Naples, by two Scotch gentlemen, whose sympathies generally accorded pretty well with my own. I believe, by the way, I never differed totally with either one of my Scotch friends but on one subject that of painters and painting; and many were the little skirmishes we had together touching that point. The Scotchman looked upon such a painting as Titian's Assumption of the Virgin very much as he would have looked upon a perfect specimen of a plough, or an ox cart; and he always managed to get a little vexed with me, when I classed the poet and the painter together, and spoke of them both as artists. He was never willing, he said, to have Milton, and Shakspeare, and Dante degraded to a level with Raphael, and Rubens, and Paul Veronese. However, the Scotchmen and the Yankee never quarreled.

Arrived at the railway station opposite Pompeii, it jostled rather roughly some of the sublime thoughts that I had taken a fancy to entertain in my mind, to hear the conductor shout, at the top of his voice, "Pompeii; passengers for Pompeii, get out here!" Oh, these railroads! What business have they to invade the domains of Vesuvius? However, there is no use in croaking about that, I suppose. So we will good-naturedly alight, and make our way to one of the gates leading to the doomed city. By what gate shall we enter? The one called the "Gate of the Soldiers," the guide tells us; and it is generally best to obey the guide, I find.

But let us pause here a moment, and travel back some centuries on the electric telegraph of thought, that we may get a clear idea of the history of the strange city we are about to visit. Pompeii is a very ancient city. The precise date of its origin is involved in some obscurity; but we know it was founded long before the golden period of the Roman empire. It was three quarters of a mile in length by half a mile in breadth. It contained many fine works of art, several theatres, magnificent temples, and a great number of handsome buildings. In the year 63 of the Christian era, it was very much damaged by an earthquake. A great many of its splendid edifices were then ruined, and others were greatly damaged. The effects of this earthquake are still visible in numerous places in the vicinity of Vesuvius. It seems to have shaken every part of Southern Italy severely. Temples, theatres, monuments, crumbled

under its influence. Historians tell us of a flock of six hundred sheep which were engulfed by it, while grazing in the neighborhood of Pompeii. Some of the inhabitants of this city, in witnessing the effects of the earthquake, were struck with terror to such an extent, that they were deprived of reason. For several years succeeding this great earthquake, the whole region of country around the mountain was subject to convulsions. It often happened that the earth trembled and rocked for days together. All this was but the terrible prelude to the more terrible catastrophe about to take place.

It was on the 24th of August, in the year 79, that the mountain poured forth those streams of lava which overwhelmed Pompeii and its neighboring cities and villages. The elder Pliny, who perished at Pompeii, was then admiral of the Roman fleet lying at Misenum, at the western extremity of the Bay of Naples. His sister (the mother of the younger Pliny, who saw and described it) observing the accumulation of dense, dark clouds, over Vesuvius, called her brother to look at them. His curiosity was excited to go nearer, and to get a better view of the sublime phenomenon. So he ordered a galley to be made ready for his use. But, just as he was leaving his house to embark, he was accosted by a messenger bearing a note from a lady of wealth, who had a villa at Pompeii, begging him to send as many galleys as he could spare, to take her and her friends away from the devoted city. Pliny, in consequence of this request, fitted out the requisite number of galleys, and himself accompanied them across the bay, to assist in rescuing those who were exposed to so much danger. The vessels, we are told, approached so near the spot, that the lava and ashes fell in burning masses on the decks. Amid these dangers, the brave admiral and his companions landed on the coast opposite Pompeii. The stones thrown from the cone of the mountain, though five miles distant, fell so thick, that they were obliged to protect their heads by tying pillows over them. After long and perilous efforts to save the inhabitants, the admiral lay down upon the ground to rest. But he rose not again. He was suffocated there, and died. It has been said that the death of the elder Pliny was owing to his intense curiosity, which prompted him to venture too far from the shore

up the sides of the burning mountain. But he perished in obeying a law of his nature—a law much more sublime and godlike than that of curiosity.

The burial of Pompeii was total. Nothing remained uncovered. The cloud rose, in the shape of a pine tree. What a scene must then have been exhibited in that devoted city! The inhabitants fled in every direction. Many ran towards the sea, and endeavored to escape destruction in boats. Some hurried to the temples, and implored the gods to avert the doom that threatened the city. Some perished in their dwellings. Others, vainly endeavoring to make their way through drifts of ashes, with such valuables as they had snatched in their haste, were overwhelmed and lost. The day was turned into night. The storm went on; and, in a few short hours, nothing was visible of the proud and the haughty, the gay and the dissolute city of Pompeii. It seems unaccountable, that even the precise situation of the city should have been lost. But such is the fact. It remained buried from the year 79 till the year 1748, when it was discovered by accident. A great part of the city, though not the whole of it, is now laid bare. The king of Naples had some twenty or thirty men at work among the ruins when I was there.

A CURIOUS FACT.

Ir an acorn be suspended by a piece of thread-so says the Gardener's Gazette-within half an inch of the surface of some water contained in a hyacinth glass, and so permitted to remain without being disturbed, it will, in a few months, burst, and throw a root down into the water, and shoot upwards its straight and tapering stem, with beautiful little green leaves. A young oak tree, growing in this way on the mantel-shelf of a room, is a very elegant and interesting object. We have seen several oak trees, and also a chestnut tree, thus growing; but all of them, however, have died after a few months, probably owing to the water not being changed ufficiently often to afford them the necessary quantity of nourishent from the matter contained in it.

ONE day the long-billed, long-necked, long-legged heron was walking on the banks of a river, whose waters were as transparent as crystal; the carp, the pike, the trout, were wantoning up and down the stream. These the heron might have caught with the greatest ease; but he thought it better to stay till his appetite was more keen. A little time after, his appetite came to him, and he saw tench rising from the sandy bottom: yet these were not delicate enough for his taste; so he was resolved to wait for better fare, and, like the mouse in Horace, was fantastically nice. Our bird stayed for more delicate food, till not so much as one fish appeared. His

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hunger was then extreme, and he thought himself happy even to meet with a poor eel.

MORAL.

The delay shown by the bird in the fable is often exemplified among mankind. Many have suffered in neglecting the advantages fortune offers them, until it is too late to retrieve the opportunity they have lost.

A BUDGET OF PLEASANTRIES.

WHICH travels at the greatest speed, heat or cold? Heat; because you can easily catch cold.

When vice is united to fortune, she changes her name.

A broker in Boston, deeply absorbed in speculation, being asked, one morning, "How do you do?" replied, abruptly, "About two per cent. a month."

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What," asked Margarita of Cecilia, "what, dearest, do you think is really the food of the infant Cupid?" And Cecilia answered, "Arrow-root."

Hobbes once said to a notorious book-worm, "If I had read as many volumes as you have done, I should have been as ignorant as you are."

Young physicians find it hard to get into business; but they will succeed, if they only have patients.

The editor of the Inquirer has determined that Veritas shall

appear.

Transported for life—the man that marries happily.

A poor widow was asked how she became so much attached to a certain neighbor, and replied, that she was bound to him by several cords of wood, which he had sent to her during a hard winter.

A gentleman having asked how many dog-days there were in a year, received for answer, that it was impossible to number them, as "every dog has his day."