tentions, well calculated to test the sincerity of his professions. He answered every question promptly and satisfactorily. He also produced letters of commendation, and several, that he averred had just been received through the mail from his friends, regularly stamped with the post-mark of the town of -- in a distant state. He was required to obtain a certificate from Judge ——, who was known to be a resident of the town named, of his parentage and good character. This done, every objection would be removed. In the mean time, the father took the precaution to write to the post master of the office where the letters shown were apparently mailed, relative to the standing of Mr. He was afterwards traced in his dark career through several States, in three of which he succeeded in the same game, and finally left the country, to save his life from the avenging hand of a young gentleman, whose sister he had ruined, and who followed him more than a thousand miles. wrote, and whose history he well knew. The letters exhibited by him, and the one containing the certificate of the Judge, were all forged, and post-marked by a stamp prepared for the purpose. The letter written by the father was opened by the process of steaming the wafer; its answer was examined in the same manner, and the certificate which apparently arrived by the same mail, was made to correspond with it in every particular. The stranger had often named the college and time at which he graduated; the letter from the post-master and the certificate from the Judge, confirmed his statements. The deception was as complete as the result was tragical. He was a In due time, he received an an-young man of talent, and had nearly finished his colswer in all respect favorable to the young man legiate education. His manners were fascinating, and named, saying, that he was absent on a tour to the his whole appearance prepossessing. west. By the same mail, as was then supposed, the desired certificate arrived from the Judge, speaking in the highest terms of Mr. -, who had a few months before graduated at College, and was now on a tour to the west. The termination of this investigation was satisfactory to the parents, and enrapturing to the confiding daughter. Every obstacle was removed, every suspicion lulled. In a few days this demon in human shape led this amiable girl to the hymenial altar. In less than two weeks from that time he decamped, with a considerable sum of money borrowed from her friends, and left this angelic woman to writhe under the tortures of false friendship, the victim of a dark, designing knave, the subject of a hellish plot, as deeply laid and successfully executed, as can be found in the black catalogue of guilt and crime. The wiles of deception triumphed over the most rigid caution. The young lady, although warm-librium. The ocean of life is constantly infested with hearted, was not rash. She listened to the counsel of her parents, and patiently waited their determination. After the man she loved had been weighed in the balance and pronounced to be pure coin, a pleasing prospect of future bliss opened before her. In two short weeks after she passed the Rubicon, her morning sun was enveloped in gloom, and sunk to rise no more. The shock was too great for her sensitive mind, the arrows of grief pierced her bleeding heart. She withered, and died. A neat stone points to her narrow house, and by her side, the remains of her fond parents repose in peaceful slumber. Although thirty winters have spread their frost upon my locks since this mournful scene was acted, it often passes in review before my imagination as if only a transaction of yesterday. The whole plot was subsequently revealed by a a woman, whose husband fled with a paramour, and who was a particeps criminis with the hardened fiend, who had consigned a whole family to an early grave. This husband, whose heart revelled in the same sink of corruption with that of the young stranger, had, at that time, charge of the post office, and was a printer. The young man had been expelled from college for repeated larcenies from his room-mates, and had assumed the name of a respectable graduate, who was a native of the town to which the father In view of this, among numerous instances of a similar kind, let all be admonished, and more particularly the young, to beware of wolves in sheeps' clothing, and to use the utmost care in choosing a bosom companion. Genuine coin loses none of its inherent qualities by being seven times tried, and you had better place it in the crucible of trial seventy times seven, rather than take a counterfeit. Remember that caution is the parent of safety, discretion the helm of human action, and prudence the ballast to preserve equi pirates, sailing under false colors. A large proportion of mankind wear the