him in mind of it. It is needless to say, I made an internal asseveration not to bind him to his bargain.

In the cabin we found the gentlemen, with one exception, talking politics, the fair Tabitha and 'ma' holding a conversation at cross purposes, and Augustus Fitzherbert making the excruciatingly-agreeable to Miss Wilhelmina. The consumables were reduced to a few pinches of jerked beef, and some devilled biscuits - so much for sentiment and sunsets. Supper finished, we sat down, as usual, to loo. We had been playing some time, and the captain was just distributing a fresh supply of counters, when Mr. Fathom made his appearance, and informed his superior that it looked very dirty to windward.

What does he mean by dirty to windward?'' simpered Wilhelmina to her cavalier.

Augustus was somewhat nonplussed. Dirty to windward,' drawled he, after a considerable pause: Ah! I presume he intends to convey, that the sailors have not scrubbed the boards clean on that side.'

The captain and mate went on deck, and shortly thereafter we heard the sound of a commotion, such as at sea usually accompanies the rapid execution of hasty and urgent commands.

We are going to take the benefit of a squall,' I exclaimed.

'Can you swim?' asked the squire, slowly and solemnly, of Sapling. 'No,' he replied, anxiously: pray what do you inquire for?' 'Nothing-only when a man has but a plank between his foot and what may be his grave, he ought to be able to swim.'

Oh! you don't think we are going to be in danger!' asked Wilhelmina and Tabby, in a breath.

'Well, I expect we may the sun went down mighty stormy, and this is an old ship;' was the consolatory reply of the imperturbable Hiram. Sapling edged up to the major: Did you think it looked likely for a storm, when you come down stairs, Sir?'

Storm,' returned the veteran, with a sly leer at O'Halloran-‘yes, very much; just the sort of sunset I once witnessed in the Bay of Biscay, and that very night our vessel - she was a stout transport, well manned, and ably commanded-foundered, and every soul perished, with the exception of a surgeon's mate and myself. We lashed ourselves to a coop full of ducks- I have never eaten a duck since, and should think it sacrilege to do so that was our salvation; the vessel went down, but the ducks, you see, swam, and helped to keep us above water, till we were picked up by a French letter-of-marque. The Parlez Vous, and be cursed to them, devoured our preservers, and carried us into Rochelle. Well, as I said, that was much such an evening as this. I trust, however, matters may not turn out the same, especially as we have no ducks on board. It would not surprise me, however, if we were on our beams ends before morning. masts gone-sailors at prayers death staring us in the face, and every thing of that kind, you know.'

Sapling's physiognomy had grown longer and longer, as the recital proceeded, like a balloon from which the gas is gradually escaping; he had not, however, an opportunity of making any commen's, for as the narrator ceased speaking, the sounds over head increased to an uproar; a sharp, hissing sound, followed by a loud crash, succeeded; and in an instant afterward, Sapling and the ladies, together with every ar

ticle in the cabin that was not lashed, was canted to leeward by a shock that made the timbers of the old ship shudder again. The rest of us, who had anticipated something of the kind, avoided the like catastrophe by clinging to the table. After picking up the spilled damsels, ' ma' and Augustus, and assisting the former to their state-rooms, we scrambled on deck to ascertain how matters stood there.

The squall, though short, was sufficiently energetic; nor was the appearance of the huge, precipitous waves, which careered through the darkness on all sides, and often seemed as if about to engulf us in their embrace, by any means inviting. The men had been unable to make all snug in time; the onset of the squall had consequently carried away several of our lighter spars, and a heavy sea had stove in a fathom or so of the starboard bulwarks, at the same time starting the watercasks and long-boat from their lashings, much to the discomfiture of a couple of sheep and a pig contained in the latter. The captain swore it was all the fault of the d-d lazy crew, winding up a string of unique imprecations by swearing, that if he were to rake h-ll with a small tooth comb, he could not catch such a set of lubberly rascals.' The weather moderated before morning, and for several days after, we had baffling winds, which kept us continually tacking without making much progress. We began to feel ennuied, the courtship was becoming stale, and we wanted fresh excitement. It was therefore determined to bring things to a crisis. In pursuance of this resolution, one morning when our victim came on deck, O'Halloran took him aside, and in a mysterious manner, hoped he had not committed himself with Miss Wilhelmina.'

