Gravity and gravitation then assumed to rule the board;
And they all with agitation o'er mysterious symbols pored:
Frivolous, vain, and petty questions were denounced in words of fire,
As the scrawled and spectral writing testified of kindled ire.
Then they called up each profession; wily lawyer, canting knave,
Man of balm and consolation, learned physician, breath to save;
But what caused great consternation, and made some cry out aloud,
Was the advent of one doctor, name suggestive of a shroud :
One whose conscience could not slumber for his slaughter done on earth,
Where for lucre he'd still practise, though 't would desolate the hearth:
Scrupulously such I always shun, for life is short enough;

But that doctor-lurking demon! - would not heed my cold rebuff;
But he vowed that he would practise on my carcass, for my pride:
Yet redeemed not such a bold threat, else before this I had died.

'Wait a moment!' then I told them, and I'll raise a spirit pure.'
Forthwith hieing from their presence, though my meaning was obscure,
Hard by, in a chamber sleeping, (for it now was late at night,)
EMMA, beauteous child, unconscious lay, apparelled all in white;
Little sprite of five bright summers, who awoke with smile-lit face:
Gracefully she stood uprightly, giving me a love-embrace.
When I took her from the cradle, to the crowd the table round:
'See this spirit!' then I told them, while my glee did loud resound.

When I sought again the 'circle,' after taking back the child,
They had summoned up a chieftain of the Red Men of the wild:
'MOUNTAIN-EAGLE bids thee, PALE-FACE, hence to flee, and come no more;
Thou 'st despoiled him, thou 'st allured him from the GoD he did adore :
The GREAT SPIRIT tells HIS children to avenge their nation's wrongs :
Fire-water to cast from them-pest ! that misery prolongs.'

Thus the chieftain's proclamation, more at length, was emptied forth
From the mouth of eye-closed Medium,' (though 't is hard to tell its worth,)
Till one yawningly made mention, that the hour had grown so late,
That 't were well to cease all talking, and begin to meditate.
Then, disbanding, thence all sallied; some to have a dreamless rest,
Others shuddering, lest hobgoblins and grim spectres should infest
Each bed-chamber, every corner where a pile of clothes is hung,
Every nook, each bush or clothes-horse over which a sheet is flung.

That is how I was converted; (was it, think you, in a horn?)
Thus the sublime truths came to me, doctrines that I'd viewed with scorn.
If you've read in recent journals of bold tricks, most queer and droll,*
Which embodied spirits practised on two strangers, who did stroll
Where a social evening party sought the science to explore,
You'll remember both the strangers made their exit by the door,
After having eased each member of the 'circle' of his cash,

Watch, or jewels, all surrendered as a jest-just for a dash!

'Ha! MACAIRE and STROP, how foolish they will look when wits return,
Shaking off their sleep mesmeric, how their reddening cheeks will burn!'
Confidence those spirits naughty had cajoled, despite police,
Who soon jugged the playful strangers, as a warning not to fleece.

* AMONG late Police Reports appeared the following: The notorious Confidence Man,' (just discharged from the Penitentiary, for some manifestation of early piety,) with a chum of the same ilk, went the other evening among some spiritualists. Confidence,' who was introduced as a gentleman from Kentucky, soon became influenced by the spirit of ROBERT MACAIRE, and his companion with that of JAQUES STROP, both seeming for the nonce to have lost all personal identity. A curious lady present, felt anxious to know how MACAIRE was wont to exercise his talents, when lo! the spirit of the thief manifested itself, to the infinite amusement of all present. MACAIRE went round the circle, collecting jewels, watches, and money. These he handed to STROP, who stumbled about in an unconscious (?) state, until he found the outside of the door, where he soon was rejoined by his comrade. The company waited a few moments; one becoming impatient, peeped out-both had left. After some trouble, the officers arrested them both; and yesterday they were committed to answer.'

But our circle' eye more sharply when a stranger we invite :
Place his hands upon the table, close our pockets all up tight.
Be advised, though, verdant reader, when you would our 'circle' join,
That no token will admit you without talismanic coin:

Would you deeper search the Occult, pierce the Future's secret store? (If you would, and you really think you have a turn for profound psychological investigations, commence as soon as you please, (tickets one dollar) and after you have repeated the dose ten or a dozen times) Truth will burst with dazzling brightness on your mind—perhaps before! (New-York,) December, 1857.

W. H. BROWNE.

THE LIFE OF A MID SHIP MAN.

CHAPTER THIRTEENTH

RUNNING, with a fresh westerly breeze, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and by the hill of victory,' gladly we hailed the blue waters of the Mediterranean; and the wind continuing en popa, as the Spaniards say, many days had not elapsed before, with Ischia on the one hand, and Procida on the other, we were standing in, under a cloud of canvas, for the anchorage off the 'lanterna at Naples.

