been spent in the midst of privations and dangers, and the fountains of joy peculiar to that happy season, to him almost unknown? what though the bright dreams of his youthful imagination were indulged in the silence of solitude, finding in no sympathizing breast an answering chord; and the deep yearnings of his enthusiastic nature made known, only to be chilled and repressed by the disapprobation of dull mediocrity? What though his more mature years were marked by disappointment and sorrow, and that agony that a noble mind can so deeply feel, when, conscious of its own greatness, and the loftiness and integrity of its purposes, it finds them unappreciated, or met with indifference or contempt ? What though he had left the shores of Spain, amid the jeers and maledictions of the spectators, denounced as a visionary—a mark for the finger of scorn, with a world of dread uncertainty present to his imagination, and none to ask the blessing of Heaven on an enterprise so chimerical, or commend him to that Being, who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand? Was there ever prospect so gloomy-ever circumstances so disheartening? But, in that moment of successin the realization of all those brilliant hopes of life's fair morning-in the actual possession of the goal, to gain which his whole life had been consecrated to self-denial and suffering, the trials of the past were remembered no more. He was to return to his adopted land in triumph-to see himself an object of applause and admiration, where but late, he had been one of pity and contempt; to be welcomed to the presence of royalty, bearing with him a gift that even majesty would be proud to accept the gift of a new world.

From Columbus, we turn to another of the sons of genius, one who discovered, not a world, but the secret and invisible chain that binds all worlds-the immortal Newton. We are told by his biographer, that when he perceived that the great law of gravitation—a law whose existence for years he had suspected, and labored to prove, was about to be established beyond a doubt, by his calculations, so deeply was he affected by the grandeur of the discovery, and the astonishing effects resulting from it, that he was obliged to commit to

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the firmer hand and cooler judgment of a friend, the completion of what was to give his name to immortality. It was a triumph of intellect, that shook the pillars of the frail tenement, that obstructed its farseeing vision, and limited its heavenward aspirations. What had he not accomplished? Truly, he had become the high priest of science, and entered within the veil never before lifted to mortal vision! Before him was spread out the illimitable universe, with its systems of worlds, all revolving in their aerial and unwearied journeys, in allegiance to that same simple but grand and beautiful law that brought the apple to the ground. What though, since touched by the hand of Omnipotence, the complicated machinery of the material world, had moved in "solemn silence," it was now compelled, at the mandate of genius, to disclose its secrets, and reveal to mortal ear its harmonies. In that moment of success, he must have felt that his name henceforth was to be linked with the beautiful order of the universe, and his fame written in the heavens.

On the page of history stands another name, more dear to every American heart than that of the discoverer of this vast continent, or the promulgator of nature's hidden laws-our own beloved Washington.

In the glorious success that crowned his noble purposes and indefatigable exertions for his country's good, another bright example is left to the aspirant after those imperishable honors, that encircle the brow of him who becomes the benefactor of his race. Do they not bid him, when he feels within him the upspringing of a lofty sentiment-a consciousness of powers that may contribute to the elevation of man, to press on through difficulties and dangers, with duty for his watchword, and the arm of Omnipotence for his defence, till the object is attained-the victory won? how boundless is the field of laudable ambition! True, in no far distant ocean, may an unknown world be awaiting the approach of genius to give it a name in the annals of time-no grand universal truth, may, at his bidding, stand confessed to the admiration of the world; nor, like Washington, may it be his to bring to a successful issue a great political revolution, and

And

The suite of caverns to the left is the more extensive, ample, and majestic, but the one which branches to the right, though smaller, is richer in varied and fantastic forms. They are all different in size and form and ornament, and are connected by passages which are sometimes low and bare, sometimes spacious and lofty, supported by pillars, and fretted with cornices of the purest stalactite. The columns are sometimes uniform in their mass and singularly placed; sometimes they are so regularly arranged, and consist of smaller pillars so nicely clustered together, that one believes he is walking up the nave of a Gothic cathedral. Many of these columns, which are entirely insulated, have a diameter of three, four, and even five feet. Frequently the pillar is interrupted as it were in the middle, losing its columnar form, and twisting, dividing, or spreading itself out into innumerable shapes. Sometimes it dilates into a broad thin plate, almost transparent in the light of a lamp; sometimes this plate curves itself round in a circular form, sometimes the descending part tapers to a point, which rests on the broad surface of the ascending stalagmite. The walls are entirely coated with the substance, and, in the smaller grottoes, it is so pure, that travellers have covered it with names written in pencil, which have already resisted the moisture five or six years. The other division is more spacious, and extends much further. The caverns which compose it are wider and loftier, but not so beautifully adorned as in the other. The enormous clustered columns of stalactite that seem to support the everlasting roof from which they have only originated, often tower to such a height, that the lights

are rougher, darker, and more shapeless than in the smaller suite. The further you advance, the elevations become bolder, the columns more massive, and the forms more diversified, till, after running about six miles into the earth, the scene of wonderment terminates with the element with which it began, water. A small subterraneous lake, deep, clear, cold, and dead-still, prevents all further progress. It has not been passed; it would therefore be too much to say that nothing lies beyond.

One of the most spacious and regular of any of the caverns, of an oval form, about sixty feet long and forty broad, and whose roof is not visible owing to its great height, is used as a ball-room by the peasantry of Adelsberg once a year, on the festival of their patron saint. The floor is smooth; the walls are covered with stalactite, but are otherwise less ornamented than the other caverns; a few natural stone seats and wooden benches constitute the furniture, and candles are lighted in rustic chandeliers, formed of a wooden cross stuck horizontally on the top of a pole. Here, many hundred feet beneath the surface of the earth, and a mile from the light of day, the rude music of the Carniolian resounds through more magnificent halls than were ever built for monarchs. The flame of the uncouth chandeliers is reflected from the stalactite walls in a blaze of ever-changing light. A vast stalactite has formed from the ceiling, having the appearance of the most beautiful alabaster, and the form is that of a most perfectly arranged drapery. The trickling of the water at the edges has thickened them, and given the appearance of an edging or border to the drapery. The substance being semi-transparent, the guides who show the cavern put their torches behind it, in order to display its beauty to the greatest advantage amid the surrounding darkness.

GIGANTIC.-So vast is the Atlantic ocean, that it has been said that all the ships in the world might be so dispersed over it that none would be able to see one another.