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plished in this way lor one mile, could
he accomplished for thirty or fifty, as,
indeed, any number of miles. It Mas
hut, in any case, to make the line of
submerged wire longer —to sink it, per
haps, deeper; and, if deeper, to pro
tect it better. The simplest of things,
however, when carried out on a large
scale, require often, as in this instance,
for the doing of them, qualities of a
high order —great enterprise, great per
severance, great executive powers of
construction and direction. It was a
great thing, assuredly, to undertake to
underlay a sea of some thirty miles
wide with one continuous line of com
munication—a single break or flaw in
which would be fatal to the whole;
there was u risk of failure to be braved,
and in any event, much expenditure of
money, time, and trouble, to be adven
tured on the issue; and beyond all
doubt or question, it is a great thing to
have successfully accomplished. An
electric telegraph to Calais, is not a
thing which will stop there. It is a tel
egraph to Vienna, to Moscow, to Con
stantinople, to Ispahan, to Delhi, to
Calcutta, to the remotest bounds, in
short, of Europe and Asia. A few
years ago people laughed when Lord
Palmerston predicted at the Southamp
ton meeting of the British Association,
that a time might come when the Min
ister of the day being asked in Parlia
ment, “Whether, it was true that a war
had broken out in India?” would re
ply, “ \\ ait an instant till 1 telegraph
the Governor-General, and 1 will tell
you. 1 \\ hat was thought but a good
joke in 1543, is now, in 1850, in the
course of being actually accomplished,
and ere a few years, is likely to take
its place amongst the sober realities of
the age. Nor to the Old World alone
need our views of the ultimate pro
gress of electro-telegraphy be confined;
for, since the English Channel has been
crossed, the crossing of the Irish must
follow next, as but a matter of course;
and Ireland once reached, there lies but
a couple of thousand miles of water
or so between the Old World and the
New. . We say, “but,” for after all
where is the practical difficulty ? Not
in producing thelengthof wire required;
for any length of wire can be spun—
not in covering and insulating the wire;
for thousands ol miles of wire can be
covered and insulated just as readily
and surely as one—nor yet in laying
down, as the Dover and Calais experi
ment has fully shown. The only real
difficulty in the case, we apprehend,
will be to find ship-room for the enor
mous coil ot wire that would be re
quired ; but this is an objection that
vanishes away before the recollection
of such leviathan structures as the
Canada and Great Britain. Besides,
means may be found to effect on board
the laying-down vessel a perfect junc
tion of different lengths of w ire, so as
to allow of two, three, or more reels
being employed. We assume, of course
\t battery power to transmit the elec
tric impulse through a wire of some
’ miles long is at our command ;
but i ugh we are not aware of any re
cordt-u experiments that would justify
us in taking the possibility of this for
granted, we know that the recently in
vented receiving magnet of Morse is
founded on the principle of counting
for nothing the mere distance the elec
tric message has to Ire transmitted:
and. at all events, the fact is one capa
ble of tentative determination, on land
before a single yard of an Atlantic line
need be laid down. The Old and New
Worlds being then united, we should
then see the dream of the poet even
more than realized ; the earth “girdled
round” about —not in “forty minutes”
but in a thousandth part of the time—
in a single beat of the clock. What
would ail the other triumphs of human
genius be to (his? Time and distance
literally annihilated throughout the
bounds ot the planet which we inhabit!
A triumj a only to be transcended when
the planets shall themselves begin to
telegraph one another—which is one of
the very few things, which in this age
ot art-miracles, one would venture
without hesitation to say will never
happen.
A CITY OF THE PLAGUE.
Ihe following account, given by Ful
ler, of a city labouring under the hor
rors of plague, cannot be perused with
out exciting a painful interest on the
present occasion:—“We were,” says
he, in his Turkish Tour , “closely con
fined within the walls of the consulate,
and all persons from without were as
rigidly excluded. The gate which open
ed from the court into the street was
strictly closed, and the only communi
cation was through a hatch-door cut in
it. Ihlie key of this was not entrusted
even to the servants. Each of the
company took charge of it in his turn
for a day, and it was his business to
see that every thing supposed capable
of communicating the contagion was
duly purified before it was allowed to
pass into the house. These precau
tions were at any rate useful, as giving
a feeling of security; but I have no
doubt that the distinction between such
objects as are called ‘susceptible’ (to
use the technical phrase) and such as
are not, :s frequently arbitrary, and
that the index expurgatorius in this, as
in other instances, is tinged by preju
dice and caprice. Happily, some of
the articles of most frequent use, such
as bread, iron, and wood, for example,
were allowed to pass without suspicion;
but meat and all animal substances,
and money of every kind were thrown
with iron tongs or shovels into a large
tub, and compelled to pass through a
watery ordeal. Letters, books and pa
pers, on the other hand, are purified by
fire, or at least by smoke, being placed
on a sort of chafing-dish, and fumigated
with a compound of drugs, which is any
thing but aromatic; and if it should be
necessary to affix a signature to any
document, a plate of glass is introduced
between the paper and the hand of the
writer. The eats, who in their noc
turnal rambles are supposed to carry
with them the seeds of contagion, are
condemned to indiscriminate slaughter
whenever they are seen creeping along
the wails or on the housetops; and
when terror is at its height, even the
les are objects of alarm, and t.he sports
of JJomitian are revived.”
