spent in examining it. It comprises a library, reading-room, and museum of natural history and curiosities, &c. It was organized at a meeting of naval officers, held on the 27th of November, 1833, and incorporated in 1835, under the title of "The United States Naval Lyceum." By donation and purchase it has acquired a library of more than three thousand volumes, and nearly two thousand charts and maps. Its rooms, though not as large and well lighted as might be desired, are tastefully arranged, and decorated with busts and portraits of the various presidents of the United States, celebrated officers of the navy, &c. Models of all vessels built at the station are to be seen there; relics of several that have been destroyed or rebuilt; also, models of various useful inventions connected with naval affairs. One of the most prominent objects is a large goblet-shaped mass of madrepore, inclosed in a glass case, and called Neptune's Cup. It is about two feet six inches high, and was taken from about sixty feet below the surface, in the bay of Bengal. Its base seems to be composed of mingled madrepore and shells, and it is an object altogether unique.

At a little distance from this natural curiosity are two bomb-shells, bearing inscriptions stating that they were fired from the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, during the siege of Vera Cruz. In another part of the room is a piece of the material of this same castle; it appears to be a species of madrepore.

In one of the cases is a British standard of red silk, bearing the arms of England, and the motto "Dieu et mon droit." It is said to have been taken by a retreating party at the battle of Long Island, in 1776. Various other trophies are to be seen; also many specimens of old rusty arms, and warlike implements of savage nations. A glass case in the gallery contains a coat of mail from Sapitioma, one of the South Sea Islands, we believe; it hardly seems invulnerable either to bullets or sabers, for its material is a species of grass. In another case is part of a wharf-pile, exhibiting the ravages of the worm (teredo navalis) in Pensacola bay. Here, also, are numerous jars of pickles or preserves, not likely to excite the appetite, however, for they contain scorpions, moccasin snakes, and other lovely creatures, put up in brandy. Against the wall, in a frame, is VOL. III, No. 5.-KK

a printed charter from King Charles the Second to the proprietors of East Jersey, conferring upon them powers of government. It is dated Whitehall, November 23, 1683. Americans no longer ask of crowned heads the privilege of governing themselves. A century after the above date they were laying the foundation of a system of government in which the good of the governed is the cardinal principle, and in less than half a century they placed its practicability beyond all doubt.

But these privileges were not obtained without a struggle, and here lies a memorial of it in the shape of some links of the chain that was stretched across the Hudson River, below West Point, to prevent the ascent of the British vessels of war. Fifty-one of these links were recovered from the bed of the river some years ago. They are about two feet long, and weigh from thirty to thirty-five pounds a piece. The iron in many places was much corroded, and stones, some of them weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds, were found adhering to it.

Still further on, there is also a blanket, which was used by Abraham Canfield through the whole of the Revolutionary war. He was present at the battles of Bunker Hill, Bennington, &c., and at the surrender of Burgoyne. It was made by his mother, Sarah Canfield, of Derby, Connecticut. It was thus that our forefathers were encouraged in that trying season— while they fought, their wives and mothers cheered them with their approving smiles and efforts for their comfort.

But we cannot attempt to describe everything that is to be seen here. There is a fine collection of minerals and shells; among these last are two, curiously perforated in the center, as if for key-holes. In the lower part of one case are a number of beautiful stalactites from the island of Minorca. Here are models, and casts, and miniature copies in plaster of the celebrated Elgin Marbles. Here are fragments from Tyre, Baalbec, Philippi, Athens, &c.; pieces of carving, &c., from the Alhambra; and bits of mosaic and lamps and vases from Pompeii. Among these last are some found in tombs, and supposed to be lachrymatories, or tear-bottles, such as the Psalmist refers to in Psa. lvi, 8. The shape and finish of many of these specimens of ancient skill are extremely beautiful. Peru and Central America have also con

