain'd hero wore:\n    Or science' sons in proudest moment wore.\n    And when the sculptur'd bust, the burnish'd urn,\n    The victor's trophies shall to dust return:\n    When gone are all that wealth and power bestow;\n    Thy fame, undimm'd, shall shine--thy worth shall brighter glow.\n\n  N.\n\n  [_N. Y. Evening Post._\n\n\n\n\nON INTEMPERANCE.\n\n     ----\"But, at last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an\n     adder.\"--Prov.\n\n\n    O, Take the maddening bowl away!\n      Remove the poisonous cup!\n    My soul is sick--its burning ray\n      Hath drunk my spirit up:\n    Take--take it from my loathing lip\n      Ere madness fires my brain;\n    Take--take it hence! nor let me sip\n      Its liquid death again.\n    O dash it on the thirsty earth,\n      For I will drink no more:\n    It cannot cheer the heart with mirth\n      That grief hath wounded sore;\n    For serpents wreath its sparkling brim,\n      And adders lurk below:\n    It hath no soothing charms for him\n      Who sinks oppress'd with wo.\n    Say not, \"Behold its ruddy hue--\n      O press it to thy lips!\"\n    For 'tis more deadly than the dew\n      That from the Upas drips;\n    It is more poisonous than the stream\n      Which deadly nightshade leaves:\n    Its joys are transient as the beam\n      That lights its ruddy waves.\n    Say not \"It hath a powerful spell\n      To sooth the soul of care;\"\n    Say not, \"It calms the bosom's swell\n      And drives away despair!\"\n    Art thou its votary?--ask thy soul--\n      Thy soul in misery deep--\n    Yea, ask thy conscience if the bowl\n      Can give _eternal sleep_!\n    Then, hence, away! thou deadly foe\n      Of happiness the whole;\n    Away--away!--I feel thy blow,\n      Thou _palsy_ of the soul!\n    Henceforth I ask no more of thee,\n      Thou bane of Adam's race,\n    But to a heavenly fountain flee,\n      And drink the _dews of grace_.\n\n\n\n\nFOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.\n\nHOPE.\n\n  For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched\n  with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in all\n  points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.\n\n  Heb. iv. 15.\n\n\n    When gathering clouds around I view,\n    And days are dark, and friends are few,\n    On him I lean, who, not in vain,\n    Experienc'd every human pain,\n    He sees my wants, allays my fears,\n    And counts and treasures up my tears.\n\n    If aught should tempt my soul to stray,\n    From heavenly virtue's narrow way,\n    To fly the good I would pursue,\n    Or do the sin I would not do,\n    Still he who felt temptation's power,\n    Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.\n\n    If wounded love my bosom swell,\n    Deceiv'd by those I priz'd too well,\n    He shall his pitying aid bestow,\n    Who felt on earth severer wo;\n    At once betrayed, denied, or fled,\n    By all that shar'd his daily bread.\n\n    When vexing thoughts within me rise,\n    And, sore dismay'd my spirit dies,\n    Yet he who once vouchsaf'd to bear,\n    The sickening anguish of despair,\n    Shall sweetly sooth; shall gently dry,\n    The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.\n\n    When sorrowing o'er some stone I bend,\n    Which covers all that was a friend,\n    And from his voice, his hand, his smile,\n    Divides me--for a little while--\n    Thou, Saviour see'st the tears I shed,\n    For thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead.\n\n    And O, when I have safely past,\n    Through every conflict--but the last,\n    Still, still unchanging, watch beside,\n    My painful bed--for thou hast died;\n    Then point to realms of cloudless day,\n    And wipe the latest tear away.\n\n  A. B. C.\n\n\n\n\nTO MY WIFE,\n\n     _On the Anniversary of her Wedding-day which was also her\n     Birth-day._\n\nBY SAMUEL BISHOP.\n\n\n    \"Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed\"--\n    So, fourteen years ago, I said.--\n    Behold another ring!--\"for what?\"\n    \"To wed thee o'er again?\"--Why not?\n      With that first ring I married youth,\n    Grace, beauty, innocence, and truth;\n    Taste long admir'd, sense long rever'd,\n    And all my Molly then appear'd.