a week, and then look dim and tarnished during the rest of the cruise. With this view, we suggest the substitution of a single-breasted coat of green or blue, to be worn buttoned in front, and free from cuffs, pocket-flaps, and other excrescences; a pantaloon of the same for winter, and of white for summer. The coat might be lined with buff or scarlet, and a rib of the same be carried down the outside seam of the pantaloon.+ To these should be added half-boots, à plain cocked-hat, and a stout sword, for use as well as show, made on a uniform pattern at the government armories; it should be worn securely upon the hip, suspended from a concealed shoulder-strap. As for the trifling swords of every possible pattern, which now dangle at the heels of our officers, they are, in connexion with the general ignorance of their use, rather a danger than a protection. The only variation we would allow from this single uniform, should be that of round jackets, of similar cloth and fashion to the coat, and cloth foraging-caps.

A large double-breasted fatigue sur tout, of the same colour, should relieve the whole family of plaid cloaks, upper benjamins, pea-jackets, and monkeys. This or some similar general system of uniform once established by order, we would compel all the officers, on all occasions, to dress in uniform or fatigues, in conformity to the temporary regulation of the commander. This authority is already exercised to produce uniformity in the appearance of the seamen, though no regulation of the service specifies their uniform; much more, then, may it be applied to the dress of the officers, whose dress is regulated, and with whom subordination should ever begin. We would have a uniform system running through the dress of the various ranks of officers, and reaching, to a certain extent, to the sailors, whose dress should also be regulated; the superior officers should be distinguished from their inferiors, less by superior glitter, than by the quality of their epau lettes, or some minute ornament, obvious rather to their own corps than to a stranger or an enemy. Nelson lost his life at Trafalgar by the conspicuousness of his uniform. We think this subject worthy of

attention, not merely because it has much to do with the appearance and display of our navy; but because it might always, affect its efficacy; and because a neat, uniform would, among the younger of ficers, do much to cherish in them a love and pride of profession.

Let us now consider what room there may be for improvement in the organization of the most numerous class of our navy, the class of inferiors. In the first place, then, we consider the abolition of the marine-corps absolutely necessary to the efficiency and harmony of our ships. The marine-corps was adopted in our navy with the rest of the system which we copied from Britain, although the reason of its institution did not apply to us; it having been originally instituted in order that the officers might avail themselves of the aversion existing between the seamen and soldiers, to make themselves a bulwark of bayonets in the event of mutiny, so likely to result from the vexatious irksomeness of a compelled and hopeless servitude. The voluntary enrolment and regular discharge of our seamen entirely remove this danger from among us; so that we do not derive from the marinecorps the advantages which led to its institution, whilst we are fully exposed to all its inconveniences. Soldiers, when embarked, whilst they are more in the way than an equal number of seamen, are either of no use for the ordinary duties of the ship, or else, in becoming useful, they lose entirely their distinctive character, and cease to be more of soldiers than the seamen among whom they become mingled.

The marine-corps abolished, or, at least, its unnatural connexion with our ships severed, it would be easy to introduce a more perfect and harmonious organization among the crew. Nothing would be easier, if necessary, than to have all the men trained to the use of the musket, and qualified to act on shore in defence of the coast, without the danger of dispersing. But the great object of rendering them effective at sea would be perfectly attained by enlisting them for a particular ship, with the right of transfer, aud in all cases for the duration of the cruise. arrangement would save our commanders the infinite embarrassment which often results from the expiration of the term for

This

which their crews have entered. No men are greater sticklers for the letter of the detained beyond their time, they often be law than seamen; and when thus illegally come discontented, and the commander must either yield a portion of his authority, the circumstances render as unpleasant as or resort to a harshness of discipline, which

It is unjust. To obviate the dread of an unlimited term of service, which might deter seamen from entering for the cruise, care should be taken that no cruise exteed three years; a term already sufficiently prolonged. In entering a crew, we would not allow them to enter for any particular rank or wages; but would classify them according to their merits when embarked, awarding the stations of petty-officers to those who should possess recommendations for having faithfully filled those stations in other ships, and retaining the power to promote, through all the various gradations of boys, ordinary seamen, seamen, and petty-officers, according to individual merit and good behaviour. We do not think that the boatswain, gunner, carpenter, and sail-maker, should be warrant officers, but entered like the rest of the crew, and equally subject to promotion and degradation. These offices are best filled by individuals temporarily appointed, and liable to removal at the pleasure of the commander; while those who have warrants, having no hope of going higher, and no immediate fear of descending lower, lose all ambition. Moreover, they would furnish to the whole crew, when within their reach, a powerful motive to emulation and excellence. Finally, we would not receive a single individual into our ships who was not a native-born American. But under the present system of discipline, and whilst there is danger of being for ever degraded by the stroke of the lash, American seamen, or, at all events, the better class of them, will not enter the service of their country. That system which deters Americans from serving their country, and forces us to receive a large proportion of foreigners as the only alternative, must be false, cannot be permanent, and, therefore, demands of legislative wisdom (we do not appeal to humanity), an immediate reformation.

