his confidence; it was not so much what | pliment his own powers. He did more for was said that he desired to have quoted as young and rising writers than all the other that Willis said it; and a kind of superficial literary celebrities of his time put together. affectation is detected in the expression of The sight of a young man who had his his most earnest thoughts and emotions. It reputation to get, recalled to him his own is our impression that he adopted this man- struggling youth. He not only heartily ner in accordance with a theory he had sympathized with him, but by an act of formed regarding the right method of ar- imagination he seemed to realize his mental resting and fixing public attention, and not condition, and to know how to counsel and because his genius instinctively assumed aid him in his work. His time, his pen, his journal-all his good wishes and all his means of influence- were at the service of the aspirant. In this respect Willis stands alone in American literature. it. In truth he was a keen observer of nature and human life, and a thinker of more than ordinary closeness to the real truth of things. He exercised enough force and ingenuity of mind on perishable topics to make a great reputation, had they been directed to subjects of permanent interest, and with all this comparative waste of power he has left poems, essays, sketches of society, intellectual portraits, which will always have a place in American literature. In the felicity of phrase which hits the mark in the white, and which is so rare an excellence in so-called "correct" diction, his writings of all kinds show that he was a master; and this of itself is an indication that insight and imagination were never absent even when his object merely was to frame elegant trifles for a day's delight. The sharpness of his mental observation was remarkable even in a generation of writers that included Balzac and Thackeray. He could discern, arrest and embody the most elusive trait of character, or evanescent mood of thought or emotion, with a certainty which, to use one of his own phrases, "made the sense of satisfaction ache" with its completeness, and the difficult task would be done with a seemingly careless ease, which made many of his readers think that the whole thing was an accidental happiness of expression. The kindliness of his disposition was also shown in his hospitality. Nobody ever visited him at Idlewild without bringing away an increased impression of the richness of his mind and the benevolence of his heart. It is a common and flippant scandal that he was a gentleman only in manners and apparel; nobody who knew him, nobody especially who ever passed a day or two at his home, ever doubted that the beautiful courtesy of his manners had its source in his delicate consideration for the feelings of others, and in the genial warmth of his own. - Transcript. DEATH OF N. P. WILLIS. A DISPATCH from New York conveys the intelligence of the death of Nathaniel Parker Willis yesterday, at Idlewild, his home on the Hudson River, aged precisely sixty years. For nearly a dozen years past Mr. Willis's health had been feeble, and his demise, especially during a recent severe attack of his complaint, was expected. However, about a week ago he wrote a brief letter to the Home Journal in such cheerful strain that his friends had hope of at least a partial recovery. But it was otherwise decreed. No criticism of Willis would be inclusive which did not emphasize the courtesy of his manners, and the unbounded geniality and affectionateness of his disposition. A Mr. Willis was a native of Portland, man of the world, he was still the kindliest Maine, where he was born on the 20th of of men. His wide knowledge and experi- January, 1807. The Willis family removed ence of the selfishness of the fine society to to Boston in or about the year 1813, and which so many of his works are devoted the future poet received his early education never embittered him, never gave his think- in the schools of this place, whence he was ing or feeling a cynical taint. He was un- sent to Phillips Academy at Andover. He selfish even in that particular where so became a student of Yale College, New many excellent literary men are weak, Haven, and was graduated in 1827. His intellectual exclusiveness and egotism. He life in college afforded indications of his funot only had no envy of other men of let-ture eminence, and his writings at that ters, but he felt a real joy in their successes. time brought him considerable reputation To tell him of the triumph of a brother and some profit. The publisher of The author was to call into his countenance a Album having offered a prize of fifty dollars happier expression than to cordially com- | for a poem, Mr. Willis was one of the com petitors and took the prize. While an under-graduate he wrote a number of religious poems, which were published under the signature of Roy. "The Gazette of the Upper Ten Thousand" of New York. While in England Mr. Willis published his "Letters from under a Bridge," "Loiterings of Travel," and his two dramas, "Tortera, the Usurer," and "Bianca Visconti." An illustrated edition of his poems was also published; and he edited a work on the scenery of Canada and the United States. Returning to America, Mr. Willis found that the Corsair had ceased to appear, his partner having abandoned the publication in disgust. In 1844 he established the Evening Mirror, a daily journal, his old partner, Gen. Morris, associating with him in the enterprise. The failure of his health caused him to abandon daily journalism, as a task too severe for him, and he made a third visit to Europe. His "Dashes at Life with a Free Pencil' was published in London in 1845, in three volumes. After his return to America he associated himself with Gen. Morris for the publication of the Home Journal, which soon became one of the most successful weekly publications in the country. He took up his residence at Idlewild, a country seat near Newburg, on the Hudson River, one of the most delightful places in America. After leaving college, Mr. Willis was employed on the Legendary and the Token, two of many publications conducted by Mr. S. G. Goodrich (Peter Parley), one of the most active publishers of those days. He established the American Monthly Magazine in 1828, and carried it on for more than two