\n      If she, by merit since disclos'd,\n    Prove twice the woman I suppos'd,\n    I plead that double merit now,\n    To justify a double vow.\n      Here then to-day, (with faith as sure,\n    With ardour as intense, as pure,\n    As when, amidst the rites divine,\n    I took thy troth, and plighted mine,)\n    To thee, sweet girl, my second ring\n    A token and a pledge I bring:\n    With this I wed, till death us part,\n    Thy riper virtues to my heart;\n    Those virtues, which before untried\n    The wife has added to the bride:\n    Those virtues, whose progressive claim,\n    Endearing wedlock's very name,\n    My soul enjoys, my song approves,\n    For Conscience' sake, as well as love's.\n      And why?--They shew me every hour,\n    Honour's high thought, Affection's power,\n    Discretion's deed, sound Judgment's sentence,\n    And teach me all things--but repentance.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ICELANDER'S SONG.\n\nFrom a MS. Volume of Poems, by Mr. G. RATHBONE.\n\n\n    The southern may talk of his meads crown'd with flow'rs,\n      Where the gale, breathing incense, unceasingly flies;\n    He may vaunt the rich hue of his rose-tangled bowers\n      Or the sapphire and gold of his bright sunny skies;\n    But it is not a theme that will light up emotion\n      In an Icelander's breast; since his pride and his boast\n    Are his hoar-cover'd mountains, that frown on the ocean,\n      Lit up with the ice-blink that girdles the coast.\n\n    When the winter of night darkles round him all dreary,\n      And his snow-bosom'd hills mourn the absence of day,\n    With a heart void of care, and with limbs seldom weary,\n      He launches his bark in pursuit of his prey;\n    Rough is his bed, and uneasy his pillow,\n      When far off in ocean he rambles from home;\n    Blithe scuds his boat, as her prow cleaves the billow\n      Of the gem-spangled brine, with its ridges of foam.\n\n    Dear is the dawn of the fork'd northern light,\n      That illumines old Hecla's broad cone with its rays;\n    And dearer its splendour, increasingly bright,\n      When the peaks of the ice-bergs appear in the blaze:\n    Brightly it plays on his dart's glossy pride,\n      When it flies, steep'd in spray, on the snake's scaly crest,\n    To bury its point in the whale's finny hide,\n      Or flesh its curv'd barb in the sea-lion's chest.\n\n    Dear is the summer of day, when the fountains,\n      Unfetter'd and free, pour the bright crystal stream;\n    Dear is the cataract's leap in the mountains,\n      When sparkling at night in the moon's silver beam;\n    Dear are the shoals where the sea-horse is bounding,\n      With his icicled mane and his eyeballs of fire;\n    But dearer than all, is the comfort surrounding\n      The wife of his choice, and the hearth of his sire.\n\n\n\n\nTO THE SNOW-DROP.\n\n    Joyous Herald of the Spring,\n      Pretty snow-drop, hail!\n    With thee, modest trembler, bring\n      Summer's balmy gale.\n\n    Com'st to tell us Winter's fled?\n      Bright informer, hail!\n    Welcome guest, why hang thy head.\n      Why thy cheek so pale?\n\n    Dost thou droop thy head in wo,\n      Poor glory of an hour?\n    Since not the Summer's heat shall glow\n      For thee, thou short-liv'd flow'r\n\n    Thou art only come, alas!\n      To tell us spring is near;\n    Like a fleeting shade to pass,\n      Droop, and disappear.\n\n    Thus some son of Virtue may,\n      Tread his bright career,\n    Guide by mild Religion's ray,\n      Erring Mortals here:\n\n    Ere his Winter toils are done,\n      Or Summer hopes arise,\n    Sinks he, youth and vigour gone,\n      Points to heav'n--and dies.--HELEN.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n  PHILADELPHIA,\n  PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY\n  RICHARDS & CALEB JOHNSON,\n  _No. 31, Market Street_,\n  At $3.00 per annum.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGRIGGS & DICKINSON--_Printers, Whitehall_.","title":"The Rural Magazine, and Literary Evening Fire-Side, Vol. 1 No. 05 (1820)","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":25063}