HONEYCOM B. But mules are splenbecame stagnant in my veins. did animals for such a route; and whether for the sake of the rider, or their own, they proceed with the utmost caution, as I had now learnt from experience. From that moment I left my mule to do as he pleased, and he carried me safely over.F. Gerstaecker. INFLUENCES OF SLAVERY ON CHILDREN.Will he believe that that which he sees every week advertised with hogs, and horses, and fodder, and cotton-seed, and refuse furniture-bedsteads, tables, and chairs-is indeed so divine a thing? We will suppose that the little child knows some pious slave; that he sees him at the communion-table, partaking in a far-off, solitary manner, of the sacramenta! bread and wine. He sees his pious father and mether recognize the slave as a Christian brother; they tell him that he is an heir of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ;" and the next week he sees him Can the child possibly be advertised in the paper, in company with a lot of hogs, stock, and fodder. lieve in what his Christian parents have told him when he sees this? We have spoken now of only the common advertisements of the paper; but suppose the child to live in some districts of the country, and where advertisements of a still more degrading character meet the eye. newspaper, devoted to politics, literature, and education, has a standing weekly advertisement, of which this is a copy :— THE CORDILLERAS. The path, indeed, had be- | come so narrow, that it seemed to me, as it wound tself round a projecting rock, absolutely to terminate. I could see nothing more than a thin light streak, as if drawn with a piece of chalk, and I could not believe that this was our path. The rock round which it went did not show the least cut or notch where even a goat could have planted its feet, let alone our clumsy mules. The little crumbling pieces of stone which our mules' hoofs kicked over the precipice made me sensible of the danger, falling straight down to a depth that my blood froze to think of. But this was no place to stop at; and I observed closely the cautious manner in which my guide raised himself in his right stirrup, not doubt ing that we were now at the spot of which he had told me before, and where the mules and riders were often thrown over. I was therefore careful not to irritate my mule at a place where it certainly knew better how to go than I did accidents having happened from travellers pulling their bridles at the wrong time. My guide went on very coolly along a trail where mules had to keep the very edge of the precipice. Mules frequently carry a load over this track, when they are very careful not to knock against the overhanging rock, as the least push would send them over the precipice. Our mules, it is true, had no load, but they were accustomed to carrying one; and therefore kept the extreme edge, to my great discomposure. But I left it entirely to Notice.-The undersigned having an excellent its own instinct, only lifting my left foot in the stirrup, as I saw the vaquiano do, so that, in case of an pack of Hounds, for trailing and catching runaway accident, I might throw myself off its back, and slaves, informs the public that his prices in future cling to the rock. But why, the reader may ask, will be as follows for such services:-For each day did you not get off the mule at once, and pass employed in hunting or trailing, 2 dols. 50.; for dangerous places on foot? Simply, my reader, in patching each slave, 10 dols.; for going over fea the first place, because the danger is the same for miles and catching slaves, 20 dols. If sent for, the many miles; and secondly, because those men who above prices will be exacted in cash. The subscriber mountains, know best where to walk, and where to ride; and I followed the example my guide set me. Nor, to tell the truth, did I at the moment think of anything but my mule, as he moved slowly, step by inches to spare on either side. the path got still narrower, the abyss seemed deeper; In the State of Alabama, a "Dadeville, Sept. 1, 1852. Ala. "B. Black. 1-tf." -The reader will see by the printer's sign at the step, round the yawning abyss, with scarcely three bottom that it is a season advertisement, and, thereAs we proceeded, fore, would meet the eye of the child week after week. The paper from which we have cut this and looking down once, between the mule's side and contains among its extracts passages from Dickens's my stirrups, I saw below in the deep hollow a per- Household Words, from Prof. Felton's article in fect heap of skeletons-mules that must have tumbled down since the last flood-or their bones would have been washed away. In my horror I forgot the the Christian Examiner on the relation of the sexes, and a most beautiful and chivalrous appeal from the eloquent senator Soulé on the legal rigütö warning of the vaquiano, and grasping the reins of of women. The way to train 'em (says the man) is to take for turning the head of my mule away from the pre- these yer pups-any kind o' pups will do-foxIcipice, it lost its sure footing, stepped aside, and hounds, bull-dogs, most any; but take the