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Amidst the difficulties that beset us, and in view of the dangers that threaten, in those eternal principles alone can we find safety; on them alone we may repose with an assurance that they will bear us through every peril. You have but little understood them, never practised them. From the foundation of the Government, you have been in the hands of an oligarchy, lead, duped, deceived by them. For forty years have they led you through the wilderness, and at length brought you to the point whence you started-taxation without representation. As you love your salvation, then, come out from among them. Have charity to believe they do not maliciously design your subjugation; pity and forgive, but eschew their ways, abandon their doctrines, their principles, their institutions, which are sinking you into ruin, and plant yourselves, ere it be too late, on the rock of the Constitution. What are the doctrines of the Constitution on that great question now before you— which for forty years has been the source of endless perplexities, and has at length come up for decision-which peculiarly constitutes the crisis of the times, and on which the great battle for independence and dominion has to be fought? As truth always is, they are few, simple, intelligible. They require that legislation shall not be perverted from the common defence and general welfare, to promote the interests of a few sections, classes, or individuals; that no more revenues shall be collected than are necessary for the economical administration of a Government limited to a few general and specified objects; that they shall be collected in actual values, gold and silver, and not in spurious promises; shall be safely kept by sworn and chosen officers of the Government, under high penalties for the faithful discharge of their duties; shall not be long retained or accumulated, so as to be a temptation to the officer to use, and to the representative to misapply them; but promptly employed for the purposes they were collected, and thence returned into the ordinary channels of trade. These are the principles of the Constitution, which must bring home conviction to every mind; these are the doctrines the present Administration have embraced as their own, on which they have staked their salvation, and now call upon the people to come up to their support and defence. And most assuredly will they come. Can any one hesitate? Is there one so besotted by the delusions of party, so entangled in its meshes, that he is afraid to venture on these simple truths? Then let him go; he is unworthy the name of a freeman. Afraid to trust the principles of the Constitution! As well might the Christian be afraid of his Bible. When the spirit of reformation comes upon the church, after long years of corruption and heresy, where does she look for guides to lead her through the mazes of a tangled labyrinth-to the practices and homilies of fallible, designing men, or to the oracles of inspiration? And in this day of political corruption and heresy, the spirit of reformation has seized on the people, and to the oracles of the Constitution must they look for their guides.

Resolved no longer to be duped and deceived, they are rousing themselves as one man, and coming forth to the battle; already do we feel the deep ground-swellings that precede the rolling of the mighty billows; even now do we hear their voice, mighty and terrible, like the voice of many waters. Onward they come, an innumerable host, eagerly pressing into the last Waterloo-field; aye-a more than Waterloofield-nobler principles, deeper interests, are staked upon its issue; such a field as was fought on the plains of heaven, when angel and archangel, principalities and powers, were assembled to prove the strength of Omnipotence over the prince of darkness. And shall the sovereign decrees of the same almighty lawgiver, holy and just, prevail on earth, is now the theme to be determined. Shall man, the workmanship of his hands, endowed with faculties divine, and made heir of immortality, live according to the laws of his nature, enjoy the birth-rights of his creation, tread the green earth, breathe the limpid air untrammelled, live by the sweat of his own brow, enjoy the fruits of his own toil, and as free of limb, so be free of heart; free to choose his mode of happiness, and to follow the impulses of that divine, ever-active principle pervading all things, existing in all natures, and strongest in his own bosom to subvert its

noxious qualities, to sweep away infection, and suppress all evil? or shall he live in servitude to his fellow man-till the earth, and bear its fruits an offering to a fellow worm; walk prone and cowering like a brute, employed as a tool, an implement or passive thing, without acknowledgment of right or interest in the end; his soul made abject, to be abused as selfishness may prompt, made weak in all good, and strong alone in evil? Shall this, the only spot on earth where man enjoys the high behests of Heaven, and marches onward to fulfil the laws of his creation, cease to glory in its privileges; the star of hope to all nations be blotted from the firmament; and the peace and good will on earth ordained, of God, be put far back unto generations yet unborn? These are the mighty interests thrown into the scales of perilous war-the precious jewels cast on the uncertain tide of this revolution. Conscious of the awful wagers staked upon the issue, the arch-enemy of truth and human kind, the grand hierarch of apostacy, plies every enginery that malice or the dread of falling fortunes can invent, to dupe and draw into his train states and principalities, and men of every grade, regardless of the means, as is his wont, so that the end may be obtained. Amid the many thousands who have fallen a prey to his seductive arts, and the shrewd appliances of private ends and selfish interests, there is one at least who proves a faithful Abdiel.

