THE STAR OF THE NORTH. It. W. Heiver ProprieUr.] Troth and Right—Cod aid oar Country. [Two Dollars per Anna VOLUME 7. THE STAR OF THE NORTH 1 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNINO BT n. W. WEAVER, OFFICE —Up stairt, in the new brick build ing, on the eouth side oj Main Sheet, Ihiid square below Market. TER MS:—Two Dollars per annnm, if paid within six months from the lime of sub scribing ; two dollars and fifty cents if not paid within the year. No subscription re ceived for a less period than six months ; no discontinuance permitted until all arrearages are paid, unless at the option of the editor. ADVERTISEMENTS noi exceeding onesqnare Will be inserted three times for One Dollar and twenty five cents for each additional in sertion. A liboral discount will be made to those who advertise by lite year. A. Senatorial Report from one oftha CM scrlptes pntrt. For several weeks a dispute hasexisled as to who is the legal Adjutant General of this State. Gen. Bowman, (appointed by Gov. Big!er,) insists that the lime for which he -was appointed had not expired when Gov. •Pollock commissioned Power as his succes sor. He refused (as he had an undoubted night) to surrender up the books and papers of the office to Power, and he also directed the keepers of the different Arsenals not to recognizo Powers' authority. Powers, how ever, took possession of the Arsenal and arm* at Harrisburg, having hired a half do zen of in ula " Americans" to put Bowman's keeper out by force. The subject was brought before the Senate fur investigation, and refered to the Militia Committee, of which Mr. Taggart, is chairman. Below we give the Senator's Beport on the sub ject. REPORT. Of Ike Militia Committee of the Senate, on the Resolution relative to certain disturbances which look place recently at the Stale Arsenal, in Barheburg. Mr. Taggart, on the part of the Commit foe on tbe Militia, to whom was refered the subjoined resolution: " Resolved, That the Adjutant General be, and he is hereby requested to communicate to the Senate, ts soon as the convenience of the public service wilt permit, the cause of the recent disturbances at the State Arsenal in llatrisburg, together with a lull statement of the occurrences connected therewith— and what action, if any, is required for-'the purpose of repressing domestic insurrection, preserving the public peace, and maintain irg an efficient and satisfactory administra tion cl the affairs of his department—and nbet'iteruhe polioe of the borough of Har risburg has been called on to interfere with the ifscbarge of the duties Of an officer of (ho Commonwealth"—report as follows: Wo have viewed the ground carefully, and examined a great number of witnesses, but as yet, have no downright evidences of actual bloodshed. It is true, queer sounds -have been heard, and strange light* seen gleaming from a garret wir.dow, at unsea sonable hours, bat nothing has occurred to create that intense alarm, which, for many weeks, har agitated tho people of this Com monwealth. It is also true, that a tall, pow erful, military looking individual, with a brilliant appor.dage to his nether lip, (the proper name of which appendage is, to your committee, unknown,) has been seen skulk ing around the building ; but that he has done any barm, or wa* even trying to do any, does not appear. They have also ob served that, when the familiar question was asked, "Have you seen .SAM to-day V the invariable answer would be, "Yes, up at the Arsenal!" As the people all over the coun try, except a few in the back townships of Lehigh, seem willing to trust Sam with even weightier responsibilities, your committee eonsider the old Mexican shooting irons perfectly safe, both as regards damage to them or by them. Respecting the interference of Ibe police of Harrisburg, to preserve the publio peace, we are informed that the gentlemen, com posing this body, never meddle in sack mat ters. Oar epistolary correspondence with the two distinguished individuals, claiming to be Adjutant General, has met with no reply. We fear from ibis, that a personal collision has taken place, and a cal-as-lrophe, as ter rible as that which marked the encounter of the feline quadrupeds of Kilkenny, been the result. If nothing should be left, but the caudal extremities, we would regret to be compelled to hand down such tales to pos terity. Your committee are not unmindful that "eternal aifilauce ia the price of liberty."— For greater aeonr.'.?. Brefore - w ® reco l r "' mend that a breastwork Of mallen-Malk. (botanical name, verbascem,) surmounted by six pairs of old boot legs, ehargeu 10 >■ • muzzle, be thrown around the Arsenal, ana that a guard competed of a blind roan, a cripple, and three old women, be detailed to protect the Commonwealth against the pos sibility of additional wrong. And for etill further security, thai a flock of geeae be quartered on Capitoline Hill, with instruc tion! to make a noise, if any horde of mod em Gauls should attempt to surprise it. This may be objected to, on the ground,that there are geese enough here already. We admit the truth, but reply that these are too busy gabbling about other things, to pay any at tention to the publio interests. , Your Committee beg leave to suggeet also, that ia these day* of gunpowder and heavy artillery, a Bow man moat be ef little service, owing to the fact, that hie shafts, however well directed, cannot prove nearly so rour tlerou, as implements of more tecent inven tion. In all military operations, that which is most wanted is Power BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY. PA.. THURSDAY. MAY 3, 1855. For Ike "Star of the North." EUROPE IN 1833, BY B. W. WEAVER. IT is at all times a pleasant ar.d profitable study to notice the raise an fall of kings and empires when these events teach us our prop er relation to our lei low beings nr.d our duty to ourselves and society—when they make us wiser and belter, as they unfold the designs of a benevolent and wise Providence i:t the his tory of mankind. Prance, for instance, teaches the world a fearful lesson. The gay capital of the world can boast of the highest civilization, for there society is in its most aitificiul condition. Taste and sentiment have been cultivated to the highest point, while the nobler faculties of judgment and reflection have bpen neg lected ; until the nation can just suffer intense- , ly through a sad and sorrowful history, with out having the power to rescue itself. It has made the people the sickly, fickle children cf nerve and impulse, fiery and passionate, but tintempered by (he dictates of cool rea son. Suoh characteristics are not best cal culated to make a happy or prosperous peo ple, nor to rear the minds that tower above the mass and first see the sunlight of know!-' edge dawning tn the faf off orient ol prog ress. No wonder then that the most volumi nous authot of Frattoe in these days ii of dark alien blood, and herKtnperor who moat of all men astonished the world was not in strictness a Frenchman, but was born and rocked in childhood, as he was in death, up on an ocean isle. A nation like the French can never accomplish any great Rational* en terprize, except by enthusiasm. The first Napoleon understood this, and tho second one has profited by it. But a nation of which one tlnrd of the people are the children ol sin and shame, and one-sixth never knew a parent, lacks tho moral etamioa (or true greatness- Such a people loose too many of those lender and gentle influences of the fire side which do most in moulding the character lor a good and useful destiny. The power of home is unfelt iu France, or at least in Pa ris; and the citizen has no home but the cafe, the hotel, the theatre or the promenade. This kind of life gives an ease of manner and a grace of deportment to the man, but it expo ses the young to every temptation of evil, i without furnishing a single safeguard to guide ■ them while their character is in process ol j formation. The Frenchman's home is in the public eye; and though such a life may improve bis bead and manners it will not profit his heart and morals. The American people very much misun derstand ibe character of the ptesenl Emper or. He has gloated over the history of the 'first Napoleon until its study has become a passion-in him, and inspired him with a res olution and decision of mind that strikes his whole nation with awe. He is a man of de cided ability, and the effete sovereigns of i Europe have found that he is not to be treat-1 ed with contempt. The deposition of the j Bourbca race was an event for which they i themselves had paved the way, and one of those inevitable circumstances which seek for themselves an actor. The French peo ple was restless and fickle—the country vt-Ty detmely populated—the government , deeply in debt—the taxes onerous—the ruler | was as weak as vain, and belonged to the j race of ins oppressors—all around France the 1 fever of revolution raged—as in the Reign of i Terror, theTe were nearly a million idle hands ; in a crowded city—work was scarce and | bread still mote scarce—and in 1848 it only needed the name of Napoleon to act as a torch to this magazine and make the explo sion. To gain the position of ari Emperor in Franco requires & mind and manliness above mediocrity, but to retain that position re quires true greatness. To understand the true character of Napelehn we must consid er the circumstances under which the revo lution took place, and the necessity ((may say) that impelled to the usurpation. Eam ariine, wiih bis head full of sentiment and his heaVt full of poetry, was the very person ification of the French character; but by no means the man to rule a nation. Delicacy of nsiVe ia one thing and rigidity of muscle another. A man may be a fine poet, and yet a poor statesman. He may have honesty of intention, and yet lack the requisite firmness of decision. The Bourbons had been fully tried and found wanting, and the rule of the republicans was an anarchy. It was just such a lime as when destiny seemed to in vite the first Napoleon to the throne, and his nephew obeyed the impulse of the same am bitious prompting of human nature. He is now BS well established as any rule of France can be, proud old crurabliug dynas ties around him are glad to court an alliauce with bis plebeian blood. bu! >1 >s from the frozen regions of the North I? I*' the greatest power of Europe is now spreading <• Briarrean arms to gather in the fragments o r nations. As the hardy Northmen, irt the degeneud o days of the Russian Empire overran Europe, ti? now do the semi-barbarous Russians strike terror in' to ihe trembling sovereigns whose blood through long agea has been subjected to Ihe enervating poison of luxury and inordinate pride. There has been for centuries a doc trine prevalent in Europe that no nation shall become truly independent of the others, but that all are members of a league to sustain an Intaginay "balanoe of power." When Frederick the Great showed some manliness, and his country began to giow, there was tenor among the diplomatists of the other despots, and Ihe; formed an alliance to crash him. He was wont to lock np his own di plomatists and say—"let us gain the vjotory first, and then negotiate," but combined Eu- THE RUSSIAN EMPEROR'S BEARER OF DESPATCHES. rope was to.WMrong lor one power. So when Bonaparte attempted to carve out lot France an honorable destiny, there was a banding together of all the crowned heads to crush him and the growing vitality of his country, j Nature has given the Russian a hardy con stitution, a vigorous frame, an invigora ting climate, and a soil that will keep him frugal and industrious. These things have much to do in the economy of man and the destiny of nations. Under the enervating sun of France no capital of Empire can ever spring np from a swamp like St. Petersburg —for on her luxuriant soil there will be no toil like that of thestulwart Slavonians j who, as the ant drags grain after grain of sand to build its home,carrieJ the earth in llieircaps and aprons to fill the morass, until by slow diligence and patience the lofty towers, bat tlements and citadels ol palaces, churches, colleges and theatres rose toward Ibe sky. Every ship that entered the harbor was bound to bring with it thirty stones, every small one ten, and every country wagon ten; and thus, from the accumulation of small tilings, grew the great Empire <hal now holds ail Europe in awe. This was under the Czar Peter, who that he might feel (he power, the dignity and and the nobility of labor, went into the ship yard at Copenhagen as on Apprentice, and then taught his countrymen and inspire! the nation with his spirit, until it created a proud fleet to cover the harbor of the Neva. It is only on the hot soil of France that political assemblies and elections always meet on Sgnday, just as the most Southern city of the Union is the only ono in which theatres and balls are cpen for entertainment on that day; or as only in Brazil the fpmalee while away the day by swinging in a ham mock suspended in the shade, or in Mexico pas* the time by a delicate warfare upon lice. Only under the tropical latitude of Italy do we find the lazzaroni,—in Spain the race of brigands and gypsies, and in Portugal the na tion that tolerates a queen upon the throne whose infamous profligacy and licentious ness has made her a disgrace to her sex, her nature and her ration. On less fruitful soils you will find lltg honest and honorable poor, by modest demeanor deserving and enjoying respeoi; but not so generally thai class whoarti too proud and lazy to work and yet 100 poor to live honestly without. Switzerland, Hun gary and the North of Europe never became so enfeebled by luxury and worn out bj ex cesses, for even during the night of the mid dle ages, when darkness and gloom had pall ed the hopes of men, and shrouded Eurooe in despotism, the fires of liberty still burned brightly along the crest of ihe Alps, and its spirit still lived in the hearis of the uncon quered Maygar. It was a nobis king of Hun gary who at that time of severity ana super stition (although himself a good Catholic) dared say to the Pope for his nation—" your Holiness must remember that we bear two crosses on our ensign, and we will make our crosses pikes before we allow you to mix yourself up with the affairs of any church." But I was speaking of Russia. The Czar Nicholas was unquestionably the great man of Europe in his time k and if he was slern and tyranioal it was because necessity and the traditional policy of his dynasty had made him so. If to blot Poland from the map of nations was ar. unpardonable (in, every government of Europe is accessory in that crime. Even England thst vaunts proudly of her free spirit and free air cannot claim innocence. Russia, Prussia and Austria dis membered a free nation, and England stood sponsor to have the alliance called a Holy one. And when the Czar put his heel upon the neck of 15, 000,000 Hungarians, Europe .looked on Ihe ciime in silence, and England debated the policy and txptditney