a deep voice. "St. Just told us, t'other day, that the occasion never failed to produce one; and see, here is 'Jean Gourgon;' and though he's but two feet high, his fingers can reach the pin of the guillotine." And he held aloft on his shoulders a mis-shapen dwarf, who was well known on the Pont Neuf, where he gained his living by singing infamous songs, and performing mockeries of the service of the mass. Ascending one of the chairs, the little wretch proceeded to address the mob, which he did with all the ease and composure of a prac· tised public speaker. "To work-to work, Master Gour gon!" shouted hundreds of rude voices. "We cannot spend our day in listening to an oration." "You forget, my dear friends," said he blandly, "that this is to me a new walk in life. I have much to learn ere I can acquit myself worthily to the Republic." "We have no leisure for preparatory studies, Gourgon," cried a fellow below the scaffold. "Let me, then, just begin with Monsieur," said the dwarf, pointing to the last speaker; and a shout of laughter closed the sentence. A brief and angry dispute now arose as to what was to be done, and it is more than doubtful how the debate might have ended, when Gourgon, with a readiness all his own, concluded the discussion by saying: "I have it messieurs, I have it. There is a lady here, who, however respecta ble her family and connections, will leave few to mourn her loss. With your permission, then, I'll begin with her." name--name her," was "Name, cried by thousands. "Behold! an enemy of France. Long live the Republic one and 'indivisi ble.' In the next moment the old marquise was led forward between two men. "Where is the order for this woman's execution?" asked the dwarf, mimicking the style and air of the commissary. "We give it; it is from us," shouted the mob with one savage roar. Gourgon removed his cap, and bowed a token of obedience. "Let us proceed in order, messieurs," said he gravely, "I see no priest here." "Shrive her yourself, Gourgon; few know the mummeries better," cries a voice. "Is there not one here can remember a prayer, or even a verse of the offices," said Gourgon, with a well affected hor ror in his voice. "Yes, yes, I do," cried I, my zeal overcoming all sense of the mockery in which the words were spoken; I know them all by heart, and can repeat them from lux beatissima' down to 'hora mortis;'" and as if to gain credence for my self-laudation, I began at once to recite in the sing-song tone of the seminary, "Salve, mater salvatoris, It is possible I should have gone on to the very end, if the uproarious laughter which rung around had not stopped me. I was elevated above the crowd and pushed upon the platform of the scaf fold. I took off my cap and knelt down at her feet, reciting in a voice broken by emotion, the words of the prayer. She repeated each syllable after me, in a tone full and unshaken, and stooping, she took up the lily which lay in my cap. She pressed it passionately to her lips; two or three times passionately. "Give it to her, The absurdity of the suggestion was tell her I kissed it at my last moment. more than enough for its success. A Tell her-" dozen hands were speedily at work, and down came the Goddess of Liberty! Down fell the axe, and Gourgon, lifting up the wooden head, paraded it about the scaffold, crying, "La voila," said he archly, as he pointed with his thumb to the wooden effigy of liberty above his head. "This 'shrift' is beyond endurance. Away, holy lather," cried Gourgon, as he pushed me rudely back, and seized the marquise by the wrist. A faint cry escaped her. I heard no more; for, . jostled and pushed about by the crowd, I was driven to the very rails of the scaffold. Stepping beneath these, I mingled with the mob beneath; and burning with eagerness to escape a scene, to have witnessed which would almost have made my heart break, I forced my way into the dense mass, and by squeezing and creeping, succeeded at last in penetrating to the verge of the Place. A terrible shout, and a rocking motion of the mob, like the heavy surging of the sea, told me that all was over; but I never looked back to the fatal spot, but having gained the open streets, ran at the top of my speed toward home. LINES, Suggested by David's Picture of Napoleon Asleep in his Study, taken shortly before the Battle of Waterloo. Steal softly!-for the very room, The stately chamber of His rest, Unto the rash intruder's breast Here, kneel and look!-but breathe not, lest Thy gross material breath alone Should wake that eye's immortal blaze, He sleeps, while earth around him reels, And Mankind's million hosts combine Against the sceptre sword which seals Their fate from Lapland to the LineWhile, like a giant roused from wine, Grim Europe, starting, watches him, The Warior-Lord of Lodi's field— O'er Jena's rout who shook his shieldIs hush'd in slumber dim! He sleeps! The Thunderer of the World He sleeps-and silence binds that tone He sleeps and dreams-Oh, for the sense Of some sublimer sphere, to know Where strays the fierce intelligence Which scourged the nations here below! To the Empyrean doth it go? And would its wild ambition strain To grasp the balance of the skies, And systems, suns, and stars comprise In one tremendous reign? He dreams and smiles! The Conqueror's brow, As if young ENGHIEN never died! The plan and pencil in his hand Have drooped, as though their effort fail'd To draught the crimson sketch he scann'd In Fate's vast volume seven-seal'dBut earth shall see the page reveal'd, And hear its fiery purport too, Until her curdling heart's blood stopsAnd, carnage-clogged, the sickle drops Outworn, red Waterloo! He dreams and smiles! Yon blue-sea prison Thundering the moral of his story, Away, bright Painter! tell thy frere, Whose ready, reasoning tongue would swear, From crested Care one moment free Tell him thy life-imparting eye, NAPOLEON'S sleeping hour survey'd, And with one deathless glance hath made Immortal now-the Lie! Take any flower you choose, place a stratum in a clean earthern pot, and over them a stratum of fine salt. Re peat the process until the pot is filled, cover closely, and place in the cellar. -Forty days afterwards strain the es sence from the whole through a crape by pressure. Put the essence thus expressed in clean bottles, and expose for six weeks in the rays of the sun and evening dew to purify. One drop of this essence will communicate its pe culiar and grateful odor to a whole quart of water. This makes the best oil of flowers. their actions. Then will its beautiful A VISIT TO NICOJACK CAVE. and impressive scenery bear with it the 'Twas a damp and misty morning charm of superstition, and the traveller that we left the flourishing town of on its bosom will forget in its romantic Chattanooga, destined to become the existence the fabled greatness of the future Cincinnati of Tennessee. Our Rhine. party were safely on board the beautiful little steamer, the Ellen White, to whose gentlemanly Captain and Clerk, for their agreeable kindness, we pay the tribute of our thankfulness. Our steamer continued on her winding way, making incessant echoes for the mountain sprites, who laughingly returned them. We passed down in safety the litle falls known by such inIn the dim distance old Lookout harmonious names, and finally after a seemed bathing his greenwood locks in trip of forty miles, we reached the place the dewy cloud that danced in airy mo- of our destination-the Nicojack Cave. tion around its summit, which parted at Soon after our landing, a lad made times by the cool breath of morning his appearance, and under his guidance would reveal some tree-embowered we set out on a path through the forspot, or some wild and romantic pre- est. A cornfield betokened civiliza cipice. The sun had peeped out with tion and a cottage, and soon we were its first sweet smile of affection on the pleasantly resting in those low seat, woodlands and the wild flowers in the high-backed chairs essential to a counvalley beneath, awakening them with try farm house. That afternoon we its first warm kiss. The dewy shroud visited the Corner Stone of the States. that had slept all night in their em- It is a simple block of limestone placed brace, expanded in this holy vision, upright, bearing on three sides the and a little cloud rested tremblingly names of Georgia, Tennessee and Ala(as though it were sad and sorrowful to bama. It was here that our party perleave) within the branching trees and formed the great feat of being in three upon the flower's swelling bosom. The States at the same moment. We spent sunlight beamed warmer and brighter, a pleasant evening with our farmer and the misty cloud winding around host, who was a true specimen of the the mountain's form, kissed its giant old school of independence. Simple brow and passed into the pale blue air and sociable, his manners would scarceof Heaven. ly have been au fait in a city drawing The bell had tolled-the last plank room, yet he was pleasant and agreeahad been shoved on board, and our ble and his quaint remarks bore the steamer puffed and panted on the charm of novelty. The accommodawaters of the Tennessee. As beauti- tions here might not vie with those of ful as our imagination has pictured the the Pulaski, and the idea of sleeping in "Castled Rhine," with its legends of an open log house brings rather an antiquity, its marvelous stories of su- amusing train of thought, while the perstitious terror, and its unequalled comparative scarcity of doors leads one sublimity and grandeur of scenery, we to suppose that he is a victim to apwould prefer for its home associations pearances. the rock-ribbed Tennessee. Its legends. An early breakfast soon over, and of antiquity may be buried in some our preparations all made, we started deep cave near where its waters mur- the next morning to visit the cave. mur, and its marvelous stories of su walk of about two hundred yards in a perstitious terror may be engraved up-rocky path, winding around the base of on the rocky tablet beneath its peaceful bosom. We know the Indian character, but its lessons are too familiar to us. Years must pass away with centuries, and other generations must arise for whom tradition will invest with a garb of romance their life and A a mountain, brought us to our destination, where our guide instructed us as to its width, &c., which we here submit: width of Nickojack Cave at its entrance, 177 feet; height from the water to the roof, 48 feet; thickness of the roof above, 31 feet. The path we had fol. lowed led us into its upper entrance, We had now reached a little opening, on a ledge of rocks some 30 feet above the water. which we essayed to enter. Our guide objected, on the ground that he had never visited it; but we overruled his objections. Ascending and descending After lighting our pine torches, we descended the rocky hill to where our canoe lay in readiness; and after from each rocky obstacle, winding safely embarking, we commenced a more minute examination of the cave. We entered upon a little river, whose waters sleep un cheered by the sparkling sunbeams-silvered not by the moon's soft radiance-nor awakened by the wind's sweet sigh into murmurings; but with noiseless footstep stealing eternally through darkest night with no living companion to share its solitude, and so cold and icy in its embrace, that we fancied The dark-wing'd spirit of the flowing river From the slip'ry banks of some unseen isle. around pillars perfect and graceful in their proportions, we reached finally (what seemed to us) the most beautiful part of the cave. A natural city lay before us, buried perhaps for ages. Two or more streets, parallel to each other, about one hundred feet in length, and wide enough for an Indian and his dark-eyed bride to wander in, wrapt in love's deep dream, with an arched roof above and little caves on each hand, at regular intervals, resembling very much the habitation of man! As we inscribed our names upon the rocky walls of this natural city, we thought perhaps the shades of the departed red men were gathered around us, anxious to decipher such strange hieroglyphics. Our feelings were peculiar while We collected some few unpolished ar gliding over these hidden waters; the row-heads, to remind us of the city of torch light revealing its rough banks the Past, and of the Indians who, perand the dim obscurity of its terraced haps, lived and loved within its rockhalls, while beneath us the rocky bot- bound limits. Having feasted our eyes tom, varying in depth from two to eight upon this strange beauty, and our feet, seemed clear and beautiful. The thoughts upon the past history, we es width of the stream we judge to be sayed to return. The feeble torchabout 20 feet, with many a rocky cape light cast but a lurid glare as we wound and tiny bay. After proceeding in this around pillars scattered in every di way a mile or more, we were shut out rection! In this way many moments by the rocks which had fallen into its passed by, and as yet we could find no bosom, forbidding us any further ad- opening. The truth revealed itself that vance. We landed on an irregular we were lost-the City of the Past pile, and ascending some distance, had become our temporary prison. found ourselves on an even surface of house. Our guide, a mere boy of 16, rock, partially bounded, to which our had become perfectly discouraged and party gave the familiar name of the frightened, but the ladies of the party Ball-room. Continuing our explora--to their praise be it spoken-express tions amidst scenery which afforded us ed but little fear, yet the pale cheek no pleasure, on account of its sameness, we returned in our canoe, and landed again about half-way to the entrance. Our party here divided, and taking one guide with us, we amused ourselves by Nothing daunted, we continued our climbing the rugged and slippery ascent explorations, and visited the Bat-room, from the river's bank. The banks of where, we were told, at times, millions this little stream, in some places, are of these hideous creatures can be seen. composed of clay, which we found, by We passed on and visited the Chalk tasting, to contain a great portion of room, a large square room, so perfectly nitre, while the atmosphere of the cave proportionate that it seems the work of is strongly impregnated with its gas. art. We visited several other places and anxious eye told more than words could express. We spent some time in anxious search, and finally succeeded in obtaining egress. of little interest, and finally emerged ways read with a pen in their hand, and once more into the glorious sunshine. commit to paper any new thought which strikes them, others trust to duct of understanding, must, I should SELF TRAINING.-The late Sir John F. Buxton had great faith in the selftraining power of men. He thus ex. presses himself: "I am sure that a young man may be very much what he pleases. In my case it was so. I left school, where I had learnt little or nothing, at the age of fourteen. I spent the next year at home, learning to hunt and shoot. Then it was that the prospect of going to College open. ed before me. THE ART OF THINKING.-One of the best modes of improving in the art of I made my resolutions, and acted up thinking, is to think over some subject to them; I gave up all desultory readbefore you read upon it; and to observe ing; and I never looked into a novel. after what manner it has occurred to I gave up shooting. During the five the mind of some great master; you will years I was in Ireland, I had the liberty then observe whether you have been of going when I pleased to a capital too rash or too timid; what you have shooting place. Inever went but twice. omitted, and in what you have exceed. In short, I considered every hour as ed; and by this process you will insen- precious, and I made every thing bend sibly catch a great manner of viewing to my determination not to be behind a question. It is right in study, not any of my companions, and thus I only to think when any extraordinary speedily passed from one species of incident provokes you to think, but character to another. I had been a from time to time to review what has boy fond of pleasure and idleness, readpassed; to dwell upon it and to see ing only books of unprofitable enterwhat trains of thought voluntarily pre- tainment. I became speedily a youth. sent themselves to your mind. It is a of steady habits, of application and most superior habit of some minds, to irresistable resolution. I soon gained refer all the particular truths which the ground I had lost, and found those strike them, to other truths more gene- things which were difficult and almost ral; so that their knowledge is beauti- impossible in my idleness, easy enough fully methodized; and the general truth to my industry; and much of my hapat any time suggests all the particular piness and all my prosperity in life have exemplifications, or any particular resulted from the change I made at that exemplication at once leads to the age. It all rests with yourself. If you general truth. This kind of under- seriously resolve to be energetic and standing has an immense and decided industrious, depend upon it you will, superiority over those confused heads for your whole life, have reason to rein which one fact is piled upon another, joice that you were wise enough to form without the least attempt at classifica and act upon the determination. tion and arrangement. Some men al No man ought to be convinced |