THE KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE, EDITED BY LOUIS GAYLORD CLARK. THE number for July, 1854, begins the FORTY-FOURTH VOLUME of the KNICK ERBOCKER MAgazine. In July 1853 we commenced giving sixteen pages more in each number, thus adding Two Hundred pages a Year to the work. Since the price of subscription has been reduced from FIVE to THREE DOLLARS a year, the circulation of the KNICKERBOCKER has been increased nearly four to one. In many places ten are sold where there was but one before, and through the year it has been steadily increasing. It is now offered as cheap as any of the Magazines, all things considered. Instead of making new and prodigious promises, we submit a few extracts from notices of late numbers, which we might extend to a number of pages. Those familiar with the Editor's monthly Gossip with his readers, have doubtless, with ourselves, admired the perennial source of its plesant wit and joyousness. In this number The Gossip' holds on its way like some fair rivulet glancing and dancing in the sunshine of a May morning. We used to wonder how Mr. CLARK held out, expecting he must certainly snow brown' in the coming number; but this number gives no sign of exhaustion.-National Intelligencer, Washington. 'Pleasant, genial, delightful Old KNICK. Thy name is a suggestion of all things delectable; the sight of thy modest, fresh cover, a balm to spiritual sore eyes; a glance within thee, best antidote for the blues. Thou hast given to kindly humor, to piquant delineation, and to side-splitting fun, a local habitation,' without which they might go wandering over the domain of letters, calling now and then where a friendly door opened to them but refusing to be comforted for the loss of their old dear home.-Courier, Burlington Vi. "The great care evinced in the selection of articles that adorn its pages, is a sumclent guaranty that no contribution meets the eye of the reader but those which are known to be worthy of his perusal. When storms and wild tempests are sweeping o'er our hill-side village in these chill winter hours, and all is drear and desolate without, we ask for no more agreeable companion than the KNICKERBOCKER; for while its contents impart valuable information, its sallies of genuine wit are a sovereign specific for all fits of the blues or attacks of the horrors, and time passes merrily on.'— Democrat, Doylestown, Pa. "The KNICKERBOCKER has been and will be a fact of its own; a genuine living thing, all the more desirable now that the new crop of magazines, filled with articles pirated from English authors, makes fresh home creations more conspicuous and welcome.'-New-York Christian Inquirer. 'No one ever rose from the perusal of the KNICKERBOCKER a disappointed reader. Whatever may have been his anticipations, they have always been rewarded. When he took up a new number, he felt sure of a literary treat; it was no mere showy repast he was invited to. Did he seek the grave or didactic essay, the touching story, poetic gems, or the humorous tale, he was always sure of finding the object of his search. And then, besides, there was the Gossip' of Old KNICK.,' always looked to with eagerness, never put down except with regret that there were not more pages of inimitable random sketches-the Knick-nacks of that repast.'-Courier, Natchez, Miss. A new Story by the Author of the "ATTORNEY," will commence in the December number. THE FUDGE PAPERS, by Ik Marvel, Author of the Reveries of a Bachelor, Dream Life, &c., &c., will be continued regularly. Rev. F. W. SHELTON, Author of Letters from Up the River, etc., will be a regular contributor. The best talent in the country will be enlisted, and no expense or effort spared, to make the KNICKERBOCKER more than ever deserving of the first position among our original American Mag. azines. TERMS.-Three Dollars a year, strictly in advance-there will be no deviation from this condition; Two copies for $5 00; Five copies, and upwards, $2 00 each. Booksellers and Postmasters are requested to act as Agents. Those who will undertake to procure subscribers will receive favorable terms. Specimen numbers will be sent gratis on application, post-paid. INDUCEMENTS FOR CLUBBING.