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From the Puritan Recorder.

One of the Early Ministers at Bolton-Rev. George Colton.

Leaving Andover, we will ascend Bolton Hill, on the West; and on the summit of it, where Bolton still stands and flourishes, we shall find the Rev. George Colton, of whom, I may at least say, that he was the tallest and oddest man in my whole galaxy. He was a son of the Rev. Benjamin Colton, of West Hartford, was graduated at Yale College, in 1756, was settled as successor to the Rev. Thomas White, in Bolton, about 1764 or 65, and retained his pastoral charge till his death, which occurred in 1812.He was accustomed during the greater part of his ministry, to preach frequently at Andover, by exchange. But I think he never preached there, within my recollection; owing chiefly to the fact, that his advanced age disinclined him to go from home. I have, however, both seen and heard him; and I know so many anecdotes, illustrative of his peculiarities, that my only difficulty is in making a selection. I would say, however, at the outset, that with all his eccentricities, some of which were certainly unfortunate enough, he was universally regarded as an eminently devout and godly man. Some might perhaps say, in respect to him, that nature left her work unfinished, and that, though grace had done its own work well, it had neither cured nor covered all the defects of nature. I will try to describe him, as he towers up, in the remote distance, before my mind's eye.

With the single exception of the Irish giant, (and I am not sure that he was an exception,) Mr. Colton was the tallest man I ever saw. You were obliged to look up, and up, and up, before you reached the summit. If my memory is not at fault, he measured six feet and seven inches from the ground; and he was slender and lank in proportion to his height. He wore, on Sunday, an enormous wig; of which some idea may be formed from the fact, that on one occasion, when he entered the meeting house, a little child who was taken to church that day for the first time, began to cry; and, being asked by his mother, what was the matter, said, "I'm afraid of that big man with a sheep on his back." His face was the very quintessence of gravity, and looked as though nature had sternly denied to it the power of even forcing itself into a smile. He was as straight as an arrow; and when he moved, he seemed like a long live pole, with feet at the bottom, and a face at the top urging its way forward, without looking to the right or left. I heard him preach two Sabbaths; once when I went to visit a relation at Bolton, and spend Sunday, and once when our minister was gone, and I was allowed to go and hear Mr. Colton, rather than some nearer clergyman. I remember how much I was awed by his appearance, when he came in at the side door, and wended his way around to the pulpit; with his wife behind him, a nice, little, old woman, so much shorter than himself, that one might fancy that she lived hardly within speaking distance of him. He walked into the pulpit, apparently looking upon vacancy, and not seeing a person in the house; and his gravity was so staid and imperturbable, that it actually came very near disturbing mine. I recollect his making up some odd months, and occasionally exhibiting a huge contortion of countenance; but there was after all an awful solemnity, and homely unction in his manner, that could not render it otherwise than impressive. One of the texts on which I heard him preach was, "Search me, O God, and know my heart, &c.," and, though I cannot tell what I might think of the sermon now, I thought then that it was great.

As I have mentioned Mr. Colton's good lady,-for a truly estimable and excellent person she was,-I may as well, at this point, relate an anecdote or two, in which she was somewhat concerned. It was customary in those days in Connecticut,-and I know not that the usage has changed,-in all cases in which there was a courtship tending to the legitimate consummation, for the minister to publish the bans of matrimony, generally at the beginning of the afternoon service. Mr. Colton was of the number who did not think it best for man to be alone; and in due time he had made arrangements for relieving his solitude, by taking home to his house, (a honse, by the way, in which one might have supposed that he intended to produce a fac-simile of him

self,) the Widow Martha Strong. Of course it was necessary, as a preparatory step, that the bans should be published; for on this point, the law knew no difference between the minister and his parishioners. But as he was not ashamed of the end, so neither did he flinch at any of the means, necessary to its accomplishment. He, therefore, standing full six feet, seven, in his pulpit, and screwing his mouth into a shape, befitting the proclamation he was about to make, held forth as follows:—“I‚—I myself, and the Widow Martha Strong, both of our town, intend marriage;" and then, with an indescribable guttural, half way between a grunt and a hem, sat down. The fun of the story consisted chiefly in the tone and manner in which the proclamation was made; which, of course, cannot be transferred to paper.

This Widow Martha Strong, after she became Mrs. Colton, sometimes had illustrations of some of her husband's idiosyncracies which she would probably have been willing to dispense with. On one occasion, I have heard it said, that she had invited a few ladies to take tea with her; and she had placed upon her table several different kinds of delicacies, in the way of sweetmeats. The minute Mr. Colton took his seat at the table, and his eye fell upon the preparations she had made, he looked around upon the ladies and said, "Ladies, you must taste of all these different sorts of sauces, else my wife wont like it." Whether this was intended as a reproof for her supposed extravagance, or a compliment for her having so well cared for her guests, I never knew.

His services in the pulpit had, I believe, less of an eccentric tinge than might have reasonably been expected; though he now and then uttered a queer thing, which tradition has not failed to chronicle.There was a man living at Andover, a near neighbor of my father, who had made himself conspicuous for his infidelity, and was exerting a demoralizing influence throughout the neighborhood. Mr. Colton, on one occasion, remembered him in his Sabbath morning prayer as follows-"Lord, have mercy upon that infidel, that Deist-thou knowest whom I mean-he lives on the stage road half way between Hartford and Norwich." Some of his people he thought were at fault in not beginning the Sabbath soon enough; and he wrote a paragraph in a sermon designed to reprove them for it. Shortly after, he exchanged with Dr. Lockwood, of Andover, and preached the same sermon, without thinking of the reproof it contained; and not a little were the poor Andoverians astonished, to have it said to them by a man who lived four or five miles off" I hear the sound of your axes at my house every Saturday night, long after sundown."

His bluntness, both in the pulpit and out of it, was sometimes amazing. A neighboring parish had lost its old minister, and settled a new one.For the old one he had the most profound respect -for the new one, very little. The first time he exchanged with the young minister-and I think it must have been the last-he pronounced quite a eulogy on his predecessor, and concluded with this notable sentence, "There was not another such minister any where about here; but now you've got one of your own choosing." The wife of the young pastor was present, and well nigh fainted under the barbarous allusion to her husband.

