Thirty years ago, a captive prince of singular Some men are said to have a turn for making fortune lived on the island of St. Helena, in the enemies, while to others is awarded the praise of Atlantic Ocean. He had risen to the summit of having none. But though there is such a thing human greatness, and to all appearance had as enemy-making, it amounts to little, such enefounded a new dynasty more illustrious than that mies being seldom able to do any harm. The of Charlemagne. He had enemies external to more narrowly we examine our position, and the himself, but their petty efforts against him only things which affect us in the world, the more we served to increase his greatness. Napoleon, how-shall be convinced that our only formidable eneever, had one enemy truly formidable-he had mies are ourselves. The tongue that truly dehimself. Through the machinations of this deadly tracts from our credit and glory is our own tongue : foe was accomplished a ruin which all Europe the hand that most mercilessly despoils us of our had vainly conspired to bring about. property is our own hand. All the real murders in this world—that is, apart from the mere commonplace killings of men and women-are selfmurders. Conceit tells us a different tale, and we are too ready to lay on the flattering unction. But all great successes, all the grander triumphs, will be in proportion to our seeing the truth as it really stands; namely, that the hardest obstacles, the most real dangers, lie in the perverse impulses of our own nature. we For the Living Age. MORE ABOUT COCKROACHES. I WAS much amused by a piece in No. 227, which gave an account of cockroaches on shipboard; and the perusal of it has called to my nind some reminiscences and some of my experience, which I have thought might not be uninteresting to your readers. of Manilla. In the year 1845 I was on the return voyage from China. We had been six months trading between the different ports in China and the port We had carried two cargoes of dyewood from Manilla to Shanghai, besides taking everything else that was offered, from bird's nests to bar iron. The laboring people of this country have a notion that the rest of the community are their enemies. Any one who mingles with the rest of the community must see that these are full of good-feeling towards the laborers, are constantly speculating about the means of benefiting them, and in reality spend largely in their behalf. They are not the enemies of the working-classes; but it is not difficult to see who are. It is the working-classes themselves, who, arrogating the privilege of dispensing with forethought and self-denial, and throwing on others the blame of all mischances, subject themselves to such bitter woe in consequence, that if one tenth of it were really visited on any one set of people by another, the world would ring with it forever. What should think, for instance, of a government which should force its industrious millions to spend each a large portion of his gains on indulgences alike injurious to health and morals? Yet this, we know, is done by the working classes themselves. What should we think of a master who permitted no new entrant into his work without a sum of money being paid to make a feast with, however difficult it might be to raise such a sum? Yet exclusions of this kind are common among the men themselves. A few years ago, in a work in the west In the knots, holes and decayed pieces of the dyeof Scotland, each new apprentice paid his fellows wood, which formed our principal cargo, were seabout seven pounds for "leave to toil!" and creted immense quantities of vermin, consisting of when six or seven such sums had been amassed, red ants, scorpions, centipedes, lizards, and last, there was a debauch which lasted a fortnight, in- but not least, a reinforcement of our already large volving the whole district in vice and wretched- and voracious army of cockroaches; so that by the ness. There is a story of a master sailcloth-time our ship was ready for home, she was little maker recommending a widow's son into his own work, with an entreaty that the boy might be spared the usual payment. He thought he had been successful; but the youth was from the first subjected to so much persecution, that, being wholly unable to raise the money by any common means, he found it necessary to go to a distance each evening in disguise, and there stand for an hour or two begging from the passers-by. In this strange way he at length obtained the means of purchasing a license to live by his industry.* The whole system of fines for the admission of new hands into trades presents a striking view of a class acting as its own enemy. better than a sailing entomological repository. 