good as to awaken strong admiration. We have found nothing better than the following, which is really very good:

THE PHILOSOPHER TO HIS LOVE.
DEAREST, a look is but a ray
Reflected in a certain way;
A word, whatever tone it wear,
Is but a trembling wave of air,
A touch, obedience to a clause
In nature's pure material laws.

The very flowers that bend and meet,
In sweetening others grow more sweet;
The clouds by day, the stars by night,
Inweave their floating locks of light;
The rainbow, Heaven's own forehead's braid,
Is but the embrace of sun and shade.

How few that love us have we found!
How wide the world that girds them round!
Like mountain streams we meet and part,
Each living in the other's heart,
Our course unknown, our hope to be
Yet mingled in the distant sea!

But ocean coils and heaves in vain,
Bound in the woven moonbeam's chain;
And love and hope are but the play
Of some capricious planet's ray,
To light, to lead, to rouse, to charm,
Till death shall hush in icy calm.
Alas! one narrow line is drawn,
That links the sunset to the dawn,
In mist and shade life's morning rose,
And clouds are round it at its close;
But ah, no twilight beam ascends,
To whisper where the evening ends.

Oh, in the hour when I shall feel
Those shadows round my senses steal-
When gentle eyes are weeping o'er
The clay that feels their tears no more-
Then let thy spirit with me be,

Or some sweet angel likest thee! O. W. H.

The prose, as is generally the case, is better than the poetry. There is a beautiful story, by Miss Sedgwick, which has all her purity of taste and delicacy of feeling. The "Seven Vagabonds" is good, and so is the "Canterbury Pilgrims.' The " Capture" and the "Cure for the Dyspepsia," are also very fair. There are some excellent things in the " Bald Eagle;" but there is too much of caricature, and one gets pretty well tired before the end comes. There is much beauty in Mr. Pierpont's "Autumnal Musings." The "Stolen Match" is much too long. "Joan of Arc," and "Sir William Pepperell," seem to have been put in merely for the space they occupy.

To almost all the articles it urged in the way of criticism, that there is too much description,-too many words. Every feature in the face, every garment that is worn, every appearance in the earth, and every change in the sky, is described at most wearisome length. We cannot help feeling that the articles were written with a view to the "consideration," and so made to cover as many pages as possible.

The Pearl; or Affection's Gift,

1833.

This is the fifth volume of a very popular work, whose design is expressed in its secondary title. Its contents, like those of its predecessors, are appropriate to the design. As this and other similar works are intended for the instruction and amusement of children, they seem to be removed from all accountability to criticism, provided they contain nothing offensive to good manners and good morals. They are in no way amenable to any canons of taste, nor subject to the ordinary process of reviewing. In literary composition, the Pearl is respectable, and that is as much praise, perhaps, as can be justly bestowed on many works that come out with higher pretensions. The embellishments of this volume are elegant. The frontispiece-a mezzotinto engraving-Annette, and My Sister Mary, are beautiful specimens of a beautiful art, which is making rapid progress towards perfection. We annex a couple of extracts, which are of a character altogether superior to most of the other articles.

THE PEBBLE AND THE ACORN.

BY H. F. GOULD.

"I am a Pebble, and yield to none,"
Were the swelling words of a tiny stone.
"Nor change nor season can alter me,
I am abiding while ages flee.
The pelting hail and the drizzling rain
Have tried to soften me long, in vain ;
And the tender dew has sought to melt,
Or to touch my heart, but it was not felt.
None can tell of the pebble's birth,
For I am as old as the solid earth.
The children of man arise, and pass
Out of the world, like blades of grass.
And many a foot on me has trod
That's gone from sight, and under the sod!
I am a pebble! but who art thou,
Rattling along from the restless bough?"

