} 
A. WEBER. 
SlowlT 
Written tor Moore’* Rural Now-Yorlter. 
WHICH W&Y, YOUNG MAN l 
It was a favorite theory of Lord Bacon that 
the, mind of man ia like a sheet of blank paper, 
on which each thought ia recorded so that it can 
never be erased, but may at any time return to 
us. But whether we accept this theory entirely 
or not wo cannot deny the grqat influence which 
habitual modes of thought exert upon the char¬ 
acter. Do we not usually find that those 
thoughts which are cherished in youth grow and 
strengthen with the man ? — that his mind and 
aims Rro shaped aud directed by them ? We are 
cetta'm that in the boyish breast of our country’s 
martyr, Abraham- Lincoln, lingered ever those 
welcome guests which Love and Charity bring 
always in their train. These aided him with their 
advise and directed him with their counsels, un¬ 
til now his name i3 a synonym of goodness and 
purity. 
Like all great things, character la not formed 
j in a day. At the moment when the mind wakes 
from its lethargy and swift-winged thought 
._._▲ a. i 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
IN AND ABOUND QUEBEC,-No. I 
Ail your scenes so 
And from mom to 
sum - mer glo 
day I'm livo 
BY GULIRLMUM, 
Approaching the City. 
I^shall ever retain pleasant.recollections of a 
recent visit to Quebec — the walled city of our 
Western World. Tt was on a clear, bright morn¬ 
ing, succeeding a night’s ride down the noble St. 
Lawrence, that I stepped out upon thesteamer’s 
deck, as the son was rising, to note the scenery 
in the viclnty of the old town we were rapidly 
approaching. The river was here fully a, mile 
in width; and the country alongside-attractiyely 
diversified by woodland and white cottages, and 
rich in appearance. On either hand the, shores 
rose abruptly from the water's edge, forming 
high bluffs; and on the lefty back of the bluffs, 
a mountain range extending a longdistance pre¬ 
sented a fine back-ground, tothe landscape. 
On every side the landscape grew more beauti- 
fulas we floated down theatream. At intervals 
the blufib on the northern shore were broken 
into gently rolling upland, reaching away toJhe 
mountain range beyond Opposite, the bluffs 
continued abrupt and. high, hut covered tothe 
water’s edge, with verdure. We, were steering 
directly toward the sun, which made a track of 
glistening gold for us to-follow, and lit the scene 
with aphmdor. But a few miles above Quebec 
we passed-Dalhonsie Cove, a romantic inlet p n 
the northern shore. A valley .stretches away 
northward from the river,, between mountain 
ranges rising dimly in the distance; and on the 
right side of the cove pretty white cottages line 
a carriage road, rcacldpg,glong up theprecipj'tous 
shore. It Is a charming bit of scenery. 
Looking adown the river, as we approach the 
city, the Plains of Abraham first come into view, 
on the left; and at the foot of the high bluff 
which nature threw np to guard access to them, 
lies Wolfe’s Cove, where the noted hero whose 
name it bears made the ascent with his army, in 
the gray dawn of that day which gave to him 
immortality, aud to England Quebec. The fa¬ 
mous Citadel next greets the eye, perched on the 
very edge of the giddy bluff overhanging the 
lower town, its eaunon frowning dowu upon 
every approach to the harbor The city lies 
just around the point, aud we come in full view 
of it as the steamer rounds Cape Diamond. The 
broad St. Lawrence compresses to little more 
than half its usual width as it approaches this 
point, and gives to Quebec a noble harbor, where 
the largest ships find a secure haven. Among 
the two or three hundred sail at anchor were 
three English friguLes, and as oar vessel bore 
down amid the numerous craft we passed so near 
as to look into the ports of the largest of these, 
the “Duncan,” a fine looking DO gun ship. 
Even before lauding, one imagines himself in 
a foreign, land, an^Libont to set foot in a foreign 
city, the quaint look the town wears, with Its 
oddly built houses rising one above another; 
the narrow, Irregular streets, and the age every¬ 
where apparent, easily lead to such a belief. 