66 toes bleeding at every nail, the consequence of a singular propensity which cockroaches have in a marked degree, that of satisfying the demands of their stomach at all hazards. The greatest enemy which the cockroach had was the red ant. Two or three of these little indefatigables would steal up behind a large cockroach who was eating, and when he was all engaged, they would spring upon him, generally striking him on the head; and so quickly would they mortally wound him, that he would scarce ever run more than a foot or two before he would fall and die. We often after dinner would amuse ourselves by watching the evolutions of the ants, and noticing the ingenuity, amounting almost to reason, which they displayed in despatching and disposing of a cockroach. From Chambers' Journal. GREEN VAULTS OF DRESDEN. OUR guide informed us that having made up a party to see the celebrated Grüne Gewolbe, or Green Vaults, he was now ready to conduct us thither. It is usual to make up a party to see this place, because the fee for entrance is two dollars, and for which sum six persons are admitted. The reason, I believe, is entirely a regard to the value of the articles shown, and the danger of their abstraction. The collection consists of magnificent and precious objects of art pertaining to the royal family, and arranged in a series of vaulted apartments on the ground-floor of the palace of the sovereign. Why they are called Green Vaults is not explained, though they probably derive this name from the walls having at one time been colored green. At present they are lighted with windows, well stanchioned, and kept in the nicest order; the In order to eye the modus operandi to better advantage, we would entice a good fat specimen into the middle of the steerage floor, by gradually mov-place resembles a jeweller's shop, disposed with ing some dainty bit before him till we had got him in a good position, when we would leave him to the tender mercies of the ants militant, who were ever on the watch for the unwary. glass-cases, shelves, brackets, and tables, bearing a profusion of little articles in gold, ivory, pearl, bronze, enamel, horn, wood, &c. A most obliging person, who speaks German, French, and EngThe cockroach, knowing his danger, would for alish, conducts the party slowly through the rooms, time keep his eyes about him as he ate, and change and politely gives the history of the more interesthis position, in order to see if any ants were coming articles; while from secret peep-holes, and with ing too near; but as he became more and more interested in discussing his meal, his vigilance would relax, and then the ants would approach, taking good care to keep directly behind him, or, as the sailors said, "in his wake." Three or four only would approach in this manner, and when close to him they would branch out so as to get abreast of him, and when within an inch or two, they would give a spring and fasten upon his head, and before he would have time to compose himself to meet the "king of terrors," he was a defunct cockroach. As soon as the deed was done, the hitherto concealed ants would swarm around, and drag the yet quivering carcass off to their hole. If the body was-too large to be taken into their quarters whole, they would proceed to gnaw off and carry in the wings and legs separately; and if in its dismembered state it offered too great an obstacle, it was quickly cut up and housed piecemeal. the aid of mirrors, an attendant, unknown to the visitors, keeps a strict watch on their movements -a precaution not unnecessary, for not long since a "lady" endeavored to carry off in her reticule a unique and valuable curiosity from one of the tables, and suffered the humiliation of detection. The origin of the collection dates as far back as the first elector of Saxony, a contemporary of Charles V., from which time each reigning prince added to it the presents he received, and the most magnificent articles he could purchase. The most assiduous and enlightened of those royal collectors was Augustus II., surnamed the Strong, (1694–1733,) who became King of Poland. This was evidently the great man of Saxon history, for he is heard of everywhere. His strength seems to have far exceeded that of ordinary mortals. At Munich, a stone of about a couple of hundred weight is shown in the arcade of the old palace; and this he is said to have thrown to a height marked on the wall above. Augustus enriched the collection with works of the illustrious Dinglinger in gold and enamel, the specimens of which excel anything that can be imagined in point of artistic talent. The first room or cabinet is that devoted to bronzes, of which there are 110 groups, statuettes, and figures, principally after the antique. No. 48, "A Little Dog Scratching Itself," by Peter Vischer of Nuremberg, is much admired. So likewise is No. 113, "Charles II. of England as St. George killing the Dragon ;" it is a small equestrian statue, sculptured from a block of iron by G. Leygebe of Nuremberg, weighs sixty-seven pounds, and required five years in the execution. The second cabinet is devoted to works in ivory, of which there are nearly 500 specimens. Many of these were collected by Augustus I., who appears to have ing part of the day to the public, and appeared to be visited by a humble order of persons of both sexes Dresden is celebrated for the excellence of its opera, which may be attended for a comparatively small sum. The music is of a superior kind, and the musicians on Sundays transfer their services to the Catholic church, which is visited by crowds of tourists merely to listen to the performance. From Dresden to Leipsic is a run of seventy-two gone about Europe employing ivory-turners and cutters in executing cups, chalices, boxes, figures, and other articles, in the highest style of art. One could linger for hours over some of the objects in this interesting cabinet-such as the "Saviour after his Resurrection surrounded by Holy Women," probably a production of the tenth or eleventh century; "Mary and the Infant Jesus surrounded by Angels;" "A Crucifixion;""The Judgment of Solomon;""The Sacrifice of Abraham;" and "The Descent of Lucifer and the Demons, drag-miles by railway; and this, according to the easy ging with them the Souls of the Wicked." This last group, which