'Why do you ask me?' responded Sapling, rather taken aback.

'Because,' continued his tormentor, 'the major and I fear that, from false information, we have unintentionally deceived you as to the pecuniary circumstances of her family. We are anxious now to set you right on the subject neither of the young ladies will have a shilling. The young gentleman was electrified an explanation followed- he was engaged to lead Fenn tertius to the altar, on our arrival in New-York.

God bless me! how sorry I am we have got you into such a scrape!' exclaimed his auditor, sympathetically; but you see it was all the fault of that Ohio 'squire: he told us he knew these people well, and that they had an immensity of the indispensable; now he confesses having invented the whole story to snare a green-horn,' as he has the audacity to call you, my ill-used and too-confiding friend.'

Did he say so?' sputtered the dandy, in an ebullition of small wrath; 'then he is a

'So I think, exactly,' said O'Halloran, interrupting him: let me act as your friend in this matter. I'll go and do it at once,' and our emissary returned to us to report progress.

It is unnecessary to detail all the manœuvres by which we finally induced the dupe to send Coon a challenge. Suffice it to record, that the next day, after dinner, the latter individual being on deck to give us the opportunity, and the ladies taking siestas in their staterooms, we managed, with the aid of the bottle, to stimulate Sapling's courage to the required state of effervescence. The missive having been penned with a trembling hand, was consigned to the Irishman, who immediately left us to hand it to the 'squire.

'Are you a fair shot?' queried the major of the challenger, as soon as the messenger had left the cabin. I believe,' he added, Mr. Coon has been known to split a bullet on the blade of a razor at twenty-five paces.'

Sapling groaned. The worst of it is, you'll have no time for practice, for I have no doubt your antagonist will insist upon fighting at day-break to-morrow, or perhaps this evening; he's just that kind of man.'

But, my dear Sir,' stammered the youth, now thoroughly frightened, 'I can't think of fighting, till we get on shore: the motion of the shipand — and — the ladies and beside, Captain Gilead would n't permit it' and he looked imploringly at the latter.

'Permit it, Sir?' cried the skipper, 'to be sure I will always like to accommodate my passengers. You can fight before the ladies leave their berths, and if you only mind the roll of the ship, you may send your bullet through a button-hole. Mr. Fathom is an excellent hand at a splice, if you should get winged, and there's a methodist parson in the steerage who'll read the service over you, if we have to sew you in your hammock.'

'O yes,' added Tunley, we'll see to all that properly, I assure you.' At this juncture, Coon and O'Halloran entered the cabin.

'Captain Gilead,' said the former, 'will you be my friend in this affair?' 'With pleasure, Mr. Coon.'

Thank you. Mr. O'Halloran-quarter-deck-day-light to-morrow morning - ten paces, advance and fire: if both miss, take to our dirks. I have a couple of long Spanish knives, to one of which your principal is welcome, should we have occasion for them, which I expect we wont.' So saying, and without relaxing a muscle of his countenance, the 'squire bowed, and vanished up the companion-ladder.

Sapling was pale as ashes, and seemed almost paralyzed with terror. Have you made your will, and every thing of that kind?' said Tunley, looking as grave as an undertaker.

No-o!' hysterically replied the youth.

Then you had better retire to your berth, and do so at once; it is well to be prepared for the worst.'

'Ye-es,' sighed the persecuted, as with an air of bewildered misery he rose from the table, and shuffled into his state-room.

He did not make his appearance at supper, and the next morning, when O'Halloran went to rouse him, he declared himself unable to rise, from a severe attack of rheumatism. It being the unanimous opinion that he had been sufficiently tormented, we pretended to believe him, and he remained unmolested in his berth during the short remainder of the voyage, Miss Wilhelmina sending the steward punctually twice a day to inquire how he was.

In four days from the above-mentioned morning, we made Sandy Hook; in three hours afterward, passed the Narrows, and just as twilight was beginning to close in, we of the cabin landed from a boat at one of the East River wharves, leaving the Margaret at anchor in the stream. Augustus, whose rheumatism had miraculously departed as soon as we got into the river, was the first who jumped ashore. No sooner had he touched the terrene, than he bolted, and I have strong reason to believe the enamoured Wilhelmina never again beheld her perfidious swain. I have now fairly stranded my dramatis persona: it cannot be expected, neither would it be decorous, that I should fol

เ

low them to their hotels, boarding houses, and elsewhere, for the purpose of peering into their domestic concerns; I therefore say to thee, indulgent peruser, as Major Tunley said to me, when we parted: God bless you! my dear boy, (or girl,) may you live long, and die happy-and every thing of that kind.'

