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/•I
THE PURSUIT "Of 1 KNOWLEDGE
VXD EH DIFFICULTIES.
The Count tie Pagan was born in the be
ginning of the seventeenth century, and has
been accounted the father of the modern
science of fortification. Having entered the
army at the early age of twelve, he lost his
left eye before he was seventeen, at the siege
of Montauban. He still, however, pursued
his profession with un b i*ed ardour, and dis
tinguished himself by many acts of brilliant
courage. At last, when about to be sent in
to Portugal with the rank of field marshal,
he was seized with an illness, which deprived
him of his remaining eye. H ■ was yet only
in his thirty-eighth year, and he determined
that the misfortunes he had already sus
tained in the service of his country, should
not prevent him from recommencing his pub
lic career in a new character. He had al
ways been attached to mathematics, and he
now devoted himself assiduously to the pro
secution of his favourite study, with a view
principally to the imp oveinent of the science:
of fortification, for which his gr<*at experi
ence in the field particularly fitted him.
During the twenty years after/ this, which
he passed in a state of total blindness, he
gave a variety of publications to the world ,
among which may be mentioned, besides his
well known and largest work on Fortifica
tion, his ‘ Geometrical Theorems,’ and his
" Astronomical Tables ’ lie is-also the au
thor of a ran b-mk called ‘An Historical and
Geographical Account of the ITver of the
Amazons,’ which is remarkable .as contain
ing a chart asserted to have been made by
himself after he was blind. It is said not toi
be very correct although a wonderful pro
ductiuu for .uth an artist. * * *
Nor is music the onlv one of the line arts
in which the bljnd have excelled We read
of a sculptor who became blind at twenty (
years of age, and vet ten years afterwards
made a statue of Pope Uibau Vlll in clay,
and another of Cosmo 11. of Florence, ut
marble. Another blind sculptor is men
tioned by Roger de Piles, in one of his w " ks
on painting; he executed a marble statue of
our Charles I. with great taste and accuracy.
Nor ought we to bo surprised at this dex
terity, if we nay believe what is told us of
a young French lady, who lost her sight in
her second year, and of whose marvellous
accomplishments we have an account in the
Annual Rrgister fur 176-2. This lady is said
notwithstanding her, bli• doess, to have been
an excellent player at cards, a ready and
elegant writer, and evert to have been able
to read written characters. On sitting down
to play gt cards, she first went over the
pack, marking every one cf the fifty-two
cards by so slight an indentation as scarcely
to be perceptible to any one else on the
closest inspection; but which, nevertheless,
she, herself, by 'he delicacy of her touch,
instantly recognised. She then proceeded
without difficulty, only requiring, of course,
that every card should be named as it was
played. In writing she userl a sharp and
hard pointed pencil, which marked the pa
per so as to enable her to read what she had
written with her finger-ends.. All this, it
musr be confessed, seems very like a fiction;
but it is, perhaps, scarcely so wonderful as
what is told of an E iglUn lady, who was,
examined by several eminent physicians,
•nd among others by Sir Hans Sloane. She!
had been deprived, by disease, not only of
her sight but of her powers of speech and
hearing, so that there rein lined only 'he or
gans of touch, taste, ami smell, by which
she could hold communication with others.l
Deaf, dumb, and blind, as she was, however
she yet in course of time learned to converse
with her friends by means of an alphabet
made by their hands or fingers pressed inj
different ways upon hcr’s. She very soon:
•Iso acquired the power of writing with great!
neatness .npd exactness, and used to set up
in bed, we a refold at any hour of the night, I
either to write or to work, when she felt!
horself indisposed to sleep —We shall feel;
what an invariable possession the knowledge
of writing mutt tyue been to this individual,
when we reflect, that on first being reduced!
to the state of deplorable helplessness which
•he afterwards found admitted of so man*
•deviations, nothing but the power she still
retained of scrawling a few words, which yet
•he could not discern; could have enabled
her at all to communicate her wishes or feel
ings to those around her. But fur this pow
er it w uld seem that she must have been for
evershu: out from even the most imperfect
intercourse with her species; for it was thro’
it alone that she could intimate to them the
meaning she wished to he assigned to each
of the dift’-rem pal pah e signs which const!-.
