MANY of those institutions once so popular and so seful in this country have disappeared, or degenerated Into mere cheap boarding-houses, summer resorts, private hospitals, or mere money-getting concerns. Some, professedly water-cure, now administer a mixed treatment, hydropathic, homeopathic, eclectic, Thomponian, and allopathic, according to the notions of the patient. There are few, very few, in which the pure water-cure or hygienic treatment is exclusively given.

There is altogether too much tinkering and experimenting in all modes of treatment. What is most needed by the invalid is (1) rest-perfect rest; (2) freedom from care and anxiety; (3) plain and simple food-not stimulants, condiments, confectionery, nor other poisonous compounds; (4) plenty of sleep and plenty of pure air; (5) systematic bodily exercise taken moderately, as may be agreeable-not fatiguing; (6) right social relations and agreeable surroundings; (7) rational entertainments and healthful recreations; (8) faith, hope, and perfect trust; (9) gratitude to God for sins forgiven, and that even the blessing of life is left to us. These are some of the conditions necessary to a cure. One who is peevish, cross, selfish, and desponding can not hope to improve very rapidly, let the treatment be what it may. One who eats too much or too little; one who is continually dosing, stimulating, or narcotizing; one who dissipates in any way, will mend but slowly, if at all.

The thing to be done is to put the patient in right relations to himself physically and spiritually, and to the natural laws, then wait on good old dame Nature to restore him. If there be recuperative power enough in the system, he will steadily improve. Or, if too far exhausted, then he must patiently bide his time. Neither worry nor hurry can do any good. In any event, the patient must keep clear of the quacks who promise to cure all diseases with a single nostrum for so much money. But enough. We could write volumes-we have written and published volumes-on these and kindred themes, somewhat, we trust, to the edification of readers. Still, the world is full of invalids; of doctors, quacks, pretenders, swindlers, and impostors. Beware of them! Among the more creditable water-cures now in operation, we may name those of

DR. VON KUCZKOWSKI, formerly of Prussia, late of New York city, who has taken charge of the Brattleboro (Vt.) Water-Cure for the season-the same that was once so popular under the management of Dr. Wesselhoeft. Dr. Von Kuczkowski was for many years at the head of a hydropathic institution near Constantinople, and has brought letters of recommendation from Minister Bismarck and other distinguished persons.

There are water-cure establishments at Florence, N. J.; Wernersville, Pa.; Brooklyn, Clifton Springs, Binghamton, Elmira, Dansville, Buffalo, and Saratoga, N. Y.; Cleveland, O.; St. Anthony, Minn.; Northampton, Westboro, and Florence, Mass.; Hill, N. H.; Danbury, Ct., etc. Our list is necessarily incomplete, but this will serve for the present.

Well-conducted water-cures would prove of inestimable value to the numerous cases of chronic disease; and to broken-down merchants, preachers, physicians, politicians, and a large class of poor dyspeptics who can get no relief from drugs.

The next best thing to a season at a water-cure is the study of physiology, gymnastics, the movement-cure, etc., by which one may learn how to treat himself, or to direct his own treatment at home. Everybody is supposed to know something of his organization and of its wants, in health and disease. Less ignorance and more knowledge would prevent much suffering and premature decay. Read the books.

"HOW I CHANGED COACHES."

"THE top of the morning to you, Master William. I see you are on your way to school, with your satchel of books. So you've changed your mind, it seems. Well, come into my of fice, this afternoon, on your way home, and I'll tell you how I changed coaches."

This salutation from Mr. Dana greeted the ears of "Billy Stokes," as he passed the lawyer's office on his way to school, and it was most refreshing to him, so seldom was he call

ed anything but " Billy Stokes," or spoken to in the language of kindness.

Blushing and stammering most painfully, he replied: "Yes, sir, I've concluded to try my hand at study once more, but I don't much think anything will come of it, there's so many things against me."

"Well, drop in, my lad, this afternoon, and we'll talk about these so many things.' Will you come ?"

"Yes, sir, if you are willing to be plagued with such an awful greenhorn."

"I haven't time to contradict you, Master William, for I hear the second bell; but give me a call this afternoon, and we'll talk about greenhorns, among other things."

"Well, I declare," said Billy Stokes to himself, as he hurried on to school, "I've always took that man for a tremendous great gentleman because he drove such a splendid team, and had such a grand-looking driver, but I hadn't no thought he was so good. Inviting me, Billy Stokes, cowboy, to give him a call! Did I ever hear the like? Well, I'll go anyway,

"Well, I'd like to know," replied Billy, with an embarrassed manner and awkward smile. "It must be a good story."

