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NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER. THE LONDON EXHIBITION. Messrs. Editors : Your attentive correspondent says in one of his communications that, in ex amining the beautiful and ingenious articles which Austria ancf^russia have sent to the London Ex hibition, it is impossible not to be convinced that nations so advanced cannot long remain subjected to absolute Governments; or words to a similar effect. This position, and the fact that, according to all accounts, our part of the Exhibition does not produce as advantageous an impression as many ?had hoped, have led me to some reflections which are at your .disposal, if you think them worthy of being published in your widely-spread paper. No one can consider this great Exhibition more important, more instructive, and more cheering than I do. It is an encouraging sign of the times. As the idea of an international law belongs exclu sively to the modern civilized portion of the white race, and is unquestionably one of the greatest bless ings which this race enjoys; so does, in a similar manner, the idea of an international exhibition, and the possibility of carrying it out with eminent success, belong exclusively to the nineteenth cen tury, and to our own family of nations. It Will eerve in future agea aa the auperacription of a peculiar era, having ad vanced a notable diitance beyond ita predecessors. I am even glad that it baa fallen in the middle of the century ; for thia fact will make it easier for the future schoolboy to learn iu date, and, to a certainty, be will be obliged to leam it by heart a* one of the prominent aignal poata of history. At the beginning of the century we have the battle of Leipsig, where all Europe fought {in the middle of the century we have the strife of London, where all the earth contends in a bloodless encounter. The impulse it must give to industry ; the great exchange of contrivance, taste, and knowledge it muat promote among the moat distant tribes; the feelings and reflections it muat enlarge, the mutual kindlinesa it muat strengthen ; the modesty with which it must impress some, perhaps, in a certain degree, all 5 the many new thoughta beyond the immediate sphere of induatry it must call forth ; the peaceful disposition which the universal contact of the different nations must diffuse among them?all these aure ef fects make me look upon this event, in point of industry, as aa Olympic game where nations are the charioteers ; in point of high politics, as a noble and widening commentary of in ternational law and international justice 5 in point of religion, however, as a consoling evidence of practical Christianity, of that commandment which transcends all philosophy peace and good will toward all men. In one word, none but Christian nations in ihe nineteenth century could have con ceived of it. Nor let us ungratefully forget that even in this, our nineteenth century, it could not have taken place, nor could it have been thought of, before Political Economy, still sneered at by ignorance, bad taught men that the idea of " natural enmity" among nations, even in industrial advance ment, is an absurdity. The highest truth that Political Economy teaches is nothing but the sacred injunction of peace and good will, applied to the apheres of production and ex change, and the proof that in this sphere the most solemn duty and the most stimulating intereats coincide and support each other to the fullest extent. The Exhibition of 1851 symbolizes the important fact that the theatre on which the drama of moving civilization is performed has been enlarged with every century, from the Grecian period, when men, heroes, and gods bestrode the narrow theatre of little Hellas, ?o our times, when, the missionary and manufacturer, the merchant, soldier, and knight errant of science range over the whole globe. But, whenever a novel and comprehensive event forcibly strikea our mind, the constant duty of the conduct of our un demanding and our aoul?the duty of guarding ouraelves against an undue influence of the ever-active association of ideas and feelings?becomes peculiarly important. Let us try to keep our intellects clear, but let us not allow them to be led captive by overwhelming or insinuating associations. First, then, we ought to remember that, after all, the uni versal fair is but an industrial exhibition, and, all-important as industry is, especially for modern civilization, because modern civilization requires a great amount of wealth, (edu cation and religion alone stand in need of millions,) and wealth is gained and maintained by industry ; yet institutions are more important and cannot be exhibited; nor can any specimens of entire and vitally important branches of industry be exhibited?for instance, of commerce ,? nor can nations show many of their best and most significant products of in dustrial spirit and resolute enterprise. Perhaps we would not be far from the truth were we to aay that the most industrial nations cannot show their most significant products. It is stated that we have not done ourselves justice 5 in addition, it must be admitted that we cannot yet rival with older nations in many branches of ingenious industry, or in those which belong exclusively to the departments of taste. But even if we had sent all that possibly could be transmitted to London, and though the "vacant space," so much complained of or joked about, in the United States division at the great bazaar were much larger, the best we have to send, and that re garding which we stand the first, we could never have sent? an American ship with a Yankee captain. The ahip is one of the chieftest elements of our industrial progress and of our power, and one which no longer allows the sea to be called the capital city of England, as 8ir Horace Walpole did, and with propriety for his time. Nor could England send to the Exhibition the suspension railway of Menai 5 nor have we ?ent the magnetic telegraph ; nor the French their jacquard loom. 1 The Crystal Palace, then, exhibits very partially only even the industrial elements of national activity?a fact which we must carefully keep in mind when drawing inferences from what is spread before the gazing eyes of that international ? convention. Even this, however, does not yet suffice in properly putting ourselves on our guard. Man is ever bent on generalizing ; it is the great prerogative he possesses above all other animal creatures. But, for the precise reason that it is so deeply in grained in our very humanity, we muat constantly watch it. In this case, for instance, we see an exquisite article, showing ingenuity, patience, taste, knowledge, boldness-all noble in gredients of the human mind. The article has come from Austria, and forthwith we aay : Austria produces such emi nent commodities; Austria possesses this admirable work manship. But what is Austria ? The term is brief, com **ct, and unitary; the thing, however, termed Austria is a vast, heterogeneous conglomeration of numberless different tribes. Vienna liea in Austria, and Vienna, with her many ?rich feudal lords, can pay high for unrivalled furniture ; but how far does this ingenuity, taste, or activity extend over Austria 1 The sight of auch an article is apt to shed a lustre on the whole idea?Austria?as it is in our minds , but she counts near forty millions of people, and how many of them live in deplorable semi-barbarism, in filth, ignorance, and low bigotry ? He that knowa the Croatians, Dalmatians, e ovacs, the Moravians, the Bohemian peasantry, the Hungarian herdsmen, csn answer it. He that knows how the Austrian soldier is fed and treated, know. it. That "Aus trian room m ihe fairy house at London, which ia mentioned ?in every letter, is undoubtedly very charming, and it ia ,ple?ing that a, much beauty haa been revealed to million, who had no idea of ,t, but the room, with all its beauty, gives no conception of a general .tandard either of comfort or ingenious production or mental activity of the numbers and it is this that is most important in forming a correct id* of Austria in point of industry. We must not fall into the mistake which ao many make in speaking of delightful France, when, in fact, they mean Paris at a certain season, as it shows itself in certain circlea. There ia another subject closely connected with the one just dwelt upon. I believe It is generally true that in the old, refined, and thickly-peopled countries, work is paid almost in an inverae ratio to the ingenuity and elaborate taste which it requires. That incomparable filagree, and other work in gold and ailver, which the French produce, often comes from sixth and seventh stories of crowded streets, and from the hands of sickly, not unfrequently consumptive, artists, who but too often starve with their familiea at their work, which they must pur sue day and night, week day and 8unday, in order to gain even that pittance which furnishes them with scanty food, scanty dress, and scanty education for their children. It is not only triie that " not all is gold that glistens," but all glistening gold is not a lustrous thing, if we exsmine it a> a p?rt of na'.ional industry. If, then, we behold such work, we should by all meant give full credit for it; we ahould enjoy its elegance and profit by studying itsdetaila and masterly woik manahip ; but we must not allow it necessarily to enter as an element of a dazzling picture which our generalizing mind may be inclined buaily and unconsciously to form of the whole society whence it came; nor must we forget that other coun tries which cannot produce such dainty and delightful work, with such chastened and pervading taste, may be, for all that, strong, happy, active, and possess taste, though in another sphere. This leads to a conaideration of a wider range. What is it that most attracts the vast majority of beholders in the Crystsl Palace, or at any iimilar exhibition 1 Unquestiona bly the works of taste } those articles which exhibit the greatest beauty. They delight, and naturally put the mind of the examiner into a frame which tinctures, for a time at least, the whole judgment which it passes on every thing that is connected with them, or which the generalizing mind assimilates with them in concentric circles. Your correspondent hopes that countries which have shown so much ingenuity and lute?m Autiria idJ Pruirit wil not long continue under despotic Governments ; but even if the countries, and not merely some few workmen in rehned cities, had produced these choice articles, they woukl stand in no necessary connexion with expiring despotism. When, in the middle of laat century, Manznonl charmed all London, and carried the day gainst politics, Court, and Parliament, so far as general interest was concerned, it would have been a bold conclusion that Italy, capable of producing such a singer, could not possibly long remain in her unfortunate, bruised, and degraded state ; or when Fanny Elaaler delight- , ed us with her liquid grace, he would have been a remarka ble statesman who would have foretold from her bewitching movements the resurrection of stolid Austria. Alaa ! those handsome Russian snuff boxes of steel, with inlaid gold, are not the first term from which we can syllogize a pure ad ministration of justice in that empire ! Learning and taste may flourish, and have unfortunately often flourished, when national purity, dignity, and a general healthy activity were gone. When Alexandrine erudition was in its zenith, Greece had become a prostitute in the arms of every bold general; yet that erudition and science at Alexandria was exclusively Greek. Unfortunately, it is a fact that of those four periods most distinguished for taste, three were also pro minent in corruption?the Augustan and Medicean ages and that of Louis the XIV. No human production can be mere perfect and more ravishing than some of the masterpieces of Benvenuto Cellini. Their perfection grows upon your soul with your own taste, as it becomes refined by the minute study of the work itself, and, which is the highest test, with your advancing years. But what was the state of Italy at Cellini's time ? It was the age when that firm patriot, Machia velli, who willingly suffered the rack for his country, could think that he did a great service to the cause of Italian unity by writing his Prince. Would not the Roman empire, in same of its darkest and dreadest periods, have been able to furnish very exquisite articles to the London Exhibition ? Thoae artificial flowers yvhich the Romans of the fourth cen tury substituted in their gardens for Nature's own beauties and bounties?corrupted as every part of their own nature was?would undoubtedly form an attractive and probably ad mired item at the glass palace. Was it not one of the chief arguments against Christianity with which the fathers of the church had to grapple that paganism could not be so false as christians represented it, since it had produced so much beau ty and refinement in the arts and literature } I trust I am not misunderstood. I do not undervalue taste, the beautiful in the arts. On the contrary, I believe that nan is essentially an esthetical being?as essentially as he is an ethical, religious, and jural being. We always find him with these attributes, in whatever stage of development they may happen to be. The sense of the beautitul, the de sire of pleasing ornament, independent upon utility, is al ways manifest in him, from the incipient stages in the Vedaft bing Indian, or that chief of Lord North Island who, ag Capt. Wilkes tells us, bqheld in lost admiration for two hours in a looking-glass his own nose painted with vermilion? from them to the Olympic Jo?e of Phidias, or the gracing cameo on a lovely arm, they always show a love of the beau tiful. A wise Providence has implanted this element in our souls as a vast active agent in every thing that appertains to culture in literature, the arts, even in morals and in produc tive industry. Without the esthetic element in man?the constant desire to beautify every thing around us?industry would never have received an impulse sufficient to become the handmaid of civilization. There are necessaries of esthe tical taste as well as necessaries of physical existence. . No nation can rise without a gradually rising standard of comfort, and a very large part of all that belongs to the standard of comfort is of an esthetical nature, and does not appertain to the mere necessaries of food and raiment. Men might indeed contrive to live like the lazzirone, so far as