In the interior of this state, a few years ago, a child of about six months of age was found dead in the front yard of a house inhabited by a poor and degraded family, with its head horribly cut by a sharp instrument, and one of its legs chopped off, and lying near the body. This dreadful deed was afterward clearly shown to have been committed by a boy not quite five years old, an inmate of the house, and that he used an axe for the purpose. The same young monster was soon afterward arrested in an attempt to kill a small child in the street. Now what provision have the moralists of the old school made for this boy? Whips, of course, are provided for him here, and torture hereafter; but for all these, he will kill their children. Now I apprehend there was a remedy for this youth's moral infirmity; and that, taken at an early age, his destructive propensity might have been attempered by benevolence, to a degree sufficient to prevent his final exit upon the gallows.

As in the physical, so in the moral world; rough nature requires the hand of art to give it utility and beauty. Care and skill will remedy both physical and moral defects, and none but decided monsters in nature are beyond improvement by human art and ingenuity. What pains do we not take to supply the defect of hands, feet, or other members of our frame? Who despairs of being useful, who is merely deprived of hearing or of sight? Who does not aid the weak organ, exercise the delinquent muscle, straighten the crooked limb, and remedy, assist, and improve nature, whenever there is need? This is the appropriate business of reason, but not her entire task. For the weak sentiment can be made strong, the strong propensity weakened, the inert faculty aroused to activity, and the slumbering passion awakened into life. We have institutions for those deprived of sight. Let those who are morally blind, be made to see. We have institutions for the deaf and dumb. What provision has been made for those who are deaf to the voice of reason and justice? Alas! they have an asylum, but it is only that of the convicted felon ! What science, then, in point of utility and dignity, compares with that under consideration? It is the knowledge of intellectual power and action, and unfolds, to a great extent, the operations of the human mind, that most subtile emanation from the divinity of nature. It is the key to the knowledge of human nature, the varieties of human character, the motives of human actions. It has something for every body to observe, and to profit by, in understanding. It makes every man a philosopher, and endows him with no inconsiderable share of wisdom; enables him to know others, and more than that, himself. The cradled infant is an object of its early solicitude and care, and to its benign influence the little being' may owe that nurture and discipline which may place it in the paths of virtue and peace. It inspires us with charity for human weaknesses, and invokes the aid of humanity to arrest the career of the dangerous, rather than the sword of justice to accomplish their swift destruction.

All youths should be educated in the principles of this science. No young man should enter upon the theatre of human action, without the knowledge it would afford him of those by whom he is destined to be surrounded. No maiden should pass through the joys of wedlock, to the duties of a mother, without understanding it. Phre

nology will safely direct the friend in the formation of his attachments, and the lover in adopting the mistress of his heart. He who surrounds himself with companions deficient in the higher sentiments, will have occasion devoutly to pray for deliverance from his friends; and he who leads the fair one to the hymenial altar, who is deficient in the same respect, will most sincerely regret that he had not paid more attention to the head, than to the face and feet, of his betrothed.

This science enables the teacher to understand the mental capacities of his pupils, and to adapt their studies accordingly. It should decide one in the choice of his profession, and settle upon his walk in life. It designates those whom nature designed to be distinguished among men, and points out the material sign of those intellectual endowments, and higher sentiments, which only can make a man truly great, and thereby sustains nature's genuine nobility against the pretensions of the aristocracy of wealth, and the usurpations of titled meanness. In a word, phrenology is not only the true philosophy of the human mind, but the kindest nurse to the infant, the safest guide to manhood, and the wisest law-giver to society.

SCIENCE BY THE SMALL..

BY THE LATE R. C. SANDS.*

HAVING had, from my earliest youth, an insatiable desire of travelling and seeing foreign parts, an impetus which has acquired proportionable vigor with the elongation and dilation of my body, I gave vent some days ago to my inclination, and, in company with a friend, packed up my wardrobe, consisting of a few sundries, and departed with him. We descended to the water's edge, and prepared to take a solar observation, when we found that we had no quadrant, and that the luminary was invisible, on account of the clouds which covered all the face of the sky. But I have since discovered that the latitude and longitude are laid down on the map, which supersedes the necessity of mentioning them.

