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it, and my hair is ail in papers; and this frightful, unbecoming cap ! 1 had no idea he would have been here so early—let me off to my toilette!” But now he is your husband—” Dear me, what, consequence is it?—My object is gained. M3’ efforts to win him, my little manceuvets to captivate have been successful; and it is vety hatd if a woman is to pass her life in endeavor ing to please her husband !” I remember greatly admiring a lady who lived among the mountains, and scarcely saw any one but her husband. She was rather a plain woman—yet when she set to breakfast each morning, all the day long her extreme neatness, and attention to the niceness of her appearance, made her quite an agree able object. Her husband loved her, and would look at her with mote pleasure than at a pretty woman dressed in a slovenly, untidy manner; —for believe me, those things, (though your husband appears not to notice them, nor, perhaps, is he conscious of the cause) strongly possess the power of pleasing or displeasing.— Mrs. Ellis. M o®©lE iNI Y. From the Woonsocket Patriot. THE ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. Recent enterprise has ascertained the ex istence of immense, but ruined and desert ed, cities in various parts of Central Amer ica. Stupendous and elegant structures, exhibiting a style of a*t unknown in the his tory of Asiatic or European architecture, are there found, butied in the deep recesses of the woods—surrounded and overgrown by the luxuriant foliage of a tropical forest. The frequency anil number of these re mains is remarkable. They are found at Paletique in Mexico, at Uxmall in Yucatan at Copan, and in fact spread’out in every direction ovor the States of Central Ameri ca. The sites of fifty or sixty cities have been visited, and time only will determine how many yet remain covered by the im penetrable forests. The distinguishing fea tures in these American structures is that of an artificial and lofty elevation. From the level plain rises a pyramediul terrace, gen erally oblong in shape, and sometimes sev eral hundred feet in length. The sides of this pyram and or terrace are cased with stone, and furnished with a regular succession of steps, affording access to the top. XJjtoti the summit level of the terrace is erected the temple or palace, which thus stands high in the air, and commands an extensive view of the fertile plains around its base.— The structure itself, thus elevated, is always composed of massive stone-work, decora ted with sculpture, and divided into a suc cession of apartments, differing essentially in theirform and arrangement with the apart ments belonging to other modes of building. Colossal statues, some standing entire and nearly perfect, others ovei thrown and dila pidated, yet exist on the sites of some of these cities. They are gorgeously encum bered with sculptured decorations, and bear no trace of affinity to the statuary of other lands. The original character and the total ab sence of all resemblance to the architecture of the old world, observed in these remains, has been not the least interesting consider ation of those engaged m the study of Amer ican antiquities. And this circumstance has also contributed to invest tbe subject with a mystery greater than would exist were it possible to refer the origin of these buildings to an imitation of the struclures of Egypt, Italy or Europe. But they “stand alone”—“ upon their own merits”—and the traveler, as he leaves the modern Spanish town, with its motley population, and comes into the silence of the woods where stand these mouldering hut royal cities, asks in ▼ain—who huilt them 1 The Spaniard can not tell their story, and the ignorant Indian, in whose rude traditions we might expect some ray of intelligence, only mutters, “ who knows V’ It were strange and anomalous, however, if in a country possessing some men of re al intelligence and learning, no attention had been directed to such a subject. Some few ecclesiastics of liberal taste, have attempt ed to answer the question. By these pious and learned Catholic “ padres,” it is said that not only may the whole subject be one day clearly understood, but future investi gation may discover far in the wilds of an unexplored country, living cities, furnishing a counterpart to the skeleton remains al ready known. From the highest range of the Cordilleras, the report says has been seen a city reared in wilds never trodden by a Christian foot. There , it asserts, live a remnant of uubaptised idolaters, who flee ing from the Spanish arms, found a refuge in the impenetrable fastnesses