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impossible. He ceased to attempt it. Here was a pretty fix for a choleric old gentleman in authority! He gave himself up to reflection, got moody and fretful, but nothing came of it; it affected not his appetite or digestion, and he waxed fatter still. A close prisoner in his own house, too heavy to carry up stairs, and blocks and tackle not yet invented! There were no Peace Congresses in those days; and it fell out that a neighboring king in a small way, who had an old grudge to settle, collected his subjects and paid him one morning an unexpected visit. It was not yet breakfast-time, and no body was astir but the cook, who in his perturbation dropped half a kid he was turning up on the glowing embers, and with great ado aroused the garrison. We have not enough of the gravity of the historian to presume to describe the siege and the assault suffice to say, besiegers and besieged conducted themselves heroically, and that individual prodigies of valor were performed, deserving of honorable mention. It was just when the assailants had nearly succeeded in effecting a practicable breach, that the defenders, prompted by the suggestion of their governor, (who was driven to desperation, having no quarter to expect, as it was some ladies' scrape that had brought this trouble upon him,) as a dernier resort, plunged upon them from the battlements a quantity of hot water the cook had been assiduously preparing. They retired in confusion, and finally decamped. The next day was prosecuted a general survey of the damage. A lithe, lank fellow was set at probing the breach. Some inexplicable fancy seized him, and he attempted to crawl through it. He stuck in the orifice, and in the efforts to extricate him, which were none of the gentlest, as few sympathize with such misfortune, came clattering down a quantity of rubbish, greatly enlarging it. A person could pass through with ease. But it was observed, (such is the force of habit,) that it never occurred to those once in that they could get out by the same way. Our Elamite was a sagacious man, with a good deal of originality, considering the world was then so young. 'I have it!' he exclaimed: 'I will make just such another hole, and then hurrah for freedom!' He gave an immediate order to that effect, congratulated himself upon his fertility of invention, and directed a great feast to be prepared. Gradually, however, the possibility of using the opening already effected dawned upon his mind, and so came about the FIRST DOOR-WAY. The door was an after-suggestion, as necessary to exclude wind and storm; and as it was made of a dry stretched cow-skin, effective as a screen, it becomes a matter of grave philological speculation whether here may not be discovered the origin of the verb 'to hide.' It may be well to add, that as it was now necessary to adopt some plan by which the entrance might be secured from surprise, was forthwith introduced the ditch and draw-bridge, the latter a very rude affair indeed.'

Lolling upon the sofa, we listened perforce to the erudite doctor as he fire-worshipped with Nimrod, revelled with Sardanapalus, and conquered with Esarhaddon. At length he digressed upon mummies, and we irreverently fell asleep. We indistinctly recollect his urging the impropriety of that defunct Egyptian recently rolled out of the cerement of centuries by a celebrated lecturer, and pronounced by him to be the maiden relative of a high-priest, turning out an unmistakable male, and imputing it to a share of that national obstinacy so historically notorious,

which had not evaporated during twenty-five hundred years of the catacomb. When we awakened, we were seized with a suspicion that what had been written was very dull; and lest reflection should confirm it into a conclusion, we determined promptly to close, and transmit the paper.

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We sat by the cottage far down in the vale,

And we talked of the morrow with sighing and wail-
The morrow, which called me from fair Innisfail,

And the skies which bend weeping above her.

Sweet daughter of Erin! I see thee yet;

Thy brow was pale, and thy cheek was wet:
Long years have fled, but I never forget
That grief of the days which are over.

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LITERARY NOTICES.

THE AUSTRALIAN CRUSOES: or the Adventures of an English Settler and his Family in the Wilds of Australia. By CHARLES CROWCROFT, Esq., a Resident Magistrate. With Illustrations. In one volume: pp. 512. Philadelphia: WILLIS P. HAZARD.

WE are not surprised to see 'From the Sixth London Edition' on the titlepage of the American edition of this book. It is not remarkable, perhaps, that this should be the case, at a period when there is so much excitement in relation to the gold mines of Australia, and when so many thousands are pressing toward that land of promise: but we fancy the style and material of the book itself have had much to do in creating its sudden and continued popularity. Its simplicity and directness of narrative is a prominent charm throughout. The work, as we gather from the brief preface, was prepared 'with a view of describing the process of settling in a new country; of the precautions to be taken; of the foresight to be exercised; of the early difficulties to be overcome, and'—what will be an incentive to scores of thousands more to visit Australia-'of the sure reward which awaits the prudent and industrious colonist. The first tale presented is the journal of a settler, detailing, in his own homely language, the actual progress, day by day, from the beginning, of the establishment of a colonist's farm. Of this, as well as of the other portions of the volume, the editor says, that he can testify to the accuracy of the descriptions, from his personal experience as a resident magistrate in the colony.' Of many pencilled passages, we can afford room only for the following description of a chase and fight with a kangaroo:

