The Freeman, 1849-11-17

. THAT T1IIFLEH. r ;-. BT ELLEN ASBTOK. I heard yesterday that you Tvere engaged to Eveline Valliere, and to day I hear that you are to Sophy Greene. Which report is true ?' said Ed Edgar - gar Edgar Thomas to bis friend Harry Colbert, and tak taking - ing taking his cigar from his mouth, he suffered the smoke to. curl gracefully: to the ceiling, gazing meantime on the face of his friend. ,'The fact is,' said Harry, throwing himself back in his chair, I'm engaged to neither,' and then he paused. .'', 'But you are very attentive to Sopny, and those who go to Miss Valliere's set, say you are devoted to her.' and again the speaker's eye was fixed en enquiringly - quiringly enquiringly upon Harry, who looked down, moment momentarily - arily momentarily disconcerted. 'Well, the truth is," said he looking up, 'I'm a lit little - tle little in love with both the ladies, so I can't make up my mind to marry either, lest I should lose the oth other. - er. other. ,. I wish the good qualities of both were combin combin-in - in combin-in one, then I should soon decide. Miss Valliere is amiable, pretty and rich, and so far is just what I want; but she has no wit, and would never make a wife to make one proud of abroad. Sophy is poor. and without Eveline's fine figure, tho perhaps, with a prettier, certainly with a more intellectual looking face. Then she has a fine wit, and is de cidedly a girl of talent With a little tact, she might be made a perfectly fascmnating creature. I don't say which has the most womanly heart T suppose either-could love deeply enough,' here the speaker adjusted his collar. 'When I am with bophy 1 am in love with her, but when I see Eve Eveline, - line, Eveline, and think of her fortune, I cannot resist pay ing her attention. I had gone pretty far with Ev eline, before I met Miss Greene ; but since then I have been more careful, and I confess am often puzzled how to decide. If Eveline had Sophy's intellect, or Sophy had Eveline's fortune, I should propose to-morrow, but the fates have ordered it otherwise, and so poor dog that I am I must wait events, and trust to my destiny.' 'Did you ever commit yourself to Miss Valliere?' asked his companion, after a pause. 'Not exactly,' answered Harry, slowly and doubt doubtfully - fully doubtfully ; 'to-be-sure I did at one time pay her consid considerable - erable considerable attention, but then you know a pretty girl is used to such things, and if she has sense, never thinks you serious until you make love in words. Now I never did that exactly, and in that I am lucky, though I do confess to sundry sentimental walks, and sly attentions when the old folks are away you understand just enough to keep her thinking of me sufficiently to insure success if I should at any time make up mind to marry her. I bein to think lately I ought to back out, and I am not half so attentive as I once was; for the fact is, since I met Sophy Greene, I have felt that Miss Valliere is not the girl to suit me as a wife. I wish something not to be ashamed- of in society of peo ple 01 taient i wish the gods had given Kophy a fortune ; for confound it I am too poor, like most young physicians, to wed a portionless wife.' Harry Colbert had frankly explaimed the diffi difficulty - culty difficulty in which he had involved himself, but he had not told the whole truth ; for his attention to both girls had been assiduous and devoted, and of such a character as to leave no doubt on the minds of the senoiis nature of his intentions. Moving in dif different - ferent different selts in opposite sections of a large city, each was ignorant of his attentions to her rival ; and thus for several months had carried on his deception un detected. He had already wooed and won Eve line Valliere, though he had never told his love in words, before he met Sophy Greene; from that hour his heart had been divided, and the conflict in his breast had raged with increasing force daily. Interests, and perhaps some little remaining con conscience, - science, conscience, urged him to marry Eveline, while, if he had consulted only his feelings, lie would have wed wedded - ded wedded Sophy. 'But,' said his friend after an embarrassing silence of some minutes, 'do you not think sometimes that you may nave won the affections of both I never proposed to either," replied Harry star staring - ing staring at his companion. 'But does a lady never place her affections on a gentleman until he proposes in form ? Is there not such a thing as winning a lady by looks and tone. which, though not explicit in one sense, are suscep tible of but a single definition V asked his friend, searrhingly. 'Oh ! perhaps some girls do lose their hearts thus, nut 'tis only when they know nothing of the world, Gentlemen will be attentive to the ladies, and so and so ' 'And so sometimes a heart will be brokpn by the criminal coquetry of our sex, indignantly interrupt er! the other. There was a pause, during which Harry regarded his friend with surprise.