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POETRY.
THE MURDERED TRAVALER.
When Soring, to woods and wastes around,
Brought bloom and joy again; ■
The murdered traveller’s bone* were Found,
Far down a narrow glen.
The fragrant birch, above him hung
Her tassels in the sky,
And many a vernal blossom sprung,
And nodded, careless, by.
The red-bird warbled, as she wrought
Her hanging nest o’erhead,
Ai^ fearless, near the fatal spot,
ter young the patridge led.
•But there was weeping far away,
And gentle eves, for him,
With watching many an anxious day,
Grew sorrowful and dim,
They little knew, who loved him so.
The fearful death he met,
When shouting o’er the desert snow,
Unarm’d and hard beset.
Nor how, when round the frosty pole
The northern dawn was red,
The mountain wolf and wild-cat stole
To banquet bn the dead.
Nor how, when strangers found his bones,
They dress’d the hasty bier,
And marked hisgrave with nameless stones,
Unmoistencd by a tear.
But long they looked, and feared, and wept,
Within his distant home;
And dreamed, and started as they slept,
For joy that he was come.
So long they looked—but never spied.
His welcome step again,
Nor knew the fearful death he died
Far down that narrow glen. Bryant.
From the Boston Courier.
ALEXANDER VOLTO.
The last number of the Journal- of
Science and the Ai ls, contains an 0-
bituury. notice of this great Italian
philosopher, who died at Como on the
5th of March, 1827, at the age of 82
years. He was born in Como in 1745;
was appointed professor of philosophy,
at Pavia, & in that city, during 25
years taught the true principles of elec
tricity, &. ornamented that science by
many valuable discoveries. In 1782,
he made several journeys in Europe,
with his illustrious'colleague, Scarpa,
& received a gold modal from the Roy
al Society of London, for the discovery
■®ofhis condenser. In 1801, he was
in Paris, where he explained the na
ture, properties, and effects, of the
pile which bears his name, and where
a gold medal was decreed him as a
' testimony of admiration. Advanta
geous offers were made to draw him
to other great European capitals, but
he preferred his country to the brill
iant prospects which were offered
him, and he retired to his native place,
occupving himself till near the close
of life with philosophy, and particular
ly with meteorology.
In early life, Volta devoted him
self to the study of electricity and che
mistry. At a later period, he applied
himself to perfecting the instrument
for measuring electricity, and to the
Invention of new ones. The Electro-
phorus and Condenser, owe their ori
gin to him. The last apparatus is to
the science of electricity, what the
microscope is in natural history, in
permitting us to appreciate the quan
tities of that fluid, which, by their fee
ble effects, would have entirely es
caped the means formerly known.—
His hypothesis of the formation of
hail is ingenious, and his observations
upon the periodical return of clouds
are not without interest.
It was Volta who discovered the
inflammable gas of marshes, and fur
nished an explanation of the wondrous
fires, & of those ingenious phenomena,
sometimes produced on the surface of
the ground. He showed that they re
sult from the combustion of this gas
by means of electricity. It was on
the discovery of an inflammable
spring, that he suspected the true
cause of this phenomenon, and which
he attributed to the formation of a gas
bv the fermentation of vegetable & an
imal substances in contact with water.
By the observations just alluded to,
Volta was led to the discovery of the
electric pistol, in which, by means of
electric spark, the sudden combustion
of hydrogen produces a loud explosion.
This gave birth to the hydrogen gas
lamp.
That discovery which contributed
most to his.fame, and which will al
ways remain a monument to his gen
ius, is a new method of producing e-
lectricity. Galvani, being engaged in
some anatomical experiments, per
ceived, that two heterogeneous met
als,’connected b3’the intervention of
a IJrog, produced in the *uscle of this
animal a sudden commotion, similar to
an electric shock. Struck with phe
nomenon!, Galvaui and some other
dliilosophers, endeavored to explaiu it
by a fluid avi generis, which they call
ed animal electricity. Volta's opin
ion was widely different. He contend
ed that the fluid was nothing more
than common electricity, developed
by the contact of two metals, and
that the frog acted the part of con
ductor &• electroscope. He had been
admired for the indefatigable per
severance with which he endeavored
to prove the truth of his explanation.
He succeeded in his experiments, and
replied victoriously to his adversaries,
tviio no longer opposed him in making
to the scientilic world the invaluable
gift of the apparatus known by the
name of the Voltaic Pile. Having
discovered that the conduct of differ
ent metals, called a pair or voltaic
element, produces a certain quantity
of electricity, he w r as enabled to in
crease this quantity by the un
union of several of these ele
ments to one another.by means of wa
ter holding in solution a sal.t or an a-
cid. It is the union of all these coup
les which is called thc N Voltaic Pile,
and which forms an apparatus capa
ble of producing electricity with a
force to which no one has been able to
find a limit, since there is no limit to
the size and number of the elements
which can be thus brought together.
