III.

"Quantas vezes mis ojos
Te han declarado,
Lo que nunca pudieron
Mis tristes labios;
Ah, si pudiera

Decir te lo que paso
Qual tu sintieras!"

How often have my eyes
In tender looks declared,
What my poor sad lips
Never yet have dared ;

Ah, if I but knew
So to tell my pain,
That you felt it too!

IV.

"Nace amor como planta

En el corazon ;

El ariño la riega,

La seca el rigor.

Y se se arraiga,

Se arranca el apartarle
Parte del alma.'

Love grows in the heart
Like plants in the earth;
Soft showers refresh it,
It withers by dearth.

And when thus dried up,
Plant and root soon part
From the soil of the heart.

The "coplas de seguidillas" are sometimes extended into real "canciones " or romances ; for Spanish lovers of all classes are very loquacious, and, indeed, inexhaustible in describing their sweet sufferings, the weight of their chains, the consuming heat of their flames, and other amorous extravagances. Songs of this kind, which sound prettily enough in Spanish or Italian, appear in their whole emptiness and insipidity, when translated into any of the more philosophic languages of the Teutonic stock. In some cases, the "seguidillas patéticas " assume even the character of narrative

romances. What indeed is wanting in the following Anacreontic little song, to give it claim to be called a romance ?

SEGUIDILLA.

"'T was a cold, cold winter night,
When the winds did fiercely blow,
And from heaven came pouring down
From the clouds arrows of snow.
Then a boy came to the hut
Of a simple shepherd-maid ;
Shivering with the frost that night,
He for shelter humbly prayed.
All confounded and alone
Was the little shepherd-maid;
Full of doubt and fear her heart,
And to open was afraid.

When the lad perceived her fear,
Weeping spoke he, while he smiled;
Open pray, be not afraid,

I am but a little child;

Little child, drenched and alone,
Shelter seeking, hurting none!

Another species of dancing songs, differing the measure, are called "Tiranos y Polos."

somewhat in Such are the

following:

You say I'm a fool;
I grant, it is true;
For, if I were not,

How could I love you?

III.

Montes, prados, flores, selvas,
Consolad á un afligido ;

Que de amores y desdichas

Se mira todo abatido."

Mountains, meadows, flowers, and forests,

Cheer a youth in deep distress ;

Who by love quite overpowered,
Loses rest and happiness.

IV.

"Dicen algunos que son

Los zelos de amor un hielo ;

Mas en mí vienen á ser

Materia que aumento el fuego."

Some say that jealousy
To love, is ice to fire;
To me it rather seems

It makes the flame rise higher.

C. H. Davis.

ART. VIII. Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting a Report of F. N. HASSLER, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, showing the Progress made therein up to the Present Time. Doc. No. 28. House of Representatives. Treasury Department. 27th Congress, 2nd Session.

By this valuable communication, as well as by information reaching us from various sources, we are warned that the great public work of the Survey of the Coast is in danger of being again abandoned, or, what we should regard as still more unfortunate, of being superseded by some other plan of operations.

In a former Number* we presented a concise view of the

* See North American Review, Vol. XLII. pp. 75 et seq.

nature of geodesical operations, and of the principles upon which they are based. The remarks there made upon the subject we conceived were sufficient to show the futility of any scheme for arriving at the perfect knowledge of any extensive portion of the earth's surface, for constructing a map, or correctly determining and connecting a number of distant situations, by any other rules of procedure than those which the science of Geodesia prescribes. They also afforded some data for a comparison between the American survey, as far as it had then proceeded, and similar works in Europe; such as, whether applied to the progress or the character of the work, might well gratify national pride. Our present purpose is, to submit a few remarks, not of a character to interest the scientific reader, but designed rather to arrest the attention of men, who, being necessarily uninformed upon matters of strict science, are nevertheless called upon in their high places to exercise judgment, and exert authority, upon questions in which the highest science is involved. It is our present aim to secure a clear and impartial investigation; to correct misrepresentations; to counteract the designs of scheming speculators; to defeat, if necessary, the instigations of ill-will; and to uphold the scientific reputation of the country, which is in some measure dependent upon the successful prosecution of this great national undertaking.

The question first in importance with regard to the coast survey is, 'whether any other mode can be adopted; this mode having for its object the greatest amount of useful information, in the shortest time, and at the least expense. In discussing this question, so much has been said, and is still urged, concerning the use of chronometers, and the substitution of them for the present system of triangulation, that it seems worth while to say a word upon this subject, premising, that the serious consideration we here give to it does not arise from any idea of the value attached to such a suggestion in the minds of scientific men.

The chronometer in the hands of modern artists has, it is true, attained a degree of excellence which admirably adapts it to the general purposes of navigation, and supplies to seamen the most useful means of solving the problem of longitude. Still it is far too imperfect an instrument to be relied on implicitly. It possesses an inherent and constant liability to error, and although its accuracy may be preserved through