ings with reference to Polynesia, and I know that they are more anxious to expel from those islands the Protestant mission. aries of Great Britain, Germany, and America, than they are to convert the heathen to the Christian faith. Alas! alas! they believe, and they act on that belief, that it would be better, spiritually speaking, for the Pagans to remain so, than to be converted to Christianity by Protestant missionaries, and to remain Protestants. influence on society, the foundling asylums, | De Lamartine. It is Protestantism they illegitimate children, the condition of un- oppose. It is Protestantism they abhor. I fortunate females; these, and a variety of have watched with attention their proceedother subjects, together with the penal code, slavery, and the slave-trade, were to engross his time, and absorb his energies. But this is the case no longer. I do not find fault with the change which has taken place, because in France it is really very difficult, if not impossible, to steer clear of party politics, and of political partizanship. But yet the fact is the same. De Lamartine has become in his turn a colleague of Berryer, a supporter of Guizot, an approver of Count Molé politics, and, finally, ("tell De Lamartine, as a poet, is the boast and it not in Gath, and publish it not in the admiration of his country; and he most streets of Askalon,") the most forward, unquestionably merits all the fame and bold, decisive opponent of that Conserva- popularity he enjoys. But his poetical attive policy which himself and his party tributes render him a fluctuating and inoften pronounced to be the only one com- different statesman. To-day, he pleads the patible with peace on the one hand, and cause of Poland with fire and energy. Towith the honor and happiness of France morrow, he proclaims at the tribune the adon the other. Is De Lamartine no longer vantages of a close alliance between France satisfied that England and France may be and Russia. To-day, he pleads for the good allies, and yet honorable and enlight- abolition of slavery, and, as the magical ened rivals? Or has he also joined the "An- words drop from his lips, he rivets the atglo-phobia" faction, which sees in Great tention and secures the suffrages of even Britain an immense obstacle to French ag an unwilling audience. To-morrow, he ingrandizement, and to French power? I dignantly rejects the right of search, and fear the latter is the case; and that he is tells the best and most honest minister now pledged to oppose all governments France has known for a century, "You are which are not constructed on the basis of unfit to govern. You are repugnant to the "ultra French politics and views. Now, glory, interests, and nationality of France!" what is meant by this expression is this:- And why? Because that minister, M. Guithat France shall refuse the right of search; zot, will not violate the treaties which that France shall claim to take precedence were deliberately signed with Great Britain in regulating, at all times, the affairs of the East; that France shall exercise authority in the affairs of Spain; that France shall extend her frontiers to the limits claimed by the republican party of the last century; that France shall be permitted to dictate to the rest of Europe on the fate of smaller states; that France shall become the most formidable military and naval power in the Again to-day he pleads with incomparwest of Europe; that France shall extend able eloquence on the subject of the affairs her conquests in the north of Africa, estab- of the East, and places before you "Turlish settlements in the continent of Amer-key," a mere corpse, a body without a ica, especially of South America, and form soul, a form without animation. He tells colonies and governments in the Pacific Ocean. And, I regret to state, that the Legitimist party in France will lend itself to these demands, not because it regards them as politically sound or wise, but in order to extend the influence of the Romish church throughout the nations of the earth. This is the policy of Abbé de Genoude, the able and eloquent proprietor and editor of the Gazette de France. This is the policy of all who are under the influence of the court of Rome, and none are more so than for putting an end to that very slavery of which he complains. He would arrive at the end without making use of the means. He would put down the slave-trade by visiting other vessels, and by seizing the lawless pirates; but he would not allow of similar searches being made on board French vessels. you that this is as it ought to be, that prophecy requires it, that the march of events will have it so, that Mahommedanism must be supplanted by Christianity, and the Crescent by the Cross; and then, in his own poetic strain, he presents before you that cross, triumphing over all prejudices, and subduing eventually all things to itself. But, to-morrow, he pleads for French influence in Turkey, for French influence at Constantinople; and talks of the advantages