have seen bears, wild men, Indians, and cataracts in our days. "Sure-me!" said the preacher-"I have not been out of my parish these thirty years; and before, was never farther than Glasgow College, save once, I went to the salt water." "And I," said the lawyer, "do not come under that clause. I am a plain man, who never was farther than Edinburgh." "No matter," resumed Mr. Glendining. "Let us hear who will tell the best story. Here is a chaplet of laurel, the fabled leaf, to obtain which so many brains have been cracked, blood spilt, worlds and hearts lost. He who tells the best story, shall give the next dinner, and wear it till a better tale is told." all. Bravo! I like the project, cried one and "Yes," said I; "and as you have proposed so agreeable a way to spend the evening, you shall have the preference." "I do opine,” said the saver of souls. "Be there nothing ungodly in your discourses, nor allusions to doctrinal points, we might conscientiously and agreeably proceed in this proposal." "No denial," continued I. "This evening is long, your voice is loud, your tongue. is voluble, and your head is clear, so go on. No denial, I say." "Lord!" said my guest; "do not be afraid, I despise nothing so much as long preambles, expressions of inability to perform this, or that, I am able to do all things -to kiss a girl, or beat a knave. I am none of your prologue speakers, nor coughers before drink. I am always able and ready to drink wine, kiss a sweet girl, and tell a good story. I will give you a true one; a contrast to my disposition, but no matter. Here goes, so without farther prelude, he told the following tale * of HENRY BIRKENSHAW. *The tale will be given in our next. Written at Saratoga Springs, August 1825, on hearing Yet the perfume will linger for many a year, ear, Shall ever recur as I think of "Sweet Home." Oh sound it once more, for enjoyment will make But a short stay with bosoms most buoyant and free, And too soon shall my heart like a dreamer awake, And almost forget the bliss borrowed from thee; Once more, lovely warbler! The magic is o'er Yet the wild flush of feeling plays round me once more, Gay forms flit around me, as lovely and bright And my soul as if led by enchantment would roam, That a heaven on earth she had found in her Home." TO MARY. The heart is cold within her breast, And all their witchery is gone, So lovely and so pure in mind. Mary, I thought my greatest bliss Would be, that heaven thy life should spare, To know my fame and happiness, And with me all my fortune share, This is denied, for thou art now A tenant of the lonely tomb; And I am left to weep thy doom. The thirst of fame which urged me on: And all its energy is gone. Thou canst not love to me return, 'Tis mine alone to go to thee; The heart within the fun'ral uro, Can ne'er to life restored be. I'll meet thee on no distant day, Death's fingers coldly on me press; Since thou art gone, why should I stay, So lonely and so comfortless. I meekly to my fate resign, Nor murmur at high heaven's decree, My soul will never once repine, Although my heart must mournful be, O God of truth! thy will be done, JULIAN. M. de Barlureix refused an appointment in the guards to an applicant, on the ground of his being too young. "He thinks me too young for a volunteer," said the boy, "and I think him too young for a secretary of state." Juste Ciel.-The tester of a bed is in French called le ciel; the Marquis de Bievre, of punning memory, hearing that the Though the crowd speaks applause, and my lips are ciel (tester) of Calonne's bed had fallen upon quite dumb, him, he exclaimed, Juste ciel. they will always find a department at their New-York Literary Gazette. service, and they will always be welcome. Original contributions in prose and poet. It is as necessary for an Editor to com-ry will meet with due attention, and if ap mence his labours by an address to his read-proved, they shall be promptly published. ers, as for a well-bred man to make his bow There are two sweet harps both in woman's upon entering the drawing-room. Much as hands, that we shall always hail with pleawe abhor all sorts of promises, conditions and sure. As it respects the lighter entertainpledges, that we will do this and we will not do ments of the mind, enigmas, puzzles, charthat-that we will deal strict impartiality rades, &c. we shall occasionally publish them, unto all men in our observations and criti-with two provisos, that they possess merit, cisms-that we will blend amusement with and that they be not members of that old instruction, gaiety with gravity, and wit stock of conundrums with which Noah's with philosophy-much as we detest these sons and daughters amused themselves in and all other details of the "thrice-told the Ark, and which have descended from tale," which is repeated on such occasions, generation to generation, until they have still we feel compelled to say something. become so threadbare, that it is a shame to We wish to have a fair understanding with use them. We look to the ladies to assist us the public at our outset, and to acquaint them in this department-they are adepts in the with the general object of our undertaking; art of puzzling the lords of creation, and we they are to decide on our claims to future pray them to exercise their ingenuity upon encouragement, and on them we rely, mod- our readers. estly, yet confidently. We are well aware that in assuming our editorial