The Acorn was shocked at this rude salute,
And lay for a moment, abashed and mute.
She never before had been so near
This gravelly ball, the mundane sphere,
And she felt for a while perplexed to know
How to answer a thing so low.
But to give reproof of a nobler sort
Than the angry look, or the keen retort,
At length, she said, in a gentle tone,
"Since it has happened that I am thrown
From the lighter element where I grew,
Down to another so hard and new,
And beside a personage so august,
Abased, I will cover my head with dust,
And quickly retire from the sight of one
Whom time, nor season, nor storm, nor sun,
Nor the gentle dew, nor the grinding wheel,
Has ever subdued, or made to feel."
And soon, in the earth, she sunk away
From the comfortless spot where the Pebble lay.

But it was not long ere the soil was broke
By the peering head of an infant cak;
And, as it arose, and its branches spread,
The Pebble looked up, and wondering said,

"A modest Acorn! never to tell
What was enclosed in her simple shell-
That the pride of the forest was then shut up
Within the space of her little cup!
And meekly to sink in the darksome earth,
To prove that nothing could hide her worth.
And, oh! how many will tread on me,
To come and admire the beautiful tree,
Whose head is towering towards the sky,
Above such a worthless thing as I.
Useless and vain, a cumberer here,
I have been idling from year to year;
But never from this shall a vaunting word
From the humbled Pebble again be heard,
Till something without me, or within,
Can show the purpose for which I 've been!"
The Pebble could not its vow forget,
And it lies there, wrapped in silence, yet.

ON THE DEATH OF A BEAUTIFUL BOY.
BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.

I saw thee at thy mother's side, ere she in dust was laid,

And half believed some cherub form had from its mansion strayed;

But when I traced the wondering wo that seized thy infant thought,

And 'mid the radiance of thine eye a liquid crystal wrought,

I felt how strong that faith must be to vanquish

nature's tie,

And bid from one so beautiful to turn away and die.

I saw thee in thy graceful sports, beside thy father's bower

Amid his broad and bright parterre, thyself the fairest flower;

And heard thy tuneful voice ring out upon the summer air,

As though a bird of Eden poured its joyous carol there:

And lingered with delighted gaze, to the dark future blind,

While with thy lovely sister's hand thine own was fondly twined.

I saw thee bending o'er thy book, and marked the glad surprise,

With which the sun of science met thy sparkling eaglet eyes;

But when thy deep and brilliant mind awoke to bold pursuit,

And from the tree of knowledge plucked its richest, rarest fruit

I shrank from such precocious power, with strange, portentous fear,

A shuddering presage that thy race must soon be finished here.

ject is treated considerably in detail, and with a variety and felicity of illustrations by quotation and historical anecdote. The sentiments are those of a moralist and a patriot, and the style that of a gentleman and a scholar. Towards the close, there is a well-deserved notice of the claims of an individual, whose efforts and achievements in the cause of his country, "will carry him forward on the stream of time, with a reputation ever gathering, and the triumphs of a distinction that will never die." There is a good deal of truth in the remark near the close of the oration. "The advantages of education are liable to be under-rated by the very freeness and contiguity of the privileges held forth to the people: knowledge is in danger of growing more superficial, by reason of the multiplicity of books and periodical publications ;" and there is good sense in the advice which follows "Let literary men apply the corrective, and see that, so far as in them lies, the republic of morals and of letters, sustain no detriment."

An Address delivered as the Introduction to the Franklin Lectures, in Boston, November 14, 1831. By Edward Ev

erett.

This address is marked by that perspicuity and simple elegance which characterize the productions of its distinguished author. The thoughts are natural, yet striking, and the illustrations forcible and happy. The principal topics are the importance of knowledge-the mastery which it has given man over the elements and inferior animalsthe opportunities which all enjoy of acquiring it, who are so disposed. The debasing effects of ignorance are powerfully shown in a paragraph quoted from a foreign journal, describing the outrages committed by the peasants in Hungary, in consequence of their belief that the Cholera was occasioned by poisoning the wells. The young aspirant after knowledge is exhorted to persevere by the high motives which should operate upon one who lives in a country, where success in life depends altogether upon personal qualities, and by the examples of men, who have worked their way up, by diligence and industry, from inferior stations to the highest rank in society.

We extract a paragraph at random, as a specimen of the clearness and beauty of the style.