- At length he snnke: Whp, really you look at the subject too warmly ; but calm your fears; neither Sophy nor Miss Val IWb will break their hearts for me, thank heaven! If either is at all smitten," and he complacently puff ed the smoke slowly from his month ; 'she would never be the worse of it, even if I shouldn't marry her a mere preference, nothing more, believe me!' 'Well, I hope so, said his companion, and iiere tne conversation ceased. Days and weeks passed, nnd still Harry was torn by conflicting emotions, one while inclining towards the heiress, and another while yielding to the fas. cinnations of her rival. Often during this period, his conscience reproached him for his conduct to tveline, and he resolved to forget Sophy; but again he yielded to the temptation, and neglected his first love. He could no longer conceal from himself that Miss Valliere loved him, since her very look and action when in his presence, and her des despondency - pondency despondency at his absence and neglect, revealed it. His heart smote him, when he thought this was his work; but he asked himself, ought he to wed one whom he did not love? Should he sacrifice hap happiness - piness happiness with Sophy, who had an intellect to sympa sympathize - thize sympathize with him, for indifference with Eveline ? He did not remember, when he thus reasoned with him himself, - self, himself, that he had at one time thought Miss Valliere better fitted for a wife, by her gentleness and un unreserved - reserved unreserved devotion, than one of a more brilliant, but Ipss amiable character. He forgot too. that her af affection - fection affection had been yielded slowly, nnd only in return for the most ceasless attention. But, like too many of his sex, he was tired of an object when won. But the struggle at length was terminated, and. with the fickleness which characterized his conduct, terminated in the favor of the nwer object of his love. He resolved to cease visiting Eveline, and devote himself to Miss Greene. His visits accord accordingly - ingly accordingly increased in frequency at her house ; and he

soon became satisfied that her attentions were more marked than those she bestowed on other young men. Thus encouraged he did not hesitate to de declare - clare declare himself one evening when a favorable oppor opportunity - tunity opportunity presented. . . . . -r Sophjr listened to his ardent protestation with a burning cbeak and beating bosom, but when he ceased, she slowly raised her eyes from the ground and said: , i 'Before I can consent to become your wife, will you answer me one question ?' and fixing her eyes searchingly on his face, though her cheek crimson crimsoned - ed crimsoned deeper as she did it, 'do you know Eveline Val Valliere?" - liere?" Valliere?" Had a spectre started up before him, Harry would not have looked more aghast What could she mean ? Had she heard of his attention nnd de sertion of Miss Valliere ? Did she resent the lat ter? or had she mearly learned the former, and wished to solve her doubts before answering? This last idea was the most flattering, and therefore the one adopted. He smiled as he replied : ' Yes, I once knew a ladv of that name. 'Once knew her," said Sophy, with marked em phasis, .'and you know her no longer?" 'I can scarcely say I do," said Harry, his embar rassment returning at the decided manner of his questioner, but she has long forgotten me, and I have ceased visiting her.' 1 here needed only this baseness, said Sophy ris ing, with flashing eyes, the whole expression of her face changing to indignant scorn, 'to make you as contemptible in my eyes, as you were before crim inal. Know, false and tickle man, that 1 have heard the history of your acquaintance with Miss Valliere ; how by slow and winning attention, you possessed yourself of her heart ; how, when you met another, who tor the time pleased your selfish nature better. you became attentive to this new acquaintance ; how, notwithstanding you knew the love filiss Val- laire bore for you, you atlength left her to pine in despondency, until her life is now despaired of by her triends. And yet, you come here and dare to insult me with an offer of your love ;' she spokei this word with bitter scorn ; 'you! the almost mur derer of the woman, and the wronger thereby of the whole sex.' - 'Ay! more; you hesitated long, because, for sooth, I was too poor, as if love, that holy sentiment, of which such wretches as you can know nothing, was to be protaned by base thoughts of lucre. 