I longed ardently to behold her; but placed as I was, directly in her front, I felt that it would be rudeness, and that it might be profanation, to turn quite round as I must have done to gain a glimpse of those eloquent lips; and I abstained.

I was rewarded for the self-denial. My attention, undisturbed by any exercise of the sight, revelled in the fresh remembrance of her enchanting tones. I walked homeward alone, with every cloud dispersed, and every faculty exercised in listening, still listening, to the words and notes that she had breathed. It was one of the 'sacred sweets' yielded by 'the hill of Sion;' I felt it to be such; and I felt myself to be, may I not say it?

travelling through IMMANUEL's ground, To fairer worlds on high.'

I have been several times since then, perhaps I ought to say often since then, to the same church, at the same hour, and have seated myself in the same spot; but no such sound has again entranced my senses. I should distinguish the slightest note from that of any other voice, as readily, as certainly, as decide betwixt blue and crimson. From whom could it have proceeded? May it have been that the organs of some dumb Girl shall, utterly unknown to herself, have been occupied and employed by a wandering seraph that had descended to the surface of Earth to heal delight instruct console?—Oh VOICE, holy and pure! come once again to me before I depart and am no more! come to me even at the moment that I bid adieu to Earth, and teach me again of 'fairer worlds on High!' Oh VOICE! holy and pure! oh SPIRIT! beautiful, celestial, that canst not die, once only again before the golden bowl be broken, or ever the silver cord be loosed;· once again!

⚫ once, JOHN WATERS.

THE FOURTH O F JULY.

WRITTEN AT SEA.

YE sons of Columbia! land of the brave,
Who roam far away on the ocean's bright wave,

To-day in our dear native land is unfurled

The banner of Freedom, the pride of the world!

From the East to the West, from the South to the North,
Each patriot welcomes the glorious Fourth:

The booming of cannon and martial array

Swells the splendor and pomp of this much-honored day;

Though no cannon peals loud o'er the ocean serene,

Nor the joy of a nation disturbs the still scene,
Yet the flag of our country floats brightly alone,
And who is not proud when he calls it his own?
E'en our gallant ship gaily skims o'er the blue sea,
As if conscious of bearing the Flag of the Free.
Then hip, hip, hurrah! for your banner unfurl'd,
And three hearty cheers for the pride of the world!

W. CRUTTENDEN BROWN,

WHOM NOBODY CAN BENEFIT, AND THE MAN WHOM NOBODY CAN INJURE.

IN Queens county, Long-Island, a body of water called 'Success Pond' has long attracted the attention of the curious, by reason that one part of it seems unfathomable. The late Doctor Samuel L. Mitchell, of New-York, of learned memory, made many fruitless efforts to reach the bottom; and that his labors therein might not be wholly barren of interest to posterity, he stocked the pond with perch, which are now become so numerous, that between the pleasure of fishing for them, viewing the surrounding picturesque scenery, and searching for the unfathomable part of the pond, the place, under the name of Lakeville,' is become quite a fashionable resort for New-Yorkers during the heat of summer, and good hotels accommodate the many visitors. The following narrative, how puerile soever it may seem in other situations, is a part of the established amusement of the place, and is preserved at the best hotel in the front pages of a book in which visitors write their names. We have taken the liberty to transcribe the story literally as we found it, and principally for the philosophical purpose of showing what trifles will amuse even wise and grave people when they are in search of amusement; and hence presenting to the thoughtful, who are occasionally unhappy from lack of amusement, the question of whether the fault may not be in themselves rather than in external circumstances. These remarks must not, however, be construed as insinuating any mistrust of the narrative, for we would not commit so great an offence

against the tradilional glories of Lakeville. Indeed, we are firm believers in a plurality of worlds; a world of imagination at least, as well as a physical world; and as we deem the sorrows of the imaginative world more immedicable and less endurable than the sorrows of the physical world, we would be the last to abridge any man's imaginative pleasures.

THE STORY.

In this pond, many years ago a boy was fishing immediately over the unfathomable spot, as is conjectured; and of a sudden he felt that something uncommon was nibbling at his bait; and on jerking the line, he became assured that he had hooked a large prize. He pulled cautiously, but experienced much difficulty in raising his line; and when he succeeded, he was astonished at finding attached to his hook not a fish, but a young lady of surpassing beauty. The hook had caught her by the under lip, and while she moaned piteously, she said 'Harry, Harry, cut the line and permit me to descend, for I am not mortal but a Naiad, who reside in the deepest recesses of the pond.'

The boy possessed a turn for traffic, and he was determined to drag her ashore and exhibit her for money, as he had lately seen a live seal exhibited; which was nothing near as curious. The Naiad, however, became angry when she found that her tears and entreaties were disregarded; and catching the line with one of her hands, she snapped it asunder with ease; and as she was plunging to the bottom of the pond, she exclaimed, angrily, 'You fool, since you will not benefit those whom PROVIDENCE places within your influence, no man shall be able to benefit you!'

The boy was not a little mortified at the result of the adventure, and particularly at the escape of so curious an animal; but as he never expected to need benefits from other people, he cared nothing for the malediction; and gathering up his fishing-tackle, he departed toward home, reporting every where, as he went, the curious adventure he had experienced; though he omitted the colloquy, as he suspected it would not redound to his credit.

