and fields, silvered with the frozen spray of the previous evening's darkness and drizzle; and he cites, with extreme appropriateness, the beautiful lines quoted in a subsection of ‘Ollapodiana,' in the KNICKERBOCKER, describing a similar scene. But oh! how far short it must have fallen from what we saw, in company with a friend and correspondent that same morning! Never shall we see the like again. Such a combination of loveliness and grandeur comes but once to a man in a life-time Through pines, and cedars thickly set with pale blue berries; through leafless maples and beeches; past reaches of long forest grass, with heads like the bearded rye, past lower ever-greens, with trailing vines among them, covered with crimson balls, like the berries of the mountainash-through all these we ascended to Rockland Tower, commanding a view hundreds of miles in extent. And every thing every tree, leafless or heavy with undying green, each blade of grass, bare spray - all was one grand prism! Every rifled tree was a chandelier; every ever-green bowed its head with its weight of diamonds; every blue and red berry was a gem of the first water, and of matchless polish! But beautiful as all this was, it was excelled in magnificence of effect by the bare silver upland-woods, across the Tapaän-Zee, and over against the far eastern horizon, gleaming between us and the bright morning sun! What a contrast was this to the cold, dimṛblue of the western mountains, fading into dimness in the distance! But after all, no body could appreciate it who had n't seen it, and we might just as well have said nothing about it. Such a scene throws Description upon the parish.' However, 'what is writ, is writ.' Would it were worthier, as a picture of what can never pass from our memory, while we have a standing on GoD's earth, and a breathing in His blessed air. · - - NEW-YORK long wanted a great and a free library of reference; and at length such a boon was bestowed upon it by its wealthiest merchant. This is a 'fixed fact,' which demands more emphatic mention than it has yet received. A visit to the noble establishment, erected and furnished forth so munificently as a free gift to the Commercial Emporium, commands the fullest admiration of the citizen and the stranger. It has already accomplished much toward enhancing the reputation of the metropolis, and affords a resource of inestimable value to the student, the artist, and the artisan. It is to be regretted that any portion of the public, however thoughtless, should view the arrangements indispensable for the care and just use of such a library through an oblique and distorted medium. It is needless to enter into an argument to prove the necessity for a methodical and systematic control of a collection of a hundred thousand volumes, all of great value and perfection of condition, resorted to daily, and freely to be enjoyed by every applicant. The spirit of censure which, some months since, found vent in a limited portion of the press, has given way to a clearer view of the responsibilities and difficulties which attend the details of such a labor as the care and order of a large library demand. And those cognizant of the facts can attest, that a more assiduous and efficient superintendent than Doctor CoGSWELL, could nowhere be found. A WESTERN friend sends us the following, as an extract from the census-statistics return of the town of H————, in Iowa: 'What is the population of your town?' The answer was: 'Irish, 175 : Amsterdam Dutch, 109: other dam Dutch, 200: Whites, 007: Total population, 491. There were formerly eight white men, including the writer, who has 'decamped,' 'levanted,' vamosed the ranch!' . . How can we respond to the kindness of our friend T-,' who sent us such an acceptable present from the shores of Old Massachusetts Bay?' It was a most sensible, valuable, welcome gift; and when around our well-filled table, the little people's rosy mouths are made rosier still by the ruddy fruit. We feel a renewed regret that we cannot personally thank the generous donor for his timely and considerate tribute. FIVE pages of brief book-notices, two of 'Children's Gossip,' with capital communications from 'JOHN HONEYWELL,' 'H. P. L.,' etc., await insertion in our next. It will be seen that we are much crowded in this department of our magazine the present month. - BEHOLD the great JOHN PHOENIX, alias SQUIBOB!' The likeness (a daguerreotype) is perfect: Yours respectively NOTE.-This autograph may be relied on as authentic, as it was written by one of Mr. Squibob's most intimate friends. It seems impossible for Mr. PHENIX to touch any subject, without educing some 'food for fun' out of it. Being in Monterey, and writing of pecuniary and local matters there, he thus describes the 'State of the Markets:' 'THE arrival of a stranger by the Maj. TOMPKINS from San-Francisco, during the past week, with specie to the amount of $4.871, most of which has been put in circulation, has produced an unprecedented activity among our business men. Confidence is in a great measure restored, and our merchants have had no reason to complain of want of occupation. The following is the state of our market, for the principal articles of domestic consumption: 'FLOUR-Twenty-five pounds, imported by BOSTON & Co. per Major TOMPKINS, still in first hands: flour in small quantities is jobbing readily at 15 @ 18 cents. We notice sales of 10 by BOSTON & Co., to Judge MERRITT, on private terms. 