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THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.

NOTHING is a greater reproach to the reasoning intellect of any age, than a splenetic censoriousness on the manners and characters of our ancestors. It is but common justice for us to bear in mind that in those times we should have been as they were, as they in ours would have resembled ourselves. Both are but the same men, acting under different circumstances, wearing different dresses, and pursuing different objects; but neither inferior to the other in talent, industry, or intellectual worth. The more we study biography, we shall perceive more evidence of this truth. Disregarding what satire might, without being cynical, lash in our own costumes, we are to apt to look proudly back on those who have gone before us, and to regale our self-complacency with comparisons of their deficiencies, and of our greater merit. The retrospect is pleasing, but it offers no just grounds for exultation. We are superior, and we have in many things better taste, and sounder judgment, and wiser habits, than they possessed. And why? Because we have had means of superiority by which they were not assisted. But a merit which owes its origin merely to our having followed, instead of preceded, in existence, gives us no right to depreciate those over whom our only real advantage has been the better fortune of a later chronology. We may, therefore, allow those who have gone before us, to have been amused with what would weary or dissatisfy us, without either sarcasms on their absurdities, or contemptuous wonder at their stately childishness, and pompous inanities.-SHARON TURNER.

GOOD CUSTOM ON NEW YEARS' DAY.

It is the custom in New York, on the first day of the year, for the gentlemen to visit all their acquaintances; and the omission of this observance in regard to any particular family, would be considered as a decided slight. The routine is as follows: the ladies of a family remain at home to receive visits; the gentlemen are abroad, actively engaged in paying them. You enter, shake hands, are seated, talk for a minute or two on the topics of the day, then hurry off as fast as you can. Wine and cake are on the table, of which each visiter is invited to partake. The custom is of Dutch origin, and, I believe, does not prevail in any other city of the Union. I am told, its influence on the social intercourse of families is very salutary; the first day of the year is considered a day of kindness and reconciliation, on which petty differences are forgotten, and trifling injuries forgiven. It sometimes happens, that between friends long connected, a misunderstanding takes place. Each is too proud to make concessions, alienation follows, and thus are two families, very probably, permanently estranged. But on this day of annual amnesty, each of the offended parties calls on the wife of the other, kind feelings are recalled, past grievances overlooked, and at their next meeting they take each other by the hand, and are again friends.

D. I. E.

[HAMILTON'S Men and Manners in America, p. 279.] Is he not in reality the truest patriot who fills up his station in private life well; he who loves and promotes peace both public and private, who knowing that his country's prosperity depends much more on its virtues than its arms, resolves that his individual endeavours shall not be wanting to promote this desirable end? And is he

not the greatest hero who is able to despise public honours for the sake of private usefulness, he who has learnt to subdue his own inclinations, to deny himself those gratifications which are inconsistent with virtue and piety, who has conquered his passions and brought them low even as a child that is weaned; is not such a man greater than he that taketh a city, sheddeth blood as it were water, or calls for the thundering applause of assembled multitudes? But if persons in general held these sentiments, if utility were substituted for show, and religious usefulness for worldly activity, how very little our public men would have to do! Truly they would be driven to turn their swords into ploughshares, and study the Gospel instead of the statutes. TAYLOR.

THERE was never found in any age of the world, either philosophy, or sect, or religion, or law, or discipline, which did so highly exalt the good of communion, and depress good private and particular, as the holy Christian faith: whence it clearly appears that it was one and the same God that gave the Christian law to men, who gave those laws of nature to the creatures.-BACON.

THE AFRICAN LION. THE appearance of the lion, when unannoyed, or in confinement, where he is generally very tame, does not convey to us that idea of ferocity which generally associates itself with the greater number of the feline race. His ample front, and overhanging brow, surrounded with a long and shaggy mane, remind us of something more majestic than ferocity; but the gleam from his eye on the slightest motion of the bystander, the expression of his countenance, and erection of his mane upon provocation, show that he will not be trifled with, and are sufficient intimations of the powers he is able to call to his assistance. The general form of the lion is stronger in front, than the proportions of his kindred tribes; and his broad chest and shoulders, and thick neck, point out the strength he possesses to seize and carry off a prey of even greater weight than himself. His common colour is of a rich brownish 'yellow, and the head and neck of the males, are covered with long, flowing, and shaggy hair, commonly denominated the mane, which is wanting in the females. This mane, and the tuft at the extremity of the tail, are peculiar to the lion.