behind the Cordilleras. If such be tbe fact, what a volume of interest will be opened when tbe first explorer, happily penetrating to that unknown country, shall stand amid struc tures like those of Palcnqne arid Uxmall, and converse with the kings, priests and ar chitects who reared and who now inhabit them ! This speculation of a living abori ginal city exhibiting the ai ts, arms and man ners of its actual inhabitants, is replete with interest and romance. Nor is the fact of its existence impossible. The early Span ish historians relate that large masses of population were expelled from parts of the conquered country, and were become lost to them in the unknown and unexplored parts of the continent. Once placed in a secure situation, the inventive industry of such a people would have preserved and perpetuated their existence. When the public attention was aroused to the subject of these American antiquities, the question of their origin and history im mediately became a theme on which was expended much and discordont speculation. The magnitude and splendor of the build ings, and the advanced civilization evidently belonging to the founders of such cities, ap pear to have misled the ingenious inquirers, for on all sides it was agreed that a race so abject, ignorant and inert as tbe present Indians of Central America, could never have founded cities and institutions, the ru ined fragments of which present so much of grandeur and power. This was the capital error. It might have lieer. easily perceived that tbe American Spaniard of the present day, is as widely inferior in genius and en ergy to his conquering progenitor, as is the Indian of the present day when compared | with the national character requisite to pro duce Cities and States, like those subdued by the followers of Columbus. To our dis tinguished countryman, Stevens, belongs the honor of a satisfactory settlement of this contested point. Step by step, that in genious traveller collected a mass of evi dence based upon history and facts, and all tending to demonstrate that the ancestors of the present Indians were the “ royal race” who reared these lofty cities, and filled their country with useful and elegant woiks of art. The conquests of Cortez were effect ed in a country abounding with population and the early historians of the Spanish in vasion are continually, though casually, re ferring to the magnificent structures and the architectural embellishment witnessed by the soldiers. It is recorded by the barba rous but energetic invaders, that those largo and splendid cities, built of lime atul stone, were inhabited by a numerous and warlike race of men who defended them with des perate courage until themselves were exter minated, or until resistance was hopeless.— Under the succeeding dark and despotic rule of Spain, the country appears to have undergone an entire change. Ancient clearings are now overgrown by dense for ests, and a few miserable villages in the in terior, supply the places of the extensive cities that once adorned the plains. Local knowledge, and even tradition, have died out ; and while some few of the inhabitants are informed of the existence, in their vicin ity of ancient remains, tlie mass of the pre sent population, so far from being familiar with the history of those antiquities, do not know that such remains exist. Amid this deplorable and supine ignorance, it has re mained for a citizen of the United States to hew his way among the desolate cities ofCen tral America, and giving history a voice, <0 point out to the world that these were the strongholds, in the capture of which the Spaniards displayed such prodigies of va lor :—that here, within these mouldering walls, and upon these still lofty and decora ted battlements, lived and fought the idola trous and fierce pagans, whose souls were crushed into the emth Ly pious soldiers; and further, to check the antiquary in his laborious search after the remote origin of American art, by pointing to the misera ble Indian who crouches beneath tiie shade of the sculptured wall reared by his abori ginal ancestors. O STATISTICS OF POPULATION. We have recently been looking over the last Census of the United States, from the official Report presented to Congress ; and having been much interested in the same, we have thought a few gleanings might prove equally interesting to our readers.