I believe he was naturally of kindly disposition; and yet he had moods in which it was difficult to find the evidence of it. There was a young minister, I think a Mr. May, travelling in very feeble health from Hartford to Norwich. He was accompanied by a brother clergyman, who took care of him; and so much reduced was he, that it was expected that he would live but a short time. They were travelling in a chaise, and had determined to stop to rest a while at Mr. Colton's. Mr. C. saw them coming, and saw that they had actually turned up at his gate. He went out, not to welcome the sick man, but to tell him that he could not receive him. "Keep right on," said he, "it is only four miles to Mr. Lockwood's and you will easily get there to dinner."

I never had any conversation with Mr. Colton, but I once came as near as I could and fail. I had always felt a sort of awe upon my spirit, whenever I thought of him, and was not at all predisposed to make his acquaintance. One of my College classmates, however, who was his grand nephew, was

about to visit him during a vacation in our Freshman year, and he finally prevailed upon me to accompany him: As we entered the room where Mr. Colton was, my classmate told him my name, and he looked at me and pointed majestically to a chair. I sat down expecting to be spoken to in due time, and feeling that I was in such a presence as I had never been in before. He talked a little with his nephew; and as there was a dead silence after a few moments, I felt a flash of courage prompting me to break it. But conceive my consternation, when I discovered that, as I attempted to speak, he had just opened his mouth to speak also; and then we had not only the silence back again, but so far as I was concerned, embarrassment and positive terror along with it. I did not venture to make another attempt; and though he subsequently said a few words to my classmate, not a word nor look was directed to me. More than forty years have passed since that silent meeting with "the high priest of Colton," as he used familiarly to be called; but my friend who shared with me the awful formality of the meeting, has often since shared with me the sportive recollections of it.

I may as well say that I have no other character like this to set off my group of ancient worthies.So far as I know it stood alone in life, and stands alone in history; and if it is ever reproduced, it must be by some lusus naturae, which does not come within the range of human calculation. HOP RIVER.

French Opinions of the Americans. "Madame Narie Fentenay is soon to publish a work entitled American Homes, a series of tales illustrating New York life in 1854. I have read severol chapters, and can promise my country-men, and especially my country-women, a volume of deserved severities mingled, of course, with some unfair deductions. I cannot speak of the production as a whole, for I have only seen a part; but I can remember a number of opinions of the authoress upon American usages, morals and manners. The life of a New York business man is either that of a 'brute or mercenary.' His face, cleaned and shaved, resembles a zero; his eyes look figure and calculation.' His person smells of dollars.' American cookery has neither smell nor taste. The food of the country is much like boiled hay, straw and bran, without even a piuck of salt to season it.

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Americans know no soup but oyster stew; they eat with their knives, break eggs into tumblers, esteem ham above truffled patridges, and whiskey above Bordeaux wine; they never eat supper; and can make no pastry but apple pie.

Americans have no opinions, they only have deeds. They live without principles and without moral guidance, recognizing no political compass but their own appetites.

American actors swallow half their words, and no foreigner can tell what they do with the other half. When there is any good music to be heard, be sure the Americans will shine by their absence.

Americans have a great taste for confectionary, but they exercise no taste in gratifying it. Hugeness seems to be a quality most esteemed in candy, for sticks may be had as big as horsewhips. If it were not for the French confectioners and pastry cooks, Americans would not be to this day beyond apple pie.

A Frenchman may be naturalized in Greece, for love of antiquity; in Turkey, in the hope of becoming a pacha; but in America nothing can excuse that but an unnatural taste for ham, tobacco, Bloomeriess and apple pie!

Thus far I have been repeating small slanders, but I recommend the following paragraph to all whom it may concern: Miss Caldwell was nineteen years of age, celebrated for her luxurious prodigality, intelligent and handsome. She was handsome as American girls are handsome; possessing a regular form, splendid hair, determined and rather forward bearing, an inviting eye, white and red skin, fine mouth and teeth-in short, she possessed all the charms that make the New York girls exceedingly pretty, from fifteen to twenty-five years of age. After this period, while a French-weman's beauty is developing and ripening, the American woman becomes insupportably plain. The causes are excessive use of hot biscuit and badly baked cake, and abuse of balls, dancing late hours, and

the usual dissipations of a city at an early age. No complexion, no health, no teeth, can resist so terrible an ordeal. In the name of my erring countrywomen, who upon the perusal of these lines promise to reform and repent, I thank Mme. Fontenay for this well meant lesson, and pardon her abont all her calumnies about ham and apple pie. Here follows an account of flirting, flirtation rooms and courting chairs. Such things must always appear disreputable to a European, and I am astonished at the high colors in which the authoress paints several boudoir scenes which fell under her eyes. She speaks of girls going aloue to the theatre, to ride, to sup at at a restaurant with gents of their own age; and from her account I should imagine that the improprieties and indecent familiarities of flirtation had made astonishing advances since I have had the privilege of examining the institution. I am not sure that I ever saw a flirtation room, and as for the courting chair, that is altogether since my time. I suppose it is what we call a letter S.

Our authoress asked a mere child who had been actively flirting all one evening, if among her many beaux she should not soon make a choice. "No," replied the child, "not until I'm twenty-five. I have not half done my girl life yet.' 'But are you sure of your independence till then! May you not dispose of your heart in the mean time?' 'My heart! Dear me! None but a Southerner or a French woman would even ask such a question as that?' And Madame Fontenay stood transfixed, having committed the enormity of supposing that an American girl had a heart!

Of American girls generallly, she says that they laugh continually, not that they are expansive and gay, but that they consider it a symbol of pleasure exacted by considerations of propriety and politeness. She often sought in the United States an amiable and young physiognomy, but she never saw

even one.

An American ball is hit off thus: The ladies young and pretty, dressed exceedingly low in the neck, were wheeled about by sombre-looking Yankees, dressed in funeral black like Malbrook's page. These girls, under their frank manners, their ingenuous forwardness, conceal a profound dissimulation and a remarkable egotism. Out of three thousand there is hardly one capable of love.

