could not have been more revolting. In order to return them to their receptacles, the servants of the leech merchant were obliged to roll their sleeves up to their shoulders, plunge their arms into the hideous collection, and draw them out in handfuls. The hungry reptiles fasten immediately upon the bare flesh, and the unfortunate men were obliged to tear them from their bleeding arms with one hand, while they gathered them as speedily as possible with the other. There has been much discussion in the learned world respecting the reproduction of these disgusting creatures, and I do not know that the question has been satisfactorily settled, but with the rude servants who were familiar with them the mystery has long since been solved. They assured me that the leech was oviparous; about the month of August it produces a small egg, or rather a kind of cocoon, which is deposited at a slight depth in the mud on the borders of the ponds. Ten or twelve leeches are inclosed in this shell, which reach full maturity in four years. The About thirty miles below Silistria is Rassova, the ancient Axiopolis. The Danube turns abruptly here from the east to the north; and instead of descending directly to the Black Sea, from which it is not more than thirty miles distant, it prolongs its course more than a hundred miles. At a short distance from Rassova is a valley about thirty miles in length, which was probably, in some remote time, the bed of the Danube. A canal through this valley would be neither difficult nor expensive, while the advantages to navigation would be incalculable. present bend in the river not only increases the distance, as I have mentioned, but it is the most dangerous and difficult part of the voyage, on account of the shallowness of the water in many places. The project has been many times discussed; but what government would undertake it in the present confused state of affairs? In order to avoid the delay and inconvenience with which this tedious passage is attended, the passengers of the steam-boat frequently disembark at Csernavoda, a small hamlet a short distance from Rassova, and proceed on horseback to Kuestendge, which lie at the other extremity of the valley. Near this place are some Roman tumuli; and on the route between the two is a marsh, which is pointed out as the remains of the famous canal constructed by Trajan, in the last years of his reign. The river becomes exceedingly rapid in its descent. Our velocity seemed to me almost alarming above Hirsova, where we were obliged to stop to repair the machinery of the boat. This gave me an opportunity of landing at the town which was anciently known as Carsium. It was once entirely destroyed by the Russians, who left not a single house standing. It is now only a collection of mud hovels grouped around a mosque which is in tolerable condition. I ascended one of the hills which crowned the ruined citadel, commanding an extensive view of the vast plains of Wallachia and a great part of Bulgaria; but notwithstanding the natural fertility of the soil and the beauty of the climate, the aspect of desolation was sickening. Between Hirsova and Braila, or Brailow, in Turkish Ibrail, vast troops of pelicans may be seen. In some places the two shores are covered with these curious birds, though I could learn no reason for their preference of this locality. Braila is one of the ports of Wallachia, and is characterized by considerable business activity. It is said to be the center of onesixth of the general commerce of the Principalities. More signs of abundance and prosperity were visible here than I had seen elsewhere in the Provinces. You frequently meet large carts drawn by several yoke of oxen, loaded with cheese, eggs, and all kinds of provisions. The wellstored warehouses displayed the greatest abundance of native and foreign produce. Considerable emulation exists between Braila and Galatz, the port of Moldavia, which is only three hours distant from its Wallachian rival. Both possess considerable commercial importance, and both were declared free ports within a few years of each other. At a distance, Galatz has a very picturesque appearance, with its wooden houses scattered over green fields; but a nearer view entirely spoiled the picture. The streets are irregular and nameless; the only pavement consists of wooden bears thrown loosely across, from beneath which the accumulated stagnant water sends forth most noxious emanations. There is not the least trace of care, order, or cleanliness in any part of the city. Some fine residences have been erected upon a hill overlooking the town, which betray their European origin, and show what Galatz might become in the possession of a civilized nation. In ten hours from Galatz, we reached the mouths of the Danube, of which there are four principal ones: Kilia, Sulina, St. George, and Dunaweez. These all empty into Lake Razalin, and from thence arrive at the sea by four secondary openings. The delta formed by these diverging streams is interspersed with several islands, and embraces an extent of sixty square miles. Sulina