consists of eighty-five figures, is a work of an Italian artist, the idea being suggested by the "Last Judgment" of Michael Angelo; and, like all the others, it required years to finish. The third cabinet contains mosaics, enamels, and works in amber, mother-of-pearls, corals, &c. The fourth is a collection of gold and silver plate, in the form of superb dinner services, baptismal basins, chalices, &c.; one article is a rich and curious mirror of burnished silver, in the style of the middle ages, before the art of silvering glass was known. The fifth cabinet is entirely occupied with precious stones, not mere jewels, but articles such as vases, busts, statuettes, flagons, and other things formed of agate, jasper, chalcedony, onyx, lapis-lazuli,tinental winter; and for the greater part they are rock-crystal, &c. Three golden bocaux, (bottles or jugs with a narrow neck,) enriched with cameos, are considered very fine; one of them is embellished with 176 cameos, among which is the masque of Jupiter in chalcedony. The sixth cabinet con-lowing, are kept together by the dog, which sauntains rough pearls and diamonds; the seventh is devoted chiefly to sculpture on wood; and the eighth or last is a large collection of regalia, arms, chains, decorations, and bijouteries of all sorts used on state occasions. plan of German travelling, we performed in three hours. The journey disclosed nothing remarkable in scenery, as the line traverses the level country bordering on the Elbe. As we advance, the great sandy plains of Central and Northern Europe begin to make their appearance, scanty in herbage, but eminently suitable for sheep pasturage. Everybody has heard of Saxony wool, but perhaps few are aware of the peculiar method of sheep-pasturing which leads to its excellence. English and Scotch wool is a produce of sheep chiefly pastured in large flocks on hills or open downs, where they feed, unsheltered from the weather, all the year round. Saxon sheep are not treated in this rough manner; they could not endure the excessive cold of a con housed nightly at all seasons. A Scotch shepherd, with his dog, walks behind his flocks in removing them from one place to another; a Saxon shepherd walks before his sheep; and these instinctively fol ters observingly in the rear. This, however, is an almost universal practice in Germany, borrowed most likely from the East, and reminds us of the touching parable of the good shepherd :-" He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he go they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him." I never realized from observation the truth of this affecting simile till I saw on the plains of Saxony the shepherd, in his picturesque costume, followed by a handful of docile creatures, which clung to him as to a friend and protector. In this manner much of the Saxon depasturage seems to be conducted on a small, and almost domestic scale; and by the shel The quantity of emeralds, rubies, diamond rings, solitaires, and other brilliants, flashing in all direc-eth before them, and the sheep follow him; for tions on the eye in the last-mentioned apartment, affords a striking idea of human vanity, as well as of the extravagance to which fancies unrestrained by the obligation of labor may be carried. And yet, on quitting the Green Vault, we feel that everything is not a useless toy, which may in any respect tend to improve the arts and refine the general tastes of mankind. During four centuries, the monarchs of Saxony have spent probably two millions of money in rendering the capital attractive inter afforded to the sheep at night, the wool is renthe matter of pictures and other objects on which the highest artistic talent has been exercised, or on which a high conventional value is put. In one sense this may be called a waste of money; but by making Dresden a resort of travellers from all parts of the world, not to speak of the cultivation of local aspirations, the sum might have been much worse spent; and after all, estimated at two millions, it is only equal to four years' expenditure on intoxicating liquors by one of the large cities of Britain. It was our lot to spend a Sunday in Dresden, and the day was kept with the usual quietude of a Protestant city. Nevertheless, even in this fountain, as it may be called, of the reformed doctrine and observances, the Picture Gallery was open dur dered fine, and of high market value. Of the nature and quantity of the article we had an opportunity of judging at Leipsic, which, on our arrival, we found to be in all the bustle of one of those great wool-fairs that have given it celebrity. By the first glance we had of the streets of Leipsic, we perceived that it greatly exceeded Dresden in the antique and striking character of its houses. as well as in the matter of business. No doubt the fair, to which had been brought a great number of wagons loaded with packs of wool, added materially to the commercial aspect of the place; but the appearances otherwise, and the earnest look of the people, conveyed an impression of substantiality and wealth. In the centre of the town, the houses of the market-place, and the streets which diverge the pleasing excitement of a social meeting. All from it, are large and lofty buildings, provided with they got, however, in the first place, was a cup of projecting windows, the stone work of which is cold strong tea in a species of pantry; and then, finely carved; they have a grand and picturesque by way of finish, they were treated to an