after their emancipation from the sway of Rome, public opinion sustained the old custom of prolonged imprisonment, under many objectionable forms, as a supposed cure for vices which it was more likely to aggravate and extend. It is but a few year since imprisonment for debt was practised under the laws of this state, and many good men anticipated from its abolishment great public evils. But, as one of the practical results of the change, we were lately assured by a judicious friend in the country, that it has been a principal cause of the clearing of an extensive region in his neighborhood of the worst part of its population, by leading men of business to trust in their dealings only those who have characters worthy of confidence. Strange as it may seem at first thought, the idle and worthless, soon after the law went into operation, began to remove to states and territories where credit was habitually given on different grounds, viz.: because the debtor might be threatened with a prison.

The number of innocent debtors who have been thrown into prison has been very great, and, in many cases, there can be no doubt, the creditor has been the most culpable, and sometimes the only culpable one of the two. Credit may be easily granted, under such friendly professions, or even with such verbal promises, that the failure to pay at the proposed time may have been no breach of an express, actual promise. And in but few cases could imprisonment be rationally expected to secure the payment. The prisoner is deprived of his power to earn money.

Liberty is one of the things most essential to our happiness, and the love of it seems to have been so implanted in our nature, that nothing whatever can eradicate it. It rather grows than dies or fades by being counteracted. The longer we are deprived of it the more do we long for it. Yet enjoyment of liberty. is in a great measure ideal: for we have no desire to do a thousand things while we know we may do them, which we should long to do the moment we thought ourselves likely to be forbidden them. And, on the other hand, it is not the mere power to change our place which we might desire: but the enjoyment to which such change would introduce us. We may feel all the misery of imprison. ment even while we are at large in a

great town, or a whole country, if we are not able to reach some other, where our most valued friends reside: when, if in their society, we should enjoy sufficient freedom within a more limited sphere.

In this part of our nature the brutes seem to resemble us; and he shows signs of an inconsiderate mind, or an insensible heart, who is indifferent to the restlessness of a caged bird, or any other animal in a condition where it is discontented Many persons think themselves humane because they are cautious not to destroy life, while they are not regardful enough of what renders life valuable to its possessor. We sometimes find those, who, through the indulgence of some bad habit or evil passion, render their homes little better than prisons to some members of their families. How strongly do such characters contrast with some we have known, whose praises have been proclaimed by their fellow-prisoners, and who have done much to convert some of the dungeons of Europe into abodes of contentment!

Perhaps none of us could ever conceive the degree in which we love the liberty of motion: freedom to go where we choose, without being once deprived of it, and having it restored. The joy of release, like many other feelings, is indescribable. Though we have felt it in but a feeble degree, because after a very short imprisonment, we can say that it seemed in a measure different from anything else we had ever experienced. The period of life to which the recollection takes us back was an early one, and the impression made was deep and lively. Arrested near Paris for distributing Bibles by the road-sides, we were committed to the prison of the Conciergerie, and, after a short incarceration in that place, so notorious both in the times of the Revolution and in those of the Reformation, were set at liberty.

One effect of that short experience has been to give us a warm interest in prisoners; and the little which it has been in our power to do for them since, has by no means abated our commiseration for those who are bound. It has led us to watch with deep interest the success of measures for the moral improvement of confined criminals, as well as for the release of innocent sufferers; and, among the many discouraging aspects of society which surround us, we are happy to

acknowledge, that great improvements have been accomplished in the laws and in titutions connected with this subject.

Many other improvements may be made, especially in places where least has been done; and we can assure our readers, that some of them may find, by enquiry, miserable fellow-creatures in their neighborhoods, whose condition, in some respects at least, resembles that of the poor prisoner represented in our print, to whom they may perform such a friendly part, as that rendered by the man who has opened his prison-door and invites him to walk again at liberty If any of them. should render such a service to but one innocent sufferer, and restore an affectionate father to his family, he would have gratifying subject for reflection for the rest of his life, and do a benefit to society.

Rome.

A conspiracy against the Papal Govcrument has been discovered at Rome, which was to have taken place on July 17th, the anniversary of the amnesty. Paid agents were to have created an alarm among the multitude assembled on the occasion, and to have thrown daggers at the feet of the soldiers, to induce the belief that it was intended to murder them. Fifty malefactors were to have been let loose from the prisons into the Piazza del Popolo, shortly before the fireworks, in order to occasion confusion.

The popular chief Ciceronacchio discovered the whole on the 15th. The people immediately demanded the supension of the feast, and the Pope having ordered the immediate armament of the National Guard, upwards of 2000 of the most respectable citizens applied to the authorities for arms, and succeeded in maintaining public tranquility. Cardinal Ferretti, the new Secretary of State, arrived at Rome on the 16th, and judged with his own eyes of the terror and indignation, prevailing in the capital. The people received him with acclamation, and in the evening there was a general illumination.