duties, we are entering a field of competition, that public favour is unstable, and that mental exertions are often ineffectual; but we have resolved upon the trial, and we trust the result to fate. We start under the most favourable auspices, with an extensive subscription, and with the confi shall use all honourable means, and, we trust, not in vain, to retain and increase that confidence. We intend that our paper shall contain a considerable portion of original matter, both in prose and poetry. It is unnecessary and unadvisable that a weekly publication of this size should be exclusively original: the Editor would need as many heads as Briareus, and all of them infinitely more laden with brains than those of that distinguished wor-dence and good will of the community-we thy, to perform such a task. Variety is the very soul of literary pleasure; and the constant spinning of thoughts and ideas from one source cannot be other than monotonous. We shall therefore blend with our It is due to our early subscribers and to own exertions, those of others, and cull from ourselves to explain the delay of our first No. till this time. The cause has been a loss of the transatlantic periodicals whatever we may deem to be novel, entertaining, and in-health, in the latter part of the winter, to reteresting. In our original department we gain which we have been compelled to pass shall regularly notice new publications, the summer in the country. We know that American and European, as they issue from the patience of many has been nearly exhaustthe press, without being swayed in our re-ed by a delay with the cause of which they marks by a regard to locality; for the inter-were unacquainted, and for their satisfaction ests of literature are not national, but gen- as well as our own justification we state the eral. If an American dunce writes a book, fact. we shall not carry our patriotism so far as to extol him above all the poets of the "fast- THEATRICAL.-The theatre is opened for anchored isle ;" and if an American genius the season, and the campaign is begun with displays high and superior powers, we shall, much spirit. We miss Watkinson among in despite of sneers from abroad, insist that the corps dramatique,-where is he? He good can come out of Nazareth. In short, possesses as much comic talent as any actor we will, as far as it is in our power, be inde- in the Union, and with proper attention he pendent and impartial. might reign in his line without a competitor. We invite men of science to our columns; Mrs. Hilson (late Miss Johnson) is as ani mated, graceful, and attractive as ever, and abroad, from the frequency of these tribuMiss Kelly's voice has lost none of its sweet-nals, on the most frivolous pretexts. It is ness and power from the inaction of summer. Hilson, deservedly the standing favourite of the New-York audience, has not as yet appeared in his best characters. We long to see him in Sir Peter Teazle, and the inimitable Billy Lackaday. Barnes was welcomed on his re-appearance with a shout of merriment, and if he will only be contented to exert his natural comic powers, he will not fail to keep the spectators in good humour, but we are sorry to see him so prone to overdo his characters. This is, in him, not so easily to be overlooked, because he possesses nature, humour, and a just conception of the ludicrous, and has no apology for playing the rant or the buffoon. We had too much of this last winter, and it is high time to set about reformation. We have not yet seen Placide, but we hear that he continues to justify the opinion that we always have entertained and expressed concerning him—that he is rapidly advancing in skill and general improvement. Mr. Conway has been performing some of his best characters during the present week. This gentleman generally brings out the legitimate drama on his nights of appearance, and is highly popular for talent and taste. He has more correctness, but less genius than Booth; more fire, but less grace than Cooper. We are glad to learn that the managers intend to devote two nights in the week to operas, and we would be much more gratified were they to dispense with shows and spectacles, ships and horses, "et id genus omne," take up their list of actors, and strike off some half dozen that are worse than indifferent, and give us an alternation of tragedy and comedy for the other nights. Our standing company needs the pruning knife, and we shall insist upon its application if we are to be drugged all the fall and winter with some of last year's stupidity in two or three performers. But of this-anon; perchance it may already have been done. We shall occasionally advert to theatrical affairs, and we can assure actors, managers, and public, that our remarks shall be made without fear or favour. COURTS-MARTIAL.