Bradford reporter. (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, November 25, 1858, Image 1
.U DOLLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. XOAVANDA: Thursday Morning, November 25, 1858. Original ' HARRY HERMON" TO "ELLA MAY." VR EDITOR The advertisement of " ELLA MAY" .escaped my notice until now. Hoping, however, that Tun n<>t too late, 1 would begin by "paying my distress a,' to her through your columns. H. H. Thou whose fair form imagination brings In angelic beauty, (lacking only the wings ) With "dark eyes" flashing love's entrancing light round my pillow in the gloom of night Thou fair congenial spirit who, like me Tossed on the waves of life's tempestuous sea, Would gain some part of the matrimonial rest— 0, how 1 long to clasp thee to my breast! Lonely I've spent my thirty years of life \ . harming, handsome man, without a wife, tut have I sought to change my wretched state, But. nb ! how useless to contend with fate ! Whene'er 1 found a girl to suit my mind How strange to tell —she did'nt seem inclined ! My form is tall and stately—my blue eyes, Mild and benignant as the azure skies, Thev never flash with fury or with ire (Thev're rather too much buttermilk for fire.) And "Jupiter's ambrosial locks" could ne'er In golden glory with my own compare. 1 am a poet—that's my occupation, And. should my fame be sounded throughout creation, Remember, if your're Mrs. Hcrmon, you Will share the laurels of your husband too. My goodness is exceeding—l would give Beautiful rules how other folks should livo ; With eloquence such lofty morals teach, Sometimes 1 almost think I'm called to preach. Now, angel Ella, if I only find You dutiful, controllable, and kind : Both spirited and gentle—wise and witty Scorning those dainty airs that spoil the pretty ; Child-like in innocence—yet shrewd and keen, Always amusing—quiet and serene, With each opposing quality of mind Consistently, harmoniously combined. Fear not, you may with certainty aud pride Aspire to be the red-haired poet's bride. TROY. NOV. 12, I*sß. HARRY HERMON. 3radford County Teachers' Association. TOWANDA, November 12. Association met in the public school house and was called to order by the President, W. T DAVIS. l'rot. I>. CRAFT, chairman of the business committee, reported the order of business to lie observed at this meeting. The Association iheu adjourned till half-past one o'clock. AFTERNOON SESSION. Association met pursuant to adjournment at half-past one o'clock, and after an announce ment of the order of business by the President, was opened with singing by the choir. The minutes were then read and approved. Prof. 1). CRAFT next offered the following resolutions : Resolved. That after the word " Provided," of section 41-r f the School Law, which is: " That the County Sn perintendent may annul any certificate given by liiiu or . predecessors in office, when he shall think proper, by Hiving at least ten days previous notice thereof in writing M the teacher holding it, and to the directors and con trollers of the district, in which he or she may be em ; !■ ved." should 1* repealed. Resolved. That males and females should be educated a the same school, and to the same extent. The first resolution was taken up and dis cussed at considerable length on both sides ; the affirmative was sustained by Messrs. D. CRAFT, W. T. DAVIS and O. S. DEAN ; the resolution was opposed by P. D. MORROW, Dr. Buss, G. D. MONTANYE, aud J. G. B. BAB COCK. Some of Jhe principal considerations advan ced by the affirmative were, that it was grant ing too much power to ope man, and that this power might, from prejudice, or from personal considerations, be abused in annulling sotne teachers'certificate from unworthy motives and sending them from their places of employment disgraced before the world: some instances of such abuse were cited. On the other hand it was strongly urged, that it was necessary that such a power should be 7ested somewhere and that it could not be left in better hands than in those of the Coun ty Superintendent. It was also argued that the fear of being removed from office would act as a salutary check upon the Superintendent were he disused to act unjustly. The debate then continued till four o'clock when it was arrested by the order of business. The President then called on Mr. CHUBBUCK, Th CRAFT ar.d Dr. BLISS to give their several methods of teaching English Grammar, which they did. They all agreed as vo the necessity of rendering tlie study practical by applying it to the correction of errors in common conver sation ; they also spoke favorably ot the oral method in imparting instruction in this branch. Association then adjourned to meet at half past six P. M. EVENING SESSION. The Association was called to order at half past six o'clock by the President, aud was opened with singing by the choir. The resolution relative to compelling parents and guardians to send those under their charge to school, was then taken up and the debate was opened by D. CRAFT ; C. R. COBURN, Rev. •' FOSTER and Rev. D. COOK followed in the discussion. The order of busiuess then arrested the de bate aud after the