mask more or less; few are, in all respects, what they appear to be. Deception is practiced from the cradle to the grave, by the beggar, and by the king. I will notice some prominent characters, and beg my readers to shun them as they would the fangs of an adder or the crater of a volcano. Beware of sunshine friends, whose love is evidently based on the seven principles of five loaves and two fishes. Those who are surrounded by wealth, power or fame, are in constant danger from this numerous and detestable class. Like insects in embryo, they burst forth in myriads the moment they feel the genial rays of your prosperity; but the instant the chilling dews and clouds of adversity dispel the warmth that gave them life, they fly as on wings of wind. When a man falls by misfortune, it often happens that those who have enjoyed his most liberal benefaction, are the first to forsake, censure, and reproach him. This arises from base ingratitude, and is a trick to gain the favor of some other person who has the loaves and fishes, and who, perhaps, rejoices at the prostration of one who was an object of his envy. Truly has Cowper said, "No friendship will abide the test, Or mean self-love erected." How many courtiers have accompanied princes to Never take to your bosom the fickle and unstable, the dungeon, or in exile, on the ground of friendship? who are ever fluttering in the wind, who are every How many, who, in prosperity, professed the most ar-thing by turns, and nothing long, poising on doubts, dent attachment, have visited and administered to the and balancing on the pivot of uncertainty and indeciwants of an unfortunate debtor, when thrown in pri- sion. son by merciless and avaricious creditors? Learn the result of these queries, and you will be enabled to duly appreciate sunshine friends. You may have a thousand intimates, and not a genuine friend among them. Beware of the flatterer, who tells you of your superior beauty, talents, wealth, influence, or power. Flattery is a magic charm, and should be listened to with great distrust. It flows from weak heads and corrupt hearts, and is beneath the dignity of a slave. Beware of the man who despises frugality and economy; who rushes into the arena of high life beyond his means, and urges you to enter into visionary and hazardous speculations, in which you are to make your fortune by a coup de main. The schemes of such men produce ninety-nine blanks to a prize, and are dangerous experiments. Beware of forming sudden intimacies with strangers. You can treat them with courtesy and hospitality, without introducing them to the secret recesses of your heart and business. It is imprudence to trust any man with the minutiae of your concerns, without good evidence that he moves within the orbit of me Be cautious of persons whose oily tongues run on diamonds, and whose bewitching smiles are enchant ment. The poison of asps may rankle in the heart beneath, and inflict a deadly wound in an unsuspect-ral rectitude. We find too many, who, like Cataline, ing moment. The serpent exhibits the brightest co- conceal a sink of corruption under a fascinating extelors, when coiled to spring upon its prey, and highly rior. Truly did the poet say, charged with venom. Avoid those who are all loquacity, unbosoming their secrets, with a solemn injunction of silence, that, by reciprocity, they may obtain yours, only to betray them. Such persons uniformly employ half a score to aid them in keeping every arcanum. A loquarious person is a pest in society. Beware of persons who communicate their ideas to you in a mysterious raanner. The sly hint, the dark inuendo, the knowing wink, the significant look, and the deep sigh, are all of doubtful gender, and seldom emanate from a pure source. Be cautious not to link yourself with persons of a captious, passionate, fretful disposition. To live on terms of uniform amity with them, requires, as much caution as to carry a firebrand through a powder house. A single spark may produce direful conse quences. "A fretful temper will divide Shun the tale-bearer, and those who are surcharged with envy, jealousy, and contention. Such persons would gladly convert a paradise into a desert, the abodes of happiness into smoking ruins, and blast, with their foul breath, the fairest flowers that bloom. The felicity and prosperity of those around them af fect their hearts as water does the unfortunate subject of hydrophobia. Their spasms are as severe, and their saliva as dangerous. "And who but learns in riper years, A fine coat, a lily hand, a gold watch, and a graceful bow, are passports that often introduce strangers into good company, who are despised by those who know them. An itinerant dandy is a dangerous animal, of which all persons should beware. Finally, let me admonish all to guard against