tributed specimens of their wares and some of their idols of wood and stonehideous enough. In the opposite case is a mummy of a girl partly unwrapped, taken from Thebes; with mummies of cats, one of them cut in two longitudinally, exhibiting the interior; also of crocodiles, and jars containing the sacred ibis. Again, there are specimens of Indian skill—garments, blankets, necklaces, baskets, drinking-vessels, &c. A piece of Mexican picture-writing is also to be seen. Among the engravings is one which, though small, is calculated to excite much interest. It represents Washington on a visit to his aged mother, at the close of the Revolution. The attitude of affectionate and respectful attention with which he listens to her, while she appears to be claiming all a mother's authority over her noble son, are truly characteristic and instructive. Would that there were more mothers like her! then would there be more truly great men, like her beloved George.

his rustic dwelling, enjoying the bright and cheerful autumn morning. His eye rested now upon the blue hills in the distance, from whose tops the mist was stealing upward, like the smoke of burned offerings, and now upon his mirthful grand

"On Thursday evening last we were blessed with many refreshing showers, attended with loud thunder, &c. The distance from our friends in New-York prevented us giving them more early intelligence."

"Religion and morality gain much ground, for, to be sure, a tavern-keeper a few days since gave away his old black coat, to enable a minister of the gospel (just then come in from the rebels) to mount the rostrum with decency." "The Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, president of the college of Princetown, has invented a new creed, and is now writing a paraphrase on the Fifth Commandment, by which he intends fully to prove that there is no duty due from a child to a parent, from an inferior to a superior, from a subject to a sovereign, unless a Congress; which [work] is to be published as an appendix to an essay, ready for the press, entitled 'A Treatise against Moral Obligations.'

"Our passage boats have had a middling good time in crossing the ferry lately-not a single life has been lost."

"Whether or no we meet esteem,
Regardless as a praw,
No real injury we mean
In our Gazette Extra.

A youth from the city approached the old man, and entered into discourse with him. When the youth heard the number of his years from his own lips, he wondered at his vigorous age and his ruddy countenance; whereupon he asked the old man whence it came that he enjoyed such strength and cheerfulness in the late autumn of life? Geron answered :-" My son, these, like every other good thing, are gifts which come to us from above, the merit of which we cannot claim to ourselves, and still we can do something

here below to enable us to obtain them."

Having uttered these words, the old man arose, and led the stranger into his orchard, and showed him the tall and noble trees covered with delicious fruit, the sight of Then the which gladdened the heart. old man spoke :-"Canst thou wonder that I now enjoy the fruit of these trees? See, my son, I planted them in my youth; thou hast the secret of my happy and fruitfel old age." The youth cast a look full of meaning upon the old man, for he understood his words, and treasured them up in his heart.-Krummacher.

The National Magazine.

NOVEMBER, 1853.

EDITORIAL VARIETIES.

THE EDITOR has returned to his post, after an absence of some months, though not in time to contribute anything to the present number of the Magazine. His absence has been rendered necessary by laborious duties devolved upon him at the time of his appointment, but which were postponed for nearly a year, in order that he might more fully attend to his Magazine tasks. He will now resume more fully the latter. The Magazine will not suffer by the recent enlargement of his official sphere; it will rather gain by that fact, as the assistance with which it is reinforced will secure to it more thorough attention. While the communications and pictorial matter will be in other and capable hands, the editorials will be fully resumed by the official editor, and on a scale of more variety and amplitude than heretofore.

We have some hundreds of clergymen on our subscription list. It is our design to furnish a good leading article, especially adapted to them, in each number. The essays of this kind already inserted have excited no little attention, and been extensively copied.

WE are happy to be able to present to our readers another Boston Letter. It will be found

to contain interesting matter. We especially

invite attention to the remarks on "The Great Republic."