— It appears that the entire population of the United States in 1840, wits 17,008.006 —of which number, 14,189,108 were free white persons; 380,275 were free colored per sons, and 2,487,213 were slaves. The po pulation of each State and Territory w'os as follows: Maine,501,793 —New Hampshire, 281,574 —Massachusetts, 737,699 —Rh, Is land, 108,830 —Connecticut, 309,978 —Ver- mont, 291.94N —New York, 2,428,921 — New Jersey, 373,300 —Pennsylvania, 1,- 724,033 —Delaware, 78,085 — Maryland, 469,232 —Virginia, 1,239,797 —North Caro lina, 753,419 —8. Carolina, 594,398 —Geor- gia, 691,392 —Alabama, 590,750 —Missis- sippi, 375,051 —Louisiana, 352,411 —Ten- nessee, 829,210 —Kentucky, 1 79.52S —Ohio, 1,519,467 —Indiana, 685,866 —Illinois, 476,- IS3—Missouri, 383,702 —Arkansas, 97,574 —Michigan, 212,267 —Florida Territory, 54,477 —Wisconsin Territory, 30,945 —lo- wa Territory, 43,112 —District of Colum bia, 43,712. The number of males among the free white population of the United States in IS4O, was 7,249,260 ;--of females, 6,939,- 542. Os the males, 1,270,790 were under five years of age, and 476 wete one hundred years of age and upwards. Os the females, 1,203,349 wete under five years of ago, and 315 wete one hundred years and up wards. The number of males among the ftee co lored population in IS4O, was 186,467, whilst the females numbered 199,778. Os the males, 56,323 were under ten years of age, and 286 were one hundred years old and upwards. The females under ten years of age, numbered 55,069, and those of one hundred years and upwards, numbered 361. The number of males among the slave population in IS4O, was 1,216,408 —of whom 422,599 were under ten years of age, and 753 were one hundred years and upwards. The female slaves numbered 1,240,805 —of whom 421.470 were under ten years of age, and 580 were one hundred years old and upwards. We thus learn that longevity is natch more common atul greater amomg the colored people of the United States'—both bond and free—itt proportion to numbers, than among the white population. The increase of white persons in the U. S. from 1830 to 1840, was 34 per cent.; the increas of free colored persons in the same time was 20<1 per cent.; tlie increase of slaves in the same period, 23$ per cent.— Allowing tlie same ratio of increase for the next ten years, the population of the United States it, 1850 would he 22,556,997; and the number of each description of persons would be as follows :—whites, 19,015,478 —free colored persons, 461?,593—51ave5, 3,- 077,920. Now let us compare the increase of the population of the United States for the last fifty years,* The increase from 1790 to IBOU was 35 per cent.; from ISOO to 1810; 36£ per cent.; from 1810 to 1820, 33 per cent.; from 1820 to 1830, 33. j per emit.; from 1830 to 1840, 32j per cent. Thus we see that the average increase each ten years for the last fifty, has been 34 15-100 percent.; therefore, at this rate, the popu lation of the Uuited States in 1850 would be 22,872,2 C iB6O, it would be 30,619,- 182—and in 1870, 41,070,803. The number of deaf and dumb persons in the United Slates in IS4O, was 7,679 — of whom 0,682 were white persons, and 977 were slaves and free colored persons. The number of persons blind, was 6,916 —of whom 5,024 were whites, and 1,592 were colored persons and slaves. The number 3 <D H ®HI m SiH mot 9(0IBIL IL j of persons who were insane or idiots, was j 17,434 —of whom 11,508 were whites, arid i 2,926 were slaves and free colored pet sons. I Os this description of whites 4,329 were at ! public charge, and 10,179 at private charge, j Os the free colored persons and slaves 2,- j 093 were at private charge, and 833 at pub j lie charge. | The total number of persons employed ! in agricultural pursuits in 1840, was 3,717,- ! 756—total number employed in manufac tures and trades, 791, 545; total number em ployed in commerce, 117,575 —total num ber employed in mining, 15,203 —total number employed in navigation of the ocean, 56,025 —total number employed iri navigation of canals, lakes and rivers, 33,- J 067—total number employed in the learned professions, 65,236. The total number of pensioners for revolutionary or military ser vices, was 20,797 —total number of stu dents in universities or colleges, 16,233 — lotal number of students in academies and gt a miner schools, 164,159 —total number of schollars in common schools, 1,845,244 —total number of scholars at public charge, 468,264 —total number of white persons orer twenty years of age uho cannot read and write , 549,693 ! * These interesting statistics are obtained from authentic sources, and may be depend ed upon as correct. Whisper to Husbands . —The happiness of die wife is committed to the keeping of the husband. Prize the sacred trust; and never give her cause to repent the confi dence she has reposed in you. In contem plating her character, recollect the ma'eri- I als lilt man nature is composed of, and do not expect perfection. Do justice to her merits and point out her faults ; for 1 do not ask you to treat her er rors with indulgence, but then endeavor to amend them with wisdom, gentleness and love, Do not jest about the bonds of a married state. Make it an established rule to con sult your wife on all occasions. \ T our inter est is hers; and undertake no plan contrary to her advice and approbation ; then if the affair turns out ill, you are spared reproach es both from her and your own feelings.