coun. terfeits. One false friend is more dangerous than a thousand open and avowed enemies. By such a one secrets of the most sacred import are treacherously betrayed; frailties of human nature basely exposed, and often exaggerated; reputation is wantonly destroyed, and the prospects of future happiness blasted at one bold stroke. A false friend strikes in the dark, and leaves you to welter in misery and wo. In selecting a friend, choose one of strong common sense; who is consistent in all things; who shuns every purlieu of vice; one "Whose heart, and head, and liberal mind, Such a friend is worthy of our esteem and venera. tion, is entitled to our affection and confidence, and may be safely chosen for a bosom associate and kindred companion. A YANKEE TAR'S ADVENTURE WITH THE FLYING DUTCHMAN. "There is no speculation in those eyes It was on a lovely morning in October that Jack "Pass me aft that sheet, you Jarman lubber," interThompson and his three partners, the owner and crew rupted his chief, Molk! sprit the mainsail-haul of the Jolly Lamplighter pilot-boat, were seen hauling away, now." The boat's keel grated through the her down the steep shingly beach of the small fishing loose sand, she glided from the shore with a free wind village of Eisenberg, some few miles to the westward and a flowing sail, and dashed through the rippling of Hamburg. When viewed from a distance at high-waves, which had already begun to glitter in the morn water, the town appears as if just emerging from the waves, while, almost from the very strand, a precipitous rock rises up, crowned by an ancient church, whose gray and weather-beaten walls, visible some leagues at sea, have often cheered the home-sick mariner with the hope of mingling once again with the companions of his youth. Years have made but little alteration in the place; a few old-fashioned houses, sundry groups of fishermen's cottages huddled irregularly together, a dock nearly choked with mud, and a rude pier composed of unhewn granite blocks, form the most prominent features of Eisenberg. ing ray. While the Jolly Lamplighter was holding on her rapid course, her careless crew lay stretched along the thwarts, or bent over the gunwale, gazing listlessly upon the sparkling foam that bubbled at her side; at times the hoarse but not unmusical voices of the Germans would be lifted up in some old national hymn; while the Yankee, who happened to be in a taciturn mood, keeping his watchful eyes fixed upon the sails, with an occasional glance to windward, solaced himself in silence with a quid of tobacco. The day was now far spent, and this had been, apparently, an unsuccessful trip for our boat's crew: Jack Thompson, the owner of the pilot-boat, which they had been out some leagues to sca, without the by this time had been pushed into the water, had for-appearance of any vessel likely to require their assistmerly rated as an able seaman on board a Yankee frigate; from thence he had passed into the merchantservice, and, being cast upon the German coast in a tempest which left not another of his shipmates to tell the story, had domesticated himself at Eisenberg, and gained his living as a pilot, by preserving other vessels from the fate which his own had so unhappily | Teufel!" growled Rudolph Lintz; and "Der Teufel!" met with. Although the denizen of a foreign country, Jack Thompson still adhered to the natty costume of the Yankee tar: his blue jacket, small hat placed jauntily upon one side of his head, his highly polished shoes, and gracefully curled love-locks, might all have passed muster upon the deck of "old Ironsides." His companions were Germans of the true breed: Hans Gutterblutt, his mate, was of Upper Saxony, and set up for a wit. Rodolph Lintz, and Molk Vanderspiegel, being of Coblentz, were practical men, and said nothing. 44 I say, Hans," said the owner, taking his place at the helm, "I guess the wind's coming round; we'll have some of the squalls off the coast to-lay. What d'ye ye think of standing out to west'ard? I hard tell of some square-rigged craft in that direction-Dutchmen from Batavia belike-they'll want a pilot, surely, and mayhap a boat's crew." "Oh, to be sure, Meester Van Thompson," replied the animated Hans Gutterblutt; "you are always in de richt. I do remember fifteen year at Sluys, my grandmother ance. At length, tired of the pursuit, they stood in re-echoed the sagacious Molk Vanderspiegel. And the astonishment of the boatmen was well founded. Rapidly doubling the rocky point which shelters the small haven from the westerly gales, a large square-rigged vessel hove in sight, with all her canvass spread, and every spar landing. 