Juled her alphabet. With this instrument of
communication, the arrangcuuMit Would be,
easily effected; it would otherwise have been
Impracticable. We have abundant reason to,
set a high value on the art of writing, but to
this person it was intaluabl'e. To os it is the
most useful ol all the arts; Jo her it wus the
means of restoration to life from a state of
exclusion, almost as complete as.that of the
grave. But perhaps the most singular in
stance on record of a blind person triumph
jug over those difli allies of his si'uation,
which are apparently most insuperable, is
afforded in John Metcalf, or, as he was com
monly called Blind, Jack, a well known
character, who died only » few years ago.
This person was a native of Manchester or
the neighborhood ; and Mr. Bew has given
•n account of him in the p iper we have al
ready quoted. After telling us that he be
came blind at a very early age, 80 as to be
entirely ignorant of light and its various ef
fects, the narrative proceeds as followss---
* S''hi* man passed the yoanger part of his
“life as a wagoner, and occasionally as a guide
> in intricate roads during the night, or when
(he tracks were covered with snow. Strange
- as this may appear to those who can see, the
9 employment he has since undertaken is still
1 more extraordinary; it is one of the last to
' which we could suppose a blind man would
’(ever turn tiis attention. His present occupa
’ Ition is that of projector and surveyor of
I,highways in difficult and mountainous par*s.
W i h rice assistance only of a long stall, 1
1 have several times met this man traversing
■ the roads, ascending precipices, exploring
. valleys, and investigating their several ex
l tents, forms, and situations, so as to answer
' | his designs in the best manner. The plans
I which he designs,® and the estimaies he
makes, arc done in a method peculiar to him
l self, and which he cannot wil convey the
meaning of to others. His abilities in this
I respect are nevertheless so great, that he
! finds constant employment. Most of the
(roads over the Peak in U rhyshire have b en
! altered by his directions particularly those
in the vicinity of Bextun; and he is at this
time consti acting a in w one betwixt Wilm
stow and Congleton, with u view to open a
‘ communication to the great London road,
t’wiuiout being obliged to pass over the mbun
> tains.* Mr Bew adds in a note, "Since this
1 paper was written, ami had the honor of Lur
ing delivered to the society, 1 have met this
‘(blind projector of the roads, who was alone
as usual; and amongst other conversation, I
made some inquiries concerning this new
road. It was really astonishing to hear wuh
what accuracy he described the courses and
the nature ut the dirt- rent soils thro’ which
'it was conducted Having men tinned tuliim
a b 'ggy piece of g ourul it passed through,
he observed that ‘lhat was the only place he
, had doubts concerning; and that he w,»s ap
prehensive they had, contrary (v his direc
tions, been too sparing of their materials ”
i We may here mention the wretched Eu
gene Aram, who was tried and convicted,
( in 1759, lor a murder comforted fourteen
. years before. The strange circumstances
it which, after so long a concealment, led to
f the discovery o( this crime, from one of
,'most singular chapters in the-history of hu
man guilt. This man, whim bid passions
: led to the commission of so sad atrocity,
, and, in consequence, to so miseiable an
, end, strikingly exemplified, in the previous
part of his life, wh>t lesolution and peise
verance may accomplish in the work of sell
Aram, wh> was born in York
1 shire, in die year 17U4, only learned to
. read a ntdc English in the school of his
i native village, and never aftet wards had
. tfie be.iefi, of any further instruction; yet,
> by his own exertions, he fiisr qualified lum
r ■ sell to teach a‘l tin- more common branches
:!ot education, including arithmetic and ma
, (hematics, and then proceed'd, with an in
, dustry that has scarcely been surpassed, to
| make hi> way to the highest depaitments of
, learning. In a Lltet written to a clerical
i friend from Y >rk Castle, after his convic
tion, in which he gives an account of his
tile, he says, referring to the period when'
he was first engaged in thus at the same
time teaching others and himself, * Perceiv
; ing the deficiency in my education, and
sensible of my want of the teamed lan
guages, and prompted by an irresistible co-j
ve ousness of knowledge, I commenced a
Jseries of studies in that way, and under-i
took the tediousness, the intricacies, and)
the labours of grammar. I sheeted Lilly
from the rest, all ol which 1 got and repeat
i’ed by heart. The task of repeating it all
.‘every day was impossible while I attended
■ the schools ; so 1 divider! it into portions,
bv which method it was pronounced thrice
(every week ; and this I performed fur years.