"That it is, my boy; but I can't tell you the whole of it this afternoon, for it is too long. I can tell you enough, however, to satisfy you that just as good a story may be told about you, some time or other. Well, the first thing I want to tell you is, that I came to prosperity step by step. I didn't wake up, on a fine morning, and find myself grown up and riding round in a coach, but I worked my way-and that's another thing I want you to notice-up to prosperity and into my coach. It was a long time before I ceased to be 'Old Ragbag' and gave up my cart. And now do you want to know what was the first turn in my fortune? Well, it was this: I was riding along in my rag cart one day, when I saw an unruly cow chasing a young lady, and she was running as fast as she could run, while the boys in the street stood and laughed, for they thought it was great fun. As soon as I saw what was the trouble, I jumped out of the cart and pursued the cow, calling out to the young lady not to be afraid, for I was used to cows and could manage a dozen.

"Look back at your cart and see the rags flying,' called out one of the boys. 'Look! Old Ragbag.'

"Never mind about the rags flying,' I answered coolly, as I returned and took my seat in the cart. 'I've sent that cow flying, and that's enough.'

"Off I drove, with as independent and kingly an air as if I were in a triumphal car; and I think I held my head a little higher than usual because I had refused to take the young lady's money that she offered me. She was determined to pay me; but although I was 'Old Ragbag,' and drove a cart, I had quite an idea of gallantry, and a great aversion to being paid for it. Not

a penny of her three dollars had I taken, and I drove off, much more satisfied with myself than I should have been if I had had the three dollars in my pocket. But the young lady was not so satisfied, and it wasn't long before she gave my mother a new spring calico dress, and me, half a dozen fine white pocket-handkerchiefs. I went home one day to dinner, and my mother said to me, pointing to the open package on the table, 'Why didn't you ever tell me that you drove off a cow that was running after Miss Fanny Barber?'

"Oh, it wasn't worth telling,' I said.

"But this dress and those handkerchiefs are worth having,' she answered, 'and nothing has pleased me so much in a long time.'

"Well, they pleased me too, Master William, and I had a chance that summer to be pleased

over and over again, for there was no end to Miss Fanny's kindnesses. She gave my mother, and me too, a great many presents, and furnished my mother with sewing, and paid her the highest price for it.

"We lived near Mr. Barber's, fortunately, and I was never out of profitable employment after I sent that ugly cow flying. Miss Fanny was always wanting me to do something for her in her flower-garden, and Mr. Barber wanted me to take care of his strawberry-bed, and do many other things which, he said, he knew I would do faithfully. Oh, how happy 'I' was under such treatment and with such confidence placed in me. Well, the good Lord at length gave me such favor in the eyes of Mr. Barber as I never expected. Miss Fanny told me, one evening, when I was poring over a book, that her father was going to send me to school and give me as good a chance for an education as if I were his own son. And he did that very thing, and, in a few years, I was known as Mr. Robert Dana, and the name of 'Old Ragbag' was forgotten. You see, my boy, how I rose, and yet, may-be, you don't exactly see it-so let me give you a few rules to help you up in the world-rules that, I think, fully explain how I changed coaches.

"Honor your position in life, whatever it is, and then it can't dishonor you.

"Whatever work is put into your hands to do, do it well. Be faithful in that which is least.'

"Don't let your circumstances get the better of you and pull you down, but do you get the better of circumstances, and the first thing you know, they'll carry you on to fortune, and you'll find you've changed coaches.

"Make the most of your opportunities. Study bravely and faithfully, for there's nothing like education to give a man place and power in the world.

"There is one more rule I want to give you, for I think it is of great importance. Never fail to do a kindness whenever you have a chance, for it will give you the favor of the good, as it gave me the favor of Miss Fanny

markable events, came twelve citizens of Me. dina on pilgrimage to Mecca, who, hearing the Prophet preach, received the word and swore allegiance and obedience to him. These were honored with the title of "The Defenders." Returning to Medina, they brought others into the faith, and soon after seventythree more converts from that city came to enroll themselves under his banner; and these on Mount Akaba took the oath pertaining to the gospel of the sword. "If," said they, “we be slain in thy cause, what shall be our reward ?" "Paradise!" answered the Prophet. "Then," said they, "stretch forth thy right hand," and he did so. Then they took the oath, and swore that they would uphold and defend the Prophet and his cause. Thus began that mighty military organization which in its growth built up a vast empire, and for centuries, against the chivalry of Christendom, contended even for the dominion of the world. Up to this important period the "kingdom of God," as represented in Mohammed's mission, had not received its perfect organization, for, according to the very genius of Islamism, the apostleship is the power of God ordained to bear off the kingdom. Notwithstanding, therefore, that unto the Christ of Ishmael's seed it was given to build it up by the might of the sword, he, like the Christ from the chosen seed of Isaac, now called twelve apostles; and thus endowed, Mohammed's dispensation was fairly opened.