46 What is she-where did she come from?" was the exclamation of the vivacious mate. "It's no odds where she comes from," said the owner; "she's a stranger, or she'd never poke her bowsprit among them rocks: howsomever, a good pilot might bring her safe off yet." Oh, Meester Van Thompson," interrupted the mate, "I am frightful she is not a Christian craft. See what a breeze of wind she have got, and we have not got von breath!" "That is because we are becalmed here under the land. She's a jolly three-master, and a Dutchman by her build; so out with the oars, my hearties, and we'll just run alongside and hail her." "Oh, Meester Van Thompson," shouted Hans, "do not be such rash man-she is der Teufel, or we would have seen him before-she is de vlying Dutchman,' Belay your jawing tackle, you Jarman lubber; ye havn't as much brains as would bait a mackerel-hook. If so be as y're afeard, I'll put ye ashore on the rock, and board the barque myself." Accordingly he ran the boat into a little creek or gully between the rocks, and the next moment he found himself deserted by a crew, who, in the hour of real danger, would never have quitted his side, but who wanted sufficient moral courage to encounter with him an unknown or supernatural enemy. "It was der wilde Yager," interrupted Hans. "Hold your jaw, ye Jarman lubber. Well,' says he; 'what cheer, Jack Thompson,' says he, quite coolly, though his eyes were burning in his head like a By the time that Hans and his companions had couple of hand-grenades. Then says he, Jack Thomp gained the summit of the cliff, the night had become son, go to the wheel and work the ship.' 'Ax your dark and foggy. They looked anxiously towards the pardon, but which is the skipper, sir?' says I, as bold point where the strange vessel had appeared, but their as brass. I'm the skipper,' says he, making a low most intense scrutiny could not discover any trace of scrape-at your sarvice.' You, the skipper! well, her-not a spot was apparent upon the waste of that's a rare one, anyhow, thinks I; a nice mess I've waters, nor even one glimmering light to indicate the got into. Well, I was obligated to take the helm, and presence of a solitary boat upon the fishing station: it warn't till then I diskivered that every man of the dense masses of vapor rolled slowly in from seaward, crew was the very moral of old Davy the skipper; and a heavy ground-swell had begun to break upon howsomever, to give the devil his due, they were good the rocks beneath; the clouds drifted furiously athwart seamen, and did their duty like men-of-war's-men. the murky sea, and all things seemed to prognosticate Well, not to be spinning out a long yarn, I worked the a dreadful stormy night. ship out of her berth amongst the rocks, without so much as breaking a barnacle on her keel; and when fairly got into the offing, taking off my hat very civilly, "Oh, he is gone, and der Teufel has got him!" said Hans Gutterblutt, as, with heavy heart, he joined his two comrades on their march homeward. "Oh, he was such nice man, and did sing! Oh, I shall never hear him sing Jolly Dick de Lamplichter more." The night, as was expected, had become wild and tempestuous; but towards morning the gale lulled, and the sun rose vividly upon the ocean: the waves, though the storm had passed away, still chafed and broke into sheets of white foam against the opposing cliffs of the rocky projection. · wished the captain a good voyage, and was just stepping into the yawl that lay alongside, when he stopped me. Jack Thompson,' says he, you're a rele trump, and did ye're duty like a man: here's something to drink my health with'-and he hauled a long purse of golden shiners out of his breeches-pocket. I was rather taken aback when I saw the guineas glimmering through the net-work; howsomever, I waurn't going to sell my precious soul in that way. • Ax your honor's pardon,' says I, but I never takes money from gentlemen of your honor's quality.' 'Well,' my lad,' says the skipper, not a bit vexed, 'you must at least take a glass of grog afore you go. Fireblood!" says he to a young devil, who was sitting smoking a pipe in the main-hatchway; 'jump, and fetch me the bottle.' The devil bottle you,' thinks I; but there was no use in being obstropolous. Well, when the youngster came up, he filled a glass for me first. • After your honor, sir,' says I, making a leg. 