The writer of the article, from
which we have made this hasty ab
stract, is enthusiastic in his panegyrics
upon the genius and learning of Volta,
and the services lie rendered to sci
ence. He placed in tlie hands of ex
perimenters an inexhaustible mine of
rich discoveries, in giving them the
pile, and established legitimate claims
upon their gratitude and their regret.
The obituary concludes with a
statement of a coincidence as sad as it
was singular. The same month and
the same.day of the month, which ter
minated the life of Alexander Volta,
were the month and the day which
witnessed the death of Lpplace. “A
singular concurrence between two of
the greatest geniuses of the age, so
different otherwise in the paths which
they followed in the pursuit of science.
If one by his inventive genius has open
ed a new career to the sagacity of
the human mind, the other, by a force
of conception which raised him to the
most sublime generalizations, has
traced a route which no person, per
haps, will attempt to follow. The
theory of the world, begun by New
ton, can expect no future Laplace,
that of electricity, which owes its
great progress to Volta, has a right to
ask a Laplace.”
any one to receive them; 6ut, on the
contrary, we, by the word of the Lord,
of almighty authority, require and
command all, in the finest manner,
that not one visit them, nor do them
any sort of service, or furnish them a-
ny sort of assistance whatever, to pro
tract their stay in these parts or any
other. Lei no one receive them into
his house, pr into any place whatever
that belongs to hitn, but let all avoid
them, in eVeiy'Way, in all things tem
poral as well'as spiritual. And who
ever, in his stubbornness, shall dare to
act in opposition to this our order
with regard to Brd, and his children,
and his own famih, shall fall, ipso fac
to, under the grea\ excommunication,
whose absolution \s reserved to our
selves alone, in thc\ame manner as has
happened to the miserable Latoof El
Ashi and his sons; film which may the
Lord preserve you a|, and his bless
ing be upon the obeclent.
The ignoble JIseph Peter,
Patriarch of the JlntioUi all the East.
August 4, 1827.
SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
Extract of a letter irom the Rev.
John Armstrong, an English clergy
man at Buenos Ayres, to the English
Church Missionary Society.
With a view to draw the attention
of the committee towards those parts,
and in the hope that ultimately you
will be induced to make some missiona
ry attempts this country. I forward
to you aji fKtract of a letter which I
have latelyj received from a friend,
who is traversing these countries for
scientific aid commercial purposes;
to which hi adds another object of
still greatef importance—that of a-
vailinghimjelf of his opportunities of
doing goodjwherever he can. He is a
medical m:n—a Swede—and one that
fears God He writes as follows,
from Mendoza, the capital of one of
united provinces of Riu de la Plata—
Nothingrcmarkable occurred du-
the cou\se of 23 days’ journey,
MISSIONARY PERILS.
Denunciation of the Patriarch of Anli-
och, against Rev. Mr. Bird.
“Proclamation to all our children,
the people of the villages of Eliden
and Zgarta, and to all our children,
the inhabitants of the district of Gib
bet, Besharry, clergy and laymen, ru
lers and subjects universally, to wit:
“That vve have knowledge of the
infernal hardihood, to which the un
happy wretched Latoof El Ashi and
his Sons have arrived, in having dared
to associate themselves with that de
ceived man and deceiver of men, Bird
the Bible-man. They aid him in his
object and have brought him to Ehden
against the severe prohibitions which
vve had before issued, threatening ev
ery one who opposed our orders with
immediate excommunication. We,
therefore, make known to all, that
those sons of wickedness, Latoof El
Ashi and his sons, together with all
the rest of his family, male and female
except domestics, have fallen under
the heavier excommunication; and
now We, by the word of the Lord
which is Almighty, confirm upon them
this excommunication. They are
therefore, accursed, cutoff from all
Christian communion: and let the
curse envelope them as a robe, and
spread through all their members
like oil, and break them in pieces
like a pottor’s vessel, and wither them
in pieces like tffe fig-tree cursed by
the mouth of the Lord himself: and
let the evil angel rule over them, to
torment them day and night asleep and
awake, and in whatever circumstances
they may be found. We permit no
one to visit them, or employ them, or
do them a favor, or converse with them
in any form; but let them be avoided
as a putrid member, and as hellish
dragons. Beware, yea, beware of
the wrath of God.
“And with regard to Bird, and all
his children, and all his family, we
in like manner grant no permission to
except somelfevv stoppages to give as
sistance to sick people. I now left
the Tropa (k troop of carts,) in order
that I mightjvisit that peaceable tribe
of Indians wlich traffics with the in
habitants of ihe provinces of Cordova
and Punto Sin Luis. A Portuguese
apothecary, tv'ho has for some years
traded with Ihem, gave me some de
scription of taeir customs. When I
fell in with tliem, they were on their
journey towards the Pampas, on Ac
count of the drought, seeking pasture
for their horses. Their tents are of
hides; and their clothes consist of
pouches (a kind of mantle,) and a gir
dle round the waist: their'arms are
lances, leaden halls, and lassos—long
ropes, made of hides, which they throw
most dexterously, and, by a noose at
the end, catch either their cattle, or
men, whom they may wish to secure.