of the Turkish alliance and the revival of olden times; and is angry with visitor will find him a glorious host, and Sir Stratford Canning because he does not an inimitable companion. His large heart consent to be outwitted by the French am-admits within it all who are entitled to esbassador; and the corpse of yesterday has teem and admiration, and he is ever ready been suddenly transformed into a valuable, to sympathise with human suffering, and living, acting, formidable ally. to seek to provide a remedy for every wo. As a man and a friend he cannot be surpassed; as a poet he is unrivalled in France; as a statesman and politician he is most defective. Some would style him a "girouette." Louis Philippe said, some few months ago, when De Lamartine still remained faithful to the moderate Conservative party of the new dynasty, and when threatened by the chiefs of the Anglo-phobia factions with a union against his government, "] And thus it is with the best of men! suppose, then, I shall be compelled to ap- They mistake so often their own qualifi ply to M. De Lamartine to become my min- cations, and are in favor of their weaker ister; and I may reckon myself very for-points. For myself I can only admire and tunate to have so honest and able a man to love De Lamartine, and wish him years of apply to." But Louis Philippe can say happiness and a life of delight, for his hap piness is virtue, and his delight is to do good, and render others joyful. MARBLES OF XANTHUS. ACTS of public interest are often attended by circumstances of private sorrow: thus the removal of these memorials of ancient art has been marked by the loss of a young, promising, and dear relative, whose premature death is the subject of the following lines from the pen of a sweet and gifted female poet: this no longer. After the late harangue of the poet in the Chamber of Deputies, he can no longer be regarded as a Conservative, but as one of the chiefs of a systematic op position. Louis Philippe cannot confide in such a man. He might do well enough to run in the same political vehicle, neck by neck, along-side of M. Thiers, and they might together hurl the national car with themselves over some fearful precipice; but De Lamartine has demonstrated that he is no statesman, and that he is without a clear, distinct, and accomplishable political system. He either knows not, or does not feel, that politics cannot be made a Marbles of Xanthus ! vanish'd from that shore, matter of imagination and feeling, but that Rich in remembrance of heart-stirring lore, the great interest of a great nation must be Scene of heroic deeds, of arts refined, Proofs indestructible of mightier mind, treated without passion, prejudice, or poet- Would Heaven ye still, from artist's gaze conceal'd, ry. Louis Philippe has very naturally Stood in your deep retirement unreveal'd! some sentiments of affection for De La-Treasures of ancient glory though ye be, martine. Mademoiselle des Roys was the mother of the poet, and she was as good as she was charming. Her mother was governess to the royal princes, and brought up her daughter with the now King of the French, and with Madame Adelaide, his sister. The King of the French never for. gets the associates of his earlier years, and the family of De Lamartine, at least on the maternal side, is regarded by him with respect and interest. Yet De Lamartine can never now become his minister. Records of death ye only are to me! Have ye been dragg'd to grace a stranger soil? Had fall'n, all verdant, by the lightning's stroke? Whoever desires to see this extraordinary man to advantage, should make a journey to Macon with a letter of introduction. There, in the neighboring Cha-Nor his alone-others there are who fell teau de St. Point, the author of the Har-In the same reckless toil, whose doom ye tell. monies, the Meditations, and the Souvenirs, will be seen as the man who has never made a personal enemy and never lost a friend. Gentle, noble, pure, serene, generous, kind, he will welcome the stranger to his interesting and antique dwelling, and amuse, delight, and improve him." His Can kindred hearts abjure fond nature's tie, Lieut. Alfred Burton (son of the lamented Captain A. B.), Major Much (leaving an aged father), and eight privates of the Royal Marines of the crew of H.M.S. Monarch, fell victims to the malaria in this ill-fated expedition. STEPHENS'S INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN | forest which happened to strike a building, YUCATAN. From the Spectator. or the local knowledge elicited from some particular Indian, after the man had seen, with wonder, the interest the foreigners It may be remembered, that on the re- attached to what the natives term "old turn of Mr. Stephens from his mission to walls." In the use of the word cities, howCentral America, he passed through Yu- ever, some limitation should perhaps be catan, visiting some of the ruined cities of placed upon the modern European notions the aboriginal inhabitants, and hearing of of