But it has not been in her leading men alone, that Mexico has been unfortunate. Her custom-house officers are notoriously open to bribes. The duties are so exorbitant on foreign merchandise that no commerce paying them can thrive; and the officers of the customs, aware of this, very patriotically make such arrangements with supercargoes arriving in their ports as will secure a profit to the merchant, and something for the republic, as they emphatically style it, and no less for themselves. The naval and military officers are said to be no less discerning of their own interests at least. I have been assured that commanding officers of marine establishments are wont to sell the public stores in their charge to private vessels, and consider the proceeds as the perquisites of office. Officers of the army commanding posts have done no less. An English gentleman, who has been long in the country, engaged in mining, told me that, on one occasion, he purchased some powder for blasting, and, in a few minutes afterwards, met the commander of the place, with whom he was on intimate terms. "Amigo," exclaimed the soldier, "sois mui ingrato en no dar a mi la preferencia."-" me the preference, you have been ungrateful." Friend, in not giving "But I have though, in the arsenal, when a friend wants to buy; I would have sold to you at half price." A governor of a place on this coast actually offered to sell, to the master of an American merchant ship, the brass guns of the fortress under his command. A Second Edition of " YANKEE NOTIONS," noticed in our last, has been found necessary, and the pub fisher has liberally responded to the patronage of the public, by presenting them with several etchings, designed and engraved by Johnston, of Boston, illustrating some of the principal descriptions. A pamphlet purporting to be a Brief Essay or Informal Lecture on Electro-Magnetism has been compiled by C. Griglietta, and may be obtained at the various booksellers. A large quantity of information is contained in its pages, and if we are to believe the proselytes of the new discovery, steam is to be superseded, and magnetism become the moving principle of the world. The following extract will be read with interest: one. It is an every day remark, that many machines work well on a small scale, that will not do so on a large If this be true of a mere machine, it is never true of the power that propels the machine. A machine. and the power that moves it, should always be kept separate in the mind. Water will work on any desirable scale; so will steam; so will animals; and so, too, will magnets. A power will always work on any scale on which it can be procured. And unless we are limited in the number of magnets to be manufactured, we cannot be limited in the power that may be obtained from them. Durability and simplicity of construction, always so desirable, and often absolutely necessary in machinery, is possessed by these machines in a degree far beyond that of the steam engine. The magnets, which are ninety per cent. of its cost, are not subject to any friction, and are, it may be almost said, indestructible, whilst the remaining ten per cent. of its cost may be kept in repair for a less sum than would suffice to supply a steam engine with oil. The wear and tear of line shafts is unnecessary; each lathe or spindle in a factory can be supplied with the exact amount of power it requires, independently of any other. Each workman when he has a job of work to do, can commence it on the instant; when he has finished it, he suspends his battery, and the machine is at rest, (always ready, however, at the instant, to commence again) and when not employed costing nothing. Such is not the case with the steam engine; many of them are now rusting and going to decay, because they have not constant employment, and to raise steam for short jobs would be too expensive. Its safety is a paramount consideration. The benefit society derives from the steam engine, is daily marred by the most heart rending and appalling accidents and destruction of human life and happiness. It may be said, that this is in part owing to the culpability and negligence of those intrusted with its management, yet it is certain, that much is inseparable from the employment of this terrible power. How immense is the contrast in favor of electro-magnetism! Instead of depending on the sobriety and attention of, a class of men generally intemperate, and almost always rendered so by the fatiguing and incessant labor which those employed upon steam engines are compelled to undergo, you behold in magnetism a type of that Heavenly Majesty which rules the Universe. How sublime a theme for contemplation! man, by the aid of science, compelling an omnipotent and invisible power to his service, and harnessing to his car (harmless and obedient) the power of Deity itself! Communicating to every thing connected with it a spirit of tranquillity and safetyperforming all the work assigned it, in silent harmony—and to the delight and astonishment of every one that beholds it for the first time. It is impossible by the utmost vigilance to prevent accidents by steam. It is not possible, by the grossest carelessness, to cause an accident by magnetism or the means that produce it. There cannot be a doubt that the demand for fuel to supply our innumerable steam engines has caused much misery among our population, by the enormous price to which it has enhanced that indispensable necessary of life, and there is even danger, that the supply cannot be long continued adequate to the demand, notwithstanding our immense