A \ eteran Compositor. —At a re
cent festival of printers in Nashville,
icnm, a member of the craft, Lawson
barry was present, who has worked at
case day and night, ever since the vear
liJJ, and who now daily performs as
much labour m the printing office as
any journeyman printer in that city
Cljf (Bssnijist.
HOW TO MAKE HOME UNHEALTHY.
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU.
vm.
THE FIRE AND THE DRESSING-ROOM.
•
Against the weather all men are
Protectionists—all men account it mat
ter of offense. What >av the people
of the north? A Highland preacher,
one December Sunday, in the fourth
hour of his sermon—For be it known
to Englishmen who nod at church, that
in the Highlands, after four good hours
of prayer and psalm, there follow four
good hours of sermon. And, nota bene .
may it not be that the shade of our
King Henry J. does penance among
Highland chapels now, for having, in
his lifetime, made one Roger a bishop
because he was expert in scrambling
through the services? A Highland
pastor saw his congregation shivering.
“Ah!” he shouted, “ maybe ye think
this a cold place; but, let me tell ye,
hell’s iar colder!” An English hearer
afterward reproached this minister for
his perversion of the current faith.—
“ llout, man,” said he, “ye dinna ken
the Highlanders. If I were to tell them
hell was a hot place, they'd all be la
bouring to go there.” And that was
true philosophy. Mythologies invent
ed in the north, imagined their own cli
mate into future torture. Above, in
the northern lights, they saw a chase of
miserable souls, half starved, and hunt
ed to and fro by ravens ; below, they
imagined Nastrond with its frosts and
serpents. Warmth is delightful, cer
tainly. No doubt but sunburnt nations
picture future punishment as fire. Yes,
naturally, for it is in the middle region
only that we are not wearied with ex
tremes. What region shall we take?
Our own? When is it not too hot, too
cold, too dry, too wet. or too uncer
tain? Italy? There the sun breeds
idle maggots. As for the poet’s para
dise, Cashmere, botanists tell us that,
although, no doubt, fruits grow luxu
riantly there, they are extremely fla
vourless. Then it is obvious that to
abuse, antagonize, defy the weather, is
one of the established rights of man.
Upon our method of defying it, our
health, in some measure, depends.—
How is our right to be maintained un
healthily ?
Not by a blind obedience to nature.
W e are correcting her, and must not
let her guide us. Nature considers all
men savages —and savages they would
be, if they followed her. What is bar
barism ? Man in a state of nature.
Na ure, I say, treats us almost as if we
were unable to light fires, or stitch for
ourselves breeches. Nature places near
the hand of man in each climate a cer
tain food, and tyrannizes over his stom
ach with a certain craving. Whales
and seals delight the Esquimaux; lie
eats his blubber and defies the frost.
So fed, the Esquimaux woman can stand
out of doors, suckling her infant at an
open breast, with the thermometer 40 &
below zero. As we go south, we pass
the lands of bread and beef, to reach
the sultry region wherein nature pro
vides dates, and so forth. Even in our
own range of the seasons, nature seeks
to bind us to her own routine; in
winter gives an appetite for flesh and
fat, in summer takes a part of it away.
We are not puppets, and we will not
be dictated to; so we stimulate the
stomach, and allow no brute instinct to
tamper with our social dietary. We
do here, on a small scale, what is done,
on a large scale, by our friends in India,
who pepper themselves into appetite,
that they may eat, aud drink, and die.
We drink exciting beverage in sum
mer, because we are hot; we drink it
in winter, because we are cold. The
fact is, we are driven to such practices;
for if we did not interfere to take the
guidance of our diet out of nature’s
hands, she would make food do a large
. . o’
portion of the service which civilization
asks of fire and clothing. We should
walk about warm in the winter, cool ip
the summer, having the warmth and
coolness in ourselves. Now, it is ob
vious that this would never do. We
must be civilized, or we must not. Is
Air. Sangster to sell tomahawks instead
of canes? Clearly, he is not. We
must so manage our homes as to create
unhealthy bodies. If we do not, so
ciety is ruined; if we do—and in pro
portion as we do so—we become more
and more unfit to meet vicissitudes of
weather. Then we acquire a social
craving after fires, and coats, and cloaks,
and wrappers, and umbrellas, and cork
sole', and muffetees, and patent hare
skins, and all the blessings of this life,
upon which our preservation must de
pend. These prove that we have step
ed beyond the brute. You never saw
a lion with cork soles and muffetees.
The tiger never comes out, of nights,
in a great coat. The eagle never soars
up from his nest with an umbrella.
Man alone comprehends these luxuries;
and it is when he is least healthy that
he loves them best.
In winter, then, it is not diet, and it
is not exercise, that shall excite in us a
vital warmth. We will depend on arti
ficial means; we will be warmed, not
from within, but from without. We
will set ourselves about a fire, like pies,
and bake; heating the outside first.—
W here the fire Tails, -we will depend
upon the dressing-room.
If we have healthy chests, we will
encase ourselves in flannel; but if
we happen to have chest complaint,
we w ill use nothing of the sort. —
When we go out, we will empanoply
our persons, so that we may warm our
selves bv shutting in all exhalation
from our bodies, and by husbanding
what little heat we permit nature to
provide for us.
In summer we will eat rich dinners
and drink wine, will east oft’ three
fourths of the thickness of our winter
clothing, and still be oppressed by heat,
iced drinks shall take the place of fire.
