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Studies in Big Data 125

Douglas G. Woolford
Donna Kotsopoulos
Boba Samuels Editors

Applied
Data Science
Data Translators Across the Disciplines
Studies in Big Data

Volume 125

Series Editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
The series “Studies in Big Data” (SBD) publishes new developments and advances
in the various areas of Big Data- quickly and with a high quality. The intent is to
cover the theory, research, development, and applications of Big Data, as embedded
in the fields of engineering, computer science, physics, economics and life sciences.
The books of the series refer to the analysis and understanding of large, complex,
and/or distributed data sets generated from recent digital sources coming from
sensors or other physical instruments as well as simulations, crowd sourcing, social
networks or other internet transactions, such as emails or video click streams and
other. The series contains monographs, lecture notes and edited volumes in Big
Data spanning the areas of computational intelligence including neural networks,
evolutionary computation, soft computing, fuzzy systems, as well as artificial
intelligence, data mining, modern statistics and Operations research, as well as
self-organizing systems. Of particular value to both the contributors and the
readership are the short publication timeframe and the world-wide distribution,
which enable both wide and rapid dissemination of research output.
The books of this series are reviewed in a single blind peer review process.
Indexed by SCOPUS, EI Compendex, SCIMAGO and zbMATH.
All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science.
Douglas G. Woolford · Donna Kotsopoulos ·
Boba Samuels
Editors

Applied Data Science

Data Translators Across the Disciplines
Editors
Douglas G. Woolford Donna Kotsopoulos
Department of Statistical and Actuarial Faculty of Education
Sciences University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario London, ON, Canada
London, ON, Canada

Boba Samuels
Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical
Education
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON, Canada

ISSN 2197-6503 ISSN 2197-6511 (electronic)

Studies in Big Data
ISBN 978-3-031-29936-0 ISBN 978-3-031-29937-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29937-7

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

People with data literacy proficiency—those identified as “data translators”—are in

high demand in the workplace. In organizations of all sizes and scopes, there has been
an explosion in the need and interest to use data to guide action. This evidence-based
decision-making results in growing engagement in data science and analytics. Large
and complex data sets are more readily available and even the public is using data
to guide everyday decisions. Thus, data acumen is required across a broad range of
fields and skill levels, but how do we foster its development?
Historically, data science instruction has focused on statistical, computing, and
other technical competencies. In contrast, many users of data and data modeling
methods may not be considered “data scientists”, but are required nevertheless to
work with data to address disciplinary problems and communicate data-driven solu-
tions effectively for specific audiences. An enduring challenge is educating and
training individuals who may not have a traditional data science background to
become data translators.
This edited volume is a collection of discipline-specific examples of data-driven
solutions undertaken by both data scientists and non-data scientists across a wide
variety of fields. Contributions emphasize effective application of data modeling
methods and communication while simultaneously highlighting the process of
producing an effective disciplinary solution. The chapters illustrate a broad approach
to developing data translators across a variety of fields, such as education, health
sciences, natural sciences, politics, economics, business and management studies,
social sciences, and humanities. Our challenge presented to contributing authors
was to illustrate effective data translation in practice, while sharing pedagog-
ical approaches that might be important for supporting the development of the
non-traditional data translator.
The chapters are a collection of case studies that illustrate how data is used and
translated in various disciplinary contexts. Authors share their data science solution
lifecycle to illustrate data use within a discipline, approaches to translating and
communicating results, and pedagogical approaches to developing effective data
translators.

v
vi Preface

In Chapter “Translating Science into Actionable Policy Information—A Perspec-

tive on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Process”, Zwiers and Zhang
describe the ways in which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)
six climate change assessments have evolved over its 35-year history. The authors
show how the level of confidence in the understanding of the causes of climate change
has evolved over time using careful and consistent calibrated language, resulting in
the development of options for mitigation. The chapter effectively makes the case
for shared language as an important feature of data translation.
Chapter “Data in Observational Astronomy” authors Barmby and Wong describe
why astronomers collect data; how data are collected, processed, used and shared,
both between astronomers and between astronomers and the public; unique aspects
of astronomical data; and future challenges for telling the story of the universe with
astronomical data. The chapter provides an insightful example of data translation
across users of differing goals and expertise.
Chapter “Beyond Translation: An Overview of Best Practices for Evidence-In-
formed Decision Making for Public Health Practice” focuses on public health data
translation. Schanzer and the NSERC/Sanofi/York Industrial Research Chair Disease
Modelling Group (Arino, Asgary, Bragazzi, Heffernan, Seet, Thommes, Wu, and
Xiao) describe how data can be used to develop public health guidelines, build
consensus among healthcare officials/professionals, and by public end-users. These
guidelines are typically written by multi-disciplinary committees with attention to
the users’ perspective. Data translation, thus, is distributed right to the end-user, the
public.
Continuing with health data, Rahman in Chapter “Concern for Self-Health During
the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: How to Tell an Intersectional Story Using
Quantitative Data?” draws on intersectionality theory to illustrate how data can be
used to make visible the inequalities of Canadians’ concerns for self-health during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Rahman’s analysis of Statistics Canada COVID-19 Impacts
Survey data 2020 demonstrates the importance of considering the interconnected
nature of different characteristics of individuals when analyzing data in order to
illuminate their experiences.
Chapter “Community-Based Participatory Research and Respondent-Driven
Sampling: A Statistician’s, Community Partner’s and Students’ Perspectives
on a Successful Partnership” by authors Rotondi, Jubinville, McConkey, Wong,
Avery, Bourgeois, and Smylie describes how community-based participatory
research fully integrates statistical scientists into the research team with community
partners. The outcome is a dynamic research relationship where both researchers
and community partners are educated through and with shared data translation
through their knowledge exchange. Like Chapter “Concern for Self-Health During
the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: How to Tell an Intersectional Story Using
Quantitative Data?”, the authors provide a case for the optimal studying of hard-to-
reach populations where ownership of study processes and results ensures research
questions better reflect the community’s priorities and needs.
Online and virtual learning has grown. The use of learning technologies and
communication platforms has enabled unprecedented potential for the collection of
Preface vii

detailed data on learners’ actions in a virtual environment. Chapter “Operationalizing

