mencement of a life at sea, which he led for many years :

My sea going career has been something similar to the race that is daily run by many a follower of fortune in our numerous lotteries; one invests a tolerable handsome fund and draws a prize nominally equal to, or greater than the investment, but subject to a deduction of fifteen per cent.; he re-invests with the same success, till at last he has nothing to invest and nothing to lose.

I commenced going to sea with a tolerably large bag of dollars and reasonably high wages for one so young, being scarcely nineteen; the next India voyage the bag of dollars was smaller and although I wrote "able seaman" after my name, the wages were still the same as when I shipped as "boy." On the third voyage to "rich Cathay," I had no bag of dollars and rather higher wages; the fourth long voyage I had neither bag nor wages, but went out on a "lay," as it was called. However I lived well and had an opportunity of seeing a corner of the world, whose existence nobody at home had ever dreamt of, and at the expiration of ten months, was landed on the coast of Chili with a very scanty supply of clothes and eleven dollars in debt to the owners.

The following relates to Valparaiso :— The brig, to which I belonged at that time, lay quite in towards the bottom of the bay, abreast a long, level, sandy beach, with few or no houses near it. On this beach lay a poor, superannuated, broken down jack-ass, whom his master had driven forth to die, being too old and worn out to be of any farther service. He had accordingly strayed down to the beach where he had fallen down from weakness. I noticed that for two or three mornings, about sunrise, a committee of dogs, six or eight in number, regularly waited upon him apparently to ascertain the state of his health. Finding the vital spark still alive they would trot slowly off seemingly a good deal disappointed.

At last, one morning the poor borrico seemed to be defunct, his neck was stretched out and his head lay flat upon the sand. Presently a large dog cautiously approached and after walking slowly around him several times, smelling to him very diligently all the while, he seated himself as if to collect and arrange his ideas, and after another perambulation and smelling he appeared to have made up his mind that the jackass was "dead in law," a fact of which he immediately gave due and formal notice by a prolonged and melancholy howl. In an instant at least a hundred dogs made their appearance; where they came from heaven only knows, and commenced dissecting the dead body, at which they were so expert that in ten minutes not a vestige of it remained. One of these four-footed administrators might be seen lugging off a thigh bone, followed by half a dozen of the smaller curs that took occasion to give a tug to either end of it, now and then ; while another legatee, that had appropriated to himself the head, was transporting it to a place of safety with incredible labor and frequent stops.

Biography of Self-taught Men. With an Introductory Essay. By B. B. Edwards.

Mr. Edwards has done the public an acceptable service, and one that may encourage the solitary devotee of knowledge, under the most unfavorable cir

cumstances. To this effect the most encouraging book ever written, and one which has had influence over thousands, is Franklin's autobiography. But in this country, where so many men collect knowledge, without the aid of professors, and where the highest dignities of state are open to those who best understand the duties, a long list of selfeducated men may be found in our annals. Many of these, with biographie sketches, may be found in Mr. Edwards's book, though the materials are still abundant. The introductory essay is characterized by good sense. The following extract shows a perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge, that has, happily, many parallels in this section, where so many of our most intelligent men have, during a great part of their youth, been engaged in agricultural, or other active employments.

The following facts in relation to a gentleman, who is now a distinguished professor in one of the American colleges, will afford an excellent illustration for my purpose. The father of the individual alluded to, was a poor but intelligent man, gave his children a good common education, and also to some extent the privileges of an academy, which was situated in his native town. The occupation of the son was that of husbandry, especially during the summer months, being employed by some neighboring farmer, as his father did not own a farm. Early in life, he acquired a taste for mathematics, and never afterwards did he advance so rapidly in geometry and the kindred studies, in the same number of hours' application to them, as in the evening after ten or twelve hours of hard labor in the field. Having obtained permission to see some of the astronomical instruments belonging to the academy, he became particularly attached to practical astronomy, though he could gain access only to elementary books. Having made an observation upon an eclipse of the sun, for the purpose of determining the longitude of the place, le commenced the work of resolving the problem with only the general directions and tables in the common books of navigation; and although it cost him several months of se vere study, he succeeded in obtaining a correct result, except the errors of the lunar tables. He did not engage in the study of Latin and Greek, until after he had been interested several years in mathematics, and then, mainly because he found that he could not otherwise become a teacher. While occupied in these studies, he supported himself in part by occasionally surveying land, and in part by undertaking the business of a carpenter, having discovered that this art depended on a few simple mathematical principles, easily applied. The object which he now had in view, was to prepare himself to enter Harvard college two or three years in advance. He was for the most part his own instructer. The minister of the parish rendered him some assistance; but the whole amount of his recitations in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, philosophy, chemistry, and natural history, during the whole course of his life, thus far, has not been greater than the recitations in college for six months. Having looked forward with much pleasure to the privileges of a college, and having been nearly prepared to enter a junior class, a sudden termination was put to his literary efforts by the failure of his eyes, in consequence of applying too closely to the study of