years, when it was united with the New York Mirror, then conducted by Gen. George P. Morris. Mr. Willis went to Europe and wrote for the Mirror his "Pencillings by the Way," which were extensively copied into other journals. He not only visited the continent of Europe before travelling in England, contrary to the usual course in which he showed sense - but he extended his tour to some parts of the East. After an extended tour, during which he visited France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Asia Minor, he proceeded to England, where he met with a very flattering reception. His letters from London and Edinburgh were very freely written, and their publication caused some mischief. Some of his expressions concerning Capt. Marryat's sea stories, of a contemptuous character, led to a retort from their author, Many of Mr. Willis's works were published and also to a hostile meeting. In 1835 his after he began his residence at Idlewild. "Pencillings were published collectedly, Among them are "Rural Letters and other in three volumes, and were severely re- Records of Thought and Leisure," in 1849; viewed by some of the English critical" People I have Met," and "Life Here and magazines. His "Inklings of Adventure" There," in 1850; Hurrygraphs," and appeared in London, in three volumes." Memoranda of a Life of Jenny Lind," in This was a collection of pieces which he 1851; "Fun Jottings; or, Laughs I have had contributed to the London New Month- taken a Pen to," "A Health Trip to the ly Magazine. Both works were republished Tropics," and " A Summer Cruise in the in America, and proved successful. Mediterranean in a United States Frigate," in 1853; "Famous Persons and Places," and "Out-Doors at Idlewild," in 1854; "The Rag-Bag," in 1855; “Paul Fane," in 1856; and The Convalescent," in 1860. A collected edition of his prose writings was published in 1846; and his poems were also published in a collected form, with illustrations by Leutze. A new and enlarged edition of his works appeared much later. They are great favourites with the reading public. Mr. Willis returned home in 1837, and lived as a country gentleman at a place to which he gave the name of Glenmary, in the valley of the Susquehannah, and on the banks of that famous river. There he wrote his "Letters from under a Bridge." In 1839 he became associated with Dr. Porter, in the publication of the Corsair, a weekly journal of much note. He visited England to make arrangements for the foreign correspondence of his new paper, and among the correspondents he engaged was no less a man than Mr. Thackeray, then young and unknown to fame, and unconscious of the part he was to have in the literature of the Victorian age. Some traces of the effect of this engagement are to be found in Thackeray's Philip," the her of which, Philip Firmin, was the London correspondent of 66 Mr. Willis was twice married. When in England, in 1835, he married Miss Mary Leighton Stace, daughter of Commissary General William Stace, who was at that time in command of the arsenal at Woolwich, and who had distinguished himself at Waterloo and on other occasions. This lady, from whom Glenmary was named, died early, leaving one child, a daughter. | doxical as it may appear, it was found rathIn 1845 Mr. Willis married Miss Cornelia er a difficult bird to procure. Grinnell, only daughter of the Hon. Joseph Grinnell of New Bedford, who represented the New Bedford District in Congress eight years, and held other high offices. Several children were born of this marriage. Mr. Willis, had he been so inclined, could have boasted of good ancestry. The founder of the family, George Willis, was settled in Massachusetts as early as 1638. The grandfather of the poet, Nathaniel Willis, was a printer, and published the Independent Chronicle, a leading journal of the revolutionary age. He was a Bostonian, and is said to have been born in 1755; and if this date is correctly given, it shows there can be no truth in the oft-repeated story that he had been an apprentice in the same office with Benjamin Franklin, as Franklin was in his fiftieth year in 1755, and left Boston in 1723. This Mr. Willis went to Virginia, in pursuit of his calling, and thence to Ohio, establishing journals in both those States. He was State printer of Ohio for nine years. His son, of the same name, was also a printer and publisher of good reputation, and established the Eastern Argus at Portland, in 1803. On his resumption of residence in Boston, he founded the first religious journal ever published, the well known and highly successful Boston Recorder, which he conducted with signal ability for many years. On the mother's side, Mr. N. Willis, father of the author, was descended from the Rev. John Bailey, who was at the head of one of the Boston churches in the year 1683, in the reign of Charles II., after having long been connected with the nonconformists in England and Ireland, in both of which countries he had suffered severe persecution. Few Americans could make a better claim to good ancestry than Mr. Willis. His mother, born Miss Parker, was a woman of the highest worth, and corresponded with the most eminent divines of her day. She died in 1844. Journal. NATURALIZATION OF FOREIGN BIRDS. To the Editors of the Evening Post: From the general reputation of the bird, confirmed by personal observation, your correspondent was led to believe that the house sparrow, so common in the cities as well as in the rural districts of Europe, was very much needed in this country to prevent the increase of destructive insects. With this conviction he determined to make an attempt to naturalize them, but, para "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?" has as significant an application in the old world now as it had eighteen centuries ago; but this very worthlessness prevents them from being often kept for sale; and furthermore, being in confinement a very quarrelsome bird, they require to be imported in separate cages. For these reasons they are much more difficult to obtain here than many other foreign birds. With such difficulties to contend with, which, however, could easily have been overcome by a more systematic effort, I set some birds free at various intervals during the last ten years whenever they were obtainable, and by publishing an occasional article in the daily press, I doubtless