We embarked in an aquatic conveyance, called by the people of these parts a horse-boat. But I am inclined to think that this novelty is a mere sham, a trick upon travellers. There are a dozen sorry nags in this contrivance, which go round in a circular walk, with halters round their necks, and beams at the other extremity. How this orbicular movement can promote the rectilinear advancement of this mammoth boat, is to me a mystery. And as we were six hours in crossing the river, I suspect that they go and come with the tide; and that the horses are a mere catchpenny, to bring their masters the trigesimo-secundal part of a dollar more on every head than the customary ferriage levied on passengers. However, the unhappy quadrupeds appeared to strain very severely, and in their hinder quarters very particularly; indeed every sinew of the latter part seemed to be over-exerted, while the head, neck, and fore legs moved glibly enough, which is certainly a natural curiosity. I account for it in this way as the horses are all in a string, and the hinder parts of each one immediately subjected to the inspection of his follower, these noble animals draw up their anteriors from pride, and contract their posteriors from decency. But I do not lay this down as an hypothesis which is defensible, until I hear from the Antiquarian Institute at Cork, to whom I have transmitted an account of this phenomenon, with my conjectures thereon.

The ship's company consisted of nine Dutchmen, three of whom had their vrows and sundry of their progeny with them; also one leg of mutton, two breasts of veal, one cheese, and a pound of tea. One of the females, though apparently of a slender constitution, seemed

*THIS sketch purports to be the fragment of a classical, topographical, mineralogical, and botanical tour, to that renowned and ancient city, Wehawk, performed in the summer of 1817, by a member of the Institute of Cork, Ireland: carefully printed from the original Ms.' It is a just and biting satire, and one of the most admirable productions of the lamented SANDS, who, as the reader is perhaps aware, was struck down by the insatiate archer,' while engaged in writing an article for the KNICKERBOCKER, a work he had near his heart, and to which he was to have been a constant contributor. It will doubtless be entirely new to nine in ten of our readers, and receive a hearty welcome from all. Originating in one or two of the earliest annuals, then of exceedingly narrow circulation, or embodied in a comparatively stagnant edition of his complete works, unwisely produced in a too expensive form for general diffusion, several of SANDS' choicest efforts are scarcely known beyond the limits of the city, or the shelves of his admiring friends. EDS. KNICKERBOCKER.

to have a pretty good appetite, for she consumed seventeen apples, two loaves of bread, and the cheese; and would probably have proceeded to attack the spare-ribs and leg of mutton, if her husband, anticipating such a result, had not squatted himself down upon them; and being a man of some circumference, it would have been as difficult a task to have effected their liberation, as to get Enceladus out of Etna.

Most of the company were smoking; and I discovered the cause of the phlegmatic nature of the Dutch. They use such short pipes, that the smoke goes up their noses, and, as I had reason to believe, makes the whole tour of their bodies. They have some shrewdness, however. We observed that the cover of the cabin leaked, and they said it was owing to the cracks.

It was raining very fast when we went on board, but the blue horizon soon afterward appeared, and we expected to see a very fine rainbow; but we were disappointed, as we have since found that in these latitudes there are no rainbows observable at noonday - a curious fact, which I have also transmitted to the Cork Institute.

We landed at Hoboken at half-past two P. M., but did not tarry to make observations on that place. Its commerce, however, appears to be in a declining condition, as there were but three xebecs, caïques, or galliots, lying in the port, two of which were in ruins, and the third by no means seaworthy. Many causes might be assigned for this; but we dropped a tear over this famous city, and wound our course round into the country, The road lay through tall hills, covered with ground grass, juniperi florentes of Linnæus, and the granito-rosso, and granito-grigio or bigio rocks, vertical strata of which intersected these mountains in every direction, and had a very picturesque effect. The road appeared to consist of gravel poundato. Specimens of all these I have sent to Ireland.

