ITEMS OF INTELLIGENCE. imperfectly understood. Books have been multiplied A very violent and destructive tornado occurred at upon the subject, and teachers have anxiously sought, New Brunswick, N. J., on Friday the 19th June. It approached that city from the northwest, having the in each successive publication, relief from embarrassappearance of an immense conical volume of black ments into which former ones had thrown them, until smoke, filled with flakes of fire from some burning by successive disappointments they had become nearbuildings, and greatly agitated by the air. "It occu- ly discouraged. The majority of teachers, 'tis true pied," says the Fredonian, "a width varying from have been satisfied with teaching the mechanical opeone hundred to two hundred yards, now contracting rations which are pointed out in the rules of Pike and and then expanding, and had an undulating as well as whistling motion, striking the earth with great force, and tearing up the largest and most firmly rooted trees. or twisting them off, and then rebounding, taking off the roofs and upper stories of the strongest buildings, and passing over one here and there with scarcely any damage. Its course was southeast." After it left New Brunswick it seems to have crossed the Raritan, and pursued its way to Piscataway, two miles distant, which is almost entirely demolished. It followed the Raritan out to the ocean. In New Brunswick three lives were lost, and many individuals were seriously wounded. The loss of property is estimated at $75,000. Daboll. But the active, intelligent and conscientious teacher, mortified at seeing a noble science of such practical utility thus chained down to mechanical rules, has thrown aside all books and made himself a book to his scholars. This is the state in which Mr. Emerson's work finds our schools in regard to the arithmetical science. It ought, however, to be remarked, that much credit is due to Mr. Colburn for his ad mirable little book on "Mental Arithmetick" to Mr. Hasler for a treatise on "Demonstrative Arithmetick," -and to Mr. Cobb and many other authors for useful hints, and correct rules in Explanatory and Operative Arithmetick. But notwithstanding the labours of all these men, it still remained for some friend to the cause of education to unite the three branches of mental, demonstrative, and operative arithmetick into NOTICES, REVIEWS, &c. "The AMERICAN ARITHMETICK, adapted to the trade and commerce of the United States, embracing the most concise practical calculations of real business, not to be found in any other book of the kind; exemplified by the author's method of teaching arithmetick and book-keeping on the black boards. Designed for the use of Schools, Academies, and Clerks, by one practical system of arithmetick. This, in our judgJAMES BENNETT, Accountant, Attorney and Counsellor at Law; author of the American system of practical book-ment, Mr. Emerson has done. In the Third Part of keeping, and professor to the institute of accountants of the his arithmetick he has imbodied in a condensed form, state of New York." information on a variety of subjects, properly connected with arithmetick, which can be found in no other The mercantile community are already indebted to Mr. Bennett, for his invaluable "System of Book-Keep-American publication; and which not only renders ing," and we think their obligations vastly increased American publication; and which not only renders by the publication of this Arithmetick, which contains it more interesting and instructive to the student, but a more useful, and indeed indispensable instruction for convenient book of reference to the man of business. that portion of our youth who are educating for the That there will be many improvements on Mr. Emerson's system there can be no doubt; but so far as we counting-house, than all other similar works which have been published in this country put together. have been able to judge, his system embraces most of "General Partnerships," " Exchange," "Bank In- the advantages of all the other systems now in use. ""EnsurDiscount," ance,” and “Commission," are among the branches presented in this book, all of which are treated of in a clear and perspicuous manner. terest," ""Mercantile Interest," 99.66 THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETICK. BY FREDERIC EMERSON. It is published in three parts, which are calculated to lead the student on from the elementary principles, thoroughly and understandingly, to the more abstruse branches of the science. The first intended for beginners, the last for advanced scholars. The work is, we believe, in every respect original, and cost the author many years of industrious study. We sin Agreeably to our promise we extend our notice of cerely recommend it to teachers and students as a this work Arithmetick, whether we consider its study as a qualification for active business, or as a mental discipline, holds the first place in the education of youth. As soon as the child has learned to read, it is of the first importance that a knowledge of arithmetick, competent to the transaction of business, be secured to him. Nor is it less important that it should be thus early introduced, as a discipline for the mind of the student, who intends to pursue a more extensive course of study. And yet, notwithstanding its great importance, no science has been more superficially taught, or more work of great merit. CONSCIOUS GUILT.