Learning Processes Through Learning Analytics” shifts to the discipline of education,
where Patzak and Vytasek provide an overview of learning analytics that can be
leveraged to enhance understanding and provide feedback about learning processes.
The authors use research on procrastination to exemplify how different types of data
can be used to interpret and operationalize learning processes.
In the context of management and business, the data analytics workflow starts
with the definition of a business problem, and it ends with the creation of relevant
interactive reports and dashboards that are then analyzed. The main instructional
challenges when teaching students in this field are related to the cost of different
software, students’ low data literacy, and also their lack of technical skills. In Chapter
“Improving Data Literacy in Management Education Through Experiential Learning:
A Demonstration Using Tableau Software”, Teimourzadeh and Kakavand introduce
the concept of big data and provide a guideline on the integration of data analytics
in management and business education and provide a pedagogical framework of
developing data translation through the workflow stages.
Speaking of big data, video games produce terabytes of data, and game studios are
investing more and more in game analytics to parse that data, understand their players,
and improve their games. In Chapter “Understanding Players and Play Through
Game Analytics”, Tan, Katchabaw, and Slogar discuss video game data and game
analytics. Here, effective data translation is needed since an important step in game
analytics is to present the results to shareholders who may not be as familiar with
the technical details of data science. These authors present a methodology for game
analytics that employs clustering and visualization, discussing how to translate the
player representation results from such analyses in an interpretable manner.
Redmond, Foucambert, and Libersan, in Chapter “Language Corpora and Prin-
cipal Components Analysis”, offer a brief overview and highlight challenges specific
to the use of statistics in the field of linguistics. They provide an example of how
Principal Components Analysis, a data reduction strategy that can be useful when
dealing with data that has many variables, can be used to analyze a dataset of
authentic texts of different genres written by post-secondary students in Quebec.
The analysis was transformed into teaching modules designed to help post-secondary
students improve their writing skills and to provide post-secondary instructors with
an empirically-based framework to teach and evaluate genre-specific writing skills
in French.
Chapter “A Tutorial of Analyzing Accuracy in Conceptual Change” by Li high-
lights the importance of ensuring training future data translators to understand
whether the underlying assumptions for a given modeling method are, in fact, valid
for their analyses. Through an analysis of simulated accuracy data from a concep-
tual change context, Li contrasts the use of two methods to analyze binary (i.e.,
correct/incorrect) responses. The flaws of employing the commonly used Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA) method in this context are illustrated along with the advantages
of a logistic regression-based modeling approach that is appropriate given the under-
lying nature of the response data of interest, especially in studying the near-ceiling
performance. The chapter provides a strong illustration on the role of instructing
viii Preface

students to understand the assumptions that underly methods used when translating
data.
In Chapter “Transforming Data on the Boundaries of Science and Policy: The
Council of Canadian Academies’ Rhetorical Repertoire”, Falconer turns our atten-
tion to the intersection of science and policy to transform and repurpose data for
government policymakers, describing knowledge brokers as social actors who are
working on the boundaries of science, translating data in ways that it might shape
policy. Falconer refers to the ways that people communicate a message in an attempt
to persuade different audiences. The need for flexibility by data translators is made
evident.
The last chapter in our edited collection is Chapter “A Conceptual Framework
for Knowledge Exchange in a Wildland Fire Research and Practice Context” by
McFayden, Johnston, Woolford, George, Boychuk, Johnston, Wotton, and Johnston.
This chapter presents a general conceptual knowledge exchange framework and
illustrates its application to support the development of application-oriented research
outcomes to inform operational decisions made in wildland fire management. The
chapter provides an illuminating example of how translation skills among students
in a data analytics consulting course are fostered, using fire management as the
disciplinary foci. By providing a framework for considering how active learning
across differing levels of expertise and disciplinary orientation may be useful, it sets
the stage for our concluding discussion.
Collectively, the set of edited chapters in this volume highlights communication
and knowledge translation, using data, and across disciplines. Throughout these
chapters, interdisciplinarity emerges as a key theme. Pedagogically, training and
educating future data translators requires more integration across discipline experts
and conventional data scientists in a setting that encourages true knowledge exchange.
The interdisciplinarity of this type of training requires intentionality. Consequently,
we conclude this edited book with a chapter that connects key themes and focuses
on the pedagogical implications that can guide an integrated and interdisciplinary
approach to data translation.
This edited volume is a unique and timely contribution to this bourgeoning demand
for data translators. The authors all demonstrate extraordinary efforts to bridge disci-
plines in their science, education, and policy work. Indeed, the editors are represen-
tative of this necessary interdisciplinarity that is evident in this book. Woolford is a
statistical scientist. Kotsopoulos’ expertise is in pedagogy. Samuels’ expertise is in
writing. It was the intersecting perspectives of each of the three editors, grounded in
a problem of data translation, that became the seed for this volume.

London, Canada Douglas G. Woolford

London, Canada Donna Kotsopoulos
Toronto, Canada Boba Samuels
Acknowledgments

Woolford, Kotsopolous, and Samuels are supported in part by funding from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We express our sincere grat-
itude to the esteemed contributing authors. This edited volume undertook a rigorous
review process with each chapter receiving up to five reviews, both by the editorial
team and external reviewers. Consequently, we are also grateful to the collection
of experts who provided external reviews that guided the editors’ reviews and the
revisions that followed. Finally, we would also like to express our collective deep
appreciation to our research assistant and graduate student, Brandon A. Dickson,
who provided exemplary support to this project and our authors, demonstrating the
true value of interdisciplinarity.

ix
Contents

Translating Science into Actionable Policy

Information—A Perspective on the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Francis W. Zwiers and Xuebin Zhang
Data in Observational Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Pauline Barmby and Samantha Wong
Beyond Translation: An Overview of Best Practices
for Evidence-Informed Decision Making for Public Health Practice . . . . 27
D. L. Schanzer, J. Arino, A. Asgary, N. L. Bragazzi, J. M. Heffernan,
B. T. Seet, E. W. Thommes, J. Wu, and Y. Xiao
Concern for Self-Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
in Canada: How to Tell an Intersectional Story Using Quantitative
Data? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Laila Rahman
Community-Based Participatory Research and Respondent-Driven
Sampling: A Statistician’s, Community Partner’s and Students’
Perspectives on a Successful Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
M. A. Rotondi, D. Jubinville, S. McConkey, O. Wong, L. Avery,
C. Bourgeois, and J. Smylie
Operationalizing Learning Processes Through Learning Analytics . . . . . 69
Alexandra Patzak and Jovita Vytasek
Improving Data Literacy in Management Education Through
Experiential Learning: A Demonstration Using Tableau Software . . . . . . 83
Aria Teimourzadeh and Samaneh Kakavand
Understanding Players and Play Through Game Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Jonathan Tan, Mike Katchabaw, and Damir Slogar

xi
xii Contents

Language Corpora and Principal Components Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Leslie Redmond, Denis Foucambert, and Lucie Libersan
A Tutorial of Analyzing Accuracy in Conceptual Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Lin Li
Transforming Data on the Boundaries of Science and Policy: The
Council of Canadian Academies’ Rhetorical Repertoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Matthew A. Falconer
A Conceptual Framework for Knowledge Exchange in a Wildland
Fire Research and Practice Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Colin B. McFayden, Lynn M. Johnston, Douglas G. Woolford,
Colleen George, Den Boychuk, Daniel Johnston, B. Mike Wotton,
and Joshua M. Johnston
Pedagogical and Future Implications for the Training of
Data Translators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Boba Samuels, Donna Kotsopoulos, and Douglas G. Woolford
Translating Science into Actionable
Policy Information—A Perspective
on the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change Process

