conviction that they can only be realized in proportion to the help which we are prepared to render to each other; therefore, only by peace, love, and ready assistance, not only between individuals, but between the nations of the earth." Honor to the head and to the heart of the man who has set himself to work to lay the foundation of a temple of Concord; not the old Pagan deity, but the most noble Christian virtue, Charity. The result, if it do not equal his hopes, (which, alas! cannot be expected of any earthly scheme,) will, we trust, be of immense immediate advantage to all nations, and that it must have incalculable effects for good in future days, we feel to be as certain as that two and two make four. The city of London will probably profit immensely by the influx of visitors in a mere money sense, and we can conceive few events more calculated to enlighten and improve John Bull's estimate of foreign nations than the visits of so many to this land of ours, "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur. Old John of Gaunt, had he lived in these days, would have joined heartily with Prince Albert in his desire to show England what other nations can do in the useful arts, and he would have felt that more good would be done to John Bull by the friendly shakes of the hand he will have to give to outlandish foreigners, whom he has been taught to despise, than John Bull has any notion of. Nothing smooths away misunderstanding and ill-grounded dislike like personal contact. Many persons, I know, are in a terrible state of alarm at the revolutionary crowd from the Continent that may be expected to inundate London, and poison the minds of our innocent tradesmen and artisans. Such persons show a marvellous want of perception of the grand characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon race; to them we say, Wait and see. The material of the Great Palace itself is now attracting much attention, with a view to the erection of dwelling-houses of a similar kind; and if the window-tax be abolished, glass will be as common as brick and De Neri will have glass to be as ancient as Job, for that writer speaking of wisdom, (chap. xxviii. ver. 17,) says, ‘Gold and glass shall not be equalled to it.' This, we are to observe, is the reading of the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, St. Jerome, Pineda, &c., for in the English version, instead of glass we read crystal. Most authors will have Aristophanes to be the first author who mentions glass: Aristotle has two problems upon glass; the first, Why we see through it: the second, Why it is not malleable. If these problems be Aristotle's, which the learned very much doubt, this would be the earliest testimony in favor of the antiquity of glass; but the first author who makes unquestionable mention of this matter is Alexander Aphrodisæus, who uses it as a simile,- As the floridness of a color is seen through glass.' Among the Latin writers Lucretius is the first that takes notice of glass,-' Nisi recta foramina tranant, qualia sunt vitri. Dr. Merret, however, adds that glass could not be unknown to the ancients, but that it must needs be as ancient as pottery itself, or the art of making bricks. How old soever glass may be, the art of making and working it appears of no great antiquity. The first place mentioned for the making thereof is Sidon, in Syria, which was famous for glass and glass-houses. The first time we hear of glass made among the Romans was in the time of Tiberius, when Pliny relates that an artist had his house demolished for making glass malleable, or, rather, flexible; though Petronius Arbiter, and some others, assure us that the emperor ordered the artist to be beheaded for his invention. According to Bede, artificers skilled in making glass were brought over into England in the year 674 by Abbot Benedict, who were employed in glazing the church and monastery of Wearmouth. Till this time the art of making glass was unknown in Britain; though glass windows did not begin to be used before the year 1180. Venice for many years excelled all Europe in the fineness of its glasses; and in the thirteenth century the Venetians were the only people that had the secret of making crystal looking glasses. The great glass-works were at Muran or Murano, a village near the city, which furnished all Europe with the finest and largest glasses. "The glass manufacture was begun in England in 1557; the finer sort was made in the place called Crutched Friars, in London; the fine flint glass, little inferior to that of Venice, was first made in Savoy House, in the Strand, London. The first glass plates, for looking-glasses and coach windows, were made in 1673, at Lambeth, by the encouragement of the Duke of Buckingham; who, in 1670, introduced the manufacture of fine glass into England, by means of Venetian artists, with amazing success, so that within a century past, the French and English have not only come up to, but even surpassed