induced others to aid in the work. Now and then these articles would provoke a response. One rejoinder (without stating why Yankee cats should be more expert bird-catchers than their feline cousins abroad) suggested that the sixty thousand cats of New York would make short work with the sparrows. In the meanwhile, however, the Park authorities were induced to import some sparrows for the protection of the trees, and the survivors (some six or seven pairs) were turned loose in Central Park. About six years ago "Bull-run Russell" arrived in New York as American correspondent of the London Times, and, judging from his published d.ary, it appears that when he looked out on the morning after his arrival at the Clarendon Hotel, among his first impressions was the peculiarity of there being no sparrows in the streets. In that neighborhood there are now hundreds of them. They throng the Jersey shore from Hoboken to Communipaw, and have even spread to Newark. Flocks of them have also been seen in Brooklyn, and in various neighboring parts of Westchester. As for New York city, it may be safely said that within its limits they far outnumber all our native birds combined. It is said that European plants follow in the track of European emigration, and soon actually outnumber the native sorts. It would be strange if European birds should also finally outnumber the aboriginal species of birds in America. The sparrows have already become public pets. In New Jersey laws have been made to protect them. The city shade trees will, before long, become an ornament and a comfort, instead of showering down myriads of caterpillars from almost leafless branches. Our feathered deliverers from these pests To the Editors of the Evening Post. would be greatly served if all our public squares had fountains, for there are often seasons (since the Croton has supplanted outdoor pumps) when frost or drought make water more difficult for them to obtain in the city than food. Encouragement could also be given to these useful city birds by architects providing refuges and nesting places for them in the ornamentation used in architectural designs. And now, from what has been done with the house sparrow, may we not learn how easily other birds might be naturalized birds whose names have been familiar to us from childhood? The robin redbreast of Europe, with which such pleasant associations are connected - an entirely different bird from the redbreasted thrush known by the name of robin in America; the skylark, whose power of song has been the theme of many poets; the linnet, the goldfinch, and even the nightingale, in fact most of the song birds of Europe, might each in turn, with very little trouble or expense, be naturalized in this country, to add to the attractions of rural life forever after. In reply to your query concerning the naturalization of birds, I would state that if they be set free at a proper season of the year and in a favorable locality, they can provide entirely for themselves, without any assistance first or last. The proper time is undoubtedly the spring, as soon as the leaves begin to show themselves, for then many species of birds prepare for incubation. Birds generally, even those that are migratory, frequent from year to year their old haunts, where they have bred or been bred; so that if they can be induced to breed in any locality they will not readily forsake it. In selecting a place for experimenting in the naturalization of birds, it is expedient to select a spot near some stream of water, lest the birds being strange, might not know where to find it. It is well also to choose a place where there are evergreens, as they afford security and shelter. If there be a number to be turned loose, and it be intended to have them remain in the vicinity, I have found it a good plan to release only one or A thousand dollars is a trifling amount in two pair a day, as birds are always easily these days of reckless expenditure, and yet startled when first liberated, and a single the interest of it, if devoted for a short time note of alarm, which they are very apt to to such purpose, might soon make our woods give when leaving the cage, will put a whole vocal with the strains of the feathered min-flock to flight, unless they have had sufficient strelsy of Europe, or add to the list of the time to become reconciled to their new conAmerican sportsman many of the game dition. birds of Europe. In the enjoyment of nature one can scarcely realize how much is due to the animating effects of the presence of song birds, or readily imagine what a void the absence of some of our familiar birds, such as the robin, the bobolink, or the blue-bird, would make in the rural pleasures even of such as have not made their habits a study; but in contemplating it one can more easily estimate how greatly we would value any addition to their number, of foreign varieties of equal or greater attractions. There are numerous bird importers in the lower part of the city, who would contract to deliver any number or species of bird desired, to such as may have the will and the means to assist in this laudable work. S. If set free carefully, birds will generally remain in any well-chosen locality without the necessity of hanging them out in cages for some time beforehand, and exposing them thereby to mishap. The rapid increase of birds is a great encouragement to those who would endeavor to naturalize them. The progeny of a single pair of sparrows, for instance, in ten years, it is said, amounts to three or four millions. It is remarkable of the house sparrow that they make a home of their nesting-places which they оссиру the year round and keep in constant repair. The scriptural phrase, "the sparrow hath found a house," seems to allude to this peculiarity. I may add that it has been estimated from actual observation that a pair of sparrows destroy (in the season for them), on an average, three thousand three hundred and sixty caterpillars in a week, besides other insects; but as they are expert moth catchers, and as a single moth will generate caterpillars by the hundred, the work which they accomplish in the destruction of such pests, in fact, is incalculable. S. No. 1189. Fourth Series, No. 50. 16 March, 1867. Quiet POETRY: N. P. Willis's Lines on Leaving Europe, 642. 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