Many of them speak Spanish, and are
industrious and fond of commerce; but
have very dark and confused ideas a-
bout religion, even worse than my Ta-
poys in Brazil, [another tribe which
lie visited and resided among for some
months, two or three years ago.]—
They live principally on the flesh of
mares, colts,. deers, and armadillos;
but like bread, vvhen they can ex
change their own produce for it. They
are, moreover, thoughtful and inquisi
tive: so that it would be very easy for
a man living among them to introduce
art; and, with arts, civilization and
religion. Mr. Martinez, the apothe
cary, has an Estancia (a landed prop
erty) among them, and lives in perfect
good understanding with their chiefs.
Any person understanding different
trades would be very useful among
them; aud, witliou: doubt, would suc
ceed in civilizing them.
NAPOLEON’S LETTER
revive the Sentiments of bur nature,
and we live for our children. Yes,
madam see in this very moment how
they open your heart to melancholy;
you will weep with them—you will
bring them up from infancy—you will
talk to them of their father, of your
sorrow, of the loss which you and the
Republic have sustained. After hav
ing once more attached your mind to
the world by the ties of filial and ma
ternal love, set some value on the
friendship and lively regard I shall al
ways feel for the wife of my friend.—
Believe that there are those who de
serve to be the hope of the afflicted
because they understand the poignan
cy of mental sufferings.
The following table will show %
immense destruction effected by the.
American tire, compared to that of a-
ny other nation. The first column is
a rough calculation of the engaged, and
the latter is an accurate statement; of
the killed aud wounded:
3,206
1,060
1,100
704
1,400
300
1,110
895
1,550
1,597
170
391
I
TO THR WIDOW *F ADMIRAI. BRUEYS.
Your husband has been killed by a
cannon shot, while fighting on his deck
He died without pain, and by the bes^
death, and that which is thought b
soldiers most enviable.
I am keenly sensible to your grief.
The moment which severs us from
the object wfelove is terrible; it insu
lates us from all the earth; it inflicts
4>n the body the agonies of death: the
faculties of the soul are annihilated,
and its relation with the universe sub
sists only through the medium of a hor
rible dream which distorts every
thing. Mankind appear colder and
more selfish than they really are. In
this situation wo feel that if nothing
obliged us to live, it would be much
better to die; but when, after this
first thought, we press our children to
our hearts, tears and tender emotions
EFFECTS OF LAUGHTER.
The different grades of Joy have
performed wonders in medic^e. Ma
ny striking instances are recorded of
its salutary effects when it has ope
rated in laughter. Children, it is said,
have been cured by it of the rickets.—
Voltaire relates a story of a lady who
was supposed to be in the last state
of an acute disease. Her mother,
who stood weeping by her bedside,
prayed for her life, and offered to her
Maker all her other children, if the
sick one should be spared, A son-in-
law, who had married another of her
daughters, and who sat by the bedside,
very gravely said—“l hope, madam,
you mean of one sex only,” moaning
her female children. The lady who
was ill was so struck with this speech
that she burst into a fit of laughter,
and from that time recovered.—This
gentle and pleasant emotion i>f the di
aphragm and its contiguous muscles,
produced the same effect upon the
Cardinal in Rome. In a similar situ
ation, laughter was excited in him,
while he lay in his bed, by seeing a fa
vorite monkey put on his pontifical
robes, and strut about his bed chamber
with which he had often seen his mas
ter perform his public ecclesiastical
duties.
SUNSET ON THE ALPS.
At the height of 1,422 toises above
the level of the sea, the beauty of the
evening and the magnificence of the
scenery which the setting sun present
ed, consoled me for the bad weather
which I had experienced. The Va
pors of the night, which, like fine
gauze moderated the splendor of the
sun, half concealed the extent which
w r e had under our feet, while it form
ed a girdle of the finest purple, em
bracing all the western part of the
horizon. On the other hand, towards
the East, the snows at the base of
Mont Blance, tinged with this purple
light, exhibited the most magnificent
and singular spectacle. In propor
tion as the vapor fell, on account of
its condensation, this girdle became
narrower and more colored; it appear
ed, in fine, of a blood red, and, at the
same instant, the small clouds which
were rising above this cordon, emitted
a light of greater vivacity, so as to ap
pear like stars or fiery meteors.
