and other marked features of slovenliness and dissipation, he reminded one continually of CHAUCER's description: "THIS man so long hath bibbed ale, We believe there is a ' compensation' in the life of nearly every man in this world. Ruminating homeward through Hudson-street the other afternoon, in the neighborhood of Saint JOHN's Square, we encountered a stalwart young man, of eighteen or twenty, with his arm thrust through an iron cog-wheel, whose upper rim seemed deeply to indent his shoulder. His eyes were a dark hazel; his cheeks were flushed with the hue of health; the day was intensely hot; the perspiration streamed from his brow, beneath his broad straw hat; but he walked, notwithstanding his load, with an alert step. While we were nearing him, a splendid carriage, with richly-caparisoned blood-horses, rolled indolently by; and we could plainly read in his countenance, as he looked at the sumptuous vehicle, that he was contrasting his own condition with that of its more favored inmates. Ah! if he could but have known all, as we did! There was a helpless invalid for life on one seat of that carriage, who would have 'bestowed all her goods to feed the poor,' could she have been insured, for a single year, the health of the toiling artizan who was at that moment envying her condition. And on another seat was a man rich in 'worldly gear' who was a victim to misanthropy; who 'lieth down and riseth up in the bitterness of his spirit, and never eateth with pleasure.' There is a 'compensation,' even in this world. 'PHILIP KEEHN, Number ninety, Main-street, by Mr. CUSHLIN's French boarding-house' advertises as follows, on the tenth of June 'instimo,' in the St. Louis, (Miss.) Republican.' It is apparent that he understands English only a few :' "WANTED-A man of thirty-six years without wife, born in Germania, and been twelve years in France; wish occupation in one's house American, or French house where the English language is speak. He prefer in a store or bar-room as bar-keeper, or in the country to work in a flower garden; in a word, where he find good occation to perfect in the English language. If the gentleman had childrens, and desires that he give theirs lessons in the Germa nia or French language, practical and grammatical, he do it also, or in the flute. He can give good certificats of his conduct from Germania, France and the seventeen months that he is here in America: he read and write also English; but the speaken go not yet so good.' Yaw; und oder de writin' 'go not yet so goot' n'ider ash 'd will py-und-py, Mynheer KEEHN. THERE is a world of true philosophy in these fine lines of a Scottish poet. We took them the other evening, by permission of a fair lady-friend, from a volume of the songs of her native land, presented by her and our esteemed friend JOHN WILSON, Esq., the eminent Scottish vocalist : 'CONFIDE ye aye in Providence, for Providence is kind, Though pressed and hemmed on every side, hae faith, an' ye'll win through, "Gin reft frae friends, or crossed in love, as whiles no doubt ye 've been, Grief lies deep hidden in your heart, or tears flow from your e'en, Believe it for the best,' and trow there's gude in store for you, For ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew. 'In lang, lang days o' simmer, when the clear and cloudless sky The genial night, wi' balmy breath, gars verdure spring anew, THERE is a triangular island in Lake George, which seems, while you are passing it in the steamer, to belong to the main land on the west. It is thickly wooded and 1 is about fifteen miles in length. The only resident upon its whole surface, and he is but a recent comer, is a solitary hermit, with a half-clearing of about an acre surrounding his log shanty. Here he devotes himself to agriculture and the fisheries,' on a small scale, and also, and mainly, to 'self-culture.' The island is full of all kinds of game; and one summer day, some four or five years ago, a party of huntsmen landed on the widest end of it, spread out so as to have their 'base-line' take in every thing before them, and yelling like a pack of wild devils, began their onward march. The animals, of course, preceded them, their limits every moment growing narrower and narrower; and it was a sight to see, they say,' when the herd broke cover on the narrow point of land that runs into the lake. There were two moose, three black bears, one woolly horse,' some twenty deer, seven panthers, two foxes, four gaunt wolves, one 'prock,' one 'guyanosa,' and a young Penobscot ice-breaker. When this rather 'mixed company' first stood revealed, there was a manifest coolness between them; but there was no time for the exhibition of animosity. The foe was behind them; they plunged into the lake; and presently fell an easy prey to the huntsTHESE beautiful lines are from The Fatall Death of the Emperour of Graves,' by MARKHAM, a quaint English writer of the time of ELIZABETH: men. 'THE tungs of dying men Inforce attention like deep harmony: Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vaine, He, that no more must say, is listened more Than they whom youth and ease have taught to gloze: The setting sun and musick at its close, As the last tast of sweet is sweetest tast, Writ in remembrance more than things long past.' THE trip down Lake George from the Lake House,' on a most glorious June morning, was an event not soon to be forgotten. No dissolving views' of Swiss or Alpine scenery, that we have ever beheld, exceed in beauty the scenery of Lake George, as it grows or fades upon the eye of the voyager. In one word, it is indescribably beautiful; and this nobody can deny' who has ever seen it. The white mist-lines lying in the early morning in strata midway up the mountains, now rolled above their tops in masses of cumulį,' such as it would have delighted the heart of our great painter DURAND to have seen; billowy clouds, that reflected not the light, nor were yet transparencies through which the light was seen; but clouds that rolled up light in their folds, which it permeated and pervaded, producing effects beyond the utmost reach of human pencil. And gazing at these, the fairy mountains, the emerald isles, or watching the bald-eagle soar, or surveying in the clear depths below the finny tribe disporting, we reached too soon the precipice known as 'Roger's Slide,' where that wily foe, as tradition relates, 'slode down on his haunches,' one wild winter day, and so escaped the bloudy salvages,' who were in hot pursuit. Presently we were ready to debark, at the foot of the lake, for old Ti.,' as in this region they term the classic Ticonderoga; lamenting only that our friend B- with his facile and graphic pencil, had not been with us to share our enjoyment. "Stanzas to a Friend going to California' not admissible. Very poor. The rough ends of the lines, halved and carried over to balance of account,' remind us of a stanza in a parody on the burial of Sir JOHN MOORE: 'WE bore him home, and put him to bed, To give him, next morning, a couple of red mor. What 'trials' soever the gold-seeker may encounter, he will be spared the infliction of his 'friend's lines.' By-the-by, whose capital imaginary letters from El Dorado are those in the 'Sunday Times' weekly journal? They are replete with spirit and huTHANKS, and acceptance bounteous,' to the fair and graceful young bride, (so newly blessed as to start with a smile at each mention of her conjugal name, so unwonted to her ear) who, after contributing by her very presence to the 'silent delights' of our pleasant party at the Lake House,' preceded us down the lovely Horricon. Our agreeable antediluvian friend' brought us the welcome poetical' Tribute' from the 'Traveller's Book' below; and most grateful was it, at such a time, to find ourselves so kindly and tastefully remembered by one whose own happiness was so well assured: 6 'THESE Scenes divinely fair Are fading from our view; ... 'The poet's heart will beat These too were our thoughts, as reciprocating cordially the 'friendly sympathy' which dictated their transcription, we glided onward over the 'azure depths' of the 'Queen of Lakes.' . . . LONGFELLOW, in his late work, KAVANAGH,' mentions, as the reader will recollect, a boy who promised, if his mother would not punish him, that he would experience religion.' He should have fallen in, about that time, with a SIMON MAGUS, mentioned by 'The Christian Inquirer' religious journal, who is now travelling through a certain county in New-England, offering to convert souls at two dollars a head!' His 'custom' however is somewhat limited, he having scandalized the zealots who sustained him,' by conduct which showed that he had not quite emanci. pated himself from the carnal mind.' . . . THERE appears elsewhere in the present number, reader, the counterfeit presentment of two brothers,' twins; one of whom has fallen asleep,' but the other, by the blessing of Heaven, remains unto this present,' and for some fifteen years has variously chatted and gossipped with you in these pages. Aside from the great faithfulness of this recent picture, as a double-likeness, we hope it will not be considered amiss for us to say, that neither painter nor engraver, both of whom, by universal concession, 'lead the van' in their separate professions, have ever exceeded the late example of their united skill which is herewith laid before you.. SHOULD you visit Lake-George, town-reader, observe you this modus-operandi: Leave New-York in the evening, in the 'NEWTON' or ' TROY ;' both superb steamers, with excellent captains, and most kind and attentive second officers; be in Troy at COLEMAN's popular Troy-House' for breakfast - one of his breakfasts; then, over a firm rail-road, under the careful supervision of Mr. SARGENT, to Saratoga; from which, if you can get away, take the Saratoga and Whitehall railcars for Fort-Edward; a trip which will prove doubly fruitful of interest and instruction, if, as in our case, the present avocations of Mr. DAVISON, the President, or of Mr. VAN RENSSELAER, the superintendent, should make them fellow-passengers with you; and at or near Fort-Edward carriages on the new plank-road will convey you, through Sandy-Hill, Glen's-Falls and The Notch,' to the Lake House' at Lake George; where, if there should be time before dinner, our friend GALE, the careful