what the methods of a business man should be, we should find, as one of his Rules of Behavior,'-a code of laws drawn up for his own government, when at the immature age to which we have already referred, and so wonderful in their fitness, the following:

"12th. Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive."

In the 46th." Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise."

These rules the manifestation of a business talent; were not merely the develop. ment of some temporary purpose, but firmly-fastened rules of life, which were made to mould his character; and their value to him soon became manifest. He left school at the age of sixteen, and such was his reputation for probity and habits of business, for diligence and habits of despatch, that several eminent Virginia gentlemen were anxious to secure his services, and he soon became busied in laborious duties, the cares of which found an agreeable relief in the society of his cherished brother Lawrenee, at Mount Vernon, a name whose associations were thereafter to be rendered so glorious. With that brother, in 1751, he left the soil of his country for the first and last time, and made a visit of four months to the West Indies. Throughout all this tour the traits of character of which this article is particularly designed to speak, were constantly manifesting themselves. He daily copied the log-book, noted everything, looked at everything, and was never idle. When at Barbadoes, the commerce of the island was one of the subjects concerning which he made investigations, and about which he made appropriate records in his journal.

The time soon came for him to be the actor in the greater scenes of life; and were it within the design of this article to follow his steady advance from one station of usefulness and honor to another, it would only be to point to the same unchanging rectitude, and fidelity to every engagement; the same precise order; the same undeviating exactness. The boy, who had with such care collected and prepared the details of an exercise at school, brought into like order the statistics necessary to be studied before a campaign could be wisely commenced. Everything that could illustrate the duty of the soldier: the province of the commander: the plan of attack or defence: the topography of the field of battle, was, by his indomitable industry, his steadfast method, brought into a condensed

Nor was it in war alone, that the man of order developed himself. We quote, in full, what Mr, Sparks says upon the subject of his conduct in this respect, when President of the United States :

"During the presidency, it was likewise his custom to subject the treasury reports, and accompanying documents, to the process of tutular codensation, with a vast expenditure of labor and patience; but it enabled him to grasp, and retain in their order, a series of isolated facts, and the results of a complicated mass of figures, which could never have been mastered so effectually by any other mode of approach. ing them."

From 1759 to 1764, Washington was, in some measure, an acting merchant; for, during that calmest period of his life,-after the brief, but brilliant episode of the Braddock campaign, most honorable to himself, however disastrous to one whose name was more prominent, and before the great drama of the revolution-he regularly exported to London the product of his large estate on the Potomac. The shipments were made in his own name, and to his correspondents in Bristol and Liverpool, to which places his tobacco was consigned. Are there none of those precious bills of lading yet in existence? They would be valued by many of us, on this side of the water, at least, as evidences of the attention which he gave to all his business.

In return for the articles exported, it was his custom, twice in each year, to import, at that period, from London, the goods which he desired to use; and Mr. Sparks thus delineates how accurately he fulfilled his duties, as an importer:

"He required his agent to send him, in addition to a general bill of the whole, the original vouchers of the shop keepers and mechanics, of whom purchases had been made.

"So particular was he in these concerns, that he recorded, with his own hand, in books prepared for the purpose, all the long lists of orders, and copies of the multifarious receipts from the different merchants and tradesmen who had supplied the goods. In this way he kept a perfect oversight of the business; ascertained the prices; could detect any imposition, mismanagement, or carelessness, and tell when any advantage was taken of him, of which, if he discov

ered any, he did not fail to remind his correspondents."

And all this, we must remember, was while he had the charge of the vast estate of Mount Vernon, and while he was dispensing a large and generous hospitality.

When the French war had ended, it became his duty to attend to the settlement of the complicated military accounts of the colony of Virginia; a task arduous enough, but, like all the other duties of his life, faithfully performed.

The war of the revolution left him no leisure for personal attendance on his pri vate business, but yet it was never neglected. He could not be personally present: but while the noises of the camp, the preparations for battle, the deliberations of councils, were all shared in to the utmost, his correspondence about his home affairs was as thorough and minute, as though he had been an absentee of leisure.

His accounts, while engaged in the service of his country, were so accurately kept, that to this hour they are an example held up before the nation. His habits of business enabled him, amidst the tumult of the revolution: its fierce contests: its sufferings and disorders, to so methodize and record all the business incidents of each day, that the end of the war found him prepared to lay before Congress an exact statement of his expenditures. There was about him a pervading principle of order, not of a lifeless, sluggish cast, but life like and energetic; so that, while everything was well done, it was done in time and in earnest.

Let any one read his will, and they will rise up from the perusal with the conviction that a more thorough man of business never lived. There have been many documents of a similar kind, drawn up with wonderful care and labor, and at vast remuneration, by gentlemen learned in the law, but none where every incident is so carefully attended to-not in the spirit of fearfulness of flaws and evasions, and all the thousand munitions of attack to which they resort who break wills,-but in the orderly, sound, business-like manner, in which a Gresham might have written his projection of an exchange.