choir had performed an ap propriate piece, the President introduced Miss FIJZABK.TU TIDD to the audieuce, who read an excellent essay. -Mrs. L. L. LAMOREUX followed with an able aod eutertainiug dissertation. Subject— Unrest and Rest. The choir here enlivened the exercises with m usic, and the Presidentjtheu introduced the Lecturer, Mr. E. GUYER, who eutertaiued the audience with an instructive address. Subject— The Tendency of the Times. The speaker discussed at large the import ant question of " whether the moral aud relig -I Qus element in our couutry will prove itself to overcome immorality, aud to raaiu 'a*a acd increase the purity of our institutions." THE BRADFORD REPORTER. He raaiutained an affirmative position, showing the superiority of the Americau Commonwealth to all the oriental republics. He based his conclusions upon arguments drawn from the improved religious condition of our country and from the improved social condition of woman. The Association then adjourned to meet on Saturday morning at half-past eight o'clock. SATURDAY MORNING SESSION. Association convened at half-past eight o'clock and was opened with prayer by the Secretary and with singing by the choir. The resolution of C. R. COBURN. which was laid over from last evening was then taken up and debated with considerable spirit by NA THAN TIDD, D. CRAFT, O. S. DEAN and P. D. MORROW. The discussion was here briefly interrupted in order to appoint a committee to report a list of candidates for the several offices of the Association. Committee—D. CRAFT, I). COOK, P I). MORROW, Miss MARY LEWIS and AUGUS TA LYON. A motion was, at the same time, made and carried that the electiou of officers take place immediately after the report of the committee. The committee then retired and C. R. Co- BURN resumed the debate and coutinued till 10. 40. A. M., when the committee of nominations reported the followiug uames for officers of the Association for the ensuing year: President —o. J. CHrnBUCK, of Orwell. li/ I '.Pres't. —J.G. 11.U ABcocK,of Windham "2nd VicePres't. —NATHAN TIDD, of Granville 3 rd Vice Pres't. —C. H. PHELPS, of Athens. Sec. A Treat. — O S. I)EAN, of Towanda. Cor. Sec — C. R. COBURN, of Towanda. A committee was appointed to solicit new members which reported ten names. A motion was then made by E. GUYER, that the officers be elected by the casting vote of the President. The motion was carried and those who were nominated by the committee were elected to the offices to which they were severally nominated. The Association then listened to an excel lent address from the retiring President, W. T. DAVIS. S u bject.— History. On motion of O. F. YOUNG a vote of thanks was tendered to Mrs. H. L. LAMOKEUX and Miss E. TIDD for their able essays, and also to Mr. E. GUYER for his eutertaiuiug and instruct ive lecture. On motion of C. R. COBURN, the thanks of the Association were tendered to Mr. W. T. DAVIS for his valuable address and for the praiseworthy raanuer in which he has served the interests of the Association as I'resideut during the past year. Moved and carried that when this Associa tion adjourn it adjourn to meet at Windham. A declamation by Mr. THOMAS WILMOT, of Towanda, was next listened to by the Associa tion. The speaker displayed good taste in the selection of his speech and delivered it in a manner highly creditable to himself. A vote of thanks was tendered him by the Association for his eloquent speech. In the absence of the Treasurer, Rev. J. MCWILLIAMS, W. T. DAVIS read his report of the financial condition of the Association, which report was accepted. On motion of P. D. MORROW, the Secretary was instructed to reco:d the minutes of last year, aud to bring iu his bill for the same. The committee for obtaining new members reported $1 initiation fees. Yearly dues were also received to the amount of s2,fis. A vote of thanks was also tendered to the choir of the Presbyterian Church, which was under the direction of W. C. BOGART, Esq., enlivened the exercises of the session with suit able music. The roll was then called, and after a prayer by the llev. J. FOSTER, the Association ad journed to meet at Windham, on the second Friday and Saturday of February. O. S. DEAN, Rec. Sec. AN INCIDENT OF THE EPIDEMIC. —The New Orleans Delta relates the following, as one of the incidents of the yellow fever epidemic in that city : A boy was discovered iti the morn ing lying in the grass of Claiborne street, evidently bright and intelligent, but sick. A man who had the feelings of kindness strongly developed went to him, shook him by the shoulder, and asked him what he was doing there " Waiting for Gou to come for me," said he. " Wiiat do you mean ?" said the gen tleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the answer and the condition of the boy, in whose eye and flushed face he saw the evidences of the fever. " God sent for mother and father and little brother," said he, " and took them away to his home, up in the sky : and mother told me, when she was sick, that God would take care of me. I have no home, nobody to give me anything ; and so I came out here, and have beeu looking so loug up in