for what is it, in point of fact, but the glory of doing all the drudgery and dirty work for the rest of our species, of being cosmopolitan "hewers of wood and drawers of water," not to say catholic scavengers and nightmen? We boast of being the freest nation in the world, yet we voluntarily make ourselves the slaves of the most slavish that will give us orders-for our manufactures. We are a people of unemancipated white negroes.

thousand years behind, but an eternity before them. And if riches have their duties as well as privileges, what an awful responsibility is entailed upon the generation inheriting all the moral wealth that has been accumulating since the creation! "The child's the father of the man," and the comparatively young world of TO-DAY, will transmit its character to the adult world of another day. Can there be a more cogent motive for improving the moral estate we have inherited, so that our legacy to posterity Does any ask what we have gained by thus may exceed that which was bequeathed to us rendering ourselves the slaves of the whole by antiquity, and that the incalculable numbers world? We have become masters of the whole who are to come after us, may not have reason world! We have literally stooped to conquer. to reproach their ancestors? Let no living man Commerce, an ever-propitious impersonation of finally pass away, without having endeavored both Neptune and Mars, has given us the comto deposit upon the altar of human advance- mand of the sea, which, in the present dependment, an offering suitable to his means and op-ence of nations upon each other, includes, to a portunities. As his efforts towards this great certain extent, the dominion of the land. We and glorious consummation will best embalm have not "beat our swords into ploughshares, his memory among his fellow-mortals, so may and our spears into pruning-hooks," that so we he humbly hope that they will form his surest might become a judge over the nations; but on passport to a blissful immortality. the contrary, conquering by the instruments of peace, we have made lances of our shuttles, battering-rams of our steam-engines, and brandishing the manufacturer's hammer, we have first wielded it, like that of Thor, to knock down our enemies; and secondly, like that of the auctioneer, to knock down our goods to the best bidder.

HOW TO FIND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.

When Hobbes the philosopher was lying on his deathbed, and consulted as to what inscription was to be placed on his tombstone, he replied, with a smile, "The Philosopher's Stone." Holt, speaking of the wonderful increase and riches of commercial cities, says,

"This is the true Philosopher's Stone, so much sought after in former ages, the discovery of which has been reserved to genius when studying to improve the mechanic arts. Hence a pound of raw materials is converted into stuffs of fifty times its original value. And the metals too are not indeed transmuted into gold-they are more: for the labor of man has been ena bled to work the baser metal by the ingenuity of art, so as to become worth many times more than its weight in gold."

IN MEDIO TUTISSIMUS IBIS.

mind, is the best adapted to the wear and tear The average standard, whether of body or of life. Tall men must often stoop, if they wish stand on tiptoe if they desire to see as much as to avoid knocking their heads-short ones must their neighbors. Great intellects are ever exposed to injury by knocking against the angles of some narrow prejudice,-little ones are liable to be squeezed or trampled upon by their largerminded fellow-mortals. "Even if you think like the wise," says Roger Ascham, "you should speak like the common people."

Distinguished talent excites envy-mediocrity throws nobody into the shade, and therefore appeals to the sympathies of every body. Horace, indeed, maintains

Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non dii, non concessere columnæ. But critics have granted it, for I myself have been more than once lauded as if I had written like Wordsworth or Bulwer. And why? Because the praise of mediocrity is the surest way to annoy the higher order of merit.

OLIVER CROMWELL'S LETTERS TO HIS

FAMILY.

From the Christian Observer.

his children, though he did not follow it up in his own conduct.

The first letter I will quote is one to his cousin, Mrs. St. Johns, dated from Ely, October 13, 1638:

my talent.