THE HERRING.-It is in their connection with the wants of men, however, that these migrations of fishes become more important and interesting. It is well know that they furnish the sole food of some nations, and contribute in others a vast supply that covers the table of the poor man with plenty. Migrating fishes are thus one of the greatest and most invaluable gifts of the Creator, by which thousands support themselves and their families, and which, at certain times, form the exclusive food of whole races, as the sturgeon upon which all Greek Christians subsist during their long and rigorous fasts. Hence, also, the importance of the herring, a small, insignificant fish, which yet gives food to millions, and employment to not less than 3,000 decked vessels, not to speak of all the open boats employed in the same fishery.--Where their home is, man does not know, it is only certain that they are not met with beyond a certain degree of northern latitude, and that the genuine herring never enters the Mediterranean, and hence remained unknown to the ancients. In April and June all of a sudden, innumerable masses appear in the northern seas, forming vast banks, of even thirty miles long and ten miles wide. Their depth has Bever been satisfactorily ascertained, and their denseness may be judged by the fact that lances and harpoons thrust in betwn them, sink not and move not, but remain standig upright! Divided into bands, herrings mov so in a certain order. Long before their arrival, already their coming is noticed by the flocks of sea-birds that watch them from on high, while sharks are seen to sport around them, and a thick oily substance is spread over their columns, coloring the sea in daytime and shining with a mild, mysterious light in the dark, still night.

The sea-ape, the monstrous chimera of the learned, precedes them, and is hence, by fishermen called the king of the herrings. Then are first sen single males, often three or four days in adTace of the army; next follow the strongest and brgest, and after them enormous shoals, countless

like the sand on the sea shore and the stars in heaven. They seek places that abound in stones and marine plants, where to spawn, and like other animals they frequent the localities, to which they have become accustomed, at a regular time, so that they may be expected as surely as the sun rises and

sets.

THE FARM AND THE GARDEN.

TREE AND TREE PLANTING.-Mr. E. Nichols writes from Dover, Bureau county, Ill., to the Prairie Farmer, as follows:

"Transplanting evergreens is the bugbear. Understood it is not difficult. They are generally killed by deep planting and the want of mulchingthe want of leaves from the woods or half-decayed straw, or tan, or something of the kind to keep the ground moist. Prepare the ground deep if you have time; take the hemlock or red cedar, spread the roots nicely on the smooth surface, cover threefourths of an inch deep, put on four inches of moist leaves and confine with brush-few will die. Shade

during the first summer. A bush full of leaves, set on the south side, is best.

"The nurseryman must do his duty. He must take the trees up well, and direct that the roots be kept moist, and not exposed a minute to sun or air until planted. In the absence of moss or wet leaves, a wet sheet may be put immediately around the roots and lightly around the tops. If we go to the woods for evergreens we must act the nurseryman ourselves."

CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS.-Asparagus is a plant that will bear an exceedingly rich soil, provided the manure is finely and thoroughly incorporated with the soil, and that plenty of room is needed for each individual plant, its large growth depending on this as an indispensable requisite. From our own observations we are inclined to think that for its market production it should be in drills sufficiently remote to admit a narrow horse cultivator. A very common cause of small shoots, even in beds which have been dug and enriched two feet deep, is planting too thick or near together, and afterwards allowing the evil to become increased by the selfsowing process, numerous young plants springing up all over the bed. We would give three leading requisites of success, namely-1. good soil-2. good cultivation-and 3. plenty of room.

THE HONEYSUCKLE AS AN ORNAMENTAL CLIMBER. -The honeysuckles are among our prettiest and most hardy climbers. They have abundance of foliage, which is of the greatest importance, and their flowers are very ornamental. There are many varieties. The scarlet and the yellow trumpet honeysuckles are extremely beautiful, and flower through the whole of the summer, and in autumn their bright red berries are decidedly ornamental. hummingbirds love to visit them, and many a delicious sip do they enjoy in the deep cups of the brilliantly-colored, trumpet-shaped flowers. Their want of fragrance is their only deficiency, but still I should be very unwilling to part with them, I never weary looking at the exquisite beauty of these flowers. They are unrivaled in grace of form, and in their rich and perf. ct hues.

The

The sweet-scented monthly honeysuckle is very desirable, and, like those I have mentioned, continues in blossom through the summer, and until late in autumn. The coral honeysuckle is very pretty, and so is the white.

The Chinese honeysuckle is my especial favorite. It is a sub-evergreen. In sheltered situations, and in a moderate winter, it retains its foliage through the year-even the long, cold winter, to which we have just said good bye, has not entirely stripped mine of their leaves-it is perfectly hardy, grows rapidly and to a great height, Its mode of flowering is unlike the trumpet honeysuckle, being in pairs or threes. It is exceedingly fragrant, filling the air with the most delicious perfume. It blossoms in spring and autumn, the whole plant being then almost completely covered with flowers. Its greatest recommendation, however, in its foliage, which is of a dark green, and more abundant than that of any other variety with which I am acquainted. I have sometimes planted this, and the scentless trumpet honeysuckles together-thus securing the foliage and fragrance of the one, and the showy flowers of the other.

These honeysuckles may be obtained of gardeners at low prices-the trumpet at not more than a York shilling a plant, the others I think, are a little higher.-American Agriculturist.

TURNING OUT STOCK EARLY.-Most farmers greatly injure their pastures by turning their stock out upon them to early. They ought too wait till the ground has become so firm and compact that the cattle will not poach on it; and the grass should be sufficiently high to give them a good bite, without being obliged to gnaw down to the roots. Woodland pastures are the only exception to this rule. On these no matter how early stock is turned. The grass here is not so valuable as on open lands, and and the leaves still on the ground of the previous year's forest growth, are generally sufficient to prevent its being poached besides it is necessary to turn out early on such pastures, in order to give the stock the benefit of the browse.

When the early grass is eaten offtoo soon, it leaves the roots exposed to spring frosts; and if dry weather follows, the pasture will scarcely recover all summer. But let the grass get a good thick start, and then if not overstocked, it will keep growing till late in autumn unless it happens to be particularly dry.

Sufficient attention is not paid to our pastures.-They ought to be harrowed every spring with a fine sharp-tooth harrow, all the manure droppings beat fine, and grass seed sown over all bare or thin spots. After this a heavy roller may advantageously follow.

Spread salt over weedy or bushy places, after cutting them off, and the stock after this will gnaw the herbage so close as to prevent the future growth of the weeds, &c. The following year such spots should be well harrowed and grass seed sown thickly over them. It would be well to keep the stock off of them until the grass has well set, they may then be turned on again,

Good pastures pay as large an interest as meadow or mowing lands, and equally good care should be taken of them.