Civilized people cannot endure being
much wetted. Contact of water, du
ring exercise,will do no harm to healthy
bodies, but will spoil good clothes. We
will get damp only when we walk out
iu bad weather; then, when we come
home, we need no change. Evapora
tion from damp clothes—the act of
drying—while the body cools down,
resting, and perhaps fatigued, that is
what damages the health; against that
we have no objection.
II em! No doubt it is taking a great
liberty with a Briton to look over his
wardrobe. I will not trespass so far.
I but, my dear sir, your Hat! If we are
j to have a column on our heads, let it
ibe one in which we can feel pride; a
SOUTHERN LITERARY GAZETTE.
miniature monument; and we might
put a statue on the top. Hats, as they
are now worn, would not fitly support
more than a bust. Is not this mean ?
On segritudinary grounds w# will up
hold a hat. To keep the edifice from
taking flight before a puff of wind, it
must be fitted pretty tightly round the
head, must press over the forehead and
the occiput. How much it presses, a
red l ing upon the flesh will often testily.
Heads are not made of putty ; pres
sure implies impediment to certain pro
cesses within; one of these processes
is called the circulation of the bipod.
The brain lies underneath our hats.
W ell, this is as it should be. Ladies
do not wear hats, and never will, the
bonnet is so artful a contrivance for en
compassing the face with ornament;
roses and lilies and diflidownJillies.
which would have sent Flora into fits,
and killed her long ago, had such a
goddess ever been.
1 said that there was brain under the
hat; this is not always obvious, but
there is generally hair. Once upon a
time, not very long ago, hair was con
structed with great labour into a huge
tower upon every lady’s head, poma
tum being used by way of mortar, and
this tower was repaired every three
weeks. The British matron then look
ed like a “ mop-headed Papuan.” The
two were much alike, except in this,
that while our countrywoman triumph
ed in her art, the Papuan was disco; -
tented with his nature. The ladies
here, whose hair was naturally made to
fall around the shoulders, reared it up
on end; but in New Guinea, fashion
ables bom with hair that grew of its
own will into an upright bush, pre
ferred to cut it off, and arrange it in a
wig directed downwards. Sometimes
they do no more than crop it close;
and then, since it is characteristic of
the hair in this race to grow, not in an
expanse, but in tufts, the head is said
by sailors to remind them of a worn
out shoe-brush. So, at the Antipodes
as well as here, Art is an enemy to
Nature. Hair upon the head was
meant originally to preserve in all sea
sons an equable temperature above the
brain. Emptying grease-pots into it,
and matting it together, we convert it
into an unwholesome skull-cap.
The neck? Here sanitary people say,
How satisfactory it is that Englishmen
keep their necks covered with a close
cravat, and do not Byronize in opposi
tion to the climate. That is very good;
But English women, w ho account them
selves more delicate, don’t cover their
necks, indeed they do not at all times
cover their shoulders. So travelling
from top to toe, if Englishmen wear
thick shoes, to protect their feet, our
English women scorn the weakness,
and go, except a little fancy covering,
barefooted.
From this point 1 digress, to note of
other garments that the English dress,
as now established, does on the whole
fair credit to society. To the good
gentlemen who poetizeconcerninggrace
and the antique, v ho sigh for togas, sto
las,and pahidaments, I say, Go to. The
drapery you sigh for was the baby
linen of the human race. Now we are
out of long-clothes. The present Eu
ropean dress is that which offers least
impediment to action. It shews what
a Man is like, and that is more than
any stranger from another world could
have detected under the upholstery to
which our sculptors cling. The merest
hint of a man—shaped as God shaped
him—is better than ten miles of folded
blanket. Artists cry down our cos
tume, forgetting that if they have not
folds of drapery to paint, that is be
cause they have in each man every
limb to which they may assign its pos
ture. If they can put no mind into a
statue by the mastery of attitude, all
the sheets in Guy’s Hospital will not
twist into a fold that shall be worth
their chiseling.
With women it is different. They
have both moral and aesthetic right to
drapery; and for the fashion of it, we
must leave that to themselves. They
are all licensed to deal in stuffs, colours,
frippery and flounce. And to wear
rings in their ears. If ladies have good
taste they cannot vex us; and that any
of them can have bad taste, who shall
hint? Their stays they will abide by,
as they love hysterics; them 1 have
mentioned. 1 have before also gone
out of my way to speak of certain
humps carried by women on their backs,
which are not healthy or unhealthy—
who shall say what they are? Are
these humps allegorical ? Our wives
and daughters perhaps wish to hint
that they resemble camels in their pa
tience; camels who bear their burden
through a desert world, which we, poor
folk, should find it quite impossible to
travel through without them.
[To he continued.]
LEAPING MACHINE.