Among the faithless, faithful only he;
Among the innumerable, false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified!

Nor number, nor example with him wrought

To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,
Though single. From amidst them forth he passed,
And with retorted scorn his back he turned

On those proud towers to swift destruction doomed!

And who is this faithful Abdiel? The standard of a mighty State he bears, scorning to hold allegiance with apostacy; foremost in the rank he moves, bearing aloft a fit emblem of the State he is proud to serve; a goddess erect and calm, though treading chains and tyranny beneath her feet; a banner, which never waved o'er craven hearts or faltering lines; a surer harbinger of victory than the Prior's sacred relique, on uplifted spear, in Flodden field.

Renowned old commonwealth! Ancientest, purest, noblest, of the train of vestal sisters, who feed the flame on freedom's altar! When first the tyrant came, with holy zeal, she fought against him, and flung upon the breeze her thrilling war-cry, Give me liberty or give me death! which now is echoed back with cheerful voice by her thousand sons. First, to read aright the charter of human liberties, and pluck it from the grasp of ruthless enemies; again, she comes to save it from pervertion and the taint of treacherous friends. Ever prodigal of her wealth and of her sons, in liberty's defence;-pre-eminent she stands in deeds and sacrifice; and yet, above them all, she values most, virtue, honor, and the sacred cause of truth. Scorning selfishness and low ambition, one end alone she seeks-the common good. Who fails to study that, although her son, she will repudiate. Even now a lesson she is teaching, fraught with more of good to human kind than all the lessons of the schools-a lesson which the world must learn ere Government can rest on sure and just foundations—that law and truth, and principle alone, not feeble man, must be a nation's guide; that no distinction, eminence or service, can compensate the loss of those great truths of which she is alike the guardian and the foster mother.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

PHOTOGENIC DRAWING.

The most surprising invention of science since the time of Sir Humphrey Davy, is that of Photogenic, or, as we prefer calling it, Lucigraphic, Drawing, by means of the sun's rays, which his sagacious mind thought possible, but which he failed to perfect. His experiments, nevertheless, became the seed of new attempts, which resulted, by a wonderful coincidence, in a simultaneous announcement of the new art in Paris and London. The following particulars from the French and English papers will give some idea of this new discovery in the fine arts.

[From a French Journal of February.]

MR. DAGUERRE AND HIS NEW INVENTION.-For some time past, Mr. Daguerre's discovery has been the theme of much marvellous and contradictory report. We are happy to be able to state some facts relative to this really wonderful discovery. This artist, to whom the public is indebted for the splendid subjects of the Diorama, has for several years been engaged in making investigations into the properties of light, which he has pursued with all that ardour and patient perseverance which are the true characteristics of genius. After a series of observations made during nearly fifteen years, he succeeded in collecting and retaining upon a solid surface the natural light, and to embody the fugitive and impalpable, reflected on the retina of the eye, in a mirror, or in the apparatus of the camera obscura. Figure to yourself a glass, which, after having received your image, renders the portrait ineffaceable as a painting, with a resemblance, the most faithful to nature possible: such is the wonderful discovery of Mr. Daguerre.