mere necessity is concerned, but they could not thus live in a cultivated state; and Joseph Bonaparte, when King of Naples, pursued a wise plan when, as he told me, he order ed mattresses, utensils, and other appurtenances of civiliza tion to be distributed gratis among them, in order, first of all, to create in them the wants of a civilized life 5 to raise their standard of comfort. His translation to the throne of 8pain put an end to this philosophic and sound measure. I know, moreover, that man is not completely that which his Maker has destined [him to be if he leaves the esthetical element uncultivated. I am as proud of our Powerses and Crawfords as any American can be : I hail them as the harbingers of much that is good, great, and refined, and claim their names as national treasures. No nation can hope to be what it ought to be if, among other things, it be not polished; however free, or however gallant, erudite, investigating, or comfortably living in it may be otherwise. But, on the other hand, taste may be cultivated without proportionate activity in the other spheres of humanity, and those periods in which this has taken place?periods which may be called epochs of estheti cal fanaticism?belongs to the very worst and most appalling of our annals. There is no corrodent more destructive than a refined taste unbalanced by truthfulness, purity, justice, and religion. Even the expiring gladiator may please the refin ed sense of the beautiful in a corrupt Roman assembly, so that he does not shock the sense of the belutiful by hard contours and unbeauteous forms. In ancient times it seems that an esthetical development and highly-polished refinement was incompatible with popu lar soundness. We never see them at that epoch .together ; no more so than great wealth and ample liberty. But in modern civilization there is, most happily, no incompatibility between wealth, refined taste, freedom, and purity. It is one of those peculiar prominent advantages which we enjoy over the ancients. As they are closely connected, they may here be hurriedly enumerated. In ancient times one nation always swayed over the rest, and history runs in a narrow channel; in modern times there exists rather a commonwealth of civilized nations. 8everal are the fust, and modern history resembles the broad sea where the flags of many nations meet. The 8tates of antiquity were ahort-lived, and, when once declining, were always irretrievably lost 5 modern States are long-lived, and they can recover from corrupt periods. They possess a recuperative power. In ancient States wealth and refinement were incompatible with liberty; in modern States they may support each other. England is at this period far richer, purer, and freer than she was under Walpole or the Stuarts. And as modern liberty cannot endure without civilization, and as modern civiliza tion is expensive, wealth is indispensable for modern freedom. Ancient liberty always dwelt in city 8tates ; there was no free ancient nation ; modern liberty is, on the contrary, of a broad national cast, and requires extensive and national States. Ancient liberty required a disregard of individuality ; mo dern freedom is bssed on it.* Since there was in antiquity always but one leading na tion, international law was not conceived of; in modern times justice and reason have risen above the sovereign powers, and form a code acknowledged by independent equals bowing to opinion. There is no investigation mora instructive than that of the causes which have produced so thorough and beneficial changes, at the head of which stands Christianity; but this is not the place for so comprehensive an inquiry. I was led to enumerate these advantages which we possess over anti quitj merely to ahow that I cannot have any di?poaition to undervalue the arts, or any branch of induatry in which the eatheiical element in man manifests itaelf with peculiar ener gy, and that I am far from believing that they can only be cultivated at the coat of better and more sterling things. Yet it ia true, aa I atated .before, that theae branchee may t e cul tivated in nationa otherwise debaaed, or in a thoroughly un healthy condition. If, then, we see worka which prove a high degree of taate and rare refinement, we must take care that we do not hastily draw favorable conclusions regarding the general atate of the institutions, or the hopes they may authorize us to entertain of their near delivery, or that we be not too hasty in forming an unfavorable opinion of those nationa which cannot aa yet enter the liata with reference to productions of esthetical induatry. My remarks are of a general character only. I have had no intention of administering a sedative to any person in our country whose temper miy have been aomewhat ruffled by the observations jlaily making at the paucity of our part of the Exhibition. The United 8tatea can well take care of themselves, and if the self-laudatory spirit, to which we are not a little given, has received a check in aome by this con tact with other nations, it must be considered as one of the welcome effects of the international concourse at London. Nationa thrive beat when they meet like boys at the public school*, where few favors are asked and fewer granted, and where every one learns to rely on that alone within him which is sterling and substantial. Otherwise, people have a strong tendency to consider themselves celeetiala. I have ever found on my jjurneys that if there be a lake near a se cluded village its inhabitants believe the lake so deep that no bottom has ever yet been reached. The deed, the fac', and the work are the true sovereign of this world; words go for little, and tre hardly what the Engliah lawyer calls the fringe of the case. But facta and works are best proved or elicited by the freest, healthiest intercourse, the fairest races and the moat ingenuoua competition. The Lon don Exhibition offers an opportunity for theae in aome branches to some extent, and, as such, we bleas it?we bless it as an inciting agent, and as a peace-maker witbal. FRANCIS LIBBER. MECHANISM, No. IX.-?By Josiab Holbrook. FOR THE HATIOXAL IMTELLIG EHCER. No one exercise in mechanism probably furnishes so much instruction or entertainment as forming, dividing, combining, and drawing the "five regular solids." Such an exercise calls into combined and vigorous action the hand, head, and heart for illustrating various sciences in their application to numerous arts. It is pie-emmently "multum in parvo"? much in a little. The most simple of these five solids is the most simple figure with length, breadth, and thickness, that can be made. It can be formed by any hand eight years old in five minutes. A piece of pasteboard divided into four equilateral triangles may be folded in an instant into this figure. Twenty of these most simple solids, combined in their most oompact form, give the most complex of the five regular solids. Twenty tetrahedrons form an icosohedron. Each of these imy be formed into very numerous combinations of them selves, and in connexion with each other, and both with the octahedron and other solids, may produce forms literally with out end, every one illustrating some of the works of God or man, probably both. The cube, formed by the folding of six squares into a solid, is