Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

tellites, and other tributary bodies;— these elements not in awful stagnation, but through the whole one Spirit incessantly operating with sublime, unerring energy,—a process going on which illimitably extends the fields of conjecture, as it slowly urges its awful way through this boundless range these mighty movements and vast operations. How stupendous the consideration! Suns so immeasurably distant, that the light of those which are supposed to be contiguous, is three years in traversing the space that separates them; yet these connected with each other, and innumerable others, on the simple principle of gravitation, these stars, so numerous, that in the small compass of half a degree, a greater number has been discovered by the telescope, than the naked eye can discern in the whole vault of heaven; and yet there is ground for the belief that the whole of these millions and millions of stars would melt into a soft tint of light, if supposed to be contemplated from some remote point of space. The

galaxy, (to which belong several stars of the first, second, and other magnitudes,) the cluster in which our sun is placed, if viewed from the bright nebula in the hand of Perseus, would probably appear as an assemblage of telescopic stars, ranged behind each other in boundless perspective. Were we to pursue our flight to that in the girdle of Andromeda,* it would diminish to a milky nebulosity; and, still further to extend our ideal flight, we should indistinctly perceive it as dimly revealed,—its light being nearly blended with the surrounding gloom, like those uncertain apparitions, which are only occasionally seen in the field of view of a powerful telescope, when the air is refined and serene. How grand is the consideration of the plenitude of space !—no awful void, no dread vacancy, no dreary solitude: incessant streams of light, from myriads of systems, intersecting each other in every direction, and bearing to the boundless realms of creation evidences of creative power, benevolent design, and universal dominion.

[blocks in formation]

LORD BYRON.

LORD BYRON's merits and defects, as a poet, have been largely attributed to the personal temperament that accounts for, and palliates, his personal career. The constitutional irritability which embittered his days, probably gave birth to the pride, sternness, and misanthropy of his style, its love of the darker passions, and its sullen and angry views of human life. But the error was often nobly redeemed by the outbreak of a noble mind, by touches of the finest feeling; flashes of sunshine through the gloom; vistas of the rosiest beauty, through a mental wilderness that seemed to have been

bared and blackened in the very wrath of Nature.

Like all men of rank, he had temptations to contend with, that severely try man.

Fortune, flattering companionship, and foreign life, were his natural perils; and we can only lament that, when a few years more might have given him back to his country with his fine faculties devoted to her service, and cheered by true views of human life, his career was closed. His moral system as a poet is founded on the double error, that great crimes imply great qualities; and that virtue is a slavery. Both maxims palpably untrue; for crime is so much within

*The nebula in Andromeda is visible to the unassisted eye, and has very much the appearance of a comet, for which there is reason to believe it has recently been mistaken.

human means, that the most stupendous crime may be committed by the most abject of human beings. And common experience shows, that to be superior to our habits and passions is the only true freedom; while the man of the wildest license is only so much the more fettered and bowed down. But on the grave of Byron there can be but one inscription—that living long enough for fame, he died too soon for his country. All hostility should be sacrificed on the spot where the remains of the great poet sleep; and no man worthy to tread the ground will approach it but with homage for his genius, and sorrow that such genius should have been sent to darkness, in the hour when it might have begun to fulfil its course, and, freed from the mists and obliquities of its rising, run its high career among the enlighteners of mankind.

DREAMS.

The exercise of the soul in sleep may be aptly compared to a musician who is so fond of his art that he chooses rather to play on his lute though half untuned, and at the inconvenience of making false music, than to suffer his fingers to become stiff by disuse.

THE CROWN ENGINE OF BOTALLACK. This is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary and surprising places in the mining districts of Cornwall, whether considered for the rare and rich assemblage of its minerals, or for the wild and stupendous character of its rock scenery. Surely, if ever a spot seemed to bid defiance to the successful efforts of the miner, it was the site of the Crown Engine at Botallack, where, at the very commencement of his subterranean labors, he was required to lower a steam-engine down a precipice of more than two hundred feet, with the view of extending his operations under the bed of the Atlantic ocean! There is something in the very idea which alarms the imagination; and the situation and appearance of the gigantic machine, together with the harsh jarring of its bolts, reechoed from the surrounding rocks,

are well calculated to excite our astonishment. But if you are thus struck and surprised at the scene when viewed from the cliff above, how much greater will be your wonder if you descend to the surface of the mine. You will then behold a combination of the powers of Art, with the wild sublimity of Nature, which is quite unparalleled; the effects of the whole being not a little heightened by the hollow roar of the raging billows, which are perpetually lashing the cliff beneath. In looking up, you will observe troops of mules laden with sacks of coals, for the supply of the engine, with their undaunted riders, fearlessly trotting down the winding path which you trembled at descending even on foot. As you approach the engine, the cliff becomes almost perpendicular, and the ore raised from the mine is therefore drawn up over an inclined plane, by means of a horse-engine placed on the extreme verge of the overhanging rocks above, and which seems to the spectator below as if suspended in "mid air." The workings of this mine extend at least seventy fathoms in length under the bed of the sea; and in these caverns of darkness are many human beings, for a small pittance, and even that of a precarious amount, constantly digging for ore, regardless of the horrors which surround them, and of the roar of the Atlantic ocean, whose boisterous waves are incessantly rolling over their heads. We should feel pity for the wretch who, as an atonement for his crimes, should be compelled to undergo the task which the Cornish miner voluntarily undertakes, and as cheerfully performs; yet such is the force of habit, that very rarely does any other employment tempt him to forsake his own: the perils of his occupation are scarcely noticed, or if noticed are soon forgotten.

