From 'Lines Composed at Midnight,' we take the subjoined thrilling and graphic picture of one dying with consumption:

We are sorely tempted to transcribe' Angel-Help,' stanzas suggested by a drawing, in which is represented the legend of a poor female saint, who, having spun until past midnight, to mantain a bed-ridden mother, has fallen asleep from fatigue, and angels are finishing her work. But we pass to the annexed fragment, descriptive of a curse visited by a witch-beldame upon the child of a venerable baronet, who has repulsed her from his gate, while she is asking alms:

'Some two months after,

Young Philip Fairford suddenly fell sick,
And none could tell what ailed him; for he lay
And pined, and pined, till all his hair fell off,

And he, that was full-fleshed, became as thin

As a two-months' babe that has been starved in the nursing.'

'And sure I think

He bore his death-wound like a little child;

With such rare sweetness of dumb melancholy,

He strove to clothe his agony in smiles,

Which he would force up in his poor pale cheeks,

Like ill-timed guests, that had no proper dwelling there;

And when they asked him his complaint, he laid

His hand upon his heart, to show the place

Where Susan came to him a-nights, he said,

And pricked him with a pin:

And thereupon, Sir Francis called to mind
The beggar-witch that stood by the gateway,
And begged an alms.'

'The Housekeeper,' one of those choice embellishments of common objects, for which Lamb was so remarkable, must close our extracts for the present:

"The frugal snail, with forecaste of repose,
Carries his house with him where'er he goes;

Peeps out and if there comes a shower of rain,
Retreats to his small domicil amain.

Touch but a tip of him, a horn - 't is well

He curls up in his sanctuary-shell.

He's his own landlord, his own tenant; stay

Long as he will, he dreads no quarter-day.
Himself he boards and lodges, both invites
And feasts himself; sleeps with himself o' nights.
He spares the upholsterer trouble to procure
Chattels; himself is his own furniture,

And his sole riches. Wheresoe'er he roam-
Knock when you will-he's sure to be at home.'

A fine and spirited engraving of 'Elia,' delving (by candle-light, as was ever his wont,) at the mines of the elder spirits of English literature, from the burin of DICK, gives additional attractions to these very handsome volumes.

EDITORS' TABLE.

MR. BUCKINGHAM'S LECTURES. Most of our readers are aware of the recent arrival in this country of the Hon. Mr. BUCKINGHAM, late member of the British Parliament, and well known throughout Christendom as a distinguished oriental traveller, not less than for his untiring and successful efforts in relation to the East India monopoly. But for the general circulation of Mr. BUCKINGHAM's 'Address to the People of the United States,' we should avail ourselves of the very interesting narrative therein recorded, together with an 'Explanatory Report of the plan and object of his Lectures,' with which we have been favored, to present a sketch of his life, travels, and writings. Leaving this object, however, for future consideration, we pass to a brief and inadequate notice of the matter and manner of Mr. BUCKINGHAM's public efforts. His lectures on Egypt embrace detailed descriptions of its geography, climate, and productions; ancient cities of Lower Egypt; splendid monuments of Upper Egypt; its chief towns and population; its religion, manners, government, and trade. In the lectures on Palestine, the same objects were treated of, including a description of the ancient cities beyond and on this side Jordan, with all the chief towns of Modern Syria and Palestine. As may be inferred, this wide range of illustration, in the hands of Mr. BUCKINGHAM, was made interesting in no ordinary degree. Books of travel, in these countries, after all, appeal more to the imagination, in their sketches, than to immediate comprehension and understanding. It is not so with oral discourse. The speaker narrates what he 'saw, and part of which he was;' he expatiates with spirit and energy, his mind playing out its variations, or relevant episodes, unfettered, and inducing a delightful sensation of freshness and reality. Both as a writer and speaker, Mr. BUCKINGHAM evinces the possession of good natural and acquired parts. The important facts which he presents, are reflected by lucid images, and expressed with clearness and propriety of diction; while the copiousness of his varied information serves to expound the events or narratives of Scripture history, so as to leave no room for doubt or cavil, in the mind even of an infidel or skeptic. The audiences of the lecturer are overflowing; indeed, he seems to have taken that many-headed beast the town' completely by the horns; and we cannot doubt that a room as large as Masonic Hall would as soon overflow with hearers, as the hall of the 'Stuyvesant Institute,' or the chapel of the University. We are glad to perceive that he enters immediately upon his courses on Egypt and Palestine, at the Chatham-street Chapel, where there will be 'ample room and verge enough.' It is proper to add, that after traversing the length and breadth of America, it is Mr. BUCKINGHAM's intention 'to visit the Isthmus of Darien, for the purpose of investigating this barrier between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; to make an excursion through Mexico; and from thence pass onward by the South Sea Islands to China; visit the Phillippines and the Moluccas; go onward to Australia and Van Dieman's Land; continue from thence through the Indian Archipelago, by Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Malacca, to India; traverse the Peninsula of Hindostan, from the Ganges to the Indus, and return to Europe by the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.' Judging from the indefatigable energy and enterprise of our traveller hitherto, there is little reason to doubt that these designs will all ultimately be accomplished.

THE PAST THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE.. -We marvel what the ancient editor of the BOSTON CENTINEL, (who erewhile chuckled so fervently over the fresh news, brought in seven days from Philadelphia,) would say, could he come back among the 'young folk' of the present era, and peruse a Report, now lying before us, of the Utica and Oswego Rail-road Company. What would he think, of arriving at New-Orleans within eight days after leaving New-York; taking in the mean time his accustomed sleep, and by pleasantly-alternating modes of travel, journeying through every variety of scenery! Yet this is to be accomplished, when that important link in the great chain of rail-way and steam-boat communication from the Atlantic to the lakes, and to the states and territories west- - the Oswego and Utica Rail-road-shall have been completed, in connexion with the rail-way across the Canada peninsula, from the head of Lake Ontario, and the two lines of road across Michigan, the one from Detroit by the valley of the St. Josephs, and the other from Huron by Grand River, toward Milwaukie ; all of which are now in progress, or under survey. And when the Oswego and Utica road is finished — and Nature seems to have anticipated its construction, and graded its path to the hands of its projectors - how will our citizens converse, through the 'air-pipes of this mighty whispering-gallery,' with the good people of New-Orleans, and the vast intervening inland, 'stretched beyond the sight! How will the lakes and prairies of the west be brought a-nigh, and the roar of the Great Cataract become a familiar sound in our ears! The far-reaching west will pour its rich stores into the lap of the Empire City, as well as the wide, fertile, and populous region of the Upper Canadian country, bordering upon the western part of the St. Lawrence, and the great lakes. Again we cast our eyes onward to the future, with new longings to stand upon an exceeding high mountain, and to be gifted with uninterrupted vision, to look around and afar off, and see the distant brought near, and our magnificent domain on every hand threaded and seamed, under the 'iron-rule' of rail-road enterprise! Oh for the respectable longevity of Methusaleh, were it only to behold the future glory of our own, our native land!'

6

'SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.' 'HOWARD,' (whose hand-writing is a deplorable scratch,) is informed that his communication is enclosed to his address, and left at the desk of the publication-office. In the mean time, we take the liberty of assuring him, that so far as we are able to form an opinion, from incidental comment, in an extensive private correspondence, and from the free converse of social intercourse, the article whose title heads this notice, published in the October number, has been received with decided approbation by all candid, reflecting minds; and if 'HOWARD' will peruse the late work of Mrs. GILMAN, of South Carolina, he will find the sentiments and statements which he condemns and disbelieves, fully sustained by one who has drawn, as did our contributor, from scenes of real life at the South, with a faithful pencil. Our demurring philanthropist is as hot as an old radish, and seems to burn with

Thoughts too deep to be expressed,
And too strong to be suppressed.'