pups, bled forward, and-no, dear reader, no such thing- nigger till they get big enough to be larned. When striking the saddle-bags against the rock, it stum- and keep 'em shut up, and don't let 'em never see a we did not tumble. The mule planted its fore hoofs the pups gits old enough to be set on to things, then on a firm part of the crumbling ledge, and lifted make 'em run after a nigger; and when they cotches itself up again, just as a small piece of stone, loosened him, give 'em meat. Tell the nigger to run as hard springing from under us, toppled over, and struck to tree 'em; then take the shoe of a nigger, and larn long afterwards with a dull hollow sound into the 'em to find the nigger it belongs to; then a rag incident made me tremble, and I thought the blood nigger, and teach the dog to wait and bark under deep. I need not be ashamed to say that this little his clothes, and so on. Allers be careful to tree the by the effort, fell noiselessly from the path, and as he can, and git up in a tree, so as to larn the dogs of the tree till you come up and give him his meat.-dressed portions near the house. And finally, conKey to Uncle Tom's Cabin. THE POWER OF CUSTOM.-The whole American nation is, in some sense, under a paralysis of public sentiment on this subject. It was said by a heathen writer, that the gods gave us a fearful power when they gave us the faculty of becoming accustomed to things. This power has proved a fearful one indeed in America. We have got used to things which might stir the dead in their graves. When but a small portion of the things daily done in America has been told in England, and France, and Italy, and Germany, there has been a perfect skriek and outery of horror. America alone remains cool, and asks, "What is the matter?" Europe answers back, "Why, we have heard that men are sold like cattle in your country."-" Of course they are," says America; "but what then?"-" We have heard," | says Europe," that millions of men are forbidden to read and write in your country."-"We know that," says America; "but what is this outcry about?"-"We have heard," says Europe, "that Christian girls are sold to shame in your markets!" "That isn't quite as it should be," says America; "but still what is this excitement about?"-"We hear that three millions of your people can have no legal marriage ties," says Europe.-"Certainly that is true," returns America; "but you made such an outery, we thought you saw some great cruelty going on."-"And you profess to be a free country!" says indignant Europe.-" Certainly we are the freest and most enlightened country in the world; what are you talking about?" says America."You send your missionaries to Christianize us," says Turkey; and our religion has abolished this horrible system."-" You! you are all heathen over there-what business have you to talk?" answers America. Many people seem really to have thought that nothing but horrible exaggerations of the system of slavery could have produced the sensation which has recently been felt in all modern Europe. They do not know that the thing they have become accustomed to, and handled so freely in every discasion, seems to all other nations the sum and ace of villany.-Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE PICTURESQUE.The beautiful in landscape-gardening is produced by Outlines whose curves are flowing and gradual, surfaces of softness, and growth of richness and luxuriance. In the shape of the ground it is evinced by easy undulations, melting gradually into each other. In the form of trees, by smooth stems, full, round, or symmetrical heads of foliage, and luxuriant branches often drooping to the ground, which is chiefly attained by planting and grouping, to allow free development of form; and by selecting trees of suitable character, as the elm, ash, and the like. In walks and roads, by easy flowing curves, following natural shapes of the surface, with no sharp angles or abrupt turns. In water, by the smooth lake with curved margin, embellished with flowing outlines of trees and full masses of flowering shrubs; or in the easy winding curves of a brook. The keeping of such a scene should be of the most polished kind: grass mown into softness like velvet; gravel-walks scrupulously dry, firm, and clean; and the most perfect order and neatness should reign throughout. Among the trees and shrubs should be conspicuous the finest foreign sorts, distinguished by beauty of form, foliage, and blossom; and rich groups of shrubs and flowering plants should be arranged in the more sidering the house itself as a feature in the scene, it should properly belong to one of the classical modes; and the Italian, Tuscan, or Venetian forms are preferable, because they have both a polished and a domestic air, and readily admit of the graceful accompaniment of vases, urns, and other harmonious accessories. Or, if we are to have a plainer dwelling, it should be simple and symmetrical in its character, and its verandah festooned with masses of the finest climbers. The picturesque in landscape-gardening aims at the production of a certain spirited irregularity, surfaces