to Boston. I arrived just after dark; and
then occurred the events narrated in the first chapter.

WAR.

[J. G. PERCIVAL.]

For war is now upon their shores,
And we must meet the foe,
Must go where battle's thunder roars,
And brave men slumber low;
Go, where the sleep of death comes on
The proudest hearts, who dare
To grasp the wreath by valor won,
And glory's banquet share.

A CHAPTER ON WONDERS.

'Obstupui! steteruntque comae, et vox faucibus haesit.'

There is a certain portion of mankind ever on the alert to see or hear
some wonderful thing; whose minds are attuned to a marvellous key, and
vibrate with extreme sensitiveness to the slightest touch; whose vital
fluid is the air of romance, and whose algebraic symbol is a mark of
exclamation! This sentiment, existing in some persons to a greater
degree than in others, is often fostered by education and association,
so as to become the all-engrossing passion. Children, of course, begin
to wonder as soon as their eyes are opened upon the strange scenes of
their future operations. The first thing usually done to develop their
dawning intellect, is to display before them such objects as are best
calculated to arrest their attention, and keep them in a continual state
of excitement. This course is succeeded by a supply of all sorts of
_toys_, to gratify the passion of novelty. These are followed by
wonderful stories, and books of every variety of absurd
impossibilities;--which system of development is, it would seem,
entirely based upon the presumption, that the faculty of admiration must
be expanded, in order that the young idea may best learn how to _shoot_.
It is therefore quite natural, that--the predisposition granted--a
faculty of the mind so auspiciously nurtured under the influence of
exaggeration should mature in a corresponding degree.

Thus we have in our midst a class, into whose mental economy the faculty
of _wonder_ is so thoroughly infused, that it has inoculated the entire
system, and forms an inherent, inexplicable, and almost elementary part
of it. These persons sail about in their pleasure yachts, on roving
expeditions, under a pretended '_right of search_,' armed to the teeth,
and boarding all sorts of crafts to obtain plunder for their favorite
gratification. They are most uneasy and uncomfortable companions, having
no ear for commonplace subjects of conversation, and no eye for ordinary
objects of