exhibieffect. The floors, level with the street, are in tion of ladies and gentlemen sitting freezingly on many cases vaulted; a precaution which may have sofas, while one lady banged away on a piano at had its use in times not far distant, when showers a piece of Mozart, of the nature of which she of shot fell within the town. In the market-place, seemed to be unconscious. I could only intimate beneath the shops on the street-floor, there are usu- my fear that they had not, in their simplicity, been ally underground shops of an inferior kind, reached able to appreciate the high artificialities and enjoyby a stone stair, and having a profusion of articles ments of snobbery-a condition of life in which cerdisplayed round the doorway-precisely as was the tain people make themselves very happy, by never fashion in the High street of Edinburgh not many being what they really are, but by trying to be years ago. At the doors of these subterranean what they are not. "Ah," said my German places of business, the female keepers may be seen friends, "we hope this thing you call snobbery seated in the sun, engaged in the everlasting rec-will never come into our own dear country!" reation of knitting, in which I should suppose the women of Leipsic and its neighborhood excel, for my companion assured me she had nowhere on the continent seen such beautiful crotchet-work for sale. Some of it which she purchased was almost equal to old lace. verse. To return from this digression; Leipsic is noted as the great entrepôt of the German book trade, and in the market-place is seen a handsome edifice, used as an exchange exclusively by the booksellers, who frequent the great fairs, for the sale of literature and the mutual settlement of accounts for books. A propos of German women; it would be ungra- A university, attended by large numbers of students, cious not to take an opportunity of speaking of their adds to the literary character of the place. In late remarkable spirit of industry, amiability of manner, years, the exterior of the town has been greatly imand domestic accomplishments. French women are proved by the removal of the ramparts, and the creas meritoriously industrious; but having no proper ation in their stead, as at Frankfort, of beautiful idea of domesticity, or of what true cleanliness con- drives and walks, environed by trees, shrubs, and sists, their houses are disorderly-their hotels, no gardens; and further ornamented with new buildmatter how elegant, universally dirty. In quitting ings, public and private, in an elegant style of archiFrance, and going into Germany, the tourist finds tecture. Going westward out of the main street a totally different order of domestic arrangements. into the environs, we come immediately to what Dirt in all its forms no longer tyrannizes over the was at one time a citadel or strong tower of defence senses; and, sleeping or waking, the weary travel-at an angle of the walls, but which is now occuler is at peace. It would seem that all nations pied as a barrack for soldiers and as an observasprung from a Celto-Roman root are filthy in hab- tory. Conducted by a long stair to the summit of its, while those of a Teutonic original are the re- this point of outlook, we had beneath and before The Frenchwoman decks her head, and us the wide-spread plain on which the gigantic the general exterior of her person, with a taste and power of Napoleon was irretrievably broken (Ocregard for popular approbation which I should very tober 17, 18, and 19, 1813.) The whole field of much like to see imitated by the humbler order of battle, of which the town was a central and sufferfemales in the large Scotch towns; but beyond ing point, stretches into the remote distance, with this exemplary feature, the German and English little interruption from enclosures, one of the prinwomen go very far. They possess an inborn love cipal landmarks being a small clump of trees, near of cleanliness, and grudge neither trouble nor ex- which Bonaparte took his stand in the heat of the pense to secure stainless purity in their domestic last engagement. On descending from the tower, establishments. In other respects the German we proceeded to visit the banks of the small river women differ from their English sisters. They Elster, which proved so disastrous to the French are, as I think, more natural and unaffected; not retreat. It is scarcely wider or more lively than a that they have more heart, but they allow their mill stream; and we cannot comprehend how such feelings to be less bound down by the conventional- a paltry run of water should, by the premature ities of etiquette. Talking on the subject of Eng-blowing up of its bridge, have arrested the flying lish usages to some educated German ladies who army, and drowned so many fugitives. The death had been in London, we found them speak with most lamented on this terrible occasion was that of surprise of the manner in which everything among Poniatowski-a Polish nobleman in the French as seems to be sacrificed to mere fashion. Invited service. In attempting to leap his horse across to an evening party, where they expected to be the miserable stream, he cleared the water, but fell treated with a degree of affection, how much were back in climbing the opposite bank, and sank to their unsophisticated German feelings wounded rise no more. Within a public garden, on the when, on arrival, they were conducted by a foot- margin of the river, a small monumental stone has man into a small back room, and there offered a been erected at the spot where Poniatowski made cup of tea, alone and standing! They did not the fatal leap; and at a short distance within the come for food-not they; they came, as they same grounds, a handsome mausoleum, in the form thought, to interchange friendly sentiments under of a small chamber or chapel, has been erected over his remains, and bears suitable inscriptions in Polish and Latin. The battle of Leipsic is about as old an event as I can remember; and certainly at the time I did not anticipate that it would ever be my fortune to see these interesting memorials of the great and successful effort which expelled Napoleon from Germany. From the Economist. 