— There is in woman an intuitive quickness, sagacity, a penetration and foresight into the probable consequences of an event that make her peculiary calculated to give her opinion and advice. If you have any male acquaintances, whom, on reasonable grounds, your wife wishes von to resign, do so. Never wit ness a tear from your wife with apathy or indifference. Words, looks, actions—all j may be artificial; hut a tear is unequivocal; j it comes direct from the heart, and speaks at i once the language of truth, nature and sin cerity. Be assured when you sec a tear on her cheek, her heait is touched ; and do not behold it with coldness or insensibility. Let contradiction lie avoided at all times. Never upbraid your wife with the mean- I ness of her relations; invectives against her- j self are not half so wounding. Should suf- j sering ofanykind assail your wife, your ten- I derness and attention are particular called j for. A look of love, a word of piety or sym- ! pathy, is sometimes better than medicine, j Never reproach your wife with any per- ; sonal or mental defect ; for a plain face sometimes conceals a heart of exquisite sensibility and merit, and her consciousness of the defect makes her awake to the slight est attention. When in the presence of other’s let your wife’s laudable pride he in dulged by your showing you think her an object of importance and preference. The most trivial wotd or act of attention and love from you gratifies her feelings ; and a man never appears to more advantage than by proving to the woikl his affection and preference for his wife. Never run on in enthusiastic ecomiums on other women in presenee of your wife; she does not love you better for it. Much to be condemned, is a married man constant ly rumbling front home for the purpose of passing away time. Surely if he wants employment, bis house and garden will fur nish him with it, and if he wishes for socie ty, he will find his wife and children and books the best society in the world. There are some men who will sit an entire day with their wives and scarcely a word escape their lips. This is wrong: you should converse freely on all such occasions. Be always cheerful, gay and good humored. When abroad do not avoid speaking to your wife. Few women are insensible of ten der treatment. They are natutally frank and affectionate, and in general there is nothing but austerity of look, or distance of behavior, that can prevent those aimahle qualities from being evinced on all occasions. In pecuniary matters do not be penurious or too particular. Your wife lias an equal right with yourself to all your worldly pos sessions. Besides, really a woman has innu merable trifling demands of her purse, many little wants which is not necessary for a man to be informed of, and which even if j he went to the trouble of investigation he j would not understand. Gen. Harrison. —There is a beauty and pathos in the following incident more elo quent and touching than the power of lan guage can depict. The lamented Han ison, who, whilst living, received the inostunqual ified evidenccs-wf a nation’s love and vener ation, and whose memory is embalmed in its recollections, enjoyed, also, the esteem of the warriors ho overcame in battle. During the passage of the remnant of that formida ble tribe of Indians, *t!\e Wyandots, from lower Sandusky, Ohio, to the Jiansas river, as they approached North Bend, on the O hio river, where repose the remains of Gen. Harrison, the principal chief requested Capt. Claghorn to have the “big gun” load ed as the boat neared that hallowed spot, the chiefs and braves silently gathered upon the hurricane roof, and formed a line front ing the resting place of their departed chief. The engine was stopped, and the boat was suffered to drift with the current. As they passed the tomb they all uncovered, and gently waved their hats, in silence ; and af ter the boat bad passed, and the report of tbe cannon bad died away, the chief step ped forward, and, in an imptessive man ner, exclaimed, “Farewell, Ohio and her Brave !”