the Venetians, and we are now no longer supplied from abroad. The French made a considerable improvement in the art of Glass, by the invention of a method to cast very large plates, till then unknown, and scarce practised yet by any but themselves and the English." If the reader is curious concerning the latest improvements in the art of glassmaking, he would do well to read a book recently published by A. Pellatt, (Bogue, Fleet-street,) from which he will learn much, and be amused much. Full as London is every year of exhibitions for the delectation of visitors, this annus mirabilis will far outdo every former year. The great one will not swallow up the smaller ones. Of some of these, the most memorable, we shall probably give some account in a future number. Two or three panoramas of considerable interest we hear talked of already one of these, occupying the ground of the old Chinese Exhibition, is likely to be among the most popular, embodying the principal sites and scenes of Scripture history, from correct sketches by Mr. Bartlett. When pains-taking artists of this kind are copied by the projectors of panoramas, it is a decided advantage to the sight-seeing multitude, who thus see only what is real, instead of what is doubtful, claptrap, or decidedly bad. Another of the marvellous London sights will be Wyld's large globe, in Leicester Square. It is something to have geography and a few kindred ologies made easy for the million; and it is also something (no little, I should say, if I lived in the neighborhood) to get that mournful receptacle for rubbish-the area of Leicester Square-covered over at all. Honor to the map-seller! Vive Monsieur Wyld! echo the Frenchmen of the quartier. PAST AND FUTURE. BY ANNABEL C MEMORY. DEEM not in its hour of birth For, however dear and close Raindrops, they are very fair In the cloudy air; But, the sun upon his way,How much fairer they! Like those drops our joys are, when Memory, like the sun, will cast HOPE. HOPE--hope on! Hope is my motto still! And that single word is one Can shield from a world of ill. Dark may the morning be, Sunless, and sad, and cold; Yet beauty may we see Or ever the day be old. Like a steady star that shines Through an alley of forest trees, And over, betwixt their lines, Its light the traveller sees; So, with shining Hope before, VAGUE, injurious reports are no men's lies, but all men's carelessness. HAPPINESS-the moon for which the world is always crying. From "Sharpe's Magazine.” INCIDENTS IN THE WAR OF MEXICAN Translated from the "Revue des Deux Mondes." PART L-THE SOLDIER CURENO. THE route from Guadalajara to Tessic traverses the Sierra-Madre. There yet remain in this chain of mountains, with their barren sides rising in sharp peaks, and descending in rugged precipices, indelible marks of the War of Independence. I was impatient to visit this interesting part of Mexico, and Captain Don Ruperto, on his part, eagerly desired to return to those plains of the Sierra which reminded him of many adventurous days and nights of his youth; it was not, however, until we arrived at the plain of Santa-Isabel, two days after leaving the village of Ahuacatlan, that we at length perceived the blue summits of the Cordillèra. From that moment we hastened our steps by mutual consent, and a few hours' riding across the tall grass brought us in front of a bamboo hut, which Captain Ruperto had previously indicated as our halting-place. "Halloo! Cureño," cried the captain, reining in his horse before the hut; "halloo! are you dead or alive?" 46 of his age and strength by the ball of the hunter. "Well, my good Cureño," exclaimed the captain, "I am happy to find one of the ruins of ancient times still alive." "Our ranks are getting thinner, it is true," replied the old man; "in a few years they will seek in vain for the first soldiers of the Independence." "And Guanajuateña, is she not here?" asked Castaños. "I have been left alone for a year past. She sleeps yonder." He pointed to a tamarind-tree situated at a few steps from the hut. "May God rest her soul!" said the captain; "but you must acknowledge, my good fellow, that your services have been ill recompensed." 66 "What do I need beyond a little corner of ground to live and be buried in ?" calmly replied the old man. Was it the hope of a recompense that made us of old willing to exhaust our strength? Posterity will remember the name of Cureño, and that is sufficient." The question of Don Ruperto, and the reply of the old soldier, made me believe that I beheld one of those men whom, after having sacrificed them, a fatal destiny had consigned to oblivion. But what unknown hero did I then behold? That I knew not. We dismounted near the hut, into which we Who calls " replied a broken and feeble entered. There I listened, without undervoice from the interior of the cabin. "The Captain Castaños, con mil diablos !" returned the warrior, "who fired the cannon of which your back was the supporter." standing a syllable, to a conversation which turned exclusively on the events of the war against the Spaniards. Unfortunately I did not possess the key of the facts which the two speakers were recalling. At the end of about half an hour, as we had some distance to go in order to reach the venta we prepared to continue our journey. 