the sky for God to come aud take care of me, as mother said he would, lie will come, won't he ? Mother never told me a lie." " Yes, my lad," said the man," overcome with emotion, " be has seut me to take care of you." " I SAY mister," said one Yankee to another, " how come your eyes so crooked !" " My eyes ? Why sitting between two girls and trying to look at both of them at the same time." A MOTHER was bagging aud kissing a four year old, when she exclaimed, " Charley what makes you so sweet ?" Charley thought a moment, aud having been taught that he was made of the dust of the grouud, replied, with a rosy smile, " 1 think, mother, God must have put a little sugar with the dust, don't you ?" " OLD AGE is coming on me rapidly," as the urchin said when stealing apples from an old man's garden, and saw theowuer, coming cow bide in baud. SOME one inquires, in the name of Mrs. Par tington : " Why can't the Captain of a vessel keep a memorandum of the weight of his an chor, instead of weighing it every time lie leaves port ?" PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH. "REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER." REFLECTION. [An Essay read before the Teachers' Institute at Can ton. by Miss CALFHUKNA ROCKWELL, published by vote of the Institute.] Reflection is the basis of all purely intellec tual efforts; genius without it is 'ike a balloon without ballast, at the mercy of the clouds, making mad and erratic flights, but seldom heavenward. To reflection more than cultiva tion is the mind indebted for its solid theories and substantial facts. The loose chaff that is driven before the wind, is as fully valuable as the thought that owes not its subsistence to this faculty; it is equally useful when carried into all departments of life ; it makes the deep thinker, the close reasoner, the calm energetic speaker ; it concentrates ideas, impels to the loftiest heroism, gives to patriotism the power that commands and eventuates success. It is a wall of safety around our schools aud happv is the teacher who can call it to his or her aid in the arduous task of goveruiug pupils. The lawyer, physician, and diviue are all successful as neglect, abuse, or properly cherish this God given attribute. Let us call reflection a tem ple, place it in a grove full of pleasing and in tricate labyriuths; we enter its dreamy halls and are charmed by sweet music. We move amid its winding passages, on each side of which the hand of classic art has cunningly cheated time, aud reality. There is suuset beauty gleaming over all, an inexpressibly sweet quiet ude breathed upon our souls ; we no longer seem of earth, earthy, our spirits expand aud clothe these bodies, (wherein dwell infirmities) with light and grace. The soft shadows that float down the quaint old crevices start, grow tremulous, and surge into life. The lips breathe thoughts that have burned into many a worshipping heart, the eyes are luminous with the fire of poetry, the brains, domes of intellect; we talk face to face with the dead past, and yet with the everlasting present; oh, in what a far off distance seeins the great world then, its mighty stir aud babel sounds fall melaucholy upon our ears, refined and etherealized in the alembic of meditation, they chime like fairy bells, aud melt into liquid music, to which, we set our thoughts aud bid them give the joy to others they have impart ed to us. Then there comes a time when wearied with this world's gare, sick of its strife, saddened with its heartlessness, we feel almost ready to despair! and when mental oppression seems crushing our better natures, we feel the touch of a soft hand on our temples, aud looking up wards we behold reflection, her angelic eyes full of pity and hope, her finger pointing heav enward, as she bids us muse upon the glories reserved in the beautiful land where poor earth tired pilgrims rest forever, how we clasp her to the newly trustiug heart, while heaven seems lovelier, and its bright inhabitants rearing a path of glory that shall bear our ransomed spirits into the very bosom of iufiuite holiness. GERMAN BEDS —How THEY ARE MADE.— They are universally not more than 5 1-2 feet long and 3 1-2 feet wide. .1 double bed I have never seen in Germany. The substratum is ofteu of feathers, but more frequently, about the hotels, it is some sort of a mattrass placed upon elastic springs. It is an affair of some difficulty for one of ordiuary height to stretch himself out a full length upon one of these beds. It can only be done diagonally, and is a feat which requires considerable tact. The cover ing of the beds is often not much larger than the bed itself, and always finds itself off atone side or the other before morning. But the greatest peculiarity of a German bed consists of two or three immense feather pillows, designed to elevate the head and shoulders to au augle of about 30 degrees, aud and another appendage about 3 1-2 feet square and stuffed lightly with feathers, designed to cover the feet and lower part ot the person.