I had nearly forgotten to mention, that when travelling in the western part of Kentucky, some fifteen months after my debarkation, in passing through a small town which shall be anonymous, I remarked the following, in gilt letters on a blue ground, over the door of a clothingstore, in the principal street:

'A. F. SAPLING,
TAILOR,

FROM LONDON.'

And on looking through the store window, I saw the veritable Augustus, the son of the baronet - the protegé of Lady Mus town the fidus achates of Lord Gossamer - cutting out a pair of fustian unmentionables! Oh! what a fall was there my countrymen !

J. B.

MEMORY.

'RATHER than have one bliss forgot,

Be all my pains remembered too.'

AND wouldst thou advise me to mix with the crowd,
And strive to efface the remembrance of years;

When, though mists of misfortune too often might shroud,
One smile hath repaid me for long hours of tears?

And sayst thou that memory only can feed
The fever that preys on the desolate heart?

Oh! thou knowst not, unless thou hast felt it indeed,
What balm the remembrance of joy can impart.

There are things that are past, which I would not forget
For the brightest of pleasures that earth can now give;
Their bliss had a mixture of sorrow, and yet

Like stars in the night of my bosom they live.

As on scenes we have passed, when by distance made soft,
We gaze the more fondly the farther we go,

So, when years of our prime are gone over, how oft
We turn with delight to past pleasure and wo.

MOORE.

М. А. В.

THE ECLECTIC.

NUMBER ONE.

'Homo sum humani nil a me alienum puto.'

THERE is,' says that fascinating philosopher, Victor Cousin, 'no total error in an intelligent and rational being. Men, individuals and nations, men of genius and ordinary men, unquestionably give in to many errors, and attach themselves to them; yet not to that which makes them error, but to the part of truth which is in them.' This is a sentiment highly honorable to our nature; and what is better, it is a true one. He who forgets the mixed quality of our common humanity, its coexisting ingredients of good and evil, and particularly the relations which it sustains both to truth and error, is not only unfitted for the accurate and successful investigation of human opinions, but is also destitute of an essential propedentic for the comprehension of his own being, and for the proper study of mankind' the study of man.

Human nature, as it exists in actual development, presents a variegated picture, full of contrasts full of beauties and full of faults in which light and shadow follow each other in quick and fitful succession. It is a picture in an unfinished state, but still abounding with the immortal touches of a master, asking of the connoisseur only candor, impartiality, and acuteness, in order to be discovered and admired.

It is an obvious truth, that the appearance of objects to the eye varies with the particular position of the beholder, and that the kind of impression left on his mind may be unpleasing to him, and unfavorable to the object, if the circumstances of his view are disadvantageous in any important respect. Nor are these the only causes of the distorted appearance of objects. Physical defects in the organ of vision, or peculiarities of atmosphere, through which the beholder looks, may cause to be figured on the retina an image not much superior to a mere caricature of the object before his eye.

Now the optics of the mind are subject to similar conditions, in a faithful discharge of their appropriate functions. Our moral vision may give back false images of things,' either because we are on the wrong side of the object, or because we look at it through a bad medium. Our conceptions of humanity, as revealed in its wonder-world of thought and action, must be deeply colored by the results of a previous question. our antecedent opinion of its inherent susceptibilities and legitimate tendencies and also upon the rationale we may have seen fit to adopt, for solving its knotty problems, and disentangling its mingled yarn of rectitude and folly. The disciple of Hobbes, Mandeville, Rochefoucault, and Helvetius will inevitably on this subject come to a different conclusion from that of a follower of the immortal Bishop of Durham,' or our own eloquent Channing. Both work upon the same problem, but they use different formula; how then can their results correspond? According to the theory of the former, man is but an incarnation of selfishness, and is essentially a contemptible and vicious being. According to that of the latter, there is a law of virtue written in the heart of a moral nature ever prompting him to follow the good and avoid the bad; which is never utterly obliterated, but is frequently over

man