But what, it may eagerly be inquired, is the inventor's secret? what is the substance possessed of such astonishing susceptibility, as not only to become penetrated by the luminous ray, but also to retain its impression, operating at once like the eye and the optic nerve, as the material instrument of sensation and the sensation itself? With this we are unacquainted. Messrs. Arago and Biot have made a report to the Académie des Sciences, of the effects of Mr. D.'s discovery, but they have not defined the causes of the same; they have merely given descriptions. We are indebted to the kindness of the inventor for a sight of a collection of master-pieces, designed by Nature herself; all we can do is to state our impressions. As each successive picture met our view, it was a fresh burst of admiration. What delicacy in the halftints, what depth in the tone of the shadows! how rich and velvety the effect of the parts in high relief, how salient the alto-relievo! One of the figures was a crouching Venus, seen under various points of view, each of which was a multiplied statue.— Nothing could be more magical. But, it may be asked-How do you know that this was not the work of some able artist? The question is readily answered. Mr. D. placed in our hands a magnifying glass of considerable power, and then could we perceive, as in the inimitable works of nature herself, all the finely blending lines, invisible to the naked eye. There was a view of Paris, taken from the Pont des Arts; the minutest details, the interstices of pavements and brick work, the effects of humidity from falling rain-all were reproduced as in nature. On viewing the same scene through an eye-glass, the inscription over a distant shop, altogether invisible on the model, was brought forward in its proper degree of perfection. In the same manner, by the aid of a solar microscope, the most minute objects were magnified several thousand fold; even gossamers floating in the air were rendered visible; and

nebulæ rendered with marvellous exactitude. From what we have here stated, soms idea may be formed of the immense importance of this discovery to the student of natural history.

Professor Morse, of New York, well known to the scientific world as the inventor of the Elective Telegraph, having been in Paris when Daguerre's invention was announced, had an opportunity of examining his specimens of this new invention. The following extract of a letter from Mr. Morse to one of the New York papers, gives some interesting particulars of the effects produced.

"They are produced on a metallic surface, the principal pieces about seven inches by five, and they resemble aquatint engravings; for they are in simple chiaro oscuro, and not in colors. But the exquisite minuteness of the delineation cannot be conceived. No painting or engraving ever approached it. For example: In a view up the street, a distant sign would be perceived, and the eye could just discern that there were lines of letters upon it, but so minute as not to be read with the naked eye. By the assistance of a powerful lens, which magnified fifty times, applied to the delineation, every letter was clearly and distinctly legible, and so also were the minutest breaks and lines in the walls of the buildings and the pavements of the streets. The effect of the lens upon the picture was in a great degree like that of the telescope in nature. "Objects moving are not impressed. The Boulevard, so constantly filled with a moving throng of pedestrians and carriages, was perfectly solitary, except an individual who was having his boots brushed. His feet were compelled, of course, to be stationary for some time, one being on the box of the boot black, and the other on the ground. Consequently his boots and legs were well defined, but he is without body or head, because these were in motion.

"The impressions of interior views are Rembrandt perfected. One of Mr. D.'s plates is an impression of a spider. The spider was not bigger than the head of a large pin, but the image, magnified by the solar microscope to the size of the palm of the hand, having been impressed on the plate, and examined through a lens, was further magnified, and showed a minuteness of organization hitherto not seen to exist. You perceive how this discovery is, therefore, about to open a new field of research in the depth of microscopic nature. We are soon to see if the minute has discoverable limits. The naturalist is to have a new kingdom to explore, as much beyond the microscope us the microscope is beyond the naked eye.

"But I am near the end of my paper, and I have unhappily to give a melancholy close to my account of this ingenious discovery. M. Daguerre appointed yesterday at noon to see my Telegraph. He came, and passed more than an hour with me, expressing himself highly gratified at its operation. But while he was thus employed, the great building of the Diorama, with his own house, all his beautiful works, his valuable notes and papers, the labor of years of experiment, were, unknown to him, at that moment becoming the prey of the flames. His secret, indeed, 18 still safe with him, but the steps of his progress in the discovery and his valuable researches in science are lost to the scientific world. I learn that his Diorama was insured, but to what extent I know not. I am sure all friends of science and improvement will unite in expressing the deepest sympathy in M. Daguerre's loss, and the sincere hope that such a liberal sum will be awarded him by his Government as shall enable him, in some degree at least, to recover from his loss."