'PORK-The half bbl. imported by Col. RUSSELL, in March last, is nearly all in the hands of jobbers: sales of 4 at $1, half-cash: remainder in note at 4 months. A halt bbl. expected by BOOTJACK & Co., early in September, will overstock the market. CANDY- Sales of 6 sticks by BOSTON & Co. to purser of Maj. TOMPKINS, on private terms: the market has a downward tendency: candy is jobbing in sticks at 6 @ 8 cents. 'POTATOES - We notice arrival of 10 from the Santa Cruz: no sales. 'DRY GOODS-Sales of two cotton pocket hdkfs. by MCKINLEY & Co. at 62 @ 75 cents: indorsed note at 6 months.' Heavy commercial sales' there! By a paragraph in the marine department of our metropolitan newspapers, it will have been seen, that four ELEPHANTS recently arrived at this port from the neighborhood of Siam. A friend who crossed the Atlantic with them, represents their sufferings by seasickness as terrible in the extreme. In order to trim ship,' they were kept in pairs on each side of the main upper-deck, where they were accustomed to walk for exercise. Their trunks had been examined at the customs' in Liverpool, and nothing contraband found in them. About five hundred miles out, with a heavy head sea,' they began to manifest symptoms of distress and our friend says, that as often as he has crossed the ocean, he never saw any passengers so afflicted with nausea-marina. The elder of the four, who had until now escaped, and who had cheered his companions by his counsel and his example, when he saw the depth of their distress, as they leaned over the taffrail, and gave vent to their uncontrollable malady, was himself compelled to 'give in to the nauseous infection. Indeed, he was more powerfully affected than either of the others. In his agony, he took a 'bight' with his trunk upon the main-mast fifty feet above the deck, and endeavored to swing himself into the sea: but he was too weak to effect his suicidal purpose. It is dreadful even to think of what those half-reasoning creatures must have suffered in that lingering voyage! EUREKA!-we have found it! Steel-pens there are, of various kinds; some are very good-others sharp, wiry, splitty, splashy. You can't always tell,' and don't want at any time to have a pen fail you. But the best steel, or gold, or metal pen, of whatsoever kind, only simulates in excellence a well-made quill-pen. Fact. Our objection to quills has been, that they are not long enough above the tube. We never touch a pen within at least two-and-a-half inches from its distilling point. But the other day, watching the magical touch of our old and distinguished artist-friend ELLIOTT's pencil, as he was finishing the noble portrait of Ex-Governor WASHINGTON HUNT — which, among several other splendid productions of his pencil, pictures of men eminent in civil and political life, now grace his studio, in the upper apartments of the old Art-Union Building — we noticed and 'unto ourself Now for the real the long, light, fairy fabric of his pencil-handles, of cedar we said:''That is the pen-handle we have long sought. pen- the quill-pen!' Weeks have since gone by-yet nothing but a noiseless quill-pen glides over our slips' for the printer. No sputtering -no splashing no blacking of fingers'-ends, since the grateful present of disabled pencil-holders from our preeminent American portrait-painter. Pen-mending, when required, is a delight. It is an agreeable interruption, and always comes at a time when you have written enough to pause, and mend your hand.' It is as good as stopping to read. RIGHT well pleased are we to see the elevation of SAMUEL B. WOOLWORTH, Esq., to the Secretaryship of the Board of Regents of our State Normal School, of which he has been for a long time the capable and popular Principal. A fine scholar, an excellent preceptor, a true gentleman, a warm-hearted friend, under whose instructions we sat, in our earlier academic days, (in common with many more fortunate fellow-students, not now unknown to fame,) we cannot resist an impulse -- born of reminiscences which go back to pregnant instruction and pleasant hours to say how much, in our long-settled judgment, the State has gained by such an addition to her educational force. THE PRISONS OF WELTEVREDEN,' ETC., BY CAPTAIN GIBSON. — Mr. J. C. RIKER, one of our well-known publishers, at Number 129 Fulton-street, has issued a very handsome volume, illustrated by some forty wood-cuts, from original sketches by the author, entitled the 'The Prisons of Weltevreden, and a Glance at the East-Indian Archipelago.' It may be said of the pictorial portions of the work, that they claim to be literal and truthful descriptions of the characters and costumes of Java and Sumatra: 'CAPTAIN GIBSON's volume embraces some mention of early influences, which led the author to adventure in the East; his voyage thither in his own vessel, the Flirt,' visiting many small islands but little known in the South-Atlantic and Indian Oceans; his arrival in the Malayan Archipelago, and sojourn in the interior of Sumatra, where he saw apparent evidences of semi-human beings and became acquainted with princes and nobles of the island, and their families; visiting them at their homes and partaking of their hospitality, studying their literature, and observing their religion, laws, custoins, and social habits, as peculiar to the Malay race, and as affected by European influences; and forming intimate friendly