— Perhaps in winter this may be a comfortable arrangement, but I can testify in summer that it is intolerable. The first thing I generally do, after taking possession of my sleeping apartment, is to tumble all these feather mon sters upon the floor. My large Highland shawl spread over the whole bed, thus cleared of its incumbrances, and tucked up all around, transforms it into something like comfort. 1 must however add in all honesty that beds and linen in German hotels are generally cleaner, and much better aired thau in the United States. NOBLE SENTIMENTS. —Condemn no man for not thinking as you think. Let every one en joy the full and free liberty of thinking for himself. Let every man use his own judgment, since every man must give an account o ( him self to God. Abhor every approach, in any kind of degree, to the spirit of persecution. If you cannot reason or persuade a man into the truth, never attempt to force him into it. If love will not compel him, leave him to God, the Judge of all.— John Wesley. A WAGGISH husband recently cured his wife of divers ills in this wise : He kissed the servant girl one morning, and got caught at it. Mrs. J. was set up in an instant. She forgot all her complaiuts, and the man of the house declares that he has not had to pay a ceut for " help " since. SOMEBODY says a woman in politics is 'ike a monkey in a china shop—sha can do no good, and may do a good deal of harm. Rather than see woman turn statesmen, we would see them turn somersets. She is about as well cal culated for one as the other, if not a great deal more so. EVERY dollar that circulates among ns was coined from the sweat of honest life. Remem ber that, sir—snob, when yon turn up your nose at a working man. NOTHING casts a denser cloud over the mind than discontent, rendering it more occupied about the evil that disquiets it than the means of removing it. LOVERS, whose only desire is to take long and romantic walks beneath the moon, are not loog in discovering, after marriage, that they cannot subsist on moonshine. [From The London Times.] The Comet—What it has Seen~And what is to be said about Comets in General. We are just parting with a visitor who, it is now placed beyond doubt, attracted great at tention, and probably excited great alarm, at his last visit, more than two thousand years ago. As that is thecertained minimum, aud, on a very elaborate calculation, 2,495 years the maximum of the journey which the Comet has done since his last appearauce here, we know that it occurred during that period of history which is most interesting and best known to most of us. Englishmen know an cient history better than modern, and the affairs of Rome, Greece and the Eastern Empires bet-1 ter than those of any existing State. So we i might feel almost at home with this Comet, and welcome it as au old frier.d. It might, at its last appearance terrified the Athenians iuto ac cepting the bloody code of DRACO. It might have announced the destruction of Nineveh, or 1 of Babylon, or the capture of Jerusalem by Nebucbadnazzer. It might have been seen by the expedition which sailed around Africa, iu the reign of Pharoah Xecho. It might have given interest to the foundation of the Pythian j games. Within the probable range of its last visitation, are comprehended the w hole of those great events and personages that constitute what we call the history of Greece, from her early struggles with Asiatic despots to her sub-; jugation by Rome. In the annals of the late Power we have the whole period from Ancus Martius and the destruction of Carthage to choose from. Beyond a doubt, however,at some ! time or other in that period so familiar und dear to most of us, precisely the same sigu was seen in the skies. Among its spectators might have been not only kings and conquerors fa mous in history, but the so-called sages of, Greece aud even the prophets of the Holy Writ. Thales might have attempted to cal culate its returu, and Jeremiah might have tri ed to read its warning. But how different the significance ot the won- i drous sight at the two periods ? Till modern times the boldest conjecture never placed com ets so far as the tnoou ; and the prevailing be lief was that they were rather meteoric than celestial bodies. Thus they were described as hangiug over a doomed city, and marking the very site of a Diviue visitation. They were naturally compared to a flashing scimeter, or the burning brand. The very expression is, that a comet blazed in the sky. We are uot aware that it occurred to astronomers till two or three centuries ago that comets returned, the variety of their appearance produced by the different places of the earth in its orbit being quite enough to to baffle any attempt to ideu tify them. No sooner was it found that com ets are in fact planetary bodies, revolving round the sun by the same law as ourselves, than speculators ran into the other extremes, and fondly hoped that they might be links be tween this system and some one, or might even wander through the universe, visiting first one star, then another, to all time. Modern sci ence, however, establishes that the range of onr present visitor, though immensely wide compared with our planetary proiortions, is straightened indeed compared with