Horrors of Civil War.

From the Narrative of a Spanish Guerrilla Soldier. [The following description we write down as nearly as we can recollect, from the conversation of one of Don Carlos's soldiers. We happened to meet with him a short time since, and know enough of his character to regard all his statements with the fullest confidence.]

"No man ought to speak of hardships who has not been engaged in a Spanish Civil War. More troops were wanted for the army of Don Carlos, and I joined it, at the same time that many recruits were drawn from the convents, by the promise of being released from their vows and obligations to lead a recluse life. But the numbers were soon reduced, exceedingly reduced. They could not endure the trials of their new profession. The other day I met with one who had left the service after six weeks; and even he has the most lively impressions of its severity.

For myself, I was a soldier for several years; and, if I should detail to you the hardships which I endured, you probably would think it impossible that nature could have sustained them. Rain, wind, hail and snow, the melting heat and the biting frost, we had to bear thus; (rising and standing upon his feet, with his shoulders raised to his ears, and his head bent towards the ground;) flying before the enemy to the mountains, closely pursued; then, when unable to retreat further, concealing ourselves among the rocks; seeing or hearing them in pursuit and search every day; and often at midnight suddenly awakened by musket shots near us; starting up in deadly alarm, with the dread of instant death constantly before us; harrassed by dreams at night almost as much as by troubles by day; I cannot give you an adequate idea of my sufferings, or of the condition to which my companions and myself were reduced. Five months, five whole months, I never slept under a roof, nor even in a cave. We were often in want of food, though usually supplied by shepherds with what they were able to furnish. Often we were stinted and starved. I have passed three days without eating, even when harrassed beyond description by marching, alarms, exposure to the changes of weather, and half frantic with the dread of death or captivity.

I have been several times among the besieged in strong cities, and that for months at a time, pressed to extremity by the Cristinos. Several times I was seized and imprisoned. I have been marched through crowded streets like a felon, while the mob around shouted, "kill him! kill him!" But hunger, fear, and exposure, with poverty and want, after months of continuance, have reduced me to a condition to which I cannot look back upon without distress. My clothes, though of the most firm and durable materials when I took the field, by constant wear, day and night, month after month-never changed nor put off for almost half a year-at length began

to fall in pieces; and at length the tatters dropped off to the knees, and half up my legs, while I had nothing to replace them, not even a rag to add or to tie round my naked skin. Then, when night came, the bare ground often soaked with rain, or stiffened with frost. How men can go through such sufferings without contracting fatal diseases I know not. My constitution suffered severely, as I feel at this day. Yet I was always ready with the rest, whenever an occasion offered, to rise when I could hardly stand, and wave my remnant of a cap in the view of Queen Christina's troops, and shout with all the voice I had left; huzza, as you say "Viva the absolute King, the restoration of the Convents, our religion and the Holy Inquisition!" Strange as it may seem to you, I was then as sincere in favor of Don Carlos as I now am against him. I had no guide to the truth, my education had perverted my views, I had been through a Spanish course of instruction. Our professors teach ignorance. I knew almost nothing of geography, less of history and the social and political condition of nations, and nothing at all of the Bible. I not only had never seen one, but I never heard of one in Spain.

Many of my young countrymen had their eyes opened to the true state of things before I did. This was the case especially with the young monks in the ranks of the army. Multitudes of them leave their convents disgusted with vices and atrocities, as well as the puerilities and severities they had wit pessed or endured; and, during the two years of constitutional liberty in Catalonia, the press poured out scores of their confessions and exposures, in a mass that shook down forever the popular respect and confidence in the immoral clergy, regular and secular.

I have met with numbers of my fellow soldiers in different places since we served together in the army of the pretender, and they have uniformly expressed their horror at the recollection of scenes such as we were all familiar with; and if you converse with any of them, we may hear many details which I have neither time nor disposition to rehearse. No man ought to speak of hardships who has not been in a Spanish guerilla.”