— N. O. Tropic. Editors. —The business of an editor, says the N. H. Telagraph, who attemps to give to his readers something new every day of publication, we believe is greatiy underra ted, especially by the more learned of man kind. They do think it a very easy matter lo write for a newspaper. Let them try it. Let some of our ablest men or women, moke the attempt to write for us, one single article each week, without fail—an article, mind, which they shall not hesitate to put .their name to, and let the world know it. is theirs ! We verily believe that they would find it no easy matter. Yet such is the po sition of an editor. With only a modicum of brains, peihaps, he must not only write one article, but half a dozen ; and what is more arid worse, too, his name goes out attached to them all. Really, the public should judge charitably of an editor's efforts. It would be strange if lie never said a silly thing—very strange if he never said an un wise one—passing strange if he never said an erroneous one. His opinions of traris \ piling events are expressed hastily, usual i ly on the spur of the moment, before time ! is given for thorough examination, and the j wonder is I hat they are so uniformly such j as their authors are willing to stand by, af ter mature deliberation. The London West minster Review says, in truth to write a good leader on occurrences of the hour, acute and ready in its arguments and humorous or forcible in its illustrations, with the brief statement of facts, and the skillful manage ment of personalities, which it demands in reference both lo 1 lie newspaper and its party, is the most difficult of all kinds of composition. S/rarinc. —The manufacture of Lard Oil has opened anew source of wealth to the West, and one which, as yet, is only on the threshold of profitable operation. Not only does it furnish a vent for the immense quan tity of laid which the West produces atul which its capacity to produce is unbounded, but it furnishes a material for candles, call ed Stearine, which is destined to supersede tallow and spermaceti as lard oil has sperm and olive oils. This substance is the resi due of laid after the oily paits have been ab stiacled by immense hydrostatic pressure. It is of various qualities, according to the perfection of the manufacture. We saw a paicel a day or two since, perfectly white, as hard as maible, and resembling in all ils qualities the purest wax —indeed, with the admixture of one-tenth part of wax the com pound cannot be distinguished from it, ex cepting hv the most experienced judges. It can also he so made as closely to resemble spermaceti. The quality of Stearine of which we saw a sample, is worth 20 cents per pound, and the candles made fiom it 22 rents per pound. Compared with sperm they are equally handsome—do not run, are much harder, and will burn from a quarter to a thiid longer. The price of sperm is now 30 cents per pound. This fine descrip tion of Stearine bus but recently been pro duced. A sample in neat blocks lias been sent to England to try the market, and a large ex port demand is confidently anticipated at some future day. Os the candles only about 200 boxes have yet been made. Several poorer qualities of Stearine are produced, selling as low as 6 to 7 cents per pound.— The candles made from these ate worth about 14 cents per pound, and are much su perior to those made o{ tallow, which ate worth 12J cents. Those croakers who have predicted the eventual destruction of all the whales and a consequent unillurnitiated world, will see by the above facts that in the boundless Valley of the Mississippi we have 1 lie means of light, both in the shape of oil and candles, from a source which cannot well fail us. We can breed hogs although we cannot Whales; and with candles made of this hog’s wax—for it is wax to all intents and purposes—we can very well do without tiie yield of the sperm whale. In these articles of Oil and Stearine we see another avenue worked by American skill and industry by which wealth is to he poured into the lap of our Western farm ers. We can produce enough to supply the world, and with our advantages, can under sell any other nation on the globe.— N. Y. Tribune. The Baltimore Patriot in the extract be low, sketches a scene nearly as appalling as the night panic on the inclined plane in Pennsylvania, when the rope broke anti it was supposed t lie train was going at tbe rate of CO miles an hour to the ‘‘Old Harry”— or that Sunday scene in Boston, when the servant rushed into Church, and without speaking to anybody in particular, shouted, “your bouse is afire !” Such commotions of a crowd are more pleasant in the recol lection than in the enjoyment, and no one has the least idea of the aggregate amount of l rains in the heads of a thousand people, till he has seen them fermenting together in some imaginary or real danger.