Now they start from duty to gold, and then turn again from gold to duty. There are no national or distinguishing features-no charming diversities in manners and customs- no distinct historical dialects, songs and traditions are to be found in this land. All is smooth; one tone, one form, one language, one universal custom prevails throughout the nation, like the green of the hickory trees in the forests of the West, the brown of the withering grass in the prairies, and the high cane fields by the Mississippi.

Every one who comes to this land is soon divested of the spirit of national peculiarity which he brings with him.

The Spaniard, like the Scandinavian, becomes a Yankee, and in their children one can no longer perceive foreign accents or foreign principles. The artist, the scholar and the daily laborer, become business men, and their pedigree is forgotten. But this Yankee has become the wonder of the whole earth; he it is who finds an easy pathway through the rocky mountains; it is he that with magic power causes new States to rise up in the wilderness and desert places; he never looks back in affright at the sight of terrors which overpower other minds; he has made the lightning his messenger, and makes the ocean a band to bind together the East and the West, though they are separated by thousands of miles. And the Yankee has become like an Alexander in the success of his speculative genius and his desire after ventures and emergencies.

And this Yankee is the man of energy who seized his rifle, in a moment when his pride and his honor were hanging by a single hair, — when the momentous question was to be decided whether the nation was to be ruled by a people or by a prince,-whether it was to be governed by right or by arbitrary laws. There has never been a people upon the face of the earth who felt so deeply conscious of their manly dignity, and who were wafted higher on the wings of freedom than these; but there are also, none who look down upon the remaining earth with a higher feeling of pride on account of their greatness.

They know and they hourly perceive that the system of free institutions is the mother of their prosperity. It is said to them in every gazette: "You are ruler, and your President is your willing valet; you

are the law-giver, and the laws which you yourself have formed, honor demands that you should maintain." Though there are no people among them who are not under obligation to the laws, yet there are no officers who have real power to rule; therefore there need be no sentinels to guard the gates of the President and Governors, and for this reason they have no body guards. There are no gens d'arms, and there are no spies to watch upon the by-paths and bridges, as there is nothing to destroy, nothing to command, nothing to restrain; for the people themselves reign, acting in accordance with self-made laws, and in accordance with their own appreciation of right. This makes self-government an easy labor, and the glory and the pride of being freemen, and the love and reverence towards the free institutions which have caused and greatly increased the good fortune of the people, accomplish the remainder.

Their souls find no remonstrance to the feeling of love which lives in the composition of this great people, which springs from the spirits of the wisest and best, called out by universal suffrage. In their constitution we perceive new principles concerning the possessions of this world. Hear it in their own words: "Work where you may, that which you justly earn is your own. It gives room for the highest development of every capacity, and every individuality; it makes men unceasing in their aspirations; it makes the State happy and its citizens great. It exalts them to be rulers of the world. No constitution has ever yet made, or ever will make, better and nobler men than these. It is the beginning of a new civilization, which yet lies in its cradle. Crush not down that which you should seek to become. Let actions be free, that the whole earth may not be enveloped in the blackness of darkness. You have the midnight-with us it is morning.

Go with me in the early morning, before the rising sun has chased away the mists, to old Boston. The Yankee characteristics speak from it as the old Grecian did from Athens; and from the Boston State House, as the spirit of the Romans from the capitol of Rome. The city appears in its ancient garb, wearing the apparel of its mother, for it has been a city of old England; and the clean, wide streets are bordered by rows of stately and magnificent houses; yet they are not exactly reg

ular, according to the common American fashion, but are now small, and again large, and the largest swards and market places appear to possess the least regularity. And in the population, too, we perceive, more than in any other place in the Union, the British peculiarities; the lineaments of features, demeanor, manners and customs are like the English, and the people seem to retain the universal prosperity of the fatherland. A resident of Boston goes forth, and is, in many respects, the exact opposite of the New Yorker. Boston is, compared to New York, as some stately matron to a young giantess, for, notwithstanding its wonderful size, New York is but in the morning of its existence. Boston is, on the contrary, waning, and at the rapid approach of so many sister cities, sinks deeper and deeper from century to century.