Here we found three of our national vessels; the line-of-battleship Indiana,' carrying the broad pennant of Commodore Frasier, the frigate 'Sabine,' and the sloop-of-war 'Huron,' whose officers, to the annoyance of Mr. Garboard, crowded aboard of us, while we were engaged in 'mooring ship.'

As soon as the order was given to 'pipe down,' we mids showed our guests the way to the steerage, where an animated conversation ensued, as to the manner in which the Shenandoah' had been handled' in coming up the harbor; and after a long discussion of this delicate subject, it still remained a matter of doubt to the large majority of us, whether or not the topsails would have been more easily clewed up' if the sheets had been started a quarter of a minute earlier - Daw, who was an admirer of the first lieutenant, earnestly supporting the negative of this proposition, and Duet, the mathematician, as stoutly maintaining the affirmative of it.

'What sort of an officer is your first lieutenant?' inquired Weasel of Midshipman Brown, of the 'Huron.'

'A most miserable one indeed,' responded Brown. has no voice at all !'

Why, he

Now I was at a loss to comprehend the meaning of this reply, at the time, but I fully understood it some years later, when, in common with a large number of my brother officers, I stood upon the 'long wharf' at Pensacola, to witness the getting under way of the United States schooner Petrel' of forty-two tons, commanded by Lieutenant P. F. Windy. All hands up anchor!'

thundered the acting boatswain, Mr. Harvey, and instanter all was commotion aboard the schooner; the men and boys, fourteen in number, rushing with hurricane speed to the 'deck-tackle;' the master, Mr. Baker, taking two strides from the cabin-hatch to the forecastle; passed midshipman Duncan stationing himself amidships; and the commanding-officer standing as far aft as he could possibly get, as erect as an oak, and as stiff as a pump-bolt.

Presently, clapping with both hands an enormous speakingtrumpet to his mouth, which, projecting far beyond Duncan, almost touched the ear of the master, Lieutenant Commanding Windy yelled out :

'Are you all ready forward, Sir ?'

'All ready, Sir !'

6 Walk away the deck-tackle!'

The chain being soon reported 'in to a short stay,' Lieutenant Commanding Windy again bellowed out :

'Belay the deck-tackle! Lay aft and hoist the mainsail !'

And when the anchor was aweigh, he ordered the jib and foresail to be set, in a voice whose trumpet tones caused so violent a concussion of the air, that I was almost lifted off my feet by it. 'Splendid officer, that Windy!' cried Captain Grundy of the Washington Mutual Adulation Society.'

'Best I ever saw!' exclaimed three of his satellites in a breath. 'Great disciplinarian!' said sailing-master Hardy.

'Finest voice in the Navy!' stammered Commodore Doolittle. 'Not a doubt of it!' ejaculated Doctor Seaman.

'Almost equal to a Mahon jackass's, said little Charley Sinner. 'Almost equal? Far superior to it!' rejoined the others indignantly.

And then they all-Sinner excepted-joined in a laudation of Windy, which it was truly delightful to listen to.

For myself, I made no remark whatever, but I could not, for the life of me, help reverting to the time when my mess-mates of the 'Shenandoah cried with one voice: 'Long live John Jenkins, knight of the double rations; and may he ever be blessed with the two great requisites of a naval officer- a shrill voice and a capacious stomach !'

6

We had been about a week at Naples, when Commodore Barriga Pompous arrived there in the frigate United States,' with orders to relieve Commodore Frasier, whose term of service had expired.

As Pompous was the junior of the two, the instant he hove in sight of Frasier's flag, he fired a salute of thirteen guns, which was promptly returned, and with interest, too; for no sooner had the Indiana' ceased firing, than the 'Sabine,' commanded by Captain Beale, senior captain of the squadron, commenced 'blazing away,' starboard and port.

"Why, how is that, Mr. Garboard?' cried our captain; the Commodore must have issued a general order to salute, which,

through some mistake, has not reached us. Fire away, as soon as you're ready, Sir!'

As Mr. Garboard counted thirteen, the little 'Huron' 'took it up,' as we say in the Navy; and so old Pompous received the very liberal allowance of fifty-two guns for his paltry thirteen.

Soon, however, Commodore Frasier sent his flag-lieutenant aboard of us to know 'why we had fired;' and Captain Blazes's explanation being satisfactory, nothing more was said to him on the subject; but Captain Beale returning for answer to a similar question, that his salute was intended as a feu de joie, to celebrate the advent of a gentleman to command the squadron, there was a grand 'row in the camp,' to be sure.

