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that of a detached room in one of the extremities of the house, called the tavern. As he was himself a very temperate man, and many of his guests were of the same disposition, the quantity of wine for the use of the common room was but moderate; but as drinking was much in fashion in those days, in order to gratify such of his guests as had indulged themselves in that custom, he had recourse to the above mentioned contrivance ; and it was the custom of all who loved a cheerful glass, to adjourn to the tavern soon after dinner, and leave the more sober folks to themselves. Here a waiter in a blue apron attended, (as was the fashion then) and all things in the room were contrived so as humor the illusion. Here, every one called for what liquor they liked, with as little restraint as if they were really in a public house, and to pay their share of the reckoning. Here too, the midnight orgies of Bacchus were often celebrated, with the same noisy mirth as is customary in his city temples, without in the least disturbing the repose of the more sober part of the family. Games of all sorts were allowed, but under such restrictions as to prevent gambling; and so as to answer their true end, that of amusement, without injuring the purse of the players. There were two billiard tables, and a large bowling green; ample provision was made for all such as delighted in country sports; fishing tackle of all sorts; variety of guns with proper ammunition; a pack of buck-hounds, another of fox-hounds, and another of harriers. He constantly kept twenty choice hunters in his stables for the use of those who were not properly mounted for the chase. It may be thought that his income was not sufficient to support so expensive an establishment; but when it is considered that eight thousand a year at that time was fully equal to double that sum at present; that his large demesne, in some of the richest soil of Ireland, furnished the house with every necessary except groceries and wine; it may be supposed to be easily practicable if under the regulation of a strict economy; of which no man was a greater master. I am told his plan was so well formed, and he had such checks upon all his domestics, that it was impossible there could be any waste, or that any article from the larder, or a single bottle of wine from the cellar, could have been purloined, without immediate detection. This was done partly by the choice of faithful stewards, and clerks of approved integrity; but chiefly by his own superintendence of the whole, as not a day passed without having all the accounts of the preceding one laid before him. This he was enabled to do by his early rising; and the business being finished before others were out of their beds, he always appeared the most disengaged man in the house, and seemed to have as little concern in the

conduct of it as any one of the guests. And indeed to a stranger he might easily pass for such, as he made it a point that no one should consider him in the light of master of the house, nor pay him the least civilities on that score; which he carried so far, that he sometimes went abroad without giving any notice, and staid away several days, while things went on as usual at home; and on his return, he would not allow any congratulations to be made him, nor any other notice to be taken of him, than if he had not been absent during that time. The arrangements of every sort were so prudently made, that no multiplicity of guests or their domestics, ever occasioned any disorder, and all things were conducted with the same ease and regularity as in a private family. There was one point which seemed of great difficulty, that of establishing certain signals, by which each servant might know when he was summoned to his master's apartment. For this purpose there was a great hall appropriated to their use, where they always assembled when they were not upon duty. Along the wall bells were ranged in order, one to each apartment, with the number of the chamber marked over it; so that when any one of them was rung, they had only to turn their eyes to the bell, and see what servant was called. He was the first who put an end to that inhospitable custom of giving vales to servants, by making a suitable addition to their wages; at the same time assuring them, that if they ever took any afterward, they should be discharged with disgrace; and to prevent temptation, the guests were informed that Mr. Mathew would consider it as the highest affront, if any offer of that sort were made.

VOL. V.

MY LITTLE GIRLS.

(BY MRS. COLEMAN.)

The one hath eyes as dark as night,
With just her soft and mellow light;
Those eyes, too bright, unless half hid,
Underneath their wavy lid,

That droops with its long silken fringe,
Contrasting with whose jetty tinge,
Her sunny hair, a cloud of gold,

In vapory locks on locks, is rolled;

Those locks, in which the sunbeams lighten,
Yet scarcely can be said to brighten,
And gentle winds wave playfully,
As they would curl some sunny sea.
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Her lip is red Aurora's hue,
Her cheek fresh morning born anew,
And with that lip, and eye, and cheek,
Expression makes the young heart speak,
Tells, in its guileless depths unbidden,
Love's choicest flower-seeds lie hidden ;
That simple hopes and joys are there,
With truth and trust and gentlest prayer.
Some have pure thoughts so freely given,
So dear to earth and blest of heaven,
That 'tis my faith such creatures are,
Watched by some tender, living star.
The other is a winning thing

All wiles and joys and witcheries,
Just formed to make an hour take wing,
And smile back as it flies.