The first act of Cardinal Ferretti was o dismiss and exile Monsignor Grasseini, the Governor of Rome, allowing him only twenty-four hours to quit the city. M. Grasselini opposed no resis ance, and instantly set out for Naples.

Colonel Freddi escaped at the moment

some national guards entered his house to arrest him. They found his servants burning papers with so much precipitation that they set on fire the curtains of his bedchamber. Captain Muzzarelli and Bertola were apprehended, and the former would have been murdered by the populace, had not Prince Alessandro Torlonia and Prince Rospigliosi interfered. The brothers Galanti had made their escape.

Various other persons had been arrested, and the disclosure of the prisoners, and the papers seized in their possession, had already thrown much light on the conspiracy. The National Guard was armed and equipped in all haste, and several princes had offered the ground floors of their palaces to establish temporary posts. The troops of the garrison, and even the gendarmes, in whom the conspirators placed every confidence, fraternised with the people. Colonel Bini, commanding a battalion of chasseurs, several officers of which were compromised in the plot, had visited all the posts of the National Guard, and declared, with tears in his eyes, that he was totally ignorant of the designs of those officers.

Scottish Poetry.

In

A curious literary discovery, connected with Burns, has just been announced, says a writer. It is stated that there is manuscript evidence to show that much of the good poetry in the Scotch hymns and paraphrases, owes its existence to the emendations of the Ayrshire bard. Hitherto the corrections on those compositions have been ascribed to Logan, a minister of South Leith, and author of Runnymede," a tragedy, and of the posthumous Sermons which bear his name. collections of poetry, he is named as the author of "Ode to the Cuckoo ;" but even of this honor his memory is about to be deprived, for that ode, as well as other pieces of which he obtained the credit, is now said to have been written by Micnael Bruce, well known as the author of the verses, entitled 'Spring.' It is curios, if true, that the people of Scotland should all this time have been singing Burns in their devotions, without a suspicion of the fact.-SEL

Graves are but the prints of the footsteps of the angels of eternal life.-SEL.

Assyrians Ruins.

Our readers will remember the surprising and gratifying discoveries made among the ruins of Niniveh, two or three years ago, described in our first volume, p. 29, 85, and second volume, page 731. We have lately mentioned the discoveries made by Mr. Layard, a young English gentleman, devoted to the subject, both on the Tigris and in Egypt. A few months ago, he proceeded down the river about twenty miles below Khorsabad, where Messrs. Botta and Flandin had laid open the ruins of Niniveh, and, in a short time, discovered the remains of ancient edifices, formed and ornamented on the same plan, but in some respects surpassing them. The Mahomedan authorities of the country soon forbade his proceeding but the large stones described below have been safely brought by him to England, as many of those obtained at Niniveh are now in Paris. Like the Egyptian bas-reliefs, (or bassi-rilievi, as the Italians call them,) they are sculptured very slightly, that is made to project only an inch or two in the highest parts. The following description we copy from the London Athenæum.

THE NIMROUD MARBLES.- "These most interesting remains consist of eleven bassi-rilievi and two fragments of a colossal statue of a bull with a human head; all taken from a vast edifice situated on a mound at a place called Nimroud, on the left bank of the Tigris, about twenty-five miles south of Mossul,-and the site, as there is good reason to believe, of the most celebrated and ancient capital of the Assyrian empire. It would be impossi ble to fix the date of these remarkable sculptures until the inscriptions which, it is presumed, will arrive with the next cargo, shall have been more fully investigated; but we may conjecture, from the magnificence and vastness of both the structure described by Mr. Layard and that discovered at Khorsabad by M. Botta-as well as from the elaborate details of the sculptures-that they are of a very remote antiquity; possibly of the earliest period of the first Assyrian empire. There can be no question that they date earlier than the time of Sennacherib, whose predecessors had made such extensive conquests, and who, during the reign of Hezekiab, invaded Jerusalem: for the terrible calamities which followed that event, and the total dismemberment of the As

syrian empire which took place so few years after, could not have allowed sufficient time to accomplish such magnificent works as these monuments attest. We may, therefore, regard the sculptures in question as undoubted evidences of that primitive civilization of the human race of which we have such abundant proof in the books of the Old Testament.

"The walls of the palace at Nimroud, from which these works of Art were taken, like those of Khorsabad, are composed of unburnt brick or clay incrusted with slabs of gypsum, eight inches in thickness, and seven feet wide. The original height of the slabs cannot be ascertained at present,-because Mr. Layard has cut off the accompanying inscriptions in order to render them more portable. Each slab was firmly secured to that above and below it by three plugs of brass or wood, and to that on each side by wedge-shaped cramps like those used in the structures of Ancient Egypt.

"The significant and important decorations of these ancient palaces seem to have been arranged in horizontal compartments, alternately filled with sculpture and with the cuneiform character of Assyria; so that each wall presented, as it were, an illuminated page of the history of the country,-or, more properly, a record of the prowess and achievements of the monarch, both in war and the chace, written in the vernacular of Niniveh and in the universal language of Art. Nine of the bassi-rilievi record the acts of the same monarch; and I have therefore endeavored to adopt that arrangement in my description which the subjects themselves seem to warrant.

"The first relievo represents the attack of a fortified city. The king accompanied by his bodyguard carrying his arms, and attended by a single servant, all on foot, directs his arrows against the city. The bodyguard are clothed in surcoats reaching midway down the legs. Each has a round shield upon his arm; which he held upraised to protect the sovereign from the shafts of the enemy. The one behind the king has a quiver of arrows, and a sword by his side. He holds two arrows in his right hand for the king's use; whilst the guard beside him bears the king's javelin, and is without a sword or quiver. Both guards wear sandals, and conical caps upon their heads. The king's dress consists of a

long robe, richly fringed, with a shorter tunic closing down the front, and bordered and fringed. Two cords, knotted together, and with tassels to each, are suspended from the girdle, in which he wears two daggers, with a sword on his left side. He has a second arrow in his hand besides the one he is in the act of discharging from his bow. He wears a cap like a truncated cone, with a point at the top-exactly resembling that on the head of the personage represented in the sculpture at Nahr el Kelb; on the lower portion of which latter, however, are three rosettes-whereas, in the present sculpture, a plain and undecorated fillet passes round and is tied behind with long ribands.

"Ear-rings and bracelets are worn by all; sometimes distinguished by a threelobed termination, sometimes consisting of rings with broad pendants. Those of the king, however, are longer than, and different in form from the others. The bracelets on the king's wrist are conspicuous from the rosettes: whilst those on the arms of the guard are simple massive rings. The servant is habited in a robe down to his feet and fringed at the bottom-and has a sash round his waist, over which the belt of his sword is buckled.

On his left side are a bow and quiver of arrows, and in his right hand is an implement like a stick, with a rosette ornament at one end and a loop at the other -probably a whip. It is remarkable in all the sculptures that the personal attendants of the king, whether his servant or his bearded guard, carry this instrument, which resembles the handle of a whipbut in no case is a thong attached. Possibly, it is carried as an emblem of sovereign power;-as at the present day the governor of the province is always accompanied by the bearer of the Korbatsh. The servant's head is uncovered: and his hair is formally curled. He has ear-rings and bracelets, but wears no sandals. His garments, as well as those of the king, are elaborately embroidered and fringed. Immediately before the king is a castle formed of wickerwork, protected in front by curved projections of some less fragile material. This structure — which runs on wheels-is as high as the walls of the besieged towr. Both upper and lower tower have three loop-holes for the discharge of arrows and other missiles. The upper tower contains sol

diers, bearing square wicker shields, and armed with bows and arrows and stones. One soldier is discharging an arrow under the cover of his companion's wicker shield-while the latter is throwing a

stone.

"The wicker engine likewise carries with it a battering ram; the stroke of which have taken effect upon the walls of the town-as may be perceived by the displaced and falling stones. The embattled walls of the city have at intervals lofty towers. The entrance to the city is by an arched gateway, opening with two valves and protected by a tower on each side. There are loop-holes and windows both in the towers and in the walls above the gateway. The defenders posted on the walls (two men in each tower) are discharging arrows- with which their quivers, slung over their shoulders, are well stocked; and they also use the square wicker shield. The besieged are distinguished in their costume from the besiegers by the head dress; for, instead of the cap, they wear a fillet round their heads resembling that worn by a people represented on the Egyptian mouments. In the front of the defenders is an elder of the city, who holds his slackened bow in his left hand, and appears, by his right, to be endeavouring to obtain a parley. He is closing it by bringing the four fingers and thumb together: an action still in use in the East to enjoin prudence, consideration, and invariably accompanied by a word implying patience.

"The next rilievo represents the chariot of the King drawn by three horses. In front of the chariot is the king's groom, and in the chariot itself the charioteer holding the reins and having a whip in his right hand. He is clothed in a tunic, with a sash and belt round his waist, and a sword by his side; but has no covering on his head or bracelets on his arms. The head of the groom is likewise uncovered, and his head elaborately curled. He is clothed in a tunic down to his knees, bordered and fringed, has a belt round his waist, a sword suspended from his shoulders, and sandals on his feet. The chariot closely resembles the Egyptian. To the sides are attached, crossing each other, two quivers full of arrows. Each quiver contains a small bow, and is likewise furnished with a hatchet. Proceeding from the front of the chariot, over or between the horses, is a richly