Stepping from the steamer’s plank to the wharf, 
Is like landing lu a city of the old world. The 
crowd gathered there Is not an American crowd 
—the faces are not American, the manners are * 
not, and the language is not. There are no 
hacks, but standing closely together, a little 
distance away, are novel looking vehicles of only 
two wheels propelling power, in each of which 
sits a veritable sou of Jehu, judging by his whip, 
who shouts excitedly one word of interrogation, 
“Calash?" Wo look curiously at one of 
the most earnest ones, and taking encourage¬ 
ment from our glances he makes his way toward 
us, and fires a whole broadside of unintelligible 
jargon into out ears, of which we can make out 
but one word, that comes in like an oft-repeated 
refrain — “Calash." Other earnest ones join 
him, and the jargon solo becomes a full chorus, 
the burden of which still is “ Calash.” The 
chorus has the merit of being new to us, and 
we encourage its repetition once and again. 
Finally we yield to the moving powei; of 
that one word, —mount to the seat of one of 
the queer vehicles mentioned, and are driven 
np the steep ascent to the Upper Town. A nar¬ 
row street—buildings perched on points of cliffs 
as though dropped there from above — carious 
looking people — and quaintness everywhere ;— 
They are dear to me. 
Sounds, my hap • py song. 
comes to ally ns to the raco of mortals, at that 
.moment does the task begin. Day by day, 
month by month, year by year, the work goe 3 
,on, for the task Is not for time but for eternity. 
Yet, though it is the work of a lifetime, never 
for a moment is its progress arrested. Its march 
is ever onward, until at last, the goal Is reached 
4_x* -•- j r_• • 
Birds that sweetly warble 
All the summer days; 
All things speak in musio 
Their Creator's praise. 
Meadows, fields, and mountains, 
Clothed in shining green; 
With the rippling fountains, 
Through the willowB seen. 
Let my mind be ever 
Bright as yonder sun; 
Pure aa are the breezes 
Just as night cornea on. 
the man has formed for himself a character, and 
the task is done. The coral islands are the re¬ 
sult of years, of ages of patient toll, slowly, 
yet surely, they rise until at last the labor of 
those little beings is rewarded; for the sun 
shines kindly upon them,—the blue sky, with its 
myriad stars,—looks smilingly upon them,—the 
waves lash them into fertility, vegetation springs 
up from the seeds borne thither by the winds, 
and the birds build their nests upon them. So, 
If we do our work patiently and well, angels 
will applaud us, and Gon will reward ns. 
Character is everlasting; it will go with us be¬ 
yond the grave. Should we not, on this ac¬ 
count, strive to make it what it should be? 
Since it is to be forever our companion, should 
we not wish It to be above reproach? And 
since this character U continually making pro¬ 
gress, cither la the paths of virtue or of vice, is 
not this a question which deserves at least a 
passing thought ? 
Which way are we moving ? Arc we rifing or 
sinking in the moral scale ? Never In the histo¬ 
ry of onr nation was there as great a need of 
men, of young men of pure principles, as at 
present. Iu these exciting times, wheu our no¬ 
ble old Ship of Stat^ has been tossed for so long 
a time upon the rough and turbulent sea of civil 
strife, now, as she begins to right again, she de¬ 
mands, and must have, men of sterling worth 
to man her. It Is from the yonng meu of the 
present that these must bo obtained. Shall we 
falter? —shall wc hesitate to do onr duty? — 
and thus fall to emulate the example of our fore¬ 
fathers? God forbid ! Well, then, does it become 
us to ask ourselves, Which Way ? o. p, 
Lima, N. Y., August, isco. 
water to each cubic foot of its bulk. The pota¬ 
toes and the turnips which are boiled for our 
dinner have, in their raw state, the one 75 per 
cent., the other DO per cent, of water. If a man 
weighing ten stone was squeezed flat in a hy¬ 
draulic press, seven and a half stones of water 
would run out, and only two and a half of dry 
residue remain. A mnu U, chemically speaking, 
forty-five pounds of carbon and nitrogen, diffused 
through five and a half pailsfnl of water. 