By a wide pathway we are conducted to a beautiful walk in the Common, and upon its highest elevation the State House is erected. As, alone, I looked upward through the leafy dome of closely crowded elm trees, it seemed to me as if I had suddenly entered within the portals of a new life; the sea breezes rustling among the tree-tops, raised high an anthem for freedom, and the light, fleecy clouds, which ever and anon peeped through the dark green leaves, seemed as if ministering spirits and guardian angels.

As I stepped forth from my shaded retreat, the lofty cupola of the edifice was glowing in the first light of the rising sun. "Glorious! glorious!!" I exclaimed, transported; a " Pharos to enlighten the ;— world!"

From the dome of the State House one has a prospect which has already been celebrated by many a song; at my feet lay the awakening city, a thousand pillars of smoke were rising to Heaven, like so many morning sacrifices. On the one side is the glowing harbor with its forests of masts and streaming flags, and beyond it the beautiful bay, and upon its waters are friendly ships with their white sails spread, and their star-spangled banners floating around, while the mists of the morning are hovering over them.

Here and there a beautiful island raises its head from the glittering flood, strewn over with beautiful mansions and gardens, and on each hand, to the right and to the left, dwell friendly communities. We

can behold a city, village, town or single villa, at pleasure; but to the north it is calm and open, and upon the nearest hill, surrounded by a circle of beautiful buildings, raising its head unadorned, great and firm as the thanks of a free people, stands "THE MONUMENT OF BUNKERHILL," which the people of the United States have placed upon one of the first great fields where they contended for their liberty. And in like manner, the Scandinavians erected a monument as witness of their thanks to God for their great victories; and the Switzers dedicated a chapel to their immortal Tell.

I looked upon the monument, and then I looked around, and this land appeared to me like some heavenly paradise. All seemed golden,— all seemed filled with flowers, music, happiness and pleasure. But a pang darted through my heart as I thought on the fatherland, and tears of sorrow fell on the consecrated soil.

HESITATION is a sign of weakness, for inasmuch as the comparative good and evil of the different modes of action, about which we hesitate, are seldom equally balanced, a strong mind should perceive the slightest inclination of the beam, with the glance of an eagle, particularly as there are cases where the preponderance will be very minute, even although there should be life in one scale, and death in the other. It is recorded of the late Earl of Berkley, that he was suddenly awakened at night, in his carriage, by a highwayman, who, forcing a pistol through the window and presenting it close to his breast, demanded his money, exclaiming at the same time, that he had heard his lordship had boasted that he never would be robbed by a single highwayman, but that he should now be taught the contrary. His lordship, putting his hand into his pocket, replied: "Neither would I now be robbed, if it was not for that fellow who is looking over your shoulder.' The highwayman turned round his head, when his lordship, who had drawn a pistol from his pocket, instead of a purse, shot him on the spot.

MUSIC.

Original

BY T. C. O'KANE.

"There is in souls a sympathy with sound,
And as the mind is pitch'd, the ear is pleased
With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave;
Some chord in unison with what we hear

Is touched within us, and the heart replies."

MUSIC is one of the Fine Arts, and is a good example of the nature and design of those Arts, namely: intellectual gratification. The word itself, is derived directly from a Greek adjective, which signifies "belonging to the Muses;" and it formerly included all the arts and sciences under the patronage of the Muses. But in the course of time the term lost its general idea, became specific, and was applied to a particular department. Music was then, as now, considered to be, "the art of producing sounds according to the rules of melody."

It is, doubtless, an art of extremely ancient origin, suggested, perhaps, by the singing of the birds. When "Rosy-fingered Aurora, daughter of the Moon," appeared with cream-colored steeds, in the crimsoned east, opening the shining portals of the sun, Adam and his fair consort, awakened from their repose by the sweet carols of the lively warblers, felt an instinctive desire to praise their Creator in the same manner. And, implicitly obeying the teachings of Nature, their only teacher, and moreover, impelled by the strong feelings of their own hearts, they soon learned the heavenly Art of Music, in its enchanting sweetness and unadorned simplicity. Guided by the same kind and faithful hand, Jubal invented an instrument to accompany man in the celebration of his praises. Henceforward the ever improving hand of Art came to the aid of Nature, by their entire harmony proving their close relationship. That "music hath charms" is evident from its effects upon man, and even the brute creation. Shakspeare, who has given his thoughts on almost every subject, says: