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36
, LITERARY.
triLLIAn W. MANN, Editor.
The Southern Field and Fireside
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TO CORRESPONDENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
Please take notice that writers for the Field and
Firexide must, in all cases, communicate to the editor
their real names and address. Articles sent, without the
observance of this rule, will lie over till it shall be com
plied with. And no notice, but that of reception, will be
awarded to articles hereafter received, which shall not he
accompanied by the name.
We hare received during the week :
Chapter six of Master Mitten.
The Golden Jessamine, or The Experience of a Lover.
Oh, when will it be Morning ?— by Anna Wood.
Isn't it Strange ?—by same.
Oh, Sing me that Sweet Air—by Rosalie.
To Virginia—by R. C. C.
Things as they often occur. Ac. —by same.
A Christian's Death— by Calmab.
Our Carrier’s Address.
The Good Husband—by Erie.
The Summer Winds—by Carrie Bell.
Bury me where the Flowers bloom—by same.
OUR PRIZES.
Several writers who have forwarded productions which
are intended to compete for the prizes, have omitted to
place us in possession of the author's name and address.
This neglect must be repaired before the articles can be
submitted to the committee of award. The name and
address may be sent in a common open letter, or (which
is better,) in a sealed envelope, stating on the back that
the name of the author of such an article will be found
within—the envelope to be opened, or not, as the author
may direct, after the award shall be made. The names
and address of authors will lie carefully concealed from
the committee of award, We have received, during the
week, the following productions, to be added to the list
of Prize articles:
An Essay on the Beauties of Nature—by Rosalie.
The JJoot Empire—by X. X.
A Storm at Sea—by T. 9.
Night and Life—by J. W. D.
Visions of the Night
Night and Day—(transferred).
Do Not Despair.
An Evening Ramble—by Thbietos.
To My Mother —by Carlos.
The Maniac's Lament
’Tis Night
The Pleiades.
Mary, the Mother of Washington.
The Bosom's Thorn—by Lois.
Nothing Loves Me.
Not at Home. *
Luda—a novelette.
The Beauty and Worth of Woman—by Philander.
How can we Improve our Lands, and make Cotton?—
an essay.
A Song of Gold and Wine.
A Dream of the Past
At Sea—and “ The Wife.”
A Sketch of Life—a poem.
III -
DR. DIONYSIUS LARDNER.
Dr. Dionyisus Lardner, whose recent death
lias produced so general a sensation in the scien
tific world, was the son of Dennis Lardner, an
Irish Attorney, pursuing his profession in Wex
ford, Ireland. It was in Wexford that the sub
ject of this notice was born, in February, 1790.
Suffering an accident in his boyhood, which
kept him in the house, he took to reading, and
by the time he got well, had fallen so in love
with learning that his whole course of life was
diverted from the course which it had been in
tended he should pursue. Young Lardner en
tered Trinity College, Dublin, where he gradu
ated in 1817. It was there, that he took holy
orders, and became the Chaplain of that institu
tion. He had entered Trinity College, as a
sizar, and distinguished himself there for his
scholarship, amid a host of difficulties. It wa s
there, too, and then, that lie met, fell in love
with, and married his first wife, by whom he had
two sons. He soon gave up the office of Chap
_ lain, and abandoned the clerical profession.
At an early period of life, he evinced a taste
for art and science, and during his subsequent
active career he contributed, perhaps, more than
any other man, to the diffusion ol knowledge in
those branches in a popular and practical form.
As a lecturer, he was most successful. His com
pilations were highly interesting, clear, and in
structive, and though not possessed of a large
originality of genius, nor in the proper sense a
great man, yet his contributions to the cause of
science were very valuable. He bad the merit
of producing the first cheap publication of a
scientific work ever published in England—
“ Lardner’s Cabinet Knclycoptedia ofScience and
Arts"—of which some two hundred volumes
were issued.
It was to iu Mathematics and the Physical
Sciences that he was especially devoted. He
first published treatises on geometry, trigonom
etry, and the differential and integral calculus;
afterwards, a commentary on the first six books
of Euclid, a treatise on solid geometry, which
became a text book, and another on the steam
engine; contributed articles on mathematical
subjects to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia and the
Encyclopedia Metropolitan, aud wrote for the
Library of Useful Knowledge a series of articles
on Natural Philosophy.