In the actions of all animals, the influence of hunger has a very powerful effect, and the attributes of cruelty which have generally been given to this race, have been called forth by their search after natural sustenance, In like manner are they endowed with cunning, and daring; and we accordingly find animals of such size and bulk as the lion and tiger, endowed with powers sufficient to overcome creatures both great and strong. When not pressed by the severe calls of hunger, the lion feeds chiefly nevertheless abroad during the whole night, and at dawn and twilight, and is easily disturbed: he is prowling round the herds of wild animals, or near the flocks of the settlers, or caravans of travellers, watches an opportunity, and, seizing upon some straggler, carries it to his place of repose, and devours it at leisure. But impelled by the cravings of hunger, which the scarcity of wild animals, and the care of the colonists sometimes force him to endure, he becomes a very different being his cunning becomes daring, no barrier will withstand him-he rushes with resistless fury upon the object of his attack-a bullock is torn from the team, or a horse from the shafts-and even man is dragged from the watch-fires, surrounded by his companions, and powerful fire-arms.

Perseverance in watching, and in retaining his prey when seized, are other characteristics of the lion. An instance of the latter, is related in the Journal of the Landdrost Sterneberg, kept in his journey to the Namaqua Hottentots.

The wagons and cattle (says he,) had been put up for the night, when, about midnight, they got into complete confusion. About thirty paces from the tent, stood a lion, which, on seeing us, walked very deliberately a few paces further, behind a small thorn-bush, carrying something with him which I took to be a young ox. We fired more than sixty shots at the bush. The south-east wind blew strong, the sky was clear, and the moon shone very bright, so that we could perceive any thing at a short distance. After the cattle had been quieted again, and I had looked over every thing, I missed the sentry from before the tent. We called as loudly as possible, but in vain; nobody answered, from which I concluded he was carried off. Three or four men then advanced very cautiously to the bush, which stood right opposite the door of the tent, to see if they could discover any thing of the man, but returned helter-skelter; for the lion, who was still there, rose up, and began to roar. About a hundred shots were again fired at the bush, without perceiving any thing of the lion. This induced one of the men again to approach it, with a firebrand in his hand; but as soon as he approached the bush, the lion roared terribly,

The firebrand which had been thrown at the lion, had fallen in the midst of the bush, and, favoured by the wind, it began to burn with a great flame, so that we could see very clearly into it, and through it. We continued our firing into it: the night passed away, and the day began to break, which animated every one to fire at the lion, because he could not lie there, without exposing himself. Seven men, posted at the furthest wagons, watched to take aim at him as he came out. At last, before it became quite light, he walked up the hill with the man in his mouth, when about forty more shots were fired, without hitting him. He persevered in retaining the prey, amidst the fire and shot, and carried it securely off. It may, however, be mentioned, that he was followed and killed in the forenoon, over the mangled remains of the

unfortunate sentinel.

and leaped at him, on which he threw the firebrand at him, of a remarkably mild disposition, and allowed his and the other people having fired about ten shots, he returned keepers to take every kind of liberty with him. immediately to his former station. | Strangers were frequently introduced into his den, who were permitted to sit and ride on his back. Nero, during these performances, preserved a look of magnanimous composure, and on the entrance or exit of a new visiter, would merely look round. The most docile lion that has occurred to our own observation, was one in a travelling menagerie at Amsterdam, where, it may be remarked, that all the animals showed a remarkable degree of tameness and familiarity. The lion alluded to, after being pulled about, and made to show his teeth, &c., was required to exhibit. Two young men, in fancy dresses, entered the spacious cage, and in the mean time, the lion, apparently perfectly aware of what he had to do, walked composedly round. He was now made to jump over a rope, held at different heights; next through a hoop and a barrel, and again through the same covered with paper. All this he did freely, compressing himself to go through the narrow space, and alighting gracefully. His next feat was to repeat the leaps through the hoop and barrel, with the paper set on fire; this he evidently disliked, but with some coaxing, went through each. The animals were now all fed, but the lion had not yet completed his share in the night's entertainment, and was required to show his forbearance, by parting with his food. The keeper entered the cage, and took it repeatedly from him; no further resistance than a short clutch and growl was expressed. His countenance had, however, lost its serenity, and how long his good temper would have continued, is doubtful. We did not previously believe that any of the Cat tribe could have been so far tampered with.