of protest- I tng. That was the time when the blow for the freedom of Europe should have been struck. Then was a free and hardy nation of 15,- 000,000 people, upon whose majeslio mien and lofty brow the King of Kings seems to have stamped'the signet of his nobility. In telligent of mind, vigorous of frame, frugal ol life, and honest of heart— ihtri was the nation in it* mountain fastnesses that should have been made the barrier against the Cossack— and the men who for the homes of their sires and their children would have made every plain a Marathon and every pats a Thermopylae. They were reared like tbefew noble Swiss, who for three centuries waged a ceaseless warfare vith the House of Hspe- burg, in which the three small cantons of Uri, Schweitz snl Underw-aU'etl for more than a century bnflled the Imperial arms of Austria. The idiotic young Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria called upon the Czar to save his Empire, and the Czar had the pow er to do so, but Ibis very service made Aus tria the Vassa 1 of the C'zar. It is the old sto ry of invoking the spirit of evil and selling all the future to him for a little present aid. Nicholas was not a mnnste(.'of evil, but was mote enlightened and not worse than his brethren of the thrones. Until recently mili tary service of twenty years was the only avenue through which the serf could reach freedom. Nicholas shortened this term to eight years, and thus many ii peasant can gain his freedom at an early age. But mora than this, the Czar put a ban upon the sale of serfs, so that they can never be transferred from ono master to another unless with the land to which by the impe rial nkase they are conrt™ed. To secure to itself the refusal of the land an.l the hitman beings appertaining to it, and at the same lime to avert from the landholder the ruin consequent on dealings Willi usurers, the gov ernment established an imperial loan-bank, which made advaprs* on morttAgs of land to the extent of tfco-lhirds their value. The borrowers had to pay bark each year three per cent of the loan, besides three percent interest. If they failed to do this, the Crown returned them the instalments already paid, gave them the remaining third value of the property, and took possession of the land and its population. This was the first stage of freedom lor the serfs. They became Crown peasants, held their dwellings and bit of land as an hereditary fief from the Crown, and paid annually for :he same about four shil lings lor each male person ; a rent (or which in the whole of Germany tho very poorest farm is not to be had; to say nothing of the consideration that in oase of bad harvest, de struction by bail, disease &c., the Crown is bound to supply the strict necessities of the Russian peasants, and to.find them in daily bread, in the indispensable slock cattle and seed coin, and to repair their habitation and so forth. By thi* arrangement, and in a very short time, a considerable portion of the lands of the Russian nobility became the properly of ihe Slate, and with it, a large number of serfs became Crown peasants. This was the first and most important step towards opening the road to freedom to that majority of the Rus sian population which consists of slaves. When in this manner the first ideas o f lib erty had beet awakened in the people, the Emperor, in the exercise of his own unlim ited and irresponsible power took a second step, not less pregnant with consequences than the first. Unable suddenly to grant civil freedom to the eerls, he bestowed upon them, as a transition stage, certain civil rights. A ukase permitted them to enter into contracts. Thereby was acoorded to them not only the right of possessing prop erty, but the infinitely higher blessing of a legal recognuion of their moral worth as men. Hitherto the serf was recognised by the State only as a sort of beast in human form. He could hold no property; give no legal evidence: take no oath. No matter how eloquent liis speech, he was dumb be fore the law. He might have treasures in his dwelling—lhe law knew him only as a pauper. His t4ord and honot were valuless compared to those of the vilest freeman.— In Short, morally he could not be said to ex ist. Tne Emperor Nicholas gave to the serfs— that vast majority of his subjects, the first sensation ol moral worth—the first throb of self respect—the first perception of the rights and dignity and duty of man! What professed friend of the people can boast to have done more or yet ao much for to many million of men T But the Czar did not real satisfied *ith this. Having given the setfs power to hold property/ he taught them to prize this prop erty above all in the interest of their free dom. The serf could not buy bis own free dom, but he beoame Iree by the purchase of the patch of soil to which he was linked. To such purchase the right of contract clear ed his road. The lazy Russian who worked with an ill will towards bis master, doing as little as he could for the latter'a profit, toiled day and night