Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

lying vallies.

[ocr errors]

From these haunts he sallies forth when the sun goes down, and commences his nightly prowl. When he is successful in his beat, and has secured his prey, he does not roar much that night, only uttering occasionally a few low moans: that is, provided no intruders approach him, otherwise the case would be very different. I remarked a fact connected with the lions' hour of drinking, peculiar to themselves: they seemed unwilling to visit the fountains with good moonlight. Thus, when the moon rose early, the lions deferred their hour of watering until late in the morning; and when the moon rose late, they drank at a very early hour in the night. Owing to the tawny colour of coat with which nature has robed him, he is perfectly invisible in the dark; and although I have often heard them loudly lapping the water under my very nose, not twenty yards from me, I could not possibly make out so much as the outline of their forms. When a thirsty lion comes to water, he stretches out his massive arms, lies down on his breast to drink, and makes a loud lapping noise in drinking not to be mistaken. He continues lapping up the water for a long while, and four or five times during the proceeding he pauses for half a minute as if to take breath. One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which, in a dark night, glow like two balls of fire.-Cummings' Hunter's Life in South Africa.

MOONLIGHT IN THE TROPICS.

A moonlight night within the tropics exceeds, in brilliancy and beauty, a moonlight night anywhere else. There is a softness as well as a splendor about it, which is peculiar to itself; a mellow brilliancy, which almost transcends description. Indeed as it was in this part of my journeying that my attention began to be attracted by the loveliness of the tropical nights, this seems the proper place for recording my impressions regarding them. Whether on land or at sea, the scenery of the tropics on a moonlight night is singularly beautiful; to my taste, infinitely more so than it is by day. On land the brilliancy of the moon and stars is such that every leaf, and tree, and flower, seems bathed in floods of liquid light, a light so clear, at the same time so mellow, and so soft, that the outline of the hills and other objects appear to be defined almost with greater distinctness than when viewed by day. At sea, particularly with such hill-crowned islands as St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Montserrat, or St. Kitts, &c., in near view the scene is one still more lovely. The vast unfathomable sea, fit symbol of eternity, lying around you, either sunk in deep repose, or upheaving its vexed waves-in the one case a mirror for a thousand starry worlds, in the other a sparkling ocean of fire—the summit of the land illuminated and surrounded by a kind of halo: the scene has

with it all the beauty of a northern moonlight night, and many beauties besides peculiar to itself. A single fact will best illustrate the clearness of the atmosphere and the greater prominence and brilliancy of the stars consequent thereupon. Oft when in Antigua, and also in the other islands of the West Indian seas, have I observed and called attention to the fact, that in certain positions of the planet Venus, she was seen under a crescent form like a small moon, and emitting or transmitting, in the absence of the moon herself, a quantity of light which made her by no means an insufficient substitute.

R. Baird.

SUPPLY OF WATER FOR LONDON.

An abstract of the Report of the Commissioners appointed to investigate the water supplies for the metropolis is now before the public. The conclusions at which the Commissioners have arrived are clearly expressed, and their recommendations have at least the charm of novelty. They reject all those plans of improvement which take the water of the Thames or any of its tributaries : as also those which contemplate the sinking of artesian wells, or the adoption of these natural springs which abound in the neighborhood as the sources of supply. In fine, they altogether reject the earth and recommend that the water shall be drawn directly from the sky. The criteria by which they have judged all the modes of supply which came under their consideration have been-quality and quantity. The first of these has been only too much neglected by schemers; but the Report shows how important a consideration is the quality of the water, even in an economical sense. It states the difference in the cost of washing, in soap alone, not to mention soda and labor, to the inhabitants of the metropolis with hard or soft water, at not less than 4,000,000l. per annnm. The loss of tea made with hard water is said to be one-third. For other purposes the loss is not so great,—but it is still very considerable. If this waste is to be prevented in future, we must look that our sources of supply yield the softer kinds of water. Rainwater has the quality of softness in greatest degree; river-water has three times the average hardness of rain,-spring water again twice the hardness of river. The Commissioners, therefore, recommend that a huge reservoir be constructed on Bagshot Heath, to drain a large district-and preserve it for the use of the capital :-Such plans have been tried with great success in Lancashire. From this reservoir it is said that every one of the two hundred and eighty-eight thousand houses in London could be supplied with a constant and unintermitted stream, at the cost of not more than two pence a week for each tenement. That a scheme so vast and novel should meet with large opposition was to be expected; but the advantages offered are too solid not to