IN your Review last month of Mr. Rob. DEAR COUSIN-I thankfully acknowledge erts's Collection of Letters, you observe your love in your kind remembrance of me upon that private confidential letters are often this opportunity. Alas! you do too highly prize among the best exponents of dark passages my lines and my company. I may be ashamed of history; as showing the characters of to own your expressions, considering how unmen, and the secret springs of action. profitable I am, and the mean improvement of am reminded, by this remark, to inquire what he hath done for my soul, in this I am conYet, to honor my God by declaring how far the letters of Oliver Cromwell to fident, and I will be so. Truly then, this I find, his family may be considered as illustrating that he giveth springs in a dry and barren wilhis real feelings and opinions. His public derness, where no water is. I live (you know letters have been generally regarded as so where) in Meseck, which they say signifies prodeeply tinctured with hypocrisy, in order longing; in Kedar, which signifies blackness; to promote his purposes of ambition, that yet the Lord forsaketh me not. Though He do it is impossible to say what portions of prolong, yet He will (I trust) bring me to his them, or whether any, express his genuine the congregation of the first born; my body rests tabernacle, to his resting-place. My soul is with sentiments in matters of religion. His in hope; and, if here I may honor my God, either character, view it how we may, is singu- by doing or suffering, I shall be most glad. larly paradoxical; but I cannot think he Truly no poor creature hath more cause to put was altogether acting a part. He had been forth himself in the cause of his God than I. I early conversant with Scriptural truth, and have had plentiful wages beforehand; and I am his conscience reproached him with not Lord accept me in his Son, and give me to walk sure I shall never earn the least mite. The living up to his convictions. The religious in the light; and give us to walk in the light, as phraseology which he adopted was the cus- He is in the light: He it is that enlighteneth our tomary language of the Puritans, among blackness, our darkness. I dare not say He hideth whom he was educated, being partly de- His face from me, He giveth me to see light in rived from the words of Holy Writ, but His light. One beam in a dark place hath exmixed up with quaint phrases, which gave name for shining upon so dark a heart as mine. ceeding much refreshment in it; blessed be His it a motley character. His customary use You know what manner of life mine hath been. of it tells not much either way in regard to Oh! I lived in and loved darkness, and hated his real character or opinions; for he might the light. I was a chief, the chief, of sinners. employ it from habit, or intentionally and This is true: I hated Godliness, yet God had conscientiously, or as a cloak of hypocrisy. mercy on me. O the riches of His mercy! praise Upon recently perusing the mass of docu- Him for me, pray for me, that He who hath bements in the forgotten-and never much gun a good work, would perfect it to the day of known-heavy quarto volume of his Me-ily whereof you are yet a member. I am much Christ. Salute all my good friends in that fammoirs, "illustrated by original letters and bound unto them for their love; I bless the Lord other family papers," by the late Oliver for them, and that my son, by their procurement, Cromwell, one of his descendants, it seemed is so well. Let him have your prayers, your to me difficult to believe that he could, from counsel: let me have them. first to last, in private as well as public, and Salute your husband and sister from me: he during a long series of years, have been about Mr. Wrath, of Epping, but as yet I reis not a man of his word; he promised to write habitually dissembling. His inconsisten-ceived no letters: put him in mind to do what cies and crimes must, I think, be accounted with conveniency may be done for the poor coufor upon some other principle. It may not sin I did solicit him about. Once more farewell; be uninteresting to your readers to peruse the Lord be with you; so prayeth a few of his letters to his relatives, espe cially his children, some of them copied by his descendant from the originals in the possession of the family. These letters place him in a different light to that in which he is generally represented in the historic page; but instead of clearing up the anomalies of his life, they render them the more inexplicable; unless upon the hypothesis that he knew and approved what was right, and wished to impress it upon

Your truly loving cousin,
OLIVER CROMWELL.
My wife's service and love presented to all her
friends.

The following letter to his wife is from the original in the Harleian collection in the British Museum. It is dated Edinburgh, May 3, 1651:

MY DEAREST-I could not satisfy myself to omit this post, although I have not much to write; yet indeed I love to write to my dear,

who is very much in my heart. It joys me to hear thy soul prospereth; the Lord increase his favors to thee more and more. The great good thy soul can wish is, that the Lord lift upon thee the light of His countenance, which is better than life. The Lord bless all thy good counsel and example to those about thee, and hear all thy prayers, and accept thee always. I am glad to hear thy son and daughter are with thee. I hope thou wilt have some good opportunity of good advice to him. Present my duty to my mother; my love to all the family. Still pray

for thine

O. CROMWELL.

I hear my son hath exceeded his allowance, and is in debt: truly I cannot commend him therein; wisdom requiring his living within compass, and calling for it at his hands; and in my judgment the reputation arising from thence

would have been more real honor than what is

upon me to give him (in love) the best council I may; and know not how better to convey it to him than by so good a hand as yours.

Sir, I pray you acquaint him with these thoughts of mine; and remember my love to my daughter, for whose sake I shall be induced to do any reasonable thing. I pray for her happy deliverance, frequently and earnestly.