It is a common opinion among the South African tribes, that the lion will prefer human prey to any other, will single out the driver from his cattle, and prefer the rider to his horse. This notion has gained converts among the better informed, and in many of the colonies, it is generally received as a fact. Sometimes he will seize any prey, but animals are certainly his favourite luxury, and none more than a horse, the pursuit of which, among other cattle, has given rise to the idea that the rider most

attracted his attention.

The lion, when taken young, is easily tamed, principally by mild and persuasive usage, and appears to possess more equality of temper than any of the other cats. Many of the keepers display more rashness than prudence, when strangers are admitted to participate in the performance; and it may be remarked, that the lion only, among the more powerful of the Cat tribe, will admit visiters to a share of his benevolence.

Nero, well known in Wombwell's menagerie was

[Naturalists' Library.]

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LONDON Published by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND; and sold by ail Booksellers,

THE

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

THE Cataract of Niagara is caused by the fall of the river St. Laurence, over a ledge of the bed of limestone which forms the basis of the surrounding country. The St. Laurence takes its rise in the Mississippi, and is one of the most magnificent rivers in the world; the mass of its waters, as the outlet to the whole of the chain of the Great Lakes, besides numerous tributary streams, being greater than that of any other river, except the Amazon and the La Plata*.

Between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, the width of the river varies from one to four miles, and immediately above the Falls, it is about three miles. On reaching the precipice, it turns abruptly at a right angle, and the whole mass of waters rushes down the vast descent, with an impetuosity not to be described.

The following account of a visit to this wondrous scene, is abridged from a work lately published, entitled Men and Manners in America.

The colour of the water is a very beautiful shade, between azure and green. The banks for several miles are high and precipitous, and covered with the primeval forest. A cloud of white vapour, rising high above the foliage of the distant forest, announced the situation of the great cataract. Shortly after, I could detect a hollow rumbling sound, like that of thunder.

The banks which descend to the bed of the river, were very steep, and so slippery, that I encountered more than one tumble in my progres. But this was nothing; and most amply was I repaid for all the troubles of my journey, when, in a few minutes, I found myself standing on the very brink of this tremendous yet most beautiful cataract.

The spot from which I first beheld it, was the Table-rock, and of the effect produced by the overwhelming sublimity of the spectacle, it is not possible to embody in words any adequate description. The spectator at first feels as if stricken with catalepsy. His blood ceases to flow, or rather, is sent back in overpowering pressure on the heart. He gasps, "like a drowning man," to catch a mouthful of breath. "All elements of soul and sense" are absorbed in the magnitude and glory of one single object. He stands mute and powerless, in the presence of that scene of awful splendour, on which his gaze is riveted.

In attempting to convey to those who have never visited the Falls, any notion of the impression which they produce, I believe it impossible to escape the charge of exaggeration. The penalty is one which I am prepared to pay: but the objects presented by Niagara, are undoubtedly among those which exercise a permanent influence on the imagination of the spectator. The day, the hour, the minute, when his eye first rested on the great Horse-shoe Fall, is an epoch in the life of any man. He gazes on a scene of splendour and sublimity, far greater than the unaided fancy of poet or painter ever pictured. He has received an impression which time cannot diminish, and death only can efface. |

On the day after my arrival, the weather having fortunately become fine, my hours were devoted to the Horse-shoe, which I viewed from every favourable point. About half a mile below there is a shanter, or log tavern, from which a circular wooden stair leads down into the bed of the river; and on descending, I found myself at once immersed in a region of eternal moisture. By dint of scrambling along the debris of the overhanging See Saturday Magazine, Vol, I., p. 207.

rocks, I contrived to approach within a short distance of the Fall; and so powerful is the impression here produced, that a considerable time elapses before the spectator can command his faculties in a sufficient degree to examine its details. He stands amid a whirlwind of spray, and the gloom of the abyss, the dark firmament of rock which threatens destruction to the intruder, the terrors of the descending torrent, the deep thunder of its roar, and the fearful convulsion of the waters into which it falls, constitute the features o a scene, the sublimity of which undoubtedly extends to the very verge of horror. The epithet of the "Horse-shoe" is no longer applicable to the greater Fall. In the progress of those changes which are continually taking place from the attrition of the cataract, it has assumed a form which I should describe as that of a semihexagon. The vast body of water in the centre of this figure, descends in one unbroken sheet of vivid green, and contrasts finely with the awful perturbation of the caldron. But towards either extremity it is different. The water there, at the very commencement of its descent, is shivered into particles inconceivably minute, and assumes a thousand beautiful forms of spires and pinnacles, radiant with prismatic colours.

