1545. The council of Trent convenes. 1572. Massacre of Bartholomew at Paris, and the 1582. Pope Gregory introduces the new style of reckoning time. 1588. Destruction of the Spanish armada, whose 1590. John Knox introduces the reformation in WHY ARE WE RIGHT-HANDED? pay an obligation. Therefore, what benevolence so low, that they may not at some time be able to rewould dictate, prudence would confirm. For he that is cautious of insulting the weakest, and not above obliging the lowest, will have attained such habits of forbearance and of complacency, as will secure him the goodwill of all that are beneath him, and teach him how to avoid the enmity of all that are above him. For he that would not bruise even a worm, will be still more cautious how he treads upon a serpent. THE DIFFICULTY WITH FRANCE ADJUSTED. Early in February, the British brig Pantaloon, in the misunderstanding between France and the arrived at Norfolk, bearing an overture of mediation United States, from the British king. The offer of mediation was accepted by our executive, and had also been accepted by France. In accepting the mediation, however, the point, that a foreign nation has a right to demand an explanation of communications passed between different branches of our government, is expressly denied. It is understood that the president's annual message has been deemed satisfactory to France, and that the first instalment will be paid when demanded. THE MESSAGE. Sir Charles Bell on this subject, observes:-"That for the conveniences of life, and to make us prompt and dexterous, it is evident there ought to be no hesi*ation which hand is to be used, or which foot to be put forward; and that there is, indeed, no such indecision. Is this taught us? Or is it from nature?" There is a distinction, he says, in the right side of the body; and the left side is weaker, both as to muscular power To the Senate and House of Representatives : and its constitutional properties. The development of the organs of motion and action, he adds, is great-mediation for the adjustment of the dispute between The Government of Great Britain has offered its est on the right side, as may be proved by measure- the United States and France. Carefully guarding ment, or the opinion of the tailor and shoemaker. that point in the controversy which, as it involves This superiority may be said to result from the more frequent use of the right hand. But whence the our honour and independence, admits of no comproorigin of this use or practice? It has been said, chil-mise, I have cheerfully accepted the offer. It will dren are taught by parents and nurses to use their be obviously improper to resort even to the mildest right hand: but not always, and not generally, it is tained whether France has declined or accepted the measures of a compulsory character, until it is ascerbelieved Besides, this peculiarity is constitutional; mediation. I therefore recommend a suspension of disease attacks the left side and members more frequently than the right. In walking behind a person, of the fifteenth of January last, which proposes a parall proceedings on that part of my Special Message we seldom see an equalized motion of the body: and we tial non-intercourse with France. may observe that the step with the left foot is not so too highly appreciate the elevated and disinterested While we cannot firm as with the right; that the toe is not so much turned out in the left, and that a greater push is made with motives of the offer of Great Britain, and have a just it. From the form of females, and the elasticity of store the relations of ancient friendship between the reliance upon the great influence of that power to retheir step, resulting more from the ankle than the hip, United States and France, and know, too, that our the defect of the left foot is still more apparent. We do not see children hop on the left foot. May it not own pacifick policy will be strictly adhered to until the be concluded, then, that every thing (in the convennational honour compels us to depart from it, we iences of life) being adapted to the right hand, it is should be insensible to the exposed condition of our not arbitrary, but is owing to a natural endowment of country, and forget the lessons of experience, if we the body, that the right hand is the most strong and did not efficiently prepare for an adverse result. The best fitted for action? We conclude, therefore, that peace of a nation does not depend exclusively upon the preference in using the right hand rather than the its own will, nor upon the beneficent policy of neighleft, is not the effect of habit merely, nor adventitious, totally unprepared for the exigencies and dangers bouring powers; and that nation which is found but is a provision of nature. This theory is not, indeed, universally receivde. The skilful anatomist warning of its approach, is criminally negligent of its of war, although it come without having given alone can decide. If there are peculiar properties or mechanism to justify the opinion, it affords a new honour and its duty. proof of wise and benevolent design in the Former of our bodies,' and of our being "wonderfully made." As there are none so weak, that we may not venture to injure them with impunity, so there are none I cannot too strongly repeat the recommendation, already made, to place the seaboard in a proper state THE MERCHANTS EXCHANGE, NEW YORK. The Merchants Exchange was situated on the easterly end of the block formed by Wall, William, Exchange, and Hanover streets, and extended one