The nails employed are of three kinds: 1. The long nails, which form a complete row, as near as possible to the edge of the whole shoe, passing through the two soles, the welt, and the upper-leath nails, round its edge. The heads, or thick ends of the nails, are seen on the lower side of the soles, and keep the leather from wearing. We cannot better conclude this account, than by noticing the machines invented by Mr. Brunel for the purpose of making shoes for the army and navy. The chief difference between his method and that in common use, consisted in the employ-er; the heel is also fastened on by a row of these ment of nails of different lengths, for the purpose of uniting the various parts of the shoe, the only part subjected to the operation of sewing being the three pieces of which the upper-leather is composed, namely, the vamp and the two quarters. The cutting-out is performed by large steel punches of the proper form; the holes to receive the nails are made with the greatest regularity, and by a very simple contrivance the nails, which are also made by the same machine, are dropped with unerring certainty in their places, and at one blow they are all driven in to the proper depth. 2. The tacking nails, which are of such a size as to pass only through the sole and the welt. Of these there is a row all round the edge of the foot, but further from the edge than the row of long nails. 3. The short nails, which only penetrate through the thickness of the lower sole; they are disposed in parallel rows across the tread of the foot, and also in a double row parallel to the outline of the toe, at about three quarters of an inch from the edge. A species of correction appointed for boatmen, we find her in the possession of Augustine Wash o, as they are termed in England, watermen. Having been convicted of some misbehaviour, he is compelled to kneel: one of the officers of justice prevents him from flinching, whilst another grasps his hair, and bestows a certain number of blows upon each side of his face, with a sort of double battledore, made of thick leather. JOICE HETH, AGED 161. ington, the father of General Washington. She became a member of the Baptist church while in his possession, and was baptized in the Potomac river, about the year 1719, or 116 years ago. The disposition he made of her, and her age at the time, appears in the following bill of sale:- "Know all men by these presents that I Augustin Washington of the county of Westmoreland and WE visited this curious living relick of antiquity, state of Virginia for and in concideration of the about the middle of August, at Niblo's. From rec- sum of thirty three pounds lawfull money of Virginia ords, the authenticity of which we have no reason to to me in my hand paid the Receipt of which is heardoubt, Joice Heth was born in the island of Mada- by acknowledgd have bargained sold and delivergascar, on the southeastern coast of Africa, in the ed and by these presents do bargin sell and deyear 1673. She was brought to this country, in a liver to Elizabeth Atwood one negrow woman slave ship, doubtless, at the age of fifteen years. named Joice Heth aged fifty four years to have and She was held as a slave in the State of Virginia, to hold the Said Joice Heth unto the said Elizabeth subsequently, but we cannot trace her history until Atwood her executors adı pinistrators and assigns to her and to her proper use benefit and behoof felt curiosity enough to seek her out, and the result for Ever and I the said Augustin Washington my has been, that "old aunt Joice" is no longer hid in heirs Executors and Administrators the said bar- a corner, but carried about on a litter, a publick ex gaind Bargined negrow with unto the Said Elizabeth hibition, to gratify the acquisitiveness of some, and Two certificates accompany Atwood her Executors Administrators and Assigns the curiosity of all. from against all person or persons whomsoever shall her, one by Hezekiah Buckner, aged 67, and the and will warrant and for Ever defend by these other by Benjamin A. Leland, aged 71, both resi presents in witness whereof I have hereunto Set my dents of Paris; they state, in substance, that from hand and Seal this the fifth day of Febuary one their earliest days they have known the coloured thousand seven hundred and twenty seven. woman now exhibiting-that they have no doubt that 161 is her correct age-that as early as they can remember she was totally blind from age, and too infirm to labour-that she has been celebrated for her piety and belief, that no reward or threat could induce her to tell a falsehood, &c. A. WASHINGTON. [Seal.] Sealed and delivered in presents of RICHARD BUCKNER. WILLIAM WASHINGTON," Joice insists that she is the same person mentioned in this instrument, and claims to have been the At the present period she weighs but forty-six first nurse of George Washington, who was born five pounds, is