Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

POETRY. A PARTING SONG. BY MRS. HEMANS. When will ve think of me my friends? When will ye think of me?— When the last red night, the farewell of flay, From the rock and the river is passing a- way— When the air with a deep’ning hush is fraught, And the heart grows burden’d with tender thought Then let it be! When will ve think of me, kind friends? When will ye think of me? When the rose of the mid-summertime Is fill’d with the hues of its glorious prime; When ye gather its bloom, as in bright hours fled, From the walks where my footsteps no more may tread: Then let it be 1 • When will ye think of me, sweet friends? When will ye think of me? When the sudden tears o’erflow your eye At the sound of some' olden melody; When ye hear the voice of a mountain stream, When ye feel the charm of a poet’s dream; Then let it be! % Thus let my memory be with you, friends; Thus ever think of me! Kindly and gently, but as of one For whom ’tis well to be fled and gone; As of a bird from a chain unbound, As of a wanderer whose home is found, So let it be! From the Vermont Chronicle. WHAT IS LIFE LIKE? Like the shadow that declineth; Like the transient flash that shineth; Like the dreams with night that vanish; Kike the pleasures pain doth banish; Like the joy of love in fleetness, [Butoh! how unlike its sweetness;] Stranger such was life to me: Shall it not be such to thee? Like the broad and boundless ocean; ’ Like the billow’s ceaseless motion; Like the deep and silent river; Rolling on its course for ever; Like the mine’s exhaustless treasure; Like the gulf no eye can measure; Stranger, sucli is life to me: Must it not be sucli to thee? ANECDOTE OF A DUELIST. There is a French general, a man man of fortune and of a highly respec- able family, who lfas fought an almost incredible number of duels. 'It is a positively certain that he has killed as many persons as forty in different du els; and he is\novvn "to be so excellent a shot, that he can cut off the snuff of a candle at any distance to which' a pistol will carry. Being conscious of this advantage, he values himself upon it, and will challenge upon the very slightest provocation. As,,however, his character became known, he was avoided as much as possible; even the cafe he frequented lost some of its custom in consequence, and such per sons as could not help seeing him there, studiously endeavored to take their meat on the other side of the room.— One day, by chance, there came in a stranger—a very fine young man of a- bout twenty-two years of age: he was sittingwvith a newspaper in his hand when the General entered, but not in the seat he usually occupied, and therefore could not be said in any way to interfere with him. But the Gen eral was in a humour for defiance, and perhaps at that moment was in want of something by way of exite- ment. He walked up to the young man, and looked at him with an air of great impertinence. The other, how ever, was intent on his news, and did not observe him; but there was next a loud hem, and he raised his eyes.— The impertinent look was continued. The youfig man, at a loss to compre hend it, made an involuntary gesture of surprize. “What do you mean by that?” said the General: “surely I may look at you if I think proper?”— “Undoubtedly” replied the other; “but I thought you was offended.”— “Perhaps I might, when I had a great lubber like you before my eyes,” re turned the General, in a contemptu ous and teasing tone. The young man was perfectly astonished: but a lit tle anger could hardly fail to be mixed with his reply. “Surely 1 have as much right to sit in a public cafe as yoursqlf,” said he, “in faith, have you? A pretty fellow, truly!” retorted the General, in the same ir ritating manner. •‘Aud I shall contin ue to sit here as long as it suits my convenience; so I beg that I may not be annoyed,” added the young man, with a decided tone, and some slight judication of warmth. “Mighty fine!” said his tormentor, laughing at the same time in his face, and expressing 2J muclt cwitampt as he could by an appropriate shrug. The poor fellow begau to ioso his patience at the wan ton and inconceivable insult to which he found himself exposed, and he be gan to express his resentment. All he said was anwered in a vexatious manner by the General, till at last he upbraided him in no very measured terms. The General then replied— “As you have thought fit to be so an gry, young gentleman, we had better settle the matter t.o-morvow morning.” They accordingly exchanged cards, and the meeting was appointed. The young man left the cafe, as may be imagined, in some agitation; and, when he reflected on what passed, he could hardly believe that it was a re ality. He seemed rather to have suf fered from tin* delirium of a fever, than to have passed through an actual scene; U19 affront he had received was so totally unprovoked and cause less, that he could hardly persuade himself it had absolutely 0 curred; he could not bring himself to believe that he was now standing in jeopard) between life and death. In the mean lime, his friends had heard of what had happened, and gave him addition al information respecting the person who had challenged him. They told him of his character and exploits, and too truly convinced him that, accord ing to the usual mode of firing, he •could have no chance of his life. He was of course unwilling to tight with’ the odds so fearfully against him' f and, being the party who received the challenge, he resolved to avail him self of the customary privilege of choosing his weapons. lie therefore proposed, that one of the pistols should be loaded and the Other unloaded, and that each parly should choose them while they were covered with a nap kin. The General consented. Ac cordingly they inet on the appointed ground, and each drew his pistol.