The effects produced by different states of the mind upon the body are equally sudden and powerful.Plato used to say, that all the diseases of the body proceed from the soul.' The expression of the countenance is mind visible. Bad news weakens the action of the heart, oppresses the lungs, destroys appetite, stops digestion, and partially suspends all the functions of the system. An emotion of shame flushes the face; fear blanches it; joy illuminates it, and an a instant thrill electrifies a million nerves. Surprise spurs the pulse into a gallop. Delirium infuses giant energy. Volition commands, and hundreds of muscles spring to execute. Powerful emotion often kills the body at a stroke. Chilo, Diagoras, and Sophocles, died of joy at the Elean games. The news of a defeat killed Philip V. One of the popes died of an emotion of the ludicrous, on seeing his pet monkey robed in pontificals, and occupying the chair of state. Muley Moluck was carried upon the field of battle in the last stages of an incurable disease. Upon seeing his army give way, he leaped from the litter, rallied his panic stricken troops, rolled back the tide of battle, shouted victory, and died. The door-keeper of congress expired upon hearing of the surrender of Cornwallis. Eminent public speakers have often died, either in the midst of an impassioned burst of eloquence, or when the deep emotion that produced it had suddenly subsided. The late Mr. Pinckney, of Baltimore, Mr. Emmet, of New York, and the Hon. Ezekiel Webster, of New Hampshire, are recent instances. Lagrave, the young Parisian, died, a few months since, when he heard that the musical prize for which he had competed was adjudged to another. The recent case of Hills, in New York, is fresh in the memory of all. He was apprehended for theft, taken before the police, and though in perfect health, mental agony forced the blood from his nostrils. He was carried out, and died.-Annals of Education. And, fresh as morn, on many a cheek and chin, O, these were sights to touch an anchorite!— As if it brought the memory of pain: Thou art a wayward being-well, come near, And Rowland's Kalydor, if laid on thick, Poisons the thirsty wretch that bores for blood?" Go, 'twas a just reward that met thy crimeBut shun the sacrilege another time. That bloom was made to look at, not to touch, Thou'rt welcome to the town; but why come here And thin will be the banquet drawn from me. Try some plump alderman; and suck the blood Fix thy light pump, and raise thy freckled feet. THE HUMAN STATURE. THE idea that the original progenitors of the human race were exceedingly large, and tall in stature, is still held by some European writers. Not many years since a French author published a work in which he endeavored to prove that there has been a gradual depreciation in the size of man, from the commencement of the world downwards, and that the same lessening control will continue to exert an influence until the end of time. A corresponding decrease in the age of mankind may be observed, it is alledged, by inquiry into the longevity of the human race in the several centuries of the world. Some contend also, that the deficiency in the number of years between the various personages noticed in the ancient sacred writings and those of our day, is more than counterbalanced by the great increase of our species throughout the world, and that in the place of accumulated years, we have accumulated numbers, whose existence is brief, that the earth may not be filled to overflowing. All these are curious speculations, not without interest to the inquiring mind. A French author, an academian of some note, calculates that Adam was 123 feet 9 inches in height, Noah a little over 100 feet, Abraham 80, Moses 30, Hercules 10, Alexander 6, Cæsar less than 5. Progressing in this ratio, in a few years hence, the world will be filled with a race of Lilliputians. THE use of your humble servant' first came into England in the time of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry the 4th of France, which is derived from Votre tres humble serveteur.' The usual salutation before that period was, God keep you! God be with What say'st thou slanderer? "Rouge makes thee sick, you! Among the vulgar, How d'ye do?' with a And China bloom at best is sorry food; hearty thump on the shoulder. RESOURCES OF THE WEST. FEW persons, we suspect, thoroughly realize what are the capacities of the Valley of the Mississippi, though every body has been talking and writing about them these twenty years. A writer in the New York Review sets this matter in a most forcible light, as follows: "Look at it; in that valley are one million four hundred thousand square miles, or eight hundred and ninety-six millions of acres-while Great Britain, with all its islands, contains but about eighty-eight thousand square miles, or fifty-six and a half millions of acres. And what is the character of this vast region? One-third of it, at least, is capable of cultivation and thick settlement, and one-third is four hundred