very much emaciated, and bears every years after, viz., 1732. Elizabeth Atwood, it is un- mark of extreme old age. Her eyes are closed and derstood, was a member of the Washington family, deeply sunk in their sockets; the skin is closely so that the apparent inconsistency in this portion of drawn over the bones; one front tooth is preserved; Joice's statement disappears. She relates some few her hair is gray; her hands, with the nails grown to facts connected with the birth and childhood of nearly an inch in length, resemble the claws of a General Washington, as the cutting of the cherry-bird; one arm is crippled, the hand is closed, and tree, wherein his honesty saved him a flogging, &c., the nails have partly grown into the flesh; her feet but her memory is very faint and indistinct. The are but skin and bone, with nails about an inch long; "red coats," however, seem to have made a very the nails of her great toes, resemble blue horn, and vivid and lasting impression upon her mind, and she are about half an inch in thickness; when asleep, still appears to harbour an inveterate antipathy to- her face more nearly resembles an Egyptian mummy wards them. But as to all subsequent events, her than any thing alive. Her conversation is generally memory seems to be almost tabula rasa. She does, confined to answering questions, and her voice is indeed, recollect, that when George Washington was little louder than a whisper, She occasionally considerably advanced in boyhood, he left his pater- laughs; sings one or two hymns, but is very easily nal roof, and that she, a short time afterwards, was fatigued. Food is administered to her regularly sent into Kentucky; but her history since that period three times a day, with a little whiskey; but evacuaseems involved in the darkest obscurity. It will be tions occur but once in a fortnight! She is an inrecollected that in his eighteenth year, George veterate smoker. Washington was appointed surveyor, by Lord Fairfax, and this event which called him away from home, may be the period to which she refers. Joice recollects nothing more of George Washington! She knows not that the infant boy she nursed, had no sooner grown to manhood, than he became the "first in war, first in peace, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen❞—she remembers not that he died the adoration of his country, and claimed by the whole world as the boon of providence to the human race! With all the evidence before us, we can but look upon the life of Joice Heth, as a wonderful instance of longevity; as an extraordinary exception, wherein we behold the existence of this frail mechanism of human form prolonged to more than eighty years beyond the grand climacterick of human life! Born in 1673, what vast and important events are comprised in the period of her history! Some of the greatest changes, the most important revolutions in empires and states, the most wonderful discoveries and all their most valuable improvements in art, in About the year 1760, or seventy-five years ago, science, in government, may be found to have burst it appears, Joice became totally blind and very in- upon the world since the period of the birth of Joice firm. By about the year 1810, her infirmity increas- Heth! It was but about fifty years before her birth ed upon her so much, that she was obliged to take that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth-at the day to her bed, upon which, it appears, she has lain ever of her birth Plymouth and New Haven colonies, the since. Last winter, a gentleman was passing through settlement of the Dutch at New York, and the setParis, in the state of Kentucky, and accidentally tlement at Jamestown, were the principal settlements heard that a woman was living in an obscure place in in this country-in fact, the region beyond the that town, who was reputed to be 161 years sold. He Mississippi was entirely unexplored, and Louisiana, as well as the northwest territory, Kamtschatha, and the islands of the South Pacifick, were unknown to European nations. When the father of the United States was born, Joice Heth was fifty-nine years old-since which time we have fought our battles of independence, established our government, and peopled our country with twelve millions of freemen. In her youthful days, history informs us, people were wont to travel on foot or with horses; now, with the speed of the wind, steam propels us over land and water, and balloons transport us through the air! Indeed, it is not extravagant to believe, that the time is close at hand, when the period comprised in the first 100 years of Joice Heth's life, will be linked on to the dark ages! We know of but three instances since Methusaleh's time, where the extraordinary age of this individual has been exceeded. The first was a woman by the name of Sarah Brookman, who died in England in 1776, at the age of 166. The second was Henry