is the only valuable gate of the Danube, the true key of the Black Sea. This opening is one of the most important acquisitions ceded to Russia by the treaty of Adrianople; if it is stopped, the navigation of the river is closed. The Czar immediately made Sulina Point a quarantine station, and built a magnificent lighthouse upon it, the expense of which was defrayed by imposing a tax of about two dollars upon every merchant vessel. This part of the voyage has little to interest the traveler. Sometimes the river flows between islands, whose solitudes are undisturbed, except by flocks of pelicans. Vast marshy plains extend from both shores, where fever and pestilence have their undisturbed abode. We felt almost at the termination of our voyage, when we had crossed the bar, and found ourselves in the Black Sea, though we had still a long distance before us. Fortunately these turbulent waters were quite calm during our passage, though they are generally swept by howling storms, as their name indicates. We took a straight course for Varna, and the next morning cast anchor in its harbor, which is ample, and might be made one of the securest in the world. This city has a grand and beautiful appearance from the sea, with its white fortifications, its redroofed houses, and its arrowy minarets; the briefest examination of its dark, narrow, crooked and filthy streets, and its dilapidated residences, disperses the illusion you had received in the distance. Very few of your readers will, perhaps, remember, that under the walls of Varna, Ladislaus VI., King of Poland, was conquered by Amurath II. But none have forgotten the brave defense in 1828, when, but for the treachery of Youssouf Pacha, the second in command, it would probably have compelled the Russian army to | beat a retreat. In the opinion of competent military men, the fortifications are insufficient to hold out any time against a good regiment of artillery, and the loss of time and men with the Russians is still an unsolved mystery. This brave and unexpected resistance changed the opinion of Europe in regard to the Ottomans, who became for the time as much in fashion as the Greeks. There is little which is interesting about the region of the Black Sea, beyond Varna. Besides, I was so absorbed with the enjoyment which awaited me as we approached the Bosphorus, and so impatient to view the most beautiful scenery in the world, that I had little curiosity respecting my immediate surroundings. Before day-break I was on deck, straining my eyes in the direction we were pursuing; but one of those dense fogs, so common here in spring and autumn, shrouded the entire landscape in mist, and when we cast anchor at Constantinople, the thick curtain still concealed the glorious view from my longing eyes. I scarcely knew how to endure this bitter disappointment at the termination of my long pilgrimage. But suddenly the sun came forth resplendent from the waves, and the mist was changed, as if by magic, into a golden transparence. The vail was rent, and my dazzled eyes were bewildered among the forest of minarets, with their gilded points, thousands of cupolas radiant in the orient light, and hills covered with red mansions, peeping out from the surrounding verdure. Two immense ranges of palaces with their fantastic domes, mosques with azure roofs, forests of cypress and sycamore, and gardens of flowers were crowding upon my gaze, while the eye was lost in the endless succession of masts and pavilions. Charming kiosques spring up from this apparently boundless park, which has lakes for its basins, forests for its shrubberies, arms of the sea for its brooks, squadrons for its pleasure boats, and whose surface is diversified with mountains; the whole seemed to me like an enchanted city. Everything is so exquisite, and yet so magnificent, that it might have been designed by fairies and executed by giants. As the sun ascended still higher, its rays converted the morning vapors into a golden dust; the city seemed on fire, and the whole panorama flaming in the radiant atmosphere. A PHYSIOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE DAY tablish the truth of revelation, and conse TH OF REST. BY DR. FARRE. HE ordinary exertions of man run down the circulation every day of his life; and the first general law of nature by which God (who is not only the giver, but also the preserver and sustainer of life) prevents man from destroying himself, is the alternating of day with night, that repose may succeed action. But although the night apparently equalizes the circulation well, yet it does not sufficiently restore its balance for the attainment of a long life. Hence one day in seven, by the bounty of Providence, is thrown in as a day of compensation, to perfect by its repose the animal system. You may easily determine this question as a matter of fact by trying it on beasts of burden. Take that fine animal, the horse, and work him to the full extent of his powers every day in the week, or give him rest one day in seven, and you will soon perceive, by the superior vigor with which he