hundred and sixty-four feet front and rear, and one hundred and fifty feet deep. It was two stories high, besides a basement and an attick. The front WALL STREET is known, the world over, as the mart of the money-changers in New York. It is, indeed, chiefly filled with bankers and brokers, who rejoice in fingering banknotes, half joes, eagles, and dollars, the former of whom are happy to receive your money on deposite and accommodate you occasionally with on Wall street, which was the principal one, was a loan at a moderate discount, and the latter of whom built entirely of white marble from the Westchester are ready to negociate a note for a reasonable ad- quarries; of the Ionick order of architecture; its vance, or to change uncurrent into current money at prototype, the temple of Minerva Polias, at Priene, a slight charge. But there are no inconsiderable Ionia. A recessed portico of about forty feet wide, numbers of other gentry, who would be happy to in an elliptical form, with a screen of four stupenacquaint themselves with your purse, as assurers, dous columns and two ante extending across the lawyers, notaries, speculators, stock-jobbers, pack-front, was very advantageously introduced. These et-officers, money-collectors, customhouse officers, columns were thirty feet high, and three feet four news-mongers, and agents in any line or transaction inches in diameter above the base. The shaft of whatever. They are all but the facilitators of the mer-each column was composed of a single block of marchant, the mechanick, the manufacturer, the farmer, ble. They supported an entablature of about six and the gentleman, in all the money operations which feet in height, upon which rests the attick, or third the latter cannot, with facility, transact for them- story; making a height of about sixty feet from the selves. The whole street is immeasurably active in ground. On each side of the portico was an entrance the general pursuit of money. The business of to the basement, leading through a sort of corridor to every house relates to money, notes or stock; in Exchange street. The left was occupied by the every group the subject of conversation is money, Postoffice, and the right by brokers' offices, refectonotes or stock; the life, motion, and being, of every ries, &c. man in Wall street is money, notes or stock. Every The front entrance to the Exchange was by a thing is done by exchange, whether it be an ex-flight of stairs, or a dozen broad marble steps, with change of money, of notes, of bonds, of stock, of estates, of opinions and information, or of nods and winks significantly appertaining to that mode of making money, called speculation. Here fortunes are won in an hour, and here too they are lost as soon. Gold is here the beacon of hope, and the mainspring of action; but also too often does it prove the ignis-fatuus of deluded adventurers, and the siren of evil and destruction. Wall street is also the centre of commercial information and general news. Hither all citizens who are infected with the cacoethus audiendi, flock, to learn how the world wags, as well as to proclaim such items of intelligence as may have reached their understandings alone. The merchants particularly collect here in great numbers, at mid-day, to confer together upon the objects of trade, and to survey the general indications of the commercial atmosphere. For the greater convenience of these daily assemblages, which have become very necessary and important, a building has been particularly erected, called the Merchants Exchange, and devoted to that object. The noble edifice which has heretofore been used for this purpose, and a plan of which is given overleaf, was destroyed in the great conflagration of the 16th December last. Although a still more splendid structure will soon rise upon its ruins, yet we deem a particular description worth preserving. a pedestal at each end. On ascending to the porti- There were CHYMISTRY. OF THE METALS.-MERCURY. Mercury, or quicksilver, is the only metal which assumes the fluid form at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. When cooled to about 40° bebelow 0° of Fahrenheit, a degree of cold which sometimes occurs naturally in very high polar latitudes, it becomes solid. It can also be congealed by artificial freezing mixtures, and the evaporation of sulphuret of carbon in the vacuum of an airpump. In this state it is malleable, and may be cut with a knife. Its colour is white, but rather bluer than that of silver: its specifick gravity at 47° above 0° is 13.6. It is volatile, and its vapour rises in small quantities, even at the common temperature of the air. At about 660° Fahrenheit, it boils rapidly, and may be purified by distillation. It is found in nature, in small quantities, in the metallick state; but the ore from which it is chiefly extracted is a sulphuret, commonly known by the name of cinnabar. Its combining proportion, or equivalent number, is known from the analysis of its binary compound, of which we shall proceed to give some account. SILVER. Silver is one of the metals which have been longest known to the inhabitants of the earth. It is of a beautiful white colour and great lustre. Its specifick gravity is 10.5, and in malleability and ductility it exceeds all metals except gold. It may be extended into leaves, not exceeding 1000th of an inch in thickness, and drawn into wire finer than a human hair. Its fusing point, measured by Daniell's pyrometer, upon Fahrenheit's scale, is about 2233. It may be volatilized by a very strong and long-continued