'You have a capital charger there," said our host to me, approaching my horse as I was putting my foot in the stirrup. A frightful figure appeared on the threshold of the hut; it was that of an old man terribly distorted, whose spine seemed dislocated and bent. The poor creature was unable to walk, he could only crawl. His features, although contracted by old age and suffering, still retained an expression of nobleness and pride which struck me. On his forehead, marked by deep wrinkles and projecting veins, his long white hair fell in disorder. His arms were encircled with veins as thick as the branches of an ivy which has grown old while clinging to a fine oak. At the sight of this aged man, with his wrinkled face half concealed by his "It is nothing," replied the old man in his abundant hair, one might have compared feeble voice; "I am holding your horse him to a decrepit lion maimed in the flower | under you." VOL IL-17 At the sight of that distorted being, creeping, thus to speak, up to him, the animal took fright, and attempted to rear; but at that moment the arm of Cureño was extended towards him, and the horse remained immovable-panting from terror. "What is the matter?" said I. I leant forward on my saddle, and saw, with amazement, that one of the legs of the horse seemed as if riveted to the earth by a chain of iron. "Shall I loose my hold?" said the old man, laughing. "If it is your good pleasure,” replied I, to this Milo of Crotona; "for I see my horse is not the stronger of the two." which I listened attentively, seated on the rusted cannon, round which large tufts of wild wormwood interlaced their stems, and diffused their powerful odors. After a series of skirmishes, (commenced the captain,) we halted at a place called Las Animas. A sad spectacle was presented by our troops on that day. Panting from thirst and fatigue, we lay on a soil strewn with the carcasses of our horses and mules of burden. A gloomy silence overspread the camp, interrupted from time to time by the agonizing cries of the wounded, who, tortured by thirst, wildly craved a drop of water to refresh their parched mouths. A few soldiers moved like spectres amongst these bodies, of whom some were apparent Scarcely was he disengaged from this formidable restraint, when the terrified animal sprang aside, and I had the greatest difficulty in bringing him back again to the hut. "Alas!" said the old man, sighing, "since a certain blow from a cannon, which this Don Ruperto fired, I stoop more and more every day." "What were you, then, in your youth, ly dying, others were already dead. The Signor Cureño?" asked I. "Castaños will tell you," replied the old soldier, of whom we took leave as soon as the captain had promised to spend a whole day with him in the hut on his return. sentinels had scarcely strength to hold their muskets during the tumult around the camp. I, myself, was almost worn out, and to disguise my thirst, had pressed the hilt of my sabre to my lips. Not far from me, the woman to whom Albino Caute had entrusted the care of his son, and whom I had taken into my service in compliance with the dying requests of my former companion, was repeating her rosary in tears, and imploring all the saints in Paradise to send us a cloud charged with rain. The saints, unfortunately, were not in the humor to listen to us that evening, for the sun set gloriously in a sky of undisturbed serenity. As for me, I prayed God that some marauders of my troop, who had left the camp on the discovery of some concealed springs, might succeed in their expedition, and, above all, not forget their captain. God was more gracious than the saints invoked by the poor woman who was praying at my side; he heard me favorably, for soon I discovered one of our marauders returning to the camp with rapid strides. It was the man you have seen, the companion of Guanajuateña. At that time he had not changed the name of Valdivia for that of Cureño, nor was he so frightfully maimed as you have seen him; the trunk of a pine was not straighter nor more robust than his form. You, yourself, have had a proof of After two hours' riding we reached the venta, a white house surrounded by colonnades, and roofed with red tiles like all the ventas of Mexico, and having done ample justice to a repast ordered by Don Ruperto, we strolled into the grounds before the hotel. We were on the point of leaving an avenue overgrown with moss, when the captain suddenly stopped, and pointed to the ground. At our feet I perceived, half embedded in the soil, a cannon which the insurgents had dragged from the borders of the Pacific Ocean to this most remote boundary of the state of Jalisco. The soldier seated himself on the cannon, and invited me to place myself beside him. The deep blue sky was bespangled with innumerable stars; the air was mild; around the fires before the venta were seated the muleteers singing their simple tunes; the ringing of the little bells of the mules reach ed us, accompanied by the soft sounds of the guitar; the watch-dogs answered by their plaintive barking to the indistinct and distant sounds which were wafted by the evening breeze. In leading me to this retired spot, the captain said he had deemed | his herculean strength; I need not say more the time and place suitable for continuing the relation of his military adventures. I hastened to express my concurrence with this opinion, and Don Ruperto, thus encouraged, commenced a long narration, to about it. I shall content myself with telling you that his intelligence and courage equalled his physical powers. On every occasion, even the most critical, Valdivia knew how to act. Hush!" resumed he; "if you attend to me, you will not drink until night, and when you have quenched your thirst, I will tell you where there is water in abundance, and make a proposition you will like." I eagerly extended my hand to seize the bottle. Give it to me, for God's sake!" exclaimed I, "my thirst is consuming me, and can I wait till night ?" "In ten minutes it will be dark. On reflection, I will keep the water, for I do not wish the furious soldiers to attempt to kill you, in order to obtain it. In the mean time, get your horse saddled, and then join me under that 'mesquite,' where mine is all ready. We shall be obliged to mount directly. There remain here about a hundred horsemen; give them orders to wait for us yonder in the plain. We will tell the sentinels we are going in search of water, and they will let us pass without waking the general." water. should you not inform the general, and ask for a thousand men !" "Why?" returned Valdivia, "because the general is no longer master of his troops, and any order he might give at this moment would but hasten the explosion of a conspiracy for delivering the army to the Spanish. Yes, Signor Capitano, if we do not instantly take possession of the hacienda of San Eustaquio, into which I have been able to creep alone and fill this bottle, to-morrow General Rayou will not have a soldier; there is a traitor among us, and this traitor is no other than General Ponce." As Valdivia finished speaking, a great tnmult was heard at one extremity of the camp. It soon increased. Torches flared on all sides, illuminating groups of soldiers whose cries reached us. By the gleam of the torches we perceived General Rayou leaving his tent and advancing alone, bareheaded, towards the most infuriated; but his voice, generally so much respected, seemed unrecognized. "I was mistaken by a day," said Valdivia; however, the general will probably quiet the malcontents until sunrise. Let us be off, there's no time to lose; this night we must be back and able to announce to the general that the troops shall be supplied with water to-morrow." I "I must first," said he, " bring you one of the enemy's sentinels with whom I have taken care to provide myself.” The tumult continued, although it was Valdivia walked away, and in spite of less clamorous, and the voice of the general, my entreaties took with him the bottle of which we were able to hear, prevailed by I hastened to obey his injunctions, degrees over that of the mutineers. and at nightfall, our horsemen, quite pre-mounted my horse, and advised Valdivia to pared for departure, awaited us in the place do the same. appointed. I took my horse by the bridle, led away the woman and child, and rejoined Valdivia. Instead of a few drops of water, as he had promised, he presented me with a bottleful of that precious liquid. So great was my thirst, that I found considerable difficulty in preventing myself from draining the contents of the bottle; however, I left a sufficient quantity for the woman and little Albino, and when the bottle was empty-"Let us hear," said I to Valdivia, "what you have to propose." Without waiting to explain these enigmatical words, Valdivia departed, but soon I saw him returning with a black moving mass under his arm. When he approached, I discovered that this mass was a man dressed in the costume of a Spanish lancer, Valdivia set the man down on the ground, loosened his cords, made him mount behind him. My robust companion had found that the "To go," returned he, "with your hun- shortest method of reaching the well of the dred horsemen and take possession of a ha-hacienda was, to bind the sentinel placed eienda, two leagues from here, where there is water in abundance, and which is now occupied by a Spanish detachment. near the cistern, and take him with us as a necessary guide in our nocturnal excursion. How had he effected this hardy enterprise? "We will go," said I, “but if it is so, why | how had he taken from his post the Spanish |