the Greek language, during a feeble state of health. For the following year, he was compelled to abandon reading and study almost wholly; and from that time to the present-a period of sixteen years-he has rarely been able to read steadily, for one hour, without experiencing much and often severe pain in his eyes, sometimes threatening apoplexy. This affliction, though highly beneficial in its moral influence, was apparently fatal to all his literary plans, yet he could not quite abandon them. In order to obtain a subsistence, he soon after accepted the office of a deputy or assistant to the sheriff of the county. Feeling confident that he must entirely renounce the idea of obtaining a subsistence by literary efforts, and seeing nothing before him but a life of servile labor, he was induced to write and publish a dramatic performance of considerable length, with the hope that it would excite some interest in his favor, wherever his lot might fall. The composition, though bearing the marks of inexperience, contains some passages of true poetic feeling, expressed in powerful language. Soon after this event, he was very unexpectedly invited to teach the academy in his native village. To acquit himself in this new sphere of duty, he made great efforts. He now gave particular at

tention to classical literature. Finding that his health had suffered severely from previous ef forts, and from the consequences of the dreadful despondency through which he had passed, he was compelled to abandon mathematical and astronomical studies, though it was a most painful sacrifice. Providence, however, furnished a most delightful substitute. Natural history then first attracted his attention, and he soon found that he could pursue this study, without injury to his eyes, and with benefit to his health, in the intervals of severer engagements. These pursuits introduced him to the acquaintance of a number of distinguished gentlemen, in various parts of the country, who rendered him very valuable assistance. About this time, the honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Yale College. The only pecuniary aid which he ever received, during the course of his education, was ten or twelve dollars. Notwithstanding, when he entered on his professional duties, he had obtained a respectable library, and was free from debt. He is now in a station of great usefulness, and has accomplished several undertakings, which have conferred lasting benefits on the country. In the two words, INDUSTRY and PERSEVERANCE, is contained the secret of these results.

FLOODS. The winter which has just passed will long be remembered for the number of destructive floods that have occurred. The newspapers from various parts, for many weeks have abounded with melancholy details of the loss of property, and, in a few instances, of the loss of life. The following is but a faint description of the effects of the freshet in the Ohio river, but may be interesting as a record of some of the facts. It is an extract of a letter to the editors of the Magazine.

"Cincinnati, Feb. 15. My dear Sirs,Our city is deluged. The Ohio is higher than it has been within the memory of man, and is at this moment rising faster than at any time yesterday. It is a grand and awful spectacle. The water in Second-street is from three to four feet deep. Boats of every description, except steamboats, are floating over all the lower part of the city. Rafts, too, are hastily put together to rescue families and goods. More than a thousand persons must have been compelled already to quit their homes and fly to the high grounds. Small frame houses are drifted off in numbers. All the bridges in the vicinity are either covered or gone. The basement rooms of all the large warehouses and stores are flooded. All is tumult, hurry, excitement, distress. Thank heaven no lives have been lost. The water has risen gradually for

several days; about an inch an hour is now the ratio. It must be at this moment near seventy feet above low water mark. The current is fearfully rapid. An observation yesterday made it near seven miles an hour. A boat which came down yesterday reports a rise of five feet yet to come. We hear that all the villages above and below, on the river banks, are washed away; the inhabitants have escaped to the hills, and erected temporary shelters.

"The most prompt measures have been taken by our citizens to furnish a shelter for the refugees. The courthouse, the churches, and private dwellings, wherever there is room, will cover them until the waters subside. But whether they will find their small tenements, when they return to seek them, is a dubious question. Some certainly will not.

"Both fuel and provisions are scarce and uncommonly dear. Access to the city from every quarter is cut off, in a great measure, by the swelling of all the streams. Our only consolation is, that the distress cannot last long. The sources of the flood are not inexhaustible. The torrents are too rapid to flow many days.