— The young man by right was to have the first fire. He tired- His had been the unloaded pistol. The gen eral walked up to him, and tauntingly showed him his pistol. He held it up —turning it in all directions—boasted of his skill—asked him how far off he would wish him to stand. “For it is all the same to me,” he said; “you may choose your own distance; I am quite sure of you. Perhaps, indeed, people might say it was a pity; you are certainly a fine young fellow; you have only just begun the world, and might perhaps do something in it. I have half a mind to let you go. Hey, what do you say to it? shall I? Do you think you are worth more than my powder and shot?” He went on in similar strain for about five min utes, playing with his victim as a cat does with a mouse, and holding him in suspense, just vibrating between life and death—sometimes directing his arguments towards the one, and some times towards the other. The sec onds concluded that it was all a jest, and it was a sort of justifiable tormen ting. The young man congratulated himself on his escape; when the Gen eral put his pistol close to his heart, pulled the trigger-—and he fell down dead at his feet. This General may he seen almost every day in the most fashionable part of Paris; and he is pointed out to stran gers by the words “ Voila i' assassin. MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS. From the Ladies Magazine. Good humor is like the light which spreads every where; though like the light, too, it pleases most where it is least looked for. To carry on the re semblance, like that it will be some times obscured;but like that also, we cannot bear its being long absent. * Starts of petulence may be forgiven to prosperity; fits of fretfulness are natural to affliction; but what can he pleaded for harboring a passionate or peevish temper, easily provoked, and hardly pacified. Where an easiness of temper is par ticularly prevalent, and the heart is uncommonly susceptible of warm e- motions in the way of love and friend ship, there, without question, a pecu liar strain of prudence and fortitude is required to prevent a young person’s being betrayed into great inconvenien ces and dangerous tendernesses. Those who have a just sense of their own infirmities and failings, will be naturally of a forbearing and for giving temper. The reverse of this is the offspring of pride. There is no act of kindness, no instanco of conde- scensipn, which the self-diffident are not ready to perform. Roughness and ferocity in man we often overlook, and are sometimes di verted with them: they always hurt us when we find them In a woman. A loud voice, bold gestures, a daring countenance, and every mark of brave ry may please in the former, when his, courage is particularly called forth; but in female we wish to see only tenderness and love reigning: when they reign, very different effects will be produced by them. Female modesty is often silent; fe male decorum is never bold; and true discretion dreads every thing the least ostentatious. Were women to contemplate the fatal effects of avarice, ambition, van ity, luxury) the violence of love, and the fury of revenge, as appearing in the ruin of families, the devastation of provinces, and the fall of empires, they would, it is to be hoped, be less daz zled with those objects, and less af fected by those occasions that are apt to foment such propensities which, in their situations, though not so conse quential to others, are yet many times extremely degrading, as well as per nicious to themselves. They are strangers to human na ture who would affright the young by the frown of austerity. True religion ever was, &ever will be, of the friend ly kind. It is not zeal, but bigotry that refuses to make allowance for juvenile sports and gayer tempers. Cheerfulness is the most natural etffect of real goodness; it is also its most powerful recommendation.