Life-Boat.

Mr. Ingersoll, of this city, has lately completed a life-boat, which is to be sent to Brazil, and stationed at the mouth of one of the rivers, to be ready for use in cases of shipwreck, which are lamentably common on that part of the South American coast. The boat had nothing very remarkable in its appearance, except that in form it was something between a long-boat and a whale-boat, being broad and capacious, but high and sharp, to fit it to divide and ride over the waves.

Life-boats have been constructed on a great variety of plans, as the ingenuity of many philanthropists has been directed to the object in different countries and at various periods.

Some have been furnished with blocks of cork, others with quantities of cork shavings, and other materials have been tried, of the most buoyant nature that could be used consistently with the necessary degree of strength. The substance used to float the boat was air. It is confined in a long box, divided into several compartments, placed under the benches so as not to be in the way, and so as, at first, not even to attract attention. Although the space occupied was trifling, compared with the size of the boat, we were told that any number of men might be supported by it, who could be crowded in and hold by the numerous ropes which were fastened to different parts of the boat, and designed to be hung overboard.

A thought struck us, after examining this new specimen of ingenious skill, applied to a highly humane object, which may or may not be worth suggesting. Might not a few airtight boxes be made, and kept ready for use when needed, on board of every ship going to sea? They might easily be so planned, provided with fastenings, and fitted to ordinary boats, (the ship's long and jolly boats, for example,) as to be easily attached to them in time of danger. Many lives might be saved, every year, if the boats of all American vessels were provided in this manner, and much anxiety might be saved to crews and passengers when placed in dangerous circumstances. The apprehensions of the friends of those at sea would also be much alleviated; for see what would be the effects:

Every ship's boat could thus be converted into a life-boat in a moment; that is, by merely stowing a few light boxes in places prepared to receive them, or attaching them by hooks to staples or otherwise, the boat could be rendered so buoyant as to bear up any number of persons, even if full of water. If overset on a bar or reef, or by the agitation of the sea, still its numerous loose ropes would offer safety to all. Even if one, two, or three of the air boxes should be stove against the rocks, there would still be enough remaining to answer the purpose.

These suggestions are made with the hope that they may prove useful.

Science for Farmers.

Whoever takes a hoe in his hand, or puts a seed into the ground, engages in the most important of the arts and sciences, but in one least understood. Whether a farmer chooses or not-whether he knows it or nothe is daily and hourly working with principles of science; he is performing practically what the philosopher studies at home, and what the chemist tries experiments with and labors to understand in his laboratory; he is surrounded in his fields by those wonderful operations which the most learned men often most desire to witness. They who have most thoroughly learned the nature of the earth, air and water, light and heat, and studied most about the growth and nature of plants,

are the men who most feel the need of those observations which the farmer has the best opportunity to make, as his work is among the scenes where the plants grow, the rain falls, and the sun shines.

Nothing is plainer to the farmer than that the student needs such opportunities of observing and such experience as he enjoys. Nothing is more common than to hear him say so. He often condemns the writers of agricultural books and newspapers, for not going to work, instead of confining themselves at home; he sees and feels the reasons why they should look at every subject on both sides; and, doubtless, if more men who study, should at the same time direct and engage in the labors of the field, they and the world would be the gainers. Some have occasionally been heard to say so, who despise all book-farming," and believe that practical experience is everything. Let us look a moment at that question.

A plant in the dark grows white. What is the reason of that? A seed laid by in a dry place will not sprout; but moisten and warm it, and it soon begins to grow. The heads of wheat lately taken from the wrap. pers of an Egyptian mummy, have grown and produced seeds of their own, after two thousand years or more. Why is that? A crop of corn, clover, or any other plant, in one season gets a thousand or ten thousand pounds of charcoal from some where. Where does it come from? Not from the ground, for it was not there. Ah! we need the aid of science to explain it.

