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QUA.RE.
IPoettl2.
JUDGE NE NOT
Ye who cull the weeds and poisons
Cropping from the human heart,
Holding up the dross and folly,
Carptutt on the vilest part,
Wrapped In self, and self so loving
That ye have but hate to spare
For the weakness of a nature,
Made so frail that It can err.
arelt Whig all the locality
'Phut lie sin itoti folly hide,
A el ere crushing out the tirlWl.lr,
With the cruelty of pride:
YO tire blotting all the lustre
Of the Jewels hid within,
peringis ere brightly shining
'Neuth their covering of sin.
Chrkt Ints railed the yreat.,l
Wlthout which 1111 Is dross,
Ye forgetting, east your venous
Molt, rihrulory of the (Trout.
Teach your heart unite kill4iiil.r
Cle ans.. train soil the relic, ye w.•ar,
Judge ye not the lives or ethers,
youraelveh do:Judgment shat•.
Whatever life may tu•, or bring,
In May-tlmr or Deviiinher.,
'l•hr NWI•I•IeNt. burden ill ItN Ntiliz
Will silyrityii
Though R, 1111. v,• 10,11 our youth depart
Lost. friends, 1111 ti 41111 regretmon,
110110111 our denr ono. lade and ilk -
W„ would got yid forget then!!
y,t, nor for
l'overn t•rtilwr,
wtty In Itst•t• uur uld hozirts wurw
\VIII still Is-- Ito Itt:ttle•rubt.r!
itliscrlanrotts.
We In Death
A I.ecend of the 111sIsie
The legend I tuts :WOin to relate dates
back to the period N‘ hen the Castle of
Scharfensteiti was in the possession of
Baron Anton Eselwicke. His seifv, the
Lady Shroeder, had been fora long tins•
In declining health. The Itaron and
his lady had Leers long married, and
their union had been as happy as impos
sible in this world. The latter was still
young; the had been beautiful; and
during her malady her linshand
had remained day and night
.by her
bedside. Lturing the litter period of her
Illness her satire...tugs were less acute,
but her fainting . tits beentine more fre
quent anal hi,ri v. l'pon recovering
Trout one of those she begged her hos
hand to bring her the gold clubs and
loclt.et enclosing his hair, which lie had
given her before their marriage. This
she hung round her :1.1111 solaced
her weary and painful hours by con
tentpL•tLing iL, and, by force .1 . the , Isso-
Ciatioll of the ideas it excited, living
again in times gone I.y.
One evrniug shut he.. looted the Baron
Anton, who was stlliug in her elnimlwr
to her side, and said :
" Iteach me your hand, dear husband.
I ant growing midi worse; I feel that
I am sinking, and death appears to he
hovering ;Wool my conch. If this be
ninhing 'mire than ‘votnatily
bear with it, dearest, hir my and
give me (!minez.e by smying with we
throir,lintit thhi avoitry night of psi II and
all frerillg."
" ISe Coninprleti, my li,Vr, " replied the
Lard of Seharienstein ; " this tveakness
is common enough. Cheer up ; you
will Lc better in the morning; its the
meantime, I will not stir from your side.
l'ou will talk to me in a dillturent Man
lier when, alter a refreshing slumber, I
shall show you the
,glorious sunlight
stealing over the distant. hills. I see
even now your eyes are closing. Com
pose yourselr, therefore, and strive to
sleelo."
The chamber was hushed, and the
patient. lay still and seemed In so prn
folind a repulse that her breathing was
scat eely preceptilule. The curtains
were drawn around the had of the in
vaihi,and E , Hwi.•ke, happy, and
lull of favorable omens in the idea that
his will• haul, al length, s 11`1111 , ,i1111 of
pain, look n book, :And lixrd ❑s mush
:litelllll/11 1111 it :is he puussiluly could
tuommanul, and the hours wore slowly
away. Everything tvithin and, with
out euutilin twul iu deep stillness, broken
only towards morning by the pleasant
sounds of awakening nature, which
might be heard in the silent siel:-ellani
ber of Seharlenstein ; the martins of the
feathered songsters, the wheeling 1111111
of myriads of hues in the garden below,
and the leaves of the vine dallying with
the morning ureez•.. These together
with the strong, white lines which in
tersected the shutter, admonished the
Itaron and the nurse of the time their
patient had slept. 'Flue fight was,:there
fore, admitted into the room, and then
built the watches east troubled lool:s to
wards the int otionlcH, and wan figure on
the bed.
" She has not stirred," murniurt ul the
Itaron, in a videe it little above a whis
per, "she is in the saute position, and
cannot have moved it hair's breadth
since we saw her last night."
TII e nut•se heaved a deep sigh and
wrung her hands.
" llow no%C." exvlaimeil her master.
"NVlutt means 01 blank des
pair."
"Alas, my lord," ejaculated the old
nurse. "I fear the worst ! Nly mistress
sleeps, Ina it is the sleep of death."
ISaN/11 11111111 1 1111 answer, but at
once hastened to send off one of his re
tainers I'm' a physician. The arrival of
the latter confirmed the fears expressed
by the nurse. A feather was placed on
the lips of the inanimate lady. The
Baron bent, With keen eyes, over it, but
failed to detect the slightest motion in
the feather This, in the days of which
we are writing, was deemed sufficient
proof of death in all cases.
" leaven be merciful!" said the Itar
.t.o. " The gentlespirit haspassedatvlty.
\'aiti and ,delusive hope. Last night I
%V:I.S felicitating myself upon the change
hat hall taken place, which has proved
but a precursor to dissolution."
" she must have stirred during the
night," observed the nurse; "though
her tuovenient was so gentle as to be
scarcely perceptible. Poor lady ! her
hands are firmly elasp...l round the
locVet. '
The I{,Lfe E,elWiehe XVII , utterly
prostrated with grief when this touching
instance of his lady's love was made
known to him. Ile brooded over it day
and night. lie saw, in her action, the
wish she had not hestrung,th to utter in
words"; and determining it should not
lie violated, he gave directions she
should be placed in her collin without
disturbing the locket in her hand.
It will lie readily imagined that so af
revtilig a rircuusuunre ooald not eSealle
conuncut ; 81111 :15, in these cases, no par
ticulars arc ever :omitted, the value of
the trinket, which was set rotund with
very line brilliants, found a place in the
story. The 1111S11:1.11I1 of the ill-fated
iady dclrrmined upon paying the great
est respect to the renianis of liisbeloved
• wife. Ile caused her body to be convey
ed to Cologne, where it was to be inter
red with great pomp.
The principal church of the town is
the Cathedral of St. Peter, which is one
lit ' the finest montiments of (turmoil
architecture. 'l'lle interior is divided
into hair rows Of massive and lofty pil
lars, and is somewhat larger than that
of the Strasbourg Cathedral. In the
Church of St. Peter is the famous al
tar-piece of the crucifixion of that saint,
with his head downwards, by the great
ntnste r, Rubel's, who presented it to the
church in which he was baptized.
The fount in which habeas was bap
tized still exists in this church, and here
it.was that the obsequies of the Lady
Shroeder were performed according to
'the custom of that age, when death in
spired feelings of piety and confidence
rather than of terror. The body of the
deceased was dressed in white silk, coy
'ered with llo.vers. A coronet was
plaited on her head, and her thin, white
lingers were adorned with the same
rings she had worn during her life-time.
She was put in a coffin lined w ith lo )k-
Ing-glais, and laid in a little chapel
built in a vault beneath the choir. Sev
eral of her ancestors had preceded her
thither. Her name, title, together with
the date of her birth and death, were en
graved on the plate in the lid of NIC cof
fin. The inscription contluded with
these solacing words; "She is not dead,
but sleepeth."
Baron Eselwicke followed her to her
last home. The enormous bell, weigh
ing ten tons, placed in the steeple of the
cathedral, had made the great city re
sound with its funeral knell. Pale and
lifeless, the Lady Shroeder reposed in
her coffin, the devout monk had chant
ed her requiem, and the immense clock
—which is only wound up once a year,
and which points out the hours of the
day and the course of the stars—was the
sole object that moved under the soli
tar and silent vault. The monotonous
Po s se of Its pendulum resounded above
ItatiaWt sintethytter.
VOLUME 72
the mute tombs and images of saints
discolored by time.
It was at the close of the evening of a
day In the month of December, tile
. weather being cheerless and gloomy,
that Heintz Wherart, sexton of the
Church of St. Peter, returned home after
this splendid funeral; but he could not
rest. His mind was absorbed with but
one Idea—he yearned to possess himself
of the jewels which had glittered so
temptingly before his avaricious eyes.—
Wherart had always been esteemed a
plain-dealing, honest sort of fellow, one
who was incapable of committing a
theft. He was a charitable, well mean
ing man enough, but lie could not com
prehend or appreciate the sentiments
which ordained those love tokens to lie
in peaceful immovability on a hallowed
breast. In his opinion, It was a silly
waste of treasure, and he argued that no
harm emit,' conic of his appropriating
it; and he, therefore, determined upon
returning to the church for the purpose
of opening the coffin, that lie might
possess himself of the jewels.