-The KNICKERBOCKER and Harper's, Putnam's, Graham's or Godey's Magazines will be sent one year for FIVE dollars; the KNICKERBOCKER and Home Journal, for FOUR dollars a year. A copy of the "ATTORNEY," or "HARRY HARSON," will be sent post-paid, to every person who wil send a club of ten, and both works to those who send a club of twenty. POSTAGE-Two cents per number, prepaid at the office where the work is delivered, quarterly in advance. All Agents for this Magazine work on their own account, and the publisher is in no way responsible for them. All remittances and all business communications must be addressed, post-paid, to SAMUEL HUESTON, 348 Broadway, New-York. ART. I. II. AVAILABILITY' IN CANDIDATES FOR THE PRESIDENCY, III. WHEN COMES HAPPINESS? BY CHARLES LELAND Porter, V. THE MINER'S SABBATH. BY J. SWETT, CALIFORNIA, VI. TRANSCRIPTS FROM THE DOCKET OF A LATE SHERIFF, VIII. THE WAR IN EUROPE, 1 11 12 18 19 20 31 30 34 44 45 XII. 49 XIII THE FUDGE PAPERS. BY THE AUTHOR OF REVERIES OF A BACHELOR,' 50 57 58 59 71 IX. THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM PITT. BY A. F. PERRY, XI. SWITZERLAND: ON THE ROAD. BY ROBERT M. RICHARDSON, XIV. STANZAS: CONTENTMENT, XV. THANATENNOIA. BY J. A. CowLES, XVI. RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE MODERN DRAMA. BY J. W. WALL, LITERARY NOTICES : 1. A CHARGE IN THE DAUPHIN' CASE, 2. BARTLETT'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATION, ETC. % NUGA: A VOLUME OF POEMS BY ALBERT PIKE, 4. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WORDSWORTH: REVISED EDITION, . 1. 'AS UGLY AS SIN. 2. THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: MR. HENRY SEDLEY, AND THE BALLAD OF BUNKER HILL: EXPOSURE OF A GROSS PLAGIARISM. 3. HUGH AINSLIE, THE WESTERN SCOTTISH BARD: THE MERRY MAIDS O' ScorLAND.' 4. A CASE OF SHARP PRACTICE' IN THE LAW: A COUNTRY PETTIFOGGER. 5. DEATH OF CHRISTOPHER NORTH,' JOHN WILSON, THE JUPITER TONANS' OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 6. LETTER FROM MR. P. PEPPER PODD, Esq., INCLOSING A LETTER AND POME' PROM THE DISTINGUISHED POET, K. N. PEPPER, ESQ.: LINES TO MY LITTEL HOUS, FRUNTING ONTO THE LAIK. 7. THE MISSISSIPPI versus THE HUDSON: A PICTURE OF THE LATTER BY WASHINGTON IRVING. 8. A RETORT WITH ICE IN IT 9. TANNAHILL AND PRINGLE: A CORRECTION: AUTHORSHIP OF TIME'S CHANGES.' 10. COZZENS' WINE-PRESS.'11. 'SHINERS FOR BAIT,' AT A WESTERN CAMPMEETING. 12. LINES: THE ARTIST'S FAREWELL TO HIS STUDIO.' 13. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTION' OF THE STRAWBERRY: ITS PRESENT LUXURIOUS NESS AND ABUNDANCE. 14. THE COSMOPOLITAN ART AND LITERARY AssoCIATION.' 15. MILKMAN'S MILK' AND Cow's MILK. 16. THE APPROACHING DEPARTURE OF JULLIEN. 17. THE CHICAGO AND ROCK-ISLAND EXCURSION.' 18. PITHY LETTER FROM A CREDITOR. 19. THE LILY AND THE STAR: OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 20. MEAT SIGN: SUGGESTIVE' SAUSAGES. 21. THE STEAMER ARMENIA.' 22. OMITTED ARTICLES: CHILDREN'S GOSSIP. 23. A DUTCH SENTINEL GIVING THE COUNTERSIGN. 24. THE MORNING-GLORY," A BOYS' NEWSPAPER. 25. IRISH CORONERSHIP IN ILLINOIS.' 26. MASONIC REGISTER, AND GAZETTE OF NEWS.' 4. NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS, ⚫ 1. BENTON'S 'THIRTY YEARS VIEW OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.' 2. 'THE 72 79 81 84 85 80 92 103: ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE TEAR 1854, BY SAMUEL HUESTON, IN THE OLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, 95 & 97 Cliff Street, New-York. WHEN General Scott was selected as the whig candidate for the presidency, the impression very generally prevailed, we believe, that no other man in the party would prove so available a candidate. The failure to elect him has had the effect to create in the minds of men some distrust as to the policy of relying too much upon what many have considered as availability, and now it is said: 'Let us present our candidates to the people solely on their merits, without any reference to their particular qualifications for popularity; let us trust to the good sense and discernment of the people: they are too wise to be wrought upon again by empty cider-barrels, 'coon-skins, and such fooleries.' Without doubt, they are too wise to be influenced by any such nonsense; and they were also too wise in 1840. The cider-barrels and the 'coon-skins did nothing of themselves alone to elect Harrison president: it was only as they served as emblems of the simple tastes and habits of that goodnatured, kind-hearted, and hospitable old man. And the people cannot be misled as to what is emblematic of the character of the men they are solicited to vote for. Every one knows that it would have been impossible to have made the same commotion with cider-barrels and 'coon-skins, if the object of such commotion had been to elect Webster or Cass, instead of Harrison. The people are not apt long to run after cider-barrels and 'coon-skins when the cider and the 'coons are gone. When there is one link in the chain uniting a candidate for the presidency to the human race that is almost a non-conductor- a link over which deep and fervid sympathies cannot well pass from one to the other he has but a small chance of being elected. 