In plants we find water thus mingling no less 
wonderfully. A sunflower evaporates one and a 
quarter pints of water a day, and a cabbage about 
the same quantity. A wheat plant exhales in 
172 days about 100,000 grains of water. An acre 
of growing wheat, on this calculation, draws and 
passes ont about ton tons of water per day. The 
Bap of plants is the medium through which that 
piass of fluid Is conveyed. It forms a delicate 
pump, np which the watery particles run with 
the rapidity of a swift stream. By the action of 
the sap, r various properties may be communi¬ 
cated to the growing plant. Timber in France 
is, for instance, dyed by various colors being 
mixed with water, and poured over by the root 
of the trees. Dahlias* arc also colored by a 
similar process. 
made arrangements accordingly. For novelty’s 
sake, and the better to view the country, I 
again mounted to the seat of a good specimen 
of that putely Canadian carriage —the Calash. 
If you have tried every mode of conveyance but 
this, your experience is not complete. Riding 
lu a Calash is unlike riding in any other kind of 
carriage I ever saw. It gives a peculiar rolling, 
springy, motion that Is novel and exhUeratlng. 
The body of the vehicle being mounted on 
thorough - braces and swaog above the two 
wheels, the seat is high enough to give a good 
out-look, while the driver sits In front, on 
another and still higher perch. 
It was a delightful morning. Scarcely a cloud 
dotted the blue above, and a refreshing breeze 
tempered the sun’s rays to a degree of comfort. 
The sleek and round Canadian horse which drew 
ps seemed to fed the morning’s inspiration, and 
dashed past Market Square, with Its motely col¬ 
lection of market wagons, down Palace Street, 
and outside the city, wall, through Palace Gate, 
at a lively pace. Wc oassed through a portion 
of the Lower Town, crossed the St. Charles 
(saints are plenty in Cunada) River on the Roch¬ 
ester Bridge, (which, by the way, is a rickety 
old affair and a libel on. its uame,) and went 
bowlipg over the finely McAdainizcd road lead¬ 
ing to the Falls. Ou either hand the country 
presented a feast to the eye, — rich and thrifty, 
and reaching away from the 8t. Lawrence in 
beautiful alluvial Bottom lauds. From the first 
part of the little village of Beauport we had a 
splendid view of the city and harbor, and the 
thriving town of Point Lewis, opposite. Que¬ 
bec is divided by the Government Grounds into 
two distinct portions, and the open green stretch¬ 
ing entirely through the town, from the St. 
Charles River to the plain above, presents a sin¬ 
gular appearance as seen from the east. 
Beauport commences about three miles from 
the city, and reaches welinigh to the falls, five 
miles farther on. It is 6imply a row of little 
whitewashed stone cottages, lining each side of 
the road. The architecture of all ia the same, 
with scarcely an exception, 
ENGLISH SPARROWS TREE PROTECTORS, 
A correspondent of the K: Y. Evening Post 
says that three hundred sparrow-houses have re¬ 
cently been erected in Madison, Union, Gramer- 
cy and Stuyvesaab Parks, and the birds are 
already occupying them. It is delightful to see 
these sparrows devour the white millers, the pa¬ 
rents of thewmasuring worm*. They do it with ' 
a gusto exceeding that of any other bird known 
to us, and have apparently nearly exterminated 
them in the four parks mentioned. A friend lu 
Jersey City writes:—“In reply to yours of the 
Etfth, I beg to state that we havq any quantity of 
English sparrows all over our citv. the streets 
aud squares, wherever there are trees, are full of 
them. Last year and year before ouc trees at 
this period were almost stripped of their foliage 
by the worms; this season I have not seen the 
first worm, and our treeB never looked better, 
thanks to the birds. I counted forty-three of 
them in my door-yard lately, aud they were the 
fiellght of my children all last winter.” Bird- 
houses should be erected at once in all our parks 
and church-yards, and soon we shall have tens 
of thousands of these little strangers with us, 
which, if fed from October to May, will remain 
all the year, and will free our city from the dis¬ 
gusting measuring worm. The police at these 
parks are much interested in encouraging and 
protecting the birds. Visit Stuyvesant Park 
fountains in the cool of the day, and any lover 
of birds will be delighted to see these new com - 
ers. It ia believed there are now over one 
thousand of them above Fourteenth street, and 
they breed from three to five times it a season. 