Upon his entering the sacred edifice
on his guilty errand, he trembled like
an aspen leaf. The nand in which he
held the lantern was agitated by so vio
lent and convulsive a movement, that
ht was more than once afraid the light
would go out and leave him in utter
darkness; but the nature of his ofilee I.
given him a familiarity with the 'Mild
ing,VVery obscure corner of which he was
very well aequainted with. He was not,
however, dead 1.0 a sense of its sacred
ness. If the sight of a temple inspires
every pious man with respectful fear,
what must , not he felt it that time of the
night by cue tyhn came to trouble its
silence and solitude with the intention
of committing :ill odious sacrilege
As tc look his way along Ow gloomy
aisles, the tombstones on the walls
glared its it were repr'achfully upon
him, one by one, and his perturbation
was increased by the dart of a bat close
In iris fais.. A thousand marvelloustales
monied to his memory as he passed in
to Lady Shroeder's sepulchre. Ile re
vived his heart, as best he could, laid
down his lamp on a niche in the wall,
and proceeded with his instruments to
take oil the lid of the coffin which con
tained the body of her who had •Iteen
consigned to her last resting' plate nn
the morning of that day.
I I ein NVhcreat took offithe lid; then
the sight of the corp-ie lying there by
that dint light in the heavy stillness of
death, with its white and placid coon.
tenanee, made his heart heat violently,
and his !HWL'S tremble. The sublimity
of the sight made him feel the mean
ness of his action with double force. --
Heavy drops of perepiralion bedewed
his 1011.'110:Id and temples, he felt faint,
and returned into the body or the
church. The coolness of the air refresh
ed him, and he, made up his mind to
abandon his wicked project; but Op.!!
reeollevting I hal the lid of the coffin
should be replaced, he mustered an air
of intrepidity to his brow, and went
again into the vault to replace the lid.
But the sight of the corn:, was n o t
nearly so awful to him as it had been
before, and his original indention scent
ed to suddenly move him to action. By
aquiek of he lifted the body, drew
the chain over the head, disengaged the
locket, from under the hand, and then
lowered the corpse into its place. As
he did lids, the arm, which before lay The Cllttbdc and Foliage of Wisconsin.
upon the breast, fell with a strange flex-
No( tiler ' 4 .l.(de writes freottent con
,ibi y over:the side of the colt' 11, and a • " . -
tributor to our columns, hits such a I a
fain( sigh came from the body.
, riety of climate as Wisconsin, and in
At tlds moment he thought he hearo I no other are the changes in vegetation
the pendulum of the great ((lock move so manifest as here. 1 n the northeast
quicker and more noisily. Had a than- the large lakes have oust influence
der-clap broken in upon the silence, he I upon the climate, and the woods are
could not have been moo- staggered than udi ,„ tlkii character. There the wet.
he wits at this awful moment. Ile rush- eare covered with peat plants,
ed hastily forth—fear finds its way and it few tamaracks find a foothold.—
the dark.--and heedless of his lantern; Those not so wet, or that might be
which he left in the niche, he Passe" cleared up and made to produce grass,
out of the vault, and crossed the clods- are crowded with white cedars and
ter and choir with the swiftness of a „ nail ; lilt the drier land , no ,
hunted hare. Ile opened the church hemlock, While pines, and the
door t.O go out., When, as if to increase
and yellow birches abound. Liverworts
his bewihier " leilt • the first "li"g that :ilid IllOsSes cOVer the ground and the
met his eyes.was the great moon,.
tonicstne tree;. A hundred miles
itself in unabated lustre over the edge front the northeast boundary the hum
d the horizon. It shone right opposite, locky;
firs and cedars disappear ; the
and !Weill,' harking at and coming to
spruces and birches extend a few miles
expo-se biro. Ile did nut tare Et)lris further; but the red pin,' is now found
eyes agatn ; but WINIOUL Stopping out t h e ,„ ifi l y l an d s. Th y maple,,, white
up the church,„, he Ile .”' " VCr the haSSWOiiii elinS :lASI, grow
pursued by his OW fears.
on dry lands. 'rile white pine has here
A reaction, as sudden as it wassiucerc sought refuge nearer the wet grounds:
took place in his feelings, and he be- ! and die swamps produce cranbcrriesand
came anxious to make :t full and ample' tamaracks. The dryest sands produce
confession, and, for thisditypose, he at ' the scrubhy, almost worthless black
once determined upon seeking audience I pines i Banksia,' and the burr oaks
with the Baron Anton Eselwicke. He Macrocarpa,] appear in favorable
had not much difficulty in this respect, localities. 'l'lle white pines here disap
as he knew the Baron was staying at ! pear. The white oaks and ash re treat
Hotel de Bellevue. Ile made quickly to the moist clay lands, and the valley,
for the hotel, rang the porter's bell, and or the streams. The InaldeS and bass
inquired for the Baron, and Was at once wood next disappear. We are now in
shown up into the 'apartments he oven- ! the region of prairies and (ink openings
pied. Ills pale face and distracted the where' native grasses covered the entire
Pearauce was the occasion of some sue- , country.
prise, Nvhich was considerably enhanced ,'thesands nriaillee the scarlet. oak,
upon his falling on his knees, and re- , which, though worthless on the Allan
relating, in hurried accents, the ailven - I tic slope, is here, owing, to the dryness
lure by the night
of the climate, the best fuel tree. Those
The Baron, as may be supposed, heard ' lands containing a little more clay pro
him with wonder, but his auger way i duce the burr oaks, and are the best
tempered with pity. The story the hid- i wheat lands of the State. The white
ter had been relating appeared so im- ' oaks grow where clay predominates.
probable, that the bereaved husband The black vegetable moulds that would
was under the impression the narrator ; l grow the maples, (dins and basswood,
must be either afficted with some peen' I are now prairies, and covered with
liar and undefined species of monolith- l grass. Tamaracks are not found in
nia, or else be the victim of weak and swamps within a hundred miles of the
superstitious fears. I southwest corner of the State. The
Ile considered a moment, and then wild red plums and crab-apples are first
said, "I must, perforce, give credence to I met with near the boundary of the
the story you have been telling ate; the pines. The butternut and hickory grow
more so, since you vonfess you are guilty with the oaks; the walnut is seen in
of the crime of sacrilege; and no man the southwest, and the box elder ap
would heedlessly or thoughtlessly be his I pears on the banks of the streams in the
own accuser in such a vase. Still there . same region. Thus in this State may
is one part of your statement which I I be inane plants from the Canadian type
find it hard to believe, and this more of Maine to the prairie types of A'e
especially concerns myself and her braska. Beginning with the crypto
whose memory I hold • dear. Heintz grants covering the ground in a dense
Wherart, I will myself at once hasten to blanket, we end where mosses and
the church. If your story he true, not erworts cannot be futimd. Dark ever
a moment is to be lost. You must lead greens compose the forests in one por
no' to the vault into which the remains tion or the State, in the other they are
of my beloved wife were consigned this ; reared with difficulty, and it is a serious
morning." question yet if they will grow at all,
"Olt, no, no; I dare not!" exelaimed .tuold age, where dialed', tap-rooted
the sexton, with uplifted hand--" l oaks are( starved for moisture.
dare not return !" • l'lnts in Wisconsin has climate affiect.-
" Then I must tell you, plainly, that ed vegetation. What effect it note have
I do not believe what you IlaVe keen Win plants and trees imported 11•0111
telling me," returned the Baron, with Europe, that thrive luxuriantly in the
a frown. - Atlantic States, has not yet been aseer
" Oh, my lord, say not ! 1 have Mined. It must alket them as it has
been tempted to commit an act at which the native trees. A closer study, mid
I now shudder, but do hope that you more intimate knowledge of a seiace,
will not accuse me of adding, falsehood yet nameless, and which 'nay be faintly
to my crime." expressed by climatic-botany, would
" Why do you refuse to aocompany throw nmch light on that subject. This
me:"' the Baron asked, , science might reason from native
" I (litre nut—my courage fails me," growths . , and determine what exotics
replied the nine. , will thrive here and what would not
" Can it be possible that you, who arc' survive. It might teach what changes
a sexton, should be afraid of the dewl in the conditions of the climate and
\V hterant, paler luni the corpse the soil would induce a growth of plants
e had just visited, trembled from head , that, otherwise Windt{ not grow, and
to foot. Ile made no rep l y to thela s t' how those changes 'night to produced.
question. . I litherto this science has received but
" You look like a man who has been ai Passing thought, even front men in
terrified Icy the s heht „r a ghost or spec- I search of truth. Money is freely lavish
re. .Any such unearthly visitor would c,l for other purposes, loran other kinds
move you to the last extremity of fear." , of education and information for orna
" Alas, yes" murmured the sexton, . mentation or grounds and buildings,.