— Wisdom is never so attractive as when she is arrayed in smiles. A wife ought in reality to love her husband above all the world. Great are the hazards which a young and handsome woman has to run who enters too deeply into a life of gaiety. The grave part of the world will cen sure her conduct, as arising from the levity of her mind; and the dissolute will form schemes for lier destruction of that innocence which is the only true foundation of cheerfulness or vi vacity. The world’s good opinion is neces sary, as well as our own, to make us completely happy; but they must not be equally esteemed: those only have a sincere love for virtue, who adhere to it as strictly when disgrace follows it,as if popular applause & the greatest rewards were to be the consequence. I11 others it only shares the heart with vanity. Approbation will give pleas ure to every person, but it should be looked upon as a valuable effect of, not as a worthy motive for, a virtuous action. If a man and woman do not truely love each other, where can the pros pect of felicity he in the marriage state? They mqy, perhaps, be equal ly amiable; yet, from a dissimilarity of sentiment, tfiey may not experience happiness. It is necessary that a co incidence of opinions shoold subsist, to create the harmony of souls. his servant took the opportunity to At- *Why, the snake kiUtt was a mero c*. tempt discovering the object, of her tail dealer to the catcher. master’s study. Her attention was engaged by the furnace, in which A Faithful Physician.—“I do not profess,” said a physician, “to be a religious man myself; indeed, my practice seldom allows me an oppor tunity so much as to hear a sermon: but 1 make it a rule never to allow a patient to remain ignorant of his dan ger; though by my adherence to this rule, I have, in numberless instances, incurred the displeasure of my best friends. I will give you an instance, which occurred hut a few days ago. I was consulted by a lady, who was hro’t from ; and I saw her case was hopeless. I therefore said, “Madam, do you wish me candidly to give you my opinion of your case?” Sh& start ed, shuddered and was silent. I re peated my question; and she replied “Why, yes; I came to you for that purpose.” “Then, Madam,” said I, “I am sorry to have to say, that I be lieve nothing can be done for you. I do not. know to what denomination of Christians you belong, but my advice to you is, send for one of your Clergy, and make the best of his advice and attentions during the few days you have to live.” She replied, “My pain is too severe to allow me to think 011 those subjects noW.” I called, in a day or two, and I saw that she was dying; and was just in the same state of mind. I therefore said, “Madam do you know tha’t you are dying?”— She replied as before, “My sufferings are too severe to allow n\e to think of preparing for death now!” and, alas! she died.” THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE. The following curious circumstance occurred a little time since at Tot tenham. A person who had misspent his time in search of the philosopher’s were several substances. Her cu- riosty in ’need her to stir and try to bring out some of the materials with a very large spoon, which was always used at dinner. To her great confu sion and surprise; it melted and fell to bottom. Terrified by the circum stance, she llevv from the room. Her master soon returned, and on extin guishing his chemical fire, was de lighted to find a mass of pure silver in his furnace. Now he imagined he was successful m the great object of his past life, and that he should soon realize a fortune by converting the baser into pure metal; and, on the strength of this idea, he invited a large party to dine with him the next day, lor the purpose of communicating his good fortune. He did not sleep all that night, for joy. The next day he saw his table decked with the most costly viands; his friends congratulat ed him on every side. In the midst of this triumph he missed the large silver spoon, and asked where it was. The servant now confessed she had been induced to try to extract the ma terials from the furnace with it, and that it melted from her hand. The poor philosopher turned pale—the harmony of the day was disturbed— his friends retreated—and he still lies in a disconsolate state. ANOMALY OF VISION. A child 7 years of age, the son of a distinguished artist, commenced tak ing lessons in drawing from his father; but it may be imagined how great the parent’s surprise was, at finding all the objects which the child represent ed upside down. It was first supposed that the child might be prac tising this inversion of objects in joke, but he afirmed that he drew the ob jects as they appeared to him; and as the drawings were, in other respects, very accurate, there was no reason ’for doubting the child's word. Every time the object was turned, before he took a sketch of it, he represented it in the natural position, showing that the sensation received by the eye cor responded perfectly with the inversion formed on the retina. This state of vision continued more than a year, after which time the child began to see objects in their na tural position. Many analogous cases have been observed; a very distinguish ed lawyer, for instance, saw, for some time, objects inverted; the houses ap peared to him to rest on the roofs— men to walk on their heads, &c. This aberration of vision depended on a dis turbed state of the digestive organs, and disappeared with the cause which gave it origin. Doctor Wolloston, af ter considerable exercise of body and mind, suddenly found that he could see but one half of the figure of per sons whom he met, as well as •ther objects which came before him. Dr. Crawford relates the history of a wo man who was attacked with a slight hemiplegia of