comparatively abrupt and broken, and growth of a somewhat bold and wild character. The shape of the ground sought after has its occasional smoothness varied by sudden variations, and in parts runs into dingles, rocky groups, and broken banks. The trees should in many places be old and irregular, with rough stems and bark; and pines, larches, and other trees of striking, irregular growth, must appear in numbers sufficient to give character to the woody outlines. As, to produce the beautiful, the trees are planted singly in open groups to allow full expansion, so for the picturesque the grouping takes every variety of form. Almost every object should group with another. Trees and shrubs are often planted closely together; and intricacy and variety, thickets, glades, and underwood, as in wild nature, are indispensable. Walks and roads are more abrupt in their windings, turning off frequently at sudden angles where the form of the ground, or some inviting object, directs. In water, all the wildness of romantic spots in nature is to be imitated or preserved; and the lake or stream, with bold shore and rocky, wood-fringed margin, or the cascade in the secluded dell, are the characteristic forms. The keeping of such a landscape will of course be less careful than in the graceful school. Firm gravelwalks near the house, and a general air of neatness in that quarter, are indispensable to the fitness of the scene in all its modes, and indeed properly evince the recognition of art in all landscape-gardening. But the lawn may be less frequently mown, the edges of the walks less carefully trimmed, where the picturesque prevails; while in portions more removed from the house, the walks may sometimes sink into a mere footpath without gravel, and the lawn change into the forest-glade or meadow. The architecture which belongs to the picturesque landscape is the Gothic mansion, the old English or the Swiss cottage, or some other striking forms, with bold projections, deep shadows, and irregular outlines. If we declare that the beautiful is the more perfect expression in landscape, we shall be called upon to explain why the picturesque is so much more attractive to many minds. This, we conceive, is owing partly to the imperfection of our natures, by which most of us sympathize more with that in which the struggle between matter and spirit is most apparent, than with that in which the union is harmonious and complete; and partly because, from the comparative rarity of highly picturesque landscapes, it affects us more forcibly when brought into contrast with our daily life. Artists, we imagine, find somewhat of the same pleasure in studying wild landscape, where the very rocks and trees seem to struggle with the elements for foothold, that they do in contemplating the phases of the passions and instincts of human and animal life. The manifestations of power is to many minds far more captivating than that of beauty.—Downing on Landscape Gardening. man, but any number of individuals may join. The performer before commencing generally changes his dress, putting on a white coat and gloves, and placing a band around his head, the beak of a bird or the snout of some animal in the centre of his forehead, and a feather over each ear. He begins by stamping violently with the right foot, and throwing out his arms with wild gesticulations, be sides leering horribly on the surrounding spectators, and shaking his head. He then uses the left foot, and changes again when inclined. The exertions are too violent to be long sustained; the performer is therefore often relieved by another. Sometimes several men take part in the dance, and occasionally the women join, but the latter merely move the body and wave their arms, without changing the position of their feet. The men sometimes shout, but the women never utter a sound. In their power of Chinese. Whenever they saw any of our articles which they could adopt with advantage, they invariably tried to imitate it, and generally saeeded in making it similar in appearance, although per spoons, were thus copied, and even a fidule was once attempted, of course quite incapable of har monious sounds. This turn of their mind will be come of importance; and when they are more civi lized, and have received proper tuition, they may, during their long winter, manufacture a variety of curious and elaborate articles.-Berthold Sec FAITH.-In moments of distress and anguish, in the bursting of the strongest and the dearest ties, in the hour of dismay and horror, there is but one comfort which the heart of man can receive; and against that too often his iron heart shuts the door, and stations the fiend Pride to guard the entrance against the friend who would console him. Who is that friend? Faith! the angel-messenger of that God who may see fit to chastise; but of whose bounty, of whose mercy, tenderness, and love, man-rebellious worm as he is-has no reason to entertain one doubt. THE ESQUIMAUX OF BEHRING'S STRAITS.Hunting and fishing form almost the sole occupation of the men, who, with their small means, exhibit great ingenuity, as is shown by their method of overcoming the polar bear. Their bravery is quite as much put to the test, and well exemplified in their capture of the whale, an animal many times larger than the baidars, and quite capable of swal-imitation, the Eskimos are almost equal to the lowing the diminutive kayaks. As soon as the whale is seen rolling on the surface of the water, the kayak is paddled within a few feet of it, and the harpoon darted into the blubber. At the least lateral pressure the ivory top of the weapon disen-haps not so perfect in construction. Knives, forks, gages itself from the staff, which latter floats on the surface of the water, and is picked up again, while the top, with the line and the seal-bladder attached, remains fixed to the animal. Many darts of the same kind are inserted, till at last the prey, with its many bladders impeding its progress, yields to the lances of the pursuers, and is towed in triumph to the shore. The capture of the seal and walrus is effected in the same manner. Salmon and other fish are caught in nets; the line and hook are used only towards the breaking up of the season, in order to obtain a supply of whiting. *** Their songs, like those of all the aboriginal Americans, are in flat keys, and without rhythm. The key in which they are pitched always renders them melancholy, we le the total want of rhythm makes them difficult to retain in the memory; their effect upon the ear of a European is unsatisfactory, and their end appears abrupt and unnatural. These characteristics are not easily accounted for. It has, indeed, been said, that a people who have long groaned under oppression, as, for instance, several of the Sclavonic tribes, have their tunes in flat keys. This remark, however, can hardly be applied to the New World; for although in the southern portions of that continent the most complete despotism prevailed, yet many of the northern communities always enjoyed a considerable degree of freedom. Nor is it less surprising that the aboriginal Americans should have made so little progress in music as to be ignorant even of rhythm, which seems to us so natural, that we adopt it unconsciously in thrashing and many other domestic operations. The tunes in use among the Eskimos appear not to exceed four in number; they are never used except for accompanying their dances. Music, indeed, seems to have little effect-at least our fiddles and flutes made no impression whatever. The accordion was an object of curiosity, rather on account of the manner in which the sounds were produced than for the sounds themselves. The women, instead of quieting the children with nursery ditties, put a slip of blubber in their mouths, which appears to have an equally tranquillizing effect. Their dance is of the rudest kind, and consists merely in violent motion of the arms and legs, It is generally performed by one FRIENDS STAYING IN THE HOUSE.-With such only can we share the genial and inspiring eventide, with all its holy, heart-fed light, increasing is and around us, amidst the deepening shadows of materia darkness. To the "friends staying with that we communicate the home thoughts and pathies that arise from daily occurrences and near connections; theirs is the quick understand g return of bright and harmless household jess, transforming annoyances themselves into sources of amusement. From such only can we expect deep interest in our welfare that will render every thing concerning us important in their estimation to such may children's children turn, and meet wi the warm embrace and hospitable welcome long ago received and still remembered, by those who parents or grand parents once sheltered and were kind to.-Home Truths for Home Peace. When we remember THE PROGRESS OF AMELIORATION.-We the progress of amelioration, silent but sure, as t shepherd on the upland sees in the valley the ad vance of a gush of sunshine from between two He observes that the people below are too busy to mark how the light attains now this object and that-how it now embellishes yonder copse, and gilds that stream, and now glances upon the r of the far-off hamlet-the signs and sounds of Li quickening along its course. that this is the same sun that guided the first vess of commerce over the sea-the same by whose Magna Charta was signed at Runnymede-l shone in the eyes of Cromwell after Naseby fightthat rose on 800,000 free blacks in the West Indies a certain August morning, and is now shining dewa into the dreariest recesses of the coal-mine, the son, and the cellar-how can we doubt that da ness is to be chased away, and God's sunshine vivify, at last, the whole of our world?-Harri | Martineau. 66 OUR LIBRARY TABLE. LIFE AND TIMES OF MADAME DE STAEL. | By Maria Norris. (Bogue, Fleet Street.)