OIL FOR LIGHT HOUSES.-It has long been the steady pursuit of scientific men, in Europe and this country, to improve the light-house system, and especially in reference to the quality of the light. Benjamin Franklin Caston, a self-educated young man, has invented a process of manufacturing gas from rosin, which he has adapted to light-houses, upon principles so simple as to leave but little room for improvement.

The invention has achieved two important results-an intensity and amount of light hitherto unknown, and at a cost of one-tenth the price of the oil light. It has been reduced to the tests of practice at the Christina Light House, near Wilmington, Delaware, under the supervision of the Hon. Arnold Naudain, the Collector of that port. His report, as well as that of a scientific board of examination, and one from Captain Prince, of the Revenue Service, pronounces it eminently successful.

To our own country, we doubt not, the invention will be the means of saving to the revenue about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum.

This light is uniform in all climates and at all seasons: it gives nearly three times the quantity of light that can be obtained from the best oil; it is free from all danger in its use, and obviates all the essential objections that are found in the use of oil.-Selected.

MOSCOW.

From Elliott's "Letters from the North of Europe." The site of Moscow is slightly elevated. The inequality of the ground on which it stands adds to the picturesque nature of the view. It would be very difficult to analyze the tout ensemble and describe the details which form so remarkable a whole. Perhaps your recollections of Constantinople will enable you to form some idea of the general character of the city; but even in Constantinople that strange variety is not exhibited which here prevails. Dr. Clarke humorously observes: "One might imagine all the states of Europe and Asia had sent a building, by way of representa. tive, to Moscow; and, under this impression, the eye is presented with deputies from the countries holding Congress; timber huts from regions beyond the Arctic; plastered palaces from Sweden and Denmark, not whitewashed since their arrival ; painted walls from the Tyrol; mosques from Constantinole; Tartar temples from Bucharia; pagodas, pavilions and virandas. from China; cabarets from Spain; dungeons, prisons, and public offices from France; architectural ruins from Rome; terraces and trellisses from Naples; and warehouses from Wapping." This is a happy idea of the most amusing of travellers. The only traveller who has missed his way, is the minaret from India. That elegant form of eastern architecture appears to be entirely wanting; its place is supplied by Gothic and Tartar towers. The former are as modern as the days of Peter the Great, who introduced them from western Europe. The latter are very ancient; they are round, and instead of decreasing pyramidically to the top, they pass by sudden transitions from a greater to a less diameter.

The appearance of Moscow in different parts is so diversified that it is impossible to assign to it any general character, except that of strange and peculiar variety. Sometimes you may fancy yourself in a noble street in London, out of which you suddenly turn into a dirty Arab bazaar. Here you meet with a city of Byzantine mosques-there with the hovels of a tribe of Jews. Now you are in a large, overgrown village of cottages, and now in the midst of palaces. In one part you gaze with interest on styles and architecture, which hitherto you have fancied only Spain or Venice could exhibit. In another, flowing beards and turbaned heads remind you that you are in the "street of Tartars."

Before the confederation of 1812, the inhabited dwellings amounted to nine thousand, of which six thousand were consumed. Eight thousand have been built within the last eighteen years; so that Moscow row contains more, by one fifth, than it did before the French invasion. Most of the houses are constructed of brick, but many of the wooden ones remain. The streets are neither wide nor straight, and are badly paved, with a kind of flint supplied by the Moskva. There is an extraordinary numbe of pawnbrokers' shops, containing articles from every quarter of the world.

Astonishing Accuracy of the Bible. An astonishing feature of the word of God is, that notwithstanding the time at which its compositions were written, and the multitudes of the topics to which it alludes, there is not one physical error-not one assertion or allusion disproved by the progress of modern science.

None of those mistakes which the science of each succeeding age discovered in the books of the preceding; above all, none of those absurdities which modern astronomy

indicates in such great numbers in the writing of the ancients-in their sacred codes, in their philosophy, and even in the finest pages of the fathers of the Church, not one of these errors is to be found in any of our sacred books. Nothing there will ever contradict that which, after so many ages, the investigations of the learned world have been able to reveal to us on the state of our globe, or on that of the heavens.