A wonder of genius and art is the immense ship constructed in our harbor, which, while your readers are glancing over this notice, will be lying at one of your wharfs in New-York, or speeding on her first voyage to California. At the date of this letter, she towers up, a stupendous monument of human labor, upon the shore, not having yet reached her destined element. She is well named "The Great Republic," for she will nobly represent in her structure, and officers, and we hope, also, in her multitudinous crew, the land whose proud title she bears.

Her builder and owner, Donald M'Kay, Esq., is still a young man, although he has lived long enough to make his name well known and honorable all over the high seas.' He has already constructed, and sent forth on their commercial mission, some thirtyfive of the finest clipper-ships that cut the wave. His preceding vessel, "The Sovereign of the Seas," was the largest and fleetest merchant ship ever launched; and now, in the last, he presents to commerce the largest vessel of any description that floats upon the ocean. It is a pleasant denominational item that Mr. M'Kay is a generous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and offers to take out any amount of freight which the Missionary Society or Book Room may wish to send to California, without charge. Your readers may be pleased to run over a few of the dimensions of this ship, and attempt to form in their minds some idea of her size. She is three hundred and twenty-five feet long, from her taffrail to her knight-heads--one hundred feet longer than the Pennsylvania, the largest man-ofwar in the American Navy. If she should be raised erect upon her stern, she would rise into the air forty-five feet higher than Trinity spire, in NewYork, and ninety feet higher than Bunker-Hill monument. She is thirty-seven feet deep from her upper deck to her keelson, having four decks or stories; and is fifty-two feet in breadth.

She will have four masts, the mainmast being one hundred and thirty-four feet high, and forty-six feet in circumference. The mainyard is one hundred and fifteen feet in length. Her capacity will be

She will

between three and four thousand tons. be able to carry out flour enough to meet the present wants of the whole State of California for five weeks -thirty thousand barrels. For her crew she will require one hundred men-a little republic in itself. The expense of her construction will reach the amount of three hundred thousand dollars. She is to be commanded by a brother of the constructor, Captain L. M'Kay, late of "The Sovereign of the Seas." When she glides gracefully into her predestined element, she will be indeed

"The monarch of all she surveys,

Her right there is none to dispute."

The exhibition of the useful and beautiful manufactures of Massachusetts has drawn great crowds of visitors to the city, and afforded them unmingled delight and profit. It is wonderful to see how rapidly labor-saving machines are multiplied. Of the one ar ticle of sewing machines, a great variety of inventions were presented. For plain sewing on garments, and on boots and shoes, these machines are rapidly taking the place of human fingers. I am afraid the time will come when Hood's touching "Song of the Shirt" will become obsolete.

Covering almost all of one side of Faneuil Hall, and arresting the eye of the spectator the moment he enters, and often drawing it away from the little elegancies and conveniences inviting observation below, hangs Healey's great picture of the United States Senate when Webster answered Colonel Hayne. Is it treason to confess it? I never see this august scene without thinking,-if its principal actor, upon whom all eyes are bent, awful and glorious in his majesty, had been as true to conscience as to the constitution, what a memory would he have left behind for all time!

It is a happy thing for New-England, and the whole country, that Massachusetts gave her children a soil so sterile, and a climate so severe. She has disciplined her children to the highest ingenuity, and ever administered the wholesome spur of necessity, the only effectual goad to invention. The probabilities really seem to increase, as one wanders through these mechanical fairs, that very soon, as the Turkish visitor examining our endless machines remarked, Everything will do itself." Brains and machinery are now made to take the place of hands and toil.

In the literary world, few new works are announced by our booksellers. The unusually large sales at the late trade-sales have put them in fine temper, and after the holidays they will put new works to press.