We find him separated from his first wife
even before he had divested himself of his cleri
cal robes. Os the two sons, the fruit of this mar
riage one has since committed suicide; the other
is, at present, an officer in the British Army.
He was Lecturer on Natural Philosophy and
astronomy at Trinity College, and here he exhibit
ed that peculiar power of imparting knowledge,
ywv SOVX3KSXS VXS&D AND VIIUSBXBK.
and that dearness of illustration, which subse
quently became the basis of his wide popularity.
Brougham, aiding in founding the London
University, in 1825, applied to Lardner, with
the offer of tho Chair of Natural Philosophy and
Astronomy. This commenced his career in j
England. " The University failed. Lardner soon
vacated his chair, and devoted his attention to
educational works. He suggested the idea, to ;
Brougham, of the “Penny Magazine.” I
The establishment of the Cabinet Cyclopaedia j
under his immediate direction brought him pro
minently before the English public. Among its :
regular contributors were Sir John Herschel,
Sir David Brewster, Scott, Southey, Mackintosh, j
and others; Dr. Lardner contributed to this work
some of its most valuable essays. _ j
From 1831 to 1839, lie mostly spent his time
in lecturing on various subjects, in the Midland
and Northern counties of England, including
Mesmerism, in which he was a believer. Dur
ing this jieriod lie also contributed papers on
physical science to the Edinburgh Review and
other periodicals. From 1830 to 1840, his ser
vices were in request by the British Railway
Companies, in the departments of scientific sur
vey.
"it was in the winter of 1839 that Dr. Lardner,
being then about fifty years of age. accepted an
invitation from a wealthy gentleman, his friend
Capt. Heavyside. to spend some time with his
family, at their house in Brighton. During the
visit," the Doctor became enamored of the wife
of his host; and, shortly afterwards, the world
was astounded by the announcement that the
guilty pair had eloped to the continent. The lady
had abandoned her husband and a largo family
of young children. Capt. 11. pursued thorn to
Paris, inflicted severe personal chastisement on
the Doctor, and then obtained against him a very
heavy verdict for damages.
In the year 1840, to avoid, doubtless, for him
self and liis frail partner, the disagreeable noto
riety arising from this disgraceful affair, Dr.
Lardner came, with tho fair and accomplished
heroine of it, to the United States, assuming, on
board the vessel in which they sailed from Havre
to New York, the honest, and less notorious cog
nomer, of Mr. and Mrs. Lambert. But it was im
possible long to wear the incognito in New York;
and they were now compelled to resume their
proper names. They lived quietly, at their ho
tel in Broadway, where, however, he and Mrs.
11. entertained considerable company, (mostly of
the male sex,) who were charmed with her lady
like demeanor, her brilliant conversation, and
the display of her accomplishments. She played
and sang with remarkable skill, and was no
mean adept at chess. In 1841, Dr. Lardner gave
courses of popular lectures on Astronomy, and
other sciences, which were very profitable in a
pecuniary sense, and which had an immense
vogue in New York. Boston, Philadelphia, Wash
ington. Charleston. Savannah, Augusta, Mobile,
New Orleans, St. Louis, and in many other of the
chief cities of the Union. He spent four years,
thus, iu the United States: during which, it is
believed, her husband, Capt. H. having died, Dr.
L. and Mrs. 11. became, legally, man and wife.
In 1845, they returned to Europe, and since
then have resided in Paris. There, with a fam
ily of three children, they occeupicd a splendid
hotel in the aristocratic faubourg St. Germain-.
where, in that unscrupulous, and not very fastidi
ous society, they weekly received the elite of the
scientific, and literary circles of the capital of
France.
Tho Doctor was a most fascinating lecturer.
Few have possessed in equal degree with him
the enviable facuty of communicating knowledge.