for his own advantage. Idle ness was replaced by the diligent improve- ment of his farm—brutal drunkenness by frugality ami sobriety—the earth, previously neglected, requited the unwonted care with its richest treasures. By the magic of indus try, wretched hovels wete transformed into comfortable dwellings, wildernesses into blooming fields, desolate steppes and deep morasses into productive land; whole com munities, lately sunk into poverty, exhibited unmistakable signs of competency and well doing. The serfs being now allowed to en ter into contracts, lent the lord of the soil the money of which he often stood in need, on the same conditions as the Crown, re ceiving in security the land they occupied, their own bodies, and the bodies of their wives and children. 'The nobleman prefer red the serfs loan to the government's lean; because, when pay-day came for the annual interest and instalment the Crown, if he was not prepared to pay, took possession of his estate, having funds werewlth tn pay him. the residue of its value. The [wtrishof serfs which had lent money to its owner lacked these funds. Pay-day came—the debtor did not not pay, but neither could the serfs pro duce the one third of the value of the land which they must disburse to him in order to be ftee. Thus they lost their capital, and did not gain their liberty. Between the anxious debtor and the still more anxious oreditor now interposed the edict of Nicholas, which in such cases opened to the parishes of serfs the imperial treasury. Mark this—for it is worthy to be noted—the Kussian imperial treasury was opened to the serfs that they mignt purchase their freedom. Government might simply have released the rreditors from their em-, barrassment by paying the debtor the one third still due to him, and then land and j tenants belong to the State— one parish more of Crown peasants. Nicholas did not adopt that coarse. Me lent the serfs the money they needed to buy themselves from their master, and for this loan (a third only of the ! value) they mortgaged themselves nnd their ' lands to the Crown—paid annually three ner cent, interest, and three per cent, of the cap ital, and would thus in about 30 years be free and proprietots of their land. That they . would be able to pay off this third was evi dent. since to obtain its amount they had still the same resources which had enabled them to save up their two thirds they had already paid. Supposing however Ihe very worst—that through inevitable misfortune such as pestilence, disease of cattle, &c., they were prevented from satisfying the rightful claims of the Crown; in that case the Crown paid thetft baric the two-thirds value which they bad previously disbursed to their former owners and they became a parish of Crown peasauts, whose lot compared to their earlier onO was still envia ble. I have described this emancipation as it struck an intelligent German writer, who for some years resided in St. Petersburg. [TO BE CONTINUED.) Statistics of " Water Cure.*' From the Report of Dr. J. C. Jackson. Proprie tor of the Glen Haven Water Cure. In the Feb. No. of tho Water Cure Journal we find a letter from Dr. J. C. Jackson con taining the statistics of the patients treated at his water cure establishment from Jan. 1, 1851, to Jan. 1, 1855. The result, is stated, shows that even litis exclusivo 'system of practice is greatly superior to the old time system of Allopathy. Here is an abstract: Whole No. of patients treated, 1444 Absolutely cured, 565 Materially bonofited, 387 Not benefited, 173 Of those not benefited 92 stayed transiently. Died as far as known, 48 4.21 pr. cent. P*B EBSAT. —The N. Y. Academy of Medicine offer a prize of one hundred dol lars for the best essay on the subject of Chol era Infantum. Each communication must be accompanied by a sealed packet contain ing the author's name, which will be opened only in ease of success. The time extends to April Ist, 1856. Address Dr. Joseph M. Smith, No. 11 East 17th Street, N. Y. ty Those who will not diet and dress ac cording to the requirements of their physical system must suffer the consequent pain and trouble. By Never take what you know from ex perience disagrees with you. Bronchia) Diseases. ROBERT HUNTER, M. D., a distinguished allopathic physician of Now York, in a re cent article upon the treatment of Bron chitis observes:— " Applications of nitrate of silver to the throat are Utterly useless, since they do not reach the fountain of the evil. Your phy sician informs you that your affection is Bronchitis, and straightway you submit to the cruel torture of having caustic applied " every second or third day to your throat." If the unnecessary suffering you thus under go were the only consequences which sprung from it, it would be of less importnnje; but I the disease within your lungs is all this timo gaining a firruor hold—tho mucous mem brane is bccomiug thickened, and the smal ler bronchial tubes closed up. These ob structions go on increasing until sufficient air cannot bo drawn throutrh