1 tell you Harry Colbert, I have known all this for weeks, and have waited patiently for this hour, stooping to a deception which I despise, that I might redeem my sex at last You seek a woman's love 1 why you know no more of that pure sentiment than the meanest Hound that crouches at the master's whip. A true woman scorns the hand of a man like you, who for the gratification of a petty vanity, or of his own selfishness, would desert a heart that he has won. The time was when I might have loved you, but it was when I thought your heart noble. I now see its baseness, duplicity and little littleness, - ness, littleness, and bad as you are I cannot hate you from very scorn. - Go ! and go knowing this, a woman can avenge her sex even at the cost of so pretty a lover as yourself." " The withering contempt with which these words were spoken was the last drop in the cup of the lov lover's - er's lover's shame. While Sophy continued speaking he had stood abashed before her, not daring to lift his eyes but once to her face, and then the indignant flash of her eyes, and the bitter mockery on her lip, were no temptation to renew the experiment And when she ceased, he rose and almost rushed from the room, too utterly confounded to reply though boiling with rage and shame. He reached his room in a tempest of emotions indiscribable. But his passion was too high to allow him to see the justness of his fate. 'Curse the girls!" was the first exclamation, 'she raved like aPithoness; but why did I not retort scorn for scorn ? To refuse me when she is not worth a cent, and all because of Eveline," and he breathed a malediction on her as the cause of his discomfeiture, and with bitter maledictions strode to and fro in his room. Gradually, however, his passion calmed itself, and a desire for revenge possessed his mind. But how should he be revenged ? Should he woo and win some other lady at once, or go back to Miss Val Valliere - liere Valliere and secure her? After pondering long he decided on the latter course. 'Yes!' he said, 'if I marry Eveline, to whom it is known I have been attentive, this termegant will never dare tell of my proposal, for we had no wit witnesses, - nesses, witnesses, nnd no one will believe her, if it should be announced soon, say to-morrow or next day at far farthest, - thest, farthest, that I am engaged to the heiress. She loves me nodoubt there this vixen was right and will be glad to accept me. I will despatch a note at once. ' A little -dissimilation to conceal the cause of my neglect, a little penitence adroitly thrown in, and a little ardor will win a favorable answer or I know nothing of the trusting nature of Eveline Val Valliere.' - liere.' Valliere.' The proposal was written and sent, but the next day and the whole week passed without an answer. Harry began to repent his precipitancy, and wish that he had never seen Eveline or Sophy. But at length came the long looked for reply. . He open opened - ed opened it with reneWed hopes, which however, were crushed on its perusal. The answer was short and cold, and contained a refusal couched in terms which forbade a second attempt 'Miss Valliere," the note ended with saying, 'declines all further ac acquaintance - quaintance acquaintance with Mr. Colbert" Stung to the quick, the rejected lover vented his rage on both the women he had abused, and deter determined - mined determined to avenge himself by a speedy marriage. But he soon found that his conduct was known in society, though not from reports originating proba probably - bly probably with their relatives, and gained strength from what had been observed of Harry's conduct , At length the tide of scorn and rebuke became so strong that he left the city and moved to another part of the country, , . , Harry never knew the struggle in Eveline's heart, nor the noble firmness with whioh she conquered it His letter reached her on a sick bed, where she had been laid by his perfidy, but though her weak heart pleaded for him, her convictions of what were right, prevailed, and she rejected him, because she felt that she could never find happiness with one so base, fickle and selfish. Both she and Sophy Greene lived to love truly and worthily, and the friendship begun by their mutual disappointment was cement cemented - ed cemented by intimacy, and endured through long and happy lives. As for Harry, he carried with him his own pun punishment - ishment punishment Providence rarely interferes in the af affairs - fairs affairs of ordinary life, except by gnslaving us with

JJ o 1 1 r a . : " Fron the New York Tribune. .. LINES, StTOOKSTlD BT THS REFUSAL OF TBS SVVtAS TO GIVE . . . CP TUS HUNGARIAN KXTLX9. BY MRS. SARAH T. BOLTON. Goo bless thee, noble Sultan! and forever Good angels keep thee, if it be a fact. That thon art bravely making an endeavor To save Kossuth God bless the for the act! It will be written, read, applauded, cherished, When Russia'a ruthless myrmydons have perishi d. The Russians deem thy Moslem creed infernal. And while he loudly vaunts his Christian faith, Consigns the Mussulman to flimes tern.il. To wailing, Otter dsrknens, and the death That dying, never dies, through all the stages Of untold torments and unnumbered ages. . He, like the Pharisee, looks np to Heaven And boasts his righteousness of life and heart; .Thou, like the good Samaritan, hue! given A snflVrer aid. and done the Christian's part. May God reward thee, when we all assemble W here vassals shall rejoice and tyrants tremble. JThe followers of Christ should love each other other-It - It other-It ia the Savinr's