formation from him, nor did they, until the letter came which simply stated the day upon which he should return.

Such is the nature of man; thus can his high and aspiring soul be reduced, and brought down to seek for enjoyment in beastly gratifications. Thus can the heart that once looked with a hopeful eye to the high and enobling situations in life, be humbled, be degraded to that condition, in which it will cen

isfaction of depraved appetites. Thus too are the hopes of parents, their highest and most pleasing hopes, dashed forever to the earth, and afflictions brought upon them by the misconduct of a child.

poverty stood before him with all its horrors. Dissipation, the balm to which he had flown for relief in his sorrows, was weighing down Augusta had completed her task of prepar- his spirits, and undermining his health. He ation,and was sitting impatiently upon a little was in a land of strangers, where no one would grassy bank in the garden, often casting a aid him in his embarrassments. Overpowered wishful eye along the road by which her broth- at the recollection of what had passed, and er was to come, when a person, clothed in the thoughts of his present woes, he fled from rags, of a mean and beggarly appearance the city, and from that time henceforward, walked slowly up the hill. He cast his eyes until the hour of his arrival at the home of around him with an appearance that indicat- || better years, he had been wandering around ed joyful recollections associated with the the country, an outcast from society, with scenery around him. He approached Augus- nothing to sustain nature, or shield him from ta, but frightened at his miserable dress and the storm, save that which had been granted ghastly features, she rose and retreated with by the generous hand of charitable humanity. a hasty step,into her decorated parlor. The beggar followed unceremoniously into the house and seating himself, sat for a while in silence. At length, throwing off his shabby hat which had been drawn far over his emaciated face, and heaving a deep and heart-born sigh,|| he groaned out in his bitterness of spirit, "O|| my father, O, my mother! and have you for-tre its most ardent, its only wishes in the satgotten your son?" This was the rousing of those tender feelings which had long slumbered in the forgotten recesses of his heart. But its utterance was now the presage of a mighty conflict. The mother gazed with an eye of agony upon the stranger's pallid form, and perceiving some faint traces of the lineaments of her beautiful boy, she sank, breathless to the floor, while the father, the hoary sire, sat gazing mute and motionless upon the relic of his son. His sorrows too deep, too profound to reach the lips for utterance. His were hopes and expectations too tenderly cherished to be thus struck to nothingness, without some powerful struggle of human nature. Where was now the bloom which health and youth and beauty had stamped upon his cheek? Their last faint traces had been eradicated by disease. Where was the buoyancy of spirit which had nerved his limbs in by gone years, and made him strong and lovely in his father's sight? It had been broken down by decay, hastened || on prematurely, by beastly habits of dissipation. His story, although fraught with all the incidents which are sorrowful to mankind,may be related in a few words. After having left his home he engaged himself as clerk to a coasting vessel, sailed from Boston, and after touching and trading at the numerous intermediate ports, at length arrived at New Orleans. Here he relinquished his office and concluded to seek his fortune in that city. He had not however, been many months in this situation, ere he was lured, by deceitful friends, to those midnight haunts of vice and dissipation, where high-handed roguery and villainy are carried to their utmost extent; where the schooled gambler shielded by the mitigating term of "play," soon brings down upon the devoted head of his antagonist, poverty and ruin, with all their direful chains of attendant woes. A little while found Edward under such circumstances. Poverty, abject

Edward's mother recovered from her shock of sorrows, but only to mourn in anguish over the wreck of all that was manly in her offspring. The father too, deplored the situation of his eldest-born with more than common grief, while Edward so thoroughly confirmed in his habits, continued in them until they proved too powerful for his constitution, and brought him to a premature grave, at that season of life, in which, bad he followed another course, he might have tasted all that is good and great and noble in the world.

CLARENCE.

INFLUENCE OF FEMALES.

The vain, ambitious and noisy, who make speeches, and raise the dust, and figure in the papers, may fancy that knowledge will die with them; and the wheels of nature intermit their revolutions, when they retire from them. They may take to themselves the unction and importance of the fly, that fancied it turned the wheel, upon which it only whirled round. But the fair, that keep cool and in the shade, with unruffled brows, kind hearts, and disciplined minds at home, that are neither elevated much, nor depressed; that smile and appear to care for none of these things, these, after all, are the real efficients, that settle the great points of human existence,Man cannot stir a step in life to purpose without them. From the cellar to the garret, from the nursery to the market place, from the cabin to the president's chair, from the craIdle to the coffin, these smilers, that, when they are wise, appear to care so little about the moot and agitating points of the lords of creation, in reality decide and settle them.

Our first and absorbing impressions are from our mothers. They lay the unchangeable foundations of that character, that goes with man through life. The efficiency of maternal instructions transcends all the rest. All the stamina of temper and thought are from them. There are a number of distinct epochs of the exertion of this influence. They rule us at the period of blond tresses, and the first develope ment of the rose. They fetter us alike before and after marriage: that is if they are wise, and do not clank the chains ostentatiously, but conceal the iron. They rule us in maturity. They rule us in old age. No other hand knows the tender, adroit and proper mode of binding our brow in pain and sickness. They stand by us in the last agonies with untiring and undismayed faithfulness.They prepare our remains for the last sleep. They shed all the tears of memory, except those of mocking eulogy.

Flint's Western Review.

THE HUMORIST.
[Boston Spectator.]

A BACHELOR'S OLD AGE.

when you wax a little more lanthern-jawed, the very servants cast their eyes upon your || visage, and then stealthy glances toward the coat in which your pocket book bivouacs; and when your eyes shall have become glazed, they doubtless will come in as left handed heirs of some of your personal property. There is no child to watch and weep-no female lip with its affectionate kiss to touch your damp brow of agony-no fair hand to smooth the pillow of dissolution-no tear of sincerity to water the sod when it shall rest on your bosom; but all of the hereafter of this world, is, to have some vile speller with a chisel as broad as his forehead, cut out upon a slate stone, to be placed at your head, your epitaph as follows:

Hear lies the boddy of
ichabod singletown who
lived respected & dyed

lame-hen-ted. Haged sixty 1.

But there are deeper causes of lament appertaining to the life, old age, and death of a bachelor. He dies the last link in the chain of an existence which has especially been handed down to him for a continuance; he has declined to exercise the duties, to answer the responsibilities, and to participate in those pleasures, which life has presented to him.The cup of consolation, offered to him by his Maker, has been rejected, and by his own act, at the hour when it was most needed he has deprived himself of the reviving draught it contained. His course, however gallant it may have been through the waters of existence, leaves no trace behind. Those kindly affections which entwine themselves around every fibre of the heart of a husband, to him are unknown. He stands in old age, a pyramid on the desert-around it desolation-within it death.

Go get wives-act as I preach and not as I have practised.

ICHABOD.

At the request of two graceless favorites of mine, who, when urchins, were as much my pets as are now my cat and dog, I have attempted to give a description of the fag end of a bachelor's life. Time, when we first attempted to pull his flowing beard, in the young days of our existence, when our blood gallops through our veins with a swift and healthy flow, then looks like a respectable, decent old gentleman, with sugar-plums in both pockets. But in after years, when gray hairs and night-caps, gout and peevishness, take the place of strength, and the worship of Dan Cupid, he changes his appearance to a miserly old rascal, who covets all of your pleasures, and even life itself. A young bachelor is like a stout ship in ballast, riding merrily over the billows of pain and wo, and should he go down to the caverns of death,his loss is little felt by the owner, and but few DOMESTIC RESTRICTIONS. besides are affected by the catastrophe. But Under this head I would embrace the influin the latter part of his life he resembles some- ence of the sex. If judiciously and earnestly what, that same ship stripped of its rigging, a exerted, it would be very great: but I am perishing nuisance in the dock of society.- sorry to say, that in general it is not. There is something ludicrous in the situation of men, both married and single, seldom frown our corps, when we have arrived at the age upon our intemperance, in its early which of sixty. If we have a little property, we are are its only curable stages,-however they daily reminded of the uncertanty of life, and may detest its confirmed and loathsome shape. convenience of a will, with an inuendo, that || Every young woman of sense and virtue, inthe adviser is a particular friend of ours.- stinctively shrinks from the idea of marrying a Missionaries, Bible societies, interested fif- man of suspected integrity, or manners, vulteenth cousins, and would-be-heirs, are haunt- gar in comparison to her own; and why should ing you by night and by day,-hollow heart- she not take exception to that which is still ed kindness, and the treacle of flattery, are more portentous? To that which destroys lavished upon you against the stomach of honor and refinement, and brings in its train your sense." Should you take cold, physic by such woes, as neither dishonesty nor rudeness quantity is arrayed before you, or if caught can originate? If the parents and daughter napping, poured down your throat, as one would avoid trusting a suitor, who has been would drench a horse. A little father on, once convicted of drunkenness, they would do

་

Wo

more to promote the temperance of young men, than all the moralists and declaimers of the age.

She

of one attempt, but pass to another, try-
ing all things, and holding fast that which
is good. Thus rising in her energies with
the growth of his vice, and adapting her
means, as far as possible, to his peculiari-
ties of temper and disposition, she must, at
different times and under various circumstan-
ces, entreat him with exhortations, confound
him with arguments,-alarm him with conse-
quences,-reproach him with injustice,-over-
whelm him with the tears of embittered love!
Let her not be alarmed at this advice.
has nothing to fear, and something to hope,
from a determined course. Her husband,
knowing her to be right, and being conscious
that he is wrong, will be compelled to respect
her in the midst of his irritation: and while he
might turn with contempt from the sighs of
weakness, may cower beneath the remonstran-
ces of indignant love. There is power in the
stern voice of woman's heart; and no husband
not brutal nature, or from vice, can set at
nought her firm resolves in the cause of duty.
When pressed to extremity, her re-action has
stricken terror into him, who till then never
felt alarm.

Endowed by her Creator with this peculiar power, the sustaining principles of her sex's dignity it is her duty to sustain it. What is she a bond-woman, or a beast of burden? Is she to cater with his appetites,and waste her days, in servitude to his stormy passions? Was it for this that she departed from the mansion of her ancestors, and relinquished the endearing protection of her father's and

brothers?

The young wife, however, rests under the heaviest responsibility. It is she who has the deepest stake in her husband's habits, and may exercise over them the greatest power.She ought, therefore, to study this subject thoroughly, and take her stand at an early period in a spirit of mild but dauntless resolution. Her motto should be that of the Roman moralist: Resist the beginnings. The Custom may be broken up, but the habit is nearly indestructible. Whatever is done, should be done quickly; but it must be done skillfully. It is necessary that she should retain her husband's affection, while she opposes his propensity to intemperance,- -a delicate, but in many cases not an impossible task. In proportion as she discovers an increasing necessity for her interference, she should display a deeper affection, -as her object is not to punish but to preserve. She must render home more and more attractive to him; and seek to establish with him a closer and dearer companionship. She must not withdraw from her female friends; but by every practicable means unite her husband with herself, in the enjoyment of their society; for no man would desire or dare to become a drunkard in the midst of virtuous women.But while she does all this, and much more, she ought not, even for a single moment, to forget the object in view; nor so speak or act, as to make her husband suppose her indifferent to his failing. She must never, by word or deed, sanction the daily use of morning drams; nor look, as, I am sorry to say, she too often does, with levity, on his first frolicksome indulgences in company. Under every aspect it can assume; by whatever name it may be called in spite of all his plausible pretexts, and in the face of the most honorable examples to bear him out, she must frown upon every excess. When he comes home, in season, but inebriated, she should receive him with sadness and reserve; and let him, if he choose, revenge himself by returning to the scene of his dissipation; he will at last make reappearance sober. At other times when he remains away, she should not retire to rest but, in a feeling of desperation, watch out the longest nights; that he may be touched by the anguish of her spirit, and dismay-ple assert, either as a matter of fact or as a ed by the firmness with which she has resolved to make no compromise with his failing.If no amendment takes place under this simple method, the case is obstinate; and she should prepare for every thing, but early acquiescence. It will be due time for this, when all the means within her reach have been employed without avail. Before that state arrives, her activity should be ceaseless, and her efforts be directed with all the sagacity she can summon into her service. She must not be discouraged at the inefficacy

:

Was it for this she stood before the altar, and exchanged vows of fidelity and love? Is she not rather in many respects a co-equal, with rights and dignities not dependent on the will of her husband? If her sphere of action be more limited than his, is she not a free agent within her proper circle, and should she not fearlessly maintain her inter

ests?

God has given her a desire for happiness, and the liberty to pursue it, according to certain laws; and should her husband's vices obtrude upon her narrow and rugged way, she must effectually dispel them, or relinquish every hope save that of Heaven.

From Dr. Drake's Discourse.

VARIETY.

THE WANDERING JEW.-Many grave peo

tradition handed down to them, that one of the Jews who was distinguished for an act of contumely on the person of Christ during the time of trial previous to the crucifixion, received as a punishment the doom of living until the end of time. He is represented by the credulous as wandering up and down the world, weeping for his cruel scorn of his Saviour. Rev. Mr. Croly, in his " Salathiel," has profited by this tradition-and makes his everlasting hero this same personage.-Zion's Herald.

CHILD'S PLAY.-George Child is the author of a new play," A Daughter's Revenge."

MISERY.-To be placed at the head of a dinner table before a delicious piece of roast beef; company large, including some half a dozen ravenous children, who will eat nothing but beef; every one vociferous in praise of the viand, while you are kept constantly sawing at it with a carving-knife as dull as Parson Drowsy's sermon.-Mem. Thermometer at 90.

MOUNT ARARAT.-Nothing can be more beautiful than the shape of Ararat ; nothing more awful than its height. All the surrounding mountains sink into insignificance when compared to it. It is perfect in all its parts. No rugged features; no unnatural prominences. render it one of the most interesting objects in Every thing is harmony; and all combines to nature. Spreading originally from an immense base, the slope towards its summit is easy and gradual, until it reaches the regions of snow where it becomes more abrupt. As a foil to this stupendous object, a small hill arises from the same base,similar in shape,and in any other situation entitled the rank among high mountains. No one since the flood seems to have been on the summit of Ararat. For the rugged ascent to its snowy top appears to render the attempt impossible. No man certainly, has ascended it in modern times. When the adventures of Tournefort failed, it is not probable that any one else had succeeded.

ARABIAN DELICACY.-The extreme delicacy of Arab manners could not be better illustrated than by the following lively anecdote :

GUESS.-This word is often quoted as peculiar to the Yankee dialect, and attempts are constantly made to stamp it with derision by those who seize every opportunity to ridicule the manners and customs of the New England people. That it is more frequently spoken by the Yankees than any other people I would not pretend to deny, because I think it an evidence of their good taste to give preference to such an admirable word. It is almost the only word in our language that has always the same meaning, and awakens different associations; a kind of self-illustrating property that makes its fitness and application known "Among the numerous instances which we at once. GUESS! What child ever mistook observed during our stay at Bengazi, illustrait? What sage would ever disregard it? It tive of Arab character and prejudices, we may rouses curiosity and thus stimulates the mind notice one which occurred in the skeefs (or to exertion. It invites free inquiry, and thus entrance hall) of our house, where a select is favorable to liberty and literature. It checks || party of the inhabitants of the town usually arrogance of assertion, and thus represses the assembled themselves when the weather perviolence of party and of controversy. As a mitted. On this occasion, the women of Eng peace-maker it is more potent than an "IF" land formed the principal subject of conversation, and the reports of their beauty, which had reached some of our visitors, appeared to have made a great impression in their favor. One of our party then produced a miniature from his pocket, which chanced to be the resemblance of a very pretty girl, and he roundly asserted that every woman in England was as handsome. The first Arab of our party who was favored with the sight of the lady in question, started back in dismay and confusion; and all his worthy countrymen who cast their eyes upon the picture withdrew them, on the instant, in the greatest alarm, exhibiting the strongest symptoms of astonishment and shame. The fact was, that the young lady who had caused so much confusion, was painted in a low evening dress; and her face was only shaded by the luxuriant auburn curls, which fell in ringlets over her forehead and temples. Every Arab who saw the picture actually blushed and hid his face with his hands, exclaiming-w'Allah haram-by heaven 'tis a sin to look upon such an exposure of charms!"

indeed it now occurs to me that doubtless the prevalence of this word, and the feeling of respect for the doubts and deliberations it must occasion, have greatly contributed to keep the Yankee temperament cool, and prevent the necessity among us of having recourse to the pistol, to teach good breeding or command civilities. No word which could be substituted would supply the loss of GUESS.

"I reckon," the phrase of a creditor, and I always feel inclined to ask the person who uses it, how much I owe him, not a very pleasant question for a person destitute of cash.

"I think,"-false, and half of the persons who use the phrase never think.

"I believe," What business has a man to intrude his belief on me, when I merely ask him the distance to the next town?

But I guess,"-ay, that's the word. It has melody in its sound, modesty in its assertions, and magnificence in its promises. It is simple, sentimental or sublime, according to the object on which it is employed. It must also be considered poetical as it contains the essence of imagination, namely, uncertainty.It is philosophical because it invites to reflection. In short its beauty and utility are so apparent, that the Yankee who discards it from his vocabulary, deprives himself of a treasure, which "Greek and Roman lore can ne'er supply."-Boston Lit. Gas.

HOT WEATHER.-Last week, a weather weighing 110 pounds was roasted whole, at a party in Canajoharie.

DUNNING REPORT.-John Dunning was publicly reprimanded at Salem last week, for a disturbance in the street.