the term. It seems probable that the many more. Circumstances prevented him greater number of these buildings were de from then pursuing his researches, or voted to religious purposes, the mass of bringing away any considerable relics; but the people remaining in a state of abject he left Yucatan with the full intention of slavery or degradation of caste. The mere returning to make a more thorough ex- power of erecting them would augur conploration, and to form an American mu-siderable scientific knowledge in the superseum a purpose which he carried into intendents, a high degree of mechanical effect in about a year after his first visit; dexterity in the workmen, and a thicklyand these volumes contain a narrative of peopled country. It would, however, be his travels, and the result of his researches. going too far to conclude that the cities or Mr. Stephens was accompanied on this, sites of these buildings were inhabited by as on the former occasion, by Mr. Cather- an active and industrious population, bearwood, an artist, to survey the sites and copying a proportion, as in modern Europe, to the ruins. Dr. Cabot, a physician and or- the character of the public buildings of the nithologist, also volunteered to accompany place. They were the works of superthe present expedition; but his presence stition: it is probable that such knowledge contributes little to the story beyond an as existed was confined to the priestly occasional account of the effects produced caste, and that while these gorgeous but by his medical skill. With a few trifling barbaric piles were erected for them, the exceptions, the explorations of the party builders were in a state of abject ignorance were limited to two degrees of longitude and poverty, differing little from that in (88-90), and little more than one of lati- which they are now found. The religious tude, (20-21): further progress was check-piles erected by the same people under the ed by the scantily-inhabited and primeval arts and influence of the Romish missioncondition of the country; and Mr. Stephens, as it seems to us, was not amply provided in funds or appliances proportioned to the object, but trusted, American-like, to the chance of good-natured help. A further These researches more than confirm the difficulty was the nature of the climate, assertion, as to the number of ruins to be which induced fever and ague when exposed found within a small space, hazarded by at certain places in certain seasons. In de- Mr. Norman in his touch-and-go tour, spite of all such drawbacks, Mr. Stephens from the information of the natives, or visited upwards of forty ruins of cities, probably from Mr. Stephens himself. The nearly forty of which are within the limits descriptions also exhibit considerable diver. before mentioned. The most perfect dis-sity of style in the details, amidst a conplayed remains of extensive and elaborate siderable uniformity of building. In other buildings erected on artificial mounds, and respects, no new discoveries have been for the most part rising above each other made respecting the advancement or the in a succession of triple terraces; the character of this mysterious people; perothers exhibited ruins more analogous to haps they are rather lowered than raised. those of Babylon, the ground being thickly If they equal in mechanical execution the strewed with fragments, but no building re-builders of Palenque, and approach them in maining sufficiently perfect to enable the design for (perhaps symbolical) ornaments, spectator to determine its character from they fall far below them in imitation of the that particular ruin. Startling as these re- human figure. To us, who profess no sults are, Mr. Stephens thinks that a more minute knowledge of American antiquities, accurate survey, or, properly speaking, a the points of novelty which Mr. Stephens thorough clearing of the Tropical forest, has elicited appear to be these. The arch would discover greater wonders; for some was known to this people. The mounds of his most successful feats were the result and terraces which support the upper buildof accident a haphazard line through a lings appear at first sight to be solid masses aries, afford an analogous example of what we mean,-a splendid church and convent; a congregation of Indians in the lowest condition both material and mental. borate drawings, with the drily technical account of a mere surveyor, were not desirable: but we think a better effect would have been produced and a more distinct impression left of the ruins of Yucatan, had he entirely separated the architectural accounts from the narrative of his travels, presented each ruin successively, and ac companied the more important ones with fuller details. The story might have been shorter, but its effects would have been more telling. of heaped-up earth; but on exploring what were exploring. The discoveries, howwas traditionally said to be a cave, it was ever, might have been presented in a more discovered, and a systematic examination