stellar dis tances. lie had his tether in the attraction of the sun, as we have. He can travel, indeed, three hundred and fifty times further from the sun than we can, aud about twelve times fur ther from Neptune, the most distant and last discovered planet of our system ; but even this does not carry him oue-thousandtb part of the distance of the nearest fixed star. Let any one take a half sheet of note paper, and, marking a circle with a sixpence in one corner of it, describe thereiu one solar system, drawing the orbits of the earth and the inferi or planets as small as he can by the aid of a magnifying glass. If the circumference of the sixpence stands for the orbit of Neptune, then an oval filling the page will fairly represent the orbit of our comet ; and if the paper be laid ou the pavement under the west door of St. Paul's, the length of that edifice will adequate ly represent the distance of the nearest fixed star. That the comet should take more than 2,000 years to travel round the page of note pa per we have supposed, is explained by its great diminution of speed as it recedes from the sun. As its perihelion, or as we have seen it move lately, it has traveled 127,000 miles an hour, or more than twice as fast as the earth, whose motion is about a thousand miles a minute. At its aphelion, however, or its greatest distance from the sun, the comet is a very slow body, sailing along, as if doubted to return, at the rate of 480 miles an hour. This only eight times the speed of a railway express. At this pace, even if the comet could wholly shake off the attraction of the sun—which it certainly could not —and were it to travel onward in a straight line, the lapse of a million years would find it still traveling half way between our sun and the nearest fixed star. Comets, then, can hardly be imagined visitors from our system to any other, or from any other to our own.— There is every reason to believe they belong to us, and are only planets of a lighter material, less settled construction, more eccentric orbits and somewhat m.>rc devious path thau our own solid globe. Comets are the very crux of astronomers.— Every scientific ball has its own difficulties ; policy its crisis ; history its mysteries ; medi cines its incurable diseases ; surgery its deadly operations; life itself great trials. But a comet seems to combine iu one all the difficult problems of observation and calculutiou. Though it cannot move by the same laws as our own planets, yet the ellipse is so immeuse and the course homeward towards the sun so straight, that it is necessary to make the false assump tion of a parabolic motion. The true ellipse, however, ascertained, the difficulty does not cease ; for the comet is so disturbed by the at traction of the planets near which it success fully passes that the orbit of one day is contra dicted by the orbit of the next—curve, veloci ty, period, distance, all changing from hour to hour. Eveu when we know, as we do with re gard to Halley's Comet, its history for two thousand years, and can tell the period aud other elements of its orbit for all that time, still at every fresh return the comet suffers planetary disturbances which affect it forever. But the material, the construction, and the in ternal history of comets are still inscrutable.— The utmost observation and research have fail ed to discover any weight in them. The com et now receding from our view passed on Mon day within nine million miles fiom Venus, and if it had any density at all comparable to our own would have effected the orbit of that planet in an appreciable degree. Were that found to be the case, it would be the first fact of the kind in the history of these singular bodies. But, even if there no weight in a comet; it might still be of a very opaque matter. It is, however, by no means certain that the very nucleus can intercept, the light of a small tele scopic star. Yet in this light, transparent sub stance, is the source of the immense tail, which in some comets has been a hundred millions,and in the present instance not less than forty mil lions of miles long. It is the seat of the most extraordinary chauges and the most violent eruptions, throwing out columns of luminous matter many millions of miles long, in a few hours, not only in the usual direction away from the sun, but directly towards the sun, and otherwise as some chance may direct. This comet has exhibited the average of such trans formations, as yet entirely escaping all the re sources of glass and of figures. But if there is more difficulty and mystery in these bodies, there is also more promise. There is more chance of new discoveries here thau in the solid old planets. They change. They approach. They return. They seem to have an office to discharge in our system whereof we all partake. Some of them are old friendsof the new ways; some are strangers. Both are welcome We no longer expect them to drown or burn the world. That is as Heaven decrees, and depends on no chance comet-stroke. It is hardly possi ble to look at them without saying that they replenish, and perhaps vivify, the subtle medi um through which they diffuse their bright prospects, and which offers a certain resistance to their motion. As to danger of collision, of blighting showers, or pernicious breath, it is as nothing compared to the thousand aud one chauces on which mortal life depends. It al ways hangs on a thread, and that thread is uot weakened to the amount of one fibre by all the million of Comets which a French philosopher calculates to move in our system. ENGLAND DEMORALIZED BY HER WEALTH.