-Very ably, and with much patient labour and research, has Miss Norris followed the course of this remarkable woman, in the privacy of domestic life, as in the wide area of her literary celebrity, and very beautiful are the views of her interior character which the inquiry affords us. The genius of Madame de Staël is a reality too long known and recognized to need recalling; but her tender devotion to her father, from the earliest period of her being to the latest hour of his-her confidence, and love towards her children-her noble interest in her friends-and her compassonating charity to all who needed it, are traits which clothe with human loveliness the statuesque classicality of our notions of Corinne, and affords us food for love as well as admiration. In the first pages of the work we are introduced to the drawing-room of M. Necker, that "Eagle of Finance," as Mirabeau designated him, and discover the future author and advocate of political and social freedom, a child of even years old, seated on a little wooden stool," where she was expected to sit, and to keep herself very upright," by the side of Madame Necker's arm-chair, listening to the brilliant and learned conversations passing around her, and even taking a part in them. When we reckon amongst the visitors, " Marmontel, Secretary to the French Academy, author of Les Incas, and Belisare, and the Abbé Raynal, who, trained as a Jesuit, had the courage to fling off his disgusting servitude, Baron Grimm, and our own Gibbon," we may imagine that the conversation was of a higher class than every-day drawingroom small talk."-" Monsieur Necker, and probably his family," says Miss Norris, "had as keen a sense of the advantages of Paris as any Seigneur of the preceding century; for the Neckers were intellectual people, and for such there was positively no satisfactory communion but in Paris. There they met in the social life which is carried to perfection perhaps nowhere but there there the greatest men and the witfiest and gracefullest women of the brilliant city associated, and practised that art of conversation which the French, better than any other people, understand." And in such meetings, in such conversations," tinged with philosophy, romance, and infidelity, were started the ideas whose wider development among a furious and uninstructed people led to that terrible tragedy of history known as the French Revolution.". We have all seen the effects of adult companionship on childhood; and in such society, and with such discussions passing around her, the rapid development of Mademoiselle Necker's mind, and the after tolerance of her ideas (so much in advance of the times she lived in), are scarcely to be wondered at. There were other reasons, too, which never fail in intellectual organizations to strengthen and elicit their capabilities, by obliging the patient to draw from those hidden sources for solace and delight, the very restraints imposed by her mother upon the exuberant vitality of her disposition. The constant check which the cold, correct, dispassionate judgment and temperament of Madame Necker opposed to her generous and impulsive disposition, were doubtless amongst the unrecognized springs which led the little girl to play at tragedy with kings and queens cut out of paper, the situations and action of which her youthful mind supplied. The constructive faculty exhibited in this amusement never afterwards deserted her; the dramatic form appears to have been her favourite one throughout the early days of her authorship; and a comedy and two tragedies are mentioned as having been written by her between her fifteenth and twentieth year. "The genius of Mademoiselle Necker," says the author, very early showed itself; and her remarkable advantages of education, united to her familiarity with all the great models of literature: circumstances which would have depressed mediocrity only quickened her ardour. When we consider the method and perfectness of her training, her originality is almost startling; she accumulated materials on every side, and turned all to account, without enslaving herself to the authors from whom she borrowed them." On her personal appearance Miss Norris has the following remarks: 66 "Her friends praised her eyes so vehemently, that we are tempted to suspect that there was little else to admire in her personal appearance. That her eyes deserved their admiration we can most readily credit: her fine imagination would kindle beauty in eyes even naturally ordinary; but hers were full and black, and, as we are told, sparkled with wit and kindness. "Her features were strongly marked, rather than delicate; and, indeed, there was in her whole frame a vigour almost coarseness of development, far removed from the delicate roundness and flowing lines essential to beauty. A certain wit, who saw her during her appearance in London society, mentions that her neck resembled the front of a chest of drawers;' a vulgar but forcible comparison, decidedly unsuggestive of loveliness. Beauty of expression she must have possessed; but, as we have said, no portrait can give any adequate idea of such a charm; yet this is the beauty that grows, and is perhaps lovelier as life flows on; for higher thoughts, and larger sympathies nurtured and countenance than nature puts there at first; and cultivated for years, leave surer traces upon the the physiognomy of a mobile character is an unfinished, ever-growing record while life endures : but allowing her every grace of fine expression, we cannot call her beautiful; happily, however, there is something more important than beauty, even to a woman." We are told, however, that " her hands and arms | responding eagerness on our part to recommend were finely shaped, and almost transparently it to their notice and perusal. As few tasks are white; and, with the childlike frankness which more pleasant to that rare individual, a "goodcharacterised her, she owned that she dressed so natured critic," than the meeting with books as to make as much as possible of the only like that above discussed, in which there is charm she possessed." Her feet, on the con- much to praise and little to find fault with, trary, were exceedingly clumsy, and gave rise either in the matter or manner of the work, so on one occasion to the following bon-mot, the to have that good nature imposed on by the wit of which (however she might admit its truth) affectation of authorship rouses our acumen in the subject of it could scarcely have forgiven: self-defence and justice to our readers, as well as to our private judgment, and forces upon us the severer duties of our office. "She was attired to represent a statue, the face being veiled. The company were to guess from the attitude and bearing who was the lady thus concealed; one gentleman to whom the question was put glanced at the feet of the statue, and answered, * Je vois le pied de Staël,' (le piéd-estal).” This is pleasant writing enough; but, as may be seen by the passage quoted above, the author does not bind herself to biographical details, but allows her own thoughts (always acceptable ones) to glide through and brighten the page. Speaking of the effect of tyrannical government on children, the following passage, replete with observation and good sense, occurs: "Tyranny invariably fosters deception and hypocracy, and perhaps for every child who lies from innate dishonesty, ninety-nine lie from an excessive fear of punishment. Besides, a strong natural inclination is not, we believe, to be conquered by a prohibition, which is a command, and no morewhich does not address the judgment, by pointing out the unworthiness of the prohibited thing. We know how it was with man. Even in Eden, the forbidden fruit was the one he greatly cared to eat; and it is not likely that a little child possesses more moral courage than the human being fully developed, and a thousand times less curious than he.' Everything," she continues, with a knowledge of their nature which shows how fully she is in their confidence "Everything is so fresh to a little child, the exercise of his faculties is such a great delight-his interest in all is so intense; he has exhausted nothing; vague drawings of beauty break in upon his every sense; every thought is a spirit-picture, and every pursuit å passion." There is lying before us, in "verdure clad," a volume, entitled "IONE'S DREAM," and other poems, which in kindness we would fain consign to the oblivion of the waste-paper basket, but for the hope that some salutary hints may prevent the future waste of time, and spoiling of paper, and expense of print, which such dreams are sure to occasion, and from which it is only charity to awaken the dreamer. Copying the faults of a master, the authoress models the metrical portion of her undertaking upon the irregular style of Sir Walter Scott's poems; and we have verses abounding in false quantities and in every description of rhythm. Nor has she any more regard to the sense of her versicles than to their sound, as the following description of Sir Raymond (Ione's father) will illustrate "Sir Raymond was a noble knight, This And well the foeman knew; They knew the waving of his spear- passage is rather involved, but the next appears even more so→→→ "Amongst the music of the throstle's song, High perch'd upon the oak tree's pennant tall and brown." At times we find phrases meant to be very Tearing the white cres's of the waves, The only thing we regret in the compilation of this interesting and cleverly-written volume, is the absence of those domestic details which brings the object of them so vividly before us through the medium of anecdote and conversation-little touches from daily life, which many still living could have supplied, and which would have breathed a piquant and warmer glow upon the truly grand picture which Miss Norris has produced of this large-minded, large-hearted woman, the political and literary heroine of the Revolutionary and Consular periods of France. In the course of the work The story itself discovers no mean powers of many sketches occur of the principal characters constructiveness and imagination; nor are there who figured in the darksome foreground of any long passages without some incipient beauty these stormy epochs; and the whole has of idea, or prettiness of expression; marred a evidently been a labour of love to the young and moment afterwards, however, by such carelesstalented author whose name is so familiar to the ness of versification and weakness of arrange readers of these pages, that this first separate publication from her pen cannot fail to create an interest in them as to its promise, and a cor * Pickering. |