MIDNIGHT MEDITATIONS.
Earth lies dumb before me, and the shadows
Of midnight cast their dim forms athwart it.
Quiet is brooding o’er a silent world,
And the soft hush of slumber seals each lid.
Night is too fair for sleep: with me thought wakes
And treads in distant paths, where human step
Ne’er left an echo on the vacant air.
The gorgeous canopy of heaven is wrapped
In silvery haze: Gems of uncounted wealth
Bestud the lofty concave; and the bright
Moon seems rolling like a silvery ball
Across the trackless æther, mantling the earth
In glory;—while her mellowed light
Falls on my spirit with a holy calm, like that
Of heaven. Tell us—why are we chained to earth?
’Tis far too gross for the immortal mind,
Which yearns for higher realms, and pants in vain
For the full measure of perfection. Oh!
I have gazed upon night’s starry volume,
Till I have read long lessons of delight,
And drank the raptures of another world.
Thought, living thought, burns to embrace the whole
Of those deep mysteries eternity
Conceals from mortal understanding; and
The mind speaks out, and questions every beam
Which falls from the bright reservoir of heaven—
Interrogates each plant and breathing thing—
Retires within itself, and calls up every
Faculty—sends powerful fancy forth to
Search through untrod regions, but spends its pow’rs
Unsatisfied, till it sinks down at last
Exhausted by its own intensity.
O for a walk among those stars of light,
Where grandeur fills immensity! I long
To fling my soul upon the pinions of
Eternity, and revel in the blaze
Of glory unrevealed—to gaze upon
The light that emanates from God’s vast throne,
And hear the music of the rolling spheres
As they revolve in mystic circles round
The deep centre of unknown attraction.
Spirits of heaven are hov’ring round me,
And breathe sweet songs of rapture in my ear.
The rustle of their wings is like the sigh
Of leaves, when the soft zephyr moves among
Their quiv’ring branches. Their hallowed voices
Wake the eternity within me, and warm
Aspirations rise from my heart’s altar
To the great throne of Uncreated Power,
The wings of seraphim seem wafting me
In thought far through the bright and boundless ether.
O for the freedom of unbodied life!
To rove where thought ne’er ventured—where fancy
Halts, her swift wing wearied in its lofty flight.
I gaze upon the stars, and drink the full
Glory of the midnight heavens—and breathe
The breath of spiritual existence
Till my soul beats, like a captive bird,
Against its prison grates, and longs to soar away, and mix
With immortality.
Are not the stars
Immortal? Do they not live forever
In a joy of light? Have they not looked down
From age to age upon this distant world
And watched its evolutions? Viewed its face
Change beneath the whelming flood—its cities
Sink beneath the earthquake’s shock—its mountains
Belch destruction—its boasted empires fall—
Its armies crushed in battle—its proud kings
Fade from earth—its ancient monumental
Grandeur crumble into dust? Yet they roll on,
Creatures of life, a beaming essence,
A mysterious throng of heavenly
Pageantry. But is there not a region
Far above that envious height; above
The stars; where beings live forever, and
No darkness comes; where light exists for ages,
Unborrowed from the sun; where storms dim not
Its brightness? and where rapture never dies?
Yes, far above the sky-bound ceiling, there
Is light—eternal light—joy unsubdued,
And everlasting life!
Is there such a
Thing as sin? I feel it not. This is a
Holy hour. Nothing exists to me but
Heaven, and heaven’s pure habitants; all worldly
Thoughts are drowned in high communing. Is there
Such a thing as pain? I know it not, who
Oft have known it. Heaven’s high-wrought happiness
Is mine. This is a peaceful hour, and I
Could deem myself already entered on
Immortal ground, did not this clog of clay
Assure me I am yet of earth, and have,
Perchance, long years of pain, and wo, and sin
To witness, and the dark vale of death is
Yet unpassed by me, though ever near. Well,
If it must be so, welcome the hour that
Breaks these mortal shackles, and lets loose my
Spirit on the wings of life, to find its
Native element and long sought home, if
Heaven at last be mine. Congenial spirits
Of unknown existence! would that your forms
Could be perceived by mortal eyes, that I
Might hold sweet converse with you, and forget
That I am mortal.
Oh! there is that
Within, which tells me I was destined for
A higher sphere; that heaven was made for me;
For all—if we accept the gift, and mount
Faith’s ladder, as the word of life directs
This life is not our destiny; ’tis but
A prelude to a state eternal, a
Mere beginning of existence, when once
Begun, that ne’er shall cease to be. Life! Life!
What art thou now—what art thou doomed to be?
A shade; a substance; dream; reality;
A blessing or a curse; a moment here;
Hereafter an eternity! Dread thought,
Eternity! Eternity! My soul
Is lost in that vast subject, and I shrink
Appalled from the unmeasured time to come.
No more I ask to know its hidden space;
’Twill soon unfold to me, and I shall dwell
Forever in its changeless realm; no more
To feel emotions known on earth, or think
As now I think, or live as now I live;
’Till then, “the mysteries of fate are hid,”
And all lie buried in a world to come.
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THE LIFE, TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF FERDINAND DE SOTO, DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 1 vol., 556 pages octavo 30 superb Steel and Wood Engravings, Printed on fine paper and bound elegantly. One of these superb Steel Plates is photographed of the $10,000 painting ordered by Congress, worth the price of the book.
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Sent by mail free of postage on receipt of the money. Postmasters are allowed 30 per cent on all subscribers they send us—Address
JAMES T. LLOYD, Publisher, Philadelphia, Penn.
FALL ELECTION.
| State of New-York, | } |
| Office of the Secretary of State, | } |
| Albany, August 2, 1858. | } |
To the Sheriff of the County of New York:
SIR—NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, THAT AT THE GENERAL Election to be held in this State on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November next, the following officers are to be elected, to wit:
A Governor, in the place of John A. King;
A Lieutenant Governor, in the place of Henry R. Selden;
A Canal Commissioner, in the place of Samuel B. Ruggles, appointed in place of Samuel S. Whallon, deceased;
An Inspector of State Prisons, in the place of William A. Russell;
All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December next.
A Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for the Third Congressional District, composed of the First, Second, Third, Fifth and Eighth Wards in the city of New York;
A Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for the Fourth Congressional District, composed of the Fourth, Sixth, Tenth and Fourteenth Wards in the city of New York;
A Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for the Fifth Congressional District, composed of the Seventh and Thirteenth Wards of the city of New York, and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Wards of Brooklyn;
A Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for the Sixth Congressional District, composed of the Eleventh, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Wards in the City of New York;
A Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for the Seventh Congressional District, composed of the Ninth, Sixteenth, and Twentieth Wards in the City of New York;
And also, a Representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States for the Eighth Congressional District, composed of the Twelfth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second Wards in the City of New York.
COUNTY OFFICERS ALSO TO BE ELECTED FOR SAID COUNTY.
Seventeen Members of Assembly;
A Sheriff, in the place of James C. Willett;
A County Clerk, in the place of Richard B. Connolly;
Four Coroners, in the place of Frederick W. Perry, Edward Connery, Robert Gamble and Samuel C. Hills;
All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December next.
The attention of Inspectors of Election and County Canvassers is directed to Chapter 320 of Laws of 1858, a copy of which is printed, for instructions in regard to their duties under said law, “submitting the question of calling a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same to the people of the State.”
Chap. 320.
AN ACT to submit the question of calling a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same, to the People of the State:
Passed April 17, 1858—three-fifths being present.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The Inspectors of Election in each town, ward, and election district in this State, at the annual election to be held in November next, shall provide a proper box to receive the ballots of the citizens of this State entitled to vote for members of the Legislature at such election. On such ballot shall be written or printed, or partly written and printed, by those voters who are in favor of a Convention, the words: “Shall there be a Convention to Revise the Constitution and amend the same? Yes.” And by those voters who are opposed thereto, the words: “Shall there be a Convention to Revise the Constitution and amend the same? No.” And all citizens entitled to vote as aforesaid shall be allowed to vote by ballot as aforesaid, in the election district in which he resides, and not elsewhere.
§2. So much of the articles one, two and three, of title four, of chapter one hundred and thirty, of an act entitled “An act respecting elections other than for militia and town officer,” passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts amending the same, as regulates the manner of conducting elections and challenges oaths to be administered, and inquiries to be made, of persons offering to vote, shall be deemed applicable to the votes to be given or offered under the act; and the manner of voting and challenges, and the penalties for false swearing, prescribed by law, are hereby declared in full force and effect in voting or offering to vote under this act.
§3. The said votes given for and against a convention, in pursuance of this act, shall be canvassed by the Inspectors of the several election districts or polls of the said election in the manner prescribed by law, and as provided in article four, of title four, of chapter one hundred and thirty of the said act, passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts amending the same, as far as the same are applicable; and such canvass shall be completed by ascertaining the whole number of votes given in each election district or poll for a convention, and the whole number of votes given against such convention, in the form aforesaid; and the result being found, the inspectors shall make a statement in words, at full length, of the number of ballots received in relation to such convention, and shall also state in words, at full length, the whole number of ballots having thereon the words, “Shall there be a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same? No.” Such statements as aforesaid shall contain a caption, stating the day on which, and the number of the district, the town or ward, and the county at which the election was held, and at the end thereof a certificate that such statement is correct in all respects, which certificate shall be subscribed by all the inspectors, and a true copy of such statement shall be immediately filed by them in the office of the clerk of the town or city.
§4. The original statements, duly certified as aforesaid, shall be delivered by the inspectors, or one of them to be deputed for that purpose, to the supervisor, or, in case there be no supervisor, or he shall be disabled from attending the board of canvassers, then to one of the assessors of the town or ward, within twenty-four hours after the same shall have been subscribed by such inspectors, to be disposed of as other statements at such election, are now required by law.
§5. So much of articles first, second, third, and fourth, of title fifth, of chapter one hundred and thirty, of the act entitled, “An act respecting elections other than for militia and town officers,” and the acts amending the same, as regulates the duties of County Canvassers and their proceedings, and the duty of County Clerks, and the Secretary of State, and the Board of State Canvassers, shall be applied to the canvassing and ascertaining the will of the people of this State in relation to the proposed convention; and if it shall appear that a majority of the votes or ballots given in and returned as aforesaid are against a convention, then the said canvassers are required to certify and declare that fact by a certificate, subscribed by them, and filed with the Secretary of State; but if it shall appear by the said canvass that a majority of the ballots or votes given as aforesaid are for a convention, then they shall by like certificates, to be filed as aforesaid, declare that fact; and the said Secretary shall communicate a copy of such certificate to both branches of the Legislature, at the opening of the next session thereof. Yours, respectfully,
GIDEON J. TUCKER, Secretary of State.
Sheriff’s Office, }
New York, August 4, 1858. }
The above is published pursuant to the notice of the Secretary of State, and the requirements of the Statute in such case made and provided.