In 1850 lie, published a statistical work, enti
tled Railway Economy. In 1851, he contrib
uted to the London Timex a series of papers up
on the Great Exhibition, subsequently republish
ed in a volume. He thou published a series of ele
mentary treatises, in six volumes, entitled “The
Handbook of Natural Philosophy and Astrono
my.” In 1853, he commenced tho Museum of
Science and Art. a periodical work. Ho after
wards completed a work on Animal Physics,
contributed to the transactions of tho Royal
Astronomical Society. One of his latest works is
a paper on the efficacy of deadly instruments of
war, which owe their improvement to chemical
science.
Dr. Lardner died at Naples, 29th April, 1859,
of inflammation of the chest, alter a very short
illness.
It has not boon from love of scandal, or in the
indulgence of an uncharitable spirit, that notice
has been taken above of tho illicit connection
with Mrs. Heavyside, and of other incidents in
the life of Dr. Lardner, which evince great de
fects of character, and convict him of radical
want of moral principle. No! These details
have been dictated by a stern sense of what is
due to society, when the character of one of its
members presents itself for appreciation. The
duty of the censor is to be just and impartial, to
approve when approval is merited, to praise
when praise is justifiable, and to censure, too, not
spitefully, and from unkindness towards the dead,
but sternly and severely,/or the sake of the living—
for the benefit of those whoso characters are in
process of formation—the great moral delinquen
cies of the dead, who have moved prominently
in our midst. We do not hold to the rule—and
we say it boldly—conscious, the while, that we ?
as most men, nifty some day, suffer from its non
observance—we do not hold to the' rule, nil de
mortuis nisi bonum. It originated in an unsound
philosophy. It is a sickly sentimentality; and
has been sustained to the present day, mainly,
we doubt not, by the almost universal individual
consciousness that one’s own memory, after
death, will need its application. The brilliant,
the learned, the talented, the great, will be more
careful to be consistently great, to correct moral
defects, to avoid blurring improprieties of con
duct, during life, when assured that, after death,
no brilliancy, or learning, or talents, or great
ness, in one, or several particulars, will lie al
lowed to cover vice; or win tolerance and silence
for odious aberrations from the path of rectitude
in conduct. And especially, let not the young,
whose characters are being formed, whose minds
are being developed, whose conscience is being
taught, whose moral sense is acquiring the tem
per and edge to be used through life for discrimi
nation between right and wrong—let not the
young, we say, perceive that it is possible for
them to throw a brilliant veil of gold and silver
gauze over some hideous moral deformity. And
in judging of character, in private and social life,
or of public and historical personages, teach
them to look upon, to weigh, and properly appre
ciate the evil which they find, as well as the good.
We believe that Mr. Abbott, by holding up to
unqualified admiration such a character as the
first Napoleon's; by teaching, as he has done
practically, that brilliancy of achievements and
j intellectual ominence exempt a man from tlio
rules of criticism applied to ordinary men —that
j they cover, and almost atone, for moral defects—
has done more harm to the moral sense of tho
rising generation than he could correct or atone
for by a whole life of ordinary teaching and
j preaching.
Lot it be remembered, then, that, while Dr.
Larpner was one of the most learned men of
the day, while his faculty for communicating
knowledge was admirable, and almost unequaled
j by that of any modern Professor —while he has
done more than perhaps any man living by his
writings, by his lectures, and by his conversa
tion, to make the sciences popular, and to spread
! abroad useful knowledge—let it, we say, bo re
membered against him, that he was not, in the
true sense of the word, a great man—that ho was,
I morally, a very bad man. As a priest, in early
life, he forsook his God ; as a husband and fa
ther, he abandoned his family; as a man. he in
famously betrayed his friend; as a member of
society, he grossly and habitually violated its
most wholesome and fundamental laws.
Dr. Larpner has been often, since the suc
| cessful navigation of the Atlantic by steamships,
! severely twitted with an opinion, said to have
| been formerly held and expressed by him, unfa
i vorable to the practicability of thus making the
j passage from Europe to America. The compiler
| of this notice knows that its subject was parti
cularly sensitive upon this point, and lias heard
him, more than once, enter warmly upon his own
defence. Ho considered his reputation, as a
scientific and practical man, at stake. It is, in
fact, an interesting question to many in this
country, who will bo pleased to read the follow
ing letter and extract, both clipped from Euro
pean papers. They settle tho question as to Dr.