positive command; Yet Chrietisn Russia hsnls a stricken brother, 1 Outlawed auri railed from hia native land. Hunts him to take away the life God gave him; While thou, an Infidel, hast sought to save him. She is not satisfied to see him languish, " . From kindred, wife and children far apart; To know that sickness, poverty and anguivh Wriugsdropby drop the life-blood from his heart. She craves his life and hunts him like a tiger Would hunt a wounded lion by tha Niger. Let Russia hear the Christian name no longer. Write Tyrant, Heathen, Monster on her sky; Her iron throne is strong, bat God is stronger. And when a few more years are flitted by. His arm will rend her lengthened cords asunder. And make her power a by-word and a wonder. The world has looked on Hungary, admiring Tha noble daring of the gallant band That struggled on, with hoe and zeal untiring, . To win the freedom of their Father-land. Aud bitter words and burning tear-drops started In many a landi wheu hope from them departed. What cause had Russia for her interference? What wrong to right, what grievance to redress? . None: yet she sent her armed, enslaved adherents To help the weaker Austrian to repress The feeble rays of Liberty that lighted The land now ravaged, ruined, crushed, benighted. And though he sees her banners proudly waving. O'er hill and plain where freedom's champions died, She turns utitatisned, with conquest craving A further sacrifice to power aud pride pride-Turns - Turns pride-Turns to the scaffold, to the horrid slxughter, 'And Nero-like, jwurs human blood tike water. This blood will b a witness, swift and fearful, Against the tyrant at the judgment throne: The desolation wrought in homes once cheerful, Each bitier pang, hot tear and dying-groan. His rage hue wrung from victims unoffending. Will sting his soul with anguish never-ending. Be thou undaunted by his haughty bearing, Unmoved in purpose by his flaming wrath; He has rhe lion's cruely and daring, - But Heaven will turn his foot-steps from thy path. Thy duty is to save th Christian stranger stranger-Do - Do stranger-Do this, brave Infidel! and fear no danger. ill i a c e 1 1 a neons. The Law of Kindness Illustrated. The Philadelphia Inquirer relates the following touching incident of recent occurrence: Only a few days since, an aged citizen of Phil Philadelphia - adelphia Philadelphia was waited upon by a stranger who ask asked - ed asked few moment's conversation with him in private. The opportunity was afforded with great chcefulness. The Western merchant for such in fact, he was was ushered into the parlor of the Philadelphian, when something like the following conversation took place. "You seem to have forgotten mc Mr. H ?', "I have an indistinct recollection of having seen you before, and the tone of your voice is not unfam unfamiliar; - iliar; unfamiliar; but beyond this my memory fails." My name is Charles B , and twenty years ago I was an inmate of Philadelphia Prison, of which you were a frequenter, a benevolent and kind hearted visitor." 'I remember.I remember,said the other.brighten other.brighten-ing, - ing, other.brighten-ing, smiling and grasping the hand of the stranger; "you look so well, have improved so greatly, that I hope, may I feel satisfied that all has gone right with you." vA tear trembled in the eye of the other at so cordial and kindly a recognition ; his voice failed for a moment but then rallying again, he pro proceeded - ceeded proceeded to tell his story. At the asje of fifteen he was a neglected orphan, and with fine natural tal talents, - ents, talents, a cheerful disposition and a good heart, he was thrown into the society of the vile and disso dissolute, - lute, dissolute, in one of the most wretched sections of Phil Philadelphia - adelphia Philadelphia county. There in connection with sever several - al several other Iads,equally deserted or misled he commit committed, - ted, committed, was arrested for, and convicted of, petty theft " While in prison he was visited ngain nnd again by the Philadelphia Philanthropist, who succeeded not only in eradicating the vicious views he had imbided, but in showing hira the folly of vice and tbe certainty of its punishment, and insDirinsr him with a determination to act correctly the moment i i I.. , . . . . . . ne snouia De released. The visitor satisfied with his sincerity and gratually took a deep interest in his case. At the expiration of his sentence, he provided him with means and having stated all the facts in all confidential manner to a friend in the West, obtained him a situation in a flourishing city m mai sec u on or tne union, llie youth was overwhelmed with gratitude. He had found a friend for the first time in his brief career. His course from that moment was onward. He speed speedily - ily speedily won the confidence of his employer, on whose death, ten years thereafter, he succeeded to a large share in his business. ...... "I am now," he said, "an equal partner in the reputable and properous house of -feCo,of , and I have visited Philadelphia, not only on busi business, - ness, business, but with the object of seeking ont and return returning - ing returning my heart warm acknowledgements to my early, my ever cherished, voj often remembered bene benefactor." - factor." benefactor." The old merchant wept with joy at such a re reform, - form, reform, and acknowledged that this single incident had repaid him for the hours and days and weeks he had devoted, always prayerfully, to the blessed couse of kindness and prison reform. "Mr. Swipes, I've just kicked your William out of doors.".;-."Well, Mr. Swingle, it's the first Bill you've footed this many a day. :