Jenkins, who died at the age of 169. The third is now living in Russia, at an age about equalling the last. There is also now living near Buffalo, in this state, an old chief of the Seneca tribe of Indians, whom the tradition of the tribe, reputes to be about 150 years old. It is said he is a small, withered and shrivelled specimen of human nature, but is remarkably quick in his movements, swift of foot, and possesses a keen, hawk eye, and all his faculties in perfection. HALLEY'S COMET. The astronomers, inform us that the comet of Halley is now making its way in its elliptical orbit towards the sun and the earth. It will be nearest to the earth about the 5th or 6th of October, and in its perihelion, or nearest point to the sun, about the 4th of November. Its revolution is about seventy-six years, and was last seen in 1759. When the comet is nearest the sun, it will be about an equal distance with Venus from that luminary-and when at its greatest distance from the sun it will be almost twice as far off as Georgium Sidus. are informed, "the people seemed regardless of the present and anxious only for the future. The Romish Church at this time held unbounded sway over the lives, and fortunes, and consciences of men. To prepare the world for its expected doom, Pope Calixtus III. ordered the Ave Maria to be repeated three times a day instead of two. He also ordered the church bells to be rung at noon, which was the origin of that practice, so universal in Christian churches. To the Ave Maria the prayer was added- Lord save us from the devil, the Turk, and the comet :' and once each day, these three obnoxious personages suffered a regular excommunication. "The Pope and clergy exhibiting such fear, it is not a matter of wonder, that it became the ruling passion of the multitude. The churches and convents were crowded for confession of sins; and treasures uncounted were poured into the apostolick chamber. "The comet after suffering some months of daily cursing, and excommunication, began to show signs of retreat, and soon disappeared from those eyes in which it found no favour. Joy and tranquillity soon returned to the faithful subjects of the Pope, but not so with their money, and their lands. The people, however, became satisfied that their lives, and the safety of the world, had been cheaply purchased. The Pope, who had achieved so signal a victory over the monster of the sky, had checked the progress of the Turk, and kept, for the present, his Satanick Majesty at a safe distance-while the Church of Rome, retaining her unbounded wealth, was enabled to continue that influence over her followers, which she retains, in part, to this day." This comet appeared again in the years 1531, 1607, 1682 and 1759, and is now approaching the sun with accelerated velocity, and will pass its perihelion the first week in November. To speculate a little-suppose this comet should strike the earth on the western side of our meridian ? the consequence would seem to be that old Terra would be set whirling in the contrary direction, namely, from east to west. If it should strike us If we mistake not, this is the same comet that north of the equator, should we not have a rapid revappeared in 1456, spreading terrour throughout the olution from south to north, and therefore two revocivilized world, and exciting a belief, general among lutions at right angles to each other? Again, supall classes, that the world was about to be destroyed, pose it should only come near enough to tear us from and that the day of judgment was at hand! Indeed, our station in the system and draw us in the fiery so great was the general alarm, that the comet was train of its own orbit? If we could withstand the excommunicated three times a day during its appear- scorching, what wonders would be unfolded to us in ance in the heavens, by the Church of Rome! At the companionship of a comet in its almost cententhis time the Turks were extending their victorious nial pilgrimage through the unexplored heavens! arms across the Hellespont, and threatening to over- But its dangerous approximation to the earth need run all Europe. This added not a little to the uni- be but little feared or expected. At the nearest versal dismay. "Under all these impressions," we point of its approach, it will be about twenty-two millions of miles distant from the earth. Indeed, its periodical return may now be safely predicted, since it has been almost conclusively proved to be composed of matter, and to obey, like the planets, the laws of gravitation. The brilliancy of this comet will be the brightest when nearest the earth, and for a few days afterwards; and then having a north declination of upwards of fifty degrees, it will, in the northern states, be, in the circle of perpetual apparition, like the north stars, and consequently will then appear to revolve around the pole without descending below the horizon. It is expected to be visible from the earth during part of the time, viz., from the first to the tenth of October, and its apparent motion in right ascension and declination will not be less than that of the moon. The elements in relation to the appearance of this comet have been determined with great care and labour by three of the first mathematicians in Europe. We subjoin the results of the calculations of M. Damoiseau : Passage of the Perihelion, 1835, Nov. 4. 