'AFTER we had rested a little while, we went on again, the dogs following us as at first. We saw plenty of brush kangaroos, but we would not touch them. After we had got a mile or two, the stock-keeper, who had been examining the ground all the way along, said: 'I think there are some big ones hereabouts, by the look of the marks;' so he said to the dogs: 'Go find,' as he had said before. Almost directly, we saw such a large fellow- I'm sure he was six feet high: he looked at us and at the dogs for a moment, and then off he went. My gracious! what hops he did give! he hopped with his two hind-legs, with his fore-legs in the air, and his tail straight out behind him-and wasn't it a tail!-it was as thick as a bed-post! and this great tail went wag, wag, up and down, as he jumped, and seemed to balance him behind. But HECTOR and FLY were after him. This time the stock-keeper ran too, for the ground was level and clear of fallen timber, and you could see a good way before you. I had begun to feel a little tired, but I did n't feel tired then. Hop, hop went the kangaroo, and the dogs after him, and we after the dogs; and we scampered on till I was quite out of breath; and the kangaroo was a good bit before the dogs, when he turned up a hill.

Now we shall have him,' said the stock-keeper; the dogs will beat him up-hill.' "I wanted my breath, but I kept up, and we scrambled up the hill, and I thought the dogs would get him; but the kangaroo got to the top of the hill first, and when we got a sight of him, he was bounding down the hill, making such prodigious leaps at every jump, over every thing, that you could n't believe it, if you did n't see it. The dogs had no chance with him down-hill.

"It's of no use,' said the stock-keeper, 'for us to try to keep up with him; we may

as well stay here. He'll lead the dogs a pretty chase, will that fellow; he's a Boomah, and one of the biggest rascals I ever saw.'

'So we sat down at the top of the hill, under a gum-tree, and there we sat a long time, I don't know how long, until we saw HECTOR Coming up. The stock-keeper looked at his mouth.

"He has killed,' said he; 'but he has got a little scratched in the tussle, and so has FLY. That big chap was almost too much for two dogs.' Then he said: 'Go, show!' and HECTOR and FLY trotted along straight to where the kangaroo lay, without turning to the right or left, but going over every thing, just as if they knew the road quite well. We came to a hollow, and there we saw the kangaroo lying dead. Just as the stockkeeper was going to cut him open, I saw another kangaroo not a hundred yards off.

There's another,' said I; and the dogs, although they had had a hard battle with the kangaroo lying dead, started off directly. Close by us was a large pond of water, like a little lake. The kangaroo was between the dogs and the lake. Not knowing how to get past, I suppose, he hopped right into the lake, and the dogs went after him. He hopped farther into the lake, where the water got deeper, and then the dogs were obliged to swim, but they were game, and would not leave their work. When the kangaroo found himself getting pretty deep in the water, he stopped, and turned on the dogs; but he could not use his terrible hind-claws, so when one of the dogs made a rise at his throat, (they always try to get hold of the throat,) he took hold of him with his forelegs, and ducked him under the water. Then the other dog made a spring at him, and the kangaroo ducked him in the same way.

"Well,' said the stock-keeper, 'I never saw the like of that before; this is a new game.'

'And all the while the dogs kept springing at the kangaroo's throat, and the kangaroo kept ducking them under the water. But it was plain the dogs were getting exhausted, for they were obliged to swim and be ducked too, while the kangaroo stood with his head and fore-legs from out of the water.

66

This will never do,' said the stock-keeper; 'he'll drown the dogs soon at this rate.' So he took his gun from me, and put a ball in it.

"Now,' said he, 'for a good shot; I must take care not to hit the dogs.'

He put his gun over the branch of a dead tree, and watching his time, he fired, and hit the kangaroo in the neck, and down it came in the water. He then called off the dogs, and they swam back to us.

He is such a prime one,' said he, 'it would be a pity to lose his skin;' so he waded in after him, and dragged him out." 'It's a pity,' said he, 'to lose so much meat, but his hind-quarters would be a bigger load than I should like to carry home; but I must have his skin; and I'll tell you what, young fellow, you shall have his tail, though I'm thinking it's rather more than you can carry home.'

This roused me a bit, to think I could n't carry a kangaroo's tail; so I determined to take it home, if I dropped, though I must say it was so heavy that I was obliged to rest now and then, and the stock-keeper carried it a good part of the way for me.

What shall we do with the meat?' said I.

What shall we do with it?' said he; are you hungry?'

"I believe you,' said I.

Then we'll make a dinner of him,' said the stock-keeper.