— The London Times, in a recent article, antici pates a difficulty in finding employment for the bullion which is flowing iuto the country—not because of the want of proper avenues for its use, but because men have lost confidence iu one another. "As far," says the Times, "as the management of public enterprise is concern ed, the couutry is without a character, and no man will trust to his neighbor." And it then proceeds to show that British capitalists have been so unfortunate in their foreign specula tions, that they are losing faith in them also : On this subject another English journal says : " If Britannia represent the wealth of the world, she also typifies its absence amongst the great mass of the people, and we must candid ly confess to a partiality in favor of lessweath and its more equal diffusion. Extremes are rarely pleasant and the presence of enormous masses of capita] in a few hands, seeking a pro fitable investment in all quarters to which the compass points, with great masses of human beings in all our large cities ill clothed, ill fed, ill housed, gaunt, consumptive, wretched crea tures, willing to work, but unable to procure it without leaving their native land for fardistant possessions, is a spectacle upon which neither God nor man can look with pleasure. We drive from our shores the most productive of all capitals—human bones and muscle, to seek existence elsewhere, and enrich other lands by its developement and industry. There isa ter rible significance in Goldsmith's couplet— -111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates aud men decay. It is to be regretted, too, that while Britan nia's capital is thus unanimously on the increase, scouring remote countries of profitable invest ment, the moral character of onr speculators is rapidly going to the dogs. Our railways at home, gigantic undertakings, no doubt, repre senting nearly half the amount of the national debt, have enriched lawyers, engineers, contrac tors, and directors, but they have beggared an enormous number of respectable people, inclu ding widows, orphans, ar.d feeble and aged men and women, whose all has been swallowed up iu the vortex. WARM BARN. —A cold and open, weather boarded barn can easily be made warm oy boarding them up on the inside and filling up space between the outside and inside weather boarding with straw or coarse refuse hav. And this can be done at a very trifling expense by such as cannot afford to build new barns or thoroughly repair their old oues. For a few dollars worth of boards and nails, and a little work, which you can do yourself, is all that is necessary to preveut the ingress of the sharp winds, and cold, frosty air. And he who neglects or begrudges this, is unmerciful to his poor shivering beasts, who would soou tell him of his want of mercy if they could. " WHEN a stranger treats me with want of respect," said a philosophic poor man, " 1 com fort myself with the reflection that it is not myself he slights, but my old and shabby coat and hat, which, to say the truth, have no particular claim to admiration. So, if my hat and coat choose to fret about it, let them, but it is nothing to me." THE best description of weakness we have ever heard it contained in the wag's query to his wife, when she rave him some thiuchicken broth, if she would not try to coax that chicken to wade through the soup or.ee more. THERE is a man in town whose memory is so short that it only reaches to his knees. Per I consequence be had uot paid for his lust pair ' of boots. VOL. XIX. NO. 25. Something About Oysters. Look at an oyster 1 In that soft and gela tinous body lies a whole world of vitality and quiet enjoyment. Somebody has styled fossili ferous rocks " monuments of the felicity of past ages." An undisturbed oyster-bed is a con centration ofhappinessin the present. Dormant though the several creatures there congregate*! seem, each individual is leading the beautified existence of an Epicurean gosd. The world without, its cares and joys, its storms and calms, its passions, evil and good—all are indifferent to the unheeding oyster. Unobservant even of what passes in its immediate vicinity, its whole soul is concentrated in itself, yet not sluggishly and apathetcally, for its body is throbbing with life and enjoyment. The mighty ocean is sub servient to its pleasures. The rolling waves waft fresh and choice food within its reach, and the flow of the current feeds it without requiring an effort. Each atom of water that comes in contact with it delicate gills evolves its imprisoned air, to freshen and invigorate the creature's pellucid blood. Invisible to humun eye, unless aided by the wonderful inventions of human science,countless millions of vitrating cilia are moving incessantly with synchronic beat on every fibre of each fringing leaflet Well might old Leewenhoek exclaim, when he looked through his microscope at the heart of a shell-fish. " The motion I saw in the small component parts of it was so in credibly great, that I could not be satisfied with that spectacle ; and it is not iu the mind of man to conceive all the motions which I beheld within the compass of a grain of sand." And yet the Dutch naturalist, unaided by the finer instruments of our time, beheld but a dim and misty indication of the exquisite ciliary appa ratus by which these motions are effected.