Our naval system, as we have already seen, was received from Britain. Her sailors, forced into her navy like slaves, and forming at least one excepted class from the boasted spirit of universal emancipation, could of course only be controlled by the same bodily compulsion by which they were kidnapped and deprived of their liberty. Though voluntary enrolment was at once substituted among us for compulsion, the lash, which was its counterpart, was most inconsistently retained. Hence the more worthy of our seamen were excluded from the public service, except when out of employment in time of war or embargo; and of course it was compelled to supply itself from among the less scrupulous; out of whom and the fo

reigners, who entered extensively, a class was formed and perpetuated of degraded individuals, who have rendered the name of man-of-war's men a stigma, and who, accustomed to obey no law but that of brute compulsion, are still kept in order only by the means of their degradation.

The navy, in point of ease of labour, quality of food, and the chance which long voyages offer for accumulation (to which sailors, however quickly they may spend their money, are not indifferent, as may be seen by their making long voyages in the merchant service, at reduced wages ;) the pleasures to be derived in it from a numerous society and stated leisure; its festivities, music, dancing, esprit de corps, pride of ship, and all its multiplied means of enjoyment, holds out strong inducement to seamen; all, however, counteracted among the less corrupt by the terrors of the lash. Take away these terrors, and our best seamen will enter in abundance. Associate with them a large number of youths, alike unimpaired in character and constitution, and these, cherished by their officers, and ambitious to excel, will soon become skilful seamen, Seamanship is incomparably more perfect in the navy, and it will, therefore, be easy to send these young men forth more perfect, than if they had been reared in the merchant service. Hence, then, instead of being indebted to the merchant service for seamen, whom we send back corrupted, and only susceptible of being kept in order by naval discipline, to mutiny, and cause the miscariiage of voyages, we should furnish it with seamen equally distinguished for skill and habits of subordination.

A MOUNTAIN SCENE.

YE ever eloquent rills-ye lonely ways

That lead, I know not whither-ye fair flowers, Rich with the sunlight which the summer showers

Into your breasts through all her gladsome days→→→ Ye many-voiced birds-ye clouds that sail

O'er heaven's unrocky sea-ye caverns wild, By Nature's own resistless hands up-piled, 'Mong you I wander free, and bid ye hail! Feeling a reverence deeper far than leads The sage to linger in the ruin'd dome, Where men, by time made sacred, had their home

Time, which conceals both good and evil deeds. Not man, but God, was, and is always here, Filling the sinless scene with glory far and near! The Amulet.

CURIOUS FACTS RELATIVE TO MIND.

[Dr. Abercrombie's book,t though chiefly addressed to readers of his own profession, the object of it being to ascertain and illustrate the manner in which the manifestations of mind are affected by diseases of those bodily organs, by which it holds intercourse with external things, especially the brain, contains much of an interesring nature for general readers. The following extracts are of this description.]

ing one related by Mr. Marshall. It is that of a man who died with a pound of water in his brain, after having been long in a state of idiotcy, but who, a very short time before death, became perfectly rational.

BYSTANDER'S POWER OF REGULATING DREAMS.

To this part of the subject are to be referred some remarkable cases in which, in

THINKING PRINCIPLE.

It is necessary that we should refer briefly to the remarkable instances in which the brain has been extensively diseased without the phenomena of mind being impaired in any sensible degree. This holds true both in regard to the destruction of each individual part of the brain, and likewise to the extent to which the cerebral mass may be diseased or destroyed. In another work I have mentioned various cases which illustrate this fact in a very striking manner; particularly in the case of a lady, in whom one half of the brain was reduced to a mass of disease, but who retained all her faculties to the last, except that there was an imperfection of vision, and had been enjoying herself at a convivial party in the house of a friend, a few hours before her death. A man, mentioned by Dr. Ferrier, who died of an affection of the brain, retained all his faculties entire till the very moment of his death, which was sudden. On examining his head, the whole right hemisphere, that is, one half of his brain, was found destroyed by suppuration. In a similar case, recorded by Diemerbroeck, half a pound of matter was found in the brain; and in one by Dr. He berden, there was half a pound of water. A man mentioned by Mr. O'Halaran suffered such an injury on the head, that a a large portion of the bone was removed on the right side; and extensive suppuration having taken place, there was discharged at each dressing, through the opening, an immense quantity of matter mixed with large masses of the substance of the brain. This went on for seventeen days, and it appears that nearly one half of the brain was thrown out mixed with the matter; yet the man retained all his intellectual faculties to the very moment of dissolution; and, through the whole course of the disease, his mind maintained uniform tranquillity. To these remarkable histories may be added the very interest

+ Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers,

&c. By John Abercrombie, M.D. Edinburgh, Waugh, 1830.

