Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVI, July 1852, Vol. V

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Various. Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVI, July 1852, Vol. V

THE ARMORY AT SPRINGFIELD

SPRINGFIELD

THE ARMORY GROUNDS

THE BUILDINGS

THE WATER SHOPS

THE MUSKET BARREL

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORKMEN

FINISHING OPERATIONS. – BORING

TURNING

THE STRAIGHTENING

OLD MODE OF STRAIGHTENING

CINDER HOLES

THE GRINDING

DANGER

BURSTING OF GRINDSTONES

POLISHING

PROVING

THE FORGING

THE STOCKING SHOP

DIVISION OF LABOR

ASSEMBLING THE MUSKET

THE ARSENAL

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE ARMORY

CONCLUSION

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.1

PECULIAR HABITS OF DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS

OSTRICHES. HOW THEY ARE HUNTED

A DULL TOWN

MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.2

CHAPTER X. – Continued

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XII

THE LITTLE GRAY GOSSIP

THE MOURNER AND THE COMFORTER

LIFE OF BLAKE, THE GREAT ADMIRAL

THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS

A TERRIBLY STRANGE BED

WHAT THE SUNBEAM DOES

THE RECORD OF A MADNESS WHICH WAS NOT INSANITY

A TALE OF MID-AIR

STORIES ABOUT BEASTS AND BIRDS

A MISER'S LIFE AND DEATH

RESULTS OF AN ACCIDENT. – THE GUM SECRET

MY LITTLE FRENCH FRIEND

BLEAK HOUSE.4

CHAPTER XI. – Our Dear Brother

CHAPTER XII. – On the Watch

CHAPTER XIII. – Esther's Narrative

THE COUNTER-STROKE

PHILOSOPHY OF LAUGHTER

Monthly Record of Current Events

THE UNITED STATES

MEXICO

SOUTH AMERICA

GREAT BRITAIN

FRANCE

EASTERN AND SOUTHERN EUROPE

Editor's Table

Editor's Easy Chair

AN OLD GENTLEMAN'S LETTER "THE STORY OF THE BRIDE OF LANDECK."

Editor's Drawer

Literary Notices

Comicalities, Original and Selected

RULES FOR HEALTH. BY A SCOTCH PHILOSOPHER WHO HAS TRIED THEM ALL

FINANCE FOR YOUNG LADIES

THE AMERICAN CRUSADERS

POETICAL COOKERY BOOK. STEWED DUCK AND PEAS

Fashions for Summer

Отрывок из книги

The Connecticut river flows through the State of Massachusetts, from north to south, on a line about half way between the middle of the State and its western boundary. The valley through which the river flows, which perhaps the stream itself has formed, is broad and fertile, and it presents, in the summer months of the year, one widely extended scene of inexpressible verdure and beauty. The river meanders through a region of broad and luxuriant meadows which are overflowed and enriched by an annual inundation. These meadows extend sometimes for miles on either side of the stream, and are adorned here and there with rural villages, built wherever there is a little elevation of land – sufficient to render human habitations secure. The broad and beautiful valley is bounded on either hand by an elevated and undulating country, with streams, mills, farms, villages, forests, and now and then a towering mountain, to vary and embellish the landscape. In some cases a sort of spur or projection from the upland country projects into the valley, forming a mountain summit there, from which the most magnificent views are obtained of the beauty and fertility of the surrounding scene.

There are three principal towns upon the banks of the Connecticut within the Massachusetts lines: Greenfield on the north – where the river enters into Massachusetts from between New Hampshire and Vermont – Northampton at the centre, and Springfield on the south. These towns are all built at points where the upland approaches near to the river. Thus at Springfield the land rises by a gentle ascent from near the bank of the stream to a spacious and beautiful plain which overlooks the valley. The town is built upon this declivity. It is so enveloped in trees that from a distance it appears simply like a grove with cupolas and spires rising above the masses of forest foliage; but to one within it, it presents every where most enchanting pictures of rural elegance and beauty. The streets are avenues of trees. The houses are surrounded by gardens, and so enveloped in shrubbery that in many cases they reveal themselves to the passer-by only by the glimpse that he obtains of a colonnade or a piazza, through some little vista which opens for a moment and then closes again as he passes along. At one point, in ascending from the river to the plain above, the tourist stops involuntarily to admire the view which opens on either side, along a winding and beautiful street which here crosses his way. It is called Chestnut-street on the right hand, and Maple-street on the left – the two portions receiving their several names from the trees with which they are respectively adorned. The branches of the trees meet in a dense and unbroken mass of foliage over the middle of the street, and the sidewalk presents very precisely the appearance and expression of an alley in the gardens of Versailles.

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"What your interests require," said Napoleon, at this time, "is: 1. Equality of rights among the whole eighteen cantons. 2. A sincere and voluntary renunciation of all exclusive privileges on the part of patrician families. 3. A federative organization, where every canton may find itself arranged according to its language, its religion, its manners, and its interests. The central government remains to be provided for, but it is of much less consequence than the central organization. Situated on the summit of the mountains which separate France, Italy, and Germany, you participate in the disposition of all these countries. You have never maintained regular armies, nor had established, accredited agents at the courts of the different governments. Strict neutrality, a prosperous commerce, and family administration, can alone secure your interests, or be suited to your wishes. Every organization which could be established among you, hostile to the interests of France, would injure you in the most essential particulars." This was commending to them a federative organization similar to that of the United States, and cautioning them against the evil of a centralization of power. No impartial man can deny that the most profound wisdom marked the principles which Napoleon suggested to terminate the divisions with which the cantons of Switzerland had long been agitated. "These lenient conditions," says Alison, "gave universal satisfaction in Switzerland." The following extract from the noble speech which Napoleon pronounced on the formation of the constitution of the confederacy, will be read by many with surprise, by all with interest.

"The re-establishment of the ancient order of things in the democratic cantons is the best course which can be adopted, both for you and me. They are the states whose peculiar form of government render them so interesting in the eyes of all Europe. But for this pure democracy you would exhibit nothing which is not to be found elsewhere. Beware of extinguishing so remarkable a distinction. I know well that this democratic system of administration has many inconveniences. But it is established. It has existed for centuries. It springs from the circumstances, situation, and primitive habits of the people, from the genius of the place, and can not with safety be abandoned. You must never take away from a democratic society the practical exercise of its privileges. To give such exercise a direction consistent with the tranquillity of the state is the part of true political wisdom. In ancient Rome the votes were counted by classes, and they threw into the last class the whole body of indigent citizens, while the first contained only a few hundred of the most opulent. But the populace were content, and, amused with the solicitation of their votes, did not perceive the immense difference in their relative value." The moral influence which France thus obtained in Switzerland was regarded with extreme jealousy by all the rival powers. Says Alison, who, though imbued most strongly with monarchical and aristocratic predilections, is the most appreciative and impartial of the historians of Napoleon, "His conduct and language on this occasion, were distinguished by his usual penetration and ability, and a most unusual degree of lenity and forbearance. And if any thing could have reconciled the Swiss to the loss of their independence, it must have been the wisdom and equity on which his mediation was founded."

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