If we take a balloon of limited size,
about eighteen feet in diameter each
way, it will, when inflated with hydro
gen gas, be capable of raising 160
pounds, independent of its own weight:
Now, if this be so fastened to a man’s
body, as not to interfere with the free
use of his arms and legs, he may then
ballast himself so as to be a trifle hea
vier than the upward tendency of the
balloon, which will be nearly in equi
libria. If then he provides himself
with a pair of wings, made on the bird
principle, wi*L socket joints to slip
over Ins arms at the shoulders, and a
grasping handle internally to each one,
at the distance from the shoulder joint
of the w ing, as the distance is from the
shoulder to his hand, he may beat
against the air with his wings, and
bound against#the earth with his feet,
so as to make at least one hundred
yards at each bound. This the writer
has often done, in the direction of a
gentle wind, with the aid of his feet
alone, alter his balloon had descended
to the earth ; and on one occasion, tra
versed a pine forest of several miles in
extent, by bounding against the tops
of the trees. Such a contrivance would
be of inestimable value to exploring
expeditions. Landings to otherwise in
accessible mountains; escapes from
surrounding icebergs; exploring of vol
canic craters ; traversing vast swamps
and morasses ; walking over lakes and
seas; bounding over isthmuses, staits,
and promontories, or exploring the
cloud-capped peaks of Chimborazo,
could thus all be easily accomplish
ed.— Wise's TEronautics.
The value of the whole world
is but a dollar! “Them am a fact.”
Cause vy ? It only contains four quar
ters!
(Dttr Utters.
THE FLIT CORRESPONDENCE.
SECOND SERIES-NO. 1.
New York, Nov. 30.
Passing through the galleries of the
Art l uion lately, 1 saw & very con
siderable load of coals ‘dump’d’ at
NewCastle: two of our artists hap
pening to bestow a remark upon a cer
tain little picture, poked away in a cer
tain little corner, an unsophisticated
lover of the beautiful, unknowns and
unknown, suggested the propriety and
necessity of a closer view of the work,
if they desired to see its minute and
miraculous merits. “ You see.” said
the new ilazlett, “ he’s a painter, and
that thing there before him, on the
frame, is a picture he’s doing!” Is it
possible,” exclaimed artist If., looking
more closely and curiously into the
canvass, and turning admiringly and
reverently from the work to the volun
teer critic, “Is that the way they do
it?” “ Yes! to be sure, and see all the
people there he’s sketched off on the
cloth! Ain’t that wonderful?” “Shade
of Raphael,” ejaculated painter R.
“ Do you think he’ll have them finished
in time for the Distribution 1” W ith
this learned inquiry, a quiet smile
slipped from the corner of the speaker’s
lips, stole upwards to his left eye and
passed out in a sardonic grin at the
top of his head, whereupon the accom
plished expounder of art looked slightly
puzzled and slipped away to express to
another getleman gazing at a marine
subject, his amazement at finding wa
ter so surprisingly painted in oil!
Moral—The galleries of this admirable
Institution, the American Art Union,
are now in the full meridian of their
glory, containing nearly four hundred
works of art, and among them gems
from all our leading artists in History,
Landscape and the Drama. Never be
fore lias the Art I uion angled with such
seductive bait, and many are the thous
ands nibbling thereat. Please pray
for figures 56**. 1 might fill you pages
of discourse upon the magic forms and
brilliant colours of the “flies"’ which
our art Waltons have thus thrown upon
the waters of public taste, but the lines
are so very soon to be drawn up, that
the time will be more judiciously spent
in securing a bite at the prizes. Our
friends in the ‘sunny land’ must not
lose a day if they would participate in
the brilliant advantages of the Distri
bution of the present year, fixed for the
20th instant. For more particular in
formation in regard to this matter, 1
commend you to the leading article
upon “Fine Arts” in this week’s issue
of our great oracle in Art and Litera
ture, the Literary World. You would
no doubt do a service to your sub
scribers by affording them a glimpse of
the chapter in question.
One more art paragraph and 1 pass
on to other themes. On the opening
(complimentary) night of the beautiful
Panorama oft e “Pilgrim's Progress,”
the audience was composed of clergy
men and their families, members of the
press, and a little cordon of artists,
gathered to do honour to their esteem
ed brethren of the brush, Messrs. May
and Kyle, the authors of the work.
The painters thus met to greet anew
debutant for artistic regard, of course
expressed their approval of passages
here and there, in the usual manner of
clapping hands, but the clerical part of
the audience, more imbued with the
moral of the text of the venerable Bun
van than with the spirit of art, looked
upon the procedure of the easels as
irreverent and impious, and overwhelm
ed them with hisses. But not to be
thus put down, the painters revenged
themselves by heartily applauding, not
only the pictures, but certain moral
lessons which the lecturer irrelevantly
intruded upon the assembly. Thus the
speaker—“ ‘Mercy,’ you perceive, has
fainted at the Wicket Gate; but she is
none the worse Christian for that: an
over confident spirit—drowned with
the plaudits from the professional bench
es, and doubly deluged with hisses from
the opposition! Again, the speaker,
as anew scene passes—“ The way,you
observe, is narrow, very narrow, but it
is the only path by which the Soldier
of the Cross can hope to arrive at the
gates of the Celestial City, and all of
us, my fritnds (?) who strive to reach
those blessed portals must follow in the
same narrow and thorney—”. inter
rupted with cheers from the minority
and groans from the saints. Suffice it
that the drift of the painters was at
length perceived and they were allowed
to regard the pictures as works of art
rather than as pious homilies. This
Panorama, front the exceeding interest
of the subject and the excellence of the
execution, is attracting extraordinary
attention. From the beautiful open
ing scene of “Bunvan Dreaming,” it
carries the delighted visitor onward, by
“ Christian’s Cottage” to the “Wicket
Gate,” through the Slough of Despond,
thence to “ Hill Legality,” to the mag
nificent “Palace of the Interpreter,”to
“Hill Difficulty,” the pleasant “Arbor,”
“Palace Beautiful,” the “Delectable
Mountain,” the “Valley of Humili
ation,” the “Valley of the Shadow of
Death,” “Vanity Fair,” the “ River of
the Waters of Life,” the “ Dungeon of
Giant Despair,” “Hill of Error,” the
“ Enchanted Land,” the sweet “ Land
of Beulah,” and the solemn “ River of
Death.” In the “ Pilgrimage of Christ
iana and her family,” we see “Mercy
fainting at the Wicket Gate,” “Great
Heart with Christiana and her family at
the Spring,” “ the passage of the Valley
of the Shadow of Death, “Christiana
parting with her family.” next entering
the River of Heath, and lastly her re
ception at the gate of the Celestial
City. 1 have chronicled a portion only
of the succession of scenes in w hich
the glorious allegory of the quaint old
dreamer is so vividly brought to mind
in this admirable w ork. Although many
of our artists have furnished drawings
for pictures here and there, the Pano
rama is chiefly designed and executed
by Messrs. May and Kyle, the former
having made the figures and the latter
the landscapes: yet each occasionally
has successfully trodden upon the pro
vince of the other. Mr. Dallas, also,
lias contributed both in design and exe
cution.
