"I sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and fear, of God,-in solitude my company, my friend and comforter. Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwell righteousness and love? There shall in no wise enter anything that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts; none of those corruptions which add still more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or heard of any more." Ten days afterwards, these aspirations were fulfilled. His body was laid in the grave by the hands of strangers at Tocat, and to his disembodied spirit was revealed that awful vision, which it is given to the pure in heart, and to them alone, to contemplate.-Macaulay.

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT.

PUNNING.

Caution to Youth of both Sexes. My little dears, who learn to read, Pray early learn to shun That very silly thing indeed

Which people call a pun.

Read Entick's rules, and 'twill be found
How simple an offence

It is to make the self same sound
Afford a double sense.

For instance, ale may make you ail,
Your aunt an ant may kill,
You in a vale may buy a veil,
And Bill may pay the bill.

Or if to France your bark you steer,
At Dover it may be,
A peer appears upon the pier,

Who, blind, still goes to sea.
Thus one might say, when to a treat
Good friends accept our greeting,
'Tis meat that men who meet to eat
Should eat their meat when meeting.
Brawn on the board's no bore indeed,
Although from boar prepared;
Nor can the fowl on which we feed,
Fowl feeding be declared.

Thus one ripe fruit may be a pear,
And yet be pared again,

And still be one, which seemeth rare
Until we do explain.

It therefore should be all your aim
To speak with simple care;
For who, however fond game,

Would choose to swallow hair?

A fat man's gait may make us smile,
Who has no gate to chose;
The farmer sitting on his style,
No stylish person knows.

Perfumers men of scents must be ;
Some Scilly men are bright;
A brown man oft deep read we see,
A black a wicked wight.

Most wealthy men good manors have,
However vulgar they;

And actors still the harder slave,
The oftener they play.

So poets can't the baize obtain
Unless their tailors choose,
While grooms and coachmen not in vain
Each evening seek the Mews.

The dyer, who by dying lives,
A dire life maintains;
The glazier, it is known, receives,
His profits from his panes
By gardeners thyme is tied, 'tis true,
When spring is in its prime ;
But time or tide won't wait for you
If you are tied to time.

Then now you see, my little dears,
The way to make a puo,

A trick which you, through coming years,
Should sedulously shun.

The fault admits of no defence;

For, wheresoe'er 'tis found
You sacrifice the sound for sense,
The sense is never sound.

So let your word and actions too,
One single meaning prove,
And, just in all you say or do,

You'll gain esteem and love.
In mirth and play no harm you'll know,
When duty's task is done;

But parents ne'er should let ye go
Unpunished for a pun.-Hood.

The Electric Clock.

Have you seen an electric check? If not you have yet to see one of the wonders of this wonder-working age; a beautiful example of natural phenomena cooperating with the skill of the mechani

cian.

Will you read a description of this clock? Here it is-the best we can supply without the aid of drawing. The clock we have before us is enclosed in a neat oak case, about four and a half feet in height, and one foot, four inches wide. Its face is of ample dimensions, very plain in appearance, and is furnished with second, minute and hour hands, in all respects similar to those of the usual construction. The pendulum is the same length as that of the ordinary old fashioned eight day clocks. Here, however, analogy ceases. It is true, there are some wheels and pinions to move the hands, and afford accurate indications of the divisions and progress of time; but

these are few in number, and do their work in a manner totally different from those in other kinds of clocks. The electric clock has neither weight nor spring, nor power of any other kind, within itself, to keep it in motion; and it therefore never requires winding up. The very terms employed to denote important parts of common clocks are inapplicable to this. Thus the escapement of a clock implies some contrivance by which the motive power is permitted to escape; that is, to expend its force in such equal quantities, and at such exactly equal intervals, that the motion of the hands shall be uniform so long as the power is sustained. As the giving or maintaining power of the electric clock is entirely independent of the machinery, there is no necessity for an escapement.

Whence, then, does the electric clock derive its power of continuous motion? Wait a little-we will try to explain it.

There are two very small copper wires fixed in the angles of the clock case, which communicate with similar wires at the back of the pendulum bar, and are thence continued to a coil of the same kind of wire enclosed in a circular brass box, which box constitutes what is usually termed the bob of the pendulum. The box being hollow in the direction of its axis, the cavity thus formed admits of the insertion of two sets of permanent magnets, whose similar poles are placed near to, but not in contact with each other. These magnets are kept in their places, by being enclosed in brass boxes secured to the sides of the clock case. The pendulum is so adjusted that it has, of course, perfect freedom of motion; whilst in its oscillations it passes alternately to the poles of the magnet just mentioned.