Next I became acquainted with Camden’s
Greek Oiammar, which I also repeated in
I the same manner, memoriter. Thus instruct
ed, I entered upon the Latin classics, whose
! allurements repaid my assiduities and my
(labours. I remember to have at fvst hu g
.over five tines for a whole day ; and never,
in all the paiulul course of my reading, lef.
any one passage but I did, or thought I
did, perfectly comprehend it. After I had
accurately perused every one of the Latin
classics, historians, and poe's, I went
through the Greek Testament, fi st parsing
every word as I proceeded : nex i ventur
ed upon Hesiod Homer, Theocritus, Aero
dotus, Thucydides, And all the Greek tra-j
gedians. A tedious labour w sthis; but
liny former acquaintance wnh history les
sened it extremely, because it threw a light
upon many passages which, without that
assistence, must have appeared obscure.’
There was scarcely any part of literature,
!indeed, with which Aram was not proton id
ly conversant. History, antiquities, her
aldry, had all been elaborately and exten
sively studied by him ; but his favorite pur
suit was the investigation and compari
i son of languages, with a view to the de
> termination of (heir origin and connexion. 1
> Far (his purpose, in addition to the Gieek.
I Latin, and French,,he had studied wi.h
> great attention several of the oriental
1 tongues, and all the remaining dialects of
. 1 the Celtic. He had meditated, indeed, the
,!compilation of a dictionary of the Celtic,
* Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, in
-I which different languages he is said to have
j, left behiud him a list of about three thou -
.(sand words, which he considered them to
r possess in common. Some of his observa
i (ions upon this subject have been printed,
and are creditable both to his ingenuity and
. good sense. The address, we may add,
• which he delivered on his trial in his own'
defence, is an extraordinary specimen of,
. the tutious learning with which his mind
i seems to have been stored But ne’is a
- ■ *- I v *
>,,
i mournful example of high mental powers
i brought low bj ill-regulated passions, arnf
“ of the vanity and worthlessness even of tal
! ents and knowledge, when separated from
I moral principle.
I From the kew OrUani Bee April 27.
Vera Cruz., April 14.
I The adrninis'ration of Bustamente. be
•;co:nes every ilay more odious. Hi* Kxcel
l|lency Guadfl'upe Victoria, ex president.
s;the deputy Z -recent, and Cadella* have
t been arrested and imprisoned. The first is
iaccused by senator Ignacio Gonzales, of
having infringed the constitution during his
i presidency.
Deputy Alpach is condemned to 10 years
imprisonment in a fort in California. Ge
neral Guerrero has tak'*n the field at the
i head of some troops. Bravo and Anniyole
-have been sent against him.
Mexico, March 24
i In the sitting of the 16 h inst. the minis
ter of the home and foreign department,
presented himself before the House of Re
presentatives, to announce that advices
which might be relied upon, received with
, the correspondence, by the lasi English pack
et, left no doubt that the cabinet of Madrid
i Was fitting out a new expedition against our
A*public, which was to be commanded by
' one of the fnost renowned and experienced
generals of the Spanish army. His Excel
lency blamed very much 'he preceding ad
ministration, for having so often published
news of this kind, which had induced go.
vernmefiT to delay this communication, but
he said that the force of circumstances and
the authenticity of the documents which he
was going !o read, hid prompted him torn
form the House of those f.cts, in order that
measures might be taken immediately, to
authorise ihe minister of the war and navy
department to reorganize the army. Ha
then re td those, documents and said that al
though that expedi ion might not be fitted
nut for a few months, yet ii was however
necessary to be prepared to repel it at any
time.
The night before last a printer who lived
in St. Augustine street, was assassinated,
and it appears 'here was found in his house
paper- with these words on them “ Viva
fluerrero .” Is this horrid crime anew act of
jealousy r Great God! in wnai age do we live.
If appears that at binary acts continue to
be committed in this city. J Aranjo, has
been arrested unawares, and of er m >re than
' six y hours imprisonment he is yet to know
i for what offence. Ho is not allowed to
1 communicate with any one, and his p.rse
i cut on, don’t seem to think of informing
him what su-.pi. inns exist against him.
i We have brn told by officers of die ar
my that they had been assured by cenain
Carmelites, thai in the month of July of
1 this year, the Spanish flag should be hoisted
on the national palace of Mexico, It is
ilieit this hope that brings back among us so
many Spaniards that have been ex ulsed,
and so many in >ie that were ho \.—Alleta
Baltimore, May 3.