But we need point to no isolated instance. His whole life establishes the fact, that a more perfect man of business has never lived than George Washing

ton.

Valueless, indeed, in the comparison, had they stood alone, would all this me

thod, and order and industry be. A merchant may have all these, and yet be but sagacious and-unprincipled; but of this man a nobler record is left to us. I quote only what Thomas Jefferson has said, and he spoke, certainly, with no improper

bias:

HIS INTEGRITY WAS MOST pure." To the merchant of the United States, the example of 'Pater Patriæ' has not been, and will not be lost. So prompt to do-so exact in doing--so wise to know what was to be done--so prudent as to what should not be done--such unsullied honesty-such pure integrity. These are the qualities that, combined, make up the good and great merchant; and as they were eminent in George Washington, may he not be claimed as well by the merchants, as by the soldiers, or farmers, or statesmen ?-Hunt's Magazine.

NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-The stock for the construction of this bridge is all taken. The capital is $200,000. Half of it was subscribed in Canada. Contractors in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, offer to build a good, substantial bridge of wire for $200,000. It will be forty feet wide-the centre track for cars to connect with the Canadian road through to Detroit, and capable of transporting 300 tons over it at once, at a rate of 10 miles to the hour. There will be two tracks for carriages and a footpath. It can be completed in two years.

PHENOMENON IN NATURAL HISTORY. "An intelligent and reliable correspon dent at Missouri, Pike county, informs us of a singular circumstance which had somewhat troubled many of the worthy citizens of that section. This was the appearance of an immense flight of the great American Vulture, of several miles in length, and containing millions of these ærial scavengers; they were a long time in passing, and at times darkened the whole horizon. The writer says they came nearly from due north, and steared nearly south; some flew so low as to be within the limits of the boughs of the tallest trees, and others so high as scarcely to be seen. At one time the whole canopy seemed to be darkened with these birds, from east to west, north to south; from the tops of trees to as high as the sight could reach, was one dark cloud.-Montgomery, Ala. Journal.

POETRY.

The Christian Pilgrim.
Pilgrim burdened with thy sin,
Come the way to Zion's gate;
There, till mercy let thee in.
Knock and weep, and watch and wait.
Knock-he knows the sinner's cry;
Weep-he loves the mourner's tears;
Watch-for saving grace is nigh;
Wait-till heavenly light appears.

Hark! it is the Bridegroom's voice;
Welcome pilgrim to thy rest;
Now within the gates rejoice,

Safe and seal'd, and bought, and bless'd.
Safe-from all the lures of vice;
Seal'd-by signs the chosen know;
Bought by love, and life the price,
Blest-the mighty debt to owe.

Holy pilgrim! what for thee
In a world like this remain ?
From thy guarded breast shall flee
Fear and shame, and doubt and pain.
Fear-the hope of heaven shall fly ;
Shame-from glory's view retire;
Doubt-in certain rapture die;
Pain-in endless bliss expire.--Crabbe.

The Silent River.

There is a silent river,

The rolling river, Time; In summer's rosy blushes, In hoary winter's prime, It floweth, floweth, floweth, In whatsoever clime:

And well trimmed barks are sailing
Upon its silent tide;
With golden treasures laden,
The little vessels glide;

And Faith, and Love, and Action,
And Hope are side by side.

And, oh! a host of others

Compose the little fleet; Now soon the waves are heaving, Now wide the waters beat; Gray mists steal o'er the watersThe mournful mists of Fate.

The polar star grows dimmer;
The scattered vessels driven
All wide in disappointment,
Unto the waves are given
And Faith alone remaineth

To bear the soul to Heaven.-SEL.

Among the foreign news is this item, touching the practice of kissing the Pope's

toe:

"The Pope has abolished the custom of kissing the cross on his slipper, commonly called kissing the Pope's toe,' and instead, extends his hand to be kissed."

Secret Writing.-The methods are endless in number. It would be impossible to enumerate all the forms in which our English letters might be used for this purpose.

EXAMPLES.

1. Use the letter next after that intended, as, Ipops boe tibnf gsp op dpoejupo sjuf: Bdu xfmmm zpvs gbsu-sifsť bmm umm uif ipops mjft.

2. Use in succession the first and second letters after those intended.

3. Use the letter before the real one, or the first before and the two after it successively.

4. Let every word, or single collection of letters, beginning or ending with b or w, mean nothing; and put in such words occasionally, to confound the decipherer.

5. Let an interrogation or an exclamation mark indicate that the second or third word preceding or succeeding it is to be read backwards, or to pass for nothing, or for its opposite in meaning.

6. Let the letters or words intended be so placed, that a line shall pass over them, if laid from corner to corner of the paper, or so that an inverted tea-cup or saucer, or the open fingers, laid on it in a particular manner, shall cover all except the significant parts.

Will our readers send us specimens of wri ting in some of these ways?