Leaving the clock for a few minutes, we now observe two copper wires, the ends of which are in contact with those within the case. Continuing their course along the wall, these wires pass out of doors, descend below the surface of the earth, and, at a short distance from the house, are connected the one with a few bushels of coke, and the other with five or six plates of zinc. These materials are buried in a hole in the earth, about four feet square, and five feet deep, the coke being placed at the bottom with a layer of earth above it, and then the zinc

plates are laid thereon, and the whole covered up, thus forming a galvanic battery. Herein consists the power, which imparts to the clock a current of electricity being induced by the coke and zinc, which, although of low intensity, is unlimited as to quantity, the source whence it is derived being the earth itself.-The pendulum being set in motion and the current of electricity through the wires established, a beautiful arrangement of simple mechanism immediately comes into operation, by means of which the circuit is broken and renewed at each alternate oscillation. Thus, by the skill of the inventor, the combined agencies of galvano-electricity, electro-magnetism; and permanent magnetism, are made to produce an uniform, and so to speak, perpetual motion of the pendulum; and we obtain a time-measurer of such extraordinary accuracy, that we believe it will bear comparison, in this respect, with the best constructed chronometer.

If it be desired to have other clocks in different parts of the house, that we have been describing requires only to be connected with them by a copper wire, and the circuit completed to the battery; and they will all be kept going by the motion of one pendulum, and record exactly the same time. So also the public clocks in a town could, by similar means, be made to synchronise.

Such is the electric clock, invented by Mr. Alexander Bain, of Edinburgh-a gentleman deservedly known in the scientific world for his successful labours in connection with the electrical telegraph; and who is likely soon to be, if possible, better known for achieving in that particular department a means of communiIcation which leaves far behind it all that has hitherto been accomplished.-SEL.

WILLIAM COWPER, Esq.1 he great and good Poet, Cowper, expressed, in the most impressive language, an uncommon affection for the memory of his mother, (who died when he was only six years old,) when his cousin, Mrs. Bodham, presented him with her picture long after her death. In a letter to the lady who sent it, he said, 'I had rather possess that picture than the richest jewel in the British crown; for I loved her with an affection that her death, fifty-two years since, has not in the least abated.'-SEL.

A Recollection of my First View of the Sea.

Oh! I remember long ago,

When life was new to me,

My eyes in young amazement burst
Upon the glorious sea.

I stood upon my own green hills,
My father by my side-

And, lost in raptures of delight,
Upon his breast I cried.

It was so bright and beautiful,
And lay so calmly there,

Tho' pictured in my thoughts before
"Twas nothing halt so fair.

And one small bark, with sails of white,
Upon its bosom lay,

It seemed a bird that loved the sea
And would not fly away.

My father sigh'd at my delight,

And led me there once more,

When the same sea was foaming white
And strewed with wrecks the shore.

I shuddered o'er the altered scene,
And to his bosom crept,

And for the ships and brave men there
I trembled and I wept.

"Even so my son," my father said,
"It is with human life,

One morning hour of calm and peace,
The rest is storm and strife-
"Seek not for happiness on earth,
For pleasure here below,

Soon shalt thou feel, as all have felt,
Its misery and woe.

"Trust not the visions of fond youth,
As fleeting, false, as fair,
But in the calmest hours of life
For darkest storms prepare.
"The bark you saw but yesterday,
Hath reach'd its goal and grave,
Its shattered hulk and broken mast
Are far beneath the wave.
"Securely safe its fated crew

Nor watch nor ward would keep,
Over their heads the billows flew,
And with their bark they sleep.

“But yonder gallant ship that stems And braves the angry main,

Shall yet, through danger, gloom and strife, Its distant haven gain.

"For careful are its mariners,

And rich its precious load;

They do what men becomes to do-
And trust the rest to God."—Albion.

THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE, NEWSPAPER; AND FAMILY

With numerous Engravings.
Edited by Theodore Dwight.

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Vols. I. and II., half-bound, or in muslin, $2.50 each, may be ordered through booksellers.