Many of the books announced last month, have enjoyed a liberal patronage. Hillard's "Six Months in Italy," with its full and elaborate descriptions, showing the research of the careful scholar, and the ease of the practiced writer, meets with universal favor. The children are never tired of the classical, fairy fictions of Hawthorne; "Tanglewood Tales" has charmed many a young reader. The publishers of these volumes, Messrs. Ticknor, Reed, & Field, have just issued another volume of papers by De Quincey, entitled Autobiographical Sketches." They possess the same magical charm as the "Confessions," and exhibit a like masterly command of the English tongue, which has placed the author at the head of English writers in this respect. A refreshing exhibition of magnanimity is given by this firm, in voluntarily paying to the author a copy-right, which neither law nor precedent forces upon them.

An unusual demand anticipated the publication of the Life of Dr. Judson, by Dr. Wayland; some twenty thousand being ordered by the trade in advance of its issue. By an act of noble generosity, the copyright of the work has been presented by the author to Mrs. Judson. It promises to be a very handsome patrimony for the family of the deceased missionary. We learn that Mrs. Judson's health is very poor, and that it is not probable that she will long remain to enjoy the sympathy and respect of the Christian community.

Horace Mann remarked, at a late Temperance Convention, that the temperance reform would be a permanent benefit to the world, after the immediate occasion for its activities had been removed, in the literature which it had called into being. No small proportion of the success thus far secured in this cause, is to be credited to the impression made upon the community by the admirable series of Temperance Tales by Sargeant and Arthur. And now, as the question has assumed new aspects, and calls for new defenses, literature has come again to the aid of forensic argument. B. B. Mussey & Co. have pub

lished a handsome volume, illustrated with designs by Billings, entitled "Uncle Sam's Palace; or, The Reigning King," by Emma Wellmont, in which the necessity of a prohibitory law is urged and defended. A work that exhibits many characteristics of De Quincey's Confessions, and is marked with a touching personal interest from its autobiographical character, has been issued by the same publishers, entitled "Passages from the History of a Wasted Life," by the author of Pen-and-Ink Sketches. It is intended to illustrate the perils to which the young and intellectual are now peculiarly exposed. Mysterious Parchment; or, The Satanic License," by Rev. Joel Wakeman, published by Jewett & Co., is directed to the accomplishment of the same purpose. The tales, like the songs of the people, will go far to fashion their moral sentiments. These volumes will be powerful co-laborers in the temperance reformation: B. K. P.

"The

AMUSEMENTS.-Man is created with infinite longings and capacities for happiness. This is in itself satisfactory evidence that "we were brought into being to be blessed;" for it cannot be that a God of infinite love has so endowed his creatures, and yet given them nothing answering to these desires and abilities of the soul. The Creator of the faculty must have provided something for its gratification: "He openeth his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing." The law within us, then, as well as the law without, commands us to rejoice.

It cannot be denied that religion alone is a satisfying portion. Nothing short of its joys can fill the immortal mind, or adequately gratify its powers. Wealth and honor, possessed ever so extensively, leave the soul as hungry as before. The millionaire is as unsatisfied with his acquisitions as when he was the possessor of but a few hundreds; and the conqueror of a world weeps that he has reached the limit of his triumphs. But an indwelling Christ transforms this emptiness into an unutterable fullness of glory and of God, and constitutes within the man an earthly Eden. All this is true, but yet God has not forbidden the Christian to swell the stream of his joys by whatever rivulets of earth may lawfully become tributary to this great end. The religion of our adorable Redeemer is not, even in the most limited sense, an embargo on human bliss. If God had given us this beautiful world, enriched with a variety of sources of pleasure, and yet made us incapable of appreciating them, there would seem to have been no object for which these glories were created. Why the tints of the flowers, why the loveliness of the landscape, if no eye to see them? The carol of the bird, without an ear for its music, would have seemed almost useless. So also if man had capacities for enjoyment, but nothing to enjoy, there would have been an unaccountable deficiency in the divine arrangement. But we find an adaptation on the part of the one to the other; and we infer that the world was created as it is, that we might relish its beauties.