So much for the Post’s correspondent. But we 
rather think it was S. L. M. Barlow of Madison 
Avenue, who was chiefly instrumental in first 
importing English sparrows to Now York; and 
if so, the credit should be given to him. 
DISCOVERY OF A MAMMOTH 
News of the discovery of a mammoth in the 
frozen soil of arctic Siberia has just been re¬ 
ceived from tho Imperial Academy of Sciences 
at 8t. Petersburg, to tho satisfaction of palaeon¬ 
tologists, who are hopeful that It will afford an 
opportunity for a complete and trustworthy 
description of the ancient creature. It was dis¬ 
covered in 1804, by a Stimoycd, near tho Bay of 
Tas, the eastern arm of tho Gulf of Obi, Imbed¬ 
ded in the earth, covered with hair, and the skin 
apparently entire. This state of preservation is 
due to the almost perennial frost which prevails 
on the northernmost coast of Asia, and It Is to 
be hoped that partial exposure to the air will 
not, as in a former instance, have occasioned a 
sudden decomposition. In February of the 
present year, the academy above referred to 
commissioned a well-knowQ paleontologist, one 
of their body, to visit the spot, aud notice its 
geology, together with every possible particular 
concerning the mammoth. We may therefore 
hope to have, in due time, a detailed report of 
the disc®very, as well as of the appearance of 
the animal, and should circumstances prove fa- 
yorahle, of the contents of Its stomach. The 
subject.Is more Interesting, Inasmuch as it in¬ 
volves the question of climate since the age 
when the mammoth roamed along the shores of 
what is now a frozen sea. 
A WALK ACROSS EUROPE BY A BOY. 
A feat of juevenilo courage and perseverance 
has just been accomplished by a boy of thirteen 
years. Three months ago, dissatisfied with his 
treatment by an uuole in Paris, he started from 
the capital with sixty francs in hla pocket to go 
to his mother, who is married to a second hus¬ 
band, a French workman In the employ of the 
Shah at Teheran. With the aid of a map and 
guide-book the little adventurer tramped right 
across Europe, receiving such hospitality °on 
the way that, on reaching Constantinople, he 
had still nearly half Ills francs remaining. After 
a short rest In Pera, he grossed the Bosphorus 
en route for Persia, but, a little beyond Scutari, 
was stopped by some Turkish policemen, and 
brought back until an interpreter was found. 
His story being thus learned, ho was passed 
over to Pera and placed in charge of the French 
Consul, In whose custody ho now Is, unable to 
understand why he should be interfered with, 
and angrily Impatient to pursue his journey. 
Love for his mother, ana a ke^n yparaing for 
her protection, rather tW any mere wild im¬ 
pulse of boyish adventure, seems to have been 
hts chief motives throughout. 
■one story, and 
gable windows in a roof so high and sharp as to 
render lightning rods a superfluity. 
About a mile from the commencement of this 
rambling village, and a few rods below the main 
road, there stands a building of more preten¬ 
tious style than the others. It must at 6ome 
time have been surrounded by attractive grounds, 
but now grounds and building are uncared for. 