Mowing lands should never be pastured in the spring; the hay crop suffers sadly if they are. American Agriculturist.

THE WHEAT CROP AT THE WEST.-We learn from a gentleman who has travelled pretty extensively through the states of the northwest during the past six weeks, that the prospect of the wheat crop was never better. In Iowa, a large quantity has been sown, but so great is the emigration to that state, and so rapidly did it fill up last season, that a large portion of the surplus will be required for the new settlers there and in Kansas and Nebraska.Throughout Illinois, it is represented that the crop never looked better. The high prices of the last few years, and the almost certainty that there will be but little abatement during the present year, have stimulated the farmers to sow to an extent beyond former precedent. And the same may be said of Wisconsin. The prospect there is that the abundant crop of last year will be succeeded by one equally as good as this,

We hear good reports, too, from Indiana and Michigan. On the whole, if no untoward event interposes between now and harvest, the northwest, which is in fact the granary of the Union, will turn out a surplus which will gladden the hearts of the breadless in our eastern cities.

CAPACITY OF THE GREAT EUROPEAN EDIFICES. St. Peter's at Rome will hold 54,000 persons; the Cathedral at Milan, 37,000; St. Paul's at Rome, 32,000; St. Paul's, at London, 25,000; St. Petronia, Bologna, 24,000; St. Sophia's, Constantinople, 23,000; Cathedral at Florence, 24,000; Cathedral at Antwerp, 24,000; St. John Lateran, 22,000; Notre Dame, Paris, 21,000; Cathedral at Pisa, 13,000; St. Stephen's Vienna 12,000; Cathedral at Vienna, 11,100; St. Peter's, Bologna, 11,400; St. Dominic's, Bologna, 11,000; St. Mark's, Venice, 7,000,

I am inclined to think there are few women who have ever been in love; yet I have often fancied that there must be a man born in the world for every woman; one whom to see would be to love, to reverence, to adore; one with whom her sympathies would so entirely blend, that she would recognize him at once as her true lord. Now and then, these pairs come together, and woe to her who meets this other self too late!

Causes of the Czar's Death.

The Times publishes a letter from Dr. Granville, who, in 1849, resided for several weeks at St. Pe tersburg, in attendance on a high personage at the Imperial Court, and who then formed a medical opinion with regard to the late Czar, which he deemed it prudent to convey to the Government at home, at the time the Western Cabinets found the conduct of the Emperor Nicholas so strange and inconsistent. This letter was written in 1853, and addressed to Lord Palmerston. The following passage will give an idea of its general character and contents:-"The health of the Czar is shaken. It has become so gradually for the last five years. He has been irritable, passionate, fanciful, more than usually superstitious, capricious, hasty, precipitate, and obstinate withal-all from ill-health, unskilfully treated; and of late deteriorating into a degree of cerebral excitement, which, while it takes from him the power of steady reasoning, impels him to every extravagance, in the sante manner as with his father in 1800; as with Alexander, in Poland, in 1820; as with Constantine, at Warsaw, in 1830; as with Michael, at St. Petersburg, in 1848-9. Like them, his nature feels the fatal transmission of hereditary insanity, the natural consequence of an overlooked and progressive congestion of the brain. Like them, he is hurrying to his fate, sudden death from congestive disease. The same period of life, between 45 and 60 years of age, sees the career of this fated family cut short."

Dr. Granville, doubtless, in addition to his own observations, was strengthened in his opinion by Sir James Wylie, who was, during four successive reigns, the Court physician at St. Petersburg.

A rumor is current, which cannot be traced to any authentic source, that among the last words uttered by the Emperor Nicholas he said, in speaking of the King of Prussia, "Tell my brother-in-law that I trust he will not forsake his own nephew and my children in the great perils which may lie before them;" and this message has undoubtedly been conveyed to Berlin in the manner most likely to affect the mind of the personage to whom it is said to have been addressed. Whether such a speech was ever made by the dying Czar it is impossible for us to know with certainty, but this we do know, that there were those about him in his last hours who had the strongest inducement to frame such an injunction, and to give it whatever weight with the King of Prussia it may derive from the solemn moments at which it was delivered. Throughout Europe the death of the Emperor Nicholas has been followed by an immediate rise in the value of all public securities, and by a feeling of increased confidence and hope. The world stood more in awe of him than we in this country could conceive possible, and there is hardly a citizen of any continental State who does not breathe more freely since that incarnate despotism has ceased to wield the power of Russia. But this influence of terror had been exerted too much, and it left him in the hour of death solitary and terrible, opposed by all that is independent in Europe, and dreaded even by those who still crouched under his protection."-London Times.

A Total Wreck.

On the first of January, 1854, a gentleman doing business in this city was worth, with what he had invested in business, $110,000. At the same time he was blessed with a lovely and intelligent wife, beautiful and promising children. He was surrounded by friends who esteemed and respected him. His business was lucrative and promised to continue so. Indeed, his position as well as his prospects were, seemingly, all that he could desire to render his happiness perfect. How complete the wreck that the year closed upon! The first misfortune was the transfer of merchandise, to the amount of $18,000 to a California dealer, for which not one cent was ever received. The next was two successive robberies, by means of which $25,000 were lost. Soon after this, the unfortunate man made an investment in real estate to a large amount. The next and crowning misfortune was a trip with his family to Europe. They embarked, on their return with $38,000 in goods, on board the steamship Arctic, and all shared her luckless fate! In settling up his affairs, his real estate was sold un

der the hammer at a sacrifice of $40,000, making the aggregate loss to his property during the year $118,000, $8,000 more than his assets. His friends were obliged to make good the deficiency! Was ever destruction more complete? Father, mother, children, and fortune, all gone-swept from the face of the earth-nothing left to show that they ever existed! We doubt whether, among the many wrecks which the past year has witnessed, there has been among them one more melancholy than this.-Courier and Enquirer.

Pleasure.