BUENOS AYRES.
We have received from out Buenos Ayres (
correspondent a paper of the 6 n d VI irch,'
(brought by the ship Telegraph auPhiladel-;
phiu. In relation to the political coodi'ion!
jof the country, it is said “The affairs of
'the interior have taken a m >st unfortunate!
turn. The cheering hope* which we enter
tained of a speedy preification of 'he lepub
lic, are converted into gloomy forebodings
of a general conflagration, in which our pro
vince and i’s allies will be involved ”
It appears th t the tnembe s of the Buenos
1 Ayres Mediatory Cnmous-i m, having left
the cainb of General Paez for that of Gene
ral Quirnga, in order ‘o effect a reconcilia
tion f the differences existing between the,
two commanders were engaged in negotia-i
'ions with the latter, when General Paez,
in violation of good faith, advanced with his
army, and su. ceeded in in surprising hat,
of Quiroga, who experienced a complete!
rou e and the loss ot his artillery. The
Commissioners have published a strong pro
test against the conduct of Piez.
[American.
New York, May 1.
j Fire. — About 2 o’clock yesterday, a fire
broke out in a row of two story frame;
(dwellings in the rear of No. 3 7, Willett-;
street, which destroyed eight or nine build-1
lings. Three cows and a horse were a.so
'burnt to death. The following particular
are copied from the Gazette:
No. 37. VVillett-street, a‘ two story frame,
house, owned by Mr. Kent, and occupied b)
Mr, J. Sanders, as a grocery and dwelling,
nearly destroyed.
No 39. a brick stable, occupied by Mr.
Caney, 'destroyed.
N„. 41 afwostory frame house, occu
pied by Mea-rs Cane and Madison, as a
dwelling', destroyed.
Three two sloty frame houses, on an ally,
which had at. entrance from Willett -street, |
and which were occupied by a great nuui
ber of blanks, destroyed.
A two story frame house in the rear ft
No. 227, Delarcy-street, unoccupied, and
owned by Mrs.Redney, destroyed.
A two story rame house in the rear of;
No. 225, Delaicy-street, occupied by Mr.
M'Fadan, and owned by Messrs. Tweed '
& Bonnet, desroyed.
A small woolen building on the corner,
occupied by M. Caney, grocer, slighdy in |
juren.
It was supplied to have originated from i
a flaw in the dimney. !<
j Mr. Kent had an insurance of £2OOO and
• Ward & Lawton, 300 dollars.
[From the Delaware (Ohio) Ghzef/r]
DISTRESSING CASUALTY.
We learn, verbally, that three young men
(brothers,) lost their lives in the east par'
of Marion county, on Friday last, by ihe
• presence of carbonic acid gas, farndi n ly!
denominated damp*. The first en'eml the
. well, for the purpose of clearing it out ; hut
• [had descended but a part of the way, woen
i ihe suddenly fell to the bottom. Htsui i
f ther, who was standing by, supposing he
i had slipped, called another son immediately
to his relief ; who having descended a few
t feet, also fell in the same manner. She
'then called her third end last son, who also
i entered the fatal well. He had scarcely
: begun to descend, when he called out, “mo
ther, I am faint,” and instantly shared the
same fate of his unfortunate brothers. O r
■ assembling the neighbors, it was soon as-]
, certaine.d that the well was so completely
■ charged with the noxious vapor, that a light
i ed camjle was extinguished within six feet
of the surface. The lifeless bodies were ta
• ken out as soon as ii could be done consist
ent with the safety of those assisting What
• makes this case peculiarly distressing, is
' the fact, that the father of ihe yourtg men is
1 blind, and they were his principal, if not
■ his only dependence. The name of the
family, our informant did not recollect.
I It is matter of some surprise, that with
(the universal knowledge of mankind, of
t this danger, so common *o wells, that so
L,little regard is paid to it. No person should
; ever presume to descend into any well,;
♦without having first let down a ligh ed can-(
i dle, if that will burn freely there is nodan
i ger from this cause.
MORE FORTUNES.