Mohammed's kingdom of God" being now once more perfectly set up upon the earth, by the choosing of twelve apostles, the Prophet sent away "The Defenders," and counseled the residue of his disciples to take their flight to Medina; but the Prophet, with Abu Beker and Ali, remained behind in his beloved native city, not having, he said, as yet divine permission to leave Mecca. This exodus of his followers alarmed the rival branch of the Koreishites; for since the day that the twelve pilgrims took the oath on Mount Akaba, so great had been the success of Islamism in Medina, that this chosen city was now ready to welcome the Prophet as its divine lawgiver and sovereign. His enemies in Mecca, fearful lest his new allies should proselyte other powerful tribes, and return to avenge the cause of their prophet, resolved to interrupt the flight of Mohammed and at once put him to death. They accordingly held a council, in

Ali, whom they took to be the Prophet ha self, asleep, continued watching there t morning, thus giving Mohammed the adva tage of escape. At length, bursting in the door, they rushed toward the sleeper, whe Ali started up and confronted them. Amaze they demanded "Where is Mohammed?" know not," replied Ali, sternly, and wake forth, none venturing to molest him.

Abu Beker and the Prophet took refuge in a cave at Mount Thor, where they arrived a dawn of day. Scarce were they in when they heard the sound of pursuit. "Our pursuers," the apprehensive Abu Beker, "are many, and we are but two." "Be not grieved,” replied the grand enthusiast, "there is a third, even God himself. He will defend us." In this cave t remained three days, according to tradition preserved by another miracle, after which ther set out for Medina, taking a by-road B they had not journeyed far before they wer overtaken by a troop of horse, and Abu Beker was again dismayed. The comforting wed was still, "Be not troubled; God is with us" As the Koreishite leader overtook Mohammed his horse fell, and the Prophet taking advantage of the incident, spoke to him with such words of power and authority that the ster warrior was awed, and entreating forgiveness turned back his troop. The fugitives tinued their journey until they arrived at little village two miles from Medina, where they remained four days, in which time there gathered to him the refugees of Mecca, and a little host of the auxiliaries, among whom w a warrior chief with seventy followers of the tribe of Salram, who forthwith made profession of faith.

On the morning of the Moslem Sabhisth, after the service of prayers and a sermon from the Prophet, he mounted his camel and set forth for the chosen city, the troop of horse attending him as guards, and his disciples from Mecca took turns in holding a canopy of palm leaves over his head. By his side rode Abu Beker. "Oh, apostle of God !" cried the

Salram chief, "thou shalt not enter Medina without a standard." So he unfolded his turban, and, tying it to the point of his lance, bore it aloft before the Prophet.

Thus,"

says Washington Irving, "did Mohammed enter Medina more as a conqueror than an exile seeking an asylum."

New dispensations have ever found their

ed the Prophet, "is the key of heaven and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent under arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven; at the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion and odoriferous as musk; the loss of his limbs shall be replaced by the wings of angels and of cherubim."

The first of Mohammed's victories was won in the second year of the Hegira, in the Valley of Beder, over the idolatrous Meccans, headed by his great enemy, Abu Sofian. The forces of the Prophet consisted of only 319 men, while that of the enemy numbered nearly 1,000; notwithstanding, he put them to flight, killing seventy of the principal Koreish, and taking as many prisoners, with the loss of only fourteen of his own men.

In the Koran this battle is immortalized, and the victory of the little band of the faithful ascribed to the presence of the angel Gabriel. Nor less fortunate was the spoil taken from the enemy of the whole caravan, consisting of 6,000 camels, richly laden, from Syria. With this spoil he possessed the means of present reward for his followers, while to the warlike tribes of Arabia the promise of the future was must fascinating, and soon a formidable host flocked to his standard.

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The career of Mohammed was thenceforth one of conquest. The pagan tribes, who would not peacefully be converted from their idolatry, he subdued with the sword, and they in their turn became valiant in the cause of the Lord," proving that the military gospel was the one most adapted to the character of the children of Ishmael, and even consonant with the patriarchal blessing and covenant pertaining to Abraham's firstborn.