" Your brain is disturbed with some public and private ' for experiments with
strange feeling of this description, but I • fruits, grains, stock and vegetables, for
tell you plainly that you must pluck up ' building palaces for the unfortunate and
courat'e and return to the cathedral with , eriminul, for school housesand churches,
me. This is the very least you can do money is not spared; but for this educa
te make amends for your guilty ; wt." don, the discovery of these truths, on
" I do not deny it, my lord," said ,- - which a vast material wealth of the State
Heintz. "My duty prescribes it, my -I
-Pay depend for its development, and.
will is good, tut—" which may add millions to that wealth,
.
oAt present you are unnerved.'Say neither the old States nor the new have
not right?" , ever given anything.
"Such is the ease, I plainly confess _
it,' returned the tr midi mg repentant.
The Baron poured out from a bottle a
goblet of some potent liquor, which he
handed to his companion. .
"Drain oft' the contents of this," he
said in a confident tone ; "it will give
you courage. In the course of a few
minutes you will be another man."
Heintz Wherart obeyed. Under the
influence of the draught, he regained a
little of his composure.
"Now," observed his superior, "pre
pare to accompany me. 100 may not
like the task, but it is one you are bound
to perform."
The sexton bowel his head in tacit
acquiescence.
"Are you ready?" said the Baron.
"I am," Was the ready response. For
by this time the sexton WaS fully aware
that all remonstrances would be useless;
he therefore made a virtues of necessity,
and proceeded at once to the cathedral,
accompanied by the Baron.
During the short journey, he answer
ed the queries of the latter with as much
brevity as possible. Upon reaching the
half-opened door of the sacred edifice
his heart beat violently, but he strove
as best he could to .conceal his trepida
tion. And, assuming an air of confi
dence, he strode boldly along the aisle
of the church.
" Heaven preserve and protect us,
murmured - the conscience-strlcken
Heintz, as he approached the entrance
to the vault."
" If you have any fear, Heintz Wher
art," said the Baron, in a ei nciliatory
tone, "say so, and I will enter the vault
alone."
" I would not have it so, my lord,"
returned the sexton. " I know the way
far better than you can possibly do.—
Duty dictates that I should enter first.''
The lamp was still burning. It sheds
a sickly glare upon the sombre walls
and melancholy relics of mortality en
shrined within that gloomy receptacle.
The sexton, who had been closely fol
lowed by the Baron, uttered an excla
mation of terror and surprise.
'• Wherefore Ihis sudden fear .."' said
the latter.
"Look yowler! The saints be good
to me, guilty sinner that I am !" ejacu
lated Heintz, falling on his knees and
clasping his hands, as if making a mute
appeal to some patron saint.
Upon the instant, tile Baron's eyes
were directed to one object in the vault,
at the farther extremity of which he be
held his wife seated on a stone. She
Ino , •ed more like a spectre than a deni
zen of this world, albeit she regarded the
new comers with a vucan t stare, sucli us
a person night display who has been
suddenly awakened from a long, deep
sleep.
"Ifeaveris! Am I dreaming, or do my.
1 senses deceive '."' exclaimed the Ba
ron. "Shrooder, my dear wife, speak—
answer me! Say, is it you? Speak, dear•
est! For mercy's sake, speak !"
" Where um I ? Arid what is mean
ing of all this?" murmured the Lady
Shroeder, in a faint, weak tone.
Her hushand sprang forward and
clasped her in his arms. He took her
cold hands within her siren, clasped
Ilium, and covered her face with warm
kisses. Areanwhile, the sexton rocked
himself to and fro, (Idling upon all the
saints in the calendar to shield him
from harm.
Lady Shroeder had already realized
her position. After I leintz's departure
she awoke from her lethargy, and passed
soine terrilde moments. To her suprise
she discovered that she was clothed in
silk. She glanced around and her po
sition was but too palpable. Instead of
being in a warm bed, she WaS reposing
in a narrow coffin. The appalling idea
or being buried alive occurred to her;
above all, the fear of dying of hunger,
and M . passing her last hours amidst the
dead, raised her despair to the highest
pitch. She looked with horror upon the
long rowsof leaden coffins ; despair gave
:1 temporary strength and she succeeded
in reaching the cloister, where she wan
dered about for some time; then, faint
and sick of heart, she returned to the
vault for the lantern ; n sudden weak
ness coin pelted her to rest for a while
on One or the stones, and while she was
in this posture relief came to her. I ler
husband and the sexton made their ap
pearance. The former, joyfully bearing
his heloved wife in his arms, adopted
the fittest measure for restoration. Ile
took her to the hotel, and contrived to
conceal the true eau:, of her resuscita
tion. ( ;real was his joy Mull the phy
sician in attendant, upon his lady de
clared that all dzinger was over. I t was
impossible for him to remain angry with
eint herart, whose sacrilegious crime
produced such happy consequences.
True Politeness
A poor Arab going through the desert
met with a sparkling spring. Accus
tomed to brackish water, a draught from
this sweet well in the wilderness, seem
ed to his simple mind, a present fit to
oiler to the Caliph. So he filled his
leathern bottle, and, after a weary tramp,
laid his humble gift at his sovereign's
feet. The monarch, with the magnan
imity that mayput many a Christian
to blush, called for a cup, and filling
it, drank freely , and, with a smile,
thanked the Arab and presented him
with a reward. The courtiers press
ed eagerly around for a draught of
the wonderful water, which was re
garded as worthy such a princely ac
knowledgment. To their surprise the
Caliph forbade them to touch a drop.—
Then, after the simple-hearted giver left
the royal presence, with anew spring of
joy welling up in his heart, the monarch
thus explained the motive for his pro
hibition. " During this long journey,
the water in this leathern bottle has be
come impure and distasteful ; but itwas
an offering of lore, and, as such I ac
cepted It with pleasure. I feared how
ever, that if I allowed another to taste
it, he would not conceal his disgust.—
Therefore It was that I forbade you to
partake, lest the heart of the poor man
should be wounded,"
LANCASTER, PA., WEDNESDAY MORNING FEBRUARY 8 1871
A Gallop for Llfe
When our vessel was lying In harbor
at Monte Video, I accepted an Invita
tion from an English settler—who had
been one of the first to substitute sheep
farming on a large scale for the cattle
breeding which had hitherto been al
most the only occupation of the natives
of the countrN.S T to visit his place in the
interior. He caned stations in various
parts, but his principal homestead was
on the Rio Negro.
It had been a very dry season, but
rain had just commenced to fall—and
in time to prevent terrible loss and suf
fering. This circumstance led us to
to talk of the droughts to which those
countries are at times liable ; and, re
calling the mention made in Mr. Dar
win's Travels (which I had been lately
reading,) of the celebrated dry season,
known as " el gran seer)," or the great
drought, when cattle in thousands rush
ed into the river and perished, I asked
my host, who was a man past fifty, if
he had been in Banda Oriental then.—
We were, at the time I put the question
riding along the bank of the Plata, not
far from the junction of the Uruguay
with It; for we were going first to Co
lonic. As the reader is doubtless aware,
La Plata is, even when fifty miles from
the sea, a stream of many miles in width
although shallow, comparatively ; and
thus more resembles an inland lake
than a river. The bank or shore just
there made a great semi-circular bend,
forming a priaininitory projecting into
the stream. This, like all the rest of
the country, was a treeless, rolling
plain, or prairie, but not nearly so level
as that on the south, or Buenos Ayres
side of the river. Cliffs or steep hanks
of fifty or sixty feet terminated it; and
a broad margin extended between the
foot of these and the tiow shrunken wa
ters of the river.
" You could not have put that ques
tion in a more fitting place," he replied;
" for it was in this bend of the river
that a circumstance happened which,
long as it is ago, will never allow me to
forget the great drought. Do you see
those white specks and patches, here
and there, between the present edge of
the river and the cliffs? Ride a little
nearer, and look along the foot of the
rocks. See those white spots! Those
are bones, the remains of innumerable
cattle, who were rushed madly to their
deaths. My - own bones had nearly
found a similar resting-place, and far
ther on those of my horse are buried
beneath them. The floods of thirty or
more years have silted and nearly cov
ered them over. Who knows? Per
haps the geologists of future ages may
puzzle their brains to account for their
presence amongst the arnmdilloes and
mastodons, and other extinct species!
I will tell you how it happened, and
what a narrow escape I hail of being
made a fossil myself—as well as illy
horse.