the left side, who, from that period, could see but half an ob ject, not even after the power of mo tion had been restored to the paralys ed side. Another person had, for sev eral years, a derangement in the right eye, to which every single object was represented multiplied seven or eight times. [Lancet. SNAKING EXTRAORDINARY. Franklin, (Tenn,) July 18. We have been informed by two re spectable gentlemen, that some time about the 4th of the present inst. per haps on that very glorious day, a man by the name of Hicks living in the noighborhoed of Nolcnsville, this in co. caught, on some small wager, 15 snakes in about twice that number of minutes, from a neighboring stream called Mill Creek. He had what he called a diver to assist him, whose du ty it was to turn over the rocks, when woe betide any unfortunate water Moccasin (no matter how great his size, or how terrific his appearance) who was lurking below: quick as tho’t Hicks would jfouncc upon him; nab him some where near the head, and by no very friendly pressure cause him to opefi his mouth, when he would bind him with some convenient strip of pawpaw bark round the under jaw and proceed on in the hunt. We have heard of a man living in one of the new counties of the Western District, who killed one hundred in a day, and pro nounced it “no great snaking at that.” Truly after the late exploit of Hicks, Advantages of an empty purse.—Peo? pie may talk as they please about in- dependence. Your only real inde- pendant man is he of the empty purse. What is the rise or fall of stocks ts j J im. What cares he for commercial ailurcs? What for commotions, reJ volutions, the decline and fall of em pires;—Nothing. He smiles at the robber by night and the tax-gatherer I by day, and regards the exciseman and I pick-pocket with equal indifference. Arnold.—Arnold, who on the cap, ture of Major Andre, had escaped, | was immediately appointed a briga* dicr general in (he service of Great | Britain. But, though his new com- paions had wished to profit by the I treason; they viewed the traitor with-1 contempt.—“What treatment,” in quired Arnold from a British officer, “am l to expect, should the rebels make me their prisoner,” “They will cut off,” replied the officer, “the leg that was wounded at Saratoga, and bury it .with all the honors of war but,- having no respect for the rest of your body, they will hang it on a gibu bet”—Grimshaw' , s United States. A well drawn Conclusion.—Abulle- da, the Arabian philosopher of the de sert, being asked how he came to know there was a God. “In the same way,” said he, “that I know, by the prints that are made in the sand, whether a man or a beast has passed before me. Do not,” he added, “the heavens, by the splendour of the stars; the world, by the infinity of the waves that it rolls, sufficiently make known the power and the greatness of their author?” Travelling Dentists.—A writer in the Albany Daily Advertiser, who signs himself a sufferer, cautions the public against a set of persons gene rally called “travelling dentists,” and who are frequently grossly ignorant of their business, and exorbitant in their demands. He says—“One of these gentlemen, now in this city, charged a lady, a few days since, only seventy* five dollars for setting three t teeth; an other $20 for tivo; a third $25 for plugging two teeth and scraping the rest, (about one hour’s labour;) and a gentleman $30 for merely scraping teeth! The “New York Mirror for Trav ellers” states that the city of New York contains one hundred churches, one hundred lottery offices, six thea tres, twenty-two banks, good and bad, forty three insurance offices, solvent and insolvent, one university, one aca demy of arts, one Athenium, one pub-* lie library, two medical colleges, &c. &c. and is also renowned as an : eaU ing city,’ containing at least a thous and cooks, who are “eminent in the science of gastronomy.” stone, having left his laboratory open wo are inclined to the same opinion Figure of Speech.—The Editor of the Yankee, after exposing one of Mr. Walsh’s plagiarisms from Burke—re marks, “He might as well hope to hide a thunderbolt in a snow-bank, as one of Edmund Burke’s thoughts in a page of Robert Walsh, Junior, Es quire.” HYPOCRITICAL DEVOTION. A preacher who kept a huckster shop; was heard one day to say to his shopman, “John, have you watered the rum?” “Yes.” “Have you sand ed the brown sugar?” “Yes.” “Then, like good Christians, let us go to prayers.” REQUISITES FOR GOING TO LAW. A lady asked an old uncle, who had been an attorney, but left off business., what were the requisites for going to law; to which ne replied: Why, niece, it depends upon a number of circumstances. In the first place, you must have a good cause. Second ly, a good attorney. Thirdly, a good counsel. Fourthly, good evidence.— Fifthly, a good jury. Sixthly, a good judge. And lastly, good luck. IIOW TO AVOID DANGER. “The best way,” Said Sir Boyle Roche, “to avoid danger is to meet %t- plump.” FORGETFULNESS. A rogue asked charity, on pretence of being dumb. A lady having asked him, with equal simplicity and humani ty, how long he had been dumb, he was thrown off his guard, and answer ed, “Five years, madam.”