Larpner's expressed opinions. Tho first is a
letter in defence of Dr. L, from a personal friend
and scientific colleague. The second is a retort
and attack on tho Doctor, quoting upon him
chapter and verse, it must be admitted, with
telling effect The London Herald says:
We have received the following letter from
Mr. Bourne, C. E., which sets right tho erroneous
impression of Dr. -Lardner’s having stated that
the crossing of the Atlantic by a steamer was a
physical impossibility:
Sir: In a new edition of Doctor Lardner's
work upon tlic steam-engine, which has just ap
peared, a recapitulation is given of the leading
points in the controversy on the subject of At
lantic steam navigation. As the question is
thus brought once more before the public, as
most erroneous impressions are prevalent re
specting it, and as lam able, from my personal
knowledge, to state the real facts of the ease, I
trust you will afford me sufficient space in your
columns to set the matter correctly before the
public. Most persons suppose that Dr. Lardncr
declared the passage of tho Atlantic, by a steam
vessel to lie a physical impossibility, and if an
example bo needed to show how far the achieve
ments of physical science may outrun the antici
pations of scientific authorities, Dr. Lardner’s
supposed declaration is usually cited as a case
in point. It happens, however, that Dr. Lardner
entertained no such opinion as that usually imput
ed to him, but in fact maintained the very oppo
site. About the time of the meeting of the
British Association, in Bristol, in 1837, being
then engaged in superintending the construction
of tho largest steam-vessels of that day—the
Don Juan, the Braganza, and the Tagus, be
longing to the Peninsular Company—l was ap
plied to by Dr. Lardner to ascertain my views
respecting the prospects of Atlantic steam navi
gation, and I then went with him with some
care into the question. It was, of course, obvious
to us both, that for a steam vessel to cross the
Atlantic was perfectly possible. In fact, at least
two steam vessels, the Savannah and the Cu
raroa. had crossed it already; and although it
was doubtful whether any steam vessel of that
day could carry coal enough to maintain the
full power of the steam during the whole voyage,
it was clear, nevertheless, that any sea-worthy
steamer could accomplish the voyage by adopt
ing one of two alternatives—she might either
proceed under full steam as far as her coals
would last, and then conclude the voyage under
sails, or she might pass through the whole dis
tance under partial steam, working the engines
with o*lx' a portion of their power, as had been
repeatedly done by the Medea, and other steam
vessels, when sailing with the fleet. It was ob
vious to every one, indeed, that the capability of a
steam vessel to carry coal for an Atlantic voyage
hinged upon the amount of power put into her;
or, in other words, it was a question of the pro
portion of power to tonnage; so that by making
the hull of the vessel very large, and the engines
relatively small, a sufficient capacity for coal to
enable tiie engines to be worked throughout the
voyage would certainly be obtained. This ab
stract question, however, was not the one
which engaged the attention of the public, or
upon which it was necessary for Dr. Lardner to
deliver any opinion. But three distinct pro
jects were at that time before the public, pro
posing to connect England with New York by
steam vessels of large tonnage and power; and
tlie problem presented for resolution was, wheth
er these undertakings, unassisted as they were
by a government grant, and relying wholly upon
the returns from goods and passengers, would
probably bo successful. Dr. Lardner's opin
ion was that they would not, and in that opinion
I concurred; no one was able to answer Dr.
Lardner's arguments, but they were drowned by
clamor; and he was represented as having
given utterance to an absurdity, in order that
the force of his reasonings might be the more
effectually concealed. For the moment, his ex
pedient succeeded. The three schemes, which
had London, Liverpool, and Bristol as their Eu
ropean termini, were, contrary to Dr. Lardner’s
recommendation, established and tried. The
result is exhibited in the following list, which
shows the eventual fate of the vessels employ
ed: Sirius, withdrawn; Royal William, with
drawn; Great Liverpool, sold; United States,
sold; British Queen, sold; President, lost,
Great Western, sold; Grei t Britain, sold. In
fact, the whole of the enterprises condemned by
Dr. Lardner have miscarried, and have been at
tended with loss and disappointment to all con
cerned. The Cunard and American lines of
packets, being supported by large government
subventions, of course, do not come Under the
conditions I)r. Lardner had to consider, which
were those of an enterprise subsisting only on
its own returns. Nor had his prognostications
any reference to the class of auxiliary screw
vessels now plying across the Atlantic—that
class of vessels having been unknown in 1836.