We journeyed at an easy pace, reflecting on the decline and fall of the Roman empire, a subject which the scenery naturally introduced. Our attention, however, was soon arrested by the singular conduct of a dog. He came up to us as if in despair, and we were afraid at first that he was afflicted with the hydromany; but we were soon convinced of our error in that respect. His path was a curvilinear zigzag; now retrograde, and now forward. We then conjectured that he was bewitched; and gave credence to the superstitions of the inhabitants of these parts, who firmly believe in the doctrine, and nail horse-shoes over their barn doors, to prevent the foul fiend from exerting his potential malice upon their cattle. [One of these charms I examined, and sent a fac simile to the society aforesaid.] The dog looked in our faces very particularly, whined, hung his ears, and carried his tail between his legs, in token of submission. This is the first proffer of service which the canine species make when they do fealty as an acknowledgment of being willing to become your dog, they curl the tail, and lay their front legs horizontally, bending the head and body gracefully back, which is as much as to say: Je deviens vôtre chien.' The dog kept us company ever after, running before, and looking back to let us know that he considered himself an avaunt courier, or else keeping by us.

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Nothing particular occurred farther, until we came to Weehawk. I noticed, however, that the hogs (sues immundi of the ancients) are in these parts particularly stupid. An instance which fell under our own observation, is very surprising. One of them had a yoke on his neck, to which was conjoined a stick parallel to the front of his head, perpendicularly directed. This prevented his getting between the bars of the fence; but the stupid beast continued bruising his nose, without reflecting that, by laying on his side, he might with facility have insinuated himself into the delightful bed of clover which tantalized his inability to enjoy it.

We arrived at the Weehawk inn, and stimulated with punch and crackers. These last were great curiosities, as they appeared, from the taste and inscription upon them, to have been baked in the year 1741. They were probably brought over from Holland by the present burgomaster of Weehawk. The dog ate them, apparently with much satisfaction, by which we discovered that he was a country dog, as those belonging to the city are not partial to such food.

We again set out on our pilgrimage, in order to survey the environs of this extensive and populous town, and struck into a different road. We saw two heifers lying on the grass, who did not seem to know what to do with themselves. Here we reflected on the darkness of the middle ages, and the glorious consequences of the invention of printing.

We heard something singing, and concluded it was a bird, the 'avis volucris' of Linnæus. We turned out of the road here to enjoy the prospect afforded by a romantic glen, with a brook in it, and cascades according. The dog washed his feet, and we reflected on the source of the Nile.

We discovered an island in this stream, covered with tansies, bullfrogs, and one straight tall walnut-tree. We shook the latter in hopes of procuring some fruit; but as none descended, I suppose it was not the season for them. The withered leaves which covered the ground, while the trees above were in all their verdure, naturally led our contemplations to a comparison between youth and age, life and death, prosperity and adversity.

We returned to Weehawk through a juniper wood, and remarked two particularities in the inhabitants; one is, that they use pockethandkerchiefs on no day of the week but the first, by any chance whatever. They are then, however, only worn for ornament - the wearer making a pretence of employing his clean and neatly-folded piece of muslin after he has performed the nasal emunction with his fingers. This is unquestionably a much cleanlier practice than that of the Europeans and Neo-Eboracians.

The other singularity is, that they wear no gallowses, or suspenders. There is an antiquity before the door of the mansion, the date of which we were unable to ascertain. It is a gallows. Whenever any of the male inhabitants walked under this, we observed that they bowed gracefully, at the same time holding the waistband of their braccha with their left hand; and by this we discovered the origin of the custom already mentioned. Peter Stuyvesant is recorded, in the chronicle of KNICKERBOCKER, to have punished minor offences by tying a rope round the criminal's middle, and letting him swim in