It is through mind, that man has obtained the mastery of nature and all its elements, and subjected the inferior races of animals to him

self. Take an uninformed savage, a brutalized Hottentot, in short any human being, in whom the divine spark of reason has never been kindled to a flame; and place him on the sea-shore,

life, the properties and treasures of the natural world, the aid of inferior animals, and even our own physical powers.

as if the fountains of the deep were broken up. Did you not know, from actual experience, that man, by the cultivation of his mind, and the application of his useful arts, had actually constructed vessels, in which he floats securely on the top of these angry waves, you would not think it possible that a being, like that we have mentioned, could for one moment resist their fury.. It is actually related of some of the North-American Indians, a race of men, who are trained, from their infancy, to the total sup pression of their emotions of every kind, and who endure the most excruciating torments, at the stake, without signs of suffering, that when they witnessed, for the first time, on the western waters of the United States, the spectacle of a steamboat under way, moving along without sails or oars, and spouting fire and smoke, they could not refrain from exclamations of wonder. Hold out a handful of wheat, or Indian corn, to a person wholly uninformed of their nature, and ignorant of the mode of cultivating them, and tell him, that by scattering these dry kernels abroad, and burying them in the cold damp earth, you can cause a harvest to spring up, sufficient for a winter's supply of food, and he will think you are mocking him, by vain and extravagant tales. But it is not the less true, that in these, and in every other instance, it is the mind of man, possessed of the necessary knowledge and skill, that brings into useful operation, for the supply of human want, and the support and comfort of human

a selection of Articles from the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, and the Transactions of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, with twenty-six wood cuts. Edited by George H. Calvert with an Introduction by the Editor.

We have given, in another department of the Magazine this month so much space to the discussions of a topic connected with Phrenology, that an extended notice of the work before us would be a trespass upon the rights of the reader, who demands the usual variety in the subjects of our articles. The Introduction, by the compiler, is an attempt to explain, briefly, but distinctly, the fundamental facts and general principles of the Science-to facilitate the understanding of the Illustrations from the Journal, and to give a clear idea of what Phrenology is. The "illustrations" contain much curious matter, and will be read with interest by two classes-those who are converts to the doctrine of Phrenology, and those who examine them only to scoff at their advocates and supporters.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. The following letter addressed to the editors of the National Intelligencer, contains some novelties that may excite discussion. GENTLEMEN

That the squares of the periodical times of the planets are proportional to the cubes of the distances, has been considered as true. But this proposition, so much celebrated, and so much relied on in the science of astronomy, is true only upon the admission of the fact, that the planetary motions are equal. If their motions are unequal, then this proposition of Kepler is not true. But it is very true, that the periodical times of the planets are proportional to their distances from the sun. Squaring the times, or cubing their distances, is but useless erudition.

This proposition or law of Kepler, and which was sanctioned by Newton and his followers, if the motions of the planets are unequal, ought to have been-" the squares of the periodical times of the planets are proportional to the cubes of the distances, and the velocities of the planets in their orbits

respectively." If this proposition or law had been originally thus stated, it would have compelled the mathematician to bring into view the supposed inequality of the planetary motions; and, he would have necessarily discovered that no inequality existed, and that the proposition was not true, as adopted by Newton, and applied to his view of the unequal motions of the planets.

It has, also, been laid down as a law among revolutionary bodies, as the earth and moon, the sun and the planets, that if two bodies are of equal magnitude and density, the centre of gravity will be equidistant from both bodies; but, if they be of different magnitudes, the centre of gravity will be nearest the larger body. Now, this law, in balancing two bodies appended to the ends of a beam, is unquestionably true. But, can this law be philosophically applied to the earth and moon, or the sun and the earth?

The moon is at one time much nearer the earth than at another; and, consequently, is uniformly increasing and diminishing her distance; then, does

this centre of gravity as uniformly increase and diminish its distance from the earth also? If this is the case, this centre cannot depend on the magnitudes of the earth and moon. The weight or density of the earth and moon remain invariably the same; and, upon the balancing principle, their distances could be neither increased nor diminished without destroying the equilibrium. The diverging and converging paths of those bodies prove very clearly that they are influenced by forces entirely different from this species of balancing. Now, if this question is examined by the mechanical and mathematical philosopher, he will find that this balancing principle is altogether inadmissible when applied either to the planets or to their satellites.