" I was then a lad of sixteen or seven
teen, and had only recently jointed my
uncle, wino was a merchant in Monte
Video. It was he who bought the place
I now live in, and being a childless
widower, he sent to Scotland for me. I
had only been about a year with him
when what I am going to relate befell
" Ile had retired from business, and
had already commenced the pursuit I
have since followed up so extensively—
that is, he had purchased and imported
a number of sheep, when the drought—
called by the people here, to distinguish
it from the others of less intensity, 'el
gran secoi—visited the country. All
the smaller rivers were either dried
up or else rendered so salt as to
be useless—you know the soil all
over these plains, particularly on
the south side of La Plata, is im
pregnated with nitratiof soda—and
the larger ones themselvA terribly di
minished. Nearly the whole of the
back country was at last deserted, :Old
every one endeavored to save some of
his stock, by migrating to the main
streams, where still some trifle of herb
age could he found here and therm We
were better (Ii than the rest, being, on a
irincon,' that is a place nearly enclosed
by a bend of the channel, while a deep
Lack water running through the other
part almost made it into an island, and
we managed by incessant care and
watchfulness to prevent being invaded
and overrun by the starving rattle which
came straying in thousands from a ll
parts.
"The few sheep we then had were
stationed at the place we shall sleep at
to-night; but as the feed there began to
fail, and were obliged to bring them to
the main homestead, which was then
on this river. I was engaged on this
service. and I had a lad with me, the
son ()lone of our guachos,. who had
also accompanied us to the end of our
first day's journey; but he had then left
us to ride back again for some purpose
or other promising to overtake u.s next
morning, by the time we had gone a
mile or two with the flock, which only
mustered some eight hundred; but
they were choice sheep ; amongst them
all those imported at so much care and
expense.
" I had watched during the first half
of the night, and the boy had risen to
take my place, It was a beautiful
moonlight night, I remember, and near
ly as light as day, When I was suddenly
roused by the voice of logo, my compan
ion. He had rushed to the horses,
which we had kept tethered by their
lassos, lest they should stray for feed.
The sheep were lying peacefully enough
grouped in a hollow; and seeing they
were all right, and being still not half
awake, I peevishly demanded what he
meant by disturbing me. He put the
horse's bridle in my hand and merely
said, ' Listen ! ' and then hastened to
snatch up and arrange the different ma
terials of my saddle, which also consti
tute the bed on which the guacho sleeps.
And now, indeed, I observed that the
horses were in a state of great excite
ment, and On the night breeze there
rose a sound, which, when logo explain
ed the cause, made me hasten to help
hint in arranging matters for instant
flight. It was a roaring, thundering,
though as yet distant, noise which my
companion said proceeded from a count
less number of wild cattle, which, mad
dened by thirst, were rushing down
from the parched interior districts to the
river.
'"l'llere must be• many many thous
ands of them. Father told nie before
he went to be watchful, for the old
gunelais have been expecting and fore
telling that some such thing must soon
happen. 1 fasten, Don Charles ! What
are you going to do
"1 was going to rouse thelshecii, and
drive them before us; but the boy in
sisted that this would only insure our
own destruction, :mil would lie useless
besides,
"'rite river is live miles from here,
and the Hock Will be overtaken before
we have got one-third that distance; and
we ourselves shall not be safe even there
unless we reach one spot alone, and that
is still farther. Come away at once, or
you will perish !"
" But I was determined not to sacri
fice my uncle's cherished stock without
an effort at least to save them. The
truth is, I did not realize the extreme
danger of our position. Once on my
horse, I thought I was safe enough , and
could at the last moment, simply by
galloping off', save myself. I did not
know that the thundering sound which
every moment rose louder, and above
which could now be heard the hoarse
hellowings of innumerable maddened
creatures, proceeded from a body of cat
tle, the front ranks of which reached
right across the great bend of the stream;
and that for miles to our right and left
the infuriated herd extended, hemming
us in, so that there was noother resource
but flight to the river. I tried to get the
sheep into a run, but with the proverbial
stupidity of their kind they took my
efthrts in very bad part, and would not
hurry themselves. Many valuable min
utes were thus lost, during which the
boy Ingo, at other times taciturn enough,
stormed angrily at my folly, and at last
threatened toset off without me. The
sound of the onset of the approaching
herd at that moment became so distinct
that I began to think it advisible to do
as he wished, and off we set at full speed,
leaving the sheep to their fate.
" Before we had ridden a couple of
miles, however, we saw a horseman
coming obliquely to the direction of the
advancing herd. It was lago's father
in search of us, for he had heard of the
inroad of advanced parties of the wild
cattle, and had set oft' to rejoin us in
stantly, but had been repeatedly obliged
to make circuits to avoid detached bodies
of them. He had in consequence lost all
idea of his exact locality on the plains,
but with the skill, which amounts al
• Literally, "countrymen," the men who have
charge of the herds of cattle In the republics of
La Plata. In Chili they are termed 'guest's,"
and are agrlealturlete as Wel/AS herdsmen,
most to instinct, of the old guacho, he
had found his way to the neighborhood
of the spot at last. But the part we were PaoFESSoR
making for across the river was, he said,
already filled with countlets beasts ; and Was there ever such an anomaly :as
indeed the thunder of the tramping of , the island of Iceland? Geographically
Itheir myriad hoofs on the baked soil was It belongs to the Western Continent, and
audible ahead of us. Without a mo- yet, historically and politically, It Is a
ment's hesitation, hov..ever, the old man. member of the Eastern. It lies close
putting spurs to his horse, called on us under the Arctic circle, where Winter
to follow him. prevails during three-quarters of the
"NN'hat a ride that was ! We were year, and is surrounded by seas filled
•
obliged to keep nearly parallel with the with icebergs '
and yet boiling geysers
advancing host, which we at last came : and fountains of heated steam burst
so near, that the forest of tossing horns, everywhere from
itslts surface
gleaming in the moonlight through the •
volcanoes pour downinto' while great
valleys and
clouds of dust, become plainly v i si b le. up on its plains streams of molten lava.
But we were rapidly nearing the river.
The nearest neighbors of the Icelanders
So close was the race, however, that. as I are the Esquimaux of Greenland while
we descended the bank, the part of the the Esquimaux are sunk to the nether
advancing line which was nearest to it, level of ignorance, the Icelanders have
reached it at the same moment. raised themselves to an elevated plane
"These had descended the bank at an
of enlightenment. And so the wonder
accessible place—almost the only one for
ful island lies there, a link between the
two hemispheres; a site where the
miles where a horseman could
g allo p I most opposite of elements, heat and cold,
down Only fancy the scene then as
are constantly contending for sovereign
we tore furiously down the border of
the spot the old am to reacts ty ; the seat of a race of the high
the stre I est civilization in close contact With a
guacho was making for' Ott our left I
race of the lowest barbarism. Nor
were either cliffs or very steep hunks, •
does this end the chapter of contra
down which soon came roaring, tumb
-1 rieties. Lying almost beyond the range
ling, and crashing on the granite
of other animal or vegetable production..
below the bodies of all the front; ranks. the island still yields commodities
In hundreds, and soon in thousands, I
the helpless creatures, pushed on by the • which many more favored localitiesean
lot furnish. It rivals sem I-tropical Italy
alldelloll myriads behind, fell in one in the value of its sulphur mines, tent
living cataract, and their outcries,
Iterate Germany in the variety of its
they lay with their limbs fractured, and
mineral waters, Scotland and Norway
l i as fresh victims still in one incessant in the fertility oC its salmon fisheries,
stream poured down on them, were
!trod
awful to hear. annually produces, in proportion to
, its population, three times the number
"Approaching the raver in a bend as' of horses and sheep raised in our own
they did, the two ends of the advancing State of New York. It exports several
line reached it first, the 'rest, being yeti articles which are either found nowhere
at a distance, so that, as we galloped uu, ! else, or, if found, are of greatly in fernm
this living cataract at first accompanied, quality, such as the down of the eider
us. Sian, however, we shot ahead, and ' duck—which makes its way to every
reached thespot the old man was striving ! palace, and upon which the heads of all
to make. e did so only a few minutes the kings of the earth easily or uneasily
before the :1(1V:111(1 lig title of life, about lie—the feldspar so largely used in opti
to pour down it, had reached the same cal experiments, and that semi -carbon,
place iced wood, known as surturbrand,
"Here the cliffs were some fifty or which, as a material fur the manu
six ty feet high, and in some places over- facture of furniture, equals the fa
hanging. Jumping off his horse, and mous ebony of the tropics. A land of
leaving him to his own instincts to pre-1 glaciers, and suffering keenly front the
serve himself if he could, the guacho chill winds that blow off the icy shores
hastily scrambled up the rocks, and we of Greenland,lceland's chief harbors are
followed his example. Not far front the open all the year around, while those
summit was a ledge of reek, projecting of the Baltic, far to the South, are fre
from which grew a cotton tree. It was quently closed. A treeless country, its
a kind of shallow cave, and we had inhabitants often burnt the costliest of
hardly reaehed itsshelter when t tramp woods—mahogany, and rdse4vood, ;old
of the hoofs above shook the granite rocks ; Brazil wood—which has been borne to
whereon we lay; and presently the tor- I them from the tropics, at no expense for
tilde scene I have just desert be. I was here freight t.,by the current of the Gul f Stream
re-enacted on a noire awful scale. And A lurid where wheat will not ripen, its
there we crouched, watching the stream, people possess in abundance a vegeta
or creatures falling down in front ! ble growth, the //qua islandients, which,
and on both sides of us, until the space lin fur richer countries, is accounted a
below was one vast svelte of mangled luxury . . A nation almost destitute of
remains. Those which reached it un- j schools, all of its sons and daughters are
hurt rushed to the river only to perishj taught to read and write front their ear
in the soft margin of clay, in which they ! test years.