capable, perhaps, of atill more divisions and combinations than either of the figures just named. These divisions and combinations are certainly more directly applicable to the daily business pursuits of all classes than any other figures, perhaps than almost any other subject which can be named. The cube, in its various divisions and combinations, furnish very good, perhaps the very best, drawing exercises which can be put into the hands of a pupil. The drawings, if made directly from the figures themselves in their various forms and positions, would be certain to avoid a radical defect now common, indeed almost universal, in drawing lessons, as given in schools and elsewhere. The most common drawing exer cise is nothing more nor less than copying pictures, which, however long continued, never enlists the energies of the soul, for the simple reason that th? soul never enters and never csn enter into the spirit of the subject. The uniform result, or nearly so, of this fallacious instruction is, that the pupil, after taking drawing lessons, as is supposed for years, is more re luctant in attempting an original sketch, or showing a thing in its picture made by himself, than young pupils in their very first attempts at using a pencil. This statement, though presenting a sad defect, and a very general deception on the part of teacher, pupil, and parent, is as fully substantiated by facts and experiments as it is possible for facts and experi ments to substantiate any truth. The most skilful drawing masters uniformly place before their pupils the "regular solids," in actual visible form, for some of their very first lessons. This is evidently commencing at the very founda tion of the whole subject, and prepares the hand to execute and the mind to understand and appreciate any work which may follow in the train thus commenced. The mathema tical solids, especially the cube, may be so divided and com bined as to represent different parts of buildings, tools, and utensils of various kinds, which, if drawn in correct per spective, prepare any person to give a correct drawing of any building he may wish erected, any machine he may wish patented, or any tool he may desire made. ExpERipizirr.?An author and teacher of drawing lessons, extensive in both, had in New York a " Juvenile Art Union" ?a quarterly exhibition of original drawings by his pupils connected with various schools in the city. The younger pupils, just commeneing their work, uniformly entered heartily and successfully into the exhibitions, while the older pupils, having had as they supposed drawing lessons for years, as uniformly declared themselves unable to prepare any original pieces for these interesting occasions. ADANS A CO.'S rfat lUrK GREAT CALIFORNIA FREIGHT, fcj WTMlr PACKAGE. AND PARCEL EX PRESS ** " VIA CHAGRES AND THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. OUR Express for California via Chagres and Panama leaves New York regularly on the steamers of the 13th and 28th oj every month, at 3 o'clock P. M.; through in charge of our own special messengers and special freight agents, who give it their particular personal attention. All freight to go forward promptly must be sent in to us two days before the sailing of the steamer, with invoice of same. Siqall parcels and Tetters will be received until the day before departure. Every thing must be rendered strietly water-proof, or it will be at owner's risk. No package should exceed 135 pounds weight, or it will be subjected to an exoessive rate. All freight, packages, he. must be prepaid. {Or No charge made to shippers by our Express for custom house clearances or consulate certificates. june 84?3tawif4w ADAMS k CO. FOR HARVEST.?The attention of farmers is invited to the large and complete assortment of Harvesting Im plements and Tools en*brao?d in my present stock. Ic con sists, in part, of? 8 dozen Grant's Patent Premium Grain Cradles 6 do Wilcox's and other revolving Hay Rakes 2 do patent steel-spring Grain Rakes 30 do hand Hay Rakes, superior quality American and English Grass and Grain Scythes Patent and plain Snathes, 8cc. I have also on hand? Grant's and Bamborough's Patent Premium Fanning Mills Bogardus's, Eddy's, Sinclair's, and Whitman's Horse powers and Thrashers Pierson's, Pennock's, and Sinclair's Patent Seed Drills Together with every variety of the best machinery for farm ing purposes made in the United States; any of which will be sold at manufacturer's prices. FITZHUGH COYLE, National Agricultural and Seed Warehouse, Seventh street, next door to Selden, Withers fee Co. june 14?3taw2wcpif U SITED STATES HOTEL at PHILADELPHIA The subscriber respectfully announces to his friends and the travelling community that he has assumed the pro prietorship of the United States Hotel. Long known in con nexion with the hotel under the late proprietor, he feels per fectly safe in promising iu old patrons that nothing shall be wanting to confirm its previous reputation as the best kept house in the country. No expense has been spared in com pletely refitting the entire establishment, and he particularly invites attention to the changes introduced for the conveni ence and comfort of ladies. Firmly determined to give satis faction, he solicits a continuance of that patronage always so freely bestowed on the old United States. may lmif A. G. ALLEN. For the springs, country, and water IMG PLACER.?Don't forget to provide yourselves with some of Parker's latest arrival of very superior Toilet Articles before you go. Our customers will find us very cheap just now. PARKER'S Fancy and Perfumery Store, under National Hotel. july8?3t (Georgetown Ad?.) DEBATE ON THE DESTRUCTION ?r SMALL BIRDS. Few of the debates which have sprung up daring the preaent session of the Legislature of Connecticut (says the Hartford Courant) have been listened to with more attention, or have apparently excited a deeper interest, than that which occupied the attention of the House on the third reading of the bill " to prevent the destruc tion of certain small birdsand, though some time has passed since it took place, the interest to see it in print is so general that we have endeavored, with the aid of some who took part in the debate, to collect what was said on that occasion. Thp bill was reported by the committee on the judiciary, and provides? ?'That any person who ahull shoot, or in any other manner kill, destroy, entrap, ensnare, or otherwise capture upon land* not owned or occupied by himself, any ot the following birds, viz : robin, blue-bird, swallow, martin or swift, night or raus quito hawk, whip-poor-will, cuckoo, king-bird, wake-up or high hole, woodpecker, catbird, loug-tailed thrush or brown thrash er, mourning dove, metdow lark or marsh quail, fire-bird or summer red bird, hanging bird, spider-bird or wax-bird, ground robin or chewheat, bob-o-link or rice bird, sparrow, yellow-bird, or phebe, shall be punished by a fine not exceed ing five dollars." On its second reading there appeared to ba in some quar ters a disposition to ridicule the bill, as tcircely worthy the attention of so dignified a body, and the whole matter was spoken of as "small game." On the third reading, Mr. Andrews, of New Britain, endeavored to give a different turn to the debate and the feeling of members on the