It was, however, impossible for Newton to be correct in any part of his physical system, because he had given to the planets orbits which they do not describe. He formed a system upon data which had no existence. The orbit of the moon is beautifully concave towards the sun; and this is the case with all the planets towards that point, round which the sun is progressing. Neither the orbits of the planets, nor the orbits of the satellites, ever return into themselves. The phenomena exhibited by Jupiter's moons, corresponding exactly with the phenomena exhibited by the planets, is sufficient alone to prove the correctness of the view I have taken, and the entirely erroneous views of Sir Isaac Newton, as to the nature of the orbits described by the planets.

But my object, at present, is not particularly to show how extensive the errors of Newton are, but to draw the attention of American Mathematicians to the necessarily equal velocity of the planets, the inapplicability of the law of Kepler, and the impossibility of applying the balancing principle of Newton to the varying distances of the planets from the sun, and the satellites from their primaries. If, gentlemen, the sun was really a stationary body, then the physical system of Newton would still maintain the standing it has acquired in the learned world; but the whole of the phenomena of the planetary system goes directly to show, that this is not the fact. That other portions of creation, within our view, are not relatively displaced in consequence of the movement of the sun, is not a sufficient argument against the truth of the position. As we find one part of creation in motion, we must presume that the

whole is equally so. But the greatest obstacle which lies in the way, is the impression made on the mind of the mathematician, that the physical system of Newton constitutes the first link in the chain of astronomical discovery; and it is a matter of some surprise, to me at least, that when Wilson and others suggested the motion of the sun, they did not pursue the subject, and correct the diagram representing the view of Newton, Ferguson, and others, as to the orbits really described by the planets. If the Sun moves as Jupiter does, and as they contend he moves, then the orbits of the planets, as exhibited in the books, are entirely wrong, and the forces applied by Newton altogether inadequate to produce the phenomena evidently existing.

I shall hereafter draw the attention of the learned to the centrifugal force, and endeavor to show, that no such force can have an existence, as suggested by Sir Isaac Newton.

Your obedient servant,
R. NEWMAN.

Romney, Va. Sept. 1832.

MARSHALL'S PILLAR. It is matter of just surprise that so little has been said and written about the wild and picturesque scenery found in the western portions of Virginia. The amateur may here find united the wildness of Highland with the sublimity of Alpine scenes. Were these regions better known, they would scarcely fail to become the favorite resort of the lovers of the grand and beautiful in nature, and it is probable would not be deemed inferior, in point of variety and sublimity of objects, to the scenery along the Hudson or the St. Lawrence. The most prominent as well as stupendous object presented along the course of New river, is a cliff, a few miles above the junction of that stream with Gauley river, and known as Marshall's Pillar, a name commemorative of the arduous and successful exploration of that stream, by Chief Justice Marshall, in 1812. The same spot has sometimes been individualized as the Hawk's Nest.

Marshall's Pillar is situated in a curve of the river which flows at its base, and is one of the highest and most rugged points of Gauley Mountain. It is one unbroken battlement of rocks, rising from the water's edge to the stupendous height of eight or nine hundred feet. Its position at the point being somewhat insular and prominent, it very justly merits the appellation of Pillar.

From the verge of this dizzy height, the river may be seen above and below through the vista formed by its rugged sides, for a considerable distance, and until its agitated current seems lost in the contraction of the mountains. Along this deep and narrow channel, at a velocity almost unequalled, and with a deafening tumult, flows something more than one half of the water forming the Kanhawa river. Seldom does Nature present a grander or more variegated spectacle to the eye, than is

afforded from the summit of this cliff. The tumultuous rush of water, with its surface crested with foam, the frowning and embattled cliffs that rise on either side, and delineate its course, the deep verdure of the evergreen that overhangs the precipices, and crowns the summit of the adjacent mountain, form a tout ensemble, which, for beauty and sublimity, is not easily surpassed. None approach it without a feeling of indescribable awe, or leave it without emotions of deeply gratified feeling.