-J. K. PAULDING, This brow of mine will bear the murderer's mark, CATCHING WILD HORSES ON A PRAIRIE. IMMENSELY variegated as is the surface of the globe, there are still but few of its features that present an aspect of more surpassing interest and beauty than the far-lengthening, wide-expanding prairie. The oceans, the mountains, the hills, the valleys, the torrents and rivers, afford thousands of most admirable scenes, but the face of a prairie smiles with surpassing charms, with indescribable loveliness. "Lo! they stretch In airy undulations, far away, No, they are all unchained again. The clouds Of Texas, and have crisped the limpid brooks That from the fountains of Sonora glide. Into the calm Pacifick-have ye fanned A nobler or a lovelier scene than this? Man hath no part in all this glorious work: The hand that built the firmament hath heaved wonderful in their vast extent, as they are peculiar in beauty and singular in fertility. The adventurous colonist attracted by the paradisiacal scene, who is perhaps, the first of that advancing multitude, Which soon shall fill these deserts," finds himself not in this great solitude alone. It is thickly peopled with myriads of gaudy insects that flutter over the flowers, with sliding reptiles, beautiful birds, graceful deer, bounding buffaloes, and numerous troops of fine and noble wild horses. The settler selects his spot, builds himself a dwelling in a shady island, and by conforming to certain requi sitions of the government, becomes at once the rightful proprietor of nearly as much territory as his eye can at once survey, and when he finds time to enclose it with substantial landmarks, he feels secure against intrusion. He plants his sugar and his cotton, and whatever else he may choose to cultivate, and the benignant climate and prolifick soil shortly yield him the most abundant crop, and he reaps more than a hundred fold. The soil is easily subdued, and with little care whole herds of cattle grow up to enliven the wide domain, where they roam throughout the year without barns and without the northern And smoothed these verdant swells, and sown their hopes haystacks or granaries. If he wishes a horse or a With herbage, planted them with island groves, And hedged them round with forests. Fitting floor With flowers whose glory and whose multitud Rival the constellations! The great heavens Than that which bends above the eastern hills." Stretching far away with indistinct boundaries, or merging into the horizon, the southern prairie appears like a vast sea; its undulations, the seeming swells, its clumps of trees, the islands. Whether the tall, luxuriant grass, mingled with an innumerable variety of flowers loaded with perfume, waves upon its surface, or is shorn close like a pasture, it always exhibits the aspect of unequalled fertility and beauty, "And the heart swells, while the dilated sight The rich clumps of fine trees, collected together here and there in every possible form, and of every species, and some of them planted with the nice regularity of art, add the charm of variety to the lovely scene, while they afford a grateful shelter to the wandering herds and the weary hunter. drove of horses to ride, to travel, to hunt, to work, he has only to ride into the prairie, and the animals cost him only the trouble of catching them. The horses of Texas are small, run wild in numerous droves over the prairies, and are easily taken and rendered serviceable. They were probably originally introduced by the Spaniards, and are called mustangs. To illustrate the manner of taking these animals, is the object of the engraving and the present article. The pursuer provides himself with a strong noosed cord, made of twisted strips of green hide, which, thus prepared is called a lazo, the Spanish word for a band or bond. He mounts a fleet horse and fastens one end of his lazo to the animal, coils it in his left hand, leaving the extended noose to flourish in the air over his head. Selecting his game he gives it chase; and as soon as he approaches the animal he intends to seize, he takes the first opportunity to whirl the lazo over his head, and immediately checks his own charger. The noose instantly contracts around the neck of the fugitive mustang, and the creature is thrown vio It is a rapturous vision to gaze upon these "gar-lently down, sometimes unable to move, and genedens of the desert;" but how few ever enjoy the rally for the moment, deprived of breath. This luxury! Few countries are adorned with the beau-violent method of arrest frequently injures the poor tiful scenes, and none more bountifully than America. animal, and sometimes even kills him. If he esIn no portions of America do they exhibit more beautiful or more varied aspects than in Mexico and Texas. The prairies of Texas especially, are as capes however with his life, he becomes of great service to his master, always remembering with great respect the rude instrument of his capture and upon his neck. ever alterwards yielding immediately whenever he Amenophis IV. is thought to be the same with feels the lazo Memnon, whose famous statue was said to utter a The monument in Being thus secured, the lazoed horse is blind-sound at the rising of the sun. which he was buried, is much celebrated for its folded; terrible lever, jaw-breaking bits are put into magnificence. He acquired great renown by his his mouth, and he is mounted by a rider armed with most barbarous spurs. If the animal runs, he is spurred on to the top of his