were hogged and smothered in immense Thy history and philology of the
numbers. Altogether the guachos emu- laud present features equally strange
puled that there were probably not far and striking. It is the smallest of the
Trout eight to ten thousand head perish. Teutonic communities, while its speech
ed on that night. The frenzy of thirst ! is the most ancient and, grammatically,
which impelled them was such, and the ; the richest of all the Teutonie dialeets.
went of the water appeared to render I In it are preserved the oldest poems,
them so ungovernable, that numbers the oldest political orations, and the
seeme.l to me to make no pause what- , oldest religious ideas of our race. It is,
ever, but leaped into th.• valley below, : as has been said, the feeblest of all the
as if 1111( . 011,i0iiS 10f rho deSl,lll before I Tainuni, communities, yet it was the
them.
first to develop a Republican system of
"'There toil been a but on the plain, government, the lint to establish, trial
111 - q - far from the edge of the cliff:, on by jury, the first to compile codes of
the preceding eVell jug, but its two in- I law. The colonization of theisland fur
habitants had, with their child, been : nished a parallel in the ninth cemury
surprised in their sleep, its clay walls, to the colonization of New England in
had given way under the pressure, and ! the seventeenth, its pioneers seeking its
we found their remains—or rather him I barren shores for the self-same reason
fragments of them—trodden out of all ! that led the Puritans to the rock-bound
human sem blanee, lying amidst the coasts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
ruins." Its sturdy sons helped to delay the fall
. .
111[Nem rry Extraordinary
Most people will be entirely unpre
pared for the extraordinary announce
ment of a fact which has lOr years been
suspected in the scien title world, that
:unong the other wonderful properties
possessed by petroleum, one of its con
stituent elements can be converted di
rectly
inte diamonds ei the purest wa
ter; of course, we all ridicule the idea,
but the statement is not altogether so
fanciful. The natural diamond is crys
tallized carbon, and petroleum is corn- !
posed of a variety of different hydro
carbons. Nose if the hydrogen can be
separated under circumstances faora-
Ide to crystallization, the carbon will I
certainly form itself into and (scone
crystallized carbon, or genuine lament'.
One way of decomposing a hydro-car-
bon is by submitting its vapor to a red
heat in a closed vessel. .This, however,
is not favorable to crystallization. M.
Lion net !a French scientist claims to
have actually crystallized the carbon
obtained from the sulphide of carbon„
by the following process : Ile rolls
twe sheets, one of plating, and
one of tin-foil, together loosely,
and places them in a bath of the
sulphide of carbon i which is a fluid,
galvanic action slowly takes place, the
sulphur combining with the tin, and
the carbon crystallizing and falling to
the bottom. These crystals are very',
diminutive diamonds, but time may de
velops the circumstances necessary for
making them larger. All that is neces
sary to accomplish a similar, or even
more perfect result front petroleum, is to
decompose it under the well known laws !
which govern crystallization; and !
moods of any size and the purest water !
will be the result. This, of course re-
quires some study and experintent,2„...M.
Lionnet tried a feeble electric current
in a small vessel, and succeeded. Sup
pose some of the go-ahead oil men try a !
powerful electric Curren ton a thousand
barrel tank of benzine. The larger the i
amount of mother Ai id, and the greater
the length ()Mute, the larger will he the
crystals. It would he worth while to !
hold on to a tank full of benzine for a
few years, if ;at the end of that time its
carbon was crystallized into diamonds.
M. Charcouatois, iu a note to the French
Academy in 15tH, stated diamonds were
naturally formed in the earth from hy
dm-carbons by a similar process, and all:
that was necessary to obtain a like re-'
suit was to imitate nature. Who shall be
the first le diamendize petroleum
Em e rso n on Good Mann ers
1 . 11, follf)wing a bripl ti:u•t..
Mr. Ein,r,,n ., client I, jur, 4411
culture:
The impnrumee,if tine and cultivated
manners cannot be over-estimated.
Such cultivation of it is • to be obtained
by association with those who are cul
tivated, and we should properly con
sider the importance of securing such
associates for our children. I lehavior
is all-important. Posture should he
studied. An awkward man is graceful
when asleep, or when Lard at work.
When our mind is occupied we nat
urally assume a proper position. (treat
power lies in the voice. tine 'nail, by
his tones can animate a regiment, while
another has no following power. There
is an immense difference between a
heavy and genial manner. The youth
of America generally appear hurried
and ill at ease, yet no life is so short but
there is always time for courtesy. Per
fect self-command is the best of man
ners. The example of the Quakers is
commendable. They, when sitting
down at meals, spend a minute or two in
silent prayer. Such a course prevents
laughter and unseemly conversation,
and gives them opportunity to start
their conversation anew from advanta
geous ground. Manners are great re
vealers of secrets. The changes in one's
experience are manifest in their coun
tenances, even if we are not always
subtile to understand them. A lady
loses much of her power when she en
deavors to express an undue admiration
for an object. Ile temperate in our
approval and we shall be credited
with meaning what we express.—
Laughter is to be avoided. Lord Ches
terfield said that when he came to the
years of understanding he never laugh
ed. About dress, no nation dresses bet
ter than ours. A king or a general does
not need an elegant coat to make him
self known, neither does a commanding
person require tine apparel. Proper
companionship is indispensable. A
man who thinks well will incite anoth
er's thought. No man can be master
in conversation who has not talked with
women. Beware of jokes, they are in
estimable for sauce, but poor for food.
Of the sentimentalist he had considera
ble to say, but little of a commendatory
nature. Things said for conversation
are chalk eggs. Avoid talking shop
or other forbidden subjects before com
pany. Again, the great game is not to
talk with those who know less than
ourselves, but rather tilt with those who
are wiser than ourselves. We shall then
be overthrown and learn true wisdom
thereby.
The Land of Fire and Ice
, of the Eastern Empire by enlisting in
the body-guard of the Byzantine mon
, archs ; took part under Rurik in the
foundation of the Russian monarchy;
took part, under Rollo, in the establish
, ment of that Norman dynasty which
subsequently conquered England ; set
op kingdoms, and left traces of their
'speech, in Ireland and Scotland; built
churches and towns in Greenland; and
' preceded Columbus by live hundred
years On the dreary '
watery path w bleb
led to the mainland of America
No nation, so small as Iceland, has so
1 large a literature. The number of print
ed books amounts to many thousands,
and the number of unprinted works,
preserved as manuscripts in the public
hi bract es of Europe, is at least equally
great. Nor is this literature, as is the
case with many minor nationalities,and
with most Colonial communities, made
tip of translations, but is almost wholly
composed of original works. With the
exception of the Bible and a few theo
logical works, Homer and one more or
two other classics, Milton, Klopstock,
Pope and portions of Shakespeare, By
ron and Burns, very little of the litera
ture of other nations has been transla
tell into Icelandic. The literary story,
of the marvellous island opens grandly
with the two Eddas. The older or poet
ic Edda was written down from oral tra
dition by Saimund Sigfusson, a learned
priest of the I I th (fen tury,w ho had travel
ed ill various countries of Europe ; it is,
however, at least as old as the sth cen
tury. It consists of a series of allitera
tive poems involving the mythology
and the legendary lore of the North,
narrating tile needs of Odin, Thor, Tyr
and the other divinities who, in spite of
the overthrow of their temples and hali
doms, still influence our daily lives, as
we tell of our Tuesdays•and Wednesdays
and Thursdays and Fridays which bear
their names. Siemund's Edda, too, like
the early mythological works of ill
races, is tilled with moral maxims, so
that all ethical code might easily be
compiled from it. The other Edda,
known as the prose of younger Edda,
was compiled in the twelfth century by
Snorro Sturlesen, and it, also, chiefly
busies itself with the doings of gods. In
it occurs that singular episode of Thor's
visit to dotunliehn, which of late year
has been made familiar to English read
ers by more than one translation. Snorro
Sturlesen, the man to whose antiqua
rian zeal we owe the collection of the
younger Edda, is one of the greatest
characters in Icelandic history, as well
as in Icelandic literature. \Val ter Scott
puts him beside Cicero, who bore some
thing of the same relation to his time,
Mr the R.timan lived in the last days of
the Roman Republic,as Snorro did in the
last days of the Icelandic Republic.—
Statesman, orator, historian, arelneolo
gist, Stiorro must long remain the roost
prominent !iglu c in the annals of the
island. I [is histories of the Kings of
Norway, which Laing has admirably
translated, from a voluminous work,
written in a clear and well-sustained
style are of great historical value.—
They are among the best of the Sagas.
This word "Saga," literally a ssiving or
is applied to all kinds or prose
narrative, whether it be historical, le
gendary, or entirely mythical. 'There'
are hundreds of Sagas, many of them
still unpublished. In fact the Saga of
almost every valley in Iceland has ~ e ell
written, and some of these local histo•
ries are of great interest as well as mod
els of good style. Such is especially the
case with the Eyrbyggja Saga and the
Njals Saga, of the former of which Wal
ter Scott has given an abstract. In ad
dition to tile two Eddas and the multi
tude of Sagas the old literature has its
poems, mostly religious, its codes of law,
its annals, and even its scientific trea
tises. The modern literature, especially
of this century, is rich in poetry and
political works.
The Icelandic throws a flood of light
upon the history of the English lan
guage. In Their early stages, so nearly
connected were the two tongues that
we can very well imagine an intelligent
Anglo-Saxon and an intelligent Icelan
der making themselves mutually un
derstood, with some little slowness and
difficulty', perhaps. At a later period
the Icelandic greatly influenced the
English, especially in its northern dia
lects, so that most of the dialetic words
used by Burns are at once comprehen
sible to the student of the insular lan
guage. Yet, notwithstanding its im
portance to the English scholar, the Ice
landic has hitherto been, to the great
mass of English lineage, a sealed book.
While the philologists of Scandinavia
were making broad reputations by their
investigations in the Old-Notthern do
main, while the ph ilologistsof Germ any
were cleverly availing themselves anis
field, the English knew so little of the
harvest which was awaiting the reaper,
that the numberof men in England and
America who had ever paid any atten
tion to Icelandic, might almost, until
within the last decade, have been reck
oned upon the fingers of a single man.
But In England a new era has dawned.
The labors of Laing, and Dascent and
Thorpe in Icelandic literature are be
ginning to excite interest in the Icelan
dic language, and a great impulse has
latterly been given to the new move
merit by the the publication of an ex
cellent Icelandic-English lexicon,
through the agency of the University of
Oxford.
But through it all, through the pres
ent days when Its speech opens up a
mine of wealth to the linguist of every
German ictri be as through those pastdays
when Its writers were the chroniclers of
all the neighboring Germanic nations,
the venerable Island floats upon the gray
waters of the distant northern sea, the
wonder alike of the naturalist and the
philosopher. The former sees it in a
display of nature's powers under forms
which they nowhere else amume: the
latter sees it in a nation, weak in num
bers, maintaining unchanged fur almost
a thousand years, against obstacles
never before surmounted by man, its
language, its literature, and its .psalms.
', WWI/ Er,.
hindered Neighbors
Animals like men, are °Nan sadly
misjudged. Some are praised and hon
ored for imaginary virtues, which they
never possessed; and others are hated
and persecuted, who are far better than
their reputation. This is especially the
case with animals which are ilot direct-
ly useful to n o w. lie sees every virtue
in those he has domesticated, because
they render him manifold services; but
the poor, nocturnal animals, which are
forced to go in search of their food un
der shelter of darkness, whose life is
unknown to Mtn, and whose forms are
not pleasing to his eye--these he views
with disgust and persecutes with unre
lenting severity. Popular legends con
nect them NVith evil spirits; supersti
tion endows them with marvellous hut
malignant powers, and gloss ignoranee
ascribes to them H. thousand misdeeds
and grievous crimes, of which they are
not only innocent, but utterly incapa
ble.
And yet it is not only the duty of
man, but all-important to his success
in garden, field and forest, that he
should know which are his friends and
which his foesamong the countless hosts
by which he is constantly surrounded.
lie may kill his best friends, thinking
them his enemies, as the Italians do,
when they slaughter mercilessly the
little birds, which we import at consid
erable cost and entertain with lavish
hospitality, 4r he may admire and Cher
, ish beautiful creatures, which in reality
are either utterly useless, or actually his
worst enemies. Nor can he ever hope to
tie as successful in his crusades against
• mally dangerous foes as the agents are
which Nature herself has appointed for
the purpose. All the pr0f,,,,..mn a l rat
catchers of England do not destroy as
inahy rats in a year as the owls of a
single county do in a month to say
nothing, of the fee they demand, while
the owls do their work without charge.
The difficulty; becomes still greater,
when the enemy is almost invisible, as
is the case with many worms and mag
guts, which escape our observation,
while the marvellously sharp eye of the
bird or the insect, that feeds on them,
sees them at glance. Thus a renowned
naturalist, Fabre, of Avignon, noticing
that a certain wasp always chose is
large black beetle, in order to use its
fat body as a depository fur its eggs, was
very desirous to prmmre one or two or
these unlucky creatures. 'l'o make
quite sure of the species, he Managed
first to rob the wasp several times of its
prey on its return to the nest; but in
ten minutes, on an average, the indefat
igable wasp invariably brought a new
victim hunts. Then the professor him
self went on his hunt, armed with his
supreme intelligence and all the inge
nious contrivancesdevised by man's wit
for the purpose. What was the result?
After two day's incessant work in vine
yards and clover-Belts, searching
through meadows and hedge-rows,
stone-heaps and waste strips of land, he
returned, crestfallen, with three wretch
ed specimens in such a state of mutila
tion that no wasp would have thought
them worth catching'
.Nlen speak much of toe calin pearl'
that reigns in Nature Peitee, forsooth
It is all war, incessan t, tiltereiless war
fare, throughout all the realms of Na
ture. Men lie on the soft, green moss,
under the dim shadow or wide-spread
ing branches, near the bank of a purl
ing brook, at the hour when the great
l'au is asleep, and all seems peace and
harmony to them. But nothing is more
treacherous than this impression. That
tiny, bright-colored bird, which the eye
follows with delight as it flits from
branch to branch, ever and anon utter
ing it sweet, low note, is bent upon mur
der, and is all eagerness to catch the
golden ales sunning themselves on the
green leaves. The wood-pecker, whose
busy, merry knocking is heard from
afar, feasts upon worms and beetles
which he tears ruthlessly front their
)lark homes; and the beautiful dramm
flies, which dash merrily, and :IS if in
mere wanton sport, across the bright
water, are even then pursuing their own
brethren with hideous voracity. Is the
ibis, whom the old Egyptians worship
ped :Is a deity ; is the stork, viewed by
thousands with a feeling of almost sa
cred awe; is the swallow, to whom we
grant a home under our own roof-tree,
less of a murderer than the buzzard
whom we nail ignominiously to our
barn-door, or the mole whom we kill
without remorse, whenever we meet.
him on his nightly wanderings?
Among the prejudices cherished by
the masses against harmless animals,
few are stronger than that felt almost
universally against bats, arising proba
bly from the simple fact that they are
children of the night, and forced to car
ry on their search after food in dark
ness. It may be, however, that 'their
peculiar hideousness has given addition
al strength to this feeling, for the Jew
ish legislation already declared them
unclean and accursed, and the t; reeks
-borrowed their wings for the harpies, as
Christians have l o be for the devil. A
poor, lost bat need but lly into a moat
tilled with company, and everybody is
frightened. Superstitious People trem
ble at their mere presence as an evil
omen, and the stronger-Minded among
the fair excuse their terror by a pre
tended fear for their hair—an apprehen
sion which could be well founded only,
if the accounts of insects being harbored
in their chignons should be verified. It
is true, these children of darkness are
neither fair in form nor amiable in tem
per. The naked, black skin of their
wings, stretched out between enormous
ly lengthened lingers, like the silk of an
umbrella between the whalebone of the
frame, the ugly claws of their hind feet,
the bare appendages which frequently
adorn their noses and ears in the most
eccentric manner, and their perfectly
noiseless, ahnost mysterious Iligbit Ly
touch, and not by sight—all these pecu
liarities combine to make then) unwel
come guests among men.
And yet they are real public benefac
tors. When the first warm sun of spring
arouses them from their long winter
sleep, which they enjoy hanging by
their hind-feet, head down, and the
whole body carefully wrapped up in the
wide cloak of their wings, they begin
their night hunts. A dozen fat beetles
barely suffice for the supper of a hungry
member of one variety, and sixty to sev
enty house-flies forone of another kind.
All night long they pursue with inde
fatigable energy every variety of beetle
and moth, fly and bug, and enjoy most
of all those which do the greatest injury
to our fruit-trees and cereals. Even the
only really formidable member of their
race, the vampire, is much maligned; a
gigantic bat, accused of sucking the
blood of man and beast, it is strictly
confined to a small district in the trip
les, and even there occurs but rarely.