In the seventh year of the Hegira, Mohammed assumed the state of a sovereign, and sent embassies to the monarchs around. The emperor of Persia treated the embassy sent to him with supreme contempt, for which the Prophet launched against him the divine wrath, predicting the overthrow of the haughty Persian empire by the conquering arms of the faithful. In the next year, Mohammed appeared suddenly at the gates of Mecca with 10,000 men, before the troops of that city had even been apprised of his departure from Medina. They had no choice left but immediate surrender or destruction; and thus at length was humbled the powerful race from whence the Prophet himself had sprang, and the city of his nativity, which had rejected his message and cast him out. The capture of Mecca, and the submission of the great tribe of the Koreish, was rapidly followed by the conversion to Islamism of most of the remote tribes, until he became master of all Arabia. Having brought all the tribes into one powerful union, and given birth to an Arabian empire, he made gigantic preparations for the conquest of Syria and Persia; but his vast purposes were destined to be fulfilled by his successors, for his own life was now drawing to a close.

In the tenth year of the Hegira, Mohammed set forth on a solemn pilgrimage to Mecca, as the last act of his life and ministry upon earth. He was accompanied by all his wives, and 90,000 pilgrims. With his own hands he sacrificed sixty-three victims, and liberated sixtythree slaves, in thanksgiving for each year of his life. He also shaved his head and scattered the hair among the multitude, which they piously gathered up, to the smallest hair, and treasured as holy relics. He closed the solemnity with his last revelation, pronounced by the "Spirit of the Lord" through the medium of his prophet. "Henceforth, wretched and miserable shall they be who deny your religion. Fear not them, but fear me; this day I have perfected your religion, and completed my grace toward you. I have willed that Islamism be your religion." Finally, as supreme pontiff or Imam, Mohammed dismissed the people with a farewell, the last, as he declared, that he should give them; whence this pilgrimage is called "The Farewell."

Mohammed returned to Medina, and died, in the eleventh year of the Hegira, and in the sixty-first year of his age, having accomplished during his lifetime, in the work of religious empire-founding, more than any before him; and in less than ten years after his death, under Omar, his second successor, was completed the conquest of Egypt, Syria, and Persia, the vast Mohammedan empire established, and Islamism dominant over nearly all the Eastern Hemisphere.

What shall we say of this wonderful man and his mission? This: if there be a God, then must that God, of necessity, be in all the world's great issues. Surely, then, into the hands of Mohammed Providence committed one of the greatest of those issues.

Mr. Carlyle's philosophy of the life of the man utterly rejects the popular notions of Mohammed. He believes that "the rude message he delivered was a real one withal-an earnest, confused voice from the unknown deep. The man's words were not false, nor his workings here below; no inanity and simulacrum; a fiery mass of life cast up from the great bosom of nature herself." He discerns in him a rugged, deep-hearted son of the wilderness

one of those who can not but be in earnestwhom nature herself has appointed to be sincere." "From of old a thousand thoughts, in his pilgrimings and wanderings, had been in this man: What am I? What is this unfathomable thing I live in, which men name universe? What is life-what is death? What am I to believe? What am I to do? The grim rocks of Mount Hara, of Mount Sinai, the stern, sandy solitudes answered not. The great heaven, rolling silent overhead, with its blue, glancing stars, answered not. There was no answer. The man's soul, and what of God's inspiration dwelt there, had to answer." At length, Carlyle thinks, the answer came in his own grand conception, that "there is one God in and over all."

With this annunciation, made by his own soul, he became possessed with the spirit of a mission to establish in Arabia the truth that there is but one God. That there was a deity in Mahommed's life working out one of the world-issues seems to be Mr. Carlyle's opinion. "Are we to suppose," he asks, "that it was a miserable piece of spiritual

legerdemain, this which so many creatures of the Almighty have lived by and died? I, for my part, can not form any such supposition. I will believe most things sooner than that. One would be entirely at a loss what to think of this great world at all, if quackery so grew and were sanctioned here." Accordingly, he holds that Mahommed's dispensation was legitimate and successful, advancing the nations which received it from their state of idolatry to a higher stage of civilization, and to the faith of One God.