performs his functions on the other six days, that this rest is necessary to his well-being. Man, possessing a superior nature, is borne along by the very vigor of his mind, so that the injury of continued diurnal exertion and excitement on his animal system is not so immediately apparent as it is in the brute; but in the long-run he breaks down more suddenly; it abridges the length of his life, and that vigor of his old age which (as to mere animal power) ought to be the object of his preservation. I consider, therefore, that in the bountiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the Sabbatical appointment is not, as it has been sometimes theologically viewed, simply a precept partaking of the nature of a political institution, but that it is to be numbered among the natural duties, if the preservation of life be admitted to be a duty, and the premature destruction of it a suicidal act. And if you consider further the proper effect of real Christianity, namely, peace of mind, confiding trust in God, and good-will to man, you will perceive, in this source of renewed vigor to the mind, and through the mind to the body, an additional spring of life imparted from this higher use of the Sabbath as a holy rest. Researches in physiology will es quently show that the divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man. This is the position in which I would place it, as contradistinguished from precept and legislation; I would point out the Sabbatical rest as necessary to man; and that the great enemies of the Sabbath, and consequently the enemies of man, are all laborious exercises of the body or mind, and dissipation, which force the circulation on that day in which it should repose; while relaxation from the ordinary cares of life, the enjoyment of this repose in the bosom of one's family, with the religious studies and duties which the day enjoins, constitute the beneficial and appropriate service of the day. The student of nature, in becoming the student of Christ, will find, in the principles of his doctrine and law, the only and perfect science which prolongs the present, and perfects the future life. THE HOUSE OF CLAY. THERE was a house-a house of clayWherein the inmate sang all day Merry and poor; For Hope sat likewise, heart to heart. Till all at once he changed his mind: "Sweetheart, good-by!" He slipp'd away, And shut the door. But Love came past, and looking in, Stood in the midst of that poor room Grand and fair, grand and fair, Making a glory out of gloom; Till at the window mock'd old Care;-Love sigh'd-" All lose, and nothing win ?" He shut the door. Then o'er the barrèd house of clay And bees humm'd merrily outside Loud and strong, loud and strong, The inner silentness to hide, The steadfast silence all day long, Most like, the next that passes by Stands and calls, stands and calls; The National Magazine. FEBRUARY, 1855. EDITORIAL NOTES AND GLEANINGS. "ARE we to understand that you indorse the Know Nothing movement?" inquires a "Constant Reader," referring to our late article on Popery, entitled "The Religious Scarecrow of the Age." Before replying directly to the query, we have to inform a "Constant Reader," and all others of his class, that we do not, in our editorials, hold ourselves responsible to his personal views, or the personal views of any other individual patron. For ourselves, personally, we would not subscribe a sixpence to a periodical which should hold itself bound to re-edit only received views, or to bring to us, from month to month, such opinions only as are admitted by common consent, or are a repetition-a rehash -of our own individual thinkings. We prefer something independent-something provocative of new and progressive thought-even if it challenges, sometimes, our dissent. This is one of the prime rules of good editing, and he that don't like it had better clear our track as soon as possible. We have some pride in knowing that no magazine editorials of the country have been more extensively copied into our exchanges, than those which this magazine has sent forth for a couple of years past; yet not one of them have we sent to the press without the expectation and the desire that it should provoke inquiry if not dissent. What is the use of spending our ink on commonplaces respecting which we are all agreed? We have not yet, brother "Constant Reader," joined that "Mutual Admiration Society," that wishes this policy, and hardly expect to find time to consider the propriety of joining it. We have presented you some novel views in our editorial dissertations, and must have the candor to premonish you that there are some of equal novelty yet to come; but we assure you they shall be presented in a respectful, a frank and discreet manner, and will, we think, do no harm if they do no good. mostly, as we believe, through the agency of foreigners the readiness with which they have been admitted to the ballot-box, to administrative offices, and to our foreign representative posts. The old consideration and patriotic moderation which distinguished the fathers of the country-the men who