No person can wonder at the prefer ence which is felt for this splendid fowl, by the possessors of many of those oldfashioned country estates, which excite the peculiar attention of an American traveller in Europe. The slow and stately stride with which he moves, when undisturbed, and the pleasure he takes in displaying the green and gold tissue of his plumage, with the natural dignity and grace of his form and the richness of its changing hues, which at every turn he throws off on every side, correspond exceedingly well with the attitude which the inhabitants of some aristocratic mansions like to sustain in society. The observer, however, who is most commonly one of those who look upon the world from a different point of view, is apt to contrast the external appearance with essential properties. In our admiration

at the beauty of the peacock's feathers, we cannot long forget his want of song, and regret that his voice does not correspond with the rich hues of his plumage. We have already given some facts and remarks on this favorite fowl, (see vol. ii. p 393; vol. iii. p. 264,) but as the subject is far from being exhausted, the following extracts from "the distinguished authors of British India will be read with interest."

"The common peacock (Pavo cristatus, Linn.), so much admired for the surpassing splendour of its plumage, and now so familiarly known as a domestic bird, though it has been reduced to servitude for some thousand years, still occurs in the wild state in the forests of Hindostan, as well as in Japan and other parts of Southern Asia. Its earliest record is contained in the sacred writings:

"For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." [2 Chronicles, ix. 21.] The introduction of this bird to the western and northern quarters of Europe has never been clearly traced; but every step of its progress has no doubt been owing rather to the art of man than the instinct of nature. Its natural tendency would in fact have been to return to the countries from which it came,to seek again the perpetual sunshine and ever-verdant forests of Asia, the banks "Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams."

It appears to have been unknown even in Greece during the early manhood of Alexander the Great, by whom it is said to have been first observed with no less wonder than delight in the course of his southern expedition, and to have been immediately transmitted to his native country. It must, however, have multiplied rapidly after its arrival, as Aristotle, who died within a year or two after "the Great Emathean conqueror," mentions the peacock as a well-known bird. The Greeks were satisfied with the delight afforded to the eye, while contemplating its brilliant colours and most graceful form,-"being so majestical, they would not offer it even the show of violence;" and it was left to the more luxurious Romans, not only to serve it entire on the table of Hortensius, but to pamper the diseased appetite, or minister to the inordinate extravagance of Heliogabalus, by presenting enormous dishes of the brains alone. In more modern times, and during the progress of nautical discovery and commercial intercourse by which these were distinguished, the peacock has been transported to both the Americas, to many points along the African shores, and to numerous islands of the West Indies. A white variety has also sprung up in Europe, more frequent in northern than in southern kingdoms, which is not alluded to by ancient writers, and has probably resulted from the influence of a colder temperature, by which a natural tendency to albinism appears to be produced in many species of the feathered race.

There are only two species of this genus, the one above alluded to, which is too well known to require description, and the Javanese peacock (Pavo Javani

cus of Horsfield,) of which we have figured both the adult and young, under the name of Aldrovandine peacock, from the specimens in the Edinburgh Museum.

It occurs in Japan, Java, and other eastern and southern regions of Asia. It is chiefly to be distinguished from the common kind by the form and structure of the feathers which compose the crest, and which are well barbed throughout their whole extent, or somewhat lance-shaped, instead of presenting little more than terminal expansions.

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT VIENNA.-The Vienna Gazette publishes an imperial decree for the creation of an Academy of Sciences at Vienna. The number of members is to be 48; but there are also to be honorary members, whose number is not to exceed 24, and corresponding members, whose number is to be fixed by the Academy. The President is to be named for three years, but may be reelected. The Vice President and Secretaries are for four years, but may at the end of that time be confirmed in their posts by the Emperor. The Academy is to receive annually from the govern ment a donation, which is not to exceed 40,000 florins (100,000 fr.) The salary of the President is to be 3000 florins, (7500 fr.) per annum; that of the Vice President 2500 florins; the first Secretary is to have 2000 florins, and the second Secretary 1500 florins. The Academy is to give four prizes annually, and to fix the value of them. The sittings are to be held in a building belonging to the government. The Archduke John bas been appointed Curator of the Academy by the Emperor.

At Alexandria, M. S. Beranger, charged with a scientific and literary mission in the East, had arrived, after having visited Moldo. Wallachia, Bulgaria, Romelia, and Constantinople, at which last named place he obtained numerous documents. He proposes to make a tour in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine.

The following languages are spoken in America: 11,647,000 persons speak English; 10,584,000 Spanish; 7,593,000 Indian; 3,740,000 Portuguese; 1,242,000 French; 216,000 Dutch, Danish and Swedish.

The population of Ireland is 7,943,940.