subject. ' Mr. Akpkbws said he rose for the purpose of moving to add to the list of birds proposed to be protected by this bill the names of several others which had been omitted. He spoke of the great value and interest of the race of birds, not only on account of their beautiful plumage and their delight ful melody, but as forming a most important link in that chain by which the whole viable creation was united, and the com parative numbers of the various races of animals duly regu lated. They are designed to act a most important part in the economy of nature, by holdiog in check the tendency of the insect species to increase to myriads, and, like the locust of the East, to sweep from the earth every vestige of the vege table creation. That auch a tendency to increase on the part of the insect tribas actually existed, and that without the re quisite checks the whole earth would be laid waste by them was sufficiently apparent to all who had deeply reflected upon the subject. But among the checks to this increase none were probably more important or efficacious thsn the feather ed songsters of the fields and the groves. Ever in motion, with keen eye and eager appetite, they were every moment seizing upon their prey as it lurked beneath the bark of trees or crept over leaf or flower, and thus kept in check the most destructive enemy with which the farmer or the florist was called to contend. But while thus engaged as the farmer's moat efficient coadjutor and friend, it was his misfortune al most every where to be treated like an enemy, and even to be persecuted for the very acts which man redounded to the benefit of man. . Mr. A. remarked that several years since, while travelling in western Csrolina and Virgiaia, he passed through a forest where the.timber on some hundreds of acres was all dead and decaying. Inquiry was made of a countryman respect- : ing the cause of this devastation. He replied that the trees had been killed by woodpeckers, which had been increasing I in that neighborhood for some years, and though they had killed as many of them as possible, it was all to little purpose, that they were continually pecking the trees, until the whole forest far and wide was destroyed. This was a good exem plification of what our own farmers and their sons were con stantly doing. These woodpeckers had doubtless been drawn , together by the myriads of wood-worms, the grub of the Bu-! prestes and other insects bred beneath the bark of the forestj trees, and which were at that time engaged in devouring the fresh wood deposited beneath the bark of those trees. The real enemy was concealed from sight, and the friend who was searching out and destroying this enemy, wherever his keen ear detected their atealthy gnawings, was taken, like the poor and faithful dog of Llewellyn, as the destructive foe, ar.d like him consigned to swift destruction. So it was now with the blackbird, which was ever ready to follow the farmer through the furrowed field, and to seize upon the worm whose secret mischief was disturbed by the unexpected inroad t?f the ploughshare. Through every day of the long summer he plied his useful labor, but alas for his safety ! It was said that sometimes in the early spring, while searching for the grub, which would soon, if not detected, destroy the buried corn, he meets with a few, a very few kernals of that corn which his efforts are tending to protect, and incontinently de vours them. Mr. A. wished that notwithstanding this sin of ignorance on the part of this useful bird, he could see in the House a disposition to protect his life from the wanton attacks every where made upon it; but he feared to propose it, lest it should bring the other little songsters into danger from be ing found awociated in the same bill with a bird that had suf fered so much in his good name. He would, however, ven ture to propose to add the woodpecker and a few other con fessedly harmless tenants of our fields and forests. Mr. BoAftDMAir, of New Haven, said : It was some emi nent geniiut'I th?k it was Goethe, who said. " the works of nature are ever fo me a freshly uttered word of God." I sympathize earnestly in that sentiment. We are every where overwhelmed with proofs of the power and goodness of that God who has made all nature beauty to the eye and music to the ear. Our brilliant sun, and clear, pure air, which even Italy cannot surpass; our gorgeous sunsets ; the dark luxuriance of our forests ; the rich and varied products of our teeming soil, are ever objects of grateful contemplation in the morning's dawn or the evening twilight. At such mo ments DOthing so fills the heart with gratitude, and often the eye with tears, as the free, joyous singing of the birds in the garden and orchard. It stirs the purest gentlest, sweetest sympathies of our nature. It civilizes and refines the heart? and if I were desirous of educating a youth for happiness and usefulness, I would begin and never cease teaching him to admire and love the beautiful and wondeiful works of God. It is easily taught?let the father or the friend give tongue to his own thoughts in the bearing of the boy, and tell htm what to admire in the painting of the sunset, the melody of the irove, the beauty of the flowers, the forms and tints of tbe landscape, the music of the restless ocean-no lessons can be more permanent or effective. If generally taught, we should soon redeem our national reputation from the charge of a want of taste and refinement. We are called at times a nation of young barbarians, and although the charge is not true, I am sorry to say there is something to make it out of There is no people in the civilized world among whom the destructive tendency is so prominent as in the young Ameri can-nothing escapes his gun and his knife. In the grounds of the Capitol at Washington, a beautiful flower, raised with great care and expense, cannot be pre*rved a minute with out the constant vigilance of the police. IS ow m the garden of the Tuileries and the Schoenbrun, the most exquisite productions of nature and art are exposed, every day, within reach of the eyes and bands of hundreds and millions, who love and admire them more than our people could possibly do, and yet not t flower is ever touched. Wuch beautiful objects are regarded with a veneration that removes all fear of injury. Public opinion founded on cultivated public taste is the best possible security. Children can be taught to ove or hate any thing. Tbe Lapland boy of ten years delights himself abo^e all things, with blubber-and the first real feast of the North ern soldiery, upon their entrance into Pans, was made upon the oil of the street lamps. It is easier to cultivate a taste for the true and the beautiful. Let the schoolmaster in our pri mary schools, himself feel in his own heart the beauty and magnificence of the works of God, and spesk of them to his boys with the enthusiasm they ought to inspire, and which led the Psalmist to exclaim, " O that men would therefore praise the Lord for bis goodness, snd declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men." I would require it as a school exercise?every new day, every declining sun, should brine its glow of gratitude and admiraUon. Thus should we strike at tbe root of the destructive propensity of our boys, and