In Detroit, Sept. 13, the Rev. GABRIEL RICHARD. Mr. Richard was born at Saintas, in France, on the 15th Oct. 1764. His father was a gentleman of distinction, and his mother a descendant of the learned Bossuet. He was educated at the college of Angiers, and received ecclesiastical orders at the Catholic Theological Seminary of Paris, in 1790. On account of the Revolution he left his native land, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Emery, for America, where he had conferred upon him, previous to his departure, the appointment of Professor of Mathematics in St. Mary's College, at Baltimore. Shortly after, he was called as a Missionary, and sent to Kaskaskias, Illinois, to preach to the Indians. Six years were devoted to this useful and perplexing employment with the greatest solicitude and with ceaseless industry; and his mind during that period, as he often said, seemed to have been too much enlarged and strengthened, to be ever spent in teaching the children of the forest the rudiments of education and of gospel freedom.

In 1798 his labors as a Missionary ceased, and he went to Detroit and founded the present church of St. Anne. The difficulties which he had to encounter were great, and by many of his people are too well remembered to require detailing. In 1809 he visited Boston, and while on his return he purchased a printing press and types, with which he commenced the publication of a newspaper in the French language, called the "Michigan Essay." Several numbers of this publication were issued; but there being no regular mails, and the population of the territory being scattered, he soon found it advisable to suspend the publication. He then commenced publishing religious books for his own church. The Laws of the Territory were published, and all the printing that was required was executed under his direction.

In 1812, after the surrender of Gen. Hull, he was taken prisoner and sent to Sandwich, where he remained in the discharge of his ministerial duties, and in redeeming those citizens who had been taken by the Indians. In this work of mercy his exertions were great, and many by his means were redeemed from the terrors and torments, which wait upon the death of an Indian captive. He soon returned to Detroit, and finding his country devastated by a foreigner, and a remnant of his people left entirely destitute of grain and provisions, he purchased a large quantity of wheat for seed, which he refused to sell for money,--but dis

.

tributed it gratuitously to the poor and destitute. In 1823 he was elected as delegate to Congress, where he faithfully discharged his duties, and his exertions for the Territory of Michigan, and his success, will long be remembered by his enterprising fellow-citizens. Notwithstanding his numerous acts of charity and duty, he faithfully and successfully discharged his duties to the church. He was at all times its eloquent and firm defender, using his logical powers with the greatest precision upon all important questions. He spoke and wrote seven different languages; and the extent of his reading and his finished scholastic education rendered him a highly acceptable acquaintance to every man of erudition. His attachment to American Institutions and the principles of liberty, has too often been manifested to need commendation. During the last summer, and particularly while the cholera prevailed in Detroit, he was successful in his endeavors to assuage the disease, and soothe the afflicted. He was often called from his bed to all parts of his parish to visit the sick in their last and painful struggle. He had no fear of the disease while attending those just ready to be borne to their long homes, and such was his anxiety for his parishioners that he utterly neglected his own health, and finally sunk under his exertions and the debilitating effects of diarrhoea. The disease assumed an alarming appearance on the 9th, and continued to grow worse until the 12th, when he was told by the Rev. Mr. Badin, that his end was near. He expressed his willingness to die, and wished that the blessed Sacrament might be administered; and immediately after he uttered these words-"nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace." Shortly after, he was asked if the extreme unction should be administered; he gave a silent consent. His pulse continued to beat until 10 minutes past 4 o'clock, A. M. when he expired.

His funeral was attended by a numerous concourse, and, by estimation, more than two thousand people, of all ranks and denominations, followed the remains of this profound scholar, and firm supporter of the Catholic faith, this worthy friend and true lover of American liberty, to the cold and silent grave.

In Fairfax, Vir. JAMES CALDWELL, Esq. This gentleman established the first newspapers ever printed in Fauquier and Culpepper.

In Norfolk, Vir. Oct. 13, JOHN E. HOLT, Esq. for nearly twenty years Mayor of the borough, and a gentleman of most estimable character.