MARCH OF IMPROVEMENT.

The Academic Society of Metz are forming a library of the books that treat of mechanics, agriculture, and general industry, which are to be lent

out to the workmen of that city. Similar institutions are forming in France.

ANCIENT VALUE OF BOOKS.

We have it from good authority, that about A.D. 1215, the Countess of Anjou paid two hundred sheep, five quarters of wheat, and the same quantity of rye, for a volume of sermons-so scarce and dear were books at that time; and although the countess might in this case have possibly been imposed upon, we have it, on Mr. Gibbon's authority, that the value of manuscript copies of the Bible, for the use of the monks and clergy, commonly was from four to five hundred crowns at Paris, which, according to the relative value of money at that time and now in our days, could not, at the most moderate calculation, be less than as many pounds sterling at the present day.

SERVANTS.

A fund has been established at Stockholm, for the reward of servants who have distinguished themselves by virtue and fidelity. The King has subscribed 1000 crowns, the Prince Royal 500, and the Princess Royal 300. Would an institution of this nature in other cities be attended by beneficial effects?

ENVY.

In a Polish fable entitled "the Miser and the Envious Man," the latter is represented as obtaining from the gods the favor of being allowed to lose one eye, in order that he may, at the same time, deprive the former of the only eye he had left!

EAST INDIA COMPANY'S FINANCES.

By the last annual account of the financial affairs of the East India Company, laid before Parliament, and made up to the 28th of May last, it appears that the territorial and political debts of the Company amounted to 12,019,6571. while the assets on the same branch amounted only to 1,759,3617. leaving a deficiency of 10,260,2961. The commercial debts, however, of the corporation are stated at 1,596,

3321. while the assets on the same account are 23,552,6081. creating a ballance in their favor of 21,956,2761. It should be observed that among the commercial debts of the company are placed the interest due on their stock and on the bond debt. The amount of the Company's bonds then in circulation, and bearing interest at four per cent. was 3,780,4751.; the bonds in circulation not bearing interest was 15,4171. The total balance in favor of the Company was 7,900,0881.

HOW TO CURE THE SMALLPOX.

In Abyssinia, where this dreadful disease is supposed to have originated, when any person is seized with it, the neighbors surround the house and set fire to it, and consume it with its miserable inhabitants.

The King of Oude has employed all the most celebrated Moonshees in collecting together ancient and rare oriental manuscripts, for immediate publication in the original languages.

IRELAND.

Dividing the population of Ireland into four grand classes, with respect to age, the last census presents to our view the following lamentable picture of the state of a country abounding with every means of industry, and with able and willing hands to cultivate it, in the most civilized period of the world :-Infants of 5 years and under, 1,040,666—one half, at least, badly clothed and fed. Children, from 5 to 15, 1,748,663-1,300,000 destitute of education. Operatives, from 15 to 70, 3,931,660-1,094,845 destitute of employment. Aged, from 70 to 100, 81,191-a great portion of whom are paupers. What claims for employment! What claims for education! not to speak of the claims of the aged and others, totally helpless, as to their own exertions, or any that their kindred (even where they may have kindred) can make for them. Something has been done in the way of employment and education; more is doing but a thousand times more still remains to be done.

OF THE

ENGLISH MAGAZINES.

THIRD SERIES.] BOSTON, FEBRUARY 1, 1829.

[VOL. 1, No. 9.

[blocks in formation]

WHILE Lower Saxony was oppressed and exhausted by the Austrian and Bavarian troops in the Thirty Years' War, the circle of Upper Saxony had been preserved for a considerable period from military outrage by the cautious or timid policy of the Elector, John George. At length the advance of the savage Tilly into his states, in consequence of his refusal to recede from the treaty of Leipzic; and the successive captures of Merseburgh, Naumberg, and other places of strength, compelled the Saxon prince to relinquish his temporizing policy, and to embrace the proffered alliance and protection of Gustavus Adolphus. This unexpected accession of strength determined the Swedish monarch to abandon the defensive system he had for some time pursued, and to advance immediately upon Leipzic, which had also opened its gates to the Catholic general. At this dreadful crisis, when intelligence of the rapid advance of Tilly had spread consternation throughout the Electorate, and the dread of Austrian barbarity overbalanced the hope of deliverance by the Swedes, I had been officiating several months as curate in the populous village of B. in Upper Saxony. The atrocious cruelty of Tilly at Magdeburg was still fresh in our recollection, and the consternation of the villagers impelled them to seek relief from incessant and devout attendance at church. The bells were tolled hourly, 41 ATHENEUM, VOL. 1, 3d series.