implant in its stead a love of the beautiful in nature and art, a source of never-failing enjoyment. In the mean time, sir* let us punish the young barbarian for destroying the singing birds, and if he has no feeling himself, compel him to respect that of his civilized neighbors. Mr. How*, of Hartford, said : i should not have detained the House by any remarks of mine upon the bill now under consideration, bad not a few words which I playfully spoke the other day when it was under consideration been received by the chairman who reported the bill as designed to cast ridi cule upon it- Nothing was further from my intention, and on tbe spot I ?o stated privately to him, and I now desire be fore the House to utterly disclaim any such design on my part and to say, from the bottom of my heart, I desire its passage- The gentleman from New Haven has alluded, most appropriately and impressively, to the different habits of the people.of Europe as compared with our own in relation to the subicct now before us; and most touchingly bss he portrayed to us the sacrednese with which, from their education and habits of life, all classes are accustomed to preserve their pub lic parks and gareens ? and in this particular how unfavorably our own American citiaens compare ! It must be observed by every intelligent American, in his visit to that country, snd I think nothing coming under his observation arrests his attention quicker, or strikes him more forcibly, than when, on his first visit to Paris, as he walks in an afternoon to tbe ex tensive gardens of the Tuileries, in its centre, and beholds them filled, at great expense, with the choicest and rarest plsnts and flowers, as well as rare domesticated birds, all open to the public, frequented by all classes at their will, still re maining Sntooched and unharmed. It is a beautiful sight, air, to see the citiien in humble life, with his little family around him, towards tbe cloea of the day enjoying there, free as sir, tho besuties of that lovely and enchanting spot; snd there, sir, germ and grow the finer sensibilities of our nsture. And now, sir, if there is out propensity which I would eradicate from the bteasU of my ch Idren, it is that which j lead* them to destroy the feathtred warblers which frequent our fielJi and parks, or our gardens ; and while I would not unreasonably abridge theeporU or pantime of my friend* from our country town*, I a*k iheio confidently, air, to aid us in the passage of such laws as will enable large town* so fortu nate as to hate pvks, or private individuals residing in them so much bleared as to bm groond attached to their resi dences, that the little songsters ibat frequent them may be protec'ed from the ruthlesa hand of the destroyer, and tbus be preserved one of the dearest and most ennobling accom paniment to our earthly residence that Ood ha* given us. Mr. Burr, of Killingworth, moved to erase the long-tailed thrush, aa he was an arrant oorn thief. Mr. Boardmait. I hopa no', air. The thrush i? the sweetest of our singers, the prima donna of our troupe. When he ?ing* with a full heart, the whole air is filled to in toxication with his gushing melodv. He is greatly superior to the nightingale of England, and even the ttwedish Night ingale herself has listened to bim with perfect admiration and despair. Could I have every thrush in the State on my own grounds most cheerfully would I feed them for a tithe of the melody that tbey furnish to the gentleman of Killiogsworth everyday. ?, , Mr. Bur* replied that he was well aware that the thrush was one of the sweetest songsters in nature's grand choir, yet it was nevertheless true that he was a great annoyance to the farmer; and he waa therefore reluctantly compelled to move to strike out his name Mr. Asdrews, of New Britain, said that though he was a farmer, and the *on of a farmer, he had never beard any thing said until this morning against the character of the thrush. In his part of the State thia beautiful bird bore an excellent reputation, and it in any other aection he had lapsed into dishonest habits, it must have been because in thoee sec tions he bad fallen into bad company. He should be very sorry to see him stricken from the bill. Mr. Boardman. One word more, Mr. Speaker. A great diversity of opinion exists among farmers concerning the de predations committed upsn their crops by birds. A law was once enacted in Virginia offering a bounty for the destruction of the crows that destroyed their corn A war of extermina tion followed, and the extermination of the corn also ; for in many districts the ravagea of the worms were such, after the removal of the crows, that the farmers would gladly have paid back their money if they could have established the dynasty of the crowa again. Mr. Bean again insisted that the thruah was the cause of much mischief in the farmers' cornfields, and appealed to the formers present to sustain his position. Mr. Bxktos, of Guilford, said he was one of the farmers appealed to, and desired to say he had never heard the thrush evil spoken of? he was of opinion that if they disturbed the corn in Killingworth it was because the land was so poor that it would not produce worm*. Mr. Tbcmholl, of 8tonington, remarked that this law did not restrain people from killing bird* on their own lands, but was designed to curtail the liberties cf those lawless in truders who are fired with an insatiable ambition to destroy harmless birds on other's premises. Amendment lost. Mr. Olwit, of Thompson moved to amend by erasing the word king bird, as he had a bad reputation among the Several persons objected, on the ground that this bird was an enemy to the whole insect face, and could not be well spared. The good he did far overbalarced the evil. Mr. Phelps, of Windsor, coincided with the remarks of other gentlemen. He thought the birds did more good than harm, and he wished any gentlemen whose fields were trou bled by them to call upon him, and he would tell them how to obviate the miachief without killing them. Amendment lost. Mr. Osgood movefl to insert the blackbird. Mr. Boardmas said that, though he believed the black bird to be one of the farmer's best friends, still his bad repu tation, if the amendment should be adopted, might tend to defeat the bill. Amendment adopted. . Mr. Osgood moved to amend'further by inserting the quail. He was for putting an end to the poaching propen sities of certain professional hunters, who go strolling over other people's premises, banging away at every thing, and thus endangering the lives of the people in the rural dis Some one thought the quail already protected by the laws respecting game; if it waa not, it ought by all means to be inserted in the bill. Amendment adopted. Mr. Godfret, of Fairfield, moved to insert the humming bird. Adopted. ii.i An amendment in favor of the wren was also adopted. Mr. Bubu moved to insert the crow. He knew that by many he was regarded as an unmitigated scoundrel, but he thought he had done more good than was generally supposed, and should be protected. Amendment lost. Mr. Boardmak said that, at the suggestion ot an eminent Naturalist, he wished to add the rose-breasted grosbeak. It was a beautiful biid, which had recently made its appearance in the gardens in this vicinity. Amendment adopted, and bill as amended passed. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD. The contemplated railroad through Canada W est is excit | ing great interest among the people of Michigan. It is the connecting link in a great line of road running through the heart of the country, connecting the Atlantic with the plain of the Lakes, and the Lakes with the great Valley of the Mississippi, as the following table will show : The Western Railroad from Boston to Albany.... 199 miles From N. York to Albany, Hudson River Railroad.. 144 ^ From Albany to Niagara Falls..' JW) ( From Niagara Falls to Detroit ? The Michigan Central Railroad ? From Michigan City to Cairo 4< From Michigan City to Chicago Oi ? From Chicago to Galena or Dubuque Making the distance from New York to Cairo, at the junc tion of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, about twelve hundred and fifty miles. The road from Chicago to Cairo will be done in about two years. This is a most direct line, making the distance from8t. Louis toNew Yoik by this route 1,206 miles; via Cincinnati 1,588 miles; difference 382 miles. From Cairo to New York Northern 1,256 miles j via Cin cinnati 1,388 miles ; difference 130 miles. It is difficult to realize the vastness of the railroad enter prises now in contemplation ; and yet tbey are practicable in character, and can be accomplished in a comparatively brief time. For instance, it is expected and intended that the road that shall traverse Illinois, to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, will be continued from that point across a corner of Kentucky through Tennessee and Alabama to Mobile. This ia the greatest railroad enterprise in the world; pass in^ through twelve degrees of latitude, the extent of the tract to Portland, in Maine, being about eighteen hundred miles. Congress has made a munificent grant of land to the Mobile road, and the work has already been commenced at several points on the line, and it is thought more than oqe hundred miles from Mobile, north, will be in running jmler during the present season. The time required to travel between New York and plsces at the West and South over various routes, double traek 33 and single 28 miles per hour, including wood and water stops?other stops allowed for?is, according to the Detroit Free Press, from which we take these figures, as follows : Detroit to New York, northern route 24 hours. Chicago to do do 35 do Galena to do do 42 do St. Louis do do ~ 45 do do do via Cincinnati and Buffalo 92 do Cairo j do northern route ..47 do do do via Cincinnati and Buffalo.. . .79 do Mobile do northern route 66 do New Orleana do via Mobile - 78 do' Bat New Orleans will undoubtedly connect further north, making the time only a trifle longer than from Mobile. Three hours added to the time on any of the above routea will give the time to Boston instead of New York. The New York and Erie Railroad and the Lake Shore and Southern Michigan Railroad to Chicago will form a compet ing line. The Cleveland and Toledo road, to be extended through Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, will alsq, it is expect ed, divert some of the travel; but the trade and travel of the Mississippi Valley, like the waters of its great stream, ao swell in volume before they reach their destination that they have to debouche through many mouths?Albany Atlas. Death upon the Stage.?During the performance of Jack Shephard at the St. Louis theatre on the 16th ultimo, a large flat-iron, suspending a lamp from the ceiling, slipped from its fastenings and fell to the ground, striking Mrs. 8hf.a on the top of the bead. She uttered a faint " O, my G?d," and in a moment fell dead upon the stage, which was soon covered with her blood. Of course the performance was immediately suspended, and the money returned. Mrs. Shea came to this country as Miss Kemble, and is the granddaughter of Stephen Kemble, and grandniece of the famous Mrs. Siddons. Her husband is at present in New Orleans. Death from Unnecessary Alarm.?Dr. Josiab K. Skieit, a highly valued citizen of Jacksonville, (Illinoia,) retired to bed in good h?alth last Tuesday night week, and in half an hour afterwards started suddenly Irom hit sleep, ex claiming that he had the cholera. In his alarm he drank off a large tumbler full of brandy and two or three ounces of strong essence of peppermint, which occasioned his death in a few hours. There were no cholera symptoms present, and the physicians concurred in opinion that the death was oc casioned solely by the draughts taken. FROM TZXAS. The Galreston Register of the 12th instant has the following items: Expk?itioi* to the Gila.?A company of nearly one hundred men from Alabama ate now on their way to tbe Gila, to explore ibe gold region, ard probably to establish a settle ment in the neighborhood of ibe old copper minea above Dona Ana. They pa*a?d through Jtifsrson, in CaM coun ty, on the 20fh ul.imo. Tue Herald say* : ''They were all well equipped with guna, one piece of cannon, and wagon*, provisions, ?Scc. Th?y belong to a stock company. All the etock is held in Montgomery, Alabama, by ve>y wealthy and enterpriaing men, who, if tbe p oject ia at all sorc*saful, in tend sending two or three hundred negro men there." Two companes of the 5'h infantry, under the command of Brevet Biig. Geo. Belknap, are now on the march Irom Fort Gibaon, by the now rouie surveyed by Capt. Marry, to the station on tbe B asos. Eight other c >mpanies are soon to be stationed in that section, and a cordon of p .?t* will be estab lished in a direc' line from Fort Smith to 1) >na Ana. When ? this line u established, the old stations on the Trinity, Brasos, Colorado, and the intermediate river*, will probably be aban doned, and the frontier will be pushed upwards to this new military line. The settlement* are extending so rapidly around Forts Wcrth and Gates that they are already almost useless. We understand that the new road opened along the liue sur veyed by Capt. Marcy has become so well beaten by tb? nu merous companies of emigrsnta that have passed along it that it resemble* the turnpikes of the Western States. We learn from Mr. George Bernard, who arrived a few daya since Irom Waco Village, tbat a large party of Caman che*, numbering about six hundred, visited Fort Gates about the 20th ultima. Th?y all appeared to. he quite friendly, and expressed great anxiety to be on gord terM with the whites. They deny that their warriors have participated m the out lages committed on the Western frontier. Mr. Barnard states that the buffalo have become so scarce on the'northern prairies that tbe Camancbea are actually autTering.foe food^and unless some provision is made by Government to support tbera they must either starve or steal horses or cattle to feed upon. The following interesting items are from a Paris letter of June 12, written by the regular correspon dent of the New York Journal of Commerce: In the scientific report of the Pays, (Mr. Lamar tine's Journal) I find tbe following paragraph': " At the moment we are celebrating tbe transformation of flax into cotton, it ia announced, not leas authentically, that cotton is transformed into flax. The editor at- the journal of Rouen ftales that he has seen a stuff madf qf cotton exclusive ly, which has all tbe appearance and