--The character of our navy is suffering both at home and not long since Commodore Shaw was regularly tried before one of these bodies, and suspended for six months for writing what was in fact nothing more than a very witty and amusing letter to a superior officer; but it was pronounced insubordinate and disrespectful, and the writer had a half year's "absence by permission," as the yearly college catalogues state of certain favoured students. Commodore Shaw was courtmartialled for his wit, and Commodore Porter has just passed through the crucible for his spirit, say his friends, for his insubordination, say his enemies. We rank ourselves among his justifiers, but without entering into a formal discussion of the case. If, however, he be guilty of any single charge brought against him, the punishment of six month's suspension is a mere mockery; if he be not guilty, it is as wanton an act of petty and arbitrary tyranny as ever blotted the annals of our country. The voice of the nation is loud in his favour; few, if any, amongst us have forgotten the high-souled and audacious valour, and the chivalrous deeds of this noble man, and it is not the disapprobation of any court-martial that will easily dethrone him from the admiration and esteem of a people whose honour he has so gallantly maintained. Commodore Stewart is now undergoing his trial, and rumour says that he will be acquitted of all the heavy and imposing charges alleged against him. Now, should this be the case, we ask, are there no means of punishing his accusers? Is the character of an honourable man to be assailed with perfect impunity? is he to undergo all the trouble and anxiety attendant on such circumstances? are the coffers of the nation to be drained in investigating charges that prove to be unfounded and unsupported; and yet are the disturbers of private and public peace to go unpunished? If so, our boasted republican purity is not altogether spotless. There is a flying report that Commodore Stewart's trial will be followed by one of a lieutenant, and that by another of a chaplain in the navy. What in the name of wonder can subject a chaplain to this ordeal? unless it be praying for our enemies, or not pray. ing at all, we cannot imagine. But we wait in patience to be enlightened on this subject.quito hawk, or night hawk, a well known By and by we shall have boatswains tried sort of caprimulgus, or goal-sucker, usually for losing their whistles, and rats for gnaw-known among us as the whip-poor-will, and ing holes in the vessels. Quo ruitis? others. 6. A crab of the same species with the COMET.-The remarkable comet Enche, most frequent of the kind, on the shores of ought to be visible to us this month. It was New-York, with sharp extremities,swimming last in perihelion on the 21st of May, 1822; paddles, and an audacious disposition to its period is 1205 days, which elapsed on the pinch or bite. He belongs to the new ge3d ult. The times of its revolution are nus called portunus, formed out of the old gradually decreasing, owing probably to the family of cancer; and from his nimble power resistance of the atmosphere of the sun to the motion of the body when in perihelion. to creep, and his agility in moving along, I have called him cursor, "the runner;" showing that the very species most frequent ARTS AND SCIENCES. at New-York, inhabits the shores of New CONVERSATIONES AT DR. MITCHELL'S. List of some specimens in Zoology, forwarded from Nassau, in New-Providence, by Peter S. Townsend, M. D. THEY were preserved by a strong solution of the corrosive sublimate of quicksilver in alkoholic spirit; and though put up on the 12th February and opened on the 29th August, 1825, were found in perfect condition, without the smallest taint. The fact is mentioned for the information of naturalists wishing to prepare animal substances, not intended for food, in an incorruptible man ner. 1. Two bodies, meaning the animal and not the shell of the large molluscous univalve of the Bahamas, called the conch or strombus gigas. Providence. And, another crab of a different sort. 7. An interesting collection of fruit, on their branches, and with their leaves, well preserved in spirits. 8. A gurnard, or trigla, with pectoral fins, resembling wings, and almost equal to those of the flying fish. 8. A squill, in a vegetating state, and believed to be the medicinal kind, or scilla maritima. As it is now growing, time, it is hoped, will determine whether this conjecture is correct. At a late sitting of the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Paris, M. Arago communicated to the Academy a letter addressed to him on the 24th March, 1825, by M. Duperré, captain of a man-of-war, who has recently returned from a voyage of discovery. Among other matters, the writer of this letter states, that he has made a series of observations, which would appear to prove that the points 2. Two myriapodal insects, of the centipede family; belonging to the genus scolopendra, and reckoned venomous when inflicting a punctured wound with their pin-marked upon the magnetic equator are not cers. 3. A speckled snake, apparently not poisonous, of the colubar family; and a scaly lizard. the only ones at which the diurnal variations of the magnetic needle are null. climate of Newfoundland; in which he obM. Lapelle concluded a memoir on the served, that it scarcely ever happens that a 4. A hyla, or tree frog, having the singu-year comes, in which the thermometer at lar configuration of feet, enabling them, by Newfoundland does not fall to 17 or 18 desome curious organization, to adhere by grees below the freezing point. In 1819, suction, as it were, to the bodies of the trees they climb. A wonderful sort of apparatus, very different from that of the sucking fishes, (lemora and cyclopterus) and more analogous to the claws of the gacko, or climbing lizard. however, it only fell to 14 degrees below ice: the winter of that year was considered as unusually mild. The author remarks, that in 1816, 17, 18, and 19, the severity of the winters was in the inverse