The near approach of Thanksgiving
times in these regions reminds me to
commend to you a most admirable lit
tle work happily grounded upon the
incidents and associations of this time
honoured and beloved festival. “Chan
ticleer, a Thanksgiving Story of (lie
Peabody Family.” has won the public
heart, both by the felicity of its subject
and the grace, wit and goodness dis
played in the execution. New England
is enthusiastic in its piaise, no doubt
thinking it, from its truthful portraiture
and a little perhaps from its Boston
imprint, to be spun from the inventive
brain of a genuine Down Faster.—
Would Puiitandom speak as honestly
if it. knew that that miraculous “Tur
key,” and that no less marvellous
“Pumkin,” were born and bred as far
from Plymouth Rock as is the goodly
city of Manhattan? Cultivate “Mop
sey,” my dear Editors; she is a ‘ darkie’
‘to be known,’ even a: Dombey-sir, of
old.
That excellent Eclectic, the Interna
tional, has just put forth its December
issue. The table of content ‘ (the only
portion I have yet found t ime to glance
at) promises many good things, among
them the initial chapters of Mr. James’
new work, “A Story \\ ithouta Name.”
The same author has still another work
in the Harpers’ press, which is daily
looked for, under the title of “Smeaton.”
“ Y Drych ‘ is the cognomen of a
new weekly paper established in this
city ; it is in the Welsh tongue, and is
addressed to the 2f>0.000 natives of
Wales who are said to be now in the
United States. I gb'e you the follow
ing extract of verse as a small sample
of the Cambrian muse. \on will at
once feel the moral beauty and the
touching pathos of the stanza quite as
well as 1 can point them out:
“ O’r hull bleserau ar en hynt,
Yr oeddwn gyrit gyfranog,
Am ddenu adgof-—o bob man,
Di ail rai Gian Clywedog.”
We are now in the very depths <ff
i our w inter courses of Lectures. Essays
and discourses upon every possible
theme vex our poor aurieulers nightly,
so that he who runs may hear. Asa
relief, we have still, even though Jenny
has vanished, abundant musical privil
eges. M ad. Bishop does operatic gems
and other sacred music even Sunday
night at Triplcr Hall, to say nothing
(this week) of the series of Grand
Promenade Concerts her faithful and
comprehensive Boehsa has just com
menced at Astor Place. Parodi, the
tragic, is tearing passions to tatters, to
very rags, by way of proving, 1 sup
pose, to “N. V. W.” and the word at
large, that she has all the naughty
experience which the unsophisticated
“Jenny” so lamentably lacks. To
night we are to greet her in “Gemma
di Yergy,” the opera to be followed by
the charming movements of that spirit
of grace, Fitzjames, in the ballet of
Paquita. Last evening was re-produced
for the first time this season, that chef
d'oeuvre of Mozart, the opeia of operas,
“Don Giovanni,” the cast as last year,
with Truffi, Bertucca, Patti, Forti, Be
neventano and Novelli. It is rumoured
thatMr. Impressario Maretzek is medi
tating the construction of anew house,
on a grand scale, in which the Opera is
to be popularized to the capacilie of
the million. Such an enterprize will be
launched soon, in the natural course of
things, but Captain Barmim will com
mand if Max is not an early riser.
A Special Convention of the Episco
pal Diocese of New York met to elect
a Provisional Bishop —the gallant On
derdonk being still m Coventry—ad
journed yesterday sine die , after a fruit
less session of three days. Thus the
“Church is still without a Bishop.”
In nothing is the grow t h of this great
Metropolis and the extension of its
vast business, better seen than in the
increasing necessity, daily arising, of a
division and sub-division in the opera
tions of all departments of commerce
and labour. Thus a mechanic finds
sufficient employment in one single
item of trade, and a trader has enough
to do to supply the demand for one
article of barter. Not long ago Broad
way displayed its shop devoted solely
to the sale of mourning goods, and the
other day I discovered anew establish
ment of the same character, under the
administ ration of W. Weed. For w hat
the initial stands I can on]} suppose. In
the ancient arid noble art of Baking,
one firm does “ large bread,” a second
“ rolls,” and a third “cakes.” 1 myself
occasionally slip out from my study to
negotiate for a “pie” at the shop of
my neighbour “Pudney.” In the lower
part of the town, your eye will be
struck with the laconic sign of“Greaton:
Gold Pens,” and not far oft’ you may
see “Brown & Johnston: Steel Pens!”