Pursue with care our Scriptures, from one end to the other, to find there such spots; and while you apply yourselves to this examination, remember that it is a book which speaks of everything, which describes nature, which recites its creation, which tells us of the water, of the atmosphere, of the mountains, of the animals, and of the plants. It is a book which teaches us the first revolutions of the world, and which also foretells its last; it recounts them in the circumstantial language of history; it extols them in the sublimest strains of poetry, and it chants them in the charms of glowing song.

It is a book which is full of oriental rap ture, elevation, variety, and boldness. It is a book which speaks of the heavenly and invisible world, while it also speaks of the earth and things visible. It is a book which nearly fifty writers, of every degree of cultivation, of every state, of every condition, and living through the course of

fifteen hundred years, have concurred to make.

It is a book which was written in the centre of Asia, in the sands of Arabia, and in the deserts of Judah; in the courts of the temple of the Jews, in the music schools of the prophets of Bethel and of Jerico, in the sumptuous palaces of Babylon, and on the idolatrous bank of Cheber; and, finally, in the midst of the western civilization, in the midst of the Jews and their ignorance, in the midst of polytheism and its idols, as also in the bosom of pantheism and its sad philosophy.

It is a book whose first writer had been forty years a pupil of the magicians of Egypt, in whose opinion the sun, the stars, and the elements were endowed with intelligence, reacted on the elements, and governed the world by a perpetual alluvium. It is a book whose first writer preceded, by more than nine hundred years, the most ancient philosophers of ancient Greece and Asia-the Thales and the Pythagorases, the Zalucuses, the Xenophons, and the Confuciuses.

It is a book which carries its narrative even to the hierarchies of angels-even to the most distant epoch of the future, and the glorious scenes of the last day. Well, search among its 50 authors, search among its 66 books, its 1189 chapters, its 31,173 verses-search for only one of those thousand errors which the ancients and the moderns committed when they speak of the heavens or the earth of their revolutions, of the elements-search, but you will find none.— German of Gaussen.

A DEER IN THE ICE.-A gentleman, who was in a steamboat on the Mississippi a few days since, with Mr. Polk, the President elect, gives the following description of a scene witnessed by the passengers:

"This afternoon we came up with a beautiful young deer, standing erect on a mass of floating ice. As the boat drew near, he commenced leaping forward towards the western bank, but soon fell into the water between islands of ice, from whence we supposed he could not escape destruction. He continued to struggle with great energy, his fore feet resting on a floating cake of ice, till he appeared almost exhausted; when, fortunately for him, with one desperate spring, he regained his footing on the ice, where he stood erect and quiet, looking after us as the current was sweeping his precarious foundation and himself down stream. I felt sorrow for the poor fellow, and hope he escaped destruction."

LAKE GEORGE.

Winter is fast disappearing; the warmer season will soon begin. The earth, as represented in the simple diagram in the first number of this paper, is approaching the vernal equinox, and every day exposing our country and the other parts of the northern hemisphere more directly to the rays of the sun. Among the other changes annually produced by the warm season in the movements of our countrymen, are the migration to the Springs, and the increase of travelling for health and pleasure.

Of all the favorite retreats which nature has embellished with mild and beatiful scenerv, none in the United States exceeds Lake George. It is one of the few lakes which we have had the pleasure of visiting, that fully satisfied our hopes, or even our expectations. A lake may, perhaps, be considered a pleasing object, if its shores are so high as to be habitable, and possess a soil susceptible of cultivation, or capable of exhibiting a scene of verdure, whether in herbage or foliage. In contrast with the barren sands, or the low, wet and marshy banks which we find on some lakes, anything dry and fertile is welcome.