knew how to value it for having paid so dearly for its liberties, and who guarded it carefully against foreign influence by requiring twenty-one years of probation for naturalization-have passed away. For years we have been growing into a nation of political rowdies. Don't blink at the charge, "Constant Reader," it is an undeniable factand it is equally an undeniable fact that this degeneration could not have taken place on so large a scale, if the powers of citizenship had been kept mostly in the hands of the descendants of the founders of the country. Popery is We favor this reform, secondly, as a matter of national safety. Were we a Protestant foreigner, coming from the European examples of Papal corruption and tyranny, we should favor it as a protection for our children, though a temporary privation to ourself; and we doubt not that there are many Protestants of foreign birth among us who, from this point of view, pray God to speed the movement. of the devil, if anything on earth is; it is the great complicated engine of the powers of darkness, for the most complicated villainies and tyrannies of the earth. It is as incompatible with the liberties and sentiments of the country, as light is with darkness. Its pretensions, as exposed in our late article, have been the most egregious imposture known in our history. There is no genuine American, none in whose veins the blood of the revolutionary fathers flows, whose back-bone should not curve at the outrageous presumption and usurpations of American Popery-its conspiracy against the common-school system; its most dishonorably conceded demands for the expurgation of school text-books; (as in the case of the New-York free-schools;) its interference with the rights of citizens in the control of Church property, as at Buffalo, Hartford, Newark, Maysville, &c.; its bid in the political market for party patronage, &c.-facts which, as we said in our late article, if chargeable against any Protestant body in the land, as the Baptists or Methodists, would almost lead to its overthrow. And yet this semi-barbarous ecclesiasticism-maintained almost entirely by foreigners, and now found out at last by the census to form but a comparatively small fraction of the religious statistics of the nation-has been for years the idol before which demagogues and public functionaries have offered incense, and bowed and fawned, sacrificing the self-respect and political Now we say openly, purity of the country. In regard to the "Know Nothing movement," we meant, in our late article, just what we said, and we said that we had no personal knowledge of it other than what we gathered from the newspapers, and that we were rather inclined to fear its measures than to approve them. We know not enough of them yet to do either very decidedly. One thing, however, we did indorse, and do here again indorse-namely, their attempt to reform the "laws of naturalization;" that, we suppose, to be their ostensible purpose, and we go in for it, might and main." We do so for two reasons: One is, that there that we hope every Protestant, whether of forcan be no harm in making our national privileges eign or domestic birth, will demand that this a little less cheap in the estimation of foreign-degrading abuse cease, and be rendered forever ers. They have been made cheap enough to breed general degeneracy and recklessness, if not contempt for us. The importance, the solemnity of the responsibilities of the citizenof the ballot-box, and of public office-have been almost annihilated among us. Our di plomacy abroad and our caucusing and voting at home, have become national scandals; and hereafter impracticable by any laws of naturalization that may be necessary. This is all the "Know Nothingism" we know. We care not much for party schemes; but we care for this doctrine as a fundamental sentiment of American patriotism. Brother "Constant Reader" accept, with our frankness, the assurances of our hearty good-will. Some bad errata escaped in the article on Bancroft, in our last number. "A vigorous manly tone of correctness," should have read "earnestness," &c. ; strange terms of Dr. Francis," should have been "stronger terms," &c.; "the highest seen star of his vision," "highest star of his vision;"" theoretical opinions," "theological opinions;" "tendency of the grace toward unity," ""race toward unity." tile on the wall of the tower. Seduced by the smell of the butter, which he conceived to be in store somewhere above him, the beetle continued to ascend till he reached the top, and thus put the vizier in possession of the end of the silk thread, who drew up the pack-thread by means of the silk, the small cord by means of the pack-thread, and, by means of the cord, a stout rope capable of sustaining his own weight, and so at last escaped from the place of his duresse. "CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME."-This passage has done vast mischief. It has been many a time laid as a sweet unction to the very heart of selfishness and cupidity. It seems to be the common opinion that it is in the Bible, but this derived from 1 Tim. v, 4: "Let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents." - A HINT TO THE MARRIED.-"I have heard," says Mat. Henry, "of a married couple, who, though they were both of a hasty temper, yet lived comfortably together by simply observing a rule on which they had mutually agreednever to be both angry together." And he adds, that an ingenious and pious father was in the habit of giving this advice to his children when they married :— The mystery that hangs over the supposed Christian character of the Chinese rebellion is not a little vexatious. Some facts, unquestionably authenticated, seem to prove either the adoption of Christianity, (in part at least,) or a studied attempt to gull Christian foreigners into forbearance with the movement. We learn from Paris that the French government abso-impression is false. It appears to have been lutely and entirely rejects the belief, which was at one time very general both in England and the United States, that the insurrection is of a Christian character; to demolish the popular credulity on the subject, it has caused several articles, some of them translations of publications by the insurgent chiefs, to be printed ostensibly in its official organ, the "Moniteur." This journal has been made to reproduce a long lucubration of the "great kings" at the head of the insurrection, and in it the most sacred portions of our faith are certainly most scandalously misrepresented, caricatured, and libeled. On the whole, the official newspaper of the French government comes to this conclusion:"We dispute the right of the revolt to be called Christian. We have as a guarantee for our opinion the Canton element which predominates among the chiefs and the promoters of this civil war. This element, the essence of which is inveterate hatred of everything foreign, joined to the quality of lettered of all the principal actors in this social and political drama, should exclude, for whoever has seriously studied China, all idea of a sincere inclination of the insurgents for Christianism; for the adoption of Christianity, in whatever form, Catholic or Protestant, would necessarily have for its first consequence the extension of the influence of foreigners that is to say, barbarians. Now the inhabitant of Canton and the lettered man have always been opposed thereto. We repeat that we deny absolutely that the pretended 'kings' of the insurrection are favorable to foreigners, and still less to Christians." "Doth one speak fire, t'other with water come; Is one provoked, be t'other soft and dumb." IS IT INSTINCT OR REASON?-Bentley, of London, has published a very interesting book ou Ceylon, entitled "The Bungalow or the Tent," by Edward Sullivan, which has not been reproduced yet on this side of the ocean. It abounds in curious "natural history" notes on that country. Here is one respecting the elephant, which may be a bone for the disputants about "reason and instinct" to pick : We passed an elephant working on the road; and it was most interesting to watch the halfreasoning brute; he was tearing out large roots from the ground by means of a chain and hook, fastened round his neck with a species of collar. He pulled like a man, or rather like a number of men, with a succession of steady hauls, throwing his whole weight into it, and almost going down on his knees, turning round every now and then to see what progress he was making. Really the instinct displayed by the elephant in its domesticated state is little short of reason in its fullest sense. There is no doubt they do think, and also act upon experience and memory, and their capacity seems to increase in an extraordinary degree from their intercourse with man. The remarkable nicety and trouble they take in squaring and arranging the blocks of hewn stone when building a bridge is incredible, unless seen; they place them with as much skill as any mason, and will return two or three times to give the finishing touches when they think the work is not quite perfect. They retire a few yards and consider what they have effected, and you almost fancy you can detect them turning their sagacious old noddles on one side, and shutting one eye in a knowing manner, to detect any irregularity in the arrange A LESSON WORTH LEARNING.-The possibility of a great change being introduced by very slight beginnings may be illustrated by a tale which Lockman tells of a vizier, who, having offended his master, was condemned to perpetual captivity in a lofty tower. At night his wife came to weep below his window. "Cease your grief," said the sage; "go home for the present, and return hither when you have procured a live black beetle, together with a little ghee, (or buffalo's butter,) three clews-one of the finest silk, another of stout pack-thread, and another of whipcord; finally, a stout coil of rope." When she again came to the foot of the tower, provided according to her husband's commands, he directed her to touch the head of the insect with a little of the ghee, to tie one end of the silk thread around him, and to place the rep-ment." |