heat. When cooled slowly, and the liquid part of the metal poured off, as soon as the surface has congealed, it may be obtained in crystals. Its uses for money and for ornamental articles of luxury are well known, for which purposes it is well adapted by its great inalterability; but it is always alloyed with other metals, and generally with copper. The tarnish which affects it, arises from sulphureous vapours, not from oxydation. It is found in silver mines, in the metallick state, and also in combination with other metals and with sulphur. GOLD. and lustre, it is also in the highest request for purposes of luxury and ornament. It has hitherto only been found in nature in the metallick state, either pure or in combination with other metals. PLATINUM. Platinum, although only found in the metallick state, is, comparatively, but a late discovery. The general appearance of it in a rough state, in which it is brought to this country, is that of small grains or scales, darker than silver, and extremely heavy. with When purified, it is of a white colour, lighter than that of iron, and exceeding all other metals in specifick gravity: it being 21.5, and the most ponderous of all known substances. It is extremely difficult of fusion, but may be melted by a flame urged oxygen gas. It possesses the valuable property of welding; that is to say, at a white heat an incipient fusion takes place, which covers its surface with a kind of varnish, so that when brought into contact in this state, different pieces may be permanently united by forging. In this manner it can be hammered into bars, and afterwards beat out into plates or leaves for different purposes of art: Like gold, it is insoluble in any acid, except the mixture of the muriatick and nitrick. It has lately been found in Russia in considerable quantities, and employed for the purposes of coin, for which it is well adapted. From the Western Monthly Magazine. Delivered before the Western Literary Institute and College of (Continued from page 390.) Such are the means of acquiring a correct and energetick delivery, which I have been accustomed to offer to my pupils. And if we now turn to consider the purposes, to which the acquisition may be made subservient, we cannot fail to be struck with its great importance. It is not necessary to pronounce a declamatory eulogium, in order to remind you of the immense utility of eloquence in a country blessed with such free institutions as ours. Lord Brougham recited only its ordinary praises, when he spoke of eloquence as the means whereby justice and innocence might be best defended-useful truths most successfully promulgated from the pulpit-the march of tyranny most effectually resisted-defiance the most terrible hurled at the oppressor's head; and Gold, when pure, is of a yellow colour, and pos- again as the "protector of liberty-patron of imsesses a specifick gravity of about 19.3. It exceeds provement-guardian of all the blessings that have all other metals in ductility and malleability. It may been showered upon our race." Nor, as I trust, is it be beaten into leaves th of an inch in thick- any professional vainglory-any foolish desire to ness; and a wire of only 18ths of an inch diame- extol and magnify our art-that makes me claim for ter, will sustain a weight of 150lbs. Its melting elocution, the distinction of being the most valuable point is about 2590° of Fahrenheit's scale. It is ally of eloquence. The orator must stand or fall by perfectly unchanged by fire with access of air, and his delivery! This is a truth equally proclaimed by the intense heat of a glasshouse furnace has no the collective voice of antiquity, and of modern times other effect upon it than to keep it in fusion. It is Let us look back, for a moment, to the illustrious not acted upon by any solvent, except a mixture of masters of the art of persuasion in ancient Greece. muriatick and nitrick acids, or the aqua regia of Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the commerce, which is formed by dissolving sal ammo- comparative excellence, in general literature, of the niack in nitrick acid. Its great value for the purposes ancients, and moderns, it is almost universally acof coin, when slightly alloyed with other metals, is knowledged, that the Greeks, were the most successwell known. From its great beauty, inalterability, ful cultivators of oratory the world has ever seen. It is therefore important to know how surely, among refer to it because it enables me at once to answer them, the art of delivery was held in the highest es- those, who are continually crying out, that artificial timation. It was a popular art: and there can be no culture must necessarily impart a constrained and doubt, that the prevailing nice and critical taste for formal air. Was Demosthenes less natural or less this branch, had a most powerful influence, in bring-effective, after having given days and nights of labour ing their language to its unrivalled excellence in point to this pursuit? Assuredly not. Highly elaborated of structure, and exciting the emulation of their publick and chastened as his oratory was, it was withal emispeakers, to aim at those rhetorical beauties, which nently practical; and in matter, language, and eloare confessedly superiour to any that are imbodied cution, full of manliness and simplicity. There was in language. Their attention was early directed to no empty wordiness-no false decoration-no rhea careful and scientifick cultivation of the melody of torical sophistry. "A profound and manifest