(Not tainted with extremes) runs through his body,
And guides his arm to brave things.'

In Macbeth, we have the like description of Banquo:
""Tis much he dares;

And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,

He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety."

The Gaoler's daughter, forms an episode to the general plot; and a scene wherein she and a Doctor are introduced, bears in its dialogue a strong resemblance to the similar one in Macbeth. Her deportment throughout is not very different from that of Ophelia ; but as the play of Hamlet was written prior to the one in question, we have declined quoting any general resemblances, from that tragedy.

Doctor. Her distraction is more at some time of the moon
Than at other some, is it not?

*

*

I think she has a perturbed mind,

Which I cannot minister to.'—Act iv.

scene 3.

In Othello, we have a similar passage to the first :

"It is the very error of the moon;

She comes more near the earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad."

And for the second, we have Macbeth:-" Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased ?"

On the entrance of the Gaoler's daughter, the persons present observe;

'Look where she comes,

You shall perceive her behaviour.'

And in Macbeth, on the approach of the queen, they remark; "Lo you, here she comes! *** observe her; stand close."

The combatants having saluted each other, Arcite invokes the favour of Mars, and Palamon that of Venus. In the address of the first, he exclaims;

'Thou mighty one, that with thy power hast turn'd
Green Neptune into purple.'-Act v. scene 1.

Which is nearly the same expression that occurs in Macbeth. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,

Making the green, one red."

The daughter of the Gaoler, in her last scene, alludes to a

story similar to the one in Midsummer Night's Dream, and speaks of;

'Some two hundred bottles

And twenty strike of oats.'

In the latter play, we have the same fanciful application of such a vessel to as singular a use:—Act iv. scene 1. "Truly, a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry oats. Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay."*

The daughter is eventually restored to her reason, by the deception of a 'wooer,' introduced under the guise of Palamon, and, as might be expected, weds the agent of the innocent fraud.

Arcite proves victorious in the trial, and Palamon and his companions are already prepared for execution, when Arcite is thrown from a fiery courser; and dies, confessing himself to have been false to the observance of their mutual oath(that the one should never rival the other in love,) Palamon having first seen the lady. Theseus accordingly confers the hand of Emilia on the survivor, and, having given directions for the funeral obsequies of the ill-fated knight, dismisses the characters with our final quotation :

'Let's go off,

And bear us like the time.'

In Macbeth, the admonition of Lady Macbeth is to the same effect:-"To beguile the time, look like the time; bear welcome in your eye."

The plot of the play (as has been already observed) is taken from Chaucer's Palamon and Arcite; any remarks, therefore, on its general character, would appertain with more propriety to that, than to the production before us. Besides, in the present instance, it is rendered wholly unnecessary, as none have ever contended, that Shakspeare afforded any other aid than in the detached passages-the general structure of the story, having invariably been ascribed to the coadjutor of Beaumont alone. W.

*Bottle was a term employed in the measurement of hay, but was not technically used by Bottom, during his temporary transfiguration.

ARTICLE V.

CANAL THROUGH THE ISTHMUS OF DARIEN.

Ingenious men have been much occupied with the idea of a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, through what is usually termed the isthmus of Darien. The late changes in the political institutions of this part of the globe, have given to this subject an additional interest; and we hope that the desired communication will rank among the first public acts of our sister republic of Colombia. But a few years have passed, since a canal of the smallest extent was considered only to be the parallel of an Egyptian pyramid, requiring the wealth of an absolute monarch, and the labour and skill to be wielded by such power alone. Now, a single member of our young republic, constructs canals of many hundred miles in extent, in the short space of four years, with an expense comparatively insignificant; and overcomes obstacles hitherto deemed insurmountable.

Our attention is now called to this subject by a MS. map of part of the isthmus of Darien, with an accompanying memoir in Spanish, which have lately been put into our hands by our distinguished townsman, Dr. Mitchill. The map appears to be genuine, and is constructed as late as 1821, by W. E. Cortin. It embraces that portion of the Colombian republic, through which flow the rivers Atrato and St. Juan, between the latitudes of 6° and 10° north.

Humboldt, the most accurate and indefatigable traveller of ancient or modern times, has enumerated no less than nine different points of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the most northerly being at the river Columbia, and the most southerly, a conjectural passage in Patagonia. The mountainous range of the Andes opposes an irremovable barrier to a free water communication, at all these points but two; and it is to these two points we beg leave at present to direct the attention of our readers.

In latitude 8° 12' north, is the mouth of the river Atrato, called Barracoa, emptying into the bay of Candelaria at the bottom of the gulf of Darien. This bay is sufficiently large for all the ships in the world; it has good anchorage from fifteen to twenty fathoms, and is sheltered from all winds. There is a bar 200 varas in breadth, with five feet at low water, across the mouth of the Atrato, consisting of hard sand. The Atrato, in the memoir above referred to, is es

timated at 530 miles in length to its source, and is navigable for steam-boats drawing six feet water, about 400 miles, to its junction with the Quito. It strongly resembles our Mississippi, in its inundations, its numerous windings and bayous, and in being filled with logs, sawyers, and other impediments to a safe navigation. These obstacles will be removed, as the country becomes settled and cultivated. Pursuing the course of the Quito, by a very shoal navigation, to nearly its source, we have only to cross the Ravine de la Raspadura, a distance of four and a half miles, and we arrive on the bank of the river St. Juan, which empties into the bay of Charambira, in the Pacific.

We are indebted to Humboldt for the knowledge of the fact, that as early as the year 1788, an enterprising monk caused a canal to be made connecting these two rivers; by means of which, in rainy seasons, loaded canoes have passed from the waters of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific. It is not, however, our intention at present to examine this particular route, as another presents itself, less tedious and dangerous, and which seems to us far preferable.

Following the course of the Atrato from its mouth, a distance of about 150 miles, we come to a tributary stream, entering from the north, called the Napipi-by Humboldt termed the Naipi. This river presents no great obstacles to navigation for a distance of forty-five miles, from which point a portage of six miles brings us to the bay of Cupica, opening to the Pacific. This portage is level, and well adapted to a canal; and Cupica bay is safe, and sheltered from all winds. It is here, we think, that the only advantageous junction of the two oceans must be undertaken.

The shoal and rapid course of the Quito, clearly exhibits such an elevation of the country, as would prevent the construction of a useful canal in that direction-presenting the objection of numerous locks, and perhaps of a deficiency of water at the summit level. The little cut made in 1788 will remain more an object of curiosity, than of utility.

By the river Napipi, on the contrary, with a level portage, and perhaps assistance from the river Nasique that discharges itself into Cupica bay, a canal can easily be made, which would give facility to the transportation of merchandise from one sea to the other. We are not, however, of the number of those who think that this channel would, for centuries, be widened by natural causes sufficiently VOL. I.

10

are

for sea vessels. From the most exact barometrical experiments, the difference of level between the two seas cannot be but a few feet-which difference may readily be ascribed to the want of minute accuracy attending this mode of measurement. From geological appearances, we warranted in concluding, that the whole sea of the Antilles has at a distant period been land, of which the numerous islands are the remains. Hence the gradual operations of the sea may, in the course of ages, make a passage through the isthmus; but there never will, we imagine, be effected by human agency, a free water communication for the largest ships. Humboldt has enumerated the many and important consequences that would ensue, if the two continents were disjoined; and the lynx-eyed jealousy of our English brethren, has already anticipated the serious results of this disruption, affecting the stability of her eastern empire.*

The countries watered by the rivers Atrato and Napipi are represented as fertile, and occupied by numerous hordes of hostile Indians, by which it is rendered necessary for boats on these rivers to be well armed. These hordes, under better political institutions, will become harmless, or disappear; and we consider it a matter of congratulation, that the spot designated for this important work falls within the limits of our sister republic, Colombia.

* A canal across the isthmus would facilitate the subjection of Japan, by giving the western shore of the continent, the advantages of the superior resources of the eastern shore. America may be looked upon as a stepping stone to the European strife, which has in view to reach eastern Africa. It is the nursery of the race of men who are to conquer and civilize Asia.-Vide Crawford's History of the Indian Archipelago, vol. 3. p. 337, et seq.

ART. 6.-Political Thoughts. No. 1. Idea of a Patriot President, pp. 19. Davis and Force, Washington.

The projector of this pamphlet is not a practised politician; but he may not be the worse politician for that. He divides his "Idea" into eight different requisites for a new President-which do not embrace any extraordinary discovery, nor present much novelty. Let us see his exposition of them.

"I. Intellectual Ability."—This head he qualifies by saying, that it is not a splendid genius which is required, but a sound judgment. "II. Great Experience."-This he alleges "should be of two kinds; in our foreign and in our domestic relations." But of the