His remarks had reference exclusively to pad
dle vessels with full power. And since the
whole of the vessels of that class, except those
supported by extraneous aid, have been driven
from the field, and since the Cunard line, not
withstanding the great ability with which it is
conducted, requires a government contribution
of one hundred and forty-five thousand pounds
a year to enable it to be carried on, it appears
certain that the doctrines Dr. Lardner promul
gated in 1836 and 1837 are irrefragable still,
notwithstanding the improvements which have
since taken place in steam navigation. One by
one, the schemes he condemned have exploded.
No one would now think of ro-constructiug
them. Who, then, shall say that his anticipa
tions have not been borne out by the result.
London Herald, Nov. 15.
The following has been clipped from Galigna
ni's Messenger, Paris:
Danger of Prophecies.—Dr. Lardner is a
favorite subject of persecution. Having written
many clever books and papers, he once made
rather a serious mistake. In his work upon the
steam-engine he expressed an opinion that little
hopes of success could attend the project of
Trans-atlantic steam navigation; and ever since
Cunard established that line of steamers which
had so many imitators, and is now as familiar
as the railway, or the electric telegraph, there
has been a periodical resuscitation of Dr. Lardner
and his mistake.
The Doctor has not taken kindly to this peri
odical roasting; he remonstrates, and endeavors
to justify himself. At one time, if we remember
rightly, lie expressed himself to have meant not
that such projects were impossible, but that
they could not pay. In a letter to the Times,
the other day, referring to his eighth edition, he
denied point-blank -that he ever uttered such an
opinion. “An Observer of 1845,” however,
brings a telling witness against the Doctor—not
his eighth, but his sixth edition. In page 320
of that volume, Dr. Lardner hopes that “ a due
consideration of the facts and principles in tho
present chapter” would awaken tho projectors
to a “better sense of the mechanical obstacles
which would stand in the way of an unbroken
sea voyage between London and New York.”
At page 320 lie calculates that it would be prac
ticable to construct a steamer capable of carrying
fuel, without intermediate depot of coals, for two
thousand five hundred miles, and not for three
thousand five hundred miles; hence, the idea of
“the little hopes which can at present attend
this project.” The project did not succeed “at
present,’' but it has amply succeeded since; and
we do not know why Dr. Lardner should bo
made accountable for having failed to perceive
the success which has accumulated in 1853, but
was not existent in 1845. It is less just, since
the Doctor's foible is a truly national one. We
English are fond of judging only by experience
and practical considerations, just as Dr. Lardner
did. He found what steamers had done, applied
that to the proposition for crossing the Atlantic,
and did not feel warranted by the experience of
the Admiralty steamers in anticipating success.
——i«>
FASHIONABLE WOMEN.
An energetic and truthful writer thus sums up
tho unhappy life of fashionable womens.
Fashion kills moro women than toil and sor
row. Obedience to fashion is a greater trans
gression of the law of woman’s nature, a greater
injury to her physical and mental constitution,
than the hardships of poverty and neglect. Tho
kitchen maid is hearty and strong, when her la
dy has to bo nursed like a sick baby. It is a
sad fact that fashion-pampered women are almost
worthless for all the good ends of human life. —
They have but little force of character; they have
still less power of moral will, and quite as little
physical energy. They live for no great pirpose
in life—they accomplish no great ends. They
are doll-forms in tho hands of milliners and ser
vants, to be dressed and fed to order. They
dress nobody; they feed nobody; they instruct
nobody; they bless nobody. They set no rich
examples of virtue and womanly life. If they
rear children, servants and nurses do all, save
to give them birth. And when reared, what
do the children amount to? Whoever heard of
a fashionable woman’s child exhibiting any vir
tue and power of mind for which it became emi
nent ? Read the biographies of our great and
good men and women. Not one of them had a
fashionable mother. They nearly all sprang from
strong-minded women, who had about as much
to do with fashion, as with the changing clouds.