tho airtubes to produce the chango in the blood from the venous to tlic arterial. It is the object of res piration to change the blood from a dark to a bright red color. This chango is produced in the lungs by the air we breath, and can not occur unless it is received in sufficient quantity. When considerable obstructions exist in the bronchial tubes, the carbon which constitutes the impurity of the blood, is not wholly removed-, but a part is retain ed and sent again throhgh the system—im peding the circulation, irritating the brain and nervous system, and deranging diges tion. Under this condition of the blood, tubercles in the lungs are deposited. There is no warning given of tho fearful change which is taking place. Without pain, with out cough, without expectoration, the seed of this most insidious and mortal disease is sown, and soon brings forth its fruit in the melaucholly changes which mark the pro gress of Consumption. Thus consumption arises as a consequence of neglecting or mal-treatiug Bronchitis, by placing teliance on applications to the throat.'' Again GUILFORD D. SANBORN, M. D., of the New York Lung institute, writing upon the treatment of Lung Diseases, remarks: "It is certainly an important question to decide whether the old antiquated prac tice for the cure of diseases of the lungs and throat, is beneficial or injurious. Do they euro or do they not? There are many physicians who may be considered stereoty ped editors of antiquity, who, doubtless, never reflected ono moment upon this ques tion, therefore eonsider its answer or dis cussion of but little consequence, but their flfiy thousand victims who are now under their kind care, and professional skill, and who, during the present year, will have died 'according to science,' may deem it of sufficient importance to give it at least a passing notice." "Let us recall to life for a moment the re mains of fifty thousand graves last year made, were lie mouldoring 'wealth, worth, and beauty'—with their scarred chests, the work of blisters, setons and Croton oil. I present physicians to theso ' phantom forms' as monuments of their success." Medical summary. The number of matriculants in the four larger Old School Colleges of the North, the last winter session, have been as follows: tho Crosby street Medical College, N. Y. 182; the University Medical College, N. Y. 307; the Jefferson Medical College, Phila. 562 ; the Pennsylvania University, 350. ——The mortality in the four chief cit ies in the North and East during tho year 1854, have been as follows: Philadelphia, 11,811; New York, 28,458; Baltimore, 5,- 738; Boston 4,418.— A lady of Augusta county, Va., was recently delivered of three boys und at girl at one birth. Tliero were two placenas, one having three lobes, and each lobe its respective cord. The num ber of students the past year in that ancient medical school—tho university of Eding burg—was only 340. A sudden death Oc curred recently in Potosi, 111., ffom a rupture of the spleen. A gum which is found on trial to be a tolerable substitute for gum ara ble, has been discovered in the North of Texas. There are annually somo 1200 dead bodies of newly born infants picked up in the streets, squares and Parks of London. Several English ladies have been attend ing the Metropolitan Hospital, and witness ing the surgical operations, with the design of going to Sevastopol as assistant sur geons. Thero are over ft quarter of a million of the population, says the London Lancet, living constantly under ground in tho darkness of mines.——The population of the t'nited States is 25,000,000; but of every 73 of these, one dies every yoar.— —-The Jour nal of Health gives a table of 1310 instances of persons who have lived over 100 years; 277 of these lived to 120; 64 to 130; 26 to 140; 7 to 150; 8 to tfiO; 2 to 170; and 3 to 185.——Jonathan Peroira, M. D., the cel ebrated authot bf Materia Medica and The rapentics, who died in London in 1852, is said to have been the handsomest man in Great Britian, ant) tho best lecturer in Eu rope.— Medical Reformer. I,E1ON JUICE IN BILIARV CALCULI. —It has been ascertained that Lemon Jjiico acts as a sedative to the pain caused by the passage of Biliary Calculi. Dr. Bonditch, of Mass., has used it with success. In one case in which the paroxysms of pain formerly last ed a day or two, it afforded prompt and im mediate relief. No man can avoid his own company—so he bad best make it as good as possible. A great change in life ia like a cold bath in winter—we all hesitate at the first plunge. NUMBER 15. From the Middle States Medical Rejormer. May Reflection*. The wreathed smiles and baTmy breath of - this perfect month of Spring: robed i., her garlands of tinted flowers, and accompanied with the most Witching strains of liquid mol o<ly, resounding from 'every "bush and brake," who so misanthropic or insensiblo to c harms of loveliness and mellow beauty as not to gladly welcome its annual coming? Aot We, for we rejoice that the regular turn ing of the calendar of time