The next letter is one from Cromwell to his daughter Ireton, from the original in the British Museum. The date is London, Oc. tober 25, 1646:

band, partly to avoid trouble, for one line of
mine' begets many of his, which I doubt not
makes him sit up too late; partly because I am
myself' indisposed at this time, having some oth
er considerations. Your friends at Ely are well;
cised with some perplexed thoughts: she sees
your sister Claypole is (I trust in mercy) exer-
her own vanity and carnal mind, bewailing it;
she seeks after (as I hope also) that which will
satisfy, and thus to be a seeker is to be of the
best sect next a finder; and such a one shall
every faithful humble seeker be at the end.
that the Lord is gracious, without some sense
Who ever tasted
Happy seeker, happy finder.
of self-vanity and badness? Who ever tasted
that graciousness of His and could go less in
desire, and less than pressing after full enjoy
ment? Dear heart, press on; let not husband,
let not any thing, cool thy affections after Christ.
hope he will be an occasion to inflame them.
That which is best worthy of love in thy hus
band, is that of the image of Christ he bears:
look on that and love it best, and all the rest for
that. I pray for thee and him; do so for me.
My service and dear affections to the General
and Generaless. I hear she is very kind to
thee; it adds to all other obligations. My love
to all. I am thy dear father,

DEAR DAUGHTER,--I write not to thy hus

attained the other way. I believe vain men will speak well of him that does ill. I desire to be understood, that I grudge him not laudable recreations, nor an honorable carriage of himself in them; nor is any matter of charge likely to fall to my share, or stick with me. Truly, I can find in my heart to allow him, not only a sufficiency, but more, for his good; but if pleasure I and self-satisfaction be made the business of a man's life, so much cost laid out upon it, so much time spent in it, as rather answers appetite than the will of God, or is comely before his saints, I scruple to feed this humor; and God forbid that his being my son should be his allowance to live not pleasingly to our Heavenly Father, who hath raised me out of the dust to what I am. I desire your faithfulness (he being also your concernment as well as mine) to advise him to approve himself to the Lord in his course of life, and to The following is a copy of another orisearch his statutes for a rule to conscience, and ginal letter in the possession of the family, to seek grace from Christ to enable him to walk dated August 13, 1649, and adressed, "For therein. This hath life in it, and will come to my beloved daughter Dorothy Cromwell (Richard Cromwell's wife), at Horslye,

somewhat; what is a poor creature without this? This will not abridge of lawful pleasures, but

teach such a use of them as will have the peace of a good conscience going along with it. Sir, I write what is in my heart; I pray you communicate my mind herein to my son, and be his remembrancer in these things. Truly, I love him; he is dear to me, so is his wife; and for their sakes do I thus write. They shall not want comfort nor encouragement from me, so far as I may afford it; but indeed I cannot think I do well to feed a voluptuous humor in my son, if he should make pleasures the business of his life, in a time when some precious saints are bleeding and breathing out their last for the good and safety of the rest. Memorable is the speech of Urijah to David, 2 Chron. xi.

Sir, I beseech you believe I here say not this to save my purse, for I shall willingly do what is convenient to satisfy his occasions, as I have opportunity; but as I pray he may not walk in a course not pleasing to the Lord, so think it lieth

these:"

OLIVER CROMWELL.

MY DEAR DAUGHTER,-Your letter was very welcome to me; I like to see any thing from your hand, because indeed I stick not to say I do entirely love you; and therefore I hope a word of advice will not be unwelcome or unacceptable to thee. I desire you both to make it above all things your business to seek the Lord; to be frequently calling upon him that he would manifest himself to you in his Son, and be lis tening what returns he makes to you; for he will be speaking in your ear and in your heart if you attend thereunto. I desire you to provoke your husband likewise thereunto. As for the pleasures of this life and outward business, let that be upon the by: be above all these things by faith in Christ, and then you shall have the true use and comfort of them, and not otherwise. I have much satisfaction in hope your spirit is this way set; and I desire you may

grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord I cannot believe that these Christian and and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that I may hear tenderly affectionate letters to his own thereof. The Lord is very near, which we see by his wonderful works; and therefore he looks family could have been a tissue of falsethat we of this generation draw near him. This hood and hypocrisy. Assuredly Cromwell late great mercy in Ireland is a great manifes- understood Scriptural truth, and inculcated tation thereof. Your husband will acquaint you it upon his children; and such letters as with it. We should be much stirred up in our these would seem to indicate that he himspirits to thankfulness. We need much the self often felt much of its power; but the Spirit of Christ to enable us to praise God for greater his guilt that he did not act accordso admirable a mercy. The Lord bless thee,ing to his professions. F. H. my dear daughter. I rest, thy loving father, O. CROMWEll.