We will close our article with a description of the Prophet, from Washington Irving:

"Mohammed, according to accounts handed down by tradition from his cotemporaries, was of middle stature, square built, and sinewy, with large hands and feet. In his youth he was uncommonly strong and vigorous; in the latter part of his life he inclined to corpulency. His head was capacious, well shaped, and well set on a neck which rose like a pillar from his ample chest. His forehead was high, broad at the temples, and crossed by veins extending down to the eyebrows, which swelled whenever he was angry or excited. He had an oval face, marked and expressive features, an aquiline nose, black eyes, arched eyebrows which nearly met, a mouth large and flexible, indicating eloquence; very white teeth, somewhat parted and irregular; black hair, which waved without a curl on his shoulders, and a long and very full beard.

"His deportment in general was calm and equable; he sometimes indulged in pleasantry, but more commonly was grave and dignified, though he is said to have possessed a smile of captivating sweetness. His complexion was more ruddy than is usual with Arabs, and in his excited and enthusiastic moments there was a glow and radiance in his countenance which his disciples magnified into the supernatural light of prophecy.

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'His intellectual qualities were undoubtedly of an extraordinary kind. He had a quick apprehension, a retentive memory, a vivid imagination, and an inventive genius. Owing but little to education, he had quickened and informed his mind by close observation, and stored it with a great variety of knowledge concerning the systems of religion current in his day or handed down by tradition from antiquity. His ordinary discourse was grave and sententious, abounding with those aphorisms and apologues so popular among the Arabs; at times he was excited and eloquent, and his eloquence was aided by a voice musical and sonorous. He was sober and abstemious in his diet, and a rigorous observer of fasts. He indulged in no magnificence of apparel, the ostentation of a petty mind, neither was his simplicity affected, but the result of a real disregard to distinction from so trivial a source. His garments were sometimes of wool, sometimes of the striped cotton of Yemen, and were often patched. He wore a turban, for he said turbans were worn by the angels, and in arranging it he let one end hang down his shoulders, which he said was the way they wore it. **** He wore a seal ring of silver, the engraved part under his finger close to the palm of his hand, bearing the inscription, Mohammed the messenger of God.' He was scrupulous as to personal cleanliness, and observed frequent ablutions. **** 'There are two things in this world,' he would say,' which delight me, women and perfumes. These two things delight my eyes and render me more fervent in devotion. It is said that when in the presence of a beautiful female, he was continually smoothing his brow and adjusting his hair as if anxious to appear to advantage. In his private dealings he was just. He treated friends and strangers, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak with equity, and was beloved by the common people,”

NEW YORK,

AUGUST, 1868.

"IF I might give a short hint to an impartial writer, it would be to tell him his fate. If he resolved to venture upon the dangerous precipice of telling unblased truth, let him proclaim war with mankindneither to give nor to take quarter. If he tells the crimes of great men, they fall upon him with the iron hands of the law; if he tells them of virtues, when they have any, then the mob attacks him with slander. But if he regards truth, let him expect martyrdom on both sides, and then he may go on fearless, and this is the course I take myself."-De Yoe.

THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL AND LIFE ILLUSTRATED is published monthly at $3 a year in advance; single numbers, 30 cents. Please address,

SAMUEL R. WELLS, 389 Broadway, New York.

IDEALITY AND SUBLIMITY.

IDEALITY.-Perception and admiration of the beautifu. and perfect in art, painting, and sculpture; love of poetry; refinement; good taste; imagination. Excess: Fastidiousness; romantic imagination. Deficiency: Want of taste and refinement, with strong passions and a coarse temperament, roughness and vulgarity.

I clothed thee with broidered work, and covered thee with silk; I decked thee with ornaments; I put bracelets upon thine hands, a chain on thy neck, a jewel on thy forehead, earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown on thine head, and thou wast exceedingly beautiful; for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord.-Ezek. xvi. 10-14. O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.-Ezek. xxvii. 3, 4. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.-Ps. 1. 2.

SUBLIMITY.-Fondness for the grand, sublime, and majestic in nature; the wild and romantic, as Niagara Falls; rugged mountain scenery, ocean storms, thunder, lightning, etc. Excess: Extravagant representations; passionate fondness for the terrific. Deficiency: Inability to appreciate grandeur.

And God said. Let there be light, and there was light. -Gen. i. 3. The Lord reigneth; he is clothed with majesty. The floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters; than the mighty waves of the sea.-Ps. xciii. 1, 3. 4. And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.-Isa. xxxiv. 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea; and I will shake all nations, and I will fill this honse with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.Hag. ii. 6, 7. The earth shook and trembled; he bowed the heavens also, and came down, and he rode upon a cherub, and did fly upon the wings of the wind; he made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies; the Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice.-Ps. xviii. 7–13.

WITHOUT these faculties the earth would present but a tame, indifferent aspect. Mountain, plain, and glen would seem alike. Without them there would be no poetry, no art, no sense of the beautiful. These are purely human faculties-denied to all animals. They are developed by civilization. We find but their rudiments in the savage. Contrast the rude hut and the simple wigwam with the commodious dwelling and the gorgeous temple. He who ignores the office of the faculties denies himself the exquisite pleasure which their right exercise would give. As sensible human beings we are to recognize both the useful and the beautiful, and we should not underrate the one nor exalt the other. The "Friends"-a very excellent body of sincere religionists-may pronounce

curses on MUSIC, but they can not annihilate the God-given faculty of TUNE. The Methodists-a devout and zealous people may prefer to worship in a plain edifice and oppose all architectural ornamentation. They may denounce the folly of foolish fashions-but they can not repress a love for grand and graceful structures, nor for artistic and becoming attire. Excess of a good thing in one does not require its total disuse by another.

Ideality and Sublimity, as well as Acquisitiveness, Approbativeness, and all the rest, are to be subordinated to Conscientiousness, Benevolence, and Veneration. The moral sentiments are the highest in location and in function, and must rule. That we are to be godly, does not imply that we are to be indifferent to the beauties of art or the sublimities of nature. It is our privilege and our duty to exercise all the faculties to their fullest normal capacity.

Our attention has recently been called to this subject by the proceedings of the American Congress respecting one of the most sublime portions of this continent. We refer to the

YO SEMITE VALLEY,

in California. Here is where the "big trees" grow, and where one's Sublimity may feast to its fullest, and grow by what it feeds upon.

The New York Evening Post is justly indignant at what it deems sacrilegious selfishness, in a few ambitious persons who would "bottle up" these blessings, and then, peddle out the privilege of a visit for a consideration. In an editorial it says:

An extraordinary impudent proposition is now urged upon Congress, which is asked to repeal or disregard a law passed by itself in 1865 to prevent the Yo Semite Valley from falling into the hands of private speculators. In passing that law Congress acted upon the understanding that there are certain things in every large country which may with justice and propriety be held and guarded by its government as crown jewels are held and guarded by empires and kingdoms-things the safe keeping and proper management of which may be considered a matter of greater moment than that of common property, and the disposition of which should under no circumstances be given over to the chances of private caprice or cupidity. There are those who think it would have been well had Congress fifty years ago been thus wisely conservative of the banks of the Niagara. Our artists and most intelligent travelers tell us that the Yo Semite even more imperatively demands such an exercise of prudence, and the wonderful photographs of Mr. Watkins serve to confirm their report. When the law of 1863 was passed, the nation

still held the fee of the Yo Semite in all its parts, as well as of all the land for many miles about it. It had no special value for agricul tural, mining, or any industrial purposes. It was inaccessible except by difficult trails.

It appears, nevertheless, that even before Congress had taken precautions to prevent in falling into private hands, speculators had already squatted upon the choicest ground, and although the district had never been opened to pre-emption claims, two of these men now have the effrontery to demand that the whole object of the law shall be subverted by a free gift to them of the land they have occupied. The only shadow of reason ther offer is to be found in the statement that the would, in all probability, after a time, have acquired pre-emption claims, had Congress not determined that this land should be treated exceptionally. That is to say, had Congre chosen to surrender this ground to anybody who was willing to put himself to the trouble of building a cabin there and living over winter in it, these two men might have established a claim to it; and as the refusal of Congress t do so has disappointed them, therefore, they assert, Congress is bound to recede and prevent the failure of their speculation.

A more absurd proposition never came be fore a legislative body; and yet we find that the bill has slipped through the House without attention, and has been read twice and gravely referred to a Committee of the Senate.

The commissioners appointed by the State of California, in accordance with the sugges tion of Congress, to protect the reservation | had already, it appears, very generously offer ed to allow these men to occupy each his one hundred and sixty acres of land, rent free, for a period of ten years, on condition that they should preserve the trees, and refrain from damming the streams or seriously defacing the scenery, and should allow the public free

passage-way.

It is asserted that this concession would not ing suitable houses for the accommodation of be sufficient to justify the squatters in buildvisitors.

If there is a question as to the proper length of the lease, it is obviously one which Congress intended should be considered and settled by the commissioners, who are themselves Californians of high character, chosen from regard to their special qualifications to reach sound con conclusions in the premises, and who have been on the ground and carefully studied it But even if there were reason to suppose that a free lease might be judiciously granted for s somewhat longer period, this would be no justification of the demand for a free gift for all time.