'Love thyself last,' was one part of Wolsey's advice to Cromwell. These three words form the broad foundation of all popularity. It is generally thought, in this country at least, we believe, that we are a good-looking people;' and it is a fact much more easily susceptible of proof, that we are a somewhat peculiar people. By glancing hastily at some of these prominent peculiarities, we shall be much better able to form a clear idea of what sort of qualities are likely to prove available in candidates for the presidency, and in office-seekers generally. The wonderful elasticity of the Americans is one of their prominent traits that is much dwelt upon. There is a gutta-percha pliability of disposition and temper, which prevents them from being cast down and discouraged, however great may be the misfortunes and reverses to which they are subjected. They never make a great loss without considerable gain; they seldom fall a great distance without bouncing up in a corresponding proportion. Like Blucher, they never know they are beaten, but rise after every defeat, however hopeless it may seem to others, and fight on as if nothing had happened. Read the lives of our prominent men, and observe how great a variety of fortune many of them have experienced. If Patrick Henry had been able or willing to pay a little more attention to his business when he kept a small grocery, his shop might have supported him, and his name have remained unknown to fame. Gen. Greene could not reconcile his taste for books and his military ardor with his labors at the forge; so he doffed his leather apron and quaker's coat, bade adieu to his young wife, and enlisted as a private soldier. A bungling use of the lap-stone and awl made Roger Sherman a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Elihu Burritt threw down his blacksmith's hammer, and a short time after, was astonishing the great and learned of the old world by his powers as a linguist, and the extent of his learning. John Neal and John Pierpont, so distinguished as poets and prose-writers, were once together in the dry-goods business. After two failures, one was driven to the magazine and newspaper, and the other went to the pulpit. They soon achieved great eminence in their new avocations. Even two or three reverses in business were necessary to develop the peculiar but world-renowned talents of Barnum. Some distinguished preachers have run the gauntlet of occupations before they became ministers of the Gospel. They have been, perhaps, shoe-makers, peddlers, schoolteachers, horse-jockeys, and what not, before they reached the pulpit. Their varied experience has enabled them to carry to the profession of the ministry a practical knowledge of human nature, which makes their preaching, if they have talent, very effective. Coarse tastes and habits, too, a ready adaptation of disposition to circumstances, almost enables them to leave off with their old clothes. Instances of this kind in the old countries, are the exceptions; in this country they are the rule. It is a well-known fact, that of the most enlightened nations of the old world there is but little versatility of talent among the people at large. Generation after generation follows in the foot-steps of its illustrious or ignoble predecessors. Children almost invariably follow the same avocations, or are brought up to the same employments, that their fathers pursued before them. In this country, it is entirely different. Boys with or without education take to this or that employment, that, for the time being, 'pays the best,' and they generally feel, while retaining it, that they will only remain at it till something better offers. They very seldom feel settled at any thing, but are constantly looking |