skipper, may perhaps give you a sail in his triumphant little yacht, in the naming of which you will see that he has done us an undeserved but a gratefully-appreciated honor. FIVE pages, containing notices of ten new works, and a variety of Gossip,' including other 'incidents of travel' in our trip northward, although in type, are necessarily postponed until our next. ... Ir is not the most common thing in this age to meet with men in the pulpit who know how to be serious without severity, simple without insipidity, humble though dignified, at once firm and modest, courteous without fawning and without affectation, full of energy and grace. Such an instance, however, we deem the experienced and beloved pastor of the Charles-street Baptist church in Boston. In him, face and figure, mental traits and moral character, unite whatever we have conceived of manly and ministerial worth, equally poised. between ignoble vacillation and arrogant self-esteem. We think that in this divine there is a rare combination of dignity, simplicity and practicalness, which attributes, as they are habitually employed by him in sacred functions, produce and exemplify permanent power. We will briefly develop these several points. In the first place, Dr. SHARP is by nature uncommonly dignified in character and appearance. This is not something put on, but is inherent in every faculty of his mind, and in every fibre of his body; it is 'part and parcel' of his nature, has grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength.' GOD made him a perpendicular gentleman, of the noblest class, and we never expect to see him voluntarily assume, in any sense, the air and attitude of a curved and sycophantic charlatan. But Dr. Sharp's dignity is not stiffness. Trees the most inflexible are generally hollow, so that their stubbornness results mainly from the want of heart. Such do not represent our friend. The mantle which invests him as a prophet covers no cold and apathetic spirit, indifferent to popular aspirations and unprompted to great and redeeming deeds. There is doubtless much in the old Hebrew prophets that is exceedingly beautiful; many portraitures drawn with a powerful hand, many denunciations fitting to arrest the attention of the unthinking and alarm the careless. Every thing that can arouse the feelings, terrify the imagination, or startle the torpid conscience, is marshalled by them in rapid and formidable array. But this resulted not from an arrogant or hollow profession; it was the product and proof of a powerful possession. There were heart and soul in them. All adventitious circumstances and acquired resources would have been of little avail, had not each one, with a live coal on his lips, symbol of the flames within, been himself the most powerful of prophecies. What is a minister at God's altar good for, if he is not the living example, the manhood, the mighty individuality of his race, that goes forth conquering and to conquer? Dr. Sharp is dignified, but not with that sleek and pompous ani mality' that limits its entire activity to the satisfaction of selfish desires, and never acts strenuously save to obtrude itself upon the magnanimous to wound their sensibilities and oppress their rights. It is rather of that stamp which leads the unconstrained contemplator to feel himself elevated by what is noble, warmed by the presence of the heroic, charmed and made happy by the sight of purity and loveliness. In him, as in the majestic marbles of Greece, there is a severe and dignified grandeur, attained without affected sentiment or arrogant display. It is the simple reflection of native integrity and the lucid excellence of unostentatious worth, verifying the saying that a great river, in its ordinary state, is equal to a small one when swollen into a torrent.' Accessible to all, and dictatorial to none, the conscious possession, and yet extremely modest exercise of this grand quality, impels him to say to every young man through his example, if not by more direct paternal advice: 'BE grave, be majesty thy constant aim, Simplicity is another trait intimately connected with dignity in the mind and demeanor of Dr. Sharp. His language and intention are both clear, and flow in the same channel; there is no cant or equivocation, one current passing through regions of holiness, harmony, and frank joy, the other along the hidden districts of pretension, falsehood and hypocrisy. He seems to have gathered from the descriptions of the Apocalypse, and other similar sources, the idea that it is not dissembling but plain, honest living, purity of intent and not fickle protestations, that fit a soul for a place in heaven; as the river of the water of life, that proceeds out of the throne of the LAMB, is clear as crystal, and the pavement of the city is pure gold, like unto clear glass. Such characters are not only luminous, but forcible; they are well lighted throughout, and armed even in their left hands, because they are fitly symbolized by the lamp of fire within the earthern pitcher. To dignity and simplicity, as prominent traits in the character of Dr. Sharp, practicalness is associated and indissolubly allied. Dean |