Lives Lost in Great Steamers.—The Lon
don Shipping Gazette publishes the following
list, from which it will be seen that the lives lost
in the ill-fated Austria are in excess of the great
est previous disasters:
Value of vessel
Lives lost. and cargo.
President, British, 130 $1,200,000
Arctic, American, 300 1,800,000
Pacific, “ 240 2,000,000
San Francisco, “ 160 400,000
Central America, “ 887 2,500,000
Independence, “ 140 100,000
Yankee Blade, “ 75 280,000
City of Glasgow, British, 420 850,000
Tempest, “ 150 300,000
Lyonnais, French, 160 280.000
Austria, German, 471 850,000
> s i •
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
TO LIZZIE OF THE “HILL,”
BY NETTIE NOBODY.
When the sparkling dew is resting upon the fragrant
flowers,
The fairest and the swectest'that bloom in Southern bow
ers—
The lily pale—the blushing rose—the violet half hid,
Nestling among its dark rich leaves, as if it fain would
shed
Its fragrance, and be beautiful, unseen by “mortal e'e"—
Fit emblems, then, these flowers all are, my darling friend,
of thee—
Thy purity and loveliness—thy modesty and grace—
Os thee, as oft in fancy, still, I see that much loved face!
Alone, or with my new found friends-or singing light and
free,
1 think of thee, sweet Lizzie—dost thou e'er think of
me ?
When shadows of the twilight hour come stealing slowly
on,
Laden with mcm'rics of the past, I love to sit alone,
And muse on all our pleasures gone, when it was joy to
me,
To watch the play of that dear face, unseen, perhaps, of
thee;
To note the varying of thine eye—thy graceful form—thy
brow—
Thy lips, with their pure freshness, and their dewy, row.'
leaf hue;
And then I dream thy voice is near, until I wake and
find
'Twas but caressing Fancy, softly whispering to my mind.
Thus, in twilight, come fond memories; but the silent
shadows flee!
I sigh for thee, sweet Lizzie—dost thou e'er sigh for me
Misery often wears a mask of smiles.
FUN, FACT, AND PHILOSOPHY.
No authority, however great, caa change error
into truth.
Our National Starr —The act of Congress
establishing the form and character of our nation
al flag, passed April 4,1848, declares that, on the
admission of every new State into the Union, one
star shall be added to the cluster already group
ed on the “ Union ” of the flag, and that such
addition shall take place on the 4th of July next
succeeding such admission. Let our flag-makers
take notice. Thirty-three stars must adorn the
national banner from and after the 4th of July
next.
In whatsoever house ye enter, remain master
of your eyes, and of your tongue.
Dr. Franklin, speaking of Education, says:
“If a man empties his purse in his head, no one
can take it away from him. An investment in
knowledge always pays the best interest.”
Among the vows that a man lias to make in
Japan when he is married, is one that he will
find plenty of tea and rice for his wife, during
her life.
New Use of the Stereoscope. —Professor
Dove, a Prussian, has discovered that the best
executed copies of steel or copper-plate engrav
ings can be distinguished from the originals, by
placing them together in a binocular stereoscope,
when the difference between the print produced
by the original plate, and the spurious copy, is
seen at a glance. Tliis will be a sure method of
detecting counterfeit bank bills.
Your character cannot be essentially injured
except by your own acts.
The Vicksburg Whig contains a description
of a lusus naturae , in the shape of a couple of well
developed young turkeys joined together at the
head. The editor vouches for the truth of his
description.
The average fall of the Mississippi, for the
whole distance from the Gulf of Mexico, to the
confluence of tho Ohio, at Cairo, during low water,
is very nearly three inches to tho mile.
Life Without Trials. —Would you wish to
live without a trial? Then, you would wish to
die but half a man. Without trial you cannot
guess at your own strength. Men do not learn
to swim on a table; they must go into deep
water, and buffet the surges. If you wish to
understand the true character of your boys—if
you would know their whole strength—of what
they are capable—throw them overboard! Over
with them!—and if they are worth saving, they
will swim ashore of themselves.