and sixty-six thousand square miles in extent; about seven times as great an area as all the available land in England, Wales, Scotland, and the islands. and the burrstone of Ohio may compare with the best from France. "Now what, in the common course of things, must be the result of this wealth and capability? A dense population, a population of not less than one hundred and twenty millions of people; nay, if we base our calculations on the population of France, of not less than one hundred and sixty millions; that is to say, a population greater than that now living in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and all Germany. THE GOOD OLD TIMES. It is said, as we learn from the Lynn Record, that when the town of Gloucester was first settled, a suit of clothes and a pair of boots were provi ded for the use of the representatives, so that in choosing their representatives, they were obliged to select a man of proper size, so that the clothes would fit him. When the wags in Boston saw the representatives of Gloucester coming they would say, "Here comes the Gloucester suit of clothes, wonder who is in them." EARLY HABITS, CUSTOMS, &c. OF THE WEST. 6 MORALS. "Look at it more minutely, and you find it, from the cleared fields of Ohio and Indiana, to the edge of the barren prairies of Missouri, and from the wild rice swamps of the north, to the cypress swamps of the south, fertile beyond example, almost level or slight ly undulating, and accessible in every direction. Never was there a finer country for the agriculturist; standing at his farm-house door, in the interior of Ohio, Indiana or Illinois, a thousand miles from salt water, he may see his produce afloat on its way to New York or Europe; in a few years five complete lines of water and railway communication will exist between the interior of Ohio and the ocean-four are now in operation. Nor is that valley destined to be less eminently manufacturing than it is agricultural. The state of Ohio, if we may rely upon her geologist, Mr. Mather, contains as much bituminous coal, of good quality and easy access, as all England and Wales, and Ohio in this respect is, he thinks, no richer than Western Pennsylvania, Western Virginia, and Kentucky; judging of the little that is known, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, are probably under- As this is a state of society which few of my readlain to a considerable extent, by this same great min-ers have ever witnessed, I shall describe it minuteeral treasure. Nor is it coal alone that abounds inly as I can, and give in detail those maxims which, the west; from the head waters of the Cumberland in a great degree, answered the important purposes river, across Kentucky and Ohio, extends a bed of of municipal jurisprudence. In the section of the country where my father lived, there was for many years after the settlement of the country neither law nor gospel.' Our want of legal government, was owing to the uncertainty whether we belonged to the state of Virginia or Pennsylvania. The line, which at present divides the two states was not run until some time after the conclusion of the revolutionary war. Thus it happened, that during a long period of time, we knew nothing of courts, lawyers, magistrates, sheriffs, or constables. Every one was, therefore, at liberty to do whatever was right in his own eyes.' iron ore twenty miles in width. Tennessee is filled In the first place, let it be observed, that in a sparse with iron; immense beds were lately opened in Indi- population where all the members of the community ana-and who has not heard of the Missouri moun- are well known to each other, and especially in a tain of that most precious metal? Already do Pitts-time of war, where every man capable of bearing burg and Cincinnati, yearly, manufacture some seven or eight millions of dollars' worth of iron articles for export to other points; and lead abounds also; salt is met with in inexhaustible quantities; lime is universally distributed; and the finest freestone found in the greatest profusion. "Here, then, is a land, the soil and climate of which favor tillage in the highest degree, the interior of which is far more easy of access than the interior of any country in Europe, and filled with mineral wealth. Within its limits grow maize, wheat, hemp, flax, tobacco, cotton and sugar. It is a land which scarcely needs foreign commerce; it is a world within itself; there is scarcely one considerable article of commerce, if we except coffee and some dyestuffs, which the Mississippi valley cannot furnish. The first flint glass male in America was at Pittsburg; "the porcelain earth found within the limits of that region rivals that of China; the lakes abound in fish, arms is considered highly valuable as a defender of his country, public opinion has its full effect and an swers the purpose of legal government better than it would in a dense population, and in time of peace. Such was the situation of our people along the frontiers of our settlements. They had no