As bats are the indefatigable hunters
of the air, so moles are incessantly at
work underground. At the first glance,
they show their admirable adaptation
for a life beneath the turf. Their thick,
round body, with its close, silky fur
coat ; their sharp-pointed snout, with a
long, exquisitely-sensitive trunk, like
that of a miniature elephant; their
broad, spade-like feet; their almost in
visible eye, hid under a forest of stout
hairs, and the absence of an external ear
—all fit them for their active life and
fierce warfare in titter darkness. They
move in sandy soil at least as swiftly us
a fish in water, and they are true Ish
amen tee, having no friends among other
animals, nor, their mates alone except
ed, among their own kindred. The com
mon prejudice, however, that they in
jure gardens and fields by gnawing
roots, is utterly unfounded. This is
easily proved, for, as of men, Erillat
Savarin could say : " Show me what
you eat, and I will tell you who you
are!" eo of animals we can say: "Show
us their teeth, and we will tell you what
they eat!" The mole has not less than
twenty-four good-sized teeth ; some eye
teeth, shaped litce sharp daggers; others,
molar teeth, resembling a combination
of formidable saws. Such destructive
NUMBER 6
instruments are not given to vegetari
ans. Nevertheless, farmers and garden
ers assert almost universally that moles
are granlvorous—another proof of the
utter falseness of the old saying, " Vux
populi, cox Dei." For, next, naturalists
have examined the stomachs of mules,
and what did they find? Not a trace ot
vegetable food, but an abundance of
half-digested earthworms, large quanti
ties of hard, brown scales, and horny
shields, and remnants of caterpillars
and worms innumerable. In order to
demonstrate the fallacy of the common
prejudice beyond all doubt, Flourens,
the Secretary of the Academy of.Selences,
in Paris, put two motes into aeage, with
an ample supply of roots and beets
for their food. The next morning he
found the roots untouched, but only
• one stole; the other had been devoured
by the survivor! A few hours later. the
poor• mole showed signs of weakness and
exhaustion; a bird was put Into hiscage,
and instantly the untie rushed upon the
poor sparrow, disembowelled him, and
did not rest until he had eaten more
than half of his body. After his repast
he appeared once more plump, and be
came quite lively. The .same experi
ment was several times repeated, till
one night the 'note was left in its cage
with IL large supply of lettuce, cab
bage, and beet-roots. The next morn
ing it was found dead; It had died
of starvation ! The only Injury which
moles really do is 'sused by tide
Inn;; passages and frequent mole
hills, by which roots are loosened
and n u •adowsdisligured ; but thisstands
in no proportion to the incaleulable ben
efit they bestow upon man by destroy
ing the numerous enemies of plants in
gardens tint fields, which dwell under
ground, and are invisible to human ey es,
especially worms, maggots, and so-vall
ed mule-crickets. or these they
con
some daily more than Intl f their own
weight ! Hence it is that skilful gar
deners, after having overcome the old
fashioned prejudice agaimst toads, which
now are carefully kept 118 the best pro
tection of the most valuable plants, also
begin to appreciate the merits of moles,
and actually purchase them in early
spring, to make them useful in cleaning
their gardens and fields both thoroughly
and promptly.
Another animal, unjustly despised
and mercilessly prosecuted, is the hedge
hog, a perfectly harmless creature, fond
peaveand good-will among neighbors,
111,1 quite a titbit to the palate of French
peasants. Fast asleep during winter in
its warm, rosy bed, under a large atone
or the interlaced roots of a tree, it comes
l'orth in early spring to hunt l'or its prey
along hedge-rows and sunny banks. Its
peculiar endowment is a powerful
tilts
vlo under the skin, which enables it In
roll itself up into ti perfect hall, present
ing on all sides a formidable array of
sharp-pointed quills. 'rho air of defi
ance which this gives to the poor, help
less animal, seems to provoke the desire
td'lstys especially, to compel a surren
der. They are thrown into the water,
they are tickled with reeds and thorns,
and the most cruel means are em
ployed to induce them to give up
their defence, ends which almost
uniformly eat in their death. To
excuse the wanton cruelty, the in
nocent animal is charged with every
kind of crime, and yet it little deserves
such harsh treatment. It is true, the
hedgehog isnot exclusively carnivorous,
as the bat and the mole; it loves a little
fruit at tittles, and even finds its way
into the dairy in search of cream and
butter; but it does not, as many believe,
climb into fruit-trees, gather !tears and
apples on its quills, and then triumph
antly carry home its ill-gotten wealth
to its young! It lives upon insects,
snails, and beetles, which it either
catches running, or digs out with its
nose and its claws; above all, it is fond
of lield-mice. In this respect they are
far more useful even than cats, and
would have been long since domesticat
ed 101 l for their unpleasant odor and
the great noise they make when out on
their hunting expeditious. If they lack
agility and swiftness, they succeed by
patience and cunning, and their boister
ous elllirts frighten away even more
mice than they destroy, so that they are
most useful in barns and stables
Another striking peculiarity of hedge
bogs is their insensibility to animal
poisons, a privilege which rests by no
means upon popular tradition only, but
has been abundantly proved by repeated
experiments. The great Russian zool
ogist, Pallas, saw a pet hedgehog of his
feast to its heart's content upon ;Spanish
flies, although no oilier animal touches
them, on account of their powerful acrid
juice. A ( terman naturalist placed re
peatedly the most venomous of Eu
ropean serpents, a viper, into the saute
cage with a hedgehog, and in every in
stance the latter, though severely bitten
by its agile and formidable adversary,
finally obtained the victory and de-
VOUred the enemy. Other .ftacwax go
still further, and claim that, like cock
rowdies, they can eat arsenic, opium
:mil corrosive sublimate, with impuni
ty; but this remains to be authenticat
ed. It is surely quite enough If the
poor, persecuted creature destroys thou
sands of the most dangerous enemies
which man has to emminter in tilling
the ground, and, moreover, defies the
ancient foe of his fall, the serpent. In
stead, therefore, of the cruel treatment
which it receives, it deserves to enjoy
the same tendixr regard which we pay
to useful domestic animals, the true and
faithful friends of mankind. —.4/1711 , -
fon's Journal.
The First American Locomotive
The Allentown Pa. , l („'hronictr mays:
The first locomotive that ever did ser
vice in the United States is now lying
outside of a foundry at Carbondale, Lu
zerne County. It ought to be preserved
somewhere as an interesting relic of the
early Jaya of railroading. The follow
ing description of its trial, taken . from
Dr. Hollister's history of the Lackawan
na Valley, will be read with :interest:
The fi rat locomoU trod uced
and worked in America wa , riot 111,011
the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, in
the year Is . .2s, and Honesdale in u red
from the late Philip Hone, offered its
friendly glen for the purpose of conduct
ing the experiment. 'Phis locomotive,
called the "Stourbridge Lion," was 'Wilt
in England, of :the best workmanship
and material, and most approved pat
ern of that date. The road passed out
of I fonesdale by a sharp northwesterly
curve, with a moderate grade, and was
carried over the Lackawaxen Icy a long
hemlock trestling, considered too frail
Icy many to support the great weight of
the mysterious looking engine,all ready
for the hazardous journey.
As the crown gathered from far and
near, expecting that bridge, locomotive
and all would plunge into (Ice stream
the moment passage WILS attempted, no
one dared to run the locomotive across
the chasm but Major Horatio Allen, who,
amid exultation and praise, passed over
the bridge and a portion of the road in
safety. The engine, however, was aban
doned, as the slender trestling forming
much of the body of the road, sufficient
ly strong fur ordinary cars, was found
too feeble for the " weight and wear."
Major Allen, in the account of this first
trip of a locomotive on this continent,
says: "As I placed my hand on the
throttle I was undecided whether I
would move slowly or with a fair degree
of speed; but, believing that the road
would prove safe, and preferring, if we
did go down, to go down handsomely
and without any evidence of timidity, I
started with considerable velocity, pass
ed the curve over the creek safely, and
was soon out of hearing of the vast as
semblage. At the end of two or three
miles, 1 reversed the valve and returned
without accident, having thus made the
first railroad trip by locomotive ever
made on the Western Hemisphere."
To Cure Scratches
Somebody wants to know how to cure
the scratches on his horse. I will give a
remedy I have used for years with uni
versal success: 'rake two pounds of
Glauber's salts, one pound of sulphur,
and one-quarterpound of saltpetre ;
pulverize all finely together, and give
one heaping tablespoonful once a day,
thrown on the feed.
Now for the feet. Take one pint of
neat's foot-oil, and one-fourth pound of
tine-cut chewing tobacco, and simmer
them together. Strain out the tobacco
and bottle for use. Take Castile soap
and warni water, and wash clean the
parts atlbeted, and dry thoroughly be
fore applying the oil. If tire-ankles aro
much sore it would be well to put cloths
on them to keep the air from them
while they are drying. When dry,
annoint them well with the oil for a few
days; then wash as before, dry well,
and apply the oil again. If thoroughly
applied, It will effect a permanent cure.