has brought us May again. All hail its ushering in! h is our favorite among the Months; and the verses of die earlier poets show it to have been equally such with thera. No one of their invocatins to " Apollo and the Nine" were half so harmonious, so rich in imagery or musical to the ear as tho theme of May— '' ; —-'hp fairest maid on ground, Decked all with daintiesof her season Wide, And throwing flowersout of herlap around.'' Nor did they confine their estimato of the charmsand beauties ofthisattraclivo and life, inpiring m'Or.th f6 poetry and song,—nay, auj European ancestors demonstrated by the rural lostivalsand "cheery celebrations" in which they indulged on the "first of May," that they appreciated those " gifts of the common Fa ther" more fully than simple words could tell. A return as it was of the season when all na ture was budding and blooming with every thing promising a bounteous supply of good things of life, those of the " manor born" with the untutored peasant, men in their prime, women in their maturity ef beauty, blushing maidens, and gay youths collected together in the dance around the May-pole encircled with garlands of roses, and consecrated to the goddess of flowers, where their cares and their griefs woro forgotten, and whore with joyous equality they participated in the rap turous pleasures to which the time and the occasion incited. The practice was universal : There's not a budding boy or girl this day but is got up and gone to bring in May." Nor did Kings disdain to join these " May day" sports, nay, we are told that notwith standing the haughtiness and imperious character of IlsNjtv the eighth, ho too waA in the habit, accompanied by his Queen Catharine, to. "ride a Maying from Green wich to the high ground of Shooter's Hill." : Hut why our allusion to these things in a Health Journal ? Simply to inquire whether or no with our abandonment of some of the absurd customs of our European grandfath ers, which were founded on feudal tyranny or indola!rous superstition, we have gained anything in practically ignoring a habit which contributed so much to physical and social enjoyment as their "rural sports and celebrations of the seasons?" The "hurry and worry" by which Americans are char acterized is injurious ro body and mind they wear out before their time. Had this practice of the " good old age" continued neither the health nor the morals of the na tion would have suffered. Sentiments and feelings which now lie latent, or are smoth ered beneath the forced growth df other* which are less ennobling, would have beeti brought into active exercise, and they would have tended to convince the masses that there are other objects in living than simply the gathering together of wealth. The re laxations from commerce and trade—the counting room and workshop which these festivals would have brought to the mind would not only have drove "doll care" away, but have recruited it for the btlsinese of the morrow. And the outdoor eiercists 10 which the rural sports incident to the occa sion called out " lad and lass," wonld have so operated as to have predbced a less ef feminate race than are too many ot the hot house plants of our bobntry and age. It would have taught over cartful mothers the', there is a better system of hygiene than that of denying their daughters the indulgence of kinds of exercise calling into action every muscle of their bodies, without which they can never be fully develbped; or of closet itig them up from ' heavens bounteous, fraa fresh air," without the full inbalation of which " rosy cheeks" must surrender td those of sallow hbe. We say then we would hare our ances- Ira I May day festivals resumed and national ized, if for no other reason than the salutary bearing and influence they Would have upon public hygiene. When nature so ben eficently adapts the season for outdoor exer cise and pleasure, we would have custom, if other considerations are noutrong enough to break the enchantment of "making money," call all classes forth to enjoy them. J. BP" Notwithstanding the "stringency of the money market," our ladies of fashion dress up to the very maximum of the most prosperous limes. Lace petticoats, raoira, antiqes, costly embroidery, rich jewelry, and all the splendors which decorate the road to ruin, are flaunted in Broadway by the wives and daughters of men who are worn ofT their legs by daily shinning expeditions. We re quire sumptuary laws applicable to dress, furniture, and other vanities of fashion, quite as much as to liqUor, Protracted meetings are being held by the liquor dealers in all parts of the city. They assemble taigblly in nearly every ward, and it is aaid that at these levivels the " power of the spirit" is abundantly manifested. BP* Washington Irving is still suffering severely from the shook he received whan thrown from hie horse last Wednesday. The latest message from hi residence, Sunny Side, reports him better, but not entirely oat of danger.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers