form of any other bureau not organized agreea- ular meetings. How does it concern the people, bly to said act." whether laws are observed or not? Has not the

stay at home, mind their business, and leave law to the lawyers, to Congress, and the President of the United States. Things have come to a nice pass, when people step forward, to wrest from Captains the unlimited power they have always enjoyed; but the navy is safe, in spite of such demonstrations and complaints; the Captains will retain all the arbitrary power, which they have always had, and exercised so much to the advantage of the navy and the country, as well as to the satisfaction of all subordinates, who, much to their credit, have obeyed in fear and trembling.

This resolution probably means something. It President got the Constitution and the Attorney is clearly inferrable from it that, in the opinion of General of the United States to guide him in the the meeting, the present "head of the Bureau of administration of the laws, when he wants help? Construction, Equipment, and Repairs,” is not "a These members of popular meetings had better skilful Naval Constructor," as required by the law, that there is some other Bureau, or Bureaux, whose chiefs are not of the kind contemplated by the law. I believe the chief of the Bureau of Construction, is a Captain in the navy, and not by profession a Naval Constructor, and, therefore, it is only reasonable to suppose he is skilful in a branch of science which he never studied. Nevertheless, he may possibly be an instance of those remarkable geniuses, rarely appearing, capable, by a sort of intuition, of being skilful in any thing he may be asked to do? If so, what right have these public meetings to be expressing any opinion on the subject? I dare say, I have heard, too, that some, nay all, of the Surthe head of the Bureau of Construction is some geons, Pursers, Chaplains, and Naval Constructors, gallant veteran of the "battle and the breeze," as and even the Naval store-keepers, have got some fully competent to plan and build a ship of war as absurd notion of "a bill of rights;" but I can tell the very best mechanic in the country. Besides, these gentlemen, it is vain to hope, because rights does it really require any skill to construct a ship naturally belong exclusively to Captains, either full which shall be a swift sailer, carry a certain num-fledged or in embryo. How preposterous it is for ber of guns at a given height above water, with these persons to ask for rank! Do they not see that the ammunition and stores, and men necessary to rank can only be conferred on the nobles and arismake an efficient ship-of-war? Is it not presuma-tocrats of society? We admit the intelligence, ble, that a man who has been all his life living in learning, and science of the Surgeons; and the ships, is of all others most capable of building high shop-keeping qualifications of Pursers, and them? Could not any man, who has lived all his their superior integrity and respectability; and the life in a house, build a house just as well as a pro- physical science of the Naval Constructors; but fessional builder or architect? This attempt to put we do not perceive that these afford any argument a skilful Naval Constructor in a place occupied by whatever for protecting them, by what they call a Captain in the navy, (some one perhaps who has relative rank, from the arbitrary power of those never crossed the ocean,) ought to be frowned who alone have rank and authority. The serfs of down by members of Congress, unless they are Russia have better sense they kiss the hand of the willing to see the navy ruined. Next we shall hear Czar, and never complain of the knout being disaof some meeting, Resolving that a Purser in the greeable. Let these dissatisfied gentlemen learn a navy is more likely to understand accounts, and lesson from the ignorant Russians. These gentlethe purchase of tobacco, sugar, bread, beef, and men are too thin-skinned by half; they ought to small stores, than a naval Captain! One great rise above being annoyed by the petty demonstramistake has been already made, by having a Sur- tions of authority, assumption, and ignorance, on geon at the head of medical affairs in the navy. A the part of those who are the nobles and aristoCaptain would have been much better suited to the crats of the society in which their lot has been place. If found necessary, it would have been the cast. Be content and passive, gentlemen, there easiest thing in the world to have ordered some is no remedy for you. Congress won't listen to Surgeon, as a clerk, to tell him what to do. What you, and if it does, won't believe your representacan a Surgeon know more than a Captain of the tions, because the opposite party will tell the memrequirements of sick men and of hospitals? When bers not to give ear to your nonsense. It is upa man is sick, does not every Captain know that he hill work all the way, and you had better give it requires medicine, and I should like to be informed up. Do not suppose that, because Naval Conwhether a Surgeon can possibly know more than structors, Surgeons, Pursers, and such civil perthis? It is one of the absurdities of the age to sons employed in the military, or rather Naval essuppose, that a Captain in the navy is not compe-tablishments of France, Sweden, Denmark, and tent as a skilful Naval Constructor, a skilful phy- | England, have an established rank relative to the sician and Surgeon, and an adroit Purser and ac- military officers of their navies, you in the Americountant, a man emphatically of dollars and cents. can Navy can claim any such protection. If you It is to be hoped Congress will be better inform- will calmly examine the matter, you will perceive ed than to listen to the absurd suggestions of pop- that there is a vast difference between the navy of

the United States and the navies of Europe: the

Earth's beauty must grow dim, first belongs to a republican people, who claim Before that radiance. Would'st thou pine away, equal rights for all: but the latter pertain to crown- Seeing its light grow fainter day by day

ed heads, to monarchies, in which there is a recognized aristocracy. Now, if such people as Surgeons, Pursers, Chaplains, Secretaries, &c., are admitted to have rights pertaining to military rank in the navies of kings and queens, do you not see how improper, how unnatural, and how unsafe it must be to admit any thing approaching to a rank or military consideration, for civil officers employed in the navy of a Republic? It is bad enough to allow all naval rank and power to a select few; and to extend it, simply as a protection, to a hundred or two more, would be totally incompatible with our republican principles. The ideas broached by the public meeting referred to, as set forth in the fanciful Resolution copied above, are too absurd

for serious consideration.

HOLGAZAN.

THE GIFT OF SONG.

Pause, mortal, ere thou seek
Unknowing what you ask, this mighty power-
The gift of song, a bright and fatal dower.
Yea, pause and speak,-

Know'st thou the price of tears, of heart-strings
riven,

The depth of wo, for this frail power given?

Thou seekest for the bliss

Of deep and sudden song-the fire and might
Thrilling thy spirit with a quick delight,—

Alas! for this

Would'st thou give up thy peace-thy calm repose,
And yield thy soul to deep and silent woes?

Know'st thou the quenchless love,
The depth of pure devotion, whose unrest
Must be a fire-flame feeding on thy breast,

With none to prove

Its fervent tenderness, or yield a tone
To satisfy the yearnings of thine own?

And thou must pour it forth

Upon the sky, the stream, the mount, the main ;
All lovely things, which give not back again
Its untold worth:

Alas! it is but mis'ry to possess
So deep a fount of wasted tenderness!

And the bright, glorious dreams,
Which visit the hushed soul, as with a ray
Of glorious inspiration-what are they
But fleeting gleams?

Marking the soul with radiance too divine
For earth--a light which never can be thine.

Before that gleam,—

And yearning for a home of purer birth,
With thy sad soul doomed still to dwell on earth?

And oh the flow of song!

The sudden gush of melody, which springs
From the full heart, as light from angel wings,
Intense and strong!

Know'st thou the burning tears, like drops of rain,
Wrung from the bursting heart in that deep strain?

Know'st thou the haunting fears,

The nameless sadness o'er a deep heart spread?
The perished hopes, the mem'ries of the dead,

The secret tears,

The weariness of earth, the yearnings vain,
Which pour their bitterness in that deep strain?
And fame-yea, what is fame?

The poet's sole reward-the price of tears
And silent sorrow, borne through weary years,
To gild a name ;

Alas! fame hath no healing for the breast
With all its weight of bitterness opprest.

And wouldst thou bear all this
To bow thy spirit to an early tomb-
The weariness and void, the tears and gloom,
To share life's bliss?

Then take the boon, unto thy soul 'tis given-
But hope not then repose unless in heaven!

Richmond.

TWILIGHT.

1.

O'er the wooded hills are showering
Hazy streams of melting light;
Amber clouds, the earth embowering,
Tinge the scene all softly bright.

II.

And the western sky is gleaming,

With a fading purple dye,
Where the vesper star is beaming,
Like a seraph's raptured eye.

III.

SUSAN.

'Tis the hour when memory's treasures,
Come like angels from the past;
Yonder joys and gentle pleasures,
Such as undecaying last.

IV.

'Tis the hour for pensive musing,
When Hope's visions, brightly clear,
All our future lives suffusing,

Drive away each thought of fear.

V.

Present, past and future blending,
In one tissue dimly fair,
Lull the soul, 'till night descending,
Like the light, they fade in air.

Greene, New York, 1845.

C. C. L.

A "SCHOOLMASTER" AMONG THE "DUTCH."

servations: "Haec terra valde ihi placet, utinam homines terrae similes!" I often received an affirmative answer to my enquiries, whether there was a vacant school in the neighborhood, coupled with an offer to accompany me to the trustees; this offer I generally accepted when made towards noon, for I had discovered that these dignitaries prefaced the negotiations by an invitation to a substantial dinner, but this very abundance of vacant schools prevented my engaging any where, as I wished to indulge my taste for rambling a little longer, sure to find employment as soon as necessity would compel me to accept it. Five dollars and fifty cents, however, could not last forever; at least mine did not. A fine morning, I found that the larger part of my last half dollar had gone to pay for my lodging, and, consequently, that it would be advisable to find employment during the day. As if to punish me for my imprudent delay, I was that day more unsuccessful than common. Every school in the neighborhood appeared to be engaged. I saw In the fall of the year 1834, I found myself, after the sun fast sinking towards the West, and had almany eventful changes, assistant-teacher of an ready resigned myself to spend the night "à la belle academy in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. On étoile," for want of the means to pay for my lodgcomparing notes with the Principal, I was con- ings, when I saw a short distance before me, a firmed in my belief, that his school, instead of pro-"town," i. e. a tavern, a store, and two dwellingducing him the golden harvest which his sanguine houses, each with its invariable accompaniment of a disposition had led him to expect, would barely furnish him his daily bread, and that, therefore, he would have to dispense with my services. I regretted this contingency the less, as it appeared to present a favorable opportunity for executing a plan which I had contemplated for some time, viz: to spend a winter in the "Dutch" counties,-a country which I had heard spoken of sometimes as a real Canaan, flowing with milk and honey," and sometimes as the Botany Bay, or rather, as the Siberia of the United States.

Olim...

"Oleia meminisse juvabit."

I was detained a couple of days in getting a new pair of soles on my well-worn shoes; but as soon as this important preliminary to a pedestrian tour was settled to my satisfaction, I set off, carrying with me-Caesan like-my whole fortune, viz: two shirts, a pair of woollen socks, wrapped in a handkerchief, and last, not least, five dollars and fifty cents, the nett profit of three months labor. The first part of my journey led me through a broken, hilly, and rugged country; but afterwards, the further I progressed, the more I was delighted with the appearance of every thing about me. It was an undulating, well-watered, and evidently a very fertile lime-stone region. The post and rail fences scrupulously kept free from briars and brambles; the large red barns, and clean, substantial dwellings; the fine appearance of the cattle: every thing denoted that it was inhabited by a thrifty, industrious race of "Dutchmen." Still, there must have been in the inhabitants, something which, in my opinion, counterbalanced these good qualities; for I find in my note-book, the following summary of my ob

VOL. XI-95

large red barn. I addressed myself to a thick-set, honest looking farmer, who, with his team, was wending his way towards one of the dwellings, and enquired whether he knew any school in want of a teacher.

"No," said he, "but we want a schoolmaster in our school, and if you are one, as you appear to be, and can teach an English school, you had better come and stay overnight at my house yonder, we'll talk about it after supper. I am one of the trustees," added he, with a dignified flourish of his whip.

I was accordingly ushered into a house, which, for neatness and cleanliness, would have advantageously compared with the habitations of our proudest citizens-and here, let me add, that nothing can be more erroneous than the generally received opinion, that the dwellings of the "Dutch" farmers are uncleanly; with one single exception, (to be mentioned hereafter,) every dwelling which I entered in that country, would have satisfied the most scrupulous in that respect. The wife, a good looking woman of about 30 years of age, received the probable "schoolmaster"-for as such I was at once introduced-with a droll mixture of real kindness and affected dignity: she obstinately refused to speak English to me, fearing, as she said, that I would laugh at her. The children, three in number, hung their heads, and cast upon me stolen glances, which betokened as much confidence and pleasure at my arrival, as a parcel of mice, shut up in a box, might be supposed to feel upon the sudden introduction of a cat amongst them. After

:

a great deal of difficulty, however, the eldest boy |piece of advice, which showed me that petty jealwas persuaded to shake hands with me, and we, ousies and heart-burnings could find their way, even viz the family, properly speaking, the "school- into the "Dutch" counties, I picked up on the way master," 2 laborers, 1 hired boy, and 2 hired maid- a short biography of the Judge. It appears that servants, sat down in true democratic style, to a he was the son of an honest "Dutchman," who, substantial supper of meat, pie, etc. The bever-anxious to distinguish himself, or rather his family, age was coffee, of a peculiar, strong taste, which advised his son, (the Judge,) at an early age, to they all drank without sugar, and I found out after- to spend one winter in "the Jarsys," to learn Engwards that it was the general custom of the country. lish. The son went, assisted in feeding the cattle, Supper over, my friend, the trustee, proposed that etc., of a New Jersey farmer, in the morning and we should go together to the store, expressing his evening, as an equivalent for his board, and during belief, that we would there find his colleague, the the day, attended a school in the neighborhood. other trustee. We accordingly went to this "caffé This plan of getting an "edication," without subdes mille colonnes" of Gtown, but to no pur-tracting anything from the parental acres, now so pose, as far as the other trustee was concerned. much in vogue, was but little practised in those To make amends, we found, among a dozen far- days, and on his return, young B. found that he was mers, who, seated on the counter, empty boxes, etc., entitled to a place among the "Savans" of his were discussing their "long nines," or their short county. He was early appointed Justice of the earthen pipes, the Saugrado of the country, whose Peace, and a few years afterwards, assistant Judge. immense erudition is probably to this day a matter The courts in Pennsylvania consist of a presiding of amazement to the unsophisticated farmers. He Judge, appointed from the body of the lawyers, was holding forth on politics when we entered, but and of two assistant Judges, appointed from the as soon as he was informed that I was a candidate citizens. Judge B. was also a kind of notary for the "Octagon Schoolhouse," he quit the sub- public; he wrote deeds, wills, etc.; but at the time ject, and with several flourishes of rhetoric, mod- that I made his acquaintance, his reputation, in that estly told us that he was a prodigy of erudition, respect, had suffered considerably from the followthat he spoke Latin and French as well as "Dutch," ing occurrence. An old bachelor, in the neighthat a Doctor who did not speak French was not borhood of Gtown, thinking that he had just worth a fig, and that he had just received a new cause of complaint against his nephews, applied to French work, Byecallavie, which explained how Judge B. to write his will, and left by it the whole to cure all diseases, and which he would show us of his property to some third person. When, at when we came to his house. A few days after-the death of the old bachelor, the will was opened, wards I saw the book; for he really had one-it it was found that the deceased, a plain farmer, who was Bichat, la vie et la mort!" The most ludi- had never in his life been upon the water, styled crous part of the occurrence was, that, at every himself a "mariner;" Judge B. having copied new assertion, the "Doctor" applied to me," as a verbatim a form of a will which he found in learned man," to corroborate it by my testimony," Everybody his own Lawyer," or some other and not to confess my entire ignorance of what he was talking about,-a confession which I felt would be fatal to my prospects, I was compelled to asOn our return to the house, I was conducted to a chamber which, from its appearance, I rightly concluded must be the state-room of the house. The furniture of it was a singular medley of fine, old, well-preserved, prim-looking articles, and of modern gew-gaws; the floor was covered with a rag carpet, but the bed was rich and tasteful far beyond anything I had anticipated.

sent.

66

book, in which the person making his will is supposed to be a mariner-an expression which the Judge probably thought to be some law term. This circumstance, and some eccentricities in the habits of the deceased, induced the nephews to endeavor to set aside the will, greatly to the detriment of Judge B.'s character as a scrivener.

We found this Solomon in a more gracious mood than we had expected, thanks to an early visit of my friend Æsculapius, who-probably to secure a good endorser of his assertions-had represented me as the "beau idéal" of wandering "shoolmasters."

The next morning, after breakfast, my friend, the trustee, and myself, started for the residence of his colleague, Judge B. On the way he informed Judge B. accordingly received me as a man, me that I must not be too positive of a favorable whose importance was but little less than his own; reception, as probably his colleague would feel of- and after a lengthy discussion between the trus fended that I had not addressed myself to him first, tees and myself,-they insisting that I should reand that he, (Trustee No. 1,) would, out of kind-ceive, as compensation from every scholar, 3 cents ness to me, advise me, if I wished to have peace, for each day of actual "attendance at school," never to tell the Judge what I thought of his and that I should "board round" among the em"Johnny," who was an absolute numbskull, but whom ployers; and I bargaining for half a dollar a month the Judge had the weakness to believe as "smart" for each scholar from the day the school opened. as his, (Trustee's No. 1,)" David." Besides this to the first of April, and that the employers should