It evidently cannot be that God has made us with these hungerings and thirstings after pleasure, and surrounded us with this abundance so well calculated to afford it, and yet on every bliss-bestowing object written "Unlawful." Our God is not the god of mythology; nor are we in the situation of the king of Lydia, doomed by a cruel decree to stand up to our neck in a crystal stream, and yet forbidden

to slake our burning thirst; or, ever pressed with hunger, we are not compelled to gaze upon the most delicious fruits just within our grasp, and not dare to pluck them. "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious; abundant in goodness and truth," has not thus cruelly dealt with our race. That he has implanted within us such restless cravings, is evidence that he has also furnished an ocean, deep enough and wide enough to supply them; and that, when that ocean is spread out before us, we may lave in its waters, and look up with gratitude to God, its giver. There are perils here, it is true; and it is the office of religion to point them out, that we may be restrained from evil, and preserved in innocence and joy.

The long evenings are just before us-the gay and the foolish will meet for merrimentthe blazing fire will shed its cheerful light into the halls of social pleasure-the white snow will overspread the earth, and muffled companies will speed them on with merry jingling in search of joy. A thousand young hearts will be anxiously inquiring for the boundaries of innocent mirth; and truly important is the inquiry.

Youth is the season of activity and joy. Our being no sooner begins to unfold itself, than it has the most pleasurable experiences. These are associated with an almost unwearying activity. From morning till night the infant is busy seeking to gratify its budding energies. Any other condition at this early period than one of joyful activity must be the result of disorder. Smiles are the natural language of infancy, and cries and tears are indicative of some physical derangement. This is the foundation of that love for toys and glee which fills the baby-life of all the race. As life progresses, these gradually lose their charms-boyhood having its plays, youth its pleasures, manhood its stern endeavor, and old age its love of rest and quiet. The wisdom of this arrangement will readily appear.

It evidently promotes the happiness and growth of our race. God has, in all stages of life, associated employment with happiness. Idleness is misery. But ir infancy and childhood there is little that can employ the mind. The undeveloped state of the intellectual powers leaves no chance for large mental gratification. Its physical imbecility precludes the child from all efforts to provide for its own wants; hence it cannot be occupied with business. Its little life would be all ennui, were it not that trifles interest and amuse it. This activity is also essential to the development of its physical nature. On its entrance into the world, its body is but in a state of formation-growing rapidly-receiving its strength and induration from exercise. This necessity for activity to strengthen and preserve the natural life has a response in the bosom of the babe, in its love for the exercise of its limbs: a law of God so plainly written, that he who would hush the laugh of the babe, or spoil its sports, should be thought a brute. The same truth is written on all animal creation, and for the same reason. The colt is seen careering through the fields, and the lamb frisking on the mountain-side. To interfere with this law would be to interfere with God himself. Now, the God of the Bible is the God of nature; and his rule in one

department of his universe is never found infringing upon that of another: all is complete harmony. There must be something unscriptural, therefore, in that creed which would forbid the boy of less than a dozen years to play, or even youthful manhood to be sprightly. Neither are our physical and mental natures materially altered when that great moral change takes place which makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Though converted, Peter will still be ardent; Paul logical; John affectionate; and the child will remain a child, with all the peculiarities of a child. Youth will still have the vivacity of youth; and old age will love its quietness.

The conclusion from these reasonings is unmistakable. There must be no interference in the divine government. Law must not dash against law, annihilating the good government of our King. Men may pursue their pleasures just so far as they do not trespass on the written law of God. This is the limit of the Christian's worldly joy. Indeed, here, take life on the whole, it ceases to be joy;-and the voice that proclaims, Thus far mayst thou go, and no further," is recognized as revealing a fearful precipice just beyond this barrier, from which it would fain preserve us.