sense from that of our climates. He states that he has frequently heard, at the moment of the appear5. Several birds of that region: one a ance of the aurora borealis, a noise which appeared to him to proceed from the extreblack-bird, apparently a gracula; a second, mity of these arcs, and which he compares a hawk, plainly a species of falco; the third, to the rumbling noise made by a stream of the barn-swallow; and the fourth, a mus-water rolling through pebbles, at a distance from the hearer. M. Lapelle hazards a con- | worthy the attention of the companies for injecture respecting the production of these surance against fires. phenomena, which consists in considering them as the result of a combination of phosphorus with the magnetic fluid. At a sitting of the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Paris, Baron Cuvier read a letter from M. Bredin, of Lyon, respecting some fossil bones, discovered in a garden near that city. These bones were found near the top of a small eminence, at the depth of from six to nine feet, and were scattered over a space of sixty feet in length, by from 20 to 25 feet in breadth. The upper layer consisted of the bones of elephants, all of which appear to have belonged to the same animal; its lower jaw containing four of its molares, its upper rib, its two humeri, and its two tibia, have all been found in a good state of preservation. Under these bones have been found others, which have evidently belonged to oxen and to horses, and which are also in a fossil state. At a few feet distance from the latter, lay several heaps of bones, all broken into small pieces; and a little farther, several jaw-bones of elephants, as well as the humeri of the same animal, all holding firmly together. The same heap also contained the humerus and the cubitus of a horse, both of which, although still entire, appear to have been subjected to a very strong pressure for a considerable time. All these bones were so soft on being taken out of the earth, that the per sons who found them were afraid to wash them, for fear of injuring their form; the nail sunk into their substance on the least pressure. This circumstance must be attributed to the nature of the soil in which they have been buried. The elephants' bones, which lay nearest to the surface, were also the most soft. M. Bredin has sent exact designs of these different specimens to M. Cuvier, who has ascertained them to be evidently of a fossil nature. Those of the elephant belong to the species called by the Russians mammoth, which is the fossil elephant so common in Siberia, and in some of the islands of the Frozen Ocean. An author of the name of Metral has published a History of the Phoenix! At page 49 he says, "Some have maintained that the Phoenix lived 500 years; others, 540; and others again, 600, 609, or 660. It has even been held, that its age reached 1000, 7000, 7006 years; and it has been extended still further, to 12,954 years: but by the Lives of Nestor, the crow and stag multiplied by three, it would survive 2,034 ages!" Perhaps the poor Phoenix would be satisfied with a middle term of all these dates for its existence; and M. Metral's work may be An Egyptian Sarcophagus has lately been received at Paris. This magnificent tomb is covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, which indicate, according to the examination made of them by M. Champollion, that the deceased, named Ousirphthaor was a priest of Ammon and Anubis, a scribe of the Great Temple of Patha, at Memphis, and attached to the worship of King Psammiticus. The name of that monarch, which is repeated several times in the inscriptions, shows that this sarcophagus dates about It was 650 years before the Christian era. taken, as we have stated, from the catacombs of Memphis. A discovery has recently been made, at Ville-neuve les-Voulx, in the department of the Lower Alps, in a spot supposed to be the site of the ancient Alaunium, of the vestiges of an antique temple and a remarkable mosaic, two heads and a bust, in marble, bearing, in Greek characters, the name of Philip. This temple must have been extremely rich, for the walls were covered with slates of marble, fastened with nails of bronze, gilt, and surrounded with borders of porphyry. ANTIDOTES TO POISONS.-Mr. J. Murray; of Science, just published, after detailing a in a paper in Brewster's Edinburgh Journal &c. says, "I have no hesitation to pronounce number of experiments on frogs, rabbits, with most positive certainty, that in Amhydrocyanic (or prussic) acid, and in acetic monia will be found a complete antidote to acid an effectual counter-poison to opium." We find frequent mention made in the Roman History of a Temple of the Earth, (Templum Telluris,) which was spoken of as being situated in Rome. For the first time, traces of it have lately been discovered by some workmen, who, in digging in the neighbourhood of the Tower of Conti, have met with the foundations of an ancient building, which are ascertained to be those of the above-mentioned temple. A discovery has recently been made, in an Abbey of Benedictine friars in Italy, of several musical instruments, which have been found to belong to the ages of the Low Empire. Among them is a cithara, made of ivory, with strings of gold wire mounted with clusters of diamonds in the form of a rose. There is also an antique tabour-pipe, to which several rare and valuable medals are suspended. |