external qualities of linen cloth. A young manufacturer of Moulins devoted to it many years of sacrifices and labor The resalt requires no extraordinary process as to workmanship. The tissue be comes the firmer as it ia washed. It may be afibrded at tbe price of calico of tbe aame width." Tbe eminent scientific musician, Floientmo, who writes from London to the Contfitutionnel, mentions the great number of musical instruments in the Exhibition: " There is not," he says? "a corner of the world which has not sent its piano, violin, mandoline, or bass. One may shudder at the idea of the horrible detonation if all tbe instru ments were sounded at one time. The Americana are dis tinguished, if not by the excellence, at least bj the colossal dimentions of their instruments. England shoAs tbe smalleat v of the pianoa?the Tom-Foute. Many of the English shapes and ornamenta are exceedingly grotesque. Tbe French piano* bear away the palm. Erard is not rivalled. Sax has provided eighty-five instruments, (wind,) most of them in vented or perfected by himself. The most remarkable in sixe is a Sax-horn bourdon, three yards high, and of not less than forty-eight feet of tube." A visiter at the Crystal Palace, on Friday last, celebrates the superiority of the French organs. He says : "The Paris organ was played in the afternoon with great variety of effect; now shrill as the trumpet; now soft as the fiute ; at other times thundering out with great power and grandeur. To show its versatility and capacity, it was tried in music sacred and profane, mournful and mirthful, plaintive and powerful. ? Auld lang syne,' or 'Suoni la troaaba '?a waltz or a psalm tune?ail seemed alike suited to this instru ment." The Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Paris, just distributed, opens with an appeal to the Governments of Eu rope and America for the adoption of a Common First Meri dian. . The author, M. Sedillot, is high authority in geogra phical science. He would trace an imaginary line in tbe midst of the ocean ; designate it by some "systematic term," acceptable to all, and bring thus Europe and the New World into a community of v ews and interests, apart from all national prejudices or pretension. The appeal, followed by a letter of M. Jomard on the same subject, and another irom the traveller Antony D'Abbadie, who prefers Mount Blanc or Jerusalem?"against which the Christians of America can have no objection." Among the contents ol the Bulletin, I may indicate a notice of Lieut. Com. MacArthur's report, 18th December, 1850, to Professor Bache, which has been translated entire for the Hydrographical Annals, a periodical work. M. Squier's Observations on tbe routoof tha proposed canal across the Isthmus of Nicaragua are also translated. AN EXEMPLARY JUDGMENT. A curious trial recently took place at the Surrey Sessions, in England. It seems that a young gentleman named Cbaw fori), of highly respectable connexions, was indicted for un lawfully and wilfully removing two danger signals attached to a railway train on the London and South Coast Railway, thereby endangering the lives of the public. He pleaded guilty, and tbe facts of the case are thus givsn in testimony : On Friday evening last, the 23d instant, at fifteen minutes past nine o'clock, a passenger train arrived at Newcrose from Epsom, and that being the " Oaks " day, a vast number of people were in the carriages. When at Newcross, one of the company's officers examined the lamps, which were fixed to the last carriage, and saw them quite safe. The last car riage was an open third class one, and the lights were a bril liant red, placed to prevent any train following from running into them ; in that carriage were the prisoner and two other young men, and in tbe next carriage, fortunately, were two of the company's guards, who bad been relieved from duty and were returning to London to go home. After the train had left Newcross, and about a mile and three-quarters from tbe London Bridge terminus, Legg, one of the guards, saw one of the persons in the last carriage put bis hands over, the back and take off one of the signal lamps, and throw it down the embankment of tbe railway. Legg bad a light with him, which he turned on, and dis tinguished the prisoner as the person who had done this. He consequently called the attention of tbe other guard to the circumstance, and on proceeding a little further he saw the prisoner take off the other signal and throw that over the para pet near tbe Greenwich junction. The train therefore pro ceeded the remainder of its journey at great risk without tbe safety lamps. This was on the " Oaks" day, and a great num ber of people were coming from the races, and bad the train come up more rapidly behind, it must have run into the one in which the prisoner was, thereby causing great sacrifice of life. The train stopped at the ticket station, when Legg got out and locked the other guard in the prisoner's carriage while he went and informed the inspector, who returned with him, and gave him into custody. In extenuation the attorney for the accused alluded to hia youth, and to the fact that, at the time of the offence, Mr. Crawford was in a state of intoxication, or, at all events, a' little the worse for liquor. The magistrates consulted for some minutes, when the chairman said that tbe accused was a young man in a high station of life, but that made hia con duct more blameable, and nothing could excuse such danger ous conduct on his part. Had not he been seen by the guards to accompany the train most likely the following train would have run into the one be was in, and not only would his life have been sacrificed, but a vast number of others. It was the imperative duty of the Bench to make an example of him, but the court would not go to its greatest extent in punishing him. They must, however, be very severe as a warning to others; consequently the sentence of the court was, that he be imprisoned in Brixton House of Correction for nine months with hard labor.?Philadelphia Inquirer. Splkhdid Dokatioh.?One of the most important institu tions of New England, the New England Historical and Ge nealogical Society, has just received a donation from the English Government, consisting of about twenty folio volumes of its ancient records. It will be remembered hy many tbat, about five yeara ago, that Government made a donation of its publiahed records to this Society, and tbat in tbeir passage across the Atlantic the ahip in wbich they wore was lust, and the records and other freight went with it to tbe bottom. [ Boston Transcript of Monday. A young man in Wallfngford, (Conn.) aged about eigh teen yeara, waa drowned in the Qainnipiac river while bath ing, on 8unday morning week. He was employed at the fac tjry of Messrs. Hall A Ellon, and was s native of Berlin. A Niw FiATcmi.?Jodgs Hows, of Wisconsin, opens hia court with prsyer. On a late occasion a member of the bar protested, calling it a hypocritical proceeding, and not calculated to impress the bar with additional reverence. The Judge, we are told, "juatified himaelf in cool, dignified, and appropriate language, by a reference to those obligations and teachings influencing every Christian impulse, and which were most beautifully exemplified in hia forbearance at that moment."