The

duced by whispering into their ears when they are asleep. One of the most curious as well as authentic examples of this kind has been referred to by several writers: I find the particulars in a paper by Dr. Gregory, and they were related to him by a gentleman who witnessed them. subject of it was an officer in the expedition to Louisburg, in 1758, who had this peculiarity in so remarkable a degree; that his companions in the transport were in the constant habit of amusing themselves at his expense. They could produce in him any kind of dream, by whispering into his ear, especially if this was done by a friend with whose voice he was familiar. At one time they conducted him through the whole progress of a quarrel, which ended in a duel; and, when the people were supposed to be met, a pistol was put into his hand, which he fired, and was awaked by the report. On another occa sion, they found him asleep on the top of a locker, or bunker, in the cabin, when they made him believe he had fallen overboard, and exhorted him to save himself by swimming. They then told him that a shark was pursuing him, and entreated him to dive for his life. He instantly did so, with such force as to throw himself entirely from the locker upon the cabin floor, by which he was much bruised, and awakened of course. After the landing of the army at Louisburg, his friends found him one day asleep in his tent, and evidently much annoyed by the cannonading. They then made him believe that he was engaged, when he expressed great fear, and showed an evident disposition to run away. Against this they remonstrated, but, at the same time, increased his fears, by imitating the groans of the wounded and the dying; and when he asked, as he often did, who was down, they named his particular friends. At last they told him that the man next himself in the line had fallen, when he instantly sprung from his bed, rushed out of the tent, and was ronsed from his danger and dream together by falling over the tent ropes.

A

remarkable circumstance in this case was, that, after these experiments, he had no

distinct recollection of his dreams, but only a confused feeling of oppression or fatigue and used to tell his friend that he was sure that he was playing some trick upon him. A case entirely similar is related in "Smith's Natural History," the subject of which was a medical student at the University of Edinburgh.

A singular fact has been observed in dreams which are excited by a noise, namely, that the same sound awakens the person, and produces a dream, which appears to him to occupy a considerable time. The following example of this has been related to me :- -A gentleman dreamt that he had enlisted as a soldier, joined his regiment, deserted, was apprehended, carried back, tried, condemned to be shot, and at last led out for execution. After all the usual preparations, a gun was fired; be awoke with that report, and found that a noise in an adjoining room had both produced the dream and awaked him. The same want of the notion of time is observed in dreams from other causes. Dr. Gregory mentions a gentleman, who, after sleeping in a damp place, was, for a long time, liable to a feeling of suffocation whenever he slept in a lying posture, and this was always accompanied by a dream of a skeleton, which grasped him violently by the throat. He could sleep in a sitting posture without any uneasy feeling; and, after trying various experiments, he at last had a sentinel placed beside him, with orders to awake him whenever he sunk down. On one occasion, he was attacked by the skeleton, and a severe and long struggle ensued before he awoke. On

finding fault with his attendant for allow ing him to lie so long in such a state of suffering, he was assured that he had not lain an instant, but had been awakened the moment he began to sink. The gentleman, after a considerable time, recovered from the affection.

STRANGE COINCIDENCES IN DREAMS.

The following anecdotes I am enabled to give as entirely authentic:-A lady dreamt that an aged female relative had been murdered by a black servant, and the dream occurred more than once. She was then so impressed by it, that she went to the house of the lady to whom it related, and prevailed upon a gentleman to watch in an adjoining room during the night. About three o'clock in the morning, the gentleman, hearing footsteps on the stair, left his place of concealment, and met the servant carrying up a quantity of coals. Being questioned as to where he was going, he replied, in a confused and hurVOL. VI.

M

ried manner, that he was going to mend his mistress's fire-which, at three o'clock in the morning, in the middle of summer, was evidently impossible; and, on farther investigation, a strong knife was found concealed beneath the coals. Another lady dreamt that a boy, her nephew, had been drowned, along with some young companions, with whom he had engaged to go on a sailing excursion in the Frith of Forth. She sent for him in the morning, and, with much difficulty, prevailed upon him to give up his engagement-his com panions went, and were all drowned. Such coincidences derive their wonderful cha racter from standing alone, and apart from those numerous instances in which such dreams take place without any fulfilment. An instance of a very singular kind is mentioned by Mr. Joseph Taylor, and is given by him as an undoubted fact. A young man, who was at an academy a hundred miles from home, dreamt that he went to his father's house in the night, tried the front door, but found it locked; got in by a backdoor, and finding nobody out of bed, went directly to the bed-room of his parents. He then said to his mother, whom he found awake, "Mother, I am going a long journey, aud am come to bid you good bye." On this she answered, under much agitation, "Oh, dear me, thou art dead!” He instantly awoke, and thought no more of his dream, until, a few days after, he received a letter from his father, inquiring very anxiously after his health, in consequence of a frightful dream his mother had on the same night in which the dream now mentioned occurred to him. She dreamt that she heard some one attempt to open the front door, then go to the back-door, and at last come into her bedroom. She then saw it was her son, who came to the side of her bed, and said, "Mother, I am going a long journey, and am come to bid you good bye:" on which she exclaimed, "Oh, dear me, thou art dead!" But nothing unusual happened to any of the parties;-the singular dream must have arisen from some strong mental impression which had been made on both the individuals about the same time; and to have traced the source of it, would have been a matter of great interest.

