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afternoon, they landed him at the Battery, in
presence of congregated thousands of soldiers
and citizens. As he passed up Broadway,
escorted by the largest military procession we
have ever produced; flags and banners waved
over his'head from all the public buildings;
and the dense masses of humanity lining the
street and crowding the windows, balconies,
roofs, trees, and awning posts, greeted him
with one unbroken and enthusiastic welcome.
As the venerable oid soldier passed beneath
the windows of my hotel, actually trembling
with linen cambrics, I could see that his lips
were compressed to restrain his emotion,
which, nevertheless, drew forth an unbidden
tear upon his battle-stained cheek. “ Hail to
the chief!” was the earnest sentiment of a
hundred thousand hearts -on that beautiful
day. The warmth of the welcome he re
ceived, must have been deeply grateful to
the brave soldier. In the evening he was
‘•dined” at the “Astor.” by the City Coun
cil and the Military. All sorts of “ patriotic
speeches were made, in which orators would
not “eulogize the man in whose honor they
were assembled that evening; who had just
received the overwhelming homage of the
public heart; whose deeds spoke trumpet
tongued for themselves; who was justly
named Win-field Scott; who had fought,
and bled, and died, at Chippewa, at Lundy’s
Lane, at Vera Cruz, Ccrro Gordo, Cherubusco,
and Mexico; who lived and would live in
the hearts of his countrymen,” etc., etc. Gen.
Geo. P. Morris wrote and recited on the oc
casion, a beautiful ode, said to be fully equal
to u Woodman spare that tree.” On the fol
lowing day the General’s hands were duly
tortured by his dear friends, in the City Hall;
and he was submitted to the aldermanic pur
gatory, customary on such occasions: of a
visit to the Deaf and Dumb, and Blind Asy
lums, the Croton Reservoir, Rutger’s Female
Institute, and other equally attractive exhibi
tions.
The city press is earnestly discussing the
theme of a cheaper postage law, to reduce the
postage on letters from all parts of the Union
to two cents. A meeting on this subject was
held lately at the American Institute, at which
General Prosper M. Wetmore presided, a gen
tleman always first and foremost, in every
good word and work ; and whose very name
is a sure earnest of triumph.
We have had some very disastrous fires
.since my last letter. On Thursday night, the
‘2sth inst., the extensive stables of Kip &
Brown, the great stage proprietors, were com
pletely destroyed, and 146 of their best hor
ses burnt, besides 25 coaches, and many splen
did sleighs. During the same night, two oth
er stables, w T ith half a dozen horses were des
troyed, while yet a fourth fire, did much dam
age in another part of town.
The Washington Monument Association
will select, before long, designs from among
those which may be submitted to them, for
the proposed tribute to the memory of the Fa
ther of his Country .From these selections the
public itself will choose the one to be adopted,
each person who has subscribed, inscribing
his name upon that which he prefers, and the
design having the largest number of votes, to
be the successful one. Quite a number of
them are now on exhibition in the lobby of
the Art-Union Gallery; but all of such little
merit, as to speak sadly of the state oi that
department of art in our great country, so res
pectable in all others. The adoption of either
one of the plans at present submitted, I should
consider an everlasting blot upon the taste of
our people, and an insult to the memory of
the great Immortal. Some of them look like
the tops of gothic churches, waiting only to
be hoisted up upon their pedestals; others
again are mere barbarous second hand Chi
nese pagodas, and others very questionable
shot-towers. The best is an equestrian stat
ue, upon a massive pedestal in the form of a
4 square flight of steps, drawn by Catherwood.
@®Q)lf22 HIE B 9 DafIITSSAIEV ®&B&TF IT H .
It is a pity that none of our best artists should
have thought it worth their while to enter the
lists. A successful design, one which should
please the public taste, and be really worthy
of the great purpose, would be sufficient to
immortalize the draughtsman. I hope, how
ever, that better ones may yet be sent in. In
deed, 1 have heard of several now in prepa
ration, and I have just seen one in the studio
of the architect and sculptor Frazer, of great
beauty. It is a circular Grecian temple, with
a square pedestal of heavy steps, upon which
rest massive columns supporting a splendid
dome. This dome is divided into thirteen
sections, each one having a cut-glass window
in the form of a star. Bas-reliefs, depicting
the leading incidents in the life of Washing
ton, are sculptured beneath the columns; a
statue of the great General, occupies the cen
tre of the temple, and the whole, which it is
purposed shall be two hundred and fifty feet
high, is surmounted by the figure of History
upon the car of Time.
In domestic politics, nothing is at present
talked of, but the Democratic nomination for
President, by the Baltimore Convention. It
appears to be anything but popular among
the party in this city and state, while the
Whigs are glorifying excessively, upon what
they now regard as the certainty of their car
rying New York by an overwhelming major
ity. Cass would not have succeeded, had not
our delegates been thrown out of the Conven
tion. This rivality of the two great divisions
of the Democratic party here, the Old-Hunk
ers and the Barnburners, must prove extreme
ly unfortunate to them. We are anxiously
awaiting the doings of the Whig Convention,
to meet in Philadelphia early next month.
The foreign news, of Saturday, by the Hi
bernia, is regarded as strongly prognostic of
a general war in Europe. The coolness of
public feeling towards Lamartine, so lately
the idol of the nation, evinced in his being
placed fourth in the Council of Five, is anoth
er evidence of the instability of affairs in
France. The maratime defences, too, ordered
by the Government of the new Republic,
which can be required only for protection
against Great Britain, hint of purposes, which
will rouse the lion from his present quiet.
War indeed, seems inevitable, even if it were
not time for such an event, after an ominous
peace of more than thirty years. It is no
more than reasonable to suppose that some
terrible convulsion must follow the late events,
before affairs can again settle down in peace.
In accordance with the political spirit of
the age, Pinteaux’s celebrated French “Case
des mille colonnes ,” has changed its name in
to “ Case de la Republique ;” and in passing
up Broadway yesterday, I observed that the
sign of a Mr. Herz, “ Pianist to the king of
the French,” had been exchanged for a more
citizen-like “ shingle.” But I must end my
gossip, since not only will the mail soon
close, but my dinner hour is near,, and the
steward has just sent me up private inti
mation that he is about to introduce straw
berries for the season. In view thereof, I
must give vent to my feelings, in the words
of that beautiful psalm of life,
“ Oh! to dinner how great debtors.
Daily we’re constrained to be!”
In the name of Epicurus—Amen!
FLIT.
NAVAL MANNERS.
When the old duke of York (brother to
George III) went on board Lord Howe’s ship,
as a midshipman, the different captains in the
fleet attended, to pay him their respects, on the
quarter-deck. He seemed not to know what
it was to be subordinate, nor to feel the ne
cessity of moderation in the display of supe
riority resulting from his high rank, and he
received the officers with some hauteur.—
This a sailor on the fore castle observed ; and
after expressing astonishment at the duke’s
keeping his hat on, he told one of his mess
mates, that “the thing was not in its sphere;”
adding, “it is no wonder he don’t know man
ners, as he was never at sea before.”
(Eclectic of tbit.
THE HEIGHT OF THE RIDICULOUS.
.BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
I wrote some lines once on a time
In wondrous merry mood,
And thought, as usual, men would say
They were exceeding good.
They were so queer, so very queer,
1 laughed as I would die;
Albeit, in the general way.
A sober man am I.
I called my servant, and he came;
How kind it was of him,
To mind a slender man like me,
He of the mighty limb !
“ These to the Printer!” I exclaimed,
And, in my humorous way,
I added, (as a trifling jest,)
“ There’ll be the devil to pay.”
He took the paper, and I watched,
And saw him peep within;
At the first line he read, his face
” Was all upon the grin.
He read the next; the grin grew broad,
And shot from ear to ear ;
He read the third; a chuckling noise
I now began to hear.
The fourth ; he broke into a roar ;
The fifth ; his waistband split;
The sixth ; he burst five buttons off,
And tumbled in a fit.
Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,
I watched that wretched man,
And since, I never dare to write
As funny as I can.
THE DEATH OF THE DOMINIE.
“ Take him up, says the master.”
[Old Spelling Book.
My old Schoolmaster is dead. He “died of
a stroke;” and I wonder none of his pupils
have ever done the same. 1 have been flog
ged by many masters, but his rod like Aaron’s
swallowed up all the rest. We have often
wished that he whipped on the principle of
Italian penmanship,—up strokes heavy down
strokes light; but he did it in English round
hand, and we used to think with a very hard
pen. Such was his love of flogging, that for
some failure in English composition, after
having been well corrected, I have been order
ed to be revised. I have heard of a road to
learning, and he did justice to it; we certain
ly never went a stage in education without
being well horsed. The mantle of Dr. Bus
by descended on his shoulders, and on ours.
There was but one tree on the play-ground—
a birch, but it never had a twig or a leaf up
on it. Spring or Summer it always looked
as bare as if the weather had been cutting at
the latter end of the year. Pictures they say
are incentives to learning, and certainly we
never got through a page without cuts; for
instance, I do not recollect a Latin article
without a tail-peice. All the Latin at that
school might be comprised in one line—
“ Arma virumque cano.”
An arm, a man, and a cane. It was English
ed to me one day in school hours, when I
was studying Robinson Crusoe instead of Vir
gil, by a storm of Bamboo that really carried
on the illusion, and made me think for the
time that I was assaulted by a set of savages.
He seemed to consider a boy as a bear’s cub,
and set himself literally to lick him into shape.
He was so particularly fond of striking us with
a leather strap on the flats of our hands that
he never allowed them a day’s rest. There
was no such thing as Palm Sunday in our
calendar. In one word, he was disinterested
ly cruel, and used as industriously to strike
for nothing, as others strike for wages. Some
of the elder boys, who had read Smollet, christ
ened him Roderick, from his often hitting like
Random, and being so partial to Strap.
His death was characteristic. After ma
king his will he sent for Mr. Taddy, the head
usher, and addressed him as follows; “It is
all over Mr. Taddy—l am sinking fast—l
am going from the terrestrial globe—to the ce
lestial—and have promised Tomkins a flogging
—mind he has it, and don’t let him pick oil'the
buds—l have asked Aristotle,” (here his head
wandered,) “and he says I cannot live an
hour I don’t like that black horse grinning
at me cane him soundly for not knowing
his verbs—Castego te, non quod odio habearri
—Oh, Mr. Taddy, it’s breaking up with me
—the vacati# ’s coming—there is that black
horse again—Dulcis moriens -reminiscitur
we are short of canes—Mr. Taddy, don’t let
the school get into disorder when I am gone
—l’m afraid, through my illness—the boys
have gone back in their flogging—l feel a
strange feeling all over me—ls the new pu
pil come ?—I trust I have done my duty—and
have made my will —and left all” —(here his
head wandered again) —“to Mr Souter, the
school bookseller —Mr. Taddy, I invite you
to my funeral—make the boys walk in good
order —and take care of the crossings.—My
sight is getting dim—write to Mrs. B. at Mar
gate —and inform her—we break up on the
21st. The door is left open —I am very cold
—where jp my ruler gone —I will make him
feel —John light the school Lamps —I cannot
see a line—o Mr. Taddy—venit hora—my
hour is come —I am dying —thou art dying—
he —is dying. —We —are —dying—you—are
—dy” —The voice ceased. He made a feeble
motion with his hands, as if in the act of ruling
a copy-book —the “ ruling passion strong in
death” —and expired.
An epitaph, composed by himself, was dis
covered in his desk, —with an unpublished
pamphlet against Tom Paine. The Epitaph
was so stuffed with quotations from Homer
and Virgil, and almost every Greek or Latin
author beside, that the mason who was con
sulted by the Widow declined to lithograph
it under a Hundred Pounds. The Dominie
consequently reposes under no more Latin
than Hie Jacet; —and without a single parti
cle of Greek, though he is himself a Long Ho
mer.—Hood's Own.
popular Sales.
WHY THE SEA IS SALT,
OR —
The Adventures of Silly Nicholas.
Once on a time, there lived a rich and ex
tensive merchant, who was preparing to des
patch a large ship to a distant country. —
When she was just ready to sail, he called
the whole crew together.
“My good fellows!” said he, “ you are
going on a long and difficult voyage in this
ship, and will have to work hard to earn
money for me; it is only fair, therefore, that
you also should have your opportunity. In
the country to which you are bound there is
plenty of money to be made, if a man only
knows how to turn his purse and his wits to
good account. I give you all permission,
therefore, to take with you whatever wares
you may be able to purchase, and all that
you make by the transaction shall be your
own. And moreover, whoever, on your re
turn, shall turn out to have been the most
successful, shall receive a premium from my
self ; for it is always right to encourage in
dustry and enterprise. There are still two
days at your disposal: turn them, therefore,
to good account, for on the third morning
from this you shall set sail.”
The sailors, it need hardly be said, has
tened on shore, and each, according to his
own views, endeavored to invest his little
capital profitably. Among the number, how
ever, there was one poor friendless lad, who
had just been bound apprentice in the ship,
and as he had received no wages as yet, was
of course without a single penny to make a
purchase. The poor fellow was greatly de
jected, and could not help envying his ship
mates, as they returned on board, panting un
der their burdens, and gloating over their
dreams of future treasures. At last it oc
curred to him that he had an old aunt in the
city who had the character of being a very
wise woman, and had helped many a one out
of a difficulty by her counsel. He betook
himself to her, therefore, and-bade her good
morning.
“Good-day, Silly Nicholas,” she replied;
for this was the name her nephew commonly
went by, not being supposed to be over-bur
dened with sense. He sat down upon an old
stool opposite his aunt, and told her a long
roundabout story of all that had occurred,
and how he was the only one who wasobliged
to let the golden opportunity pass.
“I don’t wonder at it in the least, my son,”
she replied. “It was often your poor fa
ther’s case before you, and is no novelty in
my family. But you might have saved your
visit to me, for I am poor, and have nothing
to give you. There is small store of either
goods or money in this poor little house.”
Silly Nicholas began to cry. “ They are
making game of me already on board, even
without this,” said he ; “ and if I now go back
without anything, I shall never have a mo
ment’s peace the whole voyage.”
The old aunt was struck by this. “For
once in his life,” said she, “ the poor wight
has spoken sense. Well, then, never mind.
I have no gold or diamonds, it is true, to give
you; but I have a very valuable article,
which, if you only use it as you ought, will
make a man of you ; and this I will give you.”
“ What can it be ?” thought Nicholas, when
she went out to fetch it; and what was his
amazement when she returned with an old
coffee-mill, so rickety, that it was almost fal
ling to pieces! The old dame read his disap-