In the vast receptacle beneath, the water is so comminuted, and blended with air carried down by the cascade, probably to the depth of many hundred feet, that none but substances of the greatest buoyancy could possibly float on it. The appearance of the surface is very remarkable. It is that of finely triturated silver, in which, though the particles are in close proximity, there is no amalgamation. The whole mass is in convulsive and furious agitation, and continues so until, having receded to a considerable distance, the commotion gradually diminishes, and the water reassumes its ordinary appearance.

It is possible to advance to a considerable distance behind the cascade, and I determined to accomplish the achievement. Having marshalled my energies for the undertaking, I continued to advance, but the tempest of dense spray became suddenly so violent as apparently to preclude the possibility of further progress. I was driven back several yards, halfsuffocated and entirely blinded. But the guide encouraged me to proceed, and accordingly I made another and more successful effort. Having penetrated behind the Fall, the only footing was a ledge of rock about two feet broad, which was occasionally narrowed by projections in the face of the cliff. But even under these circumstances the undertaking is one of difficulty, rather than of danger. A great portion of the air carried down by the cataract is immediately disengaged, and the consequence is that an intruder has to encounter a strong breeze which blows upwards from the caldron, and sometimes even dashes him with unpleasant violence against the rock along which he is scrambling. As a practical illustration of this, our conductor plunged fearlessly down the precipitous rock to the very edge of the gulf, and was immediately blown back, with little effort of his own, to our narrow pathway.

At length, having advanced about fifty yards, the guide informed me that further progress was impossible. I had certainly no objection to retrace my steps, for my lungs played with extreme difficulty, and the hurricane of wind and spray seemed to threaten utter extinction of sight. It was impossible, however, to depart, without gazing on the wonder I had visited. Far overhead was a canopy of rock; behind the perpendicular cliff. In front, the cascade, -a glorious curtain, seemed to hang between me

and the world. One's feelings were those of a prisoner, but never, surely, was there so magnificent a dungeon.

The noise of the great cataract is certainly far less than might be expected. Even at its very brink, conversation may be carried on without any considerable elevation of the voice. The sound is that of thunder in its greatest intensity, deep, unbroken, and unchanging. There is no hissing nor splashing; nothing which breaks sharply on the ear; nothing which comes in any degree into collision with the sounds of earth or air. Nothing extrinsic can either add to, or diminish its volume. It mingles with no other voice, and it absorbs none. It would be heard amid the roaring of a volcano, and yet does not drown the chirping of a sparrow.

Visiters generally wish, however, for a greater crash on the tympanum, for something, to stun and stupify, and return home complaining that Niagara is less noisy than Trenton or the Cohoes. This is a mistake. The volume of sound produced by the Horse-shoe Fall, is far greater than they ever heard before, or probably will ever hear again. When the atmosphere is in a condition favourable to act as a conductor of sound, it may be heard at a distance of fifteen, and even twenty miles. But it should be remembered that the great body of sound is generated in a cavern far below the level of the surrounding country, and fenced in on three sides by walls of perpendicular rock. The noise vibrates from side to side of this sunless cavity, and only a small portion escapes into the upper air, through the dense canopy of spray and vapour by which it is overhung. As an experiment, I employed a man to fire a musket below, while I stood on the Table rock. The report was certainly audible, but scarcely louder than that of a pop-gun.

Having devoted three days to the Horse-shoe, I rode up the river to survey its course from the Falls. Shortly after issuing from Lake Erie, the Niagara is divided by a huge island about seven miles in length. Lower is another island of smaller dimensions, and having passed these, the river is about two miles in breadth, and tranquil as a lake. At Chippewn, about three miles above the Falls, navigation terminates. A short distance below, the stream evidently begins to accelerate its motion. There are no waves, however, nor is there any violent agitation of the current; nothing, in short, which seems to presage the scene of terrific agitation so soon to ensue. Further down is Goat Island, which divides the river into two branches, and forms the separation between the Falls. It is at the higher extremity of this island, that the rapids commence.