Then again in the markets, one Knight
of the cleaver as Johnny Crapeau
would say, sells sheep, and anoder he
sell deer. And lastly, for 1 must fiot
stretch out the line to the crack of
doom, of the sons of the sheers, one is
devoted, body and soul, to the making
of breeches, while another does noth
ing but repair them.
In conclusion, l beg a thousand par
dons for neglecting to open this letter
with the bow which the long interval
since my last epistolary appearance be
fore you demands. In the pleasure of
rejoining old friends, a slight breach of
etiquette, may. 1 trust, be overlooked,
especially when, in extenuation, I as
sure your readers, old and new, of the
delight it gives me to rub my hands
once again at their happy lire-sides, to
gaze with mv mental eye upon their
venerable pate, the wrinkles ironed out
by the reading of the Gazette: to look
into their bewitching eye, upturned
from its pages, as they dream upon the
silken couches of the boudoir, or even
to watch the aspirations of their pro
tean nose, in all its varieties, from the
haughty Homan to the ideal Pug, as it
turns upward from my idle ehatterings.
In short, as Micawber would say,
when i tell them how I dote upon the
hope of contributing to their gratifica
tion in thus resuming the duties of their
metropolitan correspondent.
Yours, as aforetime.
FLIT.
Jllisrrlltimj.
A TETE-A-TETE GAME.
We were much amused, a few eve
nings since, by the following game of
questions and answers, which, when
played upon one as yet uninitiated into
the mysteries, is well calculated to af
ford “ endless laughter.’’ A lady may
be supposed to request a gentleman to
write down this list:
Set down a lauy’s name.
Set do” n some time past.
\Y rite the name of a place.
\\ rile either yes or no.
Yes or no again.
A lady’s name.
Some time to come.
Yes or no.
Y os or no again.
Name of a city.
Some colour.
Any number not exceeding six.
Name of a colour.
Yes or no.
A lady’s name.
A gentleman’s name.
Name of a clergyman.
A sum of money.
Name of a place.
Any number at all.
When these conditions have been
complied with, the gentleman is re
quested to read off the list thus pre
pared. as answers to the following se
ries of questions:
To whom did you make your first
offer?
When?
In what place ?
Does she love you?
Did you iove her ?
Whom will you marry ?
How soon ]
Does she love you ?
Do you love her ?
\\ here does she reside?
What is the colour of her hair?
What is her height ?
What is the colour of her eyes?
Is she pretty?
Who is to be the bridesmaid ?
Who is to be groomsman?
Who is your confidante?
Who is your rival ?
What clergyman is to marry you?
How much is she worth?
\\ here will you reside?
How many servants will you keep?
[. Drawing Room Journal.
The Vatican. —Unlike the sombre |
aspect generally characterising libra
ries, museums, and similar resorts of
the studious, the Vatican is as a world
of exquisite beauty, vast, splendid, fill
ed with the most admired works of art
and the most precious marbles. The j
lengthened vista, the varied perspective i
changing at each advancing step, the
noble architectural proportions still j
preserved in every new form or dimen
sion of apartment, the lofty iron gates,
the beautiful fountains adorning the
courts, and cooling the air with the
play of their fresh running waters, the
white balustrades, the pillars and mag
nificent columns, composed of giall, an
tique, and every richest marble, almost
produce the idea of enchantment; and
the eye wanders around in eager curi
osity, with amazement and delight.—
Light is beautiful; and here it is seen,
bright and sparkling, reflected from
pure and precious marbles; while from
the wide-spreading windows the most
delightful \iews of Home, rich with her
cupolas, sjtires, and obelisks, in every
varied form of architecture, with her
sea-green Campagna, bounded by the
dark grey mountains fading in the dis
tance, are presented to the eye. It is
the noblest national possession in the
world, and should ever be sacred. The
mind of man is, I trust, now so well
informed, that no barbarous conqueror
will ever again dare to touch it with a
profane hand.— Bell's Italy.
California Costumes. —A corres
pondent of the, Philadelphia Daily
News gives us particulars of the Cali
fornia costume at the rtiines. They are
very interesting, but we doubt whether
they are as accurate as the following :
Morning Dress—Nothing very new
in morning dresses. Blouse with slash
ed sides, and a black belt, trimmed
with couteaux de chasse, and revolvers
al’ Amcrieaine. Shoes the strongest
Bluchers, with iron heels and hobnails
as big as fists. The only ornament, a
powder flask, or a butcher’s steel ; the
only walking stick, a light carbine. No
gloves.
It is generally the fashion, for a party
exceeding six, to travel about the coun
try with a small eight pounder, which
affords capital amusement in the even
ing amongst the natives.
Evening Dress for the Ball Room or
the Gambling House.—Waistcoat of
shot silk. Handkerchief a light Robes
pierre red. Coats a pale moonlight co
lour, padded with horsehair, and made
of a thick galvanized substance, almost
impenetrable. Under waistcoat an ele
gant bull’s hide. Pistols di riguer.—
Court sword. Light cane, withaspring
blade; or a life-preserver, filled with
lead, and gold tassels. Opera hat of
light sheet iron.
iT'ljr JQurlifa fm.
INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION IN 1851.
CIRCULAR.
Rooms or the National Institute, )
Washington, Nov. 7,1850. (
The Executive Committee appointed
by the Central Authority of the United
States on the London Industrial Exhi
bition, respectfully present the follow
ing summary of information on the
most important matters requiring the
attention of State Committees, and of
those who intend to become exliibiters.
Committees appointed by the Go
vernors of the several States are recog
nized as the proper judges for selecting
articles suitable to be sent to the exhi
bition from the United States.
Articles intended for the exhibition
will be examined by the Committee of
the State or Territory of which they
are the products.
The State Committees will furnish
duplicate, certificates of all articles ex
amined and approved by them, to the
Executive Committee at Washington,
who will give the sanction required bv
the British Commissioners.
Articles approved in the manner
above prescribed, will be forwarded to
London free of charge, from the port
of New York, in a national vessel
j placed by the Navy Department at the
disposal of the Central Committee for
that purpose; and, at the close of the
Exhibition they will be returned in the
same conveyance to the same place,
unless otherwise disposed of.
The Treasury Department will af
ford, as.far as practicable, through the
Revenue Cutter Service, facilities for
forwarding objects from the different
Atlantic ports to New York.
Should the vessel designated to con
vey the goods to London not be in
; readiness to receive them on their ar
. rival at New York, thev will be stored
at the Navy Yard, and afterwards put
on board, free of expense to the owners.
Ali goods intended to be forwarded
to the Exhibition by the government
j vessel from New York, should be deli-
I vered at that place duly marked, and
with suitable invoices, containing the
corresponding marks. In addition to
other marks, there should be inscribed
: on each package the words “ London
: Exhibition.”
No article will be received at the
! Navy Yard after the tenth day of Janu
! ary, 1851, as the vessel will sail soon
i after that period.
All expenses in London for cartage,
| unpacking, arranging for exhibition,
and removing of package eases, must
! be paid by the owners of the goods or
I their agents.
Detailed statements relative to the
| exhibition and to the. several classes of
| objects appropriate thereto, have been
j furnished to the several State Commit
-1 tees, and wiil be supplied to those who
may require more particular informa
| tion, upon application to the Executive
Committee.
Peter Force, Chairman.
Jos. C. G. Kennedy. Secretary ofExe
cutive Committee.
REGULATIONS BY THE COMMISSIONERS IN
LONDON.
Ist. The Exhibition is to be opened
in Hyde Park, London, on the Ist day
of May, 1851. The building construct
ed chiefly of cast iron and plate glass,
1,848 feet long, 308 feet wide, and 108
feet high, with a machinery room, 930
feet long, and 48 feet wide, will be
nearly fire proof.
2. Goods will be received between
the first of January and the first of
March, 1851. After the latter day,
none can be received.
3. The productions ofall nations will
be exhibited together under one gen
eral classification.
4. Articles exhibited will be divided
into four sections, viz:
Ist. Raw materials and produce.
2d. Machinery.
3d. Manufactures.
4th. Sculpture, models and plastic
art.
5. Exhibiters will deliver their goods
at their own charge and risk, at the
building in Hyde Park.
6. Articles liJhie to perish during
the period of eight months, from the
first of January to the first of Septem
ber, are not suitable to be exhibited.
This applies more particularly to cer
tain articles derived from the animal
and vegetable kingdoms.
7. Exhibiters will be at the cost of
their own insurance. Glass eases, when
required, must be furnished by the ex
hibiter.
8. Any exhibitor may, by permis
sion of the Royal Commissioners, em
ploy a’servant to keep in order and ex
plain the articles which he exhibits, but
none to invite purchasers.
9. Prices are not to be affixed to
the articles exhibited, but may, at the
option oi’ the exhibiter, be stated in
the invoice sent to the Royal Commis
sioners.
10. No articles of foreign manufac
ture can be admitted for exhibition un
less they come with the express sanc
tion of the Central Authority of the
country of which they are the produce.
11. Goods will be admitted without
payment of duty, and sealed yvith the
official seal of the Board of Customs !
till their arrival at the building; but!
bonds will be required of the owners
or agents for the payment of duties in
ease they should be sold in England
after the exhibition is over. No goods
can be removed until the exhibition is
finally closed.
12. The rules of awarding prizes yvill
conform to the section or department
to which the goods belong.
13. In the department of rayv mate
rials and produce, prizes will be award
ed upon a consideration of the value
and importance of the article, and the
superior excellence of the particular
specimens exhibited; and in the ease of
prepared materials, the novelt y and im
uprtance of the prepared product, and
tne superior skill and ingenuity in the
preparation, yvill be considered.
14. In machinery, prizes will be
given wit reference to novelty in the
invention, superiority in the execution,
increased efficiency or increased econo
my in the use of the article exhibited.
Its importance in a social view, and the
difficulties in perfecting it, yvill also be
taken into account.
15. In manufactures, increased use
fulness, such as permanency of colours
improved forms and patterns, superior
quality, or higher skill in workmanship
new materials used, and combinations
of materials, beauty of design in f orn ,
or colour, with reference to utility, an ,j
cheapness relatively to excellence of
production, will be the bases of ] fc .
cision.