The narrative was not long in spreading over the surrounding neighborhood, and another lad thought he would try his success in this strange fishing; but he kept his intention secret, lest he should expose himself to ridicule for believing so improbable a tale. He accordingly resorted to the pond very early one morning with a fish-line sufficiently strong for the kind of fish that he was seeking, and casting his hook into the unfathomable hole, awaited the result with more patience than faith; but he soon found that his bait was assailed, and on jerking up his line, dragged with much difficulty to the surface, the beautiful being that the other boy had hooked. She began to moan as she had moaned previously, and said entreatingly, Richard, Richard, cut the line and permit me to descend.' At the sight of her distress his resolution for capturing her forsook him, and he took from his pocket a knife to comply with her request; but she no sooner discovered his intention, than she raised her hand to her rosy mouth, and with ease extricated herself from the

hook; and with the sweetest smile that can be conceived, plunged below the surface of the pond, but not before she had exclaimed, 'Dear youth, since you are unwilling to injure the unfortunate, no man shall be able to injure you!'

Richard was rather pleased with his adventure, though he had failed in the object for which he had left home, and he returned thither with a quiet conscience and a good appetite for breakfast. The result of his experiment he intended to communicate to Harry, but he found that Harry's father, who was a man in easy pecuniary circumstances, had sent his son that morning to a boarding-school kept by Mr. Halsey, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey; as he was determined to give his son a good literary education. Mr. Halsey was one of the most thorough disciplinarians that our country ever possessed, but was exceedingly kind; and he took every new scholar into an orchard full of choice fruit, of which the boy was permitted to eat his fill. Our young gentleman began accordingly, to eat with a good relish; and recollecting what the Naiad had threatened, he laughed and wondered whether Mr. Halsey was not benefitting him. His mirth invigorated his appetite, and he ate and laughed again; and kept eating and laughing, swallowing cherry stones with the cherries in his eagerness to eat fast and much, till the cherries began to lose their good flavor. He however, kept eating in consideration of their former flavor, till they began to taste bitter, and he could endure them no longer. Descending from the tree, he walked slowly toward the school, but he soon felt an ugly pain, with some nausea; and eventually became so much disordered with the quantity he had eaten of cherries and cherry stones, that he discovered, to his disappointment and sorrow, that Mr. Halsey had not benefitted him by the indulgence he had granted.

After several days and nights of severe pain, he recovered sufficiently to commence his studies, but he found them difficult and tedious. Why English people should trouble themselves to learn Latin and Greek, seemed an enigma that ought to be solved before a young man should be required to study them; and in his endeavors to solve this perplexing question, he employed much of the time that ought to have been devoted to acquiring his lessons. Fortunately however, he enjoyed a room-mate, by the name of Broughton, who kindly undertook, in consideration of a large share of Harry's pocket money, to make his translations, cypher all his sums in arithmetic, and enable him to appear like a thriving scholar, without any of the privations that must attend the acquisition of learning. He now laughed again, when he thought of the Naiad, and he wondered whether Broughton was not benefitting him in saving him from the irksomeness of study.

Four years were passed in the above manner, and Harry had become old enough to enter college; but behold! when he presented himself at Yale, he was found on examination to be so deficient in the required preparatory studies, that he was rejected. His father was as much grieved as surprised, and he would fain have induced his son to return to school and obtain the required proficiency; but the young man thought this would expose him to ridicule, and he could be neither threatened nor coaxed into the measure. His father seeing him thus resolved, at

length said, 'My son, I have given you the best opportunities that money can procure for acquiring a literary education; but since you refuse to be thus benefitted, I must abandon the hope of seeing you become a professional man, and you must take your chance in some less intellectual employment.'

The son felt a secret mortification at the result, but as he should thereby escape the confinement of a college, he was more pleased than sorry; and concluded that he would become a merchant. This would be less sedentary than the law, for the profession of which his father had designed him; and it would enable him to acquire a fortune in a less time; a consideration of no little importance to a gentleman who is not fond of labor. He resolved, however, to become rich, and perhaps as rich as Girard, though he did not approve entirely of the Girard College. Some more personal gratifications would, he thought, be an improved disposition of his fortune; and the gratifications might be so regulated as not essentially to impair the residuary estate.

These preliminaries being thus settled, his father procured him a situation in a large importing house on Long-Wharf, in Boston; the owner of which assured the father, that if the son merited patronage, he should be promoted by every means in the merchant's power, and every care should be taken to give the young man a thorough mercantile education. Harry was a handsome youth, with no obvious defect but a superabundance of whiskers; for by some natural connexion, whiskers seem to exuberate in proportion to the barrenness of the intellect. The merchant was, however, no philosopher, and never speculated deeply on abtruse connexions, and therefore, placed the young man in the counting-room to copy invoices and letters, carry money to the bank, bring packages from the post-office; and to perform the various other small duties that pertain to the minor department of a great commercial establishment. Unfortunately these duties were not suited to the taste of the young gentleman, being far too unimportant; and he performed them in a way which evinced his opinion of their unimportance. In copying a letter he would omit some words and misspell others; and write the whole in so crooked, unintelligible and blotted a manner, that his employer, disgusted with his carelessness, dismissed him from the counting-house, after telling him that he had sincerely desired to benefit him, but he found he could not.

The information not only surprised the young man but offended him, for he felt confident that he could have performed well the higher duties of a merchant, though he had failed in performing the small duties. This time at least,' thought he, ‘I am more sinned against than sinning;' and without waiting to announce the misadventure to his father, he packed up his clothes and went home, as a man who had been unjustly persecuted. The father, however, took a less partial view of the matter, and even ventured to hint that only those who prove themselves faithful in a few things, are ever made lord over many things.' expostulation could not reinstate the young man, the father as a last resort, purchased a farm for him, and bade him try to gain a living by agriculture.

But as

This expedient harmonized well with the son's taste, for he was fond