Pleasure, when taken to unburden a person of his care and trials, and in moderation, tends to a happy result. We abuse that which we ought to appreciate when we carry pleasure into an extreme.Pleasure then becomes an evil-it is not sought to recruit weary nature, but to satisfy a something that works in direct opposition to her. We seek pleasure for the good which we expect in return, and not to sink us deeper into care. We can take pleasure in many ways, and each, if properly indulged in, will have its amount of good; but, if we overstep a certain degree, then we destroy the good which might have resulted. A man who mingles in pleasure's path should reason how far he can go without marring the intended result; and if he does that, then he makes it a something to be pleasantly indulged in. He takes pleasure for that which it is intended, not for that which it is not intended. It is folly to seek pleasure to such a degree as to make Nature bear the consequences.— Malthus wisely says:

"We always find Nature faithful to her great objectat every false step we commit, ready to admonish us of our error, by the infliction of some physical or moral evil.”

No doubt, pleasure has many temptations; but then a man of sense will discountenance any extreme. He who neglects to hearken unto reason will have to pay the penalty. St. Evremond says:

"A man who knows how to mix pleasure with business, is never entirely possessed by them; he either quits or resumes them at his will; and in the use he makes of them, he rather find a relaxation of mind than a dangerous charm that might corrupt him."

Now, to indulge in that which is likely to bring care and pain, is not pleasure; it is dissipation, and nature, instead of being rewarded, is chastised.Pleasure, when taken limitedly, is both wholesome and commendable. Nothing is so unenviable as irrational pleasure-a man of common sense cannot partake of it; he leaves it for the vicious and unwise. Real pleasure is only to be tasted, not swallowed. To the man of business, pleasure is a luxury; he appreciates; he does not destroy its influence; he reasons at every step he takes, and feels pleased with himself and every body around him. There are too many sad realities connected with over-wrought pleasure not to be disregarded. Pleasure, in too many cases, brings its pangs of sorrow, because it is unwisely indulged in, and the votary learns a lesson that he does not easily forget. The man who seeks pleasure rationally is a philosopher, and will always enjoy it. Mason says:

"The love of pleasure is natural to the human heart; and the best preservative against criminal pleasure is a proper indulgence of such as are innocent."

The youth who bathes in Pleasure's limpid streams,
At well-judged intervals, feels all his soul
Nerv'd with recruited strength; but if too oft
He swims in sportive mazes through the flood,
It chills his languid virtue.

Discoveries in Sidon.

A Beirut correspondent of the Journal of Commerce, announces some recent and very interesting archæological discoveries among the ruins of ancient Sidon. It seems there has long been a current opinion among the inhabitants of modern Sidon that there were hid treasures in the gardens and grave yards of the ancient city. Various unsuccessful attempts have from time to time been made to find these treasures. In the winter of 1853-54, however, their researches were rewarded by the discovery in an ancient burying ground of Sidon, of three copper pots, containing each, 800 pieces of gold, worth about $5 a piece, all bearing the head of Philip or Alexander.

This discovery stimulated gold digging. And

on the 10th of January last, a sarcophagus, was discovered in an ancient cemetery on the plains of Sidoro, which appears to contain the remains of an ancient King. The lid of the Sarcophagus is described as blue black marble, intensely hard, and taking a very fine polish. It is about eight feet long by four feet wide. The upper end is wrought into the figure of a female head and shoulders, of almost a gigantic size. The features are Egyptian, with large, full, almond shaped eyes, the nose flattened, and lips remarkably thick, and somewhat after the negro mould. The whole countenance is smiling, agreeable and expressive.— The head-dress resembles that which appears in Egyptian figures, while on each shoulder there is the head of some bird-a dove or pigeon, and the bosom is covered by what appears to be a sort of tape, with a deep fringe, as of lace. On the lid, below the figure-head is an inscription in Phoenician, consisting of twenty-two long lines, closely written. The letters are in perfect preservation, and can be read with the utmost ease and accuracy. It appears to be mainly a genealogical history of the person buried in the sarcophagus, who, as it appears, was a King of Sidon.

Asa and Ira.

Asa and Ira were two brothers, whose farms lay side by side in a fertile intervale.

When the corn, the oats and the barley were springing up, the weeds took advantage of the rich soil and came up with them.

'Do you see," said Asa, "what a hold the weeds are taking? There is danger of their choking out the crops entirely."

"Well, well we must be resigned," replied Ira; "weeds as well as grain were a part of the Creators's plan, and there is no use in murmuring about them."

And he laid down for his usual afternoon doze. "I can only be resigned to what I can't help," said Asa. So he went to work and ploughed and hoed until his fields were clear of weeds.

"The army worms are in the neighborhood," said Asa to Ira one day.

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"They have eaten through the adjoining meadows, and are moving towards us."

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"Ah," exclaimed Ira, they will surely destroy what the weeds have not choked out. I will immediately retire to pray that their course may be stopped or turned aside."

But Asa replied, "I pray betimes every morning, for strength to do the work of the day."

And he hastened to dig a trench round his land, which the army-worms could not pass-while Ira returned only in season to save a small portion of his crops from their ravages.

"Do you see, Ira?" said Asa, another morning, "the river is rising very fast. There is but a slender chance of preventing our farms from being overflowed."

"Alas! it is a judgment upon us for our sins, and what can we do?" cried Ira, throwing himself in despair upon the ground.

"There are no judgments so severe as those which our own sloth brings upon us," replied Asa.

And he went quickly and hired workmen, with whose help he raised an embankment that withstood the flood, while Ira witnessed with blank looks and folded hands the destruction of his harvest.

"There is one consolation," said he, “my children at least, are left me."

But while Asa's sons grew up strong and virtuous men, among Ira's there was a drunkard, a gambler and a suicide.

64

"The ways of the Lord are not equal," complained Ira to his brothe Why are you alway prospered, while I am afflicted, and my old age disgraced ?"

"I only know this," replied Asa, "that Heaven has always helped me to treat the faults of my children as I did the weeds, the caterpillars and the flood; and that I have never presumed to send a petition upward without making Toil, my righthand servant, the messenger of my prayer."-Lucy

Larcom.

SINGULAR. To see a boarding-school Miss afraid of a cow, notwithstanding she did "All the milking tu hum" a few months previous.

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The Snow of Age.

We have just stumbled upon the following pretty piece of mosaic, laying amid a multitude of those less attractive: "No snow falls lighter than the snow of age; but none is heavier, for it never melts."

The figure is by no means novel, but the closing part of the sentence is new as well as emphatic.The scripture represents age by the almond tree, which bears blossoms of the purest white.