THIRTY YEARS' WAR."

and fervent prayers for divine assistance were succeeded by the sublime hymns of Luther, while around the portrait of the immortal Reformer, large tapers were constantly burning, as before the altar of a saint.

One day, while the congregation was singing with fervent devotion the fine hymn, beginning, "The Lord is a tower of strength," the church door was abruptly thrown open, and a dusty courier, in the Electoral uniform, rushed into the middle aisle. Immediately the organ ceased-the singers were mute, and every head was turned in anxious anticipation of some momentous intelligence. The stranger advanced rapidly to the altar, ascended the steps, waved his hat thrice above his head, and exclaimed in tones of loud and thrilling energy-" Rejoice, my dear fellow Christians, rejoice! The brave Lutherans have conquered

the battle of Leipzic is fought and won-7000 Imperialists lie dead on the field-Tilly has fled-and the great Gustavus Adolphus and his army have returned thanks to God Almighty on their knees."

At this joyful and unexpected intelligence every knee was bent, and every lip moved in thanksgiving; the pealing organ put forth all its volume, and the assembled villagers concluded the hymn with streaming eyes and grateful hearts.

About three weeks after this happy day, I was sitting alone in my humble

apartment, and contemplating with a grateful heart the improved condition and prospects of the great Protestant cause, when a stranger entered the room unannounced, and seated himself opposite to me in silence. His tall person was enveloped in a military cloak-his countenance was bronzed with exposure to sun and storm, and his eyes and forehead were overshadowed by a dragoon-helmet. I gazed for some time upon this mysterious intruder; but my earnest perusal of his features, although it roused some remote reminiscences, led to no satisfactory conclusion, until an arch sinile, which curved his well-formed lips, revealed my old friend and fellow student, Seifert. Joyous exclamations of Dear Charles! and Dear Albert! were followed by a cordial embrace, and many eager inquiries concerning our respective pilgrimages since our separation a few years before at the university of L. My surprise at this unexpected meeting was no little increased when my friend threw aside his cloak. At the university, he was distinguished by the classic elegance of his tall and slender person, by fastidious refinement of mind and manners, by his temperance, diffidence and taciturnity in mixed society, and by his unceasing devotion to study. I now gazed upon a robust and military figure, whose light yellow jacket and polished steel cuirass, announced the Swedish officer of dragoons. His former diffidence of tone and manner had vanished for ever, and was replaced by a loud voice, an air of military frankness, and an imposing self-possession, which however became him well, and developed advantageously his powerful and well cultivated understanding. I congratulated him upon his improved appearance, and upon the rank he had attained in the service of the noble Gustavus.

"I need not explain to you," he replied, with the air of a man who is not ignorant of his own merits, "by what process I have become a captain of dragoons. When the great drama of European politics grows serious, and the

thrones of princes totter beneath them, the sons of nobles, and the minions of kings and ministers, yield to the force of events, and give place to men of talent and energy. At the present time there are few field-officers in active service throughout Germany who have not carried muskets in early life. This rule holds good even in the Imperial and other Catholic states, which are preeminently aristocratic. Tilly and Wallenstein, although of noble birth, are sprung from indigence; as are also Bucquoy and Dampier. Johann von Wert was a peasant; General Beck, a shepherd; Stahlhantsch, a footman; and Field-Marshal Aldringer, a valet-de-chambre."

He now arose, threw open the window, and whistled. This signal was soon explained by the entrance of a tall blue-eyed and fair-haired Swede, who covered my deal table with a napkin of white damask, placed upon it a bottle of wine with two green glasses, and disappeared. Seifert filled two bumpers of costly Hochheimer, and exclaimed with glowing enthusiasm"Long live Gustavus Adolphus !"

"Since I have known this great and admirable man, Albert," he continued, "I have ceased to indulge my fancy by building models of superhuman excellence. My day-dreams are dissolved, and my understanding and affections are occupied by a splendid reality.

What has not the heroic Gustavus conceived and accomplished! A better man, in every sense of the word, walks not the earth; nor has any soldier, of ancient or modern times, made so many discoveries and improvements in military science. The Swedish regiments formerly comprised 3000 men, and were helpless and unwieldy as elephants. By reducing their numbers to 1200, he has enabled them to perform the most complex manœuvres with facility, and to move with the bounding energy of Arabian coursers. Four surgeons of approved skill are attached to each regiment Before the introduction of this humane and politic improvement, the wounded were left groaning on the field of bat

« ZurückWeiter »