I returned thither when night was
entirely shut in; the sky was then per
fectly clear and without clouds; the
vapor was seen only in the bottom of
the glens; the stars shone clear, but
destitute of every kind of scintillation,
and shed on the summits of the moun
tains a light extremely feeble and pale,
though sufficient to distinguish their
masses and their distances. The calm
and profound silenoe which prevailed
in this vast extent, raised the imagi
nation still higher, and inspired a sort
of terror. I thought I had survived
the universe, and saw its ruins under
my feet. Yet sad as such rellectious
really are, they possess an attractive
interest which it is difficult to resist.
I turned most frequently towards
the obscure solitude which was on the
side of Mont Blane, where the snows
gave a clear phosphorescent-like light
and imparted still the idea of motion
and life; but the keenuesg of the uir
on tliis insolated peak soon forced me
to retire to my cabin.—Suusure Voy-
vges dans les Jilpes.
Lord Howe’s victory
Lord Duncan’s
Lord St. Vincent’s
The Nile,
Trafalgar;
American frigates,
So that the sanguinary battle of Cam-
perdown did not cost us twice our loss
in engaging four American frigates, and
nearly the same may be said of the
most desperate of all naval fights on
record—that of the Nile. The Java
Frigate of only thirty six guns, when
taken by the Americans, lost within
one as many as the Temararie, 92
guns; and within a few as many as the
Royal Severeign of 100, in the .battle
of Trafalgar; and yet the Victory and
Royal Sovereign weVe Lord Nelson’s
and Lord Collingswood’s flags ships
and bore the brunt of the battle.” ’
The plague at Cairo in Egypt.—The
plague followed the scarcity, and the
contagion completed what the famine
had begun. The human form was
swept away from the surface of the
land, like the shadows of the darkness
which the dawn puts to flight. Towns
and villages innumerable, were bereft
of their tenants to a man. The living
became too few to bury the dead.—
Their own houses remained their ce-
metaries. Where long strings of cof
fins at first had issued forth, not a sol
itary funeral any longer appeared.—-
Hundreds of families, who had fled from
famine to Syria were overtaken by the
plague in the midst of their journey,
and with their dead bodies marked
their route through the desert. E-
gypt smitten by the two fold visitation
almost ceased to appear inhabited: and
both plagues at length disappeared,
for want of further victims to slay.
TURKISH LIBRARIES.
There are thirty-five public libra
ries at Constantinople, one at every"
imperial mosque. They are built
with taste and elegance and contain
lrom 1000 to 5000 volumes, bound
neatly in red, green, and black moroc
co. Excepting on Tuesdays and Fri
days, these libraries remain open to
tho public at all times of the year.—
Each library is under the care of three
or four librarians, (Hafiz Kutub,) who
spend the day there, and receive most
politely whoever enters. Every body
is permitted to use what book he pleas
es, to make extracts, or even copy
the whole book, provided it be done
in the library, for the rules of these
institutions do not allow books to be
carried out of the building. At each
of the libraries a very exact catalogue
of the books is kept, containing the
title and subject of every volume.—
The Sultan’s library contains about
15,000 volumes'.
A writer in the London Morning
Chronicle holds this language:
“There is no denying the vast su
periority of the Americans to the En
glish in gunnery; and the reason is ob
vious. In America the officers must
learn the naval service—in England
the relations of the officers must learn
their Parliamentary service, and this
makes all the difference. The Guer-
riere, Java, Macedonia and Shannon,
lost in their actions with American
frigates more by oue third than our
whole fleet in the great Victory of St
Vincent*. ‘
A Dog's Jeois-harp.—A brace of
Paddies having recently landed in the
United States from Emerald Isle,
went to a tavern and called for dinner.
The landlord informed them that they
had np victuals prepared but apple
dumplings, which were accordingly
set before them. One says to the
other—“what kind of meat, is this, I
never saw such meat iu Ireland.”—
“Arrah, by my shoul,” says the oth
er, “I”il soon find out if its poison,”
and threw one of the dumplings under
the table to a large dog, who instant
ly swallowed it. The heat of it se«
verely burning the dog’s throat, tho
animal began to whine and howl and
paw his mouth with his fore feet.—
“There by St. Patrick,” says Paddy,
“they are dog’s jews-harps, 6ee how
swately he plays on it.”
Anecdote of the Revolution •—During
the momentous contest for Liberty
and Indepeudence, the society of
Friends, generally adhering to their
known pacific principles, would not
take an active part 'therein. Two of-
their members, residing in New Jer-
6y, conversing on the subject, one ob
served, that, considering the men in
power distrained much more of their
property than the demand, he was dis
posed to submit and pay, especially as
the Scriptures said, “Render unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, v
The other inquiring who was Caesar?
“Why, in ancient times- there were
several, as Augustus Caesar, Tiberius
Caesar, and Julius Caesar; and if thou
refuses! to pay the military requisi
tions, tho constable will be thy ( See-
sure