"The almond tree shall flourish"-the head shall be hoary. Dickens says of one of his characters, whose hair is turning gray, that it looks as if Time had lightly splashed its snows upon it in passing. "It never melts"-no, never. Age is inexorable; its wheels must move onward; they know not any retrograde movement. The old man may sit and sing, "I would I were a boy again," but he grows old as he sings. He may read of the elixir of youth, but he cannot find it; he may sigh for the secret of the alchemy which is able to make him young again, bet sighing brings it not. He may gaze backward with an eye longing upon the rosy schemes of carly years, but as one who gazes on his home from the deck of a departing ship, every moment carrying him further and further away. Poor old man! he has little more to do than die.

"It never melts." The snow of winter comes and sheds its white blossoms upon the valley and mountain, but soon the sweet spring follows and smiles it all away. Not so with that upon the brow of the tottering veteran; there is no spring whose warmth can penetrate its eternal frost. It came to stay; its single flakes fell unnoticed, and now it is drilled there. We shall see it increase, until we lay the old man in his grave: there it shall be absorbed by the eternal darkness, for there is no age in heaven.

Yet why speak of age in a mournful strain? It is beautiful, honorable,and eloquent. Should we sigh at the proximity of death when life and the world are so full of emptiness? Let the old exult because they are old; if any must weep, let it be the young, at the long succession of cares that are before them.

The Basin of the Atlantic Ocean. The Basin of the Atlantic Ocean is a long trough, separating the Old World from the New, and extending probably from pole to pole. This ocean furrow was probably scored into the crust of our planet by the Almighty hand, that the waters which he called seas, might be gathered together so as to let the dry land appear and fit the earth for the habitation of man. From the top of Chimborazo to the botim of the Atlantic, at the deepest place yet reachsi by the plummet in the Northern Atlantic, the distance in a vertical line is nine miles. Could the waters of the Atlantic be drawn off so as to exse this great sea-gash, which separates continents and extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic, it would present a scene the most rugged, grand and posing.

The very ribs of the solid earth, with the foundaCons of the sea, would be brought to light, and we ould have presented to us, at one view, in the

y cradle of the ocean, a thousand fearful wrecks, with that dreadful array of dead men's als, great anchors, heaps of pearl and inestimahe stones, which, in the poet's eye, lie scattered in bottom of the sea, making it hideous with sights ugly death. The deepest part of the Atlantic is bably somewhere between the Bermudas and Grand Banks. The waters of the Gulf of Mexmare held in a basin about a mile deep in the est part. There is at the bottom of the sea beCape May and Newfoundland and Cape Clear Feland, a remarkable steppe, which is already was the telegraphic platean. A company is Vegaged in the project of a submarine telegraph

the Atlantic. It is proposed to carry the along this plateau from the eastern shores of undland to the western shores of Ireland. great circle distance between these two shore 1600 miles, and the sea along this route is ably nowhere more than 10,000 feet deep.Maury.

There are many who waste and lose affection by neglect. It is not a plant to grow unnur

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the rude touch may destroy its delicate textver-the subtle cords of love are chilled napped asunder by neglect.

Tell it not in Gath.

We are credibly informed that a parish in Eastern Connecticut which pays its minister nominally a salary of five hundred dollars, but deducts some thing more than one sixth from that amount for rent of the parsonage; not many years ago paid him without his requesting it an hundred dollars which happened to be in the treasury, soon after the year commenced; of course it was very acceptable, and cheerfully credited. In that parish the salary is ordinarily paid only once in the year, say eight or nine months after the year begins. At the usual time the balance of the salary was paid, but not till the gentleman having the business in charge-it is not to be supposed the whole parish was privy to it -had deducted the interest of the hundred paid early in the year from the time it was paid up to the time of the final payment !

Does any one wonder that such books as "Shady Side" are written? Will it be a wonder if in few years, many more churches are destitute of ministers? It is but fair to add that the above parish is not noted for treating its ministers unkindly.

WEAMANSETT.

Norwich Examiner.

WHY SHOULD LABOR BE DRUDGERY.-Drudgery is one thing, true labor another. No man has any right to be a drudge; no man was ever made for that. If true to himself he cannot but be something more. The seeds of something more are in him. In his very nature there wait faculties to be unfolded, which he has no right whatever to neglect. Faculties, religious, moral, intellectual, in exercising which he lifts above the sense of want, above the power of fear, of fortune, or of death, feels his immortality, becomes himself what God intended him to be. In any kind of business or labor he can find sphere for the exercise of these his greatest faculties. No one has a right to live merely to get his own living. And this is what is meant by drudgery. Drudgery is not confined to the labor of the hands, nor to any one class of occupations. There are intellectual and fashionable drudges. And there are hard-working, humble laborers, more free, more dignified and manly, in all they do, or look, or think, than any that look down upon them. Some soil their hands with the earth; others soil their minds indelibly by the pride and vanity which keeps their hands so delicate. The true man 'stoops to conquer.' The vain man wears his head aloft, while the rock is wasting from under his feet, and the glow of disinterested activity, the beauty on which he prides himself, fades from his face.

How LEGISLATION IS PERFORMED IN CONGRESS.We take from the Washington Globe the account of the passage of the bill for the relief of an old servant of the United States, which will show how things are done in Congress :

Mr. Elliot of Massachusetts: I wish to have taken from the speaker's table a small bill, and I hope gentlemen will not object to it. It is a small claim for an old man who fought on board the Essex.The bill was taken up and read by its title. Mr. Elliot: I ask that the bill be put upon its passage.The question being upon ordering the bill to a third reading, Mr. Chastain of Georgia, said "I object." Mr. Elliot "I appeal to the gentleman to withdraw his objection." Mr. Chastain-"I would ask if the beneficiary of this bill is a negro?" Mr. Elliot"He is a colored man. He fought on board the frigate Essex." Mr. Chastain-"Then I do not withdraw my objection." The speaker said "The bill must return to its original place on the calender."

Mr. Elliot then intimated that he should oppose other private claims. Hereupon Mr. Seward of Georgia, came forward, exclaiming that Georgia would lose her claims, and prevailed upon Mr. Chastain to withdraw his opposition, and the bill went to its third reading and was passed.

A lady's heart is a delicate institution, and should be treated as such. There are some brutal specimens of corduroy that seem to think the little beater made to toss about like a joke, a glove, or a boot jack. Young man, if you don't intend to take it to the milliner and parson, just let Miss What's-her-name's heart alone-right off.