civil, mili tary, or ecclesiastical laws, at least none that were en forced, and yet, they were a law unto themselves." as to the leading obligations of our nature, in all the relations in which they stood to each other. The turpitude of vice and the majesty of moral virtue, were then as apparent as they are now, and they were then regarded with the same sentiments of aver sion or respect which they inspire at the present time. Industry in working and hunting, bravery in war, candor, honesty, hospitality, and steadiness of deportment, received their full reward of public honor and public confidence among our rude forefathers, as well as among their better instructed and more polished descendants. The punishments which they inflicted upon offenders by the imperial court of public opinion, were well adapted for the reformation of the culprit, or his expulsion from the community. would condemn the culprit to Moses Law, that is, to forty stripes, save one. If the theft was of some small article, the offender was doomed to carry on his back the flag of the United States, which then consisted of thirteen stripes. In either case, some able hands were selected to execute the sentence, so that The punishment for idleness, lying, dishonesty, and ill-fame generally, was that of hating the offender out,' as they expressed it. This mode of chas- the stripes were sure to be well laid on. tisement was like the atimea of the Greeks. It was This punishment was followed by a sentence of exa public expression, in various ways, of a general ile. He then was informed that he must decamp in sentiment of indignation against such as transgressed so many days and be seen there no more on penalty the moral maxims of the community to which they of having the number of his stripes doubled. belonged. This commonly resulted either in the reformation or banishment of the person against whom it was directed. At house-raisings, log-rollings and harvest-parties, every one was expected to do his duty faithfully. A person who did not perform his share of labor on these occasions, was designated by the epithet of Lawrence' or some other title still more opprobrious; and when it came to his turn to require the like aid from his neighbors, the idler soon felt his punishment in their refusal to attend to his calls. 6 Although there was no legal compulsion to the performance of military duty; yet every man of full age and size was expected to do his full share of public service. If he did not do so, he was hated out as a coward.' Even the want of any article of war equipments, such as ammunition, a sharp flint, a priming wire, a scalping-knife or a tomahawk, was thought highly disgraceful. A man who, without a reasonable cause failed to go on a scout or campaign, when it came to his turn, met with an expression of indignation in the countenances of all his neighbors, and epithets of dishonor were fastened upon him without mercy. Debts, which make such an uproar in civilized life, were but little known among our forefathers at the early settlement of this country. After the depreciation of the continental paper, they had no money of any kind; every thing purchased was paid for in produce or labor. A good cow and calf was often the price of a bushel of alum salt. If a contract was not punctually fulfilled, the credit of the delinquent was at an end. Any petty theft was punished with all the infamy that could be heaped on the offender. A man on a campaign stole from his comrade a cake out of the ashes, in which it was baking. He was immediately named the bread rounds.' This epithet of reproach was bandied about in this way; when he came in sight of a group of men, one of them would call, 'who comes there?" Another would answer, the bread rounds.' If any one meant to be more serious about the matter, he would call out, who stole a cake out of the ashes?' Another replied by giving the name of the man in full; to this a third would give confirmation by exclaiming, that is true and no lie.' This kind of tongue lashing' he was doomed to bear for the rest of the campaign, as well as for years after his return home. 6 If a theft was detected, in any of the frontier settlements, a sunimary mode of punishment was always resorted to. The first settlers, as far as I knew of them, had a kind of innate or hereditary detestation of the crime of theft, in any shape or degree, and their maxim was that a thief must be whipped.' If the theft was of something of some value, a kind of jury of the neighborhood, after hearing the testimony For many years after the law was put in operation in the western part of Virginia, the magistrates themselves, were in the habit of giving those who were brought before them on charges of small thefts, the liberty of being sent to jail, or taking a whipping.— The latter was commonly chosen and was immediately inflicted, after which the thief was ordered to clear out. In some instances, stripes were inflicted; not for the punishment of an offence, but for the purpose of extorting a confession from suspected persons. This was the torture of our early times, and no doubt sometimes very unjustly inflicted. If a woman was given to tattling and slandering her neighbors, she was furnished by common consent, with a kind of patent-right to say whatever she pleas ed, without being believed. Her tongue was then said to be harmless, or to be no scandal. With all their rudeness, these people were given to hospitality, and freely divided their rough fare with a neighbor, or stranger, and would have been offended at the offer of pay. In their settlements and forts, they lived, they worked, they fought and feasted, or suffered together, in cordial harmony. They were warm and constant in their friendships. On the other hand they were revengeful in their resentments. And the point of honor sometimes led to personal combats. If one man called another a liar, he was considered as having given a challenge which the person who received it must accept, or be deemed a coward, and the charge was generally answered on the spot, with a blow. If the injured person was decidedly unable to fight the aggressor, he might get a friend to do it for him. The same thing took place on a charge of cowardice, or any other dishonorable action; a battle must follow, and the person who made the charge must fight, either the person against whom he made the charge, or any champion who chose to espouse his cause. Thus circumstanced, our people in early times were much more cautious of speaking evil of their neighbors than they are at present. Sometimes pitched battles occurred, in which time, place, and seconds were appointed beforehand. I remember having seen one of those pitched battles in my father's fort, when a boy. One of the young men knew very well beforehand that he should get the worst of the battle, and no doubt repented the engagement to fight; but there was no getting over it. The point of honor demanded the risk of battle. He got his whipping; they then shook hands and were good friends afterwards. The mode of single combats in those days was dangerous in the extreme; altho' no weapons were used, fists, teeth and feet were employed at will, but above all, the detestable practice of gouging, by which eyes were sometimes put out, rendered this mode of fighting frightful indeed; it was not however, so des tructive as the stiletto of an Italian, the knife of a Spaniard, the small sword of the Frenchman, or the pistol of the American or English duelist. Instances of seduction, and bastardy, did not frequently happen in our early times. I remember one instance of the former, in which the life of the man was put in jeopardy by the resentment of the family, to which the girl belonged. Indeed, considering the chivalrous temper of our people, this crime could not then take place without great personal danger from the brothers or other relations of the victims of seduction, family honor being then estimated at an high rate. I do not recollect that profane language was much more prevalent in our early times than at present. Among the people with whom I was most conversant, there was no other vestige of the christian religion than a faint observance of Sunday, and that merely as a day of rest for the aged, and a play day for the young. The first christian service I ever heard was in the Garrison Church, in Baltimore county, in Maryland, where my father had sent me to school. I was then about ten years old. The appearance of the church, the windows of which were Gothic, the white surplice of the minister, and the responses in the service, overwhelmed me with surprise. Among my school follows in that place, it was a matter of reproach to me that I was not baptized, and why? Because, as they said, I had no name. Such was their notion of the efficacy of baptism !-Doddridge's Notes. 66 A WALK AMONG THE TOMBS THERE is something in the spectacle of a living generation employed in the selection of their own tombs, that speaks favorably of their virtue. It testi fies to a rational, reflecting piety; it tells of life unhaunt ed by the terrors of death, of sober thought and serene reckoning of the past day. Our present meditations have not unseasonably fallen upon these topics, and [ would fain hope that they will leave us somewhat the wiser at our parting. The very presence of this scene, in connection with the purpose that brought us hither, sheds a silent instruction on the heart. How does it recall the warning of scripture, “ Go to now, ye that say to day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year; and buy and sell, and gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the mor row. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." This grove, now untenanted by a single lodger, this upland plain and all these varied grounds, in the brief space of a few generations, shall become a populos dwelling place of the dead. Hither then will cen the inmates of your rapidly increasing city, in the holiday walks, to visit our tombs, and gaze upon the thick strewed monuments that shall meet them in eve ry path. Among these some calm moralist of life, some thoughtful observer of man and his aims, w apply himself here to study the past-his past, and while he lingers over the inscriptions that shall tea him of the busy crowd who so intently ply what we deem the important labors of to-day-alas, how shrunk and dwarfed shall we appear in his passing comment! A line traced by the chisel upon the stone shall tell all, and more perhaps than posterity may be THE census of the United States, to be taken dur- concerned to know about us and our doings. ing the present year, will be upon a more compre- Which of us shall reach a second generation in that hensive plan than usual. Hitherto it has been custo- downward journey of fame? How many of these mary to enumerate the inhabitants only, under the clas- events which now fill our minds, as matters belonging sifications of sexes, ages, colors, &c. By the late act to the nation's destiny, shall stand recorded before the of congress for taking the census of 1810, the Presi-eye of that after time? How much of our personal dent of the United States was directed to cause the sta- connection with present history, the strivings to tistics of the country, relating to Agriculture, Manufac-noted in the descent of time, these clamorous invoca tures, Mines, Commerce, &c.—to be collected, and tions of posterity, these engravings of ourselves and also statistical information in reference to Education. our deeds shall be borne even to the beginning of the The next census, therefore, will exhibit not only next century? Here is a theme for human vanity. Let the amount of population, but also a complete sche- it teach us humility, and in humility that wishe dule of the aggregate property of the nation, ranged which shall set us to so ordering our lives, that under different heads, and presenting at one view an our deaths those who survive us may be instructe accurate estimate of the vast resources of the United how to win the victory over the grave. Then sha States, in all the various departments of industry, and our monuments be more worthy to be cherishel including the numerous items of national wealth. future generations, and the common doom of obli Interrogatories, adapted to elicit information on all the ion, perchance, be averted by better remembra topics embraced in the new plan, have been prepared than the legends on our tombs. In this anticip to serve as formulæ of statistical tables. Little addi- we may find something not ungrateful in the tho tion of labor or expense will be incurred by this en- that while all mortal beings march steadily on larged system of proceeding, since the same persons" to cold obstruction," we sink in our gradual who would in the usual manner be employed to take the census of numbers, may very easily put such other questions as may be required by the present regulation. One operation may serve to accomplish both duties as well as one only. CENSUS FOR 1840. das upon a couch chosen by ourselves, with many me rials of friendship and esteem clustered around remains, and that there we shall sleep until the l summons shall command the dead to rise, and call into the presence of a merciful God. CONTENTMENT.-A head properly constitutea, can A SECRET can only be safely kept by a single per accommodate itself upon whatever pillow the vicissi-son, not by two; what three men know, is no longer tudes of fortune may place under it. a secret. be EARLY HABITS, CUSTOMS, &c. OF THE WEST. HUNTING. THIS was an important part of the employment of the early settlers of this country. For some years the woods supplied them with the greater amount of their subsistence, and with regard to some families at certain times, the whole of it; for it was no uncommon thing for families to live several months without a mouthful of bread. It frequently happened that there was no breakfast until it was obtained from the woods. Fur and peltry were the people's money. They had nothing else to give in exchange for rifles, salt, and iron, on the other side of the mountains. The fall and early part of the winter was the season for hunting the deer, and the whole of the winter, including part of the spring, for bears and furskinned animals. It was a customary saying that fur is good during every month in the name of which the letter R occurs. A little more pains would have made a hunting. camp a defence against the Indians. A cabin ten feet square, bullet-proof, and furnished with port-holes, would have enabled two or three hunters t. hold twenty Indians at bay for any length of time. But this precaution, I believe, was never attended to; hence the hunters were often surprised and killed in their camps. The site for the camp was selected with all the sagacity of the woodsmen, so as to have it sheltered by the surrounding hills from every wind, but more especially from those of the north and west. : An uncle of mine of the name of Samuel Teter occupied the same camp for several years in succession. It was situated on one of the southern branches of Cross Creek. Although I lived many years no more than fifteen miles from the place, it was not till within a very few years ago that I discovered its situation. It was shewn me by a gentleman living in the neighborhood. Viewing the hills round about it, I soon The class of hunters with whom I was best ac-perceived the sagacity of the hunter in the site for his quainted were those whose hunting ranges were on camp. Not a wind could touch him and unless by the west side of the river, and at the distance of eight the report of his gun or the sound of his axe, it would or nine miles from it. As soon as the leaves were have been by mere accident if an Indian had discovpretty well down, and the weather became rainy, ac-ered his concealment. companied with light snows, these men, after acting the part of husbandmen, so far as the state of warfare permitted them to do so, soon began to feel that they were hunters. They became uneasy at home. Every thing about them became disagreeable. The house was too warm. The feather-bed was too soft, and even the good wife was not thought, for the time being, a proper companion. The mind of the hunter was wholly occupied with the camp and chase. I have often seen them get up early in the morning at this season, walk hastily out and look anxiously to the woods, and snuff the autumnal winds with the greatest rapture, then return into the house and cast a quick and attentive look at the rifle, which was always suspended to a joist by a couple of buck horns, or little forks. His hunting dog, understanding the intentions of his master, would wag his tail, and by every blandishment in his power, express his readiness to accompany him to the woods. A day was soon appointed for the march of the little cavalcade to the camp. Two or three horses furnished with pack-saddles were loaded with flour, Indianmeal, blankets, and every thing else requisite for the use of the hunter. Hunting was not a mere ramble in pursuit of game, in which there was nothing of skill and calculation; on the contrary, the hunter, before he set out in the morning, was informed by the state of the weather ir what situation he might reasonably expect to meet his game; whether on the bottom, sides, or tops of the hills. In stormy weather, the deer always seek the most sheltering places, and the leeward sides of the hills. In rainy weather, in which there is not much wind, they keep in the open woods on the highest ground. In every situation it was requisite for the hunter to ascertain the course of the wind, so as to get the leeward of the game. This he effected by putting his finger in his mouth and holding it there until it became warm; then holding it above his head, the side which first becomes cold shews which way the wind blows. As it was requisite, too, for the hunter to know the cardinal points, he had only to observe the trees to ascertain them. The bark of an aged tree is thicker and much rougher on the north than on the south side. The same thing may be said of the moss; it is much thicker and stronger on the north than on the south sides of the trees. A hunting-camp, or what was called a half-faced cabin, was of the following form; the back part of it The whole business of the hunter consists of a sucwas sometimes a large log; at the distance of eight cession of intrigues. From morning till night he or ten feet from this, two stakes were set in the ground was on the alert to gain the wind of his game, and a few inches apart, and at the distance of eight or ten approach them without being discovered. If he sucfeet from these, two more, to receive the ends of the ceeded in killing a deer, he skinned it and hung it up poles for the sides of the camp. The whole slope out of the reach of the wolves, and immediately reof the roof was from the front to the back. The cov-sumed the chase till the close of the evening, when ering was made of slabs, skins, or blankets, or if in he bent his course towards his camp; when arrived the spring of the year, the bark of hickory or ash trees. there he kindled up his fire, and, together with his felThe front was left entirely open. The fire was built low hunter, cooked his supper. The supper finishdirectly before this opening. The cracks between ed, the adventures of the day furnished the tales of the logs were filled with moss. Dry leaves served the evening. The spike buck, the two and three for a bed. It is thus that a couple of men, in a few pronged buck, the doe and barren doe, figured through hours, will construct for themselves a temporary, but their anecdotes with great advantage. It should seem, tolerably comfortable defence, from the inclemencies that after hunting awhile on the same ground, the hunof the weather. The beaver, otter, muskrat and ters became acquainted with nearly all the gangs of squirrel, are scarcely their equals in despatch in fab- deer within their range, so as to know each flock of ricating for themselves a covert from the tempest! them as they saw them. Often some old buck, by |