"Mean time, I have seen no sad countenances. The universal expression is that of amazement. Men forget their own petty grievances, in the universal

sublimity of the scene. I have surveyit from an eminence, which commanded the whole view. I can only say that it is a miniature of The Deluge."

Another letter, under date of Feb. 21, to a gentleman in New-York, says"All the towns on the banks of the Ohio, from its source to its junction with the Mississippi, have been entirely or nearly under water. Very many houses have been carried down the stream; the country for many miles lies under water. No sooner did a few warm days appear in the early part of this month, than the rivers, which had been frozen hard for two months, suddenly broke up with a tremendous force, carrying destruction as they rolled their volumes of ice and snow along the shores, with a noise like the roaring of cannon. Steamboats as large as frigates were crushed like eggshells. Boats loaded with wood and coal were smashed to pieces in the different landings along the river, where they had been unexpectedly caught by the ice. Before this catastrophe had completed its work, the tremendous rains for nights and days incessant, like the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, melted the snows on the mountains, and the rivers, which had been full all the winter, not being able to contain the torrents that rushed into them from every quarter, overflowed their banks, and swept the plains of houses, flocks, and herds, with frightful violence. From one small town, forty-two houses have been carried off. Mills, hotels, warehouses, dwelling houses with their inhabitants, have passed by Cincinnati with the speed of the steamboat. Many wooden houses are gone off from this city; many upset and are lashed by ca

bles to trees. The richest farms were on the banks of the rivers, and many of them, nay whole villages, have been swept away. An infant alive in its cradle was taken up opposite Cincinnati, and a few days after, its mother, hearing of one being picked up, came and claimed her child. Three children were taken out of a house that was going down the current, and a large house, with several men and women in the garret, went by the city.

"In some of the warehouses the water is 60 feet deep."

The freshets which have swelled the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, have also been attended with immense losses of property, and several lives. At Schenectady, on the Mohawk, the ice dammed up the natural channel of the river, some distance above the city, on the

low lands on the south and east sides of the canal to the bank of the land on which the city stands, where it again found a passage across the canal, breaking through its banks in several places, and rushing with impetuous fury along the south bounds of the city, it demolished buildings, fences, and out-houses, and more or less injured every thing within its passage. About three o'clock an attempt was made to bring several women and children from a partly demolished building to a place of safety; when the boat which contained them sank. The scene of confusion was truly awful-the shrieks of the women, and cries of the children, together with the roaring of the water and the shouts of the men urging one another to assist the unfortunate, made the scene one of great horror. Two small children were drowned.

On the Hudson, near Stuyvesant Landing, the water having risen above twelve feet, the ice moved for about two hours, and apparently in one solid mass several miles in extent. During this interval, a most distressing scene was witnessed at the site of the upper light house, situate a mile and a half above the landing. This was a stone building, 20 by 34, and two stories high, with a mole surrounding it, four feet in height. The water had risen to the top of the mole before the ice began to move, which rendered the situation of the inmates truly alarming. Soon the immense field of ice above was seen to swing from its moorings, and coming down with irresistible force, struck the light house, which in a moment was made a heap of ruins. There were at the time, ten individuals in the building, four of whom were buried under the crumbling walls. Mr. Witbeck, the keeper of the light house, his wife, the daughter of Mrs. Van Hoesen, and three other individuals, escaped from the falling edifice, barely in time to save their lives. Those who perished, were two daughters of Mr. Witbeck, aged 15 and 13 years, and a son of Mrs. Van Hoesen, aged 14, and her infant child. All must inevitably have found a premature death but for the intrepid exertions of Mr. C. M. Beecher, to whose efforts the rescue of the survivers is mainly attributed. Mr. B. put off in a small boat from the shore to relieve Mr. Witbeck and his family from their perilous situation, but owing to some delay in arranging the furniture, &c. they were not prepared to leave the building until it began to fall-and then too late for some of the unfortunate inmates.

merely in the high estimate placed upon them by those who knew him best, but in the various books of Pennsylvania reports.

In Northumberland, Capt. JOHN BOYD, an officer of the revolution, and a member of the Cincinnati Society of Pennsylvania, 82.

In Beaver, Mrs. ANN LOGAN, 42.-Dr. SAMCEL ADAMS, at an advanced age, long a respectable inhabitant of Beaver county.

Maryland. In Rockville, Mr. JOHN PORTER, editor of the "Free Press." The deceased was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he was brought up to the profession of a practical printer. At the close of his apprenticeship, he went to Frederick, where he chiefly resided until he established himself at Rockville. About two years since he commenced the Free Press in Montgomery County, which he conducted with credit to himself and advantage to his party.

In Baltimore, OCTAVIUS TANEY, of the Senate of Maryland. Dr. Taney was a resident of Calvert county, where he has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine for many years he visited Baltimore about ten days previous to his death, and, was taken suddenly ill on the night of his arrival, and died on the 6th inst. in the 39th year of his age. His remains

were taken to his late residence, attended by a Joint Committe of both branches of the Legislature.

North-Carolina. In the vicinity of Fayetteville, at the advanced age of 75 years, Capt. WILLIAM LORD, a soldier of the revolution, and a Captain in the rifle corps during the last war. He was a man of warm heart and of strong feelings, which were always enlisted on the side of his country and her institutions.

In Burke county, at his residence on the Catawba, JAMES LACK, in the 99th year of his age. He was born in Pennsylvania; was out a wagoner in the unfortunate campaign of Braddock. He was among the first settlers in Burke; participated in the early struggles with the Indians, on that then frontier country, and was more than once compelled to abandon his home by their incursions. He was in Rutherford's campaign, and in the battle of King's Mountain.

Georgia. In Greene county, the Rev. Dr. FRANCIS CUMMINS, aged 81. He was one of the revolutionary patriots, and his name is particularly connected with the earliest Declaration of Independence; he was one of those who first asserted the Mecklenburg, North-Carolina, Independence, in May, 1775.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED.

By Gray & Bowen, Boston-The Life of Gouverneur Morris, with Selections from his Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers; Detailing events in the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and in the Political History of the United States. By Jared Sparks. In 3 vols.

By J. & J. Harper, New-York-Evelina; by Miss Burney. Being Nos. 21 and 22 of the Library of Select Novels.--Memoirs of the Empress Josephine, being No. 28 of the Family Library.

By John Doyle, New-York-A Grammar of the English Language, in a Series of Letters; intended for the use of Schools, and of Young Persons in general, but more especially for the use of Soldiers, Apprentices, and Plough-boys. To which is added, Six Lessons, intended to prevent Statesmen from using False Grammar, and from Writing in an Awkward Manner. By William Cobbett.

By Peabody & Co. New-York-Views of New York, and its Environs. Part IV. Being a Continuation of the Series.-The Odd Volume; a Collection of Odds and Ends, in Prose and Verse, Selected and Arranged by an Odd Fellow. 1 vol. 12mo.

IN PRESS.

By Cary & Lee, Philadelphia-A Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine; comprising Treatises on the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Medical Jurisprudence, &c. to be completed in 5 vols. 8vo. of about 600 pages each. In the American edition, all interesting details on the subjects of Meteria Medica and Medical Jurisprudence, omitted in the original, will be supplied. Much new inat

ter in relation to American Surgery and Medical Practice will be introduced; and for this ample materials have been promised. Full explanations will be given of all medical terms, especially those which modern discoveries have introduced into the nomenclature of the science, and without a knowledge of which, many of the works of the present day are almost unintelligible. At the termination of each article the most copious references will be given to the best writers on the subject, so as to enable the student who desires it, to pursue his investigations with the least trouble and the greatest advantage. Finally, the whole work will be carefully revised, and such additions made as may tend to increase its value, and to render it, what it is desired it should be, a complete library of the Medical Sciences.-The Nature and Properties of the Sugar Cane, with Practical Directions for its Culture, and the Manufacture of its various Products; detailing the improved Methods of Extracting, Boiling, Refining and Distilling; also Descriptions of the best Machinery, and useful Directions for the general Management of Estates. By George Richardson Porter.-A Treatise on Mechanics. By James Renwick, Esq. Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Columbia College, N. Y. 8vo. With numerous engravings.

By J. & J. Harper, New York-The Young Gentlemen's Book, containing a series of Choice Readings in Popular Science and Natural History; together with Retrospective Essays, Conversations, Literary Reminiscences, &c. 1 vol. 12mo. Saturday Evening. By the author of Natural History of Enthusiasm.-Abercrombie on the Intellectual Powers.