MANND WOMAN.-I should not say, from my own experience of my own sex, that a woman's nature is flexible and impressible, though her feelings are. I know very few instances of a very inferior man ruling the mind of a superior woman, whereas I know twenty-fifty-of a very inferior women ruling a superior man. If he loves her, the chances are that she will, in the end, weaken and demoralize him. If a superior woman marry a superior man or vulgar or inferior man, he makes her miserable, but he seldom governs her mind, or vulgarizes her nature, and if there be love on his side, the chances are that, in the end, she will elevate and refine him.

The most dangerous man to a woman is a man of high intellectual endowments morally perverted; for in a woman's nature there is such a necessity to approve where she admires, and to believe whero she loves a devotion compounded of love and faith is so much a part of her being-that while the instincts remain true and the feelings uncorrupted, the conscience and the will may both be led far astray. Thus fell "our general mother"-type of her sex-overpowered rather than deceived, by the collossal intellect-half serpent, half angelic.-Mrs. Jameson.

The most striking article in Blackwood, for February, is a review of Barnum's Autobiography, from which we extract a few sentences that appear especially worthy of the consideration of the American public. Speaking of Connecticut as the birth-place of Barnum, the article says:

"By the way, we should like to know what kind of a State this Connecticut really is. If we are to take Barnum's word for it, the division in which he and his were raised, was a more colony of sharpers. Every man, woman and child in it attempted to outwit, over-reach, and defraud their neighbors. Our friends in America had better look to it in time, for if the statements in this book as to the tone of the moral perceptions prevalent among the bulk of the middle classes are allowed to remain uncontradicted and unrepudiated-if Barnum's sketches of society are acknowledged to be true-then they dare not hereafter take exception to the harshest and most unfavorable pictures which have been drawn by European travellers. We say this in the most friendly spirit to America and the Americans; recollecting how often they have complained, with evident soreness, of being maligned and misrepresented. Well, then, we can assure them that this book of Barnum's, which we doubt not will have a very considerable circulation in this country, is calculated to do them more harm than anything that was ever written by an alien."

ARSENIC EATERS.-A French medical journal has an article on the arsenic eaters of Europe. This deadly poison in its effects when taken in large doses, is eaten in minute quantities by the peasants of Austria, particularly females, to increase their flesh and give roundness to their limbs. The practice of eating arsenic also has the effect of rendering them more enduring, and facilitates respiration in mounting steep ascents. Arsenic is often administered to horses in Vienna, by the grooms and coachmen of the Austrian capital. They mix a liberal pinch of the powder with oats, or attach to the bridle a fragment of arsenic as large as a pea, wrapped in linen, and when the horse is harnessed, the saliva dissolves the poison. The glossy, round, and elegant appearance of valuable horses in Vienna, and especially the white foam about the mouth, are generally due to arsenic, which, as is well known, increases salivation. It is also given to cattle intended for fattening, but it is said not to increase their weight, though it adds to their size. The ill effects of this poison do not manifest themselves till the practice of using it is stopped, and then emaciation follows, which no nourishing food can prevent.

Prof. Fairchild, of Oberlin, Ohio, states that on February 7th, they had in that region a fall of darkcolored snow. The crystals were in the form of dense icy pellets, above the twentieth of an inch in diameter. It fell to the depth of nearly an inch, and and when melted it yielded about a half inch of water. The snow had a distinet smoky taste, and on filtering it through a paper, a dark, sooty substance was obtained.

OPIUM EATING.-Among the evil practices abroad in this community, opium eating deserves to be mentioned, both on account of its extent, which is much greater thau is generally supposed, and its pernicious influence. We happened to know, the other day, of a drug store in a back street,that had six regular opium customers; and upon further inquiry, we found that nearly all the second class drug dealers had more or less of this sort of customers, who are females, almost without exception. Persons addicted to the habitual use of either opium or laudanum, endeavor to avoid notice by patronizing small shops, and purchasing such insignificant quantities at a number of different places, so as to avoid suspicion. The habit is commonly formed during a period of illness (as the drug, at first, is very offensive to the taste,) and, by not being abandoned on recovery, becomes strengthened by indulgence. It produces a dreamy sensation, serving to release the victim from the pressure of ordinary cares and perplexities, and afford an artificial refuge for which unaided nature does not provide. The subjects of this vice are noticeable from the dull, bleary aspect of their countenances, sallow complexion, and haggard frames. The practice should be universally frowned upon and repudiated-New York Journal of Commerce.

While eating is no part of a soldier's life in the Russian camp, in the French camp it is quite the contrary. A Frenchman must have his breakfast before he fights, and he will cook and eat it in the midst of bursting bombs rather than miss it; for between the fear of loosing his breakfast and his life there is about an even balance. On the morning of the battle of Inkermann, 7200 Englishmen were compelled to stand the shock of 45,000 Russians for three hours, before the French division arrived, the latter having stopped to eat their breakfast before starting to the aid of their suffering allies. They fought beautifully, as they always do, when they did arrive, but in the meantime there had been a fearful slaughter of Englishmen, which otherwise might have been saved. This is one of the facts which do not appear in print, for the good of the alliance, but it is nevertheless true.

Old Deacon Loud, a good man in the main but who, by too much tongue had made, though without intending it, division and trouble in all circles wherein he had moved, was called to die. On his death bed he sent for several other members of his church, and with many pious words-rather too many, as usual-bade them good bye, and ceased to talk. As soon as he had breathed his last, one of the oldest and gravest of the party turned to the rest and said, "Well, as brother Loud has gone, I hope he has gone to h-."-They were much shocked, and asked for an explanation. "Why," said he, "you know our poor brother's great misfortunehow that, when here, he belonged to various societies, and invariably was the means of breaking them up. Now if he has gone as I wished, in a little while he will undoubtedly manage to break up its organization, like all the rest he has ever joined." The brethren smiled faintly, though they doubted the propriety of the remark.-Boston Post.

Of a woman's saddest heart histories, nine out of ten will be found to arise from a want of self reliance. She is taught to submit too much to others for opinions, instead of relying upon her own decision. At the same time I do not wish to be understood as giving countenance to those unions formed in opposition to the wishes of parents; but I do say parents are sometimes governed by selfish motives, in withholding their children from marriage, when a union would be conducive to the happiness of the parties most interested. Fancied obstacles in the way of station in society, pride of birth, not worth, have each proyed barriers insurmountable.