THE PLEASURES OF MADNESS.

A remarkable peculiarity in many cases of insanity, is a great rapidity of mind and activity of conception-tendency to seize rapidly upon incidental or practical relations of things-and often a fertility of imagination, which changes the character of the mind, sometimes without remark

ably distorting it. The memory, in such cases, is entire, and even appears more ready than in health; and old associations are called up with a rapidity quite unknown to the individual in his sound state of mind. A gentleman, mentioned by Dr. Willis, who was liable to periodical attacks of insanity, said that he expected the paroxysms with impatience, because he enjoyed, during them, a high degree of pleasure. "Every thing appeared easy to me-no obstacles presented themselves, either in theory or practice. My memory acquired all of a sudden a singular degree of perfection. Long passages of Latin authors occurred to my mind. In general, I have great difficulty in finding rhythmical terminations, but then I could write verses with as great facility as prose.""I have often," says Penil, "stopped at the chamber door of a literary gentleman, who, during his paroxysms, appeared to soar above the mediocrity of intellect that was peculiar to bim, solely to admire his newly acquired powers of eloquence. He declaimed upon the subject of the revolution with all the force, the dignity, and the purity of language, that this very in. teresting subject could admit of. At other times, he was a man of very ordinary abilities."

PERSONS MOST LIABLE TO INSANITY.

Insanity is in a large proportion of cases, to be traced to hereditary predisposition, and this is often so strong, that no promi. nent moral cause is necessary for the production of the disease, and probably no moral treatment would have any effect in preventing it. We must, however, suppose, that where a tendency to insanity exists, there may be, in many cases cir'cumstances in mental habits, or mental discipline, calculated either to favour, or to counteract the tendency. Insanity frequently commences with a state, in which particular impressions fix them selves upon the mind, in a manner entirely disproportioned to their true relations, and in which these false impressions fail to be corrected by the judgment comparing them with other impressions, or with external things. In so far as mental habits may be supposed to favour or promote such a condition, this may be likely to result from allowing the mind to wander away from the proper duties of life, or to luxuriate amid scenes of the imagination, and permitting mental emotions, of what ever kind, to be excited in a manner disproportioned to the true relations of the objects which give rise to them. Habits of mental application must also exert a

great influence; and we certainly remark a striking difference between those who are accustomed merely to works of imagination and taste, and those whose minds have been rigidly exercised to habits of calm and severe inquiry. A fact is mentioned by Dr. Connolly, which, if it shall be confirmed by farther observation, would lead to some most important reflections. He states, that it appears, from the registers of the Bicetre, that maniacs of the more educated classes consist almost entirely of priests, artists, painters, sculptors, poets, and musicians; while no instance, it is said, occurs of the disease in naturalists, physicians, geometricians, or chemists.

HOME, COUNTRY, ALL THE WORLD.†

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY.

We love our native home, our native place, our native province, our native land. There is a peculiar and distinct kind of attachment belonging to each of these relationships; but patriotism is the bond of the whole; and he who loves his country, loves his home and all between. But at home, and in our country, this sentiment, like the light of heaven and the air we breathe, is so familiar, that we are scarcely conscious of its presence; unless reflection be powerfully awakened to it by the return of some national or domestic occasion on which we are wont to felicitate ourselves, and those who are dear to us, on this cause of so much of our mutual felicity. In a strange land, it is far otherwise; the smallest incident there that reminds us of what we have loved from our childhood, and left perhaps for ever, touches the finest springs of affection; and the sight of a flower, the sound of a voice, the cast of a countenance, the colour of a garment, the air of a song, may electrify both nerve and spirit, and quicken emotions more deeply transporting than have ever been inspired by the scenes and enjoyments themselves, which are thus overwhelmingly renewed. The pleasures of memory are sometimes, though seldom, more lively than the pleasures of hope, but they are always more defined; and the certainty that we have been blest," is something still in possession, which a wise man would not ex

From the Amulet for 1831,