'Here's The report that our hero had been pilot to a phan-to the continuance of our acquaintance,' says he, bolttom ship, on the preceding evening, spread with greating the whole, glass and all; then filling another, and celerity. Old and young crowded round him, but he wagging his tail, he handed it to me. To be sure it evaded all their inquiries; and it was not until even-smelt like rale Jainaikey, and my lips were smacking ing that, seated with a few particular cronies, he gave the following recital of his adventure: At an early hour, the disconsolate mate, with his silent companions, walked down to the pier, meditating upon the mysterious fate of his unlucky superior, wher like a spirit from the other world, they beheld Jack! the identical Jack Thompson! leaning against the stock of an old anchor, and composedly smoking his deeply tinted Meerschaum pipe. He greeted them with a nod and a knowing wink. "Tausend Teufelen!" cried Hans; "here is Meester Van Thompson, and der Jolly Lamplichter, both alive." to taste it; but, recollecting it was only a scheme of the old shaver to weather upon me, I made believe "When I pushed off from the rock," said he, "I to drink it, and, when I thought he was not minding, confess I did feel a little flabbergasted. Howsomever, shied the tipple over my shoulder. But he was not to there was no use in turning back; so I put the helm be done so easily: Jack Thompson,' says he, turning up, and before ye could say Jack Robinson, I was round in a terrible passion, 'd'ye think I'm to be alongside the barque. A great big-bellied Dutchman humbugged in that lubberly fashion? Is that the way she was, with studding-sails set aloft and alow; but to sarve good liquor, you swab?' 'I ax your honor's what bamboozled me most was, sink the noise or word pardon, sir,' says I. 'Hold your jaw, you lubber! I was to be heard aboard. She was more like a float-treated you like a gentleman, but you took neither my ing churchyard than a decent Dutch craft. Howsom-money nor my drink, and it shall be worse for you. ever, I ran the yawl close under the mizen-chains, and You think yourself a monstrous clever fellow, Mister hailed her as loud as I could baw), 'Barque, ahoy! Thompson; but I'll show you the difference.' With that he gave the deck three slaps with his long tail, and in the twinkling of a handspike there blew a hurricane from every point of the compass, with such thunder and lightning as old Davy himself knows how to mannifactur; and before I could bless myself, the whole ship, captain, crew, and all, had sunk to the bottom, like a lump of lead, and I was left on the surface swimming for my life! I saw the Jolly Lamplighter' within an oar's length of me: I struck out like a dolphin, and in a brace of shakes was safe aboard her. It was blowing pretty fresh at the time; but I weathered out that gale, as I had done many a one before it; and now here I am, ready to laugh in Master Davy's face, and be his pilot the next time he comes into these parts." Such was Jack Thompson's history of his adventure; which soon, by the industry of the gossips and wonderhunters of the village, became the conversation of the country for miles round. Every one retailed it with such alterations, modifications, and exaggerations as suited his taste, until it grew too horribly marvellous for human ears. Jolly Lamplighter" to his mate, Hans Gutterblutt; purchased a large smack-seldom went to sea-sported a gold watch of alarming dimensions, with a steel chain and fifteen seals; and, in short, became a man of note in the village, second in importance only to old Fritz Letterboxen, the postmaster. The worthy householders of Eisenberg marvelled at his sudden elevation; but they did not grow a whit the wiser, for Jack left them to wonder on, until they had fairly tired their imaginations. I ought, perhaps, to conclude here; but, in justice to my readers, I must add, that many years afterwards it was whispered that Jack, one night in a mellow mood, had hinted that the unearthly barque was, in fact, a rich Dutch smuggler, that had got amongst the rocks in the fog; and that, for his service in piloting her out, he had received a bag of ducats, which he scrupled less to accept than the purse of diabolical gold. However that may be, it is certain that Jack cannot, to this day, relate without a roguish leer of the eye, and a significant hitch of the trousers, the story In a few months after his exploit, Jack gave up the of his adventure with the “Flying Dutchman.” E. STANZAS. "Twas a sweet and balmy eve in June, The out-stretch'd arms of the crescent moon A lady gazed, with a babe at rest On her arm, and heav'd a sigh, As, clasped to that fair and snowy breast, "The stars are gemm'd in their glory there, The mother sobbed o'er her infant fair, It smiled as a thought passed o'er its heart, They are pure and gay, those radiant beams, But the smile of my babe in his innocent dreams, Oh, sweeter are they than yon star which seems The light breeze cooled the feverish flush The light breeze fanned, and a tear apace, The thought had passed, and the throbbing breast A gentle sigh, and the babe close prest, "The world may frown and thy peace molest, I'll guard thy ways with a mother's care, To the spirit-land, the dwelling, where She paused; but the pageant beam'd on high, It seem'd as if each would fain outvie The stars look'd out and smil'd from the sky Columbia, Pa. ALF. |