With that we got together some dry sticks, and made a fire; and the stock-keeper took the ram-rod of his musket, and first he cut a slice of the lean off the loins, which he said was the tenderest part, and put the ram-rod through it, and then he cut out a bit of fat, and slid it on after the lean; and so on, a bit of fat and a bit of lean, till he had put on lots of slices, and so he roasted them over the fire. He gave me the ramrod to hold, and cutting a long slice of bark out of a gum-tree, made two plates; capital plates, he said, for a bush-dinner. I told you we had got some salt and some damper, and I was pretty hungry, as you may suppose, and I thought it the most delicious dinner I ever ate. When I had done, I laid down on the grass, and HECTOR and FLY came and laid themselves down beside me, and some how, I don't know how it was, I fell asleep, I was so tired. I slept a good while, for the stock-keeper said it would have been a sin to wake me, I was in such a sweet sleep. I woke up, however, after a good nap, and felt as if I could eat a bit more kangaroo. But it was getting late, and so we made the best of our way home. We passed by the place where we had killed the first kangaroo; so the stock-keeper brought home the hind-quarters and the three skins, and I brought home a tail; and really I don't know which is best.'

A stirring scene is described in a battle with the bush-rangers, and the abduction and captivity of the 'magistrate,' but it is quite too long for extract. We 'second the motion' of the British press in commendation of the volume, which is well-printed, upon fair paper, and cleverly illustrated with several wood-engravings.

SUMMER STORIES OF THE SOUTH. By T. ADDISON RICHARDS. In one volume: pp. 255. Philadelphia: LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO AND COMPANY.

MR. RICHARDS is an artist, whose progress, the result of keen observation, disciplined taste, and enhanced skill of hand, as exhibited in successive landscapes from his pencil, has been marked with pleasure by his friends. Nor, as we have had occasion heretofore to remark, in his correspondence with southern literary journals, is he deficient in the adroit use of his pen. With several of the sketches in the volume before us we were already familiar, and are glad to welcome them in their present collected form. 'Tallulah, or the Trysting-Rock,' is a stirring love-story, which will arrest the attention, and secure the admiration, of our author's lady-readers: while 'Jocassee, or Il Campannetto,' will please the more rigidly romantic. We rather affect the sketch of 'The Phrenologist,' which is well drawn, and possesses a good degree of quiet humor. We annex an account of the triumph of the professor,' in one case of demonstrative manipulation, before a large audience at the southern village of Seclusaval:

'ALL Seclusaval was congregated in the lecture-room at the appointed hour, staring with astonished eyes at the array of plaster heads upon the table, with their mysterious intersecting lines and figures. The doctor's welcome, as he walked with solemn dignity to the rostrum, must have been exceedingly gratifying to him, especially as the assembled shouters were chiefly of an age which put them in the most valuable and profitable class of auditors. When the greeting uproar was hushed, the orator, with artistic grace, made divers changes in the geography of the casts, described sundry curves with his spotless linen cambric, glanced at his repeater, and, with a musical voice and polished action, unclosed the portals of wisdom, and let flow the stream of living words which was to enlighten and electrify assembled Seclusaval. In other phrase, he commenced his speech, and a brilliant speech it was, judging from the frequent and hearty plaudits, but it must find another reporter than ourself, for time forbids our speaking of the eloquence of the exordium; of the lucid manner in which he traced the birth and growth of the study; of the singularly comprehensive definition of the province of Phrenology; of his generous eulogium of its high-priest, Spurzheim; and, lastly, of the mighty results that were to accrue to the world from its revelations how every character was to be instantly read, and how people might thus safely court or avoid their fellow-men, and how each might know and pursue that walk in life which heaven designed him to fill.

'Suffice it, that when the lecture was concluded, and the professor had first accurately traced the characters of Milton, Bacon, Washington, a murderer, and an idiot boy, by the developments upon the plaster heads, the only question among the audience was, who should first have the privilege of obeying the Greek proverb, 'Know thyself.' This honor the Doctor proffered, gratuitously, to Mr. Dobson, who had sat a moody auditor of the lecture. Mr. Dobson at first flatly refused to countenance such nonsense, but was at length prevailed upon to accede.

'As trait upon trait of Mr. Dobson's character was unfolded, the hearers, in silent wonder, acknowledged the diviner's skill.

I find,' continued the manipulator, running his fingers over the subject's caput, 'that the organ of Argumentativeness is prominent, together with all other organs which unite and support its successful development. This, the audience may say, I know well enough from what I have read of the gentleman's works, particularly those in which he labors, and so ably, to controvert my own opinions. I admit it, and I only mention, for your satisfaction, that here the organ is, with all the prominence in which you would suppose it to exist. But further you have, perhaps, only seen this gentleman in his mild and even moments; you will hardly suppose that Combativeness is as strongly developed as Argumentativeness. Yet so it is, and if aroused, he will be as ready to fight as to dispute. In fact, he is naturally very quarrelsome, though his developments of Caution and Benevolence counteract the exercise of his pugnacious humor in a great measure.'

I beg to say,' here interrupted the subject, 'that your last remark is satisfactory evidence of the weakness and pretension of your doctrine. Your picture of my disposition is utterly erroneous.'

"You imagine so,' was the mild reply. 'But how seldom we know ourselves! The

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