speed, until he tumbles down with exhaustion. Then he is turned about and spurred back again; and if he is found able to run back to the point whence he started, he is credited with having bottom enough to make a good horse otherwise he is turned off as of little or no value. This process of breaking mustangs to the bridle is a brutal one, and the poor animals often carry the evidence of it as long as they live. After service during the day, they are hoppled by fastening their fore legs together with a cord, and turned out to feed. To fasten them to one spot in the midst of a prairie, where neither tree, nor shrub, nor rock is to be found, is quite a problem. But that is accomplished by putting on a halter, tying a knot at the end, digging a hole about a foot deep in the earth; thrusting in the knot, and pressing the earth down around it. As the horse generally pulls nearly in a horizontal direction, he is unable to draw it out. The mustangs are small, generally about thirteen hands high, strong, well-formed, and of various colours. They have a most malicious expression, and are very crafty and mischievous. When a number are caught, they are generally driven to market, where they are purchased for three or four dollars, branded, hoppled, then turned out and abandoned to themselves until needed. At some future time they will doubtless become a valuable article of export. HISTORY. EGYPT.-1004-752 B. C. Egypt continued to be governed by a race of kings, concerning whom the common accounts seem not to be very satisfactory. The most considerable or the best known of them were Shishak, Rhamses. Amenophis IV., and Thuoris. Shishak is mentioned in Scripture, and he is by some authors considered the same as Sesostris. But we are disposed to consider Sesostris as much more ancient, and have accordingly spoken of him in a former period. Concerning Shishak, it appears that he built many temples and cities, dug canals, and among other conquests, took Jerusalem and spoiled the temple. Rhamses possessed a very avaricious disposition. Diodorus informs us, that he was never at any expense either for the honour of the gods, or the welfare of his people; but that his sole delight was in the augmentation of his private treasure, which, at his decease, amounted to no less than 400,000 talents expedition against the Bactrians. Thuoris lost the Egyptian possessions in the East; and after his death, Egypt, reduced within its natural boundaries, was divided among several little kingdoms for about 44 years. According to the most probable accounts, it was history of the Carthaginians is dated from this event. 869 years B. C. when Dido arrived in Africa. The She fixed her habitation at the bottom of a gulf, on a peninsula, near the spot where Tunis now stands. From this Carthage arose, a city which afterwards became famous for its wealth and power, and from its connexion with the Roman wars. The early history of the people, who were called after the name of their principal city, is but little known. Its latter history is involved in that of Rome. It is probable Dido might have found a few inhabitants in this place, whom its local advantages had induced to settle there; but to her and her attendants, Carthage is doubtless indebted for a regular foundation. The colony had the same language, and national character, and nearly the same laws, with the parent state. In the height of its splendour, it possessed a population of 700,000 inhabitants, and had under its dominion 300 small cities, bordering on the Mediterranean sea. It attained the zenith of its glory under Hannibal and Hamilcar. Pygmalion, wishing to possess himself of the immense riches of Sichæus, the husband of Dido, took an opportunity, while they were engaged in a chase, to run him through the body with a spear. The suspicion of his sister was awakened; but concealing her design, she requested Pygmalion to furnish her with men and ships, to convey her effects to a small city between Tyre and Sidon, that she might live there with her brother Borca. The king granted her request; but Dido had no sooner embarked her property on board, than her brother and others, who favoured her real design, set sail for Cyprus, whence they carried off a great number of young women, and then steered their course to Africa. The Tyrian monarch, thus defeated in his schemes, was about to send a fleet after the fugitives; but the tears of his mother, and the threatening predictions of the oracle, prevented his intended revenge. Carthage maintained three famous wars against Rome, called the Punick wars, in the third of which it was totally destroyed by Scipio, the second Africanus. It was 23 miles in circumference, and when it was set on fire by the Romans it burnt in- trious cities contended for the honour of having cessantly 17 days. ITALY. In Italy, at the time of Numitor, about 775 B. C., there was a turn in events deserving our notice. Amulius, the brother of Numitor, being ambitious of the throne, usurped the government, and connected this act with the murder of the king's only son, and with compelling Rhea Sylvia, his only daughter, to become a vestal. He thus meant to prevent any from becoming claimants to the throne. given him birth: Smyrna, Colophon, Chios, Argos, Athens, Rhodes, and Salamis. His father's name was Mæon, and his mother's Critheis. The circumstances of his life are little known, but it was agreed that he was a wandering poet, and that he was blind. His greatest