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With looks that all so gently woo you,
And say, "I've come a blessing to you;'
Deep violet eyes that change each minute,
While every change has beauty in it;
A smile and then a tear peeps out,
And which the loveliest, is a doubt.
Her arms as round your neck they cling,
Shine polished as a bird's white wing;
While rosy lip and breath and cheek,
Each hour a thousand kisses seek.
My home has breathed of balmier air
Since that fresh spirit alighted there,

For where's the bower were not more sweet,
When haunted with her frolic feet?
And with those words in bee-like song,
Their every syllable uttered wrong?
And that gay laugh, as silvery clear,
As sweet bells jangled for her ear?
A bird that sings, a honey flower,
Will make her rapture for an hour.
With bees and birds and flowers at play,
All seem heaven-born the self-same day,
Or
you would take her for their fay.

To these young pilgrims, hand in hand,
'Tis mine to point "the better land.”
Grant them, Father, such deep grace,
Their steps may reach that blissful place.
That these bright forms which thou hast made,
So lovely here in tint and limb,
May, in new robes of light arrayed,
Be ranged with rose-lipped cherubim.

Trenton, N. J.

SOFTLY WOO AWAY HER BREATH.

(BY BARRY CORNWALL.)

Softly woo away her breath,

Gentle death!

Let her leave thee with no strife,

Tender, mournful, murmuring life!
She hath seen her happy day:

She hath had her bud and blossom:
Now she pales and shrinks away,
Earth, into thy gentle bosom.

She had done her bidding here,
Angels dear!

Bear her perfect soul above,

Seraph of the skies,-sweet Love!
Good she was, and fair in youth,

And her mind was seen to soar,
And her heart was wed to truth;
Take her then for evermore,—
For ever-evermore !

[For the Register.]

THE TELEGRAPH.

The submarine telegraph across the straits of Dover has been so far successful, as to induce glowing visions of the future. Not only is it believed by some that Lord Palmerston's prophesy will be verified by a telegraphic communication between Great Britain and India, but it is scarcely esteemed an enterprise too gigantic to compass with an iron chain the globe itself. The laying under water of the wires between France and England was last year accomplished, and complimentary communications for a short time passed across the channel; but to the great disappointment of the projectors, the line was soon after cut asunder on a rock near the French coast. The wire was laid by a single steamer and a crew of thirty men, after the following manner:

"The vessel steamed out at the rate of three or four miles an hour into the open sea, in a direct track for Cape Grinez. The wire weighed five tons and the cylinder two. The operation of paying out the thirty miles of wire commenced on a signal to the sailors to "Go ahead with the wheel, and pay out the wire," which was continuously streamed out over a roller at the stern of the vessel, the men at every sixteenth of a mile being busily en

gaged in riveting on to the wire square leaden clamps, or weights of iron, from 14 lbs. to 24 lbs. in weight, which had the effect of sinking the wire to the bottom, which, on the English coast, commences at a depth of 30 feet, and goes on varying from that to 100 and 180 feet, which latter, or 30 fathoms, is the greatest depth. The whole of the casting out and sinking was accomplished with great precision and success, owing to the favorable state of the day. The only conjectured difficulty on the route was at a point in mid-channel, called the Ridge, between which and another inequality called the Varne, both well known and dreaded by navigators, there is a deep submarine valley, surrounded by shifting sands, the one being seventeen miles in length, and the other twelve, and in their vortex, not unlike the voracious one of the Goodwin Sands, ships encounter danger, and lose their anchors, and trolling nets of fishermen are frequently lost. Over this, however, the wire was successfully submerged, below the reach, it is believed, either of ships' anchors, seaanimals, or fishing nets."

The precise point where the breakage took place was about two hundred yards out to sea, just where the twenty miles of electric line that had been laid down from Dover joins on to a leaden tube designed to protect it from the surge beating against the beach, and which also serves a similar purpose up the front of the cliff to the station upon the top. The leaden conductor, it would appear, was of too soft a texture to resist the oscillation of the sea, and thereby became detached from the coil of guttapercha wire that was thought to have been safely encased in it. The occurrence was, of course, quickly detected by the sudden cessation of the series of communications, though it was at first a perplexing point to discover at what precise spot the wire was broken or at fault. This, however, was done by hauling up the line at intervals, a process which disclosed the gratifying fact, that since its first sinking, it had remained in situ at the bottom of the sea, in consequence of the leaden weights or clamps that were strung to it at every sixteenth of a mile. The experiment, as far as it has gone, proves the possibility of the gutta-percha wire resisting the action of the salt water, of the fact of its being a perfect waterproof insulator, and that the weights on the wire are sufficient to prevent it being drifted away by the currents, and for sinking it in the sands.

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The work at present has been suspended, but will be resumed again during the spring of 1851; a somewhat different plan, however, has been proposed to be followed from that at first adopted. Instead of one slender wire, it is intended to lay down cables inclosing four lines. These cables will be composed of

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