ensure a fair consideration after the first burst of angry criticism is over. The full Report will be given to the public in a few days. On one point we will venture to offer a suggestion to the Commissioners-the wisdom of their recommending the Government to make the water-tax compulsory, not on the tenant but on the property. Without a proper supply of water, a tenement ought not to be considered fit for habitation. The point is one of great sanitary importance. Twenty thousand houses in London are now without water, to the great detriment of the public health. A fluctuating tenantry will evade even a legal regulation: but the owners of property may always be made responsible for neglect of duty. The question is one of public wrongs, not of private rights.-Athenæum.

DWELLINGS FOR THE LABOURING CLASSES.

We notice with satisfaction that public confidence and support are every year won more and more to the cause of an improved system of building the houses of the industrial classes. The Metropolitan Association having this object in view, held its annual meeting on Monday last; when it appeared from the Report read by the Secretary that the applications for shares during the year were to the extent of 12,0007. Last year the capital of the Association was 38,0007. :-it is now more than 50,000l. Their well known pile of buildings in Pancras Road is now yielding a larger income in consequence of an equalization of the rent. The bad debts are trifling. The health of the dwellers is good:-and altogether the experiment is proceeding in a most satisfactory manner. The dwellings for single men in Spitalfields, erected at a total cost of about 12,000l. are finished and tenanted. The Association have made other purchases of land; and in a short time every quarter of London will have its cluster of these convenient, economical, yet self supporting dwellings for the sons and daughters of industry.

INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION.

A striking fact was mentioned to us the other day, as illustrating the deep interest which the preparations for the Industrial Exhibition have already excited throughout Europe. The landlord of a pretty large inn, in the busiest part of London, has applied to the owner for leave to build an additional story to his house in order

to obtain increased accommodation for the numerous visitors whom he expects next summer. The inn which he occupies contains some 90 or 100 bedrooms; and in addition to that, he has taken two houses adjacent, to prevent being over crowded next year. Such, however, has been the demand for lodgings for the summer of 1851, especially from Germany, that the whole of his house, with the additions we have named, has

already been engaged for nearly the whole of 1851, and he is now about to build an additional story, with a view to provide room for twenty or thirty more guests. If this may be taken as a fair sample of the "coming events" which "cast their shadows before," the tavern-keepers, shopkeepers, and cab-drivers of the metropolis will hail the 1st of May 1851 as the coming of the true golden age to them, whatever it may be to other classes.-Leader.

SAGACITY AND STRENGTH OF THE SPIDER.

The intelligence and power evinced by the spider in securing its prey, has often attracted attention; but we have seldom heard of so remarkable a display of these faculties as we witnessed a short time since. A small-sized spider had made his web on the under side of a table. the floor, directly under the web, and on Early one morning, a cockroach was noticed on approaching to take it away, it was found that the spider had thrown a line around one of its legs, and while the observer was looking at it, the spider - came down and lassoed the opposite leg of the cockroach. The spider then went up to his web, but instantly came down and fastened a line to another leg, and continued for several minutes: darting down and fastening lines to different parts of the body of his victim. The struggles of the cockroach, (though a full grown one,) were unavailing to effect his escape-he could not break his bonds, and his efforts seemed only to entangle him the more. As his struggles became more and more feeble, the spider threw his lines more thickly around him; and when he had become nearly exhausted, the spider proceeded to raise him from the floor. This he did by raising one end at a time. He at first raised the head and forward part of the body, nearly half an inch; then raised the other end; and so continued to work, till the cockroach was elevated five or six inches from the floor. Thus "hung in chains," the victim was left to die. The spider was, as before remarked, a small one, and could not have been more than a tenth the

weight of his prey.-Albany Cultivator.

He in whom the spirit of God dwelleth, it is not in him a lazy, dumb, useless thing; but it moveth, actuateth, governeth, instructeth, and teacheth him all things whatsoever are needful for him to know; yea, bringeth all things to his remembrance.-R. Barclay.