specific and satisfactory form. Aiming at confirmed the fact, that in many cases these a popular narrative, the author's plan of mounds contained chambers, sometimes composition is too particular for a general square, sometimes in the shape of a small view and yet not sufficiently detailed for hay-rick, and once connected by passages. an antiquarian exposition. Large and ela. They were all, however, empty, and their uses could not be ascertained. Both pillars and columns have been discovered; the latter, in their most perfect form, approaching a bald Greek Doric. At Kabah, one of the cities till now unvisited, greater variety in the arrangement of the apart ments was seen: in one city an internal staircase was found leading to the top of the building; in another, the interior rooms were built up with solid masonry, evidently as the work proceeded, the ceiling being finished last. At the ruins of Tuloom, on In such parts of the work as belong more the sea-coast, the entire wall of a city was immediately to travels, Mr. Stephens extraceable, the perpendicular cliff forming hibits his wonted spirits and animation the defence on the sea-side: and we may In the account of his contrivances at the remark that the remains on the coast and ruins, there is often a Robinson Crusoe-like the island of Cosumel often appear to be character; and in their exploration of the of a superior character to those in the in- caves and subterranean wells, from which terior-less elaborate in ornament, but in the dry season the inhabitants laborimore simple and useful-looking in design. ously draw their supplies of water, there is The only exception to this opinion is a often considerable interest. Wandering in gateway and connected ruins at Labna, the remoter parts of the country, the author which Mr. Stephens pronounces equal to saw the people-Indians, Whites, and mixany Egyptian remains; and the plate con- ed breeds in their genuine and undisfirms this opinion. It may be observed guised character; and his pictures of this that the serpent is constantly found among primitive society have a curious novelty. the ornaments; and there is a represen- But as a whole, there is something of the tation of a Death's head and cross-bones tediousness of a twice-told tale about these which would do honor to any English mere "incidents of travel." The probachurch-yard. Mr. Stephens attaches great bility of this Mr. Stephens seems to have importance to some carved wooden lintels; felt; but, instead of shortening his book, he but carving on wood is by no means rare has labored his descriptions. -the paddle of the veriest savage is often carved. A paved causeway, perfect for a short space, has been discovered; and it is said by Indian tradition to have led from one of the principal ruins to the present capital. It is the confirmed opinion of Mr. Stephens, that the cities whose ruins he has investigated were not the work of an extinct people, but of the race which Cortes found in Mexico, and which still inhabits the country. His arguments for this view The zeal, energy, and perseverance of are entitled to attention; and one of the Mr. Stephens in exploring these ruins, is most cogent is the general destruction of worthy of high praise; and, with the ex- the Indian priesthood and nobility by the ception of Uxmal, whither Waldeck had policy and religion of the Spaniards. But been before him, all that he has done is if the people were the same, they were in clear accession, and which no one else their decline: they might have the meseems likely to have attempted. Allow-chanical skill to practise arts which had ance must also be made for the difficulties descended to them, just as the Roman warMr. Stephens had to contend with, in like machines in the decline of the Empire limited means, listless laborers, indifference, and ignorance in the native whites, (except here and there a padre,) as well as the labor of clearing in a tropical country, and the effects of fever, which sometimes prostrated the travellers amid the ruins they were equal or superior to those of their ancestors; but the spirit of their ancestors was gone. To the mere argument of their antiquity Mr. Stephens opposes the effects of tropical vegetation and rains in hastening ruin; and this not altogether as a mat ter of reasoning, but of experience. On his THE EFFECT OF A YEAR'S VEGETATION IN THE On the fi.teenth at eleven o'clock, we reached cisterns; and the neighboring Indians, though nominally free, are in reality slaves of the tank. In the remoter villages, when the natural or artificial ponds are exhausted in the dry season, they have to draw a the hacienda of Uxmal. It stood in its suit of supply from subterranean wells, which, if sombre gray, with cattle-yard, large trees, and water were expended in the English mantanks, the same as when we left it; but there ner, would occupy the whole time of everywere no friends of old to welcome us: the Del- body in procuring this necessary fluid. Bemonico major domo had gone