Solution of Enigma No. 39, Vol. III. p. 224. Scaurus, Naco, Cacus, Arus, Clio, Arucs, Ramia, Canusius, Aracos, Marcia, Sicani, Alala, Ion, Minos.-Caius Marcus Coriolanus. MARTIN F. Tutuiler.

Seven Islands, Va.

To our Old Subscribers.-The low price of this Magazine renders prompt payment absolutely necessary, and the paper will be sent only to subscribers who wish to receive it on the published terms.

Sir.-Payment has not been received from you for Volume III.-$2.

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Edited by Theodore Dwight.

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This beautiful and valuable fowl is one of the gifts made by the New Continent to the Ŏld. It was originally an American bird, though now one of the most common favorites among the fowl tribe in Europe, and much modified by domestication. The colors of the fowls are generally rendered very various by the food and habits to which they are trained under the care of man; and on few, perhaps, have more varieties of color been conferred than the Turkey, although in such parts of our own country as we are best acquainted with, a large proportion of them, especially the males, generally

TURKEY.

retain much of the glossy, black plumage of their wild ancestors. So familiar have they now been, for several generations, to all ages accustomed to look on rural scenes, that we can hardly realise the dif ference which has taken place in their habits, since our domestic turkeys have become the willing inhabitants of our barn-yards and poultry-houses. The size of this fowl, added to the delicacy, richness and wholesome nature of its flesh, render it an universal favorite; and so highly is it esteemed for food, that, in spite of the facility of raising and fattening it, few if any spots on earth can be

shown where the supply equals the demand.

In the wild state the Turkey is an object of peculiar interest to the observer of animated nature: for it presents an important figure, and a mien almost majestic, owing to its size, form and motions, especially the male, which, when full grown, and walking with expanded plumes, surpasses every rival except the peacock, with whom of course, it would be vain for any of the feathered tribe to dream f ompetition.

Among all the varieties of the tame turkey, perhaps the most beautiful is the white. A few of these, some years ago, made a most pleasing appearance in the Garden of Plants, or King's Garden, in Paris, where the snowy purity of their expanded plumes, in contrast with the green grass and shrubbery abounding in the little plat of ground appropriated to them, rendered them some of the favorite objects seen in that favorite retreat of scientific retirement and rural taste. Among all the writers who have given us traits of the Wild Turkey, Audubon has published most of the kind calculated to interest the common reader. One of his anecdotes affords pleasing evidence of the possibility of forming a friendship between one of these fowls and that universal favorite of man, the dog. A turkey which had been caught young and tamed, once made his escape to the woods, when after sometime a dog, which had been familiar with it when in a state of domestication, was sent out to pursue some wild turkeys discovered in the neigborhood. Though a good hunter of such game, he was observed to make a sudden pause, and give up the chace. Mr. Audubon was surprised: but it was soon discovered that the first of the fowls was the runaway turkey, and that the dog declined the chace on account of his regard for his old acquaintance.

We inhabit the native country of this fine bird, and have opportunities to learn its habits and character, yet how few of us have any precise acquaintance with it! In Europe there are many naturalists who regard with more interest than we do, the various natural productions of America. Fashion has much to do with taste; and it is to be regretted that its influence in the United States is still so little favourable to the pursuit of Natural History. We know that some improve

ment has taken place within a few years. Many, compared with former days, are now pursuing one branch or another: but yet how few are they compared with the whole number of those, who might derive pleasure and profit from such studies!

The Turkey is one of the fowl tribe, called Gallinaceous Birds, from Gallus, the Latin word for the common barndoor fowl. This family have not the toes formed for grasping or tearing prey, like the eagles, hawks, &c., nor for climbing, like the parrot, nor for swimming, like the duck and goose, nor for wading, like the crane, nor for perching, like the sparrow. The turkey, like the other fowls, has three strong toes before, and only a short one behind, adapted to walking, with strong muscles in the legs, which can easily raise its heavy body. The wings, on the contrary, are small, and the muscles of the breast, which are the wing muscles, are small in proportion, and the merry thought, or breastbone, is pliable. Many persons do not know what the merry-thought has to do in the living fowl. Indeed it is probable that some other bones of animals are regarded by many as of no determinate use. The merry thought keeps apart the ends of the wing bones. In flying-birds it is strong and stiff, and often double for greater security. We have the collarbone in its place, which braces apart the ends of our arm-bones, so that the muscles cannot draw them towards each oth

er.

Now one reason why the turkey and most other fowls cannot fly far, is, this stretcher, or merrythought bone, is weak.

The wild turkey is very seldom seen flying. They are so remarkably swift on foot, that there is but little need of flight, except in uncommon cases. Mr. Audubon says, that turkeys are sometimes pursued for hours on horseback, without once rising on the wing. They abound in most of the unsettled and thinly populated parts of our country, and even are still known in some desolate regions in the oldest states. Their food is principally acorns; and they are generally fattest in the autumn. At that season they keep the woods resounding with their peculiar noise; and with proper care, may be killed or otherwise taken in great numbers.

Turkeys leave their roosts with reluc