32, Paris mean time from midnight. Place of the Perihelion on the orbit Ratio of the eccentricity to the semiaxis major Semi-axis major Motion retrogade. 304° 27' 24" 55 9 7 17 41 5 0.9673055 The comet will probably not be visible without the aid of glasses. It is called Halley's comet, because its period of revolution was calculated by the celebrated astronomer Edmund Halley, in 1682. Sir Isaac Newton, who was contemporary with Halley, observed in his last illness, "that the elliptical figure of the orbits of comets led him to think that they might naturally fall into the sun; and that perhaps the comet of Halley, after several more revolutions, would be drawn into that luminary; which would so increase its heat, as to produce disastrous consequences to some of the planets of the system." EPITHALAMIUM. BY J. G. BRAINARD. I saw two clouds at morning, And in the dawn they floated on And mingled into one: I thought that morning cloud was blest, It moved so sweetly to the West. I saw two summer currents Flow softly to their meeting, And join their course in silent force, In peace each other greeting: Calm was the scene, through banks of green, Such be your gentle motion, "Till life's last pulse shall beat; Like summer's beam, and summer's stream, A purer sky, where troubles cease, A calmer sea, where all is peace. and 125,185 words. The middle chapter, and the The Apocrypha has 183 chapters, 6081 verses, least in the Bible, is the 117th Psalm; the middle verse is the 8th of 118th Psalm; the middle line is the 2d book of the Chronicles, 4th chapter, and 16th 35,535 times; the same word in the New Testaverse; the word and occurs in the Old Testament ment occurs 10,684 times; the word Jehovah occurs 6,855 times. Old Testament. The middle book is Proverbs, the middle chapter is the 29th of Job; the middle verse is in the 2d book of Chronicles, 20th chapter, and 18th verse; the least verse is the 1st book of Chronicles, 1st chapter, and 1st verse. New Testament. The middle is the Thessalonians, 2d; the middle chapter is between the 13th and 14th of the Romans; the middle verse is the 17th of the 17th chapter of the Acts; the least verse is the 35th verse of the 11th chapter of the Gospel by St. John. The 21st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra has all the letters of the alphabet in it. the 37th chapter of Isaiah, are alike. The book of Esther has 10 chapters, but neither the words Lord nor God in it. The following is a chronological list of different versions and editions of the Scriptures :-First translated into the Saxon language 939. Hebrew-first printed Hebrew Bible done at Soncinum in Italy, at Naples, 1487; complete of the whole Bible, at Soncinum, 1488; at Venice, by Bomberg, 1518-and at the same epoch in Spain, under Cardinal Ximenes; in 1526-28, the first edition of B. Chaim; Basil, 1534; in 1549, by B. Chaim; in 1572, the Royal or Spanish Polyglott, 8 vols. at Antwerp; third edition of B. Chaim's Bible, 1618; in 1623, at Venice; Amsterdam, 1724-27; Paris 1641, 10 folio vols Polyglott; London Polyglott, 1757. SONNET-DAWN. I see the light, I taste the flowing air- To the young flowers, and joy to every one- Early in 1775 after the battles of Lexington and | from Noddle's Island and Hog Island, and succeeded, Concord, affairs in this country were every where after some fighting. They scoured Pettick's Island ripening for the general war. The citizens of New and Deer Island, soon after, in the same way. The England, New Jersey, Virginia, and the Carolinas, English were put to a good deal of trouble to get were actively engaged in preparations of defence. food. The troops of New York and New Hampshire were also employed in fighting the enemy at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. It was at this crisis that the skirmishes between the English and the provincials at Boston, resulted in a most obstinate battle. There were some islands in Boston harbour, where the English found forage for their horses and cattle. The Americans undertook to carry off these cattle They were finally so much pressed by the American army, that General Gage found himself obliged to make a new effort against them. The provincials had sent 1,000 men, under Colonel Prescott, to fortify Bunker's Hill, in Charlestown. Instead of doing so, however, by some mistake, he fortified Breed's Hill, which is nearer the city. The Americans took possession of it in the evening, and worked so |