ARAGO'S LIFE OF HERSCHEL.

From the Foreign Quarterly Review.

for the profession of music. Jacob was an amiable, clever man, and a good musician, but his means were unequal to the complete education of a family of ten children, all of whom, however, six boys and four girls, acquired from him some proficiency in his own art. William, the third son, manifested in his early years great capabilities of mind;

In 1759 William Herschel, then twentyone years of age, came to England, following in the traces of his eldest brother Jacob. For two years he maintained a painful strag gle with adverse circumstances, till at length Lord Darlington engaged him as teacher of the band of a regiment, at that time stationed in, or perhaps raising, in the north. The young man's abilities now developed themselves, and in the course of 1765 he was elected organist at Halifax. The leisure, and comparatively abundant means, which this elevation procured him, he employed in self-instruction. He taught himself Italian, Latin, and even a little Greek; but it says still more for his perseverance, that he thoroughly studied Smith's "Harmonics," or the Philosophy of Music, a profound and difficult work, which presumes in the student a considerable knowledge of geometry and algebra.

Analyse historique et Critique de la Vie et des Travaux de Sir William Herschel. (Historical and Critical Analysis of the Life and Labors of Sir William Herschel) Par M. ARAGO. Paris: in the "Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes" of 1842. he learned the French language, and in THERE is nothing more wonderful in the studying the German philosophy of that history of the human mind than the per- time, acquired a taste for metaphysics fection already attained by astronomy. which never afterwards forsook him. We are in many respects better acquainted with the constitution and laws of the remote parts of the universe, than with those of the elements in which we are actually involved, and with which we are intimately connected. In this branch of knowledge we see to what a height science may be reared, when the results of patient observa tion are joined together with mathematical precision and on a mathematical foundation. If modern learning were swept away by a barbarous deluge, a few fragments only surviving the general wreck, we know of no volume more likely to excite the admiration of future ages than the "Nautical Almanac :" for it does not consist of that which forms, as Hamlet justly remarked, the staple material of most books, "words, words, words;" but, in the accurate language of figures, applies a profound know ledge of all the movements of the heavenly bodies to the practical service of man's boldest undertaking-the navigation of the wide ocean. The successful cultivators of this sublime study, therefore, are entitled to a foremost rank among the votaries of science, and, in the estimation of M. Arago (than whom there is no one more competent to decide on such a question), Sir William Herschel deserves to be considered one of the greatest astronomers of any age or country.

Respecting Herschel's election to the post of organist at Halifax, a story is related, which, though we are unable to vouch for its authenticity, yet has so characteristic an air, and displays so advantageously the frankness, courage, and well-grounded self-confidence of the young musician, that we cannot help suspecting it to be partially founded on fact, and as such, shall here relate it. It is said that when the time of the election was near at hand, two gentlemen, This extraordinary man was born in Han-known to have great weight with the electover, the 15th of November, 1738. Of his family there is but little known, although public curiosity has of course busily inquired after the origin of one so illustrious. His great-grandfather, Abraham Herschel, was driven, it is said, from Moravia* on account of his attachment to the Protestant creed. His son Isaac was a farmer in the neighborhood of Leipsic, whence Jacob Herschel, Isaac's eldest son, afterwards re-strument in a very short time. The genmoved to Hanover, renouncing agriculture

ing body, were addressed, while walking in the nave of the church, by the young Hanoverian, who was a stranger to them, and who, in begging their suffrages, acknowledged that he had never played the organ (Herschel's instrument was, we believe, the hautboy), but added, that his musical attainments were such as would justify his hope of attaining the requisite skill on that in

tlemen thus accosted were Joah Bates (well known to all collectors of musical and literary anecdote), and his brother, and they were so well satisfied with the proofs which the stranger gave them of his ability, that they lent him their influence and secured