The grandeur of these rapids is worthy of the cataracts in which they terminate. In the greater branch, the river comes foaming down with prodigious impetuosity, and presents a surface of agitated billows, dashing wildly through the rocks and islands. This scene of commotion continues till within about thirty yards of the Fall. There the great body of the stream resumes its tranquillity, and in solemn grandeur descends into the cloudy and unfathomable abyss. Never was there a nobler prelude to a sublime catastrophe.

I at length crossed to the American side. If there were no Horse-shoe Fall, the American would be the wonder of the world. Seen from below, it is very noble. The whole body of water is at once shattered into foam, and comes down in a thousand feathery and fantastic shapes, which in a bright sunshine were resplendently beautiful. But the form of the American fall is unfortunate. A straight line

is never favourable to beauty, and the cataract descends, not into a dark abyss of convulsed and fathomless waters, but amid fragments of rock, from which it again rushes onward to the main bed of the | river.

In the neighbourhood of the Falls, one can think of nothing else. They affect all thoughts and impulses, the waking reverie, and the midnight dream.

LOVE OF COUNTRY.

EVERY man loves his country; but it is not the earth, the
mere insensate clod, that forms the bond. It is the asso-
ciations of his youth, his manhood, or even his ancestry,
which bind him with such intensity. Never may those
feelings be eradicated from human hearts! Still dear to
men be the home, however bleak, where first they lifted
their eyes to heaven, and their young lips were taught to
lisp the name of God; still dear be the sunny vale, the
barren heath, or the shrubless mountain, where they
wandered in their youth; and dear be the solemn aisle, or
small desolate kirk-yard, where they laid their little child
that died, with its sweet smiles, and where they perhaps,
may be shortly laid themselves, mingling their bones with
the bones of their fathers and grandfathers, who lived and
died in the same quiet valley, a hundred years before!-
O. N.

M.S. Notes

THERE is no creature in the world, wherein we may not earth, no spire of grass, no leaf, no twig, wherein we see see enough to wonder at; for there is no worm of the not the footsteps of a Deity: the best visible creature is man; now what man is he that can make but an hair, or a straw, much less any sensitive creature, so as no less than an infinite power is seen in every object that presents itself to our eyes: if, therefore, we look only on the outside of thing, we are no better than brutish; make use merely of these bodily substances, and we do not see God in every our sense without the least improvement of our faith or our reason. Contrary, then, to the opinion of those men, who hold that a wise man should admire nothing, I say that a truly wise and good man should admire every thing, or rather that infiniteness of wisdom and omnipotence which shows itself in every visible object.-BISHOP HALL.

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My uncle Toby was a man patient of injuries; not from want of courage, where just occasions presented or called it forth. I know no man under whose arm I should sensibility or obtuseness in his intellectual parts; he was sooner have taken shelter, nor did this arise from any in of a peaceful placid nature, no jarring element in it, all was mixed up so kindly within him: my uncle Toby had scarcely a heart to retaliate upon a fly. Go," says he, one day at dinner, to an overgrown one who had buzzed about his nose and tormented him cruelly all dinner-time, and which, after infinite attempts, he had caught at last as it flew by him; "I'll not hurt thee," says my uncle Toby, rising from his chair, and going across the room with the fly in his hand :-"I'll not hurt a hair of thy head. Go," says he, lifting up the sash, and opening his hand as he spoke, to let it escape; go, get thee gone; why should I hurt thee! This world surely is wide enough to hold both

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thee and me."-STERNE.

THOSE who are in the power of evil habits must conquer wisdom nor happiness can be attained: but those who are them as they can; and conquered they must be, or neither not yet subject to their influence, may, by timely caution, preserve their freedom: they may effectually resolve to escape the tyrant, whom they will very vainly resolve to conquer.Idler.

BEASTS, birds, and insects, even to the minutest and meanest of their kind, act with the unerring providence o instinct; man, the while, who possesses a higher faculty, abuses it, and therefore goes blundering on. They, by their unconscious and unhesitating obedience to the laws of nature, fulfil the end of their existence; he, in wilful neglect of the laws of God, loses sight of the end of his.SOUTHEY.

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