He intimates, that not to be warm in such a cause as he has espoused, is to be frozen. Now we are quite unable to see an adequate cause for all this pudder. Has he ever resided at the South? We dare say, nay. Does he know that to be true, which he would insinuate as truth to our readers? Questionless, no- or his proofs would be forthcoming. This Magazine is not intended to be the medium of political, religious, or social wrangling; nor would it be fulfilling the purposes to which it is devoted, should the Editors permit 'HOWARD' to irritate a 'gangrene and running sore in the public mind,' by his intemperate crudity. We are not disposed to allow any amateur philanthropist to emulate, in our pages, the example of an experimental philosopher, of whom we have somewhere read, who was anxious to wager three-pence with any one of a large circle of by-standers, that he could perforate a keg of gunpowder, standing near him, with a red-hot iron, without endangering the contents, or the lives of the lookers-on! 11

VOL. XI.

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. The 'Cry and Prayer against the Imprisonment of Small Children,' in the present number, will arrest the attention of parents, and instructors of youth. In reading Part Fifth of LOCKHART's Life of SCOTT, we remark, in one of his letters to his son WALTER, the fervent expression of sentiments in entire unison with those of our correspondent upon this subject; and BULWER, in 'Ernest Maltravers,' embodies kindred views, in some sound and judicious remarks upon the education of the young. This over-tasking of immature intellects is exciting public attention, both abroad and at home. A work by a valued contributor to this Magazine, (A. BRIGHAM, M. D., of the New-York College of Physicians and Surgeons,) which treats of the abuse of the brain in children, was recently warmly commended in the Edinburgh Quarterly, and the positions of the writer enforced by unanswerable arguments adduced by the reviewer.

'ALL THE MOTHER!'-'Will the Editors of the KNICKERBOCKER, by inserting in their Magazine the accompanying lines, confer a favor upon a bereaved mother, who mourns the loss of a dear infant-boy?' Thus reads the modest envelope which covered the subjoined most touching and beautiful stanzas. Tears, such as seem, in several places, to have blotted the mss., were in our eyes as we read them. Are they original? Certainly, we have never seen them before. Whether original or translated, let us hope that the lady from whom we have received them, will not hereafter withhold her talents or taste from our pages.

THE MAJESTY OF THE HEAVENS. - We have received from the eminent philosopher, Dr. DICK, of Scotland, but too late for insertion in the present number, an original article, written for our pages, upon the subject of certain celestial phenomena. Our readers are not ignorant of this distinguished author's comprehensive grasp of mind, and the depth and variety of his mental resources. In anticipating, therefore, a rich treat from his pen, they will run no risk of disappointment. 'Great spirits ask great play-room ;' and in the present instance, we are almost overpowered with the extent and majesty of the philosopher's field of thought and vision. We say overpowered; for it is no easy task, after following such a writer as Dr. DICK along the 'pathway of the skies,' and amid the countless worlds that revolve in space, to bring one's imagination down to strait-lacing, mundane actuality. The soul is lifted to the Power that spread out the heavens like a curtain, and makes the clouds his pavilion; and is prompted to exclaim in the sublime language of a poet too little known to the worid:

'Come, when still night

Hath silenced the loud hum of wakeful hours,
And the lone pulses beat, as if it were

The general pulse of nature; then, with eye
of fix'd and awe-struck meditation, look
From world to world!

*

*

How, with its vast and bright diameter,
The proudest of the planets seems afur
Diminish'd to a point! Yet there, perchance,
Are cities with gay spires and towers, above
The pitch of earthly mountains; still beyond -
At sumless distances, and thicker far
Than all earth's living myriads - hosts of suns
Throng ether with fix'd rays; or, widely launched,
Sail awful cycles round the throne of heaven,
With their attendant spheres. They are the same
Enduring constellations seen by them,
Your sires, before the flood; still fixed serene
O'er yon ethereal vault, that lifts itself

In distant grandeur. "T is the ancient dome

Of God's most durable fabric: far beneath

Crowned with her populous kingdoms, Earth revolves,

An atom in the host of worlds!'

The article in question will form the first original paper in the KNICKERBOCKER for February.