"Oh we are querulous creatures! Little less
Than all things, can suffice to make us happy;
Though little more than nothing, is enough
To make us wretched!"

Coleridge.

CHILDHOOD.

BY DAVID BATES.

Childhood, sweet and sunny childhood,
With its careless, thoughtless air,
Like the verdant, tangled wild-wood,
Wants the training hand of care.
See it springing all around us,

Glad to know, and quick to learn,
Asking questions that confound us;
Teaching lessons in its turn.

Who loves not its joyous revel,
Leaping lightly on the lawn,
Up the knoll, along the level,

Free and graceful as a fawn!

He who checks a child with terror,
Stops its play and stills its song,
Not alone commits an error,

But a great and moral wrong.
Give it play and never fear it,
Active life is no defect,
Never, never break its spirit,
Curb it only to direct.

Would you dam the flowing river,
Thinking it would cease to flow?
Onward it must flow forever;

Better teach it where to go.
Childhood is a fountain welling;

Trace its channel in the sand,
And its currents, spreading, swelling,
Will revive the wither'd land.
Childhood is the vernal season;
Trim and train the tender shoot:
Love is to the coming season

As the blossoms to the fruit.

Tender twigs are bent and folded,
Art to nature beauty lends;
Childhood easily is moulded;

Manhood breaks, but seldom bends.

SUMMARY OF NEWS.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.-The Steamer Europa, from Liverpool, Ninth mo., 28th, arrived at New York on the morning of the 11th inst. She brings little political news of importance.

The Augsburg Gazette says, that there is at present a species of political Congress at Warsaw, at which the Austrian and Russian diplomatists are engaged. The Emperor himself is expected to attend it. The Congress is occupied in the consideration of the affairs of Germany and Poland. On the 1st of first month, 1851, Poland will be transformed into a certain number of Russian governments.

It is reported that the Russian Government proposes to settle the complications of Hesse Cassel, by means of an arbitration tribunal consisting of three members of the permanent commission of the States.

The Wiener Zeitung contains the official decrees concerning the definitive political organization of Hungary. At the head of the Hungarian government is the Stadtholder, who is to reside in Pesth, together with a Vice President, Councillors, Secretaries, &c. In respect to its administration, Hungary will be divided into five districts, each district being governed by an Obergespans, Lord Lieuten ant, with the necessary employees.

Á formidable insurrection had broken out in the

two Calabrias. The Neapolitan Government was greatly alarmed, and had ordered a frigate to proceed to Cotrone, a port of Ultra Calabria, and bombard the city. The provinces of Calabria appeared to be acting in concert, and the insurrection is spreading.

General Don Jose de la Concha has been appointed, by the Spanish Government, to the command of the Island of Cuba. The troops composing the expedition were to sail on the 15th inst.

MISCELLANEOUS.-Kossuth and his companions, says a correspondent of the London Times, writing from Constantinople, were to have been set free by the Sultan and sent to England or America, in September last. The Austrian Government had taken alarm at this, and pretended that the term of one year, stipulated in the convention, commenced when the refugees were incarcerated. The Divan rejected this construction, and resolved to adhere to its intention. It had demanded the opinion of the Representatives of England and France.

Hiram White, Deputy Marshal at Troy, New York, has resigned his office because he cannot consent to aid in the execution of the fugitive slave law.

Charles Gilpin, Esq., has been elected Mayor of Philadelphia.

Father Mathew recently preached a sermon on temperance at St. Louis. It produced a powerful impression, and at the close, he administered the pledge to 700 persons, making the whole number of temperance converts at St. Louis during his visit, 2500.

Robbery of the Mail-On Saturday night as the great Southern and South-western mail was on its way, in a car, to the Depot, at Grey's Ferry, it was robbed of three leather pouches, containing letters for Richmond, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, Raleigh, and Wilmington, (N. C.) The robbery must have been perpetrated by means of a false key, as 110 evidence of violence was noticed. A small bridge, some three miles below Grey's Ferry, had been previously fired and destroyed.—The passenger cars were obliged to return to the depot at the Ferry, and remain for several hours. The pouches, with a large number of letters, were found yesterday morning among some bushes, on the farm of Mr. Rementer, near Broad and Federal streets. They were rifled of their contents, so far as money was concerned. A number of drafts were left behind. The police are on the alert, and we have no doubt some discovery as to the perpetrators of this bold robbery will be ferretted out. All the mails robbed were from New York; all the letters found have been remailed and sent back to New York.-Pennsylvania Inquirer.