Francis W. Zwiers and Xuebin Zhang

Abstract Over its roughly 35-year history and six climate change assessments, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has evolved a set of calibrated
terms that it uses to describe certainty and uncertainty in our understanding of the
various facets of climate science. The careful and consistent use of this calibrated
language over several assessment cycles has allowed the users of its reports to follow
the progression of our understanding of climate change, its implications, and options
for its mitigation. This chapter describes the development of the IPCC calibrated
language and discusses its relation to statistical concepts of uncertainty. The chapter
illustrates the application of the IPCC’s calibrated language by describing how the
level of confidence in the understanding of the causes of the observed global warming
has evolved over time.

Keywords Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change · Climate change ·

Climate models

The in-depth assessments of the science of climate change, its impacts, and adap-
tion and mitigation options that are performed periodically by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can be viewed as an endpoint of an intense and
wide-ranging body of scientific activity. In the case of the IPCC, this includes consid-
eration of theory, evidence derived from hundreds of terabytes of observed climate
and weather data, and from tens of petabytes of climate model output. The IPCC is
charged with synthesizing policy-relevant information from thousands of published
analyses of all of this data and information (~14,000 peer-reviewed papers, in the
case of the most recent report from IPCC Working Group 1; WG1 [12]). The ulti-
mate results of this activity are concise summaries for policymakers that contain
the understanding of the science as agreed by the governments participating in the

F. W. Zwiers (B)
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
e-mail: [email protected]
X. Zhang
Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 1

D. G. Woolford et al. (eds.), Applied Data Science, Studies in Big Data 125,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29937-7_1
2 F. W. Zwiers and X. Zhang

IPCC process. The last point is important—the IPCC summaries for policymakers
are negotiated documents. This is a necessary step to ensure that the information that
is subsequently used to negotiate international climate action via the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) does not, itself, become a
point of negotiation at the periodic UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties, such as the
COP-26 meeting held in Glasgow in November 2021.
The IPCC, which was established in 1988, issued its first assessment report in
1990 [2, 3] and recently completed three new comprehensive assessment reports,
including that which deals with the physical science (WG1 [12]) as the main part of
its work for its sixth assessment cycle. In addition, it typically produces between one
and three special reports with a more topical focus during each roughly seven-year
assessment cycle. IPCC assessments, which span a broad range of disciplines and
involve thousands of experts, form the essential bridge between our understanding
of climate change and its impacts on the one hand, and on the other hand, the actions
that can be taken to limit change.
A key requisite for using science to develop policy and support international
climate negotiations is to be able to communicate climate change assessments in a
way that makes assessments comparable from one report to the next. This is required
so that policy and decision makers can understand how expert consensus on climate
change and response options has evolved over time. The IPCC has therefore devel-
oped, over successive assessment cycles, an approach to the description of certainties
and uncertainties that is applicable across the breadth of the IPCC assessment, can be
understood by scientists and users alike, and that enables the evaluation of changes
in confidence and the strength of evidence from one assessment to the next.
The IPCC fifth and sixth assessment cycles use a three-tier lexicon ([5], hereafter
M+2010) for describing certainty and uncertainty in our understanding of the various
facets of climate science. This lexicon provides a framework that accommodates the
different approaches that had previously evolved in the IPCC’s three working groups,
which deal with the physical science basis (Working Group I; WG1), climate change
impacts, adaptation and vulnerability (Working Group 2; WG2), and climate change
mitigation (Working Group 3; WG3).
Early WG1 and WG3 reports of the IPCC [2–4] did not use calibrated language
to qualify findings, although WG1’s [8] assessment that
The balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on climate [8,
p. 4]

Portends the likelihood assessments that would become a feature of later WG1
reports. This statement hinted that it was more likely than not that some part of the
change in our climate from pre-industrial conditions that had been observed by the
early 1990s was due to human-induced greenhouse gas increases. In contrast to WG1,
WG2 [13] did use some simple calibrated language to describe the confidence in its
key findings, basically linking levels of confidence (i.e., low, medium, and high) to
the quantity and consistency of the evidence supporting individual assessments.
WG2 [13] recognized that the process of assessing confidence levels was subjec-
tive, and that different individuals would likely assign confidence levels differently.
Translating Science into Actionable Policy Information—A Perspective … 3

Moss and Schneider ([7], hereafter MS2000) therefore developed a set of calibrated
terms that could be used to characterize uncertainty in a consistent way so that
subjective variation in assessments could be reduced, and to enable comparison of
assessments over time as the understanding of climate change evolved. They set
out a detailed assessment procedure, demonstrated its application in a number of
examples, and urged the use of a quantitative confidence scale, arguing that a numer-
ical scale would help avoid the fact that uncertainty words have different mean-
ings for different people. They thus suggested that the IPCC use five confidence
levels: very low (0–0.05), low (0.05–0.33), medium (0.33–0.67), high (0.67–0.95)
and very high (0.95–1.0), being careful to point out that these numerical confidence
values should not be confused with the statistical notion of confidence. They also
suggested a supplementary approach to uncertainty characterization based on the
amount of evidence (e.g., observations, model output, theory, etc.) and its level of
agreement/consensus, using four terms:
● Speculative—plausible ideas, but low evidence and low agreement
● Competing explanations—much evidence but low agreement
● Established but incomplete—high agreement, but not yet sufficient evidence
● Well-established—high agreement across much evidence
The MS2000 proposals were adopted in 2001 WG1 [9] and WG2 [14] reports,
albeit with variations between the two working groups. In contrast, the WG3 [16]
report did not use calibrated language in its assessments.
WG2 [14] made assessments as proposed by MS2000. In contrast, WG1 [9]
used a seven-level scale rather than the five-level scale proposed by MS2000 to
express judgments of confidence, and gave the scale a probabilistic interpretation as
subjectively determined probabilities that the statements to which they were attached
were true. The scale used in WG1 [9] has the following terms: virtually certain
(greater than 99% chance that a statement is true); very likely (90–99% chance);
likely (66–90% chance); medium likelihood (33–66% chance); unlikely (10–33%
chance); very unlikely (1–10% chance) and exceptionally unlikely (less than 1%
chance). As a key example of the application of this scale, WG1 [9] concluded that
In the light of new evidence and taking into account the remaining uncertainties, most of
the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in
greenhouse gas concentrations (p. 10).

The use of calibrated language became increasingly pervasive in the subsequent

IPCC reports. In its fourth assessment report, WG1 [10] modified the likelihood
scale slightly by clarifying that a likely assessment, for example, would not exclude
the possibility that the statement could very likely be true. Thus, the scale was now
given as virtually certain (>99% probability), very likely (>90%), likely (>66%),
about as likely as not (33–66%), unlikely (<33%), very unlikely (<10%), and excep-
tionally unlikely (<1%). Three other levels were also added that were used in some
cases: extremely likely (>95%), more likely than not (>50%), and extremely unlikely
(<5%). WG1 [10] strengthened the previous assessment of the causes of the observed
warming by saying that
Other documents randomly have
different content
you an etymological essay some of these days,) the animal he
bestrides. There are some singular traits about that mule Golliver, as
the boys by a singular misnomer call her. She keeps fat "while other
nags are poor;" it is because she lives in the corn-field. She can
open the stable-door by some inscrutable means, some sort of open
sessame; gates are no impediments to her, and even ten rails and a
rider cannot arrest her progress. She seems to have a vow upon her
never to leave the plantation; she will go as far as the outer gate with
her rider, but if he attempt to pass that boundary his fate is sealed.
He is canted most unceremoniously over her head and made to bite
the dust; that gate is her ultima Thule; her ne plus ultra; the utmost
bound of her ambition. She has acquaintances enough, as Old
Oliver says, and wishes not to extend the circle. Her policy is
Chinese, or perhaps like Rasselas, she once escaped from her
happy valley and was disappointed in the world—"one fatal
remembrance" perhaps casts its "bleak shade" beyond that gate.—I
know not in sooth, but heaven help me! what am I doing? If I go on
thus, with the whole stud of my neighbor, and write at large upon
every thing which torments him, I shall never have done. Suffice it
then, that I give you a hasty, panoramic sketch of what he has to
encounter in his rides over his farm. See him mounted on his little
switch tailed grey, which has the high sounding title of White Surrey,
and whose tail is nearly cut off at the root by the crupper—the mane
in most admired disorder, and fetlocks long and bushy. Now what
does he behold? Barren fields—broken fences—gates unhinged—
starving cattle—ragged sheep—and jades so galled that they make
him wince—hogs that eat their own pigs and devastate his crops—
mares that sometimes cripple their own colts—cows on the contrary
which have so much of the milk of vaccine kindness, that they suffer
their offspring to suck after being broken to the cart—bulls even, that
suck—rams, so pugnacious, that they butt his mules down, as the
aforesaid Gulliver can attest, for often have I seen her knocked down
as fast as she could rise—upon my life it's true, Mr. Editor, and you
need not add with Major Longbow, what will you lay it's a lie? It was
amusing to see the ram, with head erect and fixed eye, moving
round in a small circle and watching his opportunity to plant his
blows, with all the pugilistic dexterity of Crib or Molyneux. I once
knew my unfortunate neighbor to have a fine blooded colt, foaled in
the pasture with his mules. These vicious devils had no sooner
perceived that the colt was without those long ears which
characterize their species, than they set to work with one accord to
demolish the monstrous production, and in spite of all the efforts of
the mother, which fought with a desperation worthy of some old
Roman, beset by a host of foes, succeeded in trampling to death her
beautiful offspring. What a picture this is of some political zealots
and envenomed critics, who no sooner perceive that a man has not
asses ears, like themselves, than they commence a senseless
outcry against him and compass his destruction. I have somewhere
read of a madman, and perhaps he was right, who, when confined,
protested he was not mad; that all mankind were madder than he,
and that they were envious of his superior intellect and therefore
wished to put him out of the way. Castellanus goes to ride out with
Cecilia, Camilla, the Children of the Abbey, or some such book in his
pocket, and so engrossed is his mind with the elegance and
refinement of those personages, that he can scarcely bear to go
where his overseer is. He shuns him as much as Lovel did Captain
Mirvan, or old Mr. Delville Mr. Briggs. He turns with horror from the
pictures of desolation and mismanagement around him, and hastens
home to find consolation in the bosom of his heroines, not of his
Peggy, for he cannot yet say "Non clamosa mea mulier jam percutit
aures"1—and in truth that virtuous lady has a tongue, and with it can
ring such a peal about the above mentioned unproductive state of
things, that he had rather hear the "grating on a scrannel-reed of
wretched straw;"—or, to be less poetical, and to come back to what
he hears every day, he had rather listen to the music of his own cart-
wheels, which grate so harshly and scream so loudly that they may
be heard a mile off. The inevitable result of all I have told you, Mr.
Editor, is, that my neighbor is actually sinking three or four per cent.
upon his capital every year, and must come to beggary unless you
can arouse him from his ridiculous castle-building and novel reading.
I wish you could see the style in which he moves with his cara sposa
to church; they have come down, as we say, to an old gig, which
cannot be quite as old as Noah's ark, because no two of the kind
were ever seen in this world, and therefore could not have been
preserved at the time of the Deluge, although the brass mountings
on the muddy and rain-stiffened harness are of so antique a fashion,
that we might well suppose the ingenuity of that celebrated artificer
in brass, Tubal Cain, was employed in their construction. This crazy
vehicle is drawn by the overseer's horse, which is borrowed for the
"nonce,"—because neither Buck-e-fallus nor Smiler, nor any of the
stud are fit to go, and Gulliver, besides being a mule, has declined,
as I have already shewn, having any thing to do with our "external
relations;" and furthermore, because this is the only conceivable
mode in which my neighbor can obtain a return for that unlimited
control which the said horse exercises over the corn in his corn-
house. The contrast between the long lean figure, and rueful and
cadaverous countenance of Castellanus, and the short figure
resembling "the fat squab upon a Chinese fan," and the ruddy
countenance of Mrs. Castellanus, is very striking;

They sit, side by side, in the gig, sir, as solemn

As Marriage and Death in a newspaper column.

How they ever came together, except by the fortuitous concourse of

atoms, I cannot divine, for certainly without disrespect, I may say,
that however charming Mrs. Castellanus may be, she is not

A beauty ripe as harvest,

Whose skin is whiter than a swan all over,
Than silver, snow, or lilies—

nor has she

————————a soft lip

Would tempt you to eternity of kissing,
And flesh that melteth in the touch to blood.

But we may cease to wonder at their union, when we reflect on the

couples we see every day,—so totally dissimilar in taste and external
appearance, that we may almost believe with St. Pierre that we love
only those who form a contrast to ourselves. "Love," he says,
"results only from contrasts, and the greater they are, the more
powerful is its energy. I could easily demonstrate this by the
evidence of a thousand historical facts. It is well known, for example,
to what mad excess of passion that tall and clumsy soldier, Mark
Anthony, loved and was beloved by Cleopatra; not the person whom
our sculptors represent of a tall, portly, Sabine figure, but the
Cleopatra whom historians paint as little, lively and sprightly, carried
in disguise about the streets of Alexandria, in the night time, packed
up in a parcel of goods on the shoulders of Apollodorus, to keep an
assignation with Julius Cæsar."

NUGATOR.

1 Nay, what's incredible, alack!

I hardly hear a woman's clack.—Swift.

SONG.

This is no "dark and dreary world,"

'Tis full of life and beauty—
Yet not to him, all "primrose path"
Who's in the way of duty—
And yet, to cheer him on the road,
The way-side flower is springing,
While to the charms of Nature's day
The wild-bird's sweetly singing.
There is a bliss in Virtue's path
Above all sensual thinking—
Would he might prove it, he who hath
"Joy"—Is there "joy in drinking?"
 Believe it not—for who hath wo?
Oh, who hath saddest "sorrow?"
"Contentions," "wounds," night-revels show,
That blush to face the morrow.
"The wine is red," but "look not thou
Upon it;" false and glowing,
"'Twill sting thee like a serpent's tooth,"
While brightly it is flowing.
Eschew the joys of sense; they are
Unto my sober thinking,
But glozing o'er the black despair,
The deep, deep wo of drinking.

Look ye around where frowns "the curse"—

'Tis but disguised blessing;
The heart that trusts the living God,
Feels not its "doom" oppressing.
Thine, thine the heart, and thine the doom,
When done this earth's probation,
To realms of endless light and joy
A sure and bright translation.
Yet, e'en "the light that's now in thee,"
(Ah! 'tis no idle thinking,)
Will darken'd by "a demon" be,
If thou hast "joy in drinking."
M. M.

LINES

To Miss M——t W——s, of P. Edward.

From her own garden Nature chose,

 In all its blooming pride the Rose,
And from the feathered race the Dove:
Then Margaret, on thy cheek she threw
The blushing flower's most beauteous hue,
And formed thy temper from the bird of love!

Oh! what delight it is to trace

The modest sweetness of thy face—
Thy simple elegance and ease—
Thy smile, disclosing orient pearl—
Thy locks, profuse of many a curl—
And hear thy gentle voice, that never fails to please!

LIBERIAN LITERATURE.

We are perfectly serious in speaking of Liberian Literature. Yes—in

Liberia, a province on the coast of Africa, where, thirteen years and a
half ago, the tangled and pathless forest frowned in a silence
unbroken save by the roar of wild beasts, the fury of the tornado, the
whoop of the man-stealer, or the agonizing shrieks of his victims on
being torn from their homes to brave the horrors of the Middle
Passage and of the West Indies—in Liberia, the English language is
now spoken; the English spirit is breathed; English Literature exists;
and with it, exist those comforts, virtues, and pleasures, which the
existence of Literature necessarily implies. Plantations—farm-
houses—villages, built of brick, stone, and wood—glass windows,
carpeted floors, papered walls, and neat if not elegant furniture—
well-supplied tables—stores, filled with various merchandize—
churches, where neatly dressed throngs devoutly send up the note
of praise—bands of infantry and artillery, properly organized, armed,
and trained—schools, in which hundreds are inducted into the
pleasant pathway of knowledge—and (the most expressive sign of
all) a NEWSPAPER, filled with instructive and entertaining matter—all
these, amid an industrious and thriving population of three or four
thousand, have taken place of the savage forest and its unlovely
concomitants. What heightens—indeed what constitutes the wonder
—is, that the main operatives in this great change are not white men.
The printer and the editor of the newspaper—the merchants—most
of the teachers and all the pupils—the owners and cultivators of the
farms—the officers and soldiers in the military companies—the
throng in the churches—are all colored people, except some score of
whites, whom the climate, generally fatal to white men, spares yet
awhile, as if in gratitude for their benefactions to Africa.

What we especially had in view, however, when we began this

article, was neither rhapsody nor dissertation upon the march of
Liberia to prosperity and civilization—unparalleled as that march is,
in the annals of colonization—but a notice (a critical notice, if the
reader please) of the aforesaid newspaper; by way of instancing the
literary condition of the settlement. Cowper calls a newspaper, "a
map of busy life—its fluctuations, and its vast concerns:" and indeed
we can imagine no surer index to the moral and intellectual character
of a people, than the 'folio of four pages,' which periodically ministers
to, and constantly takes its tone from, their prevailing tastes,
tempers, and opinions.—We have before us half a dozen numbers of
the "LIBERIA HERALD;" coming down to No. 4, of the sixth volume,
dated October 31, 1835, whence we learn that it has existed for
more than five years. It is printed on a sheet as large as many of our
village papers, and larger than several which we occasionally see.

Its contents (considering where, and by whom they are selected,

composed, and printed) are in the highest degree curious and
interesting.

The shipping list for August, exhibits eleven arrivals, and six
departures—that for April, five arrivals, and three departures—for
February, 1835, six arrivals, and four departures—for October, three
arrivals, and two departures. In the August number, are four distinct
paragraphs, each mentioning a ship arrived with emigrants to the
colony.

A striking feature in the Herald, is the great quantity of original matter

which it contains—either editorial, or communicated. The number
whence the above quotation is made, has four columns of editorial
articles; and three sensible communications from correspondents—
one of them detailing the murderous attack of the natives, in June
last, upon the new settlement at Edina. Another tells of an excursion,
on which we dare say it will please our readers to accompany the
"peregrinator." If he does twaddle, he twaddles to the full as
agreeably as many correspondents of American newspapers, and
more usefully.
 "For the Liberia Herald.

"Mr. Editor: I was induced, a few days since, by special

invitation, to visit Caldwell. The occasion was one of the most
honorable: the interchange of conjugal vows; the celebration of
the nuptials of a couple, who conscious of mutual affection,
made their offering at the hymeneal altar. The ceremonies were
performed at 7 o'clock, P.M.; after which, the company (small
but agreeable) enjoyed the flow of soul and social innocent
merriment, until 9, when the happy pair returned, and the
company dispersed. I repaired to Mr. Snetter's quarters, where I
obtained lodging, comfortable in itself, but rendered much more
so, by his peculiarly agreable manners. After breakfast, on the
ensuing day, we peregrinated the settlement. Mr. Jameison's
farm particularly attracted my attention. The quantity of land he
has under cultivation, as also the advanced state of the
produce, equally excited astonishment. He has potatoes,
cassada, beans, peas, and rice, &c., growing with a luxuriance
that I never before witnessed in this country. The cultivation of
the latter article has not been much attended to, until lately; its
culture has been supposed to be attended with so much
difficulty and labor, as to deter from the attempt. The
apprehension however, was groundless, and the perseverance
of Messrs. Palm and Nixon, has given us evidence, in the most
extensive field of rice ever before cultivated in this country, that
the difficulties are such only as attend every experiment where
there is the want of resolution to undertake it. The settlement of
Caldwell is assuming the feature of a regular, farming village.
The Agency Farm under the management of Mr. Snetter, is in
forward condition.

Yours, &c. L. R. J."

But the greatest curiosity in this August number, is a critique upon

Miss Fanny Kemble's Journal. Yes, reader—think of Mrs. Butler, and
all the "terrifying exactions" of her redoubtable book, subjected, on
the very margin of Guinea, to the criticism of an African Editor, who
treats her as unceremoniously, if not as justly, as any critics on this
side of the Atlantic, or on the north side of the Mediterranean.
Imagine him in his elbow chair at Monrovia, his broad nose dilating
and his thick lips swelling with conscious dignity, while he thus
passes judgment upon one who perhaps would hardly suffer him to
clean her shoes. The errors of spelling and syntax (the unsexing of
the authoress included) are doubtless attributable to the printer: but
there are some queer expressions, which seem the editor's own, and
which are rather characteristic of African magniloquence.

"Francis Ann Butler.—To the politeness of the supercargo of the

Brig Eliza, we have been indebted for a peep at the Journal of
Miss Kemble, or as announced by the title page, Francis Ann
Butler. From the celebrity of the tourist, we had anticipated
much; but a perusal of the book treated us to a most vexatious
disappointment. On the literary merit of the work, we do not feel
ourselves competent to decide. But as it is an immunity allowed
ignorance, to admire where it cannot comprehend, we avail
ourselves of the privilege, and put in our share of admiration at
the bold and beautiful figures which adorn the pages; such as
'Miniature Hell:' 'ghastly smiles of the Devil;' 'Blue Devils,' &c.
These are certainly beauties of which we had no conceptions,
until we got hold of the work. We may be allowed to say, as we
pass, that they are not exactly in unison with that soft and tender
delicacy, of which our imagination had composed the fair sex, of
the higher order. We regret much that the work is not
accompanied by a Lexicon, adapted to the style. The want of
one has deprived us of much gratification; as doubtless the
excellences of the work is locked up in such words as 'daudle,'
'twaddle,' &c., which are to us 'daudles' indeed, or in plain
English, unexplorable regions. Such works may be of utility in
communities, where there is sufficient discrimination to separate
the little grain from the redundancy of chaff, without being
chocked [choked] by it, but we can see no earthly advantage to
us in reading them.
 "We will venture to say, however, that if the notes are by the
same hand, the authoress possesses a pretty considerable
share of what may be called sound discriminating judgment on
some particulars."

One number of the Herald contains some very sensible observations

(editorial) upon the "Relations between France and the United
States;" in which the probability of war is spoken of, and its
occurrence earnestly deprecated. The danger from it, to Liberia, is
considered: fears having been entertained by some, lest France
might involve that colony, as she once did the British settlement at
Freetown, in her quarrel with the mother country.

"The case, however," says the editor, "is not exactly parallel:
Freetown and the whole colony of Sierra Leone, ever since their
establishment, have been under the British flag, and as such,
considered a member of the British empire—and therefore, its
destruction, it might be argued, was perfectly in unison with the
established principles of war. Ours is an experiment for political
existence;—having a distinct and peculiar flag, owing allegiance
to no government, but to that which is represented by the flag
that floats over Liberia.

"We recollect having read, that at the time the great Navigator
Captain Cook, was on his voyage of discovery, war broke out
between England and France, and it was requested that Capt.
Cook, should the enemy fall in with him, be allowed an
unmolested passage. The French king replied, that he warred
not on science, nor with the principles of humanity; and that an
expedition undertaken for the benefit of all, should never meet
obstruction from the flag of France."

A paragraph in the same number, announcing the organization of a

Court of Appeals, with appellate jurisdiction in cases where the sum
in dispute exceeds $100, expresses the orthodox republican
sentiment, that "Laws are made for the benefit of the poor, as well as
the rich; and in legislating, the former should be more especially kept
in view."
And in the next column is mentioned the establishment, at Caldwell,
of a FIFTH Baptist Church in the Colony.

Another number states important and cheering facts in regard to the

progress of TEMPERANCE. Five hundred and three persons had
signed the pledge of total abstinence from the use or sale of spirits,
in the space of one month.

"So great an influence have these Societies exerted upon the

community at large, that a sight of the liquid death has become
rare.

"To Liberia's honor be it trumped, that for ten gallons sold in the
Colony four months back, there is not one now. There are a few
that advocate the cause of alcohol; but they cannot support their
opposition long. Public opinion is issuing her imperious edicts,
and every opposer will soon be awed into silence."

From the October number we extract the following item.

"Sabbath School.—On Sunday the 19th instant, a Sabbath

School was opened in the Second Baptist Chapel: 33 children
and 3 adults presented themselves, and had their names
registered as scholars. Suitable books, such as would enable us
to arrange the children in classes, are very much wanting. As it
is, each having a different book, we are obliged to hear them
singly, which makes it extremely laborious, and precludes the
possibility of more than one lesson each, during the hours of
school."