The glad tidings of a great fortune, the
rightful heirs of which are all Americans,
has been circulated during the week. As
the story g.ies, (and we have taken some
pains to ascertain its correc'ness.) an old
lady emigrated to this country from Holland
( some eighty or a hundred, years since, who
. became the rightful heir of a large estate in
I Amsterdam. An advertisement to this ef
f feet failed to reach her descendants, and in!
default of any claimant the government took
.the property under their care, and havel
, nursed and increased it till it is said to ex-|
, ceed two millions of dollars in value. There
! are several squares in Amsterdam included
, in the whole, besides other valuable matters.
IThe worst or best, as our readers please, of
,'the matter, is yet to be told—the old lady
’, left several children, and these, like, good
. citizens, have obeyed the injunction to in
i;crease and multiply, till they have arrived
fto the number of two hundred; among
1 whom, if (he Dutch Ainbass ‘.dor’s opini o
, proves correct, this handsome estate will
, I shortly be divided. Most of the heirs are
(residents of New-Jersey, and belong to the
society of Friends. \_Phila. Sat, Uni,
The Galena Advertiser makes some cal
culations to show.that it would be cheaper,
to cover houses-with lead than with shingles. (
'Comparing the prices of the two, as tound|
in the Baltimore Price Current, it stums
that the cost of the lead fur roofing a house
. of 30 by 36 feet, would in this city be g 53.
while (hat of shingles would be 73, thus
making a difference in the actual cost of the
materials, in favour of lead, of 19. A shin
gle roof will last, it states, twenty years,
on an average ; the lead roof as long as the
building. It is added that lead is less per
vious to the rain and snow, to say nothing
of the greater security agoinst fire
£ Baltimore Amer.
From the JVilkesbarre Democrat, March 23.
I A panther was shot in D:inker’s settle
ment on the 3d inst. by Daniel Scott. You
will please publish the following account of
it, which is as near as may be in the hun
ter’s language. > ♦ i
He says, he was sauntering along with his
rifle not fir from his residence, thinking it
probable he might get a chance at seme
wholvas, whose track he had seen some days
previous, when he heard a gi*cat /mss in a
swamp a short distance a head of him, and
immediately af'er, his dog came running to
ward him evidently very much alarmed,
but his courage being raised by his master’s
presence, he returned to the, swamp r -Scott
.followed at double quick lime, pecking
pretty sharp to see what was up.
, At length he came near enough to see the
cretur, who sot on a little knoll’ moving his
.tail about, and wriggling like a cat, with his
head near the ground.-- Scott guesses he
was about four rods from him but the turnul
fellow did noi perceive his approach, (hav
ing his eyes on the dug, and preparing to
spring) until he gave whistle, when he raised)
himself up and showed his breast, at which!
the hunter took deliberate aim, and shot him!
through the heart and livers He was a fine
fellow, in the p;ime of life, six feet and a
j half from tail to snout. No doubt he bad
f asted well on venison during the winter,
as he was in such good, case that Mrs
Scott go fat enough from him to make half
a barrel of soap. i
Covington, April 15, 1830. 1
Dyspepsia The New Haven City Gaz- I
ette s iten ih.t the secret cure for ihe dy»-jl
pepsia,discovered by a gentleman of New-;;
Yoik, has leak'd out, and consists in sim-,1
ply kneading the stomach with the hands/
thereby restoring the peristaltic motion tn>
cases where the digestive organs have be- -
come diseased ar.d torpid.
I FOR THE CONSTITUTIOiJAtIST.
To the Director» of the Central li ink.
Gentlemen :
AS Directors of the Central
tßink, with discretionary powers to di*
count to whom you pi■■ nse, it is not at ail
surprising that arcus triong of i justice
nshoiild he made against you —i am perfect -
'! 1 y aware of die nop s- diility of your red
1 Ideriog equal satislacth-n to all the greedy
for money that throng your of
-1 sic ’j but I have yet to learn tint i is im
|po»sible to retiTi r them impartial jusiire,
; and whether you lt«*e done this or nut, let
facts decide.
I have ulwayp. understood ami unhesitat
ingly, believed lh;t the 11 ink over which
' you have the immediate c >ntr oil, was m
' sUtuted chiefly for the relief of that por
tion of the community with whose prosperi
ty or adversity is identifi Ml th ■ happiness
,or misery of a nation, vt ; (he Agricultural.
I It is a tact ton w.-ii known to be dt-med.
that for years past our planters and farmers
jhave been labouring under the greatest pe
t cuniary crib irrassinents. Previous to tnc
•llftte Tariff one of our principal productions
the staple article of our State under
went a considerable decline in ip value, at
* a time too, when nearly every individual of
filial invaluable class of our citiz-ns the
were involved'in debt—and imme
diately succeeding that decline came the
'manufacturers tax—alias, the Tariff-bnn»-
1 mg with it ruin and destruction. And on
‘whom dirt those evils flip—Let the re
-1 cords of the Courts answer —let sheriffs ad
vertisements of negroes and lands answer—
■ nay—let the very individuals, the hard
iworkmg farmers themselves answer—and
• they will fell you that in a great many in
stances they hove been reduced from ease
ami comfort to misery and want. Now
this being the situation of a considerable
portion o» the Agricultural 'community and
’ the sacrifice- ot property and cons- qubr.t
rapidly increasing, it was th. ught
'an act of v.isdom and- policy by the peo
ple in their representative capacity, to a
jd'ipt such measures as would speedily ar
■ rest the alarming extent of the evil,
1 Ihe Central Bank was therefore inslitut
’ ed, and that it has been of some little ser
-1 vice I will not deny, but, I do strongly sus
| pect whether it has, or ever will under its
' present or similai management, answer the
’ design for which it was intended. I un-
I derstand-gentlemen, that you apportion the
money, intended to be issued, equally a
■ mongst all the counties according t 0 their
respective population, but then (lie appor
' tjonment stops—and a few favoured indi
viduals from each county share the loaves
and fishes instead of an equal apportion
'jjneot amongst all the applicants—having
’ ( l“e regard to the strength of eucti note and
1 particular circumstances of each individual
applicant. You advertise when the notes
1 viriil be receivedfrom each county, and tin re
-Iby give every individual who wishes to of
fer a note an opportunity of doing so
therefore it is a lair-inference that all who
iintend'applying have their notes thereat the
jspecified time—and how much more satis
factory would it then be to make a propor
tionate allotment so far as circumstances
would justify.
In a recent excursion through several of
the counties, I happened to be in Milledo-e
--ville on one of your discount days—l went
to the State House, where amidst counten
ances expressive of deepest anxiety, not
unmixed with doubt, I recognized several
[acquaintances—one particularly, whose
case is so much to the point that I will here
give it to the world with a sincere hope that
you will never again commit so flagrant a
violation of justice ; 5
. friend had the day previous handed
his papers in—-and according to his certi
ficates there were neither judgments or
mortgages against him—his note had three
endorsers-’-and L should say was peifectly
good for sixty or seventy thousand dollars—
he was however, unacquainted with either
of you—-nor had he ever in any capacity
acted as an AGEN f lor either of you—--his
note was resumed to him—he was a plan
ter—but what was my astonishment when
1 beheld the notes of Clerks and half pint
retailers readily discounted in preference
to his. Think you, gentlemen, that the Le
gislature ever intended that retailers of that
very drug which causes so much wretched
ness and penury should be benefited by
your loans in preference to the planter ?
I fear there is something rotten in Den
mark.
These are facts, which if required, will
be proven. SCRUTATOR.
—<JO*~
j It seems to be a prevalent opinion, espe
cially wnh joveni e declaimers. and to some
jexteiil witii ibose who migtit know better,
j that the crescent is the proper symbol of
i Mahommedan religion. • The cresceui and
jthe cross’ has become erroneous. The Mos
lems of Arabia, Persia, Tartaiy and India,
jknow nothing of tins ensign, and the cres
cent of the Prophet, which, we are some
dimes told, led the vn\) of die victoiious ca
liphs into Syria and Egypt, is a mere lusto
[rical chimera. The crescent has for ages
been the device of the city of Byzantium,
and Was retained by the Turks, when they
because masters ot that gicat metropolis. As
the Taras were for many centuries ihe only
Mahommedan people known in Europe,
further than by vague report, Turk and
Mussulman were vulgarly supposed m b e
synonymous, a circumstance which readilv
accounts for the mistake in question.
i Phil, Morn , Jour.