Mr. Fox Talbot, an English gentleman, perfectly unconscious of Mr. Daguerre's operations, made the same discovery, and, after some years experiments, had succeeded in bringing it to even greater perfection than the other-when the announce ment in Paris of the French invention astonished Europe. It was accompanied by the expression of Mr. Daguerre's determination to keep his process a secret until he should receive a national compensation. Mr. Talbot immediately communicated to the Royal Society the results to which he had arrived, with a copious description of the experiments by which he had produced them.

The following are extracts from a letter addressed by him to the Secretary of the Royal Society, containing the particulars:

"The subject naturally divides itself into two heads, viz: the preparation of the paper, and the means of fixing the design:

“(1.) Preparation of the paper.-In order to make what may be called ordinary photogenic paper, I select, in the first place, paper of a good, firm quality and smooth surface. I do not know that any answers better than superfine writing paper. I dip it into a weak solution of common salt, and wipe it dry, by which the salt is uniformly distributed throughout its substance. I then spread a solution of nitrate of silver on one surface only, and dry it at the fire. The solution should not be saturated, but six or eight times diluted with water. When dry, the paper is fit for use.

"I have found, by experiment, that there is a certain proportion between the quantity of salt and that of the solution of silver, which answers best, and gives the maximum effect. If the strength of the salt is augmented beyond this point, the effect diminishes, and, in certain cases, becomes exceedingly small.

"This paper, if properly made, is very useful for all ordinary photogenic purposes. For example, nothing can be more perfect than the images it gives of leaves and flowers, especially with a summer sun: the light passing through the leaves delineates every ramification of their nerves.

"Now, suppose we take a sheet of paper thus prepared, and wash it with a saturated solution of salt, and then dry it. We shall find (especially if the paper has been kept some weeks before the trial is made) that its sensibility is greatly diminished, and in some cases seems quite extinct. But if it is again washed with a liberal quantity of the solution of silver, it becomes again sensible to light, and even more so than it was at first. In this way, by alternately washing the paper with salt and silver, and drying it between times, I have succeeded in increasing its sensibility to the degree that is requisite for receiving the images of the camera obscura.

In conducting this operation, it will be found that the results are sometimes more and sometimes less satisfactory, in consequence of small and accidental variations in the proportions employed. It happens sometimes that the chloride of silver is disposed to darken of itself, without any exposure to light: this shows that the attempt to give it sensibility has been carried too far. The object is, to approach to this condition as near as possible without reaching it; so that the substance may be in a state ready to yield to the slightest extraneous force, such as the feeble impact of the violet rays wher. much attenuated. Having, therefore, prepared a number of sheets of paper with chemical proportions slightly different from one another, let a piece be cut from each, and, having been duly marked or numbered, let them be placed side by side in a very weak, diffused light for about a quarter of an hour. Then, if any one of them, as frequently happens, exhibits a marked ad. vantage over its competitors, I select the paper which bears the corresponding number to be placed in the camera obscura.

"(2.) Method of fixing the images. After having tried ammonia, and several other re-agents, with very imperfect success, the first thing which gave me a suc. cessful result was the iodide of potassium, much diluted with water. If a photogenic picture were washed over with this liquid, an iodide of silver is formed which is absolutely unalterable by sunshine. This process requires precaution; for if the solution is too strong, it attacks the dark parts of the picture. It is requisite, therefore, to find by trial the proper proportions. The fixation of the pictures in this way, with proper management, is very beautiful and lasting. The specimen of lace which I exhibited to the Society, and which was made five years ago, was preserved in this manner.

"But my usual method of fixing is different from this, and somewhat simpler, or at least requiring less nicety. It consists in immersing the picture in a strong solu tion of common salt, and then wiping off the superfluous moisture, and drying it. It is sufficiently singular that the same substance which is used in giving sensibility to the paper, should also be capable, under other circumstances, of destroying it; Dat such is, nevertheless, the fact.

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