— Charleston Mercury. A frightful Scene. —The steamer Geor gia, Cupt. Coffee, left Spear’s wharf last evening, on a moonlight excursion down the Bay, projected by the Independent Blues, a military company of this city. The num ber of persons on board was probably not touch less than six or eight hundred, about one half of whom were ladies. Most of the passengers had congregated on the upper deck. Soon after the boat left the wharf, the excessive weight above caused her to rock and overbalance. At this, many be came alarmed, and thinking to right her a gain they changed positions in a body to the other side. This triads the matter worse, and the lurching became awfully frightful, so that the boat teemed on the eye of cap sizing. Terrified and heart-rending screams ascended from the vast multitude, especial ly the female poition, several of whom faint ed and fell senseless upon the deck, whilst others were crying to be set on shore, and many seemed to anticipate immediate and certain destruction. One man in the I'ijght, we learn, jumped overboard and swam to the shore. Others wete in the act of follow ing as the boat reached the wharf and was brought to rights, when a large number of those who had taken passage got off and re turned home. Many, however, remained on board and proceeded down the bay about thirty miles, having a delightful time, and no further cause for fear. They returned, all safe and in good spirits, about half past 12 o’clock this morning. True and devoted Love. —“ ‘I care not, Julie.’ replied Francis <le Langy; ‘so that you are mine, and I am always with you, to protect, to cherish, to support you, I can not think that there can be any situation in life which would not have its happiness for us. Indeed, Julie, indeed, there seems a strange sort of satisfaction, which I cannot account for, in having the opportunity of loving so dearly as I love you amid dangers, and difficulties, and anxieties. When I thought 1 should lose you, then all was dark and terrible indeed ; but now that you are mine—certainly mine—that blessing seems to be doubly sweet, from its contrast with all that is taking place around us. Come what may, our mutual aflection shall guard us against sorrows such as others feel, and, out of the difficulties and dangers that sur round us, we shall gather materials for hap piness ; as I have heard my uncle say, that the inhabitants of the frozen zone render their warm cabins impervious to the cold wintry blast, by covering them thickly with the snow itself.’ “So reasons youth; ay, reader, and it reasons justly too; for those who have known vvliiit it is to have loved truly arid well, will recollect that, under the touch of sorrow— which every one, more or less, is destined to feel—the tender and the true aflection has burned out with brighter lustre from the dark things that surround it. All ordinary stones we back with tinsel; we set the dia mond upon black : tire lighter affections may gleam with borrowed rays from the glitter ing things of prosperity ; true love, the bea con of life, shines most brilliantly in the darkest night. Julie, too, felt that it was so; and, with such words and anticipations of the future, gathering firmness from each other, they rode on, till at length they reach ed the place of their rendezvous, and there dismounted to wait the coming of the count.” An Alligator Story. —The last Concordia Intelligencer tolls a good story of an old ne gro cook on board a raft getting out timber in the Yazoo country. The fellow’s name was Bristo, and lie was much annoyed by the incursions of the alligators, who were in the habit of stealing the “ greens and vege tables” which were intended for bis ma-tei \s table. He was ever on the watch for the foragers, and one bay lie found a huge wretch of an alligator, which had imprudently got on board the raft for the purpose of taking its siesta. Ibe monster, with closed eyes and wide distended jaws, lay basking in the sun, ever and anon bringing down the “up per story” of his head, as Biisto called his upper jaw, upon the troop of flies that ven tured upon his tongue. A large double-barrelled gun was seized by Bristo, who, without measure or fear poured down the powder and threw in the buck-shot uncounted—with cautious eve and stealthy step he neared Mr. Alligator, and upon getting within striking distance, laid himself full length sprawling on the rail, and awaited patiently a favorable opportu nity of administering