feelspeech. Heaven, indeed, seems particularly to have ing of truth forked the lightnings of that eloquence,"* fitted Greece for the spot, where men should first which "Hear and learn the secret power " fulmin'd over Greece To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne!" And it may be well presumed, that if the ancient criticks had possessed the advantage of that extensive and minute analysis of the modes of speech, which has been given by Dr. Rush, and had thereby been enabled to describe, in terms having a distinct and definite meaning, the peculiar qualities of the great Athenian's manner, when he thundered from the tribunal, we should have derived, from their record of his performances, lessons in elocution, as important as those which his imperishable speeches actually furnish us in composition. It is not to be questioned, that the principal characteristick qualities of his orations would be eminently successful in the hands of a pleader, or parliamentary orator, of the present day; and I have little difficulty in believing, that his manner also was distinguished for those very qualities-clearness, force, and harmony-which captivate, inspire, and control a modern assembly. The fine bodily organization of the people-their delicious climate-and the peculiar associations of their beautiful and romantick country, conspired to make them exquisitely sensible to the power of euphony. "In the land of the cicala and nightingale, each sound was melody; and the softest combinations of articulate expression, were but echoes of the notes, which every zephyr woke along the cliffs of Parnes, or wafted from the bowers of Colonus." It has been well said by a learned and accomplished writer, that, in the language of Greece, sacrifices which no other tongue could afford to make, and which none but Grecian ears would have demanded, are made to this principle of euphony at every turn. "In the formation of the alphabet; in the adjustment of the syllables; in the declension of nouns; the comparison of adjectives; the conjugation of verbs; the origin of dialects; and the arrangement of particles, its prevalence is equally perceptible. Substantives are left This argument in favour of rhetorical delivery, is irregular; verbs are made anomalous; syntax itself is corroborated by abundant historical and experimenforced to bend to the demands of a balanced and musical tal evidence, which the reading and observation of enunciation." And if they gave this minute and anx- every one may easily furnish. All the great masious attention to the harmony of speech, they had a ters of the art of persuasion, among those who use no less exquisite discrimination and enjoyment of the the English tongue, have been indebted, in great other qualities of good elocution. To us, the reports measure, for their success, to the aid of elocution. of the taste for rhetorical excellence, displayed by an How much of the power of Lord Chatham, and his Athenian assembly, appear exaggerated and incred- son William Pitt, may be attributed to their manner! ible. Yet no facts are more strongly attested. On What gave such effect to the accusing eloquence of occasions even when the greatest interests were at Sheridan, on the trial of Warren Hastings? Certainly, stake, they united the capacities of a board of criticks if we may judge of that celebrated effort by the spewith the character of a meeting of practical men. At cimens which have come down to us, it does not such times, while matters of the most momentous appear to have been far beyond the reach of mediocconcern were under discussion, every instance of a rity; and yet, it was declared by those who heard it, melodious period, or of striking and significant ges- to have eclipsed the most boasted harangues of anture, in the highly wrought passages of their orators, cient times. Whence this difference of judgment? excited the most lively enthusiasm and applause. It is partly owing, no doubt, to the meager and imOn the other hand, no one could hope to gain a hear-perfect reports which were preserved; but in a greating-far less to produce conviction, or procure repu-er part, to the fact that we have never been under the tation as a speaker-who did not possess a chaste and effective delivery. Demosthenes himself was not listened to, when he first appeared in the tribunal, on account of his deficiency in this respect. And when, after toils which our modern orators would shrink from the thought of undertaking, he succeeded in overcoming his defects-was not his delivery pronounced by Æschines to be a principal part of his eloquence?† This is a familiar instance, and I only * Sir Daniel Sandford-Lecture on Greek Literature. +"What would you have said," observed Æschines, when his recital of his great rival's speech on the crown was received with a burst of admiration-"What would you have said, had you heard him speak it ?" spell of that animated elocution, which enchanted and ruled the vast assemblage in Westminster Hall. It would be easy to invest these topicks with interest of another kind, by pointing out the dangers of neglecting this branch. I shall only refer, however, to Addison and Burke-in order to illustrate, how utterly vain and illusory is the notion, that the highest powers of reason can do every thing, and that matter alone, not manner, is to be attended to. Addison could hardly pronounce a sentence of good English, in publick, and Burke was so insufferably dull, that his rising to speak was usually a signal for * Letters on the Epochs of Literature, by Thomas Campbell. |