66

Pleasures that cannot be taken in the name of the Lord Jesus are not pleasures. They are like Bunyan's by-paths, very shady and inviting at the outset, but ending in a dreary waste and final destruction. Or like the wine, which seems red and sparkling at the beginning, "but at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." Or like the smiles of the harlot, "with the flattering of her lips," which are not understood by the unwary "till a dart strike through his liver," and his eyes are opened to behold written upon the door-posts, "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." The line which limits our participation in earthly pleasures is therefore the limit to all real pleasure. The youth may "sow his wild oats," but he must not forget "that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." No one can deliberately put off the Lord Jesus-forsake the fountain of living waters and betake himself to the polluted pools of earth--who will not have occasion to rue his folly, even in time. By the very law we have laid down, therefore, the Christian should bring even his pleasures into subjection to the law of God. The Christian youth may go only where he can carry his Saviour-only where he may hope to enjoy the smile of his God-only where he can ask the company of his Maker. He is never to be found where the trumpet of the judgment would startle him into a consciousness of guilt. He is to carry about with him a powerful realization that "for all these things God will bring him into judgment." This, so far as he is individually concerned, is the check which kind Heaven has put upon his merriment.

"All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient." Christians may not innocently participate even in all lawful amusements. The welfare of others is to be regarded; and if some weak one is to be offended, some soul to be injured, better that we should forego the gratification of our own desires than bring about such serious results. The self-sacrificing

spirit of Paul is here presented for our imitation, who would renounce the use of meat for life, rather than that any should stumble.

We cannot conclude without an intimation that much of this seeking of worldly pleasure is derived from an inability to enjoy the nobler joys of a pure Christianity. A soul fully renovated by divine grace must be possessed of a relish for heavenly things. That the worldling sees no loveliness in the cross, no beauties in religion, is nothing to the case. Many there are who would regard the most exquisite performance of the finest oratorio with complete indifference, while we would listen with rapture, for the manifest reason they have no ear for music-no adaptation to its enjoyment. Could they suddenly, while listening, have their ears touched with this power, they would enjoy it as well as we. The reason why religion is irksome to the unregenerate soul is, that he has no taste for its pleasure-no power to appreciate its joys-no ear for the music of heaven. The blood-stained finger of Christ touching that heart with its transforming energy, would impart to it a love of divine things. A complete revolution would take place within: the things once loved would be hated; those hated would be loved; all things would become new. We repeat it, then, it is much to be questioned whether there is not in modern Israel some sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt-some looking back toward a forsaken Sodom. But let it be everywhere understood, sin adds no charms to lifereligion takes none away. It is no real sacrifice to be a Christian. For a man to be a disciple of Christ, he must "sell all that he hath;" yet by so doing he is enabled to purchase "a pearl of great price," worth far more than all the cost. It is to be remembered that while some deem religion so dull-so insipid-others, with a sanctified nature, have derived from it a love so intense as to exclude every other, as the intense rays of the sun are said to put out common fires. Royal David's delight was so fully in the law of the Lord, that he could prefer one day of holy, spiritual comfort to a thousand of mere worldly bliss. He could prefer the office of a porter at the gate, with his Redeemer as a companion, to a residence in the palace from which Christ was excluded. A little heartsearching upon this subject might account for the love which some Christians bear the world.

EDITORS.-We find the following in an English periodical, and could scarcely restrain the thought that the world was everywhere much alike, "as face answereth to face." Hoping no one will receive it as personal-and lest they should, assuring all concerned that it was by no means written for THE NATIONAL-We venture to publish it :—

"A great deal has been penned about the calamities of authors, but a pathetic volume might be written, and should be largely circulated, on the calamities of editors. The editor takes office, with the most genial feelings of respect and sympathy for all who may feel disposed to contribute to the pages of his magazine, He has probably suffered tribulation, and the shades of rejected addresses arise to teach him mercy. He knows it is a duty, a wisdom, to be courteous; but he wishes to be kind. He commences by answering every letter punctually, but finds, at the end of his first month, that he had been able to do nothing else. He gives notice "on the cover," that on such a day, manuscripts will be returned to the