MISCELLANEOUS 



From ihe Connecticut Courant. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 

 Sagacity of the Land Tortoise. — Some time in 

 June, 1828, an animal known here by that name was 

 found in my gaideii, in the act of treating himself 

 to green peas, small cucumbers and melons, among 

 which he had feasted several days, but tlie trespass 

 liad been attributed to the hens and chickens. Be- 

 ing unwilling to put him to death on the first con- 

 viction, a small hole was bored through the skirt of 

 the upper shell, and a small cord of two or three 

 yards in length was attached to it, and he tethered 

 out in a convenient place a few rods distant from 

 the garden vegetables, and marked on his breast- 

 plate, " S. H. W. 1828." The next day it was dis- 

 covered that he had made his escape, havinir gnaw- 

 ed off his " tether string." A few days after this 

 lie was again detected in the same place of his for- 

 mer trespass, and to secure him from committing 

 further depredations, a small ring of iron wire was 

 linked into tlie hole of the shell, a more substantial 

 cord attached to it, and the prisoner again placed 

 upon his tether. This, however, proved insufficient 

 for his safe keeping. The new cord was soon sev- 

 ered, and tlie vagrant carrying off with him his iron 

 ring and a small part of the cord, made a second 

 escape. In June, 1820, " Monsieur Tonson come 

 again !" and was detected in his old line of busi- 

 ness. A trial for his crimes was instituted — the 

 evidence against him was too clear to admit of 

 doubt — he was found guilty — the number of pea- 

 pods, cucumbers and melons of different kinds which 

 he had champed and ruined, was ascertained as 

 nearly as might be, whereupon the court, consisting 

 principally of the females of the family, sentenced 

 him to be immediately put to death by decapitation. 

 But the poor convict had one friend in the court: 

 that friend e.xerted his influence, and finally ob- 

 tained a commutation of the punishment from death 

 to transportation, without limit of time. Pursuant 

 to this order he was conveyed to a small pond about 

 a quarter of a mile from the garden, the scene of 

 his transgressions ; but, not pleased with his ac- 

 commodations among frogs and otlier creeping 

 things, soon found his way back to his old friends 

 and their garden. He was thencariied nearly half 

 a mile in an opposite direction, and thrown into a 

 small muddy brook environed with bogs and sedi^e 

 grass. 



In June, 1833, who sliould appear but our old 

 visitor again, with his marks and iron ring I What 

 should now be done ? '] he majority of the court 

 denounced him an outlaw and utterly beyond the 

 reach of mercy. His friend and advocate, howev- 

 er, urged in behalf of the convict that the sentence 

 of transportation was t^•^■/Ao^(< Kma of time, and as- 

 sured the court that if a convenient opportunity 

 should offer, he would send him ne.xt to Botany 

 Bay — but if not, lie would pledge himself to carry 

 him to a place so distant that little fear could be 

 entertained of his returning again to his old haunts. 

 Upon these terms a respite was obtained, and his 

 sponsor caused him to be transported to Suffield, 

 and there left in a grass field a little north of the 

 meeting house. This expedient served for that 

 year; but in June, 1833, we had the pleasure of 

 another family visit from our old acquaintance. By 

 this time the resentment which had been felt to- 

 ward him had, in a great measure subsided. He 

 had become a sort of pet, and as we had a plenti- 



ful supply that year of cucumbers and other garden Onus .and End.s.—Wc are remarkably well pleas 

 vegetables, he was allowed the whole range of the ed with the rebuke which Wm. Gray of Boston 

 garden. But to fulfil my engagement as his surety, ' familiarly termed " Billy Gray " once gave He 

 and as no opportunity offered to ship him off to happened to be at market one day, when he " heard 

 Botany Bay, I wrapped him up in a piece of old ; a spruce young lawyer who had just opened an of- 

 carpet, so that he could have no means of noticing fice for the practice of his profession, inquiring for 

 objects, earned bun to Poquonoc and threw him ' some one to carry home a piece of meat for him 

 into a small stream in an alder swamp near Rain- [ which he had been purchasintr. Steppino- up to' 

 bow mills. But, " true as the needle to the pole," , the man of law, said Billy to him, « Sir I will car 

 he renewed his visit m 183.5, but manifesting a de- ■ xy your meat." " Very well," was the 'reply as it 

 sire to tarry with us longer than his company was i was handed to him, and he led the way th'rou<rh 

 agreeable, he was carried to, and left in a brook ; the streets, while he was followed to the no small 

 near the foot of Turkey HiUs^mountain. On the j amusement of those who happened to know him. 