'The salute was a private one, and I paid for every ounce of the powder expended out of my own pocket,' quoth Beale.

"You have no right to fire a private salute from a public vessel,' dogmatically responded his superior. And so, without further parleying, the delinquent captain was arrested, and the first luff of the Indiana' placed in command of his vessel.

As Beale was a gallant fellow, though, and a general favorite in the squadron, notwithstanding his being somewhat erratic in his notions, and inclined to take his toddy rather stronger than was good for him, all his brother captains warmly interested themselves in his behalf; and the Commodore, who was as amiable and courteous a gentlemen as ever had the good fortune to smell gunpowder, was easily persuaded to restore him to duty.

Thereupon, a general jollification, upon the part of all the commanders of the squadron, came off at night in the cabin of the Shenandoah,' which lasted until near cock-crow, Captain Beale being the last one to leave the vessel.

As he staggered toward the starboard gangway, where stood four messenger-boys, each with a lantern dimly burning,' he threw his arms about Blazes's neck, and burst into tears. What's the matter now, Beale?' inquired 'the old man.'

'You real (hiccup) ly overcome, come (hiccup) over me with your ki-kind (hiccup) ness, Blaze-aze-us; you do in-deed!' 'My kindness! Why, what do you mean, man?'

'But you do (hiccup) me too, too much honor-in-deed you (hiccup) do,' continued Beale, sobbing bitterly, and steadying himself against the mainmast. All I ask is four li-lights, and

6

Four lights is all you have,' interrupted our skipper.

'Four! Do you think I'm bli-wind, then?' exclaimed Beale, pointing toward each one of the messenger-boys in turn as he spoke. 'Isn't there two (hiccup) boys with li-lights; and there two, and there two, and there two· and does n't four ti-times (hiccup) two make (hiccup) eight, I'd li-like to know?'

Under this pleasing delusion, the worthy comandante lloroso of the 'Sabine' betook himself to his ship; and his steward reports that the last words he uttered that night, as he turned into his cot, were: All I ask is four li-lights, and (hiccup) ne'er a one mo-wore, friend Blaze-aze-us!'

One bright afternoon in the month of May, I went ashore at Naples to witness the liquefaction of the blood of the great San Gennaro, of blessed memory.

As I entered the Duomo, a Neapolitan officer made his way to me through the dense masses of human beings that thronged every corner of the church, and politely led me to a seat just outside of the balustrade surrounding the sanctuary, whence I, of course, had a fine view of what my guide-book informed me was a 'most imposing spectacle;' yet, sooth to say, on this occasion it partook, to my mind, very largely of the character of buffoonery; and since I have had the opportunity of comparing it with the magic of the 'wise men of the East,' of which I may, perhaps, have occasion to make mention in the progress of this valuable work, I have been reluctantly forced to pronounce the whole function, one of the very shallowest pieces of trickery that ever juggler resorted to. By the altar stood an austere-looking priest, holding in his left hand a glass jar or bottle, (containing, it was said, the coagulated blood of San Gennaro,) which he was violently rubbing with his right; while, kneeling in a circle around him, were the descendants of the saint, vociferously calling upon the shade of their pious ancestor to be present at the ceremony, and, for the honor of the family, to assist the priest in his manipulations.

After an hour's hard labor, however, the efforts of the holy father relaxed, and, finally, the blood still remaining congealed, his right arm fell, powerless, to his side.

Then arose, from all parts of the vast cathedral, bitter complaints against the saint; and the Gennaro family, waxing exceedingly wrathy, abused him in good round terms, declaring that however excellent he might have been in the flesh, it was quite evident he was but little better than he should be in the spirit, and that they, for their parts, were heartily ashamed of him.

'A nice specimen of a saint you are, I don't think!' screamed

one.

'To be all this time performing a small job like that!' cried another.

'Saint Paul or Saint Peter could have done it in one-third of the time!' shrieked a third. And now, being fairly under way, they continued to pour forth the vials of their wrath in a torrent of vituperation, such as no saint in Christendom could long have withstood the shock of; so poor San Gennaro was forced, like Martin Scott's coon, to 6 come down;' and accordingly he put it into the head of the manipulator, to provide himself with a spiritlamp of goodly dimensions, by the aid of which the blood was most marvellously liquefied; and all the people prostrated themselves, in exceeding great wonder at the miracle; and the Gennaro family wept aloud; and I-alas! sinner that I am! - I marched out of the church in double quick time, whistling to myself - Yankee Doodle!

I had not gone far, when a beautiful flower-girl, leading by the hand a bright-eyed, thoughtful-looking boy, of about four years of