supplies. Whilst, independently of the every day discovered stores our country (so rich in every metallic production,) affords, the mines of Germany, of which zinc is a refuse, and where our staples are eagerly sought after, proffer us an exhaustless abundance, and at a cost too trivial to deserve serious notice. The countrymen of Franklin will not refuse the meed of praise due to the man who has followed in the rath of his philosophic daring, but cheerfully award to Davenport the pre-eminence due to genius, and witness with pride another among American worthies, enrolling his name in the pages of history, as a public benefactor-for his application and improvements in this wonderful and recently discovered Power! An Incident touching the Death of the Prince of Orange during the Duke of Parma's Government of the Low Countries. "I AM ruined and undone, father Temermans," ex. claimed Gaspard Anastre, the Flemish merchant, as he burst into the room where the Jacobin monk Temermans was seated. "I tell you I am ruined beyond resource and redemption, and nothing now remains for me but to throw myself head foremost into the Scheldt." "You! drown yourself!" repeated Antoine Antonine Temermans, with very commendable tranquillity, as he took hold of the tongs, arranged his fire, and then deliberately poured out a brimming bumper of Rheine wine. Then gazing at the sparkling and foaming | liquid as he held it at the elevation of his lips, between his mouth and the flame of the fire, before he drank it, he said:"My son, it is impious to despair, or to doubt of the aid of Providence! May his holy will be done! and let us take the good and the evil he sends us with the same submission! Amen!" added he, with a deep drawn sigh, as he emptied the elaborately engraved crystal goblet. "The foul fiend take you, you and your maxims." rejoined Anastre, as he struck his fist on the table with so much force, that the narrow necked bottle shook, and was nearly upset. Without allowing his phlegm to be discomposed, the Jacobin, to guard against the effects of accident, poured the remainder of the wine into his glass, and secured it from danger by placing it on the mantel-piece. Gaspard continued: “Resignation to the will of heaven is easy enough for you, slothful by nature and a beggar by profession. To drink without being thirsty, to eat out of all measure, to cross yourself, and to sell to others absolutions which would be denied you, if you asked for them on your own accountsuch is your life! You came sneaking to me this morning to beg a morsel of bread and meat, and a bottle of wine; and you will obtain them again this evening at some other person's expense. But shall I, L who was once the richest and proudest merchant of Antwerp, but now the most miserable-can I demean my heart and soul by accommodating myself to such a grovelling philosophy? When my creditors come to demand the money I owe them, they would be mightily pleased to hear me say to some-the Lord's will be done! and to others Amen! An excellent coin to liquidate debts with, truly!" "But," replied the monk, who was altogether passive and unmoved by the sneers and vehemence of the merchant," perhaps your position is not so desperate as you imagine. I know very well, that at the storming of Antwerp, some six years ago, you furnished half a million of florins as your share of the forced contribution imposed by the besiegers and the garrison, who, after fighting one another like madmen, made up their quarrel, to rob the citizens in concert. But since that time you have repaired your dilapidated fortune, and it is notorious that three vessels, of which you are sole owner, have only just left the river, with enormously rich and profitable cargoes." "Yes," said the merchant, with a gloomy look and smothered voice, "every thing I possessed was on board those ships; it was my last cast-the bold stroke of fortune that was to enrich me anew, or prostrate me for ever." "Well," asked the friar, "have you received any bad news respecting them? has it been stormy on the French coast? I have not heard of any shipwrecks lately." "I have no cause to complain of the sea or the winds," answered Anastre, "but of the demon, who, in human shape, has breathed revolt and ruin over this devoted country." "What difficulty has arisen between you and Wil. liam of Orange ?" inquired the Jacobin. "Are you ignorant of the means to which this accursed heretic, (whom, may God confound eternally, and then I will heartily join in your May his holy will to re-establish my affairs. I had less than that--much be done!) has had recourse, in order to meet the ex-less, six years ago, after the siege of Antwerp, and a penses of the war, which cost ten millions of florins each year! Has he not had the cunning, by offering the sovereignty of Brabant to the duke of Anjou, to obtain from Henry the Third and Catherine, permission to establish an office at Calais for the sale of passports to those who navigate these seas, which passports are respected by the sea beggars?" "I understand," said Temermans, "you wished to `evade paying the duty of ten per cent. imposed on the Spaniards and their partisans, and so your three vessels have been seized by the pirates.” few days ago I was on the point of recovering all my losses. But confidence exists no longer; and every one draws his purse-strings tight. Who shall I find to lend me a schelling, when nobody knows what a day may bring forth? There is but one man in Flanders who possesses the secret of rising stronger from a defeat, and to erect a pedestal from his own ruins. Who would not have believed in the time of the council of state, after the death of Requesens, that the influence of the duke d'Arschott, the devoted adherent of Philip the Second, would not have annihi "So this letter informs me," said Gaspard Anastre,lated that of William of Orange? But no-although drawing from the pocket of his doublet a paper he had received the preceding evening, all crumpled and soiled as if it had laid unregarded and forgotten in his pocket for a year past. He read it over for the hun dredth time, and tears dropped upon the letter, while father Antonine warmed his feet at the fire, flung himself back in the ample leathern chair, which reached above his head, and stroked his gray and greasy beard with his left hand, while he sipped the remnant of the wine he had poured out. Anastre rose. A flame gleamed in his eyes through his tears, and forgetting for an instant his misfortune in the rage excited against the person who had caused it, he whispered, as he struck the monk's shoulders; "Think ye, it would be a crime in the sight of God to slay William of Orange?" The monk turned round to him, and gazing steadily and scrutinizingly in the inflamed visage of the merchant, said: "Is it your wish, then, to gain the ninety thousand golden crowns, offered by the king of Spain to whom soever shall deliver up to him this man dead or alive? That would be something handsome with which to reconstruct your fortune. Ninety thousand golden crowns! It strikes me, however, that it would be much better to appropriate them to pay the troops, who have long subsisted by plunder, as you, my son, unfortunately, have reason to know." The merchant was about replying to this observation of prior Temermans, when his conversation was interrupted by a great noise in the street. he was absent, proscribed, and fugitive, yet he sowed division in the council, and turned the edge of the sword, which should have stricken him, against his enemies. Afterwards, when don John of Austria came, he played him against the archduke Mathias, whom he inveigled in time with his fine promises, until the death of don John. The capture of Maestricht totally disconcerted his plan of campaign, the victory of Gemblours dispersed his troops-yet here he is, back again in Antwerp from whence he was chased. He has been defeated in every battle, yet he disposes of the territories of the conqueror; and though he is a heretic, with a price upon his own head, he puts a crown upon that of the brother of Charles the Ninth, and the son of Catherine of the Medicis! What a portentous alliance! it is an horrible enigma, which would make one doubt the wisdom by which the world is governed! There must be necromancy, and it cannot be brought about but by a secret compact with the evil one! Do you think such bargains can possibly exist?” "Doubtlessly," replied the monk; "and allow me to add that I look upon your query as somewhat unseasonable and impertinent, considering the profession of the person to whom is addressed. I must necessa rily believe in the devil, to believe in God. What merit would there be in faith, if the evil spirit did not tempt us to infidelity. Paradise is proved by hell." 44 "Then, my honest friend Temermans, according to your reasoning, every good Catholic ought to look upon it as a conscientious act to kill any person who "What's the matter now," asked the monk, without has bartered his soul with the foul fiend?" -moving from his place. Gaspard, who stood near the window, raised the curtain, and observed: "It is the mob shouting and clapping hands at the proclamation of the burgomaster Schoonhoven, announcing a public festival for to-morrow, when the city of Antwerp will receive its new master, the duke of Alençon and Anjou. This is a great triumph for William of Orange; like the haughty Englishman of old, he takes away and makes presents of crowns. But there was much laughing and singing at Paris, also, on the eve of the feast of St. Bartholomew." The monk made no reply. Gaspard resumed his seat at the chimney corner, and apparently surrendering his first thought, exclaimed: 44 Yet, I should not like to advise any one to do it." “Because there are other ways besides martyrdom to obtain eternal life" "That is to say, you would be restrained by fear, and not from any scruples arising from the act itself!" "And allowing it to be so, I am not the only person who entertains the same thought.” "Yes; there are many men who kindle and cherish in their hearts every feeling of hatred and vengeance; many men whose blood boils at the recollection of injuries received, and whose hand involuntarily steals to their poniard, next to their skin, when such thoughts come over them; but these desires of vengeance are fruitless, these longings of hatred are impotent, while fear holds back the hand which anger impels to You spoke but now of ninety thousand crowns of gold-ah! half or a quarter of that sum would suffice | strike." "And are you of such?" coldly inquired the monk. But," continued Anastre, drawing his chair close to the spacious one in which the monk was taking his ease," if a inan of courage should be found who would risk his life to strike the blow; and if to such a man the means of effecting his object securely were pointed out, together with the day, the hour, and the place where his victim should await his knife—if I whispered to such a man, William of Orange must not live beyond to-morrow-he will come to the palace unattended, and in the dark corridor which leads to his cabinet, you can slay him-horses shall be prepared for you, beyond the city walls, and in five hours you can be safe in the camp of the duke of Parma, where you shall have counted out to you your share of the reward offered to the avengers of the king and of religion-do you think that the man to whom I should hold such language would consent to listen to it, and that the arm which executes would place itself at the discretion of the head that guides?" All your measures, then, are taken," observed the monk. "You are confident that you can ensure what you have utttered?" "As confident as the man, who has poured poison into his enemy's cup without being noticed, is that his enemy must perish when he remove that cup from his lips." let people cool their heels at your door without deigning the civility of a response to them. Be assured, if I had not come to ask a favor of you, I should think it incumbent upon me to notice such impertinence." Then, perceiving the friar, who was devoutly absorbed in counting the beads of his rosary with downcast eyes, he added, "But I beg your pardon; I did not notice this holy father, with whom you was, doubtlessly, in close and pions conference. Excuse, therefore, my hasty and inconsiderate impulse." Then turning to the monk, he said: "I have always respected the robe you wear; and there is not in all Spain, or at the court of our holy father, the pope, a better or sincerer Catholic than Jehan Jaureguy.” "May heaven preserve you in such pious and wholesome resolution, young man,” said the monk as he ceased muttering his prayers and crossing himself. "You will receive your reward for it, either in this world or the next." Jehan bowed slightly; then turning to the merchant, "You shall know what brings me here. I am in want of money-you are rich-I know it—and you must lend me some." "Alas! you apply to a man who would dig the ground with his nails if he had any hope of turning up gold. You want money to pay for some youthful folly, to satisfy the vanity of your mistress by some "Very good,” said Antonine; "you must now find costly jewel-———” an accomplice." "I have reason to think I know my man" "A truce with morality, master Gaspard, if you please; I have not chosen you for my confessor. If I "Like yourself, I am only good at giving advice; I have any follies to reproach myself with, and if I pretend to nothing else." am swayed by every passion, it is no business of yours." "We are both of us cowards, I know," said Anastre. At this moment there was a violent knocking at the door. The merchant and the monk both turned pale with apprehension, lest their conversation might have been overheard by this unseasonable and importunate visiter. They made no reply; the knocking was redoubled, and a voice that neither of them recognised, exclaimed, "But it interests me," interrupted the monk, with an imploring tone," and I cannot witness a rushing headlong to damnation without stretching forth my hand, and trying to stop it in its course." Without making any reply, Jehan again addressed himself to Gaspard: "I know that usurers always begin to talk of their Open, master Gaspard, I know you are there, and poverty and the difficulty of procuring money, before I must be admitted." they unloose their purse strings. But let us speak frankly with one another, and use no circumlocution. I want a thousand florins- I must have them-do you "Do you know him ?" asked the monk in an under understand me? I will supply you with all the gautone." "Will you open at once, and have done trifling. I am come about business. If you do not make up your mind, I will settle the matter for you;" and so saying, the applicant for admission shook the door so vehemently that it would soon have yielded to his violence had not the merchant thrown it open. Jehan Jaureguy made his appearance. He seemed a youth of about eighteen or twenty, of lofty and well proportioned stature, the natural advantages of which were set off by his Biscayan costume. Every thing about him announced an air of energy, resolution, and vigor; and the first words he uttered, proved that he was not the man to give the lie to the indications of qualities promised by his appearance. Egad! master Gaspard," he began, without taking off his hat," you are a remarkably pleasant joker to rantee you can devise. My father is rich, and I will pay all my debts at his death." "If you were to bind yourself to return me double this sum to-morrow, I could not lend it to you. I have nothing, absolutely nothing I am utterly ruined." "False!" exclaimed Jaureguy. “It is a lie.” ""Tis nothing but the tru, my son," said the monk, "and when you came in, I vras endeavoring to console master Gaspard on the sudden turn in his fortunes." In that case, then, may every curse light upon me. Curses on the mother who bore me to frighten the world by a fearful deed! As true as I scratch this table with the point of my dagger, so surely will I assassinate some person to plunder him afterwards. I will have gold or blood, or both." The monk and the merchant exchanged a rapid glance with each other, and both read the same thought and expression there. 'My son," resumed the monk, " you are blinded by I was erecting, rising in the form of steps each above your passions." 'My father," replied Jaureguy, "God has endowed us with different qualities, according to our respective positions in the world. To you he has given patience and resignation; to me impetuous passions and an overwhelming will to gratify them. A score of times I have made up my mind to reform, and have vowed that I would repent; and as often debauchery and gambling have resumed their empire over me. If God is just, why has he made me with such strength of body that no excess and indulgence can weaken or exhaust? why did he form me with this broad and deep chest, where my breath plays like a whirlwind, and this brow on which fatigue, either mental or bodily, has never left a trace? why does an incessant fever inflame my blood, without drying it up? why has he made me in love with every beautiful woman I see? why breathed into my soul the maddening fury of the gambling table? Ah! women, wine, and dice! women in orgies when the head reels and the feet totter in a double intoxication. Give me gold to buy their caresses! gold in handfuls to fling before the eyes of the gamblers, to cover their bets, to feel again my heart bounding within my bosom with fear and hope, to place my life or death again upon the hazard of the die! Show me where there is gold, and however lenaciously avaricious may be the hand that keeps it from me, this poniard shall unloosen its grasp." During these vehement words, the monk had drawn an ivory crucifix from beneath his robe. He held the sacred emblem before the eyes of the young man. My son," said he, "kiss with reverential love this image of our Redeemer. Master Gaspard, leave me alone with this sinner. I must hear his confession, and endeavor to restore tranquillity to his troubles. There are no faults too grievous to obtain pardon from heaven; and, perhaps, by showing him what heaven expects from him, I may bring him within the paths of safety, and give a useful and holy direction to his wild and untutored zeal." Gaspard Anastre perfectly understood the monk's meaning, and withdrew without hesitation, leaving Jaureguy and father Temermans in close conference. THE ASSASSIN. On the eighteenth of March, the anniversary of the birth of Francois-Hercules de Valois, duke of Alençon and Anjou, all business was at a stand still in the city of Antwerp. It seemed like a town just delivered from the enemy and from famine, after a lengthened siege. The port resounded with the cries of the sailors who were decking their vessels with flags; banners floated from every window; the bells of the churches (opened to the Catholics after eight months prohibition) rang a succession of merry peals, blending their shrill but tuneful melody with the deep and confused murmur of the populace that moved through the streets, and crowded every access to the citadel. At one end of the public square, an extensive wooden amphitheatre the other, and over these the workmen were still occupied in spreading rich carpets and tapestry. As it always turns out, when the people changes its master, every body augured auspiciously of the reign about commencing; all converted their anticipations into realities; and endowed the new sovereign with every virtue and amiable quality. There was a universal concert of praise and congratulation. Catholics and reformers alike, cursed the Spanish tyranny, and looked upon the alliance with France as the guarantee of the peace and liberty of Flanders, to obtain which, so many heroic efforts had been exhaust ed. Some persons who pretended to better information, and to be familiar with the secrets of court, affirmed that the treaty of marriage between Elizabeth of Eng. land and the duke of Anjou would be resumed and concluded forthwith. And this news met with no disputers or cavillers; what they wished they readily believed; and they already saw the shattered remnant of the armies of Philip flying in confusion and hopeless ruin before the proud array of united France and England. At last, the time appointed for the ceremony had arrived. Deep and respectful silence succeeded to the hurry and bustle, when the new duke made his appearance, accompanied by the nobles of the state of Brabant. He seated himself on a gilded throne in the centre of the amphitheatre. On his right, standing and uncovered, was the illustrious William the Silent, prince of Orange. His bald and anxious brow, the pale, thin, and severe visage of the man who no reverse could crush, and who had taken as a mottoTranquil amid the storm-formed a striking contrast with the smiling, insouciant, and confident faces of the nobility and gentry, by whom he was surrounded. Alone, amid all the actors and spectators of this gor geous scene, his thoughts dwelt upon the future, and without distrusting the ultimate success of the cause, in the midst of triumph, he combined the means of rendering it durable, and sought for props to the throne, which he fancied must totter beneath the moral dwarf he now offered to the eager glances of the multitude. Behind him, stood a youth of sixteen, remarkable by the loftiness and haughtiness of his mien, and the audacity of his looks; this youth was Maurice, son of William and Ann, daughter of the duke of Saxony, the worthy heir of a hero, and destined gloriously to consummate what his father had commenced. When the duke of Anjou had taken his seat, the chancellor of Brabant, Dirk of Liesveldt, administered to him the oath upon the Holy Gospels to adhere to the conditions on which he was received as their sovereign. The oath was read twice, first in French and then in Flemish; and its purport was to preserve inviolably the privi leges of the country, and maintain religion in its actual state, leaving to every body a full and entire liberty of conscience. To the same effect a second oath was pronounced in favor of the barons, the nobles, and the cities, in which he promised not to govern in an arbitrary manner; but according to law and equity. The burgomaster then presented him with a solid and massy silver key as a pledge of obedience, and amid |