poems, (and they are among the greatest of uninspired books,) are the Iliad and Odyssey. Other works have been ascribed to him, but without having been sufficiently substantiated. His poetry is characterized by sublimity, fire, sweetThe event, however, frustrated the hopes of Amu-ness, elegance, and universal knowledge. lius; for from Sylvia sprung Remus and Romulus, twin brothers, who, at length overcoming Amulius, replaced their grandfather, Numitor, on the throne. Amulius, hearing of the birth of Remus and Romulus, so contrary to his expectations, ordered the mother to be burned alive, the punishment of incontinent vestals, and the children to be thrown into the river Tiber. The latter sentence was executed, but the former was prevented by the intercession of a daughter of Amulius. The infants, though put into the Tiber, were saved, since the basket in which they were covered, floated on the surface. It was borne to the foot of the Aventine mount, and there stranded. According to some accounts, a she-wolf suckled them, which is incredible. The poems of Homer are the compositions of a man, who travelled and examined, with the most critical accuracy, whatever he met in his way. Modern travellers are astonished to see the different scenes which his pen described, almost 3,000 years ago, still appearing the same; and the sailor who steers his course along the Ægean, beholds all his promontories and rocks which presented themselves to Nestor and Menelaus, when they returned victorious from the Trojan war. The first appearance of Homer's poems in Greece, was about 200 years after the supposed time of the bard. Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, was the first who arranged the Iliad and Odyssey in the form in which they now appear to us. The Arundelian marbles fix the period in which he flourished, at 907 years B. C. According to other accounts, the woman who preserved and nursed them, was called Lupa, and as Hesiod is generally considered as having been a Lupa is the Latin word for she-wolf, this circum-contemporary of Homer. He was born at Ascra in stance might have caused the mistake. Boeotia. His greatest production was a poem on Agriculture, which contains refined moral reflections, mingled with instructions for cultivating fields. The two brothers became shepherds, were fond of hunting wild beasts, and at length turned their arms against the robbers that infested the country. Hav- His Theogony, another poem, gives a faithful acing been informed of their high birth, they collected count of the gods of antiquity. Hesiod is admired for their friends, and fought against Amulius, their un-elegance and sweetness. Cicero highly commends cle, and killed him. Numitor, after an exile of 42 years, was then called to the throne again, and was happy to owe his restoration to the bravery of his grandsons. Such were the youths who were destined by Providence to lay the foundation of a city, which became the mistress of the world. DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS IN THIS PERIOD. He He Solomon, the son of David by Bathsheba. succeeded David in the kingdom of Israel. was the wisest of mankind. In early life he appeared to be exemplary in piety, but was afterwards guilty of great defection from the strictness of religion. It is believed, however, that he did not die an apostate. The temple which he erected at Jerusalem in honour of the God of Israel, has also rendered his name immortal. He wrote the books of Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles, all inspired by the Spirit of God. He died 975 years B. C. aged 58 years, and having reigned 40 years. Homer was not only the greatest of the Greek poets, but the earliest whose works have survived the devastations of time. On these accounts he is styled the father of poetry, and indeed, so far as we can know with certainty, he is the most ancient of all profane classical writers. According to common tradition he was born on the river Melos not far from Smyrna. Seven illus him, and the Greeks were so partial to his moral poetical instructions, that they required their children to learn them all by heart. Lycurgus, the son of king Eunomus, flourished about 884 years B. C. He was regent of Sparta, until Charilaus, his nephew, had attained to mature years. Then leaving Sparta, he travelled in Asia and Egypt, for the purpose of improving his mind, and observing the manners, customs, and political institutions of different nations. Upon his return, he reformed the abuses of the state, banished luxury, and produced a system which gave rise to all the magnanimity, fortitude, and intrepidity, which distinguished the Lacedæmonians. He first established a Senate, which was composed of 28 Senators, whose authority was designed to preserve the tranquillity of the state, and maintain a due and just equilibrium between the kings and the people, by watching over the encroachments of the former, and checking the seditious convulsions of the latter. All distinctions of rank were destroyed, and by making an equal and impartial division of the land among the members of the commonwealth, Lycurgus banished luxury, and encouraged the useful arts. The use of money, either of gold or silver, was totally forbidden, and the introduction of heavy brass and iron coin, brought no temptations to the dishonest, and left every individual in possession of his effects without any fear of robbery or violence. All the citizens dined in common, and |