We would gladly copy a perspicuous and rational account which is

given in several chapters, of the climate and seasons of Africa, the
soil of Liberia, and the method of clearing lands; besides many other
sensible and interesting articles, which say a great deal for the
editor, correspondents, and readers, of the Herald: but we have so
far exceeded the space we had allotted for this subject, that we must
here close our remarks.
No one can read the Liberia Herald, without not only wonder, that so
much intellect should emanate from such a source, but the strongest
persuasion, that a colony, which in so brief a time has given such
striking evidences of advancement in whatever distinguishes
civilized from savage man, must succeed.

GIBBON AND FOX.

Gibbon, the historian, was at one time a zealous partizan of Charles

Fox. No man denounced Mr. Pitt with a keener sarcasm, or more
bitter malignity. But he had his price. A lucrative office won him over
to the ministry. A week before his appointment he had said in Mr.
Fox's presence, "that public indignation should not be appeased,
until the heads of at least six of the ministers were laid on the table
of the House of Commons."

This fact is found stated in the hand writing of Mr. Fox, on a blank
leaf of a copy of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, which was purchased after Mr. F's death, at a sale
of his effects. The anecdote is followed by these lines, also in Mr. F's
hand writing.

King George, in a fright,

Lest Gibbon should write
The story of Britain's disgrace,
Thought no means so sure
His pen to secure,
As to give the Historian a place.
 But the caution was vain—
'Tis the curse of his reign,
That his projects should never succeed.
Though he write not a line,
Yet a cause of decline
In the Author's example we read.

His book well describes

How corruption and bribes
Overthrew the great Empire of Rome;
And his writings declare
A degeneracy there
Which his conduct exhibits at home.

STATIUS.

In Statius' Poem on the Via Domitiana, are these lines.

Qui primo Tiberim reliquit ortu,

Primo vespere navigat Lucrinum—

making a distance of one hundred and twenty-seven miles

commonly travelled by the Romans in one day.
 LIONEL GRANBY.

CHAPTER VIII.

——The yews project their shade; the green

Spreads her soft lap; the waters whisper sleep:
Here thou mayest rest secure.
Vacuna, by Sneyd Davies..

Leaving with speed the painful spectacle of my wounded friend, I fled

into the close and matted undergrowth of the forest, and pausing for
a moment to deliberate, I resolved to return to Chalgrave, and brave
the remote risk of a criminal prosecution for an offence which juries
tolerate with mercy, and courts with connivance. I was willing to trust
to that deep-seated public opinion which enacts laws through one
principle, and controls their execution from another; and from whose
opiate breath the grim repose of the duelling law has never
awakened. I passed through many of the classic paths of the old
college, and suddenly diverging from the view of its rude and
grotesque steeple, advanced into the broad road. I had not walked
far before I perceived that I was pursued. Reasoning upon the
principle that retreat is more or less allied to meanness, I soon found
the hand of my pursuer firmly fixed on my shoulder, while he said,
with a stern voice, "Mr. Granby, you are my prisoner! I arrest you in
the name of the Commonwealth."

The powerful and iron grasp which was rivetted to my shoulder,

declared the utter folly of resistance. Through the fading twilight I
could discern the form of a roughly-built, and the countenance of a
brave man; while the odd mixture of his apparel, coarse boots and a
gaudy watch-chain, white ruffles and broad plated buttons, told the
brief history of many a struggling argument between his purse and
gentility.
"Release me," said I, "and this (showing a purse, through the net-
work of which a golden sea leaped up to the eye,) shall be your
reward."

"Mr. Granby," he replied, throwing his hand suddenly from me, as if a

serpent had stung him, "we are now equal. I will teach you that I am
as far above dishonor as you are. Put up your purse, for I solemnly
swear that you shall not leave this spot until you have satisfied me
for your gross and ungenerous insult. Take this pistol—I have
another; either make an apology or fight. I will measure the distance,
and you may give the word."

I was struck at once by the innate honor and Virginian feeling of the
man; and throwing the pistol aside, I tendered him my hand,
expressing at the same time my regret in having acted so
indiscreetly.

"Why do you arrest me?" continued I. "It was an open duel, and Mr.
Ludwell is not dead."

"Is that then the case?" he replied. "Will you pledge me your honor
that such is the truth? I was told that it was an unfair duel, and I have
put myself to great inconvenience to arrest you."

I gave the pledge required, and I was immediately released from the
grasp of the Commonwealth; her chivalric man of law professing
himself satisfied of my innocence, complimenting me on being a
gentleman, and wishing me good night with a profound and dignified
bow. I was in no humor to moralize on this singular scene; yet I could
not forbear to smile at this strangest of all paradoxes—that he who
was prepared to enforce the duelling law, should be so far elevated
above its vulgar penalty, that he could at pleasure either neutralize
its severity, or trample on its express ordinances, lending a
credulous heart to the dreamy nonsense of chivalry, and a deaf ear
to the trumpet-tongued voice of Be it enacted. Such is public opinion,
and such are laws; when in conflict, a Mezentian union—when acting
in harmony, the firmest and most durable base for the fabric of
government.
Pursuing my course, I fortunately encountered Scipio, who was
going to the college with his accustomed budget of letters, and
dismounting him, with orders to go and attend the sick couch of
Arthur, I took his horse, and rode rapidly on to Chalgrave. The night
wore sullenly and gloomily away, and ere morning, one of those fast,
yet light snow-storms, which rush on with a momentary though
softened fierceness, had thrown a spotless mantle around the trees,
the hills and plains of Virginia. I passed two or three of our negroes
on the skirts of the plantation, standing with slouched hats and
folded arms, like so many statues of ebony on a marble floor. 'Tis
then that melancholy spreads its deepest gloom over a Virginian
farm—a solitude fearful, still, and echoless—while all nature bows to
its stern influence. The cattle are gathered to the farm-pen, to
ruminate over a rasping shuck, or a marrowless corn-stalk. From a
pool in the stable yard, a dense and curling vapor overshadows a
motley group of ducks and geese, who are quarrelling and
floundering in undisputed possession of their odorous empire; while
the lengthened face of the prisoned plough-horse takes a more pallid
hue from the sympathy of melancholy, and is protruded on the scene
like that eternal spectre of death which is ever flitting athwart the
path of life. Within the house there is a confused hurrying to and fro
of menials in search of wood, carpets, and rugs, while the mistress
fairly frets herself into philosophy amid the snow, mud, and her own
contradictory orders. A glance from the window will disclose a crowd
of negroes collected around the wood-yard, waiting to carry the logs
cut by one, who with a heavy whirl of his ponderous axe, and a loud
moan, scatters his wounded chips at every stroke. He is then on the
crest of the highest wave of vanity, and will ever and anon rest his
axe to tell of the broad clearings which have opened beneath his
giant arm. I looked on this quiet and familiar scene with an aching
eye and a throbbing heart; yet I was soothed into peace by that
witching spell which spreads its empire from "Indus to the Pole." It
was home—that spot over whose fairy circle my heart, like the
gnomon, had dialled all its sunlit hours of joy and happiness; and in
the gushing memory of childhood's romance, I almost forgot that the
stain of blood was on my hands.
I did not disturb the family until they were seated at breakfast; and in
reply to my mother's inquiries concerning Arthur's health, I hesitated
not to relate to her the whole detail of the tragic meeting. Lucy
entered the room ere I had finished my sad narrative, and catching
the truth of my tale, suddenly stared at me with a full and lustreless
eye, and looking up for a moment, fell with an hysteric shriek on the
floor. My mother's stern pride subdued her swelling feelings, and
rising from her seat, with a starting tear in her eye, she led Lucy from
the room. Frederick remained cold and unmoved, throwing his fork
into his plate, and playing with his tea-spoon with an air of frigid
indifference. My uncle alone advanced to me, and seizing my hand,
exclaimed in a generous though quivering voice, "I will not forsake
you, my dear boy! You have been indiscreet and passionate, but
your honor is untainted! I knew that you could not wilfully kill Arthur.
Come with me; an express shall be sent to the college instantly. The
odds are greatly in favor of his recovery. I have in the library a table
of fifty duels, prepared by my pen, and strengthened by my
experience. Out of that number but four were killed, and ten
wounded. There is only one bad sign in the whole affair, and that is
the fact that Arthur fell too soon. I have known many a man carry two
balls in his body before he would droop. No wadding entered his
body, for my pistols do not bear it; and you may hope for the best."