The whitewashed stone walls have grown dingy 
and gray in the storms of more thau a centnry. 
litre, when the French held the country, in the 
days before the English laid seige to capture 
Quebec, the gallant Montcalm resided. It U 
pointed oat now as tho Montcalm House, and is 
quite an object ol interest. Indeed the entire 
eight miles that now afford so charming a drive, 
are replete with historic associations. Along 
them, in those early days, when Wolfe took 
possession of the Isle of Orleans, Montcalm 
threw np entrenchments and redoubts to defend 
the approaches to what was then the stronghold 
of New France, 
SOLID FLOATING ON MOLTEN IRON 
Tna facts and principles in regard to this 
matter are few and simple. Iron, like water, in 
changing from the liquid to the solid State, ex¬ 
pands. Solid iron floats on molten iron for the 
simple reason that u cubic foot of solid iron is 
lighter than a cubic foot of molten Iron. The 
reason why a pattern must be made larger thau 
the desired casting, is, that the iron hardens 
while it is very hot, and then in cooling it 
shrinks. Careful experiments have shown that 
ice also contracts by redaction or temperature. 
Iron and water are not the only substances 
that expand in changing from the liquid to the 
solid state; it maybe a.general law applicable 
to all substances. It has lung been known that 
water, iron and antimony have this property; 
and Dr. Rowell of this city, has observed it in 
the case of at least six other substances, namely, 
lead, zlgc, tin, resin, wax and tallow. The ex¬ 
pansion of some of these substances is much 
more than that of others; the expansion of 
zinc approaches that of Iron, while lead expands 
so very little that unless the temperature of the 
solid portion is almost as high as that of the 
melted portion, the solid will sink in tho molten 
mass. This condition may be obtained by filling 
an iron vessel with molten lead, and after the 
load has hardened, placing the vessel over a fire; 
the lead will, of course, melt first on the outside, 
and the temperature of the central lump will be 
at the same time raised nearly as high as that of 
the melted portion; lti these circumstances the 
solid,will floait just at the surface of the melted 
mass ,—Scientific American. 
THE BOBOLINKS, 
The rattling, merry, topsy-turvy little bobo¬ 
links are gone. Gunners know where, but that 
is neither here nor there to us. The crazy-pates 
have filled the June air with their intoxicating 
song, and one might think they would be tired 
enough to pack up and be oil'. From a little 
before the middle of May till a little after the 
fourth of July, they reel across their^alry path¬ 
way, over meadow and orchard, tipsy with the 
jollity of their own indescribable singing. Gay 
fellows they are while their span of a season 
lasts, spilling their muBic over the yellow but¬ 
tercups and dandelions, over the blooming 
clover, the growing thistle bads, and the sly 
little brooks oi the lowlands. Vivacious chaps, 
indeed, aB voluble In their melodious way as if 
they had been drinking champagne, and had 
got np suddenly out of the grass and broken the 
glasses, A cool and safe season to you, feathered 
friends, wherever you go. Do no discredit to 
the 60 ber suit you are about to put on, and 
come back lively and early when May once 
more spreads her carpets for your feet.— 
, B>Mon Post. 
Bora Using Tobacco,—A strong and sensi¬ 
ble writer says a good, sharp thing, and a true 
one, too, for boys who nse tobacco. It has 
utterly spoiled and utterly ruined thousands of 
hoys. It tends to softening and weakening of 
the bones, and it greatly injures the brain, the 
spinal marrow and the whole nervous /laid. A 
boy who smokes early and frequently, or in any 
way uses large quantities of tobacco, is never 
known to make a man of much energy, and 
generally lacks muse alar and physical as well 
as mental power. We would particularly warn 
boys who want to be anything In the world to 
shun tobacco as a most baneful poison. It 
injures the teeth. L It produces an unhealthy 
state of the throat and lungs, hurts the stomach 
and blasts the brain and uerves. 
Bat entrenchment and re¬ 
doubt have been long since leveled, and so trace 
of them remains. The Montmoreaei,. as it glides 
along to make its giddy leap Into the St. Law¬ 
rence, tells no tele of't'ne fierce battle, waged up¬ 
on its banks when Wolfe mad^ hia unsuccess¬ 
ful attack upon the French at that point. We 
think little oi history wjrnu charmed by the po¬ 
etic beaatics of the present. 
Nearing the falls, the beauties increase. An 
elegant residence, now tfle property of Mr. G B. 
Hall, gives an added charm to the scene,with its 
handsome lawns and long avenues of fir trees.— 
This place also has Its history. It was built by 
Gen. HaldimAnd, thelastGovernorof the Prov¬ 
ince of Quebec, and was afterward occupied by 
Prince Edward, Date of Kent, the father of 
the Queen. Between two pretty rows of fir trees 
that here line the road, we passed on to the river 
Montmoreaei, a rapid, noisy stream, crossed it 
. not far above the falls upon a etrong bridge, and 
stopped at a little hostelry or, the eastern bank. 
the town this excellent house is. not a century 
nor even a day behind the times. It is modem 
in all points —size, accommodations and fiDish. 
Its. affable proprietor—Mr. Willis Russell— a 
New Hampshire hoy bora and bred, but “ natur¬ 
alized" by a twenty years residence in Quebec— 
combines the rare faeuity of knowing how to 
keep a hotel, with the courtcousness of the ac¬ 
complished .gentleman; and to his watch-care I 
hearlly commend all visitors to the lower St. 
Lawrence. 
We tested the catering facilities of the St. 
Louis soon, after introducing ourselves to its 
hospitalities. A good breakfast was necessary 
as a prelude to the day’s sight-seeing, and tbis 
we enjoyed. Possibly some individuals, either 
more or less poetical than the average of mam 
kind, may go into raptures over grandeur and 
beauty, on an erupt}’, stomach. The writer is 
not to be counted in. that class. Give me my 
usual rations first; tho beauty and the poetry 
are capital for dessert. 
A Morale* Ride. 
Familiar with the reputation for beauty which 
the Falls of Montmarenci bear, I decided that 
nothing could be more enjoyable than a morning 
ride thither, and immediately after breakfast 
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT WATER 
“No profit grows where no pleasure’s ta’en.” 
—Shakspeare. —This is the secret underlying all 
success. Wo must love our pursuit—and then 
our heart is in it, and we shall give it our atten¬ 
tion—not divided, ax it would be If the hands 
were employed in one thing and the heart in an¬ 
other, which is often the case. It makes a man 
unhappy as well as unsuccessful. We do not 
heed this enough.—The ancients didjmore than 
we do—and they succeeded, even in those early 
days. Let us do what we like to do if it i 3 con¬ 
sonant with good morals. 
The extent to which water mingles with 
bodies apparently the most solid, is very won¬ 
derful. The glittering opal, which beauty wears 
as an ornament, is only flint and water. Of 
every 1,200 tons of earth which a landholder has 
in his estate, 400 are water. Tbe snow-capped 
summits of Snowdon and Ben Nevis have many 
millions of tons of water iu a aoiidilled form. In 
every plaster-of-paris statue which an Italian 
carries through our streets for sale, there ia one 
pound of water to every four pounds of chalk. 
The air we breathe contains five grains of 
War Relationships.— The husband of Queen 
Victoria’s eldest daughter commands a division 
of the Prussian army.’ in which near relatives 
occupy prominent position.’.. The basi-and of 
her second daughter has a command in the Aus¬ 
trian army, Prince Ibck, just married to the 
Princess Mary of Cambridge, has accepted a 
command in the Austrian army, and sets out for 
the seat of war, with his bride, before the honey¬ 
moon ia half over. 
The people of Leyden, Holland, recently made 
a raid on the cats of the town, and in one. night 
slew some six, hundred. The feline race had of 
late multiplied to such an extent in that city as 
to become a regular nuisance. As may well be 
supposed, they made night hideous with their 
crie3. 