Here is a description of the Yo Semite, by Frederic Law Olmstead, written to that paper. It is very graphic, and will be enjoyed by all who have any love for the grandeurs of nature.

With the early completion of the Pacific Railroad there can be no doubt that the Park established by act of Congress as a place of free recreation for the people of the United States and their guests forever, will be resorted to from all parts of the civilized world. Many intelligent men, nevertheless, have hardly yet heard of it, and hence an effort to give an account of the leading qualities of its scenery may be pardoned, however inadequate it is

sure to be.

The main feature of the Yo Semite is best indicated in one word as a chasm. It is a chasm nearly a mile in average width, how ever, and more than ten miles in length. The central and broader part of this chasm is

occupied at the bottom by a series of groves of magnificent trees, and meadows of the most varied, luxuriant and exquisite herbage, through which meanders a broad stream of the clearest water, rippling over a pebbly bottom, and eddying among banks of ferns and rushes; sometimes narrowed into sparkling rapids and sometimes expanding into placid pools which reflect the wondrous heights on either side. The walls of the chasm are generally half a mile, sometimes nearly a mile in height above these meadows, and where most lofty are nearly perpendicular, sometimes over-jutting. At frequent intervals, however, they are cleft, broken, terraced, and sloped, and in these places, as well as everywhere upon the summit, they are overgrown by thick clusters of trees.

There is nothing strange or exotic in the character of the vegetation; most of the trees and plants, especially those of the meadows and waterside, are closely allied to and are not readily distinguished from those most common in the landscapes of the Eastern States or the midland counties of England. The stream is such a one as Shakspeare delighted in, and brings pleasing reminiscences to the traveler of the Avon or the upper Thames.

Banks of heartsease and beds of cowslips and daisies are frequent, and thickets of alder, dogwood, and willow often fringe the shores. At several points streams of water flow into the chasm, descending at one leap from five hundred to fourteen hundred feet. One small stream falls, in three closely consecutive pitches, a distance of two thousand six hundred feet, which is more than fifteen times the height of the Falls of the Niagara. In the spray of these falls superb rainbows are seen.

At certain points the walls of rock are plowed in polished horizontal furrows, at others moraines of boulders and pebbles are found; both evincing the terrific force with which in past ages of the earth's history a glacier has moved down the chasm from among the adjoining peaks of the Sierras. Beyond the lofty walls still loftier mountains rise, some crowned by forests, others in simple rounded cones of light gray granite. The climate of the region is never dry like that of the lower parts of the State of California; even when, for several months, not a drop of rain has fallen twenty miles to the westward, and the country there is parched, and all vegetation withered, the Yo Semite continues to receive frequent soft showers, and to be dressed throughout in living green.

After midsummer a light, transparent haze generally pervades the atmosphere, giving an indescribable softness and exquisite dreamy charm to the scenery, like that produced by the Indian summer of the East. Clouds gathering at this season upon the snowy peaks which rise within forty miles on each side of the chasm to a height of over twelve thousand feet, sometimes roll down over the cliffs in the afternoon, and, under the influence of the rays of the setting sun, form the most gorgeous and magnificent thunder heads. The average elevation of the ground is greater than that of the highest peak of the White Mountains or the Alleghanies, and the air is rare and bracing; yet its temperature is never uncomfortably cool in summer, nor severe in winter.

Flowering shrubs of sweet fragrance and balmy herbs abound in the meadows, and there is everywhere a delicate odor of the prevailing foliage in the pines and cedars. The water of the streams is soft and limpid, as clear as crystal, abounds with trout, and, except near its sources, is, during the heat of the summer, of an agreeable temperature for bathing. In the lower part of the valley there are copious mineral springs, the water of one of which is regarded by the aboriginal inhabitants as having remarkable curative properties. A basin

still exists to which weak and sickly persons were brought for bathing. The water has not been analyzed, but that it possesses highly tonic as well as other medical qualities can be readily seen. In the neighboring mountains there are also springs strongly charged with carbonic acid gas, and said to resemble in taste the Empire Springs of Saratoga.

The other district, associated with this by the act of Congress, consists of four sections of land, about thirty miles distant from it, on which stand in the midst of a forest composed of the usual trees and shrubs of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, about six hundred mature trees of the giant Sequoia. Among them is one known through numerous paintings and photographs as the Grizzly Giant, which probably is the noblest tree in the world. Besides this, there are hundreds of such beauty and stateliness that, to one who moves among them in the reverent mood to which they so strongly incite the mind, it will not seem strange that intelligent travelers have declared that they would rather have passed by Niagara itself than have missed visiting this grove.

In the region intermediate between the two districts the scenery generally is of a grand character, consisting of granite mountains and a forest composed mainly of coniferous trees of great size, yet often more perfect, vigorous, and luxuriant than trees of half the size are ever found on the Atlantic side of the continent. It is not, however, in its grandeur or in its forest beauty that the attraction of this intermediate region consists, so much as in the more secluded charms of some of its glens, formed by mountain torrents, fed from the snow banks of the higher Sierras.

These have worn deep and picturesque channels in the granite rocks, and in the moist shadows of their recesses grow tender plants of rare and peculiar loveliness. The broad parachute-like leaves of the peltate saxifrage, delicate ferns, soft mosses, and the most brilliant lichens abound, and in following up the ravines, cabinet pictures open at every turn, which, while composed of materials mainly new to the artist, constantly recall the most valued sketches of Calame in the Alps and Apennines.

The difference in the elevation of different parts of the district amounts to considerably more than a mile. Owing to this difference, and the great variety of exposure and other circumstances, there is a larger number of species of plants within the district than probably can be found within a similar space anywhere else on the continent. Professor Torrey, who has given the received botanical names to several hundred plants of California, states that on the space of a few acres of meadow land he found about three hundred species, and that within sight of the trail usually followed by visitors, at least six hundred may be observed, most of them being small and delicate flowering plants.

By no statement of the elements of the scenery can any idea of that scenery be given, any more than a true impression can be conveyed of a human face by a measured account of its features. It is conceivable that any one or all of the cliffs of the Yo Semite might be changed in form and color, without lessening the enjoyment which is now obtained from the scenery. Nor is this enjoyment any more essentially derived from its meadows, its trees, streams, least of all can it be attributed to the cascades. These, indeed, are scarcely to be named among the elements of the scenery. They are mere incidents, of far less consequence

any day of the summer than the imperceptible humidity of the atmosphere and the soil. The chasm remains when they are dry, and the scenery may be, and often is, more effective, by reason of some temporary condition of the

air, of clouds, of moonlight, or of sunlight through mist or smoke, in the season when the cascades attract the least attention, than when their volume of water is largest and their roar like constant thunder.

There are falls of water elsewhere finer; there are more stupendous rocks, more beetling cliffs; there are deeper and more awful chasms; there may be as beautiful streams, as lovely meadows; there are larger trees. It is in no scene or scenes the charm consists, but in the miles of scenery where cliffs of awful height and rocks of vast magnitude and of varied and exquisite coloring, and banked and fringed and draped and shadowed by the tender foliage of noble and lovely trees and bushes, reflected from the most placid pools, and associated with the most tranquil meadows, the most playful streams, and every variety of soft and peaceful pastoral beauty.

The union of the deepest sublimity with the deepest beauty of nature, not in one feature or another, not in one part or one scene or another, not any landscape that can be framed by itself, but all around and wherever the visitor goes, constitutes the Yo Semite the greatest glory of nature. No photograph or series of photographs, no paintings ever prepare a visitor so that he is not taken by surprise, for could the scenes be faithfully represented, the visitor is affected not only by that upon which his eye is at any moment fixed, but by all that with which on every side it is associated, and of which it is seen only as an inherent part. For the same reason no description, no measurements, no comparisons are of much value. Indeed, the attention called by these to points in some definite way remarkable, by fixing the mind on mere matters of wonder or curiosity, prevent the true and far more extraordinary character of the scenery from being appreciated.

When the great Atlantic and Pacific Railway shall be finished across the Rocky Mountains, we propose to visit the Yo Semite and look on those grandeurs so eloquently described above. Let no American boast of sight-seeing in foreign lands till he has seen the Yo Semite. Hurry up the railway, Californians! get things ready. There will be a "big crowd" to see the big things you have for exhibition!

PARTY SPIRIT.

Ir was religious "sectarianism run mad," that caused the so-called " "Holy Wars," in which millions of human beings were put to death. It is relig ious sectarianism, to-day, that causes endless little animosities and persecutions all over the world. But, thank God, man is growing up out of his pas sions and prejudices into the moral sentiments, and is taking on a broad and more liberal Christianity, which begets a larger charity and a higher humanity.

To-day we meet on every hand the most intense political sectarianism. We divide on questions of policy; a high