the dose. The upper jaw again slowly rose, and upon reaching the widest point of distention became fixed, awaiting with sprung nerve for the entrance of another troop of flies within the huge cavernous mouth. Old Bris. levelled point blank for the centre of the opening, cocked both barrels, stretched himself, and with closed eyes pulled triggers. For an instant, stunned by the recoil from the tremendous charge, he lay quiet; then rose, threw a stealthy glance around to see if he was watched, scratched his woolly natc, and with triumphant air halloed at his topmost voice— “Eh ! eh! mister Alligator, how dem taste 1 Yioch ! yiock ! —hurray for old Vir ginity; guess I gyn you a dose dat pull, old fellow—yaw! yaw !! yaw !! !” Wlat shall ire Talc ?—lt is the custom with the female scions of the aristocracy, to send for a doctor the moment the slightest ailment manifests itself in their dedicate frames. Enervated by fashionable dissi pation, cruelly tortured by fashion, and un mercifully betrayed by custom, they live a living death species of suicidal self-torture, redienlous and extravagant as that inflicted upon themselves by the del vises of the East. “ Send for the doctor,” People dont, send for the doctor for nothing, and the doctor knows it. A doctor to give genera! satis faction, must give physic. Call one your self, and if he tells yen that you must take more exercise, or change your diet, or rise earlier, and attend you without prescribing a pill, a draught or a blister, you write him down an ass immediately, if riot sooner.— A lady of our acquaintance, young, lovely, and intelligent, called in a celebrated phy sician to “do something” for a rush of blood to the head. “ I have been doctoring myself,” said the languid fair one with a smile, to the bluff, though kind, M. I). while he was feeling her pulse. “Ah ! how t” “ Why, I have taken Brandeth’s pills, Parr’s pills, Stainburn’s pills, Jayne’s ex pectorant, used Sherman’s lozenges and plaster, and ” “My God, madam,” interim,,ted the as tonished doctor, “all these do your com plaint no good.” “No ! what shall [ take?” pettishly en quired the patient. “ Take !” exclaimed the doctor, eyeing I’cr from head to foot. “Take,” exclaimed he after a moments reflection, “take! why talc off your corsets." — Mercury. Present to Commander Maclenzic, —We have just been taking a look at the sword, which is about to be presented to Comman der Mackenzie, by u number of our citizens. Its mountings are solid gold, and the'i hilt, guards and castings of the sheath are orna mented with the appropriate devices and anchors, and with other enchasings of ex quisite workmanship. T he blade is adorned with sundry naval emblems. One of the guards hears the inscription—“ Presented by the Citizens of Philadelphia, to Com mander Alexander, Slidel Mackenzie, ofthe United States Navy—lß43.” The end of the hilt is formed in the shape of the head of an eagle, tbe eyes of which are diamonds. 0 INI A L■ For the “Southern Miscellany.” ORIGIN OF WEALTH. Clear definitions give beauty and precis ion to science. In literary composition or popular usage, a latitude of meaning is una voidable ; but in the science of magnitude or quantity, absolute precision is both re quisite and attainable. Utility and value are wotds of frequent occurrence ; and we must conceive with accuracy, and retain with tenacity, a perception of their distinc tive meaning. With this precaution w 0 shall not pass through a miry morass, but glide along a limpid stream ; and, with a greeable emotion, we shall find Political economy ranking among the noblest and most useful of the sciences, every step be ing attended with demonstrative evidence. I ‘tility, in scientific language, is solely ap plicable to the original substances of nature, and In t heir susceptibility ofehanging into va rious forms for gratifying the desires of the human race. These substances, being a vast reservoir of utility, are incapable” of proprietary mensuration, and can no more be treated as exchangeable qualities, than, color, thought or beauty. Air and water, for example, being indispensible for the sus tentation of human life, must be estimated by devout aspirations, not by human arith metic, l hat law of nature’s for instance, which assimilates water into animal sub stances, and that by which fresh air is trans mitted to the respiratory organs, is essen tial to the support ofhuman existence. The greater utility by which life is sustained, and the minor s'ility by which it is adorn ed, ore, through incapacity of measurability, excluded from the science of wealth, whicli treats only of measurable quantities. The