to Tobasco, and fore the civilization of the country had dethe other had been obliged to leave on account clined, this natural want was supplied by a of illness. The Mayoral remembered us, but we did not know him; and we determined to great number of ponds, with wells or impass on and take up our abode immediately in mense jars at the bottom, artificially paved the ruins. Stopping but a few minutes to give by two layers of stones, the upper coverdirections about the luggage, we mounted again, ing the joints of the lower layer, and the and in ten minutes, emerging from the woods, interstices carefully closed with cement. came out upon the open field; in which, grand Neglected, and half filled with mud, the and lofty as when we saw it before, stood the discovery of these artificial reservoirs, House of the Dwarf: but the first glance show-like most discoveries in Yucatan, was only ed us that a year had made great changes. The sides of the lofty structure, then bare and naked, were now covered with high grass, bushes, and weeds, and on the top were bushes and young trees twenty feet high. The House of the Nuns was almost smothered; and the whole field was covered with a rank growth of grass and weeds, over which we could barely look as we rode through. The foundations, terraces, and tops of the buildings, were overgrown; weeds and vines were rioting and creeping on the façades; and mounds, terraces, and ruins, were a mass of destroying verdure. A strong and vigorous nature was struggling for mastery over art, wrapping the city in its suffocating embraces, and burying it from sight. It seemed as if the grave was closing over a friend, and we had arrived barely in time to take our farewell. Amid this mass of desolation, grand and stately as when we left it, stood the Casa del Gobernador, but with all its terraces covered, and separated from us by a mass of impenetrable verdure. made by the accident of some speculative Spaniard clearing out his pond. Still Mr. Stephens thinks the country could not have watered the population it formerly contained, according to English modes of drinking; and he offers this ingenious solution. Among the wonders unfolded by the discovery of these ruined cities, what made the strongest impression on our minds was the fact that their immense population existed in a region so scantily supplied with water. Throughout the whole country there is no stream, or spring, or living fountain; and, but for the extraordinary caves and hollows in the rocks from which the inhabitants at this day drink, they must have been entirely dependent upon artificial fountains, and literally upon the rain that came down from heaven. But on this point there is one important consideration. The aborigines of this country had no horses or cattle or large domestic animals, and the supply required for the use of man only was comparative wants and habits, the same country would not support the same amount of population. And besides, the Indian now inhabiting that dry and thirsty region illustrates the effect of continual scarcity, habit, and training, in subduing the appetites. Water is to him as to the Arab of When he puts down the load from his back, his the desert, a scarce and precious commodity. body streaming with perspiration, a few sips of water dipped up in the palm of his hand from a hollow rock suffice to quench his thirst. Still, under any circumstances, the sources of supply present one of the most interesting features connected with the discovery of these ruined cities, and go to confirm belief in the vast numbers and power as well as the laborious industry of the ancient inhabitants." On the left of the field was an overgrown mil-ly small. Perhaps at this day, with different pa, along the edge of which a path led in front of this building. Following this path, we turned the corner of the terrace, and on the farthest side dismounted, and tied our horses. The grass and weeds were above our heads, and we could see nothing. The Mayoral broke a way through them, and we reached the foot of the terrace, Working our way over the stones with much toil, we reached the top of the highest terrace. Here, too, the grass and weeds were of the same rank growth. We moved directly to the wall at the East end, and entered the first open door. Here the Mayoral wished us to take up our abode; but we knew the localities better than he did, and, creeping along the front as close to e wall as possible, cutting some of the bushes and tearing apart and trampling down others, we reached the centre apartment. Here we stopped. Swarms of bats, roused by our approach, fluttered and flew through the long chamber, and passed out at the doors. The want of Yucatan is water. On the large plantations it is preserved in immense From the nature of the subject, and the necessity of plans and engravings to illustrate it with effect, we must refer to the volumes for any specific account of the discoveries of Mr. Stephens; but an extract will convey a notion of the difficul |