66 both upon the private happiness and public prosperity of the country. The first table in the return shows the number of chargeable letters which passed through the London General Post Office since the first general reduction of postage on the 5th day of December, 1839, dividing the time into periods of four weeks, and distinguishing between unpaid, paid, and stamped letters. For the sake of brevity, we will give the numbers as returned for the first four weeks of each year, which are as follows: LETTERS PASSING THROUGH THE LONDON GENERAL POST Unpaid. Four weeks Jan. 1, 1842 Jan. 27, 1844 Paid. Stamped. Total. 505,847 2,102,281 333,433 1,974,684 2,047,120 4,355,237 411,335 2,188,697 2,607,265 5,207,297 312,839 2,431,231 2,972,828 5,716,898 433,270 2,524,270 3,079,418 6,037,526 Jan. 25, 1845 501,519 2,613,S48 3,681,926 6,800,293 STATISTICAL HISTORY OF THE PENNY POST." By a parliamentary return which has this week been presented to the House of Commons, we have exhibited at one view a most interesting and instructive history of the results of that great experiment in the social and commercial economy of the country, as contained in our postal regulations. The "penny postage" is marked as one of the great reforms of the age; not alone, or indeed mainly, because it cheapened the cost of sending a letter from the Scotch to the English metropolis from thirteen pence halfpenny to one penny; nor because it enabled two individuals, the So that the number in the present year is more one living in Orkney, the other at Penzance, to than quadrupled as compared with 1840, when, communicate with each other at no greater cost however, it must be remarked, the postage was than two others living in different parts of London; but because it did involve a great principle of in- only reduced to fourpence, and nearly doubled as creased facilities of communication, and as such, been in operation for many months. The table becompared with 1841, when the penny rate had was equally valuable in a social as in a commer-fore us also furnishes the estimated average for four cial point of view. How far national habits and weeks in 1839-prior to any reduction, and under character or commercial interests are acted upon the old system-which, with the present year, by the influence of causes of this kind, is best understood by the extent to which the public avail presents the following comparison :-- In four weeks. 1848 OFFICE Unpaid. Paid. Stamped. Total. 1,358,651 263,496 1,622,147 453,286 3,092,570 4,990,576 8,536,432 The next table in the return shows the number of letters which have passed in each of the same years through the London District Post Offices, from which we collect the following result:LETTERS PASSED THROUGH THE LONDON DISTRICT POST themselves of such facilities. All other evidences LETTERS PASSED THROUGH THE LONDON GENERAL POST of the success of such experiments on the national interests are in some degree matters of opinion. It may be a question, in what proportion any one cause out of the many-which are always in operation in an advancing community, having the direct tendency to improve its character, habits, and interests-has produced consequences generally admitted, when we reason generally from the obvious changes which have been produced. But when we have distinct and unquestionable statistical facts before us, exhibiting in clear, intelligible, and indisputable language, the result of a great experiment on the habits of society, by the best of all tests-the voluntary use of facilities put within the reach of the public-there is no longer room to doubt the extent and the importance of such reforms, as elements in the great onward course of a nation. The success of the postal reform-in its way by far the boldest experiment of our time—is fortunately of that nature as to be capable of clear demonstration. A comparison of statistical facts is conclusive on the subject; and the social and cominercial advantages which have been derived by the country can be easily understood to be in proportion to the arithmetical increase of communication. There is indeed much room for the most pleasing speculations as to the numerous and indirect consequences of facts brought to light by the array of figures before us, in their influence OFFICES. Four weeks, in 1839, prior to the After the reduction to id. Four weeks ending Jan. 4, 1840 Jan. 23, 1843 Jan. 27, 1844 Jan. 25, 1845 1,021,368 The next account in the return is the most interesting, inasmuch as it shows the effect of the change upon the whole of the United Kingdom in a table which exhibits the number of letters delivered in the United Kingdom in one week of each calendar month, beginning with November, 1839-a month before the change was made and continued down to the present time, from which we collect the following comparison :— |