Having arrived at the house, the attorney inquired 

 what was to pay. "A shilling, sir," replied the 

 carrier, which having received and bowed politely, 

 he thanked the lawyer, and told him " whenever he 

 wanted a similar service done, to call on Billy 

 Gray" As might have been e.xpected, the man 

 was astounded at the announcement of the fact that 

 a man worth as many millions as he was tens, had 

 condescended to do this piece of drudgery for him, 

 and so great was his mortification at the rebuke 

 he had received, that he never again sought for 

 another person to do a job which he could as well 

 do himself, if the whisperings of pride were only 

 silenced. 



20th instant, he obliged us with another call, and, 

 as I suppose, is yet in my garden 



He appears in fine health, plump and lusty, but 

 has no discernible increase of size, nor appearance 

 of advance in age since my first acquaintance with 

 him. He yet wears his iron ring — the initials and 

 date on his breast-plate, though rendered some- 

 what obscure by abrasion, are yet legible, and leave 

 no possible doubt of his identity. 



Samuei, Woodruff. 



jrindsor, Jiib/ 25<7t, 1839. 



THE END OP "GREAT MEN." 

 Happening to cast my eyes upon some miniature 

 portraits, I perceived that the four persons who oc- 

 cupied the most conspicuous places were Alexan- 

 der, Hannibal, Ctesar and Bonaparte. I had seen 

 the same unnumbered times before, but never did 

 the same sensations arise in my bosom as my mind 

 hastily glanced over their several histories. 



Alexander, after having climbed the dizzy heights 

 of ambition, and with his temples bound with chap- 

 lets dipped in the blood of countless nations, looked 

 down on a conquered world and wept that there 

 was not another world for him to conquer, — set a 

 city on fire, and died in a scene of debauch. 



Hannibal, after having to the astonishment and 

 consternation of Rome, passed the Alps — after hav- 

 ing put to flight the armies of this "mistress of the 

 world," and stripped three bushels of golden rinirs 

 from the fingers of her slaughtered knights, and 

 made her very foundation quake, was hated by 

 those who once exultingly united his name to that 

 of their god, and called him "Hanni Baal," and 

 died at last by poison administered by his own 

 hand, unlamented and unwept, in a foreign land. 



CVsnr, after having conquered eight hundred 

 cities, and dyed his gannents in the blood of one 

 million ofhis foes — after having pursued to death 

 the only rival he had on earth, was miserably as- 

 sassinated by those he considered his nearest 

 friends, and at the very place the attainment of 

 which had been the greatest object of his ambition. 

 Bonaparte, whose mandate kings and princes 

 obeyed, after having filled the earth with the terror 

 ofhis name, and after having deluged Europe with 

 tears and blood, and clothed the world in sackcloth, 

 closed his days in lonely banishment, almost liter- 

 ally exiled from the world, yet where he could 

 sometimes see his country's banner waving o'er the 

 deep, but which would not, or could not bring him 

 aid. 



Thus these four men, who from the peculiar sit- 

 uation of their portraits, seemed to stand as repre- 

 sentatives of all those whom the world calls 'great' 

 — those I'oiir who severally made the earth tremble 

 to its centre, severally died — one by intoxication, 

 the second by suicide, the third by assassination, 

 and the last in lonely exile ! 



" How are the mighty fallen !" — Maine Farmer. 



REVOLVnVG HORSE R.4KE. 



The Revolving Kake whicli has licen in general use in 

 most parts of Pennsylvania and Kew .Tersey, is found to be 

 one of ihe most useful and labor saving machines now in 

 use. One man and horse with a lioj' lo lead, will rake on 

 an average from 25 lo 30 acres per day, with ease, and do 

 the work well. They are are coming inlo very general use 

 in all parts of the country, and will, no doulit, in a few years 

 supersede the use of the common hand rake. There is a 

 great advantage in this rake over all others, as Ihe persoa 

 using it does unt have to stop the horse to unload the rake. 

 For sale hy JOSEPH BREGK & CO., 51 and 52 North 

 Market Street. 



GRAIN CRADLES. 



The Grain Cradle is an article which is coining into very 

 general use in the Psew England Slates, where they were till 

 of late hut litlle known, although they have been in very 

 general use in the southern and western Stales, for many 

 years, and wliicb is found to be decidedly the best mode ol 

 harvesting grain, as it is supposed one man will cradle five 

 acres in a dav when be cannot reap more than one. For 

 sale bv JOSEPH BRECK & CO., 51 & 52 North Market 

 Street. 



July 10. 



THE NEW ENGLAXD PARMER 



Is puDiished every Wednesday Evening, at S3 per annum 

 payable at ihe end of the year — but those who pay within 

 sixlydays from the time of subscribing are entitled to a de- 

 duction of 50 cents. 



TUTTI/E, DENNETT AND CHISHOLM, PRINTERS, 



17 SCHOOL STKEKT BOSTON 