1(5. In sculpture, models and the
plastic art, rewards yvill have reference
to the beauty and originality of the
specimens, to improvements in the
processes of production, to the appli ca .
tion of art to manufactures, and, in t| !e
case of models, to the subjects thev re
present.
47. Juries, to consist partly of Ena.
lishmen and partly of foreigners, will
be composed of men of known ability
to form a judgment — above the suspj.
cion of either national or individual
partiality.
18. No competitor for a prize can
be placed on a jury in the particular do
partment in which lie is a competitor.
19. To exhibitors from the United
States, there have been allotted ~f
ground space 85,000 square feet, sub
ject to a deduction of one half for i. a <,
sages, and of wall or hanging snare,
40,000 square feet, not subject to de
duction.
__ (T’ljf ?iirrri! Mar.
From the London Evangelical Magazine,
TO AN AGED CHRISTIAN IN AFFLICTION.
Pilgrim! faint, and worn, and weary,
Soon life’s journey will he past ;
Though thy patli be rough and dreary,
Peace shall crown thy soul at last.
Pilgrim ! raise thine eye, though sorrow
Dims it oft with bitter tears ;
There’s a bright and glorious morrow:
See !—e’en now its dawn appears!
Look!—for hope is sweetly blending
W ith each cloud its beauteous rays.
And thy trials are but tending
To convert thy grief to praise.
Yes, and lie who now afflicts thee,
Though he chastens, still he loves;
P'ull of tenderness and pity,
Ev’ry stroke his mercy proves.
Pilgrim! faint and worn,and weary,
Lean upon thy Saviour’s breast,
He will comfort and sustain thee,
Till thou gam the promised rest.
And, when passing death’s dark river,
Banish ev’ry trembling tear,
One is mighty to deliver.
The Redeemer will be near!
Lesson for Sunday, December 15.
CHRISTIAN CONSISTENCY.
“ Walk worthy ofthe vocation wherewith yc are called.”
Eph. iv. 1.
Paul rejoices that, though he was in
bonds, the word of the Lord was not
bound. This epistle was written while
he was “ the prisoner of the Lord.”
We have here
The statement of Christian pri
vilege. Believers are effectually call
ed by the Spirit.
They are called to knowledge. In
conversion the darkness is removed
from the understanding, and the true
light shines into the soul; they have
an unction from the Holy One, and
know all things.
They are culled to holiness. To serve
a holy God, to receive holy impres
sions, to cultivate holy tempers and
feelings, and to engage in holy pursuits.
They are called to peace. T his is the
characteristic of the Gospel of Christ,
and pervades every part of it; and
when it slfiill be universally spread,
war shall be heard of no more.
They are called to glory. ! low high
and dignified is their destination! All
the grandeur and magnificence of the
world, when put in competition with
the bright anticipations of the sons of’
God, are but as the feeble light of a
taper to the splendor of the sun.
The requirement of Christian
duty. They are to walk worthy of
their vocation. There is to lie a cor
respondence between their calling and
their conversation. If they are vail
ed to knowledge, they should walk
wisely; if to holiness, they should
walk unblamably; if to peace, they
should walk affectionately; and if to
glory, they should walk cheerfully. —
Let us study to make our calling and
election sure: if we can discern the
lineaments of the Divine image on our
souls, these are the counterpart of the
golden characters of his love, in which
our names are written in the book of life.
“ My name from the palms of hi- hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on his heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace:
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given ;
More happy, hut not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven.”
INTEREST! NG 1 NCI DENT.
A few Sabbath evenings since, there
was baptized in the Seventh Baptist
Church of Baltimore, the oldest son of
Rev. Mr. Wyer, once located in tb ;
city, and now known and beloved by a
large circle there. The pastor of that
church (Rev. Dr. Fuller) was baptized
by Mr. W ver, and just before immers
ing the candidate, he improved the oc
casion with some remarks to the tal
lowing purport, adding much to the in
terest and solemnity of the scene:
“ It is now- some sixteen years, (the
scene rises before me as if it were yes
terday,) that a large multitude w>
gathered on the bank of a beautiful
sheet of water at the South, in front
of that multitude stood two persons.
One was the minister of religion, tup
other a man'who, amidst a career of
pride, and folly, and sin, had been uny
cifully arrested by God, and brougm
to exclaim, “Lord, what wilt it ll,
have me to do?” lie was there to
baptized. ,
1 well remember the whole scene. ‘
remember the very hymn then sung. 1
was that just sung by you. beginning •
“In all my Lord’s appointed wajs,
My journey I’ll pursue,
Hinder me not, ye much lov’d friends,
For I must go with you.’’
I have reason this night to remv
ber that scene, for this candidate
son of the minister who then
upon the bank of that river; and 11
humble individual who addresses }
is the young man who was then ha J
tized by the father, of this car.ih
and w ho, as he reverts to that Y
and looks back over so many
his ministry, can only exclaim “
profound humiliation and devout
tude, and amidst conscious j
and unfaithfulness, “ Having 0 t,u ,
the help of God, 1 continue l| nt“
day, witnessing both to small am g
the unsearchable riches ot f bn
May you, my brother,
prove yourself a son worthy ot - 1
father! May the faith you no*
fess before many witnesses, sho”