so simple and easy to be effected, is in reality very difficult, and only to be learned by constant practice. occupied my mind." "I am not a fairy," replied Napoleon, smiling in his turn, "but I am about the person of the Emperor, and he could, if he knew them, realize your wishes." "You are too good, The curved shell of metal buttons is prepared by sir," said the young man. "It is certain that the means of a stamping-press; but instead of a punch, Emperor could be the fairy that I wish for, for it all a curved polished surface is used. The workwodepends on him. During a journey that I made for men employed to stamp the little bits of copper acmy instruction, I saw in France the gardens of Mal- quire such dexterity, that they frequently stamp maison, with its eleven bridges and Turkish Kios- twelve gross in an hour, or nearly thirty in a mikes. The Emperor, I understand, has given this nute. This dexterity is truly wonderful, when it is charming place to Josephine-if a fairy were here, considered that each bit of copper is put into the die I would ask for nothing more than to be head gar- separately, to be stamped with a press moved by the dener to Josephine. You see how modest I am." hand, and finally removed from the die. The quick"I will think of it," says the Emperor, almost be-ness with which the hands and fingers must be traying his incognito," but do not despair of fairy moved to do 1728 in the hour must be very great. lore;" and after some further conversation with the In type-founding, when the melted metal has been young botanist, Napoleon withdrew. He left Brus-poured into the mould, the workman, by a peculiar sels on the morrow. turn of his hand, or rather jerk, causes the metal to be shaken into all the minute interstices of the mould. During the two months that followed this conversation, the young gardener could scarcely think of anything but the wand of a fairy and the place of head gardener, when one day he received a sealed packet with the arms of the Empress Josephine upon it; it contained his nomination to the post he had so much wished for; he hastened to the spot, and was very soon introduced to the fairy of Lacken -that man who forgot nothing, and in whom he only recognized the Emperor, to express to him almost a species of adoration. In manufacturing imitative pearls, the glass bead forming the pearl has two holes in its exterior; the liquid, made from a pearl-like powder, is inserted into the hollow of the bead by a tube, and by a peculiar twist of the hand, the single drop introduced is caused to spread itself over the whole surface of the interior, without any superfluity or deficiency being occasioned. In waxing the corks of blacking-bottles much cleHe still occupied the place of first botanist at verness is displayed. The wax is melted in an Malmaison when the Empress Josephine died.-open dish, and without brush, ladle, or other appliL'Impartial. ance, the workman waxes each cork neatly and expeditiously simply by turning the bottle upside THE TRUE LIFE.-The mere lapse of years is down, and dipping the cork into the melted wax. not life. To eat, and drink, and sleep; to be expos- Practice has enabled the men to do this so neatly, ed to darkness and the light; to pace around the mill that scarcely any wax is allowed to touch the bottle. of habit and turn the wheel of wealth; to make Again, to turn the bottle to its proper position, withreason our book-keeper, and turn thought into im-out spilling any of the wax, is apparently an explements of trade-this is not life. In all this, but ceedingly simple matter; but it is only by a peculiar a poor fraction of the consciousness of humani. movement of the wrist and hand, impossible to dety is awakened, and the sanctities still slumber | scribe, and difficult to imitate, that it is properly ef which make it most worth while to be. Know- fected. One man can scal one hundred dozen in an ledge, truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith alone can give vitality to the mechanism of existence. The In pasting and affixing the labels on the blackinglaugh of mirth, which vibrates through the heart; bottles much dexterity is also displayed. As one the tears, which freshen the dry wastes within; the man can paste as many labels as two can affix, music, that brings childhood back; the prayer, that groups of three are employed in this department. calls the future near; the doubt, which makes us In pasting, the dexterity is shown by the final touch meditate; the death, which startles us with mys- of the brush, which jerks the label off the heap, and tery; the hardship, that forces us to struggle; the which is caught in the left hand of the workman, anxiety, that ends in trust-these are the true nou-and laid aside. This is done so rapidly, that the rishment of our natural being. hour! neat and dexterous operation; to the watchful specta'or the bottle is scarcely taken up in the hand ́ere it is set down labelled. In packing the bottles into casks much neatness is displayed. threefold operation of pasting, jerking, and laying aside is repeated no less than two thousand times INSTANCES OF MANUAL DEXTERITY IN MANUFAC-in an hour. The affixing of the labels is a very TURES.-The 'body' of a hat (beaver) is generally made of one part of 'red' wool, three parts Saxony, and eight paris rabbits' fur. The mixing or working up of these materials is an operation which depends very much on the dexterity of the workman, and years of long practice are required to render a man proficient. The wool and fur are laid on a bench, first separately, and then together. The workman takes a machine somewhat like a large violin bow; this is suspended from the ceiling by the middle, a few inches above the bench. The workman, by means of a small piece of wood, causes the end of his bow' to vibrate quickly against the particles of wool and fur. This operation, continued for some time, effectually opens the clotted masses, and lays open all the fibres: these flying upwards by the action of the string, are, by the manual and wonderful dexterity of the workman, caught in their descent in a peculiar manner, and laid in a soft layer of equable thickness. This operation, apparently The heads of certain kinds of pins are formed by a coil or two of fine wire placed at one end. This is cut off from a long coil fixed in a lathe; the workman cuts off one or two turns of the coil, guided entirely by his eye; and such is the manual dexterity displayed in the operation, that a workman will cut off 20,000 or 30,000 heads without making a single mistake as to the number of turns in each. An expert workman can fasten on from 10,000 to 15,000 of these heads in a day. The reader will frequently have seen the papers in which pins are stuck for the convenience of sale: children can paper from 30,000 to 40,000 in a day, although each pin involves a separate and distinct operation! The pointing of pins and needles is done solely by hand. The workman holds thirty or forty pinlengths in his hand, spread out like a fan; and wonderful dexterity is shown in bringing each part to the stone, and presenting every point of its circumference to its grinding action. In stamping the grooves in the heads of needles, the operative can finish 8000 needles in an hour, although he has to adjust each separate wire at every blow. In punching the eye-holes of needles by hand, children, who are the operators, acquire such dexterity, as to be able to punch one human hair and thread it with another, for the amusement of visitors! In finally "papering "needles for sale, the females employed can count and paper 3000 in another countries. It is a miserable deception. In the hour! SINGULAR LAWSUIT.-A case has recently come before the English House of Lords, as a Court of dernier resort, which involves some interesting questions. In 1843, Alexander McCarthy died at Cork, Ireland, leaving an estate of £100,000 to be divided among his children according to the statute, he having made no valid will. Prior to his death two daughters, Maria and Catherine, became nuns of the order of St. Ursula at Blackrock, having received portions of £1000, which went, of course, to the Convent. A son of Mr. McCarthy took out letters of administration, and divided the estate among the children, excluding, however, the nuns; whereupon the Convent put in a claim for the shares of the two sisters, an assignment having been obtained of their interest. There was considerable evidence to show that the £1000 received by the nuns was regarded by them and by their father, in full of all claims on his estate; and that they did not wish their brothers and sisters to be disturbed by the Convent. On the contrary, it was proved that the assignment was made with extreme reluctance, and only in consequence of "the vow of obedience." Maria, indeed, is said to have de clared that she signed the deed "with the greatest pain;" that she cried all night long" after doing so; that she had "no free will of her own;" that her act was "like the act of a dead person;" and that "the operation of her vow was like the presen: tation of a pistol by a highwamyan!" Catherine said that "a pen might as well have been put into the hands of a corpse as into hers, when she signed the deed!" A bill in equity was filed in the name of the two Superiors of the Convent and Maria McCarthy. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland refused to grant the prayer of the bill; but, at the same time, offered the petitioners a trial at law, for the purpose of testing the "free will of Maria and Catherine in signing the deed of assignment. The petitioners, however, declined this offer, and took an appeal to the House of Lords. Before this tribunal the case turned 'upon a point which did not involve the merits. The law Lords were clear that there was a misjoinder of parties. As the two Superiors claimed all the interest of Maria by assignment, it was held that she should not have been made a party. Lord Campbell intimated, however, that there was a very grave question involved, viz., whether a person by joining a religious order in Great Britain, now a non-Catholic country, did not suffer a disqualification, and abandon all right to the enjoyment of property. THE CONDITION OF THE SERFS OF RUSSIA.-The Russians attempt to prove that the condition of their serfs is enviable compared to that of the peasants in distant and sequestered departments thousands of families pass through all the horrors of starvation, and perish from misery and the effects of brutality. Human nature suffers universally in Russia; but the men, who form the staple of the soil, have the hardest lot. It is in vain to contend_that_they are entitled to the necessaries of life, when they have not the power to enforce the fulfilment of this privilege. The truth is stifled under the fallacious, though specious, axiom, that it is to the interest of a master to provide for his creatures: but it is not every man who understands and appreciates his interest. In other societies, and among other people, the bad economist ruins himself, and the evil extends no farther; but here, as human life constitutes the wealth of an individual, whole villages and cantons fall victims to the improvidence and recklessness of their owner. It is true that the government steps in and applies a remedy for these evils, by placing the estates in trust, when it is aware of the mischief; but this tardy relief cannot restore the dead. Picture to yourself the mass of unknown sufferings and iniquities produced by such customs, under such a government and in such a climate! The despotism of these landlords is more aggravated than that of the Emperor himself; because, from being withdrawn from the public eye, it is not controlled by the fear of public opinion.-Life in Russia, by E. P. Thompson. I PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND HABITS OF THE POPE. had the honor of two interviews with Pius IX. : the first as a member of the committee appointed for the humane purpose already mentioned; the second with first body of Englishmen who waited on the Pope; a private party. I believe the committee was the and certainly, as Mr. Harford spoke his sensible address, his Holiness seemed highly pleased and affected. His manner is frank and even simple. There is not the slightest tincture of pride or statelifellow men, utters like a man of sense what he realness in his deportment. Pius IX., addressing his ly at the moment thinks and feels. There was no written reply, couched in terms of cold formality to what was kindly said, but a cordial, spontaneous expression of feeling, outspoken at the moment. The Pope said something courteous to several individual members presented to him: hearing I was a lawyer, sent him a book on legislation, which he was sure he remarked that an English advocate had lately contained much which would be desirable for him to know, but, unfortunately, being unacquainted with the language, he could not read it,-a very sensible but unkingly observation. Common kings never admit their ignorance of anything. Dull pomposity is not congenial to the disposition of Pius IX. His manner was, however, a little unsteady. He is not what some would call dignified: he appeared as if his royalty sat awkwardly upon him; in appearance very unlike the portraits of Pius VI. Memoir of William Ellery Channing, with Extracts from his Correspondence and Manuscripts in 3 vols. London. J. Chapman, 1848. [The "Prospective Review" is the Organ of the Unita- | the volumes at length. They are the pro rian Denomination in England.-ED.] It is to be regretted that these volumes have not appeared, till the expectation directed towards them has almost expired by mere lapse of time. The impatient curiosity for some immediate memorial of the great and good, on their removal from this world, often presses hard on their biographer, and demands from him a haste, by which, were it conceded, literature would permanently suffer. In the present instance, however, the author's claim for time appears to have been inordinate. Neither in the materials themselves, nor in his treatment of them, is there anything to explain a five years' delay. The few facts which mark, at long intervals, the course of Dr. Channing's uneventful ilfe, were too recent and patent to require research for their collection. The manuscripts, from which copious extracts are given, appear to have presented no arduous problems of revision, and to have needed only the labor of the scissors. The correspondence is of so reflective a character, so prevailingly engaged with sentiments rather than with persons, that the task of selection must have been unusually free from delicate perplexities. However, here are VOL. XV. No. III. 19 duction of one who has evidently obtained a clear perception of the image he undertakes to present; and who has taken conscientious and elaborate pains to render it distinct to his readers. His success is unquestionable. Perhaps it might have been obtained upon easier terms. A lighter and freer hand might have adequately sketched a portrait, whose outlines in themselves are singularly expressive; and which preserves an identity not to be mistaken, in however many lights you place it. The memoir accomplishes its purpose, partly by narrative, following the common order of time; partly by analysis, resolving the life of Dr. Channing into its several functions, and separately describing him in his domestic, ministerial, and social capacities; partly by citation from his papers, arranged not only in each of these two orders, but sometimes according to a method altogether abstract and impersonal, so as to exhibit his thoughts on Religion, Human Nature, Christianity and Society. So complicated an apparatus is thrown away in the exhibition of a character peculiarly simple, an experience free from vicissitude, and an intellect bu: little versatile. Dr. Channing's writings are, to a singular degree, the expression, in a dogmatic or expository |