The English papers say that R. Welch, of Totnes, who is totally blind, cultivates and rears, with his own hands, the varieties of flowers in their seasons, distinguishes the most beautiful from the inferior, and points out their different qualities to astonished beholders. His pinks, tulips, &c., are the admira. tion of connoisseurs.

The committee on public buildings of the U. S. Senate, offer a premium of $500 for the best plan for the enlargement of the Capitol at Washington. It is required that the plans and estimates shall provide for the extension of the Capitol, either by additional wings, to be placed on the north and south of the present building, or by the erection of a separate and distinct building, within the enclosure, to be east of the building.

[blocks in formation]

Published Weekly by Josiah Tatum,

No. 50 North Fourth Street,

PHILADELPHIA.

NO. 6.

serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. If thou seek him he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever;" by which a lasting impression was made on his mind.

Being thus afresh awakened to a sense of his Price two dollars per annum, payable in advance, or condition, he was made willing to resign himself six copies for ten dollars.

This paper is subject to newspaper postage only.

Testimony of Kennet Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, concerning our friend CALEB PENNOCK, deceased.

From a regard to the memory of this our dear ancient friend, and the lively recollection we have of his fervent religious engagement and pious labour amongst us, we believe it a duty we owe to survivors, to preserve some account of his life and conversation.

He was born in East Marlborough, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on the 28th day of the Ninth month, 1752, of parents in membership with the Society of Friends. In early life he was deprived by death of the guardian care of his father, which circumstance left him under little restraint, and his disposition being naturally of a lively character, led him to seek the company of those of congenial views.

With such he was wont to indulge in gaiety and merriment, inconsistent with the sobriety of a follower of Christ; and was at one time in danger of becoming entangled in the snare of intemperance.

But it pleased the Lord to arrest him in his downward career. At one time while in the midst of a convivial party, and partaking in the vanities that prevailed, he was suddenly smitten with powerful convictions of the sinfulness of such a course; and yielding to the impression, ceased from further participation in their amusements. Though thus divinely favored, he did not for a time wholly choose the Lord for his portion, and the God of Jacob for the lot of his inheritance; for after his marriage, which took place in the year 1776, he neglected the attendance of mid-week meetings, saying, he thought it foolish in some who attended them. Some time afterwards a Friend in the ministry was concerned to revive in his family the words of David to his son Solomon, viz. : " and thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and

to the guidance and government of Him who willeth not the death of him that dieth, but would that the wicked should return from his ways and live. In after life, when adverting to this change he said, I then saw I had another Master to serve, and had to attend meetings both on first-days and in the middle of the week, and often to walk eight miles to Monthly meeting. He now became very careful in his outward calling, not to grasp after the things of this world, lest he should lose a better inheritance; and in his dealings with men would rather suffer loss than contend for that which was lawfully his own; saying, he had enough, and that plenty was sent if rightly disposed of.

Believing himself called to the weighty work of a minister of the gospel, so deeply was he impressed with a sense of the awful responsibility that would rest upon him, and of his own unworthiness, that he evaded a compliance with the divine requisition, saying with Moses, "Kill me, I pray thee, if thou deal thus with me." But being strengthened to resign himself to Him who had thus called him, he became a faithful and devoted minister of the gospel of Christ.

In the exercise of his gift, he delivered that which was given to him to utter with great simplicity, both of language and manner; believing that it was not the elegance of words, or the manner of expressing them, but the savour of life accompanying them, that can alone render that which is spoken useful to the hearers.

We think it may be said of him, in the language of an Apostle, "My speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." He was led at times to speak in a prophetic manner, but was cautious of publishing these unfoldings of the divine will, unless necessity was laid upon him.