My uncle's plan of sending an express to the college was approved

by the whole family, and in a short time the house re-echoed to
repeated calls for the ostler. He soon made his appearance, and in
reply to my mother's directions, he gave the usual stable diary of a
Virginian farm.

"Why, ma'am, there is not a horse on the land fit to ride. Mass
Charles sent the mare out of the county on yesterday to Col. C.'s for
a pointer puppy, and as the boy did not come back in time, he has
sent another on the black horse to look for him. The chariot horses
Mass Charles sent to the court house, with a barrel of cider royal to
Capt. R.; and Miss Lucy's pony has not got a shoe to his foot."
"Where is the overseer?" said my mother, who was too much
accustomed to scenes of this character to lose any of the calmness
of her temper.

"Oh, he went to the warrant-trying yesterday evening to dispute the

blacksmith's account; and I heard him say that he would stay at the
shop till he could have the beards of two of Mass Charles' Levier
fishing hooks altered. Now, if mistress must send, I will get one of the
blooded plough-horses, and he will make out as well as any."

This ready auxiliary of a Virginian hurry was necessarily adopted;

and in a short time the old servant, encased in a pair of ponderous
boots, enveloped in an overcoat which fitted him like a shroud, and
mounted on a plough-horse—the gaunt anatomy of poverty—
wended his way to fulfil a mission of charity and repentance.

The return of the messenger brought the agreeable tidings of

Arthur's convalescence; and when, at the expiration of a week,
Scipio delivered me a letter from Arthur, full of undiminished
friendship, the spirits of our whole household rose to unusual
elevation. They were satisfied that he was now secure from every
burst of my dangerous temper; and when I told them that I was
guiltless of his blood, I found my recompense in the blush of mingled
pride and gratitude which mantled over the cheek of Lucy. My
misfortune, in humbling my pride, had the happy effect of silencing
that "fearful felicity" of elocution (as Sir Philip Sidney terms it) which
made my uncle the zealous annalist of duels, pistols, chivalry, and
arrangements.

How naturally does the heart, when oppressed by disease, or

humbled by misfortune, turn, like the wounded deer, to the silent
refuge of solitude—invoking, under its peaceful shade, that balm of
life—woman's love—that rare medicinal, which pours its rosy health
into the wounds of manhood's fretted existence. Ambition—the quick
pulse of bloated avarice—the rotten pageantry of the world—and the
fret and faction of life, may for a while lure us from its sacred altar;
yet in our moments of despair, we turn to its holy shrine with
renewed devotion, and ever find its radiance, like the brightness of
the tropic-lights, flitting its steady blaze around the darkness of our
destiny. I was so deeply cursed by temper, and depraved by its
exercise, that the love which commonly cheats us into happiness, or
obliterates ennui, brought no relief to my lacerated spirit. Romance
no longer culled its flattering trophies from the memory of Isa
Gordon. I looked on her as one who was too proud to bow to my
despotic love, while I had gained by absence from her at college a
spirit of freedom and independence. She was my first love; and,
despite the dictates of common sense, I was almost compelled to
believe that such love was of the purest and firmest character,
merely because I had fallen into it in the ignorance and inexperience
of boyhood. What a paradox! and how fondly does stupidity cherish
it! The boy's heart is a tablet on which is shadowed the outline of an
April day—a gorgeous sunshine plays around his imagination, and
the fleeting clouds which disturb it, never dim the horizon before him.
He loves from nature—he is ever a poligamist—and mistakes the
fervor of passion for the truth of love; while his youth, which cures
every disease, soon cicatrizes the wound of despised affection. 'Tis
manhood's destiny to writhe under the slow and searching poison of
unrequited constancy. He lays all the powers of his heart, mind, and
education, at the foot of woman; and the blow which prostrates him,
shakes to its base a granite fabric. He knows the value of the
priceless feeling which he offers, and demands in return a heart
which must make him the god of its idolatry. I was egotistical and
selfish in my reasoning; yet that very reasoning, in teaching me to
forget Isa Gordon, made my heart loiter with a holy enthusiasm
around the memory of Ellen Pilton. She had written to me in a style
of affectionate and confiding attachment; and though I did not
answer her letters, she still continued to write, and wondered why I
did not receive them. No dream of my treachery ever entered her
guileless heart, and she knew not that her letters were the harvest of
my revenge. Suddenly I ceased to hear from her, and I then found
that the darkest passion of our nature loses its poisoned fang when
struck by the magic wand of love. Could I forget her purity and
gentleness of character—the impassioned tenderness with which
she had entrusted the destiny of her life—the aspirations of her
untainted youth—and all the faith and fervor of her virgin innocence