relations, which were interrupted by the jealousy of Dutch officials, causing his arrest, the seizure of his vessel, his confinement in the prison of Weltevreden, in the island of Java, where he remained one year and a half, undergoing a most extraordinary prosecution at the hands of the government of Netherland India. The grand-daughter of a Sumatran prince befriended him there, and he had, within his prison cell, a most interesting experience of Malay and Javanese character; meeting with a heroism of devotion bordering upon the regions of romance which brightened many prison hours, and finally enabled him, when his life was in danger, to effect his escape. The romantic beauty and poetic life of Indian isles are arrayed in the vesture of Eastern story; while the graver facts of the country's resources, and of European influence and dominion, are set forth in more sober garb. But facts alone are presented, and are all but a small portion of what might be said about isles and races so little known to this Western world; about weak and worthless princes, and simple, heroic women; about climes of perpetual spring, lands of unfading verdure, rocks seamed with gold, groves filled with spices, and an unsurpassed beauty and bounty of Nature everywhere. 'New and interesting prospects in the future destiny of the East-Indian Archipelago are opened up for the contemplation of the Christian philosopher and statesman.' 'THE OLD PLAY-GROUND,' is the taking title of quite a pretty song, just published by Firth, POND AND COMPANY, the words by EDWARD I. ALLEN, and the music by I. DE RUVER. 'Any body' could sing it and play the accompaniment and almost any body would like it. The music is suited for a tenor or baritone, but is not beyond the compass of most base voices. A 'hyper critic' once complained of the exquisite 'Ben Bolt,' that its rhythmical structure was imperfect, some of the lines not being full, while others were redundant. Yet who does not think the song, when sung, all the better for these defects? The same fault might perhaps be found with the song before us; and a similar defence of it made. HOME COMFORTS,' is the title of a very useful book, published by BUNCE AND BROTHER, Nassau-street, New-York. HARPER & BROTHERS will send the following Works by Mail, postage paid (to any distance within the United States under 3000 miles), on receipt of the Money. MACAULAY'S ENGLAND. History of England, from the Accession of James II. By THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. With an original Portrait of the Author. PRICES OF HARPER'S UNIFORM EDITIONS: A handsome Octavo Library Edition, printed on superfine paper, Muslin, $1 50 a Volume.—A popular Duodecimo Edition, printed on fine paper, Muslin, 624 cents a Volume.-A cheap Octavo Edition, Paper Covers, 25 cents a Volume. Four Volumes are now ready. Child's History of the United States. By JOHN BONNER. 2 vols. 16mo, Muslin, $1 00. (Uniform with Dickens's "Child's History of England.") iss Bunkley's Book. American History. The Story of American History, from the earliest Settlement of the Country to the Establishment of the Federal Constitution. By JACOB ABBOTT. Numerous beautiful Engravings. Small 4to, Paper, 25 cents; Muslin, gilt, 40 cents. The Testimony of an Escaped Novice from the English History. Sisterhood of St. Joseph, Emmettsburg, Maryland, he Mother-House of the Sisters of Charity in he United States. By JOSEPHINE M. BUNKLEY. 2mo, Muslin, $1 00. e Araucanians; r, Notes of a Tour among the Indian Tribes of outhern Chili. By EDMOND REUEL SMITH, of the S. N. Astronomical Expedition to Chili. 12mo, luslin, $1 00. The Story of English History, from the earliest Ancient History. The Story of Ancient History, from the earliest SQUIER'S CENTRAL AMERICA. s on Central America; particularly the States of Honduras and San Salvador: their Geography, Topography, Climate, Population, Resources, Productions, &c., &c., and the proposed Inter-oceanie Railway. By E. G. SQUIER, formerly Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to the Republics of Central America. With Original Maps and Illustrations. 8vo, Muslin, $200. rning to Talk; Entertaining and Instructive Lessons in the of Language. By JACOB ABBOTT. Illustrated h170 Engravings." Small 4to, Muslin, 50 cents. rning to Think. sisting of Easy and Entertaining Lessons, aened to Assist in the First Unfolding of the Reive and Reasoning Powers of Children. By OB ABBOTT. Illustrated with 120 Engravings. all 4to, Muslin, 50 cents. Lamb's Complete Works. With TALFOURD'S Final Memorials. Portrait. 2. vols. 12mo, Muslin, $2 00; IIalf Calf, $300. Lily.. A Novel. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00. Waikna ; Or, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. Map and 60 original Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 25. NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. teresting Anecdotes and Remarkable Conversations of the Emperor during the Five and a Half ars of his Captivity. Collected from the Memorials of Las Casas, O'Meara, Montholon, AntomArchi, and others. By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. With Illustrations. 8vo, Muslin, $2 50. ço and its Religion; ncidents of Travel in that Country during of the Years 851-52-53-54, with Historfotices of Events connected with Places VisBy ROBERT A. WILSON. With Illustrations. Muslin, $1 00. Christian Theism : The Testimony of Reason and Revelation to the |