The lakes of Great Britain are small, but how much are some of them admired because they are shut in by neighboring elevations! Though usually destitute of forests, which an American eye can hardly endure in any other landscape, even the barren heights which enclose some of the little lakes of Scotland, greatly interest our countrymen. The Swiss and Italian lakes also will probably be found to enjoy the favor of travellers, chiefly in proportion to the elevation of their shores. That of Geneva, it is true, presents us only with distant mountains: but their extraordinary altitude makes up, in a great degree, for their distance; and who can doubt that the impression would be increased if they were nearer if the Alps rose abruptly from the margin?

Lake George doubtless excites the more admiration, because most of our other lakes are deficient in striking scenery. We may sail for days through the great lakes, without seeing any very prominent elevations; and of course the western towns are found, in this respect, comparatively unattractive. The numerous and beautiful little lakes, which form a peculiar feature in the middle portion of the State of New York, have also very few picturesque points to offer to the eye. Between them are only moderate elevations, which in some instances rise by gradual terraces, as between those of Canandaigua and Geneva, offering commanding points of view, and making a pleasing display of farms, woods, and garden-but nothing of that dark wildness and seclusion, which in Lake George produce so strong and agreeable an impres sion upon the visiter. In addition to its natural scenery, this favorite sheet of water possesses historical associations, which greatly enhance its interest. Indeed, so important

"Lake George is 34 miles long, and its greatest breadth 4. At the south end it is only about one mile broad. The greatest depth is sixty fathoms. The water is remarkable for its purity-a fish or a stone may be seen at the depth of 20 or 30 feet. It is undoubtedly supplied by springs from below, as the water is coldest near the bottom. It contains trout, bass, and perch. There are deer in the neighboring forest. The outlet, which leads to Lake Champlain contains three large falls and rapids. The lake never rises more than two feet.

"The three best points of view are at Fort George, a place north of Shelving Rock 14 miles, and another at Sabbath Day Point, 21 miles from the head of the lake. The last view is taken southward, the other two northward.

"This beautiful basin, with its pure crystal water, is bounded by two ranges of mountains, which, in some places rising with a bold and hasty ascent from the water, and in others descending with a graceful sweep from a great height to a broad and level margin, furnish it with a charming variety of scenery, which every change of weather, as well as every change of position, presents in new and countless beauties. The intermixture of cultivation with the wild scenes of nature is extremely agreeable; and the undulating surface of the well-tilled farm is often contrasted with the deep shade of the native forest, and the naked, weather-beaten cliffs, where no vegetation can dwell.

"Voyage down Lake George. Leaving Caldwell, the steamer passes Tea Island, Diamond, Long, and other islands, particularly the Two

Sisters; and then the lake becomes wider, and the surface more uninterrupted, the course of the boat being directly towards Tongue Mountain. That which partly shuts it in from this direction on the right, is Shelving Rock; and Black Mountain shows its rounded summit beyond it, a little to the right. This last is supposed to be about 2200 feet high, and is considered the highest mountain on the lake.

"Twelve Mile Island is seen just ahead. It is of a singularly rounded form, covered with trees, with the utmost regularity.

"The Narrows. The lake is very much contracted where it passes between the mountains just mentioned, and their surface is for several miles broken by innumerable islands. These are of various sizes, but generally very small, and of little elevation. A few of them are named-as Green, Bass, Lonetree Islands.

"Some of them are covered with trees, others with shrubs; some show little lawns or spots of grass, heaps of barren rocks, or gentle sloping shores; and most of them are ornamented with graceful pines, hemlock, and other tall trees, collected in groups, or standing alone, and disposed with most charming variety.

"After passing the Narrows, the lake widens again, and the retrospect is, for several miles, through that passage, with Tongue Mountain on the west and Black Mountain opposite, the Luzerne range appearing at a great distance between them. The mountains in view have generally rounded summits, but the sides are in many places broken by precipitous ledges. They are inhabited by wolves, deer, rattlesnakes, &c."