— llow strar.ge to reflect that all this elaborato and inimitable contrivance has been devised for the well being of a despised shell-fish ! Nor is it merely in the working members of the crea ture that we find its wonders comprised.— There are portions of its frame which seem to serve no essential purpose in its economy, which might be omitted without disturbing the course of its daily duties, and yet so constant in their presence and position, that we cannot doubt their having had their places in the original plan according to which the organization of the mollusk was first put together. These are symbols of organs to be developed in creatures higher in the scale of being—antitypes, it may be, of limbs, and anticipations of undeveloped senses. These are the first draughts of parts to be made cut in their details elsewhere, serv ing, however, an eud by their presence, for they are badges of relationship and affinity between one creature and another. In them the oyster cater and the oyster may find some common bond of sympathy and distant cousin hood. Had the disputations and needle-witted schoolmen known of these mysteries of vitality how vainly subtle would have been their specu lations concerning the solution ofsuch enigmas. But the life of a shell fish is not of unvary ing rest. Observe the phases of an individual oyster from moment of its earliest embryo-life, independent of maternal ties, to the consumma tion of its destiny, when the knife of fate shall sever its muscular cords and doom it to entomb ment iu 11 living sepulchre. How starts it forth into the world of waters ? Not, as nn ! enlightened people believe, in the shapeof a minute, bivalved protected, grave, fixed, and steady oysterling. No ; it enters upon its career all life and motion flitting about in tha sea as gayly and lightly as a butterfly or a swallow skims through the air. Its first ap pearance is as a microscopic oyster cherub, with wing like lobes blanking a mouth and shoulders, unincumbered with inferior crural prolongation, it passes ihrough a joyous aud vivaciousjuven i'itv, skipping up and down as if in mockery of its heavy and immovable parents. Its voyages from oyster-bed to oyster-bed, and, if in luck so as to escape the watchful voracity of the thousand enemies that lie in wait or prowl about to prey upon youth and experience, at length having sowed its wild oats, settles down into a steady solid domestic oyster. It becomes the parent of fresh broods of oyster cherubs. As such it would live and die, leaving its shell, thickened through old age, to serve as its monu ment throughout all time—a contribution towards the construction of a fresh geological epoch and anew layer of the earth's crust— were it not for the gluttony of man, who rend ing this sober citizen of the sea from hisnativo bed, caries him unresisting to bnsv cities and the hum of crowds. If a handsome,well shap ed, and well flavored oy.iter.he is introduced to the palaces of the rich and noble like a wit, or a philosopher, orapoet, togive additional relish to their sumptuous feasts ; if a sturdy, thick backed, strong tasted individual, fate consigns him so the capac ous tut) of thestreet- fishmonger, from whence, dosed with coarse black pepper and pungent vinegar, embalmed partly after the fashion of an Egyptian King, he is trans ferred to the hungry stomach of a costermon ger, or becomes the luxurious repast of a suc cessful pickpocket.— Westminster JUricic. llruMiKr. Ruins' TOXGCES.— The tongue of a humming bird is very curious. It has two tubes alongside of each other, like the tubes of a double-barrelled gun. At the tip of the tongue the two tubes are a little separated, and their euds are shaped like spoons. The honey is spooned up, we may say, and it is drawn into the mouth through the long tubes of the tongue. But the bird uses its tongue another way. It catches insects with it, for it lives on these as well as honey. It catches them in this way ; the two spoons grasp the insect like a pair of tongs, and the tongue bending, puts it into the bird's mouth. The tongue, then, of the humming bird, is not mere ly one instrument, but contaius several instru ments together—two pumps, two spoons, and a pair of tongs. same ladies who would faint to see a man's shirt on a clothes line, will, in a waltz, lovingly repose their heads upon the same 1 garment when a man is in it, allowing him to take liberties for which a country girl would box hia ears till his checks tingled.