A tar's idea of a locomotive was as follows:
11 Why," says he, “ there’s nothing manly about
it. Watch a ship, now, with her canvass belly
ing out, laying down to it just enough to show
she feels the breeze, tossing the spray from her
bows, and lifting her head over the seas, as if she
stepped over’m. Thero’s something like life
there! There’s something noble about a horse;
he steps as if he knew he was going, and proud,
of his duty, and able to do it. But the lubber
—bah 1 that there concern comes insinivating,
sneaking along, crawling on his belly, like a
thundering long snake with a pipe in his mouth.”
During the seventeenth century, the patents
granted for inventions in England were two
lunched and fifty; in tho next hundred years
tfcewkiountcd to two thousand five hundred, and
Hi t(Hirst fifty years of the present century
theyTiad exceeded two hundred and fifty thou
sand.
There are twenty-nine thousand post-offices
in the United States.
The parent who would train up a child in tho
way he should go, must go the way he should
train up his child.
Try to take a cheerful view of divine things.
Dwell on your mercies. Look at tho bright as
well as the dark Side. Do not cherish gloomy
thoughts.
It is generally observed that persons of about
forty years, especially young ladies of that age,
are very forgetful of those with whom they were
acquainted in childhood. This remarkable dim
ness of memory has been appropriately styled
“ the darkness of the middle ages.”
A Yankee captain was caught in tho jaws of
a whale, but was finally rescued, badly wound
ed. On being asked what he thought while in
that situation, he replied: “ I thought he would
make about forty barrels!”
Peculiarities of lleat. —lf water is poured
upon an iron sieve, the wires of which are mado
red-hot, it will not run through; but, on cooling,
it will pass through rapidly. M. Boutigny, pur
suing this curious inquiry, has proved that the
moisture upon the skin is sufficient to protect it
from disorganization, if the arm is plunged into
baths of melted metaL The resistance of the
surface is so great, that little olevation to tem
perature is experienced.
Patience. —“ I remember,” says the celebrat
ed "Wesley, “hearing my father say to my
mother, ‘ How could you have the patience to
tell that blockhead the same thing twenty times
over?’ ‘Why,’ said she, ‘if I had told him but
nineteen times, I would have lost all my labor.’ ”
“ V ell, Jim, I »n’t see how you sells your
brooms cheaper than me, when I steals “ tho
stuff?”
“ Vy, you fool, I steals mine already made.”
It is folly for men of merit to think of escap
ing censure, and a weakness to be affected with
it. Fabius Maximus said, he was a greater ■
coward that was afraid of reproach, than he that
fled from his enemies.
The Memphis (Tenn.) Ap>peal estimates the
population of Memphis at considerably over thir
ty-one thousand; and that of Shelby county at
seventy-five thousand.
Horse Flesh as an Edible, —A Hanover pa
per says the “silly prejudice against horse flesh”
has altogether vanished in Denmark and north
ern Germany, and that in the city of Hanover
alone, in tho course of Whitsun week, about two
thousand pounds of horse flesh were consumed.
The number of horses slaughtered for eating in
that city is between two and throe hundred a
year.
That was a beautiful idea expressed by a
Christian lady on her death lied. In reply to a
remark of her brother, who was taking leave of
her, to return to his distant residence, that he
should probably never again meet her in tho
land of the living, she answered : “ Brother, I
trust we shall meet in the land of the living.—
We are nowin the land of the dying."
An Irishman, having accidentally broken a
pane in a window of a house in Chestnut street,
attempted, as fast as he could, to get out of tho
way, but he was followed and seized by the pro
prietor, who exclaimed:
“You broke my window, fellow!—did you
not ?”
“To be sure I did!—an’didn’t you see me
running home for the money to pay you for itt"
Paddy’s description of a fiddle cannot be beat:
“ It was tho shape of a turkey, and tho size of a
goose; he turned it over on its back, and rubbed
its belly with a stick, and och! St. Patrick 1 how
it did squeak I”