to, said the lieneral, "supported in flank and rear. I might extend the mention of these hits ad finilvmi the crowd was in roars of laughter at these sallies, and none seemed to enjoy the scene more than the President himself." . n, '-.- The plowing match is thus noticed tL'j u '. "An immense hollow square was formed, with in which the plowmen, Gen, Tay lortlie committee, no others being admitted. ' It was surround- -edon all sides by at least ten thousand peopUs,Th President was furnished with a white horse, which he rode round the lines to, the great delight of the enthusiastic multitude." ; . ' . . , - i" ,, L:) .. ? 3ome of the incidents of the fair are given i ; ? s "There was embroidery and worsted work, flow ers, natural and artificial, table spreads and piano covers, chair bottoms and . slippers; and. there was a beautiful bed quilt, formed of small squares of satin ribbon, and of almost every possible shade and color, pieced together in the most perfect ana beautiful manner. "Ah I" said General Timor, "the man who gets' the hand that wrought that counterpane will get a prize worth coveting." ,-A stand was made for the President in this bulding, and the crowd had an opportunity of shaking hands and the ladies to kiss the dear old General, as thev affectionately called him.' Some of the ladies pull ed aside their veils for fear of any drawbacks. - A Mary lander, with a fine military figure, stepped up, and while shaking hands with General Taylor, pre ferred his claim fot a commission. "What commis commission - sion commission would you like ?" asked the General "I would like to be commissioned to relieve you of this putt of your duty, and receive the kisses of the htdies for you," said the modest individual ."Exactly," re plied tbe i'resinent, lowering Jus voice to a whis whisper, - per, whisper, "but that duty belongs alone to the- General-in-Chief." . v.: : -r.'- We add a scene at the dinner, atrwhich Gener al Taylor was a guest: also from the National In telligencer"s accounts . . .- I "But the event of the evening was lienenu.iar- lor"s reply to a short and feeling expression of grati gratitude - tude gratitude from Lieut Walbach, who was "one" of hht staff during the Florida campaign' When Lieut .Wai- bach, in a voice almost choked with, emotion, allu alluded - ded alluded to the kindness of Gen,Taylor,'wben"he was borne from the field, tears only such as soldiers can shed, started from more than on$ eye,'The President himself was' 'isrruch' affected ;'-but after a momentary pause, he replied, ;withoutVri8irig.''in a chaste, appropriate, terse arid feeling speech, that brought every man' to hia feet"; The words "came without hesiudori, 'easily" and . smoothly ; Webster could scarcely have surpassed it," except perhaps, that some slight oratorical flight might have atlcled grace and finish to the delivery. The occasion, however, scarce' seemed to "require that It is, of course, impossible to convey any adequate idea of the impression produced by General Taylor's, lan lan-uuage, - uuage, lan-uuage, and equally difficult would it be to give his words, as the affair was altogether impromtu. You shall have the benefit, however of a tolerable memory : . " '. .. '.-.'. "It has been my pride," said he,!during the forty years that I have been in the service of the coun country, - try, country, to foster merit, wherever I found it among-th young officers of the army, and those upon whom, after all, tbe result of a battle mainly depends." J have ever found it one of the greatest pleasures, among the few incidents in military life, to watch over them with that care which a father exercises towards a rising family, in whom his affections" centered. And when disease, with stealthy step, crept into our ranks, it has been alike my duty and my pleasure to show the sufferer that lie was car cared - ed cared for by his brethren-in-arms, and conveyecj to where softer sympathies awaited him ..than the camp affords. Though the battle-field, is not tha place to cultivate the affections, it would be a great mistake to suppose that soldiers ; are strangers to those kindly feelings, the existence of which makes up so large a portion of the sum' of human happiness. The cultivation of those feelings.'and their habitual exercise, is not only the duty of a general officer, and a pleasurable one, but a duty that he will not fail to attend to, even if he be a self selfish - ish selfish or ambitious man, as upon the affections of his men he must depend in the day of trial. If I bavo ka.n .iiniaDcfiil in ont, m i 1 i I o w o.rirm cit imnnrt. ISGGU . .1, ...... J a.w..v.- ance, it is to this I am indebted for such CO opera operation - tion operation on the part of the army I had the honor to com command, - mand, command, as enabled us to meet tbe foe with the de de-term - term de-term ination never to surrender. It is to this, ton, perhaps that I owe the fortunate circumstance, that, during a long military career, I have never appear appeared - ed appeared before any tribunal, and have never had any occassion to attend any court-martial -1 have been fortunate enough, as an officer, to escape even the assaults of malice." ' Unpraclicied in framing sentences for a lengthy extempore speech 'to a. crowd. Gen. Taylor's diffidence disables him from appearing to advantage. But surrounded by a few friends at table, and upon an occasion when his feel feelings - ings feelings are aroused, he holds such language as few men can command. The diction of his own chaste and elegaut dispatches are then shadowed forth so truthfully, that none could read the one" and hear the other, without recognizing the anthenv It was of no use to talk of toasts and speeches af after - ter after this. The company adjourned simultaneously to talk over their surprise nd 'admiration some somewhere - where somewhere else. ' - i . "V ! ; . 'Wall,' said a soft-hearted blubbering Jonsthnn the other day, Suke has gin me the sack, by graxy I I've lost her." -: 'Lost her; how ? inquired bis sym sympathising - pathising sympathising friend. - 'I laid the soft soap on to her 60 thick, that the critter got so proud she wouldn't ! speak to me. "What salary do you expect?" inquired a downtown merchant, on Saturday last of a youth who was applying for a situation. "Enough to keen me from wishing to steal," was the frank re minder, and it pleased ' the merchant's well that . " t; ...... r r-vr rf-i i a bargain was soon strucK. , r uiooq. The city of Boston expended d ttring the last year, no2,l7l"3S for Free Schefrft' ,r- '" 1

NUMBER 36. our evil habits, and thus make us work on ourselves our own retribution. These hnbits Harry carried with him, nor could he shake them off His char character - acter character soon became as well known in his new resi residence - dence residence as in the city he had left At length he married, but as he wedded without love, he lived without happiness. Well were hia victims aveng avenged - ed avenged on the tbifleb. Method of Obtaining the Sponge. The sponge of commerce is found attached to rocks in various depths between three fathoms and thirty. When alive it is of a dull bluish back above, and of a dirty white beneath. There are several qualities, possibly indicating as many distinct spe species. - cies. species. The best are taken among the Cyclades. The sponge divers, however, are mostly people from the islands of the Carian coast; from Calyra Calyra-nous,and - nous,and Calyra-nous,and the islands between calymnor and Rhodes. They go in little fleets of caiques, each of six or seven tons burden, and manned by six or eight men. The season for the fishery lasts from May un until - til until September. ' All the men dive in turn. They remain under water from 1 to 3 minutes. They descend to the bottom at various depths, between five fathoms and twenty,, or even though rarely, thirty. . Very few of the Archipelago divers can descend so deep as the last named depth and it is doubtful weather they can work in such case. Some years ago, a diver asserted he had bent a rope round the beam of a Turkish frigate, sunk in thirty fathoms water off Scio. Mr. Love, when engaged in raising the guns of some of the sunken ships, confirmed his statement, by finding the rope still bent round the beam. In deep water, a rope weighed by a stone -is let down, by which the the divers ascend when they have gathered the sponges. They carry nothing about their person except a netted bag which is attached to a hoop suspended round their necks, in this they place the sponges. In a good locality, a diver may bring up fifty okes of sponges in a day. . A very large spon ge may weigh two okes. The weight is calculated from the the sponges when they are dried. A sponge is dried in the sun, after being cleansed in sea-water, fresh water rots and turns it black. ' The slimy or animal ma.ter is stamed out by the div er's feet When dried the sponges are strung in circles. They are sold at twenty-five drachms an oke. The chief markets for then are Smyrna, Kliodes and Iapolk The sponge fisheries were probably conducted a a-mong - mong a-mong the ancient Greeks as they now are. Hence, information being obtainable with facility, we find a full account of the sponge in tbe writings of Aristotle. He appears to have been deeply inter ested in its history, on account of the link it seemed to present between animal and vegetable natures. Therefore the question, weather sponges possessed