works of Nature, in fine, being an immensi ty of utility, are incommensurable by a finite intellect; but value conferred bv human exertion, is measurable by the same facul ties, which, by delegated authority, has an nexed that value to the original materials. Mathematics, or “the science of quanti ty,” owes its beauty of argumentation, the symetry of its reasonings, the certainty ofits conclusions, to a susceptibility of precise definitions. “A line,” in geometrical phras eology, “is length without breadth and thickness“a superficies is length and breadth without thickness.” As all ad juncts, by these definitions, are removed, there is no possibility of error or confusion in geometrical reasoning. When a compar ison is exclusively respecting distance, tbo reasoning, freed from adjuncts, is purely mathematical. Value, being the quantity of any commodity which is exchangable for that of another, is as capable of numerury comparison, as that of a line or super ficies in geometry. Value, wealth,or riches,used ns synonimous terms, are, irr ordinary life, compared and computed with absolute cer tainty. Ltility lias been defined, not so much to fix its own usage, as to prevent its use in the sense of value, which is a quantitative term. Value might, with equal propriety, be mingled with sweetness us with utility, vv hen utility ends, value begins; ntid they can never have a coteinpernrieous existence. Materials existing in boundless profusion,- without an occupant, ore utilities; but ns soon as they ar e occupied and compared, that veiy moment, they pass overtire boun dary of utility, enter the pale of value, and are subject to the calculation of the political economist. Commodities, having a dollar as a unit of comparison, areas calculable ns. any problem in hydraulics or astronomy,— A single relation, in all computation, is kept in view. The engineer, when computing volumes or pressures, excludes the sweet ness and salubrity of his fluids; the trstron omer, when calculating solar or lunar eclips es, excludes the population and fertility of I is planets ; so the political economist, when reckoning the value of sugar or coffee, ex cludes sacharine and aromatic utilities. Had there not been two persons to esti mate their respective acquisitions, the sci ence a! wealth would have slept in everlast ing silence. As two, at least, must concur in every valuation, the value is not depen dent upon the caprice of the occupant.— Ihe value, instead of being arbitrary, is measured by the equivalent offered in ex change; so t lint the equivalency of every commodity is known and acknowledged in the mart. The intensity of any human want is seen in the equivalent,and this equivalen cy the economist takes ns the basis of his calculation, though the propriety of the want he cannot appreciate or control. Asa mor alist or philosopher, the equivalency of thir ty thousand pounds of corn with a single pound of gold, might provoke laughter or scorn; hut this seeming infatuation, like a landmark in the valley ofthe Nile, must be the starting point in proprietary mensura tion. The merchant, content to learn that a piece of cloth measures thirty yards, does not make any allowance for the supposed ductility of the web; so the economist, in, his official capacity, computes the value of a, house at a tbousaud dollars, without allow ing for the exquisite taste ofthe purchaser. The equivalent, the index of desire, is, in all cases, his only guide. A dollar, in our country, is the proprieta ry unit; and every commodity is estimated by a comparison with that established unit. T he sum of all commodities, in the posses sion of an individual, is his riches or wealth. The sum of individual wealth, compose that of a nation ; and the wealth of the world, is the sum of all the wealth of the respective nations, comprised into one universal to tality. The origin of value has always been held as a reasonable arid au important inquiry. No material, while in the store house of na ture, is measurable ; but in the mart of men, it lias assumed a definite degree of value.— The line between utility and value, as a thing cannot he and not he nt the same time* is without breadth. The passage to value, must he the moment of the first application ot labor, for no other passage is conceivable. In the accidental finding of a diamond, there is a degree of labor; hut it is labor better rewarded than in ordinary cases of produc tion. No man can render an equivalent, except labor, to the bountiful Author of the first raw materials. Value, not existing originally in the material, was annexed by human labor, and when traced to its source.