Keep the feet clean, and scratches will
not be likely to return.—Rural New
Yorker.
BasiNEB9 ADVISATISEMIRNTS, $l2 a year
allure of ton lines; SS per your for eaoh ad.
tlonal square.
REAL ESTATE ADVEETISIEG, 10 cents a lino
the Bret, and 5 oents for each subsequent
Insertion.
UEXISRA L ADVERTISING, 7 cent, a line for
first, and 4 mints for oath subsequent in
SPECTAL NuTic6S Inserted In Local Coluri
15 coots pur
SPNVI A L NOTICES preceding. Marriages n
deaths, 10 cents per lino tar Hest Inner!ll
and 5 cents for every subsequent I nsert 1./1
LEGAL AND OTHER NOTICF-9
Executors' notices 2 60
Administrators' notive
Assignees' notices 2 ,
Auditors' notices 200
Other " Notices," ten nu's, or less,
three Um - . I to
An Australian Bush Story.
soon after my arrival in Australia,
obtained, through the Influence of sou
friends In Melbourne, a berth in ti
mounted police. The service here di
fern very much from what it to in ot hi
countries, nearly all thedueuibers of tl
corps being well educated geutlenoo
:flatly theyoungerseions of noble hou,
who like the adventurous life they 1(.11,
I was stationed up country near 'Balla
rat, and the chief duty upon which the
branch of the force WILY engaged vin
protecting the squatters from depred,
tions of bush rangers. A rough no
often blood-thirsty lot these fellows it
The leader of one of the nli.t powern
gangs was named Morgan, a wild an.
desperate fellow, whose very name Sri,
as terror to peaceable settlers. One Sprin•
—spring there, by the way, is abou
October—We received information a
head-quarters that the mail had beer
"stuck up" between vona !laid Moon
Alexander, mid that many squatters
shanties had been despoiled by a larg
body of mounted bushrangers; an.
from the description given of the lead,
little doubt remained but that the gi r l
was comprised of .Morgan anal his bald
lites. tlur chief detailed eight of us b
scour the country, and if possible brio
the marauders to Justice ' and as a late
reward was oilered for Morgan - -dead o
IMMMEMii=MiI
chase. The inspector howling our party
was harry llnller, the second son 1111
English baronet, a l'rank, genial open
hearted fellow, brave us tt 'loll IL W:1,4
Sunday eN'ening whet Nye arrived at a
little store kept as a sort of hall-way
house for journeying diggers, and there
we voncluded to stop for the night.
\Ve picketed our horses in a kraal
outside, wade a. hearty supper, rolled
ourselves tip in Oaf opossum rugs, and,
wearied by our long ride, sank owlet ly
to sleep. In the middle of the night I
was aroused by a little aborigine, who
hail crawled in on his stomach and at
tracted my attention by gently squeez
ing toy nose. " Lags here!" he whis-
pered softly, as I raised my head in as
lonislinlcid. I listened attentively for
a Moment, and then heard a horse
whinny outside, and shortly afterwards
a trampling of horses. Rolling over and
over, 1 soon gained Buller's side, awoke
him, and pill lily linger on Ills lip Its a
caution to him to he "The
gang are outside, and are probably steal
lug our horses," I said in a hushed
Once. Ile sprang hi his feet and coin
inenced softly arousing our comrades.
" Look to
. •olir pistols, boys, and eon),
ilia the front way. I 101 l ol us go to the
right, half to the len, meet in the rear
and I guess we Will capture the scoun
drels," he ordered, speaking rapidly,
but in a lulu tone. Our party separated
as instructed, I following Buller rtmnd
to the right, our short carbines cocked,
and the revolvers in our belts ready
immediate use. A 4 we turned the lasi.
gable of the building We eanle suddenly
Upon a large body of Men, Many of
whom were mounted, while the rest
were busily occupied untithering our
horses. " Stand in the Queen's flaunt-,
or we lire l" shouted Buller, leaping
boldly to the front, and bringing the
1111.1ZZle of his piece to bear upon a swat':
thy, rough-bearded man, who Was evi
dently the leader. Scarcely were the
words uttensi when a !lash value from
another direetion, and Buller fell dead
at lily feet with a hall through his brain.
" Quick, nien ! The I /utiles are down
on us," yelled a voice ill savage fury,
and a heavy volley followed his words.
A bullet pierced my shoulder and I fell,
but while on the ground I drew my re
volver and tir e d at the leader. Ills horse
swerved just thud. Inonicht and re
veiVell the hall aimed lit has rider.
Clirsing With rage, the man strove to
free himself from his fallen steed, and
became aware of the sharp eontliet
being maintained by my comrades and
the band of desperadoes, but. I Was un
able [orbit., and shortly fainted from loss
of blood. When consciousness return
ed, I found myself lying on my lamb
securely bound, the rest of our party in
the same Kettle:intent, and our rough
foes mounting guard over us. "
you've roue In, blast ye! have yer.'
Well, rill glad yer till dead yet,
or I owe yer one for my horse,"
said Morgan--I easily reeognlzed him
in the flickering glare of the lire they
had lighted—giving nie a brutal kick.
They assisted us to rise, blindfidded our
eyes with bandages, and led us along by
the sides of their horses. " her
thought to trap us, did yer'."' said Mor
gan, with an oath. "1 guess the boot's.
on t'other.leg. ler ain't got long to live;
so spit out yer prayers If yer know any.
Say, mates, the poor wretches may want.
to say a prayer or two before they kick
ill'.. Let's hang them over this previ
;dee ; not by their neck 1110 Ugh. We'll
Ilx the thing after a new fashion. Knot.
the end of each rope and put it into their
Lund,,. When they are tired of holding
on they cut just let go, nod hurry oil'
kingdom come of their own accord."
This proposition met with unanimous
assent, and the fiends chuckled as they
hitched the ropey to the end of a fallen
tree that hung partly over the chasm.
We were still blindfolded, and I could
only conjecture their movements by
their conversation. Then they unbound
my arms, placed the knotted ends of a
rope in my hands, %lowered me slowly
over the brink, and let me swing over
In mid-air. They followed the same
course with my six companions, and
then rode oft' laughing. Never shall I
forget the agony of the time when hope
seemed forever fled ! It was highly lin
probable that assistance could arrive in
time to save us, for it in not possible to
hang for 'toy length of time with the
whole weight of one's body solely upon
the hands. All my past life coursed
vividly through my mind; every little
long forgetter episode of boyhood
came fresh into my recollection. I
thought of home, of friends- ay, of
the old fellow, whoni you know is very
dear flu me! and I prayed earnesly
for salvation in the nigh drawing eter
ffity. still; I 1..1.1 on. The tenacity
with which a man, when in awful peril,
clings to life, is marvellous; and now,
or any other time, I do not believe I
could sustain my weight for half so long
as I thought of the 3 awn
ing chasm beneath me, in fancy saw
cruel rocks hundreds of feet below
which would receive my mangled car
cass. At last the agony of suspense
proved too much for my nerves; I felt
my , fingers relaxing their hold, and, Its
the knot slipped front my grasp, I be
came insensible. "Bravo !not. dead yet,
Charlie!" My senses returned once
more; and opening my- PyeM :1 saw the
stalwart form of Will Sommers,
who had shared a similar fate to
mine, bending over me, as he
sprinkled my lave with ice-cold
water. It was broad daylight. The
sun had risen in all his glorious majes
ty., and levelled his streaming rays full
upon us. All our number were stand
ing around save one, and he Lay still'
upon the grass a corpse. Morgan and
his hand, fearing to raise the whole
country against themselves by the
wholesale butchery of so many of the
Queen's officers, had hung us over a
bluff about ten feet high, so that while
suspended, at no time had our feet been
more than a yard from the ground, but
they had rightly conjectured that we
should hang on as long its our strength
permitted, and so give them ample time
to escape The horrors of the situation
had been too much for Morris ; he
was but a youngster, and sheer fright
had killed him. We returned to the
storekeeper's, and after interring poor
Buller and Morris in a grove of wattles,
started for liallarat. On arriving there
at once tendered Illy resignation, for
my nerves had received such a shock
that I felt myself totally incapacitated
for duty.
Family Devotion.
"All the duties of religion," says Dr.
Dwight, "are eminently solemn and
venerable in the eyes of children. But
none will so strongly prove the sincer
ity of the parent ; none BO powerfully
awaken the reverence of the child, none
so happily recommend the lustruc•
tions he receives, as family devotions,
particularly those In which petitions for
the children occupy a distinguished
place."
A Thought for Parentx
Never for one day forget that the first
book children read, may, that which
they continue to read, and by far the
most Influential is that of their parent's
example and daily deportment. If this
suould be disregarded by you, or even
forgotten, they be not at all surprise'
when you another day—to your sorrow
and vexation, and the interruption of
your business, if not the loss of your
domestic happiness and peace—that your
children only "know the right path,
but still follow the wrong."