sensation, is discussed by him more than once, and left undecided ; the statement for and against their capacity ot feeling are, fairly put forward. The same question is debated among naturalists at the present day,, and, as anciently, there are not wanting advocates tor either view. . Aristole dis tinguished sponges under two heads, those that might be cleaned, and those that could not Of the last, he states that their substance was com pact, perlorated by large canals, lhey were more viscous than other sponges, and when dried remained black. The description exactly applies to the common coast line sponges of the Egean, useless for economic purposes. His account of the sponges of commerce is more detailed. He distinguished three varieties: those that are lax and porous ; those of thick and close texture ; and a third kind, called sponges of Achilles, finer, more compact, and stronger than others. These last were rarest,and used to be placed in helmets and in boots, as protections from pressure for the head and feet They all grow on the rock, adhering not by one point only, nor by tbe whole surface; but by the coast which became suddenly deep He attributes the superior fineness of texture in these deep-sea kinds to the greater unifornity of temperature of the water in such places. Wnen alive, and betore they are washed, they are black. Their canals are often inhabited by little Crustacea. Such are the leading points of the account given of sponges in the fifth book of the history of the animals. From Spratt and Forbe's Lycia. ' j Ice Swamp near the South Pass. A correspondent of the Rochester Advertiser, writing from Salt Lake, describes a natural curios curiosity - ity curiosity existing on the Sweet Water River, a few miles above the well known Devil's (iate, below the boutb Pass, in the shape of what he calls an ice swamp, that is, a marshy glen on the south bank of the tfrpam in whirh ftftr rlifyirimr nhnnf oicrrttjp.n !nrh. ... DO O " es of peaty soil, a stratum of ice is reached, from two to six inches thick. He says it is, pure and perfect ice, but adds, somewhat contadictorily, that it has "a saline or alkaline taste. .Be this, howev er, as it may, we need not go so far as the South Pass to wonder over the rarity of a sou beneath which ice is to be found in the summer time, There is a similar curiosity existing in Hamshire county, Virginia, in the ice mountain, as it is called, a high hill, upon the north-western side of which is a stratum of loose rocks, some three feet deep, on rsmoving which ice may be discovered in un unknown - known unknown abundance, at all seasons of the year. North American. AWhaieinth Thames. On the 16th ult an unusual noise and appearance were in the Thames, near a place called Gray's wharf, some 30 miles below London, which was found to be oc oc-cassioned - cassioned oc-cassioned by a whale floundering in the mud. As the tide receded the difficulty of the animal in increased. - creased. increased. A number of people were attracted to the spot, who attacked him with sucji weapons as were at hand, and they succeeded in securing and bring bringing - ing bringing him to the wharf where a handsome revenue was derived from exhibiting him at a 6d a sight He was 53 feet in length and 33 feet in girth, and was computed to weigh 30 tons." . o While the dog law was under discussion in the Massacnussets uouse or n.epresenisuves,a wnggiau member sent a private note to the Speiiker propos proposing - ing proposing that the subject he referred to Messrs. Cur-tit Bow-ker and Barl-er. "My dear," said an aflectionate spouse to her husband, "am I not your only treasure ?" "Oh yes," was the cool reply, "and I would willingly lay it up in heaven." What an "insinuating" wretch.

v; ' ; The President at Baltimore. , ": President Taylor attended the State 'Acuhur at Fair at Baltimore, and was in fine health nni spirits. The old hero mingled with the people fit his. own republican,- familiar way, and was greeted by thousands most cordially, tie stopped 'at Burrx Burrx-urn's, - urn's, Burrx-urn's, where there was a perfect "jam to pay their respects. 1 An account says!- S - !'. Men of every rank and station, and grade of lift', crowded in to get a sight of the hero President and shake him by tbe band. ' Military men, profession als, farmers and mechanics some of them in their shirt sleeves all were received with the sani hearty welcome a "good morning," and a kind word. '. The, boys, too, the rising generation of Bal Baltimore, - timore, Baltimore, were. well represented, and: eame in for no small share of provoking General Taylor's readinesa in reply. ; Nothing seemed to daunt him." The most unexpected sally received something apt and appropriate. "How are you, old Bony V isty ?" sai4 a wag of an urchin, holding out his hand. "How are you, my boy ?" said General Tay olrr "you"ll be a General yourself some of these days if you don't look out" ; "You stand it well," said an old sold soldier, - ier, soldier, alluding to his shaking hands so often, "I ought