'A mother's love!' the angels in unison exclaim; 'tis pure, 'tis holy, fathomless, and unbounded; the only remnant of Paradise; the only thing which escaped unblemished when Eve committed her fatal sin; 'tis the only fadeless flower-the mighty, inseparable chain which binds the child to its mother. Cherish then ever a 'mother's love.'

MR. WEBSTER CHALLENGED-A correspondent of the New York Post relates the following anccdote of Daniel Webster:

"During the time of South Carolina nullification, so great was the excitement in Congress that almost every Northern Congressman, with the exception of Mr. Webster, wore arms. In 1816, Mr. Webster's courage was tested by a challenge, of which, I believe, Mr. Benton was the bearer, from John Randolph of Roanoke, who had taken umbrage at some remarks made by the former on the sugar tax. His reply was short, but courageous and to the point declining the challenge,-denying the right of Randolph to demand an explanation, but declaring his ability and purpose to punish any one who should in any way 'presume upon the fact of his refusal' to fight a duel. Mr. Benton subsequently wrote to Mr. Webster, requesting the publication of the correspondence, but the permission was withheld.Further letters passed between them on this matter so late as the year 1850, which are still preserved among the Webster papers."

THE CALIFORNIA PIONEER.-A sad story is that of General Sutter, a man noted for his benevolence, but now reduced to poverty. The first gold found in California was discovered in the race of his mill, and soon, thousands of squatters had "prospected" upon his possessions. With a "hand open as the day to melting charity," he relieved the wants of all. We are told that the aged patriarch, guileless as a child, and totally wanting in commercial tact, unsuspectingly confided his secrets, his business, even his property, to any one who, by affectation of interest, or a hypocritical show of assistance, offered themselves to his friendship. One after another, thousands of his broad acres slipped from his grasp; he placed his affairs in the hands of an agent who deceived, deluded, and finally robbed him of some hundreds of thousands of hard dollars; his property dwindled down to merely a tithe of what it had been, and the old man's sorrows were heavy upon him.

In this condition he put a farm, his sole remaining support, into the hands of his son, who proved worse than even strangers, and robbed him of this last possession. He is now reduced to all but begging, but awaits the decision of some commissioners in respect to a land claim.

THERE are dark periods in the life of all, stern realities that must be met and combatted. And yet, for all, this world is not filled only with rough blasts, and groans, and sighs, and tears! No, no, God has still left us a reflection of Eden. This bright, beautiful world, with its warm sunshiue, green hills and soft breezes, still gladdens the heart. Who would destroy the most beautiful landscape because one dark cloud appears? There are yet some noble souls, manly hearts, who, not shunning the rough paths of life, make them smooth for tenderer feet-who deem it not a weakness to love-make earth beautiful by noble truth and tenderness!

FASHIONABLE WOMEN.-To be a woman of fashion is one of the easiest things in the world. A late writer describes it-buy everything you don't want, and pay for nothing you do; smile on all mankind but your husband; be happy everywhere but at home; hate the country, adore the city; read novels; neglect your children; nurse lap dogs, and go to church every time you get a new shawl.

YOUNG AMERICA.-(Two boys, one ten, the other twelve, standing near a corner grocery.) John-" Say, Jim, do you twig my cigar?" Jim-"Ugh, that's only a penny grab." John-"I tell you it isn't. It cost a five striker, you can tell by the long ashes on the end on't-penny grabs don't have ashes on the end." -Toledo Blade.

The varnishes of life are not superfluous to our every-day happiness. Whatever some may think of Love, it is not to be sported with, nor is the affection of a woman to be attempted until one is assured that his own attachment is fixed in a lasting principle.

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EACH HAD THE OTHER.-The Boston Post is responsible for the following:

'You are too much governed by faction,' said the Brahmin Poo-Poo to old Roger, the morning after the New Hampshire election. 'And yet,' said old Roger, there is one faction that all people may be happy under-whose rule even you must aeknowledge to be pleasant.' The Brahmin stroked his beard and asked an explanation. Why, it is satis-faction,' said old Roger. The Brahmin stood the shock like a man. Can you tell me,' said he, 'the dearest kin that a Yankee regards?' Old Roger replied that the Yankee's affections were so broad it would be impossible to select any one for the distinctson. The Brahmin saw that he had him, and delayed his triumph a minute before he answered-Tis the pump-kin.' The effect was startling."

Paddy McShane was annoyed exceedingly by a strange dog. On a cold winter night, the wind cutting like a knife, after the dog had been turned out of doors no less than three times, Pat was awakened by the noise of rather an extensive fracture of glass. The dog was in the house again. Paddy waited upon him out, and both were absent some fifteen minutes, so that his old woman, becoming alarmed at such prolonged absence, rose and went to the window.

"What are yees doing out there, Paddy, acushla?" said she.

There was such a chattering of teeth that the an swer for sometime was somewhat unintelligible, at last it came:

"I am thrying to fraze the devilish baste to death.'

W

"Is there are news from Chimera?" said Mrs Partington dropping in upon us suddenly, like bombshell, on the arrival of the last steamer. told her that the news of the Emperor's death wa confirmed. "Ah! said she, with a sigh, "war is in deed dreadful when it wont allow people to mak their peace when they die. I declare it gives me nashua at my stomach when I think that men shoul forget the kindnesses and meannesses of life (sh meant amenities) to worry each other by minny fles and dog's delight. It is them awful militar engineers that does it-if they would have civil e gineers there, now, in a little time the Black Sea War would become a Pacific ocean."-Post.

A blackman once went to Portland and tended church. He went into a good pew, and next neighbor asked the man who owned it why put a nigger into his pew?

Why, sir, he's a Haytien.' 'Can't help that—he's black.'

Sir, he's a correspondent of mine.'

" Can't help that-he's black.'
'He's worth a million of dollars.'
'Introduce me.'

How few marry from election! They marry cause they wish to become "settled in life," or match is suitable and they have no other attachme others, again through selfish motive, thinki that an alliance may enhance their worldly terests and give them a position in society. The motives are not confined to one sex alone, but ac ate both.

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