Previous to the separation in the Society, he was often impressed with a feeling that something

day, he observed in conversation, that the enemy was at times permitted to follow to the very gate; and added, "sometimes he tempts me to doubt whether I shall ever get inside, bringing all the sins of my youth before me, and making me to fear that I have never fully repented of them. And what a sorrowful thing it would be, if, after all my struggle, I should be cast off at last; but I am made to feel it is the work of the enemy."

like a dark cloud was hanging over it, but had | all, it will not bear inspection, however near the not seen by what way it was to come. And semblance might be. In the afternoon of that when it did approach, he was not enabled to discern the true cause at that time; but by turning inward to the same power that convicted him of evil in his youth, he clearly saw its dangerous tendency; and during its progress in the Society, he stood firm in the cause of Truth; and often laboured both publicly and privately with those who seceded from us, as long as he was able to attend meetings. So strong was the testimony he bore against that separating spirit, that after he was confined to his house by disease, he would, with much earnestness, impress on Friends who called to see him, the necessity of continuing faithful in treating with those who had gone out from amongst us.

He was able to attend meetings, until within a few months of his decease, and was often much favoured therein, in the exercise of his gift. He desired that he might be clear of all men in the final hour; an hour, he said, that seemed more solemn the nearer it drew. In an opportunity he had with his family, not long before his de

The greater part of the meeting to which he belonged having joined with the separatists, he, with the few Friends that remained, held a meet-parture, he said, "I think it right to tell you, ing for worship at his own house; and this little that last night I lay some hours thinking of my company was often favoured with the presence of latter end: all seemed pleasant; the scenes of Him who testified, "that where two or three are my youth were brought up to my remembrance, gathered together in my name, there am I in the when I so far went into vanity and folly: yet midst of them." These afterwards became mem- all seemed peaceful. The Lord is merciful to bers of Kennet particular meeting, held near sinners; he was so to the poor publican; he Parkersville; which meeting he diligently at-went down to his house justified rather than the tended, suffering nothing but indisposition to prevent him, and often when so feeble that he had to be supported from his chair to his seat in the meeting-house.

[ocr errors]

pharisee. I always found peace in giving up to what I found to be my duty, though it led in the way of the cross and deep provings. And though the Lord give you the bread of adverThe manifest departure in many Friends from sity, and the waters of affliction, yet shall not plainness in dress, language, and the furniture of thy teachers be removed into a corner any more; their houses, was a cause of grief to him; he but thine eye shall see thy teachers, and thine thought that instead of standing in the gap, and ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this being way-marks to the people, such were aiding is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the in drawing down divine displeasure. With sor-right hand, and when ye turn to the left."" row he beheld them falling back into many He then said, "my time has been lengthened out things, against which our predecessors through more than I expected; I think a change is near, much suffering. had maintained a faithful testi- though I feel as well as usual." Soon after, he mony. Although at times he felt so discouraged, had a paralytic stroke, which confined him to his when seeing and feeling the many deficiencies house the remainder of his life. During this pewithin our borders, that he was ready to wish riod, he appeared to be like one who had nothwith the prophet: "Oh, that I had in the wil-ing further to do, and in much sweetness of derness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I spirit awaiting the final summons to everlasting might leave my people and go from them;" yet rest. he was made to believe, and strengthened to declare publicly, that the testimonies professed by Friends were in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and must prevail.

A few months before his decease he delivered a remarkable testimony at Kennet monthly meeting, in which he said, the enemy in order to have successful instruments in his hands, has tempted many filling high stations amongst us, and has led them off, so that it may be said, the leaders of this people have caused them to err; and that these are leading away others; for the enemy had gotten up a counterfeit, and not only got it but had also got it to pass; that if we expect a counterfeit to pass, it must nearly resemble the thing itself, or it will not do; but after

up,

Towards the close, when speaking of his dissolution, he said, "it is solemn to think of it;" but added, "I shall go well. I shall be safely landed. I should be willing if the time had come for my release, but I must wait the right time." To a Friend who had called to see him, he said, "Oh! what a nearness I feel, to all that are in unity with Friends. He frequently desired, that when his earthly tabernacle was dissolved, he might have an easy passage; which was granted. His strength gradually declined. until the 25th of the Eleventh month 1843, when he quietly passed away while sitting in his chair, in the 92d year of his age.

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace."

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »