dart ahead of us, get behind some rock that completely concealed him from our view, wait until we were nearly up to him, and then start ahead like a frightened deer, his fat sides shaking like bags of jelly as he trotted along. When we reached our horses the gin-bottle was empty, but Mr. T. assured us that it had all leaked out, and how could we doubt a man of his veracity?

We had again mounted and ridden down hill some three miles, at the imminent peril of breaking our precious necks, when whom should we meet but Sam Weller, dashing towards us on a goodly nag, and with a pair of well-filled saddle-bags. It was evident that he was in our pursuit. "Gemmen," he cried, when in speaking distance, "the governor has sent me to bring you home. He says you are no better than the 'babes in the woods,' and I am to tote you back, snolus bolus, as the schoolmaster used to say."

But, Sam, hav'nt you got something to eat in those saddlebags?"

"Yes, yes, but don't be in a hurry, gemmen, the bear'll perform in a few minutes, as the hangman said to the people around the gallows."

We knew Sam's obstinacy, especially when backed by the governor's commands; we therefore followed him without murmuring, to the nearest river, on whose banks we dismounted, and seating ourselves on a rock, prepared for our rural repast. Sam spread before us the cheese and crackers which Mr. Pickwick, kind soul! had sent for our refreshment.

"Now, gemmen, fall to; every one for himself, and God for us all, as the jackass said when he danced among the chickens." We soon gave unequivocal testimony both of our willingness and ability to obey.

"Gemmen, will you have a cocktail? (cock-tail,) as the lady said to her admirers when she offered them her feather fan."

We gave an affirmative answer to this fan-tastic invitation, and Sam drawing from one of the recesses of his receptaculum a bottle of the best eau-de-vie, soon compounded for us a nectar beverage.

After finishing our repast, the best we ever ate, we remounted, and, as Sam expressed it, " struck for hum." Nothing interesting occurred, except a most inglorious race between Sam and Mr. Tupman, in which the latter exhibited a most willful ignorance of the necessity of preserving the center of gravity.

Very fortunately we arrived at the Hotel without accident, and were kindly greeted by our host and the remainder of our club. Ehu! jam satis. SNODGRASS, Scribe.

A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.

If we would see the true interests of this nation and the world, not simply preserved, but effectually promoted, we must sooner or later establish and sustain a National University. If we would enjoy the benign protection of institutions bought by the blood of our fathers, and see them transmitted, a blessing to those who shall come after us; if we would see morality and religion regarded, the arts and sciences cherished; philosophy studied, and literature advanced; if we would see the mind enlarged and elevated, and man himself fully fitted for his allotted station; then we must hail the day when a great central and inexhaustable Fountain shall be opened, from whence all these blessings may flow. When this infant people shall have become a great and mighty nation, and filled all the land, the little rivulets, that have hitherto supplied our wants, will utterly fail. A mighty reservoir of pure, self-supplying and life-giving waters, must be established in the heart of the nation, or before the lapse of many generations, our few ordinary and isolated cisterns will have dried up.

But, aside from metaphor, let us turn our attention to the actual condition of the nation in a literary and intellectual point of view, and the necessity of an institution of this nature shall be still more apparent. We boast, that among our citizens, intelligence and learning in their humbler grades, are more generally diffused, than among almost any other people. True, if we consider name and number simply, we have Universities, Colleges, Academies, Seminaries, High Schools and Common Schools, in abundance. But these, at least, can only furnish the mind with first principles. Moreover, the time and labor of Professors and Teachers in these institutions, must be supremely devoted to the business of instruction. When such a multiplication of duties as at present is imposed upon each of these, it is unreasonable to expect that they should do more than arrange, modify, and disseminate a few of the more general and obvious principles of science and learning. To penetrate the vast mines of truth, that have remained as yet comparatively unexplored, with the simple purpose of unfolding their treasures, without deriving immediate and practical advantage therefrom; to fathom the mighty ocean of beauty, for the gems there concealed, while the treasures fall not into the adventurer's hands; to soar aloft in the regions of thought and imagination, that others may be gratified with the sublimity and inspiration of poetry; or to ascend the rugged mountains of science, there to contemplate the abstract and speculative principles of nature

in the bright beans of her own sun-to do all this, requires more than a few detached efforts of professional men, whose own appropriate duties are already too numerous and oppressive. It requires the uninterrupted labors of a body of men, who shall devote their whole lives, and all their powers, each to a single object of pursuit; men whose minds shall be relieved from all the pressing cares of life, by having all their wants abundantly supplied, without effort on their part; men who shall have a place for retirement and study, secluded from all the stormy commotions with which this busy people are daily agitated and harassed; and men who shall be encouraged by tokens of sympathy and approbation, and by evidence that their labors are appreciated by their own cotemporaries. Now the state or nation is the best, if not the only source from which such ample and permanent provision may be expected. And if such a class of men enjoy the respect and sympathy due to them from the great mass of people, for their self-denying zeal and labors, that respect and sympathy must derive its origin and its tone from "the powers that be"-primarily, from the stateand then public sentiment will follow freely in the wake. Let these provisions be made these encouragements be granted— and we shall see an Institution rising up, in which shall be concentrated the intellectual nerve and sinew of the nation. Thither will be gathered men of genius, thought, and invention; of strong intellect and high attainments. And by their contact, they will inspire salutary zeal and enthusiasm. By their mutual efforts, they will strengthen each others' hands; and by their mutual contributions, they will increase their treasures, and multiply the stores of knowledge. Nor will this be a contracting, gravitating mass of inanimate matter; but a living, active, efficient power. And as the blood-life's nutriment-flows through ten thousand arteries from the heart to the extremities of the body, carrying health and vigor to every part of the frame; so, through every portion of our republican system, from this self-supplying fountain, would flow abundant streams of knowledge, and high mental enterprise, giving impulse to talent, vitality to genius, and to the intellect of the nation, lasting, irrepressible energy. The discovery of many important truths would, doubtless, be made; the cause of letters would be revived; the field of useful arts cultivated; the domain of science extended; in fine, a higher and more healthful tone would be given to the mental being of individuals and of the whole nation. The nature of our republican institutions, and the present political aspect of the country, demand the establishment of a National University. Is it urged in reply, though we have as yet had no National University, our republican institutions have,

notwithstanding, been hitherto preserved? Granted. But they have been preserved under, and in conjunction with, all the piety and moderation of the Puritans; all the affection of colonies from a common country, and in a strange land; all the confidence of infant states; all the bonds that a common enemy have cast upon the nation; together with all the regard that sons have had for the memory of their fathers who fought and bled for them. Take away from our institutions all the mighty power of these influences-which are only accidental-and their weakness will be seen and felt. Man will learn that there is no magic power, no virtue, no considerative principle in the mere name or form of government. Its efficacy must be derived from another source, from the mighty power of truth, of letters, and of religion.

Other systems of government may be preserved and perpetuated as well, and perhaps some even better, under the reign of ignorance and superstition, than if the minds of the people were cultivated and stored with knowledge. But not so with Republicanism. When the states are divided and subdivided, and political rights and privileges are equally distributed and enjoyed, it is very natural that strong excitement, bordering upon violence, be produced among the people. Whole communities are often thrown into fierce commotion, and all the feelings and passions of men are kindled, so that society seems shaken to the very center, during the discussion of some agitating question, or the adjustment of conflicting interests.

Our only hope, in such a state of things, is in the overpowering influence of religious sentiment and an elevated style of letters. In the efficacy of the former, we have much confidence. Yet it is not sufficient of itself. It must be clad in garments of knowledge; it must be equipped with weapons of art; it must be adorned with the refinement and beauty of learning. And when the day of decline in letters in this country shall come, and the American citizen shall attempt to exercise the privileges of the elective franchise, unguided by the light of wisdom, and ungoverned by the genial influence of sound learning, we may rest assured, that all which we now admire and love and boast of in our political institutions, will be sacrificed to promote the selfish purposes of designing men and aspiring demagogues. The bold and daring spirit of our people, once emancipated from the moral restraints of wisdom, intelligence, and virtue; once set free from that power of reason and understanding, that springs only from a state of high intellectual culture, could no more be controlled than the tornado that spreads ruin and devastation over the face of the earth. The diversities of feeling, and the fermentations of prejudice and antipathy, and the angry passions