OHIO. We learn from the Message of Governor McArthur to the Legislature, that the aggregate amount disbursed at the Treasury of this State for canals and other purposes, for the year ending 15th November, 1831, is $236,19031, leaving a balance in the Treasury of $6,075 38 1-2-that the amount of the foreign debt contracted on account of canals is $4,400,000, bearing an interest of $260,000 annually

that in addition to the amount thus borrowed, $257,128 08 had been transfered from the different school funds to the use of the canals, the interest on which last sum, payable to the citizens of Ohio, is $15,427 68, making the whole canal debt $4,657,128 8 cents, and that the entire annual interest is $275,427 68. The amount received into the Treasury from the sale of lands granted by Congress to the State of Ohio for canal purposes, during the year ending as above, was $55,090 79. The amount of tolls collected on the several canals, for the year ending on the 1st November last, was as follows

of

Making in all $100,112 05 which, after deducting the expenses collection, leaves $94,619 15, net profit to the state.

The navigation of the Erie and Ohio Canal has been opened as far south as Chillicothe, a distance of 250 miles. This, with the Miami canal, and the navigable feeders connected with the main line make an amount of finished canal, now navigable, of about 344 miles. It is believed by the Acting Commissioners that that portion of the Ohio canal between Chillicothe and Portsmouth, a distance of 50 miles, together with the Granville feeder, 6 miles, already in a very advanced state, will be completed in July next, when Ohio will have, of navigable canals,

400 miles.

Scioto Valley. It is stated in the Chillicothe Gazette, that the value of the exports from the valley of the Scioto, for the present year, will amount to not less than two millions of dollars. In the year 1804, the first cattle were sent from Chillicothe to Baltimore, as an experiment. It is believed that during the present winter there will be fed in the valley, ten thousand head of cattle, which will be driven to eastern markets, and two thousand head for home consumption. There will also be raised for the Atlantic states, thirty-five 11

VOL. II.

thousand head of stock cattle, and twenty-five thousand dollars worth of horses. Sixty thousand barrels of Pork, and twenty-five thousand head of hogs will also be sent over the Mountains. The export of cattle alone from this fertile valley, is estimated to be worth $1,537,500.

ILLINOIS.

A public meeting was held at Beardsville, in this state, on the 8th of November, the object of which will be gathered from the subjoined portion of an address which was adopted. "The plan of building a Railway from Lake Erie to Quincy, on the Mississippi, though of recent suggestion, cannot but excite our deepest interest; and it is to be hoped that all friends of Internal Improvements will contribute their exertions in promoting and expediting so important an object. The route, as contemplated, is to commence at the western extremity of Lake Erie, and passing through the northern part of Ohio, Indiana, and the central part of Illinois, terminate, for the present, at Quincy, on the Mississippi. Between the western extremity of Lake Erie and Quincy, this track would be nearly on a right line, and running on the ridge of land which separates the head waters of the Ohio river, of the lakes, and of the Illinois river, it is obvious, that the ground is unusually level and free from the obstructions of water courses, and at the same time would afford easy communications from the main stem of the railway to the highest navigable points on the streams and the towns which may be situated to the right or left of the road, either by railways or otherwise. The distance of this route is about four hundred and twenty miles. It will afford a safe, easy, direct, and expeditious communication by Lake Erie, and the Erie canal with all the Eastern cities; and should it ever be deemed necessary, could easily be extended along the southern shore of Lake Erie, in connection with the railways that are now in contemplation, thereby completing the great project which Clinton designed. It will readily occur to the mind of every one, that by this route a greater saving in distance, time, and expense, is made than could possibly be done by any other which could be formed; enabling a person to travel from New-York or Philadelphia to the Mississippi in about five days." It is intended to apply to the General Government for assistance, and it is stated, that the sale of public lands which would take place in the vicinity

of the line, and which will otherwise remain unsold, would bring back to the Treasury all the money expended.

MICHIGAN

A memorial has been addressed to the President by the inhabitants of Michigan, soliciting a topographical survey of Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, comprising a seacoast between Buffalo and Fond du Lac, of more than two thousand miles. To exhibit the present and increasing necessity for such a survey, they submited for consideration an estimate from an examination of all the data within their control.

The number of vessels estimated to be engaged in the Coasting Trade on Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie is 100 Average Tonnage

Amount entered and cleared

70

The rapid settlement and prosperity of this territory may be inferred from the following statements made in the Detroit Journal.

The whole amount of money received from the sale of Public Lands in this Territory, since the 1st of January 1831, is $367,087. The whole amount which I will have been received at both offices up to the 31st of December, may be estimated at $380,000.

The accession which has been made to the population of the Territory, during the past season, is variously estimated. We have heard it rated as high as 20,000,-but we should think that too much. A record was kept by a gentleman in Detroit, until the num

ber reached nearly 10,000; and he is of the opinion that nearly as many more have arrived in the territory since then. It is not improbable that Michigan has received since the first of April last, an increase, from emigration, of at least, 15,000 souls. This number, added to the number as taken at the last census, and the increase last year, after the census was completed, makes the present population of our territory about 47,000. Those parts of the territory which should be connected in their political relations, and which will soon become a state, contain a population of 44,000.

TERRITORY OF HURON.

The Lead Mines of the Upper Mississippi river, which have become so celebrated within a few years past, are chiefly situated within this territory. They have, through inaccuracy, been called the mines of Illinois. They are now known as "The Wisconsin Lead Mines." The returns made by the United States Agent, for the year ending Sept. 30, 180, show that there were only 1,626,486 lbs. of Lead made within the limits of the State during the preceding year; whilst in the Territory there were 6697,512 lbs. It will also appear, that during the year ending Sept. 30, 1831, there were only six Furnaces in operation in the state of Illinois, which smelted 1,659,818 lbs. of lead; and in the the Wisconsin District, there have been thirty-two furnaces in operation, which have made 4,126,417 lbs. The total amount of lead made, therefore, in the state and territory, in the past year, is 5,786,235 lbs.

It is but just to state that one fourth of the mineral which is smelted at the furnaces in Illinois, is raised in the territory, all of them, except one, being erected very near the state line. The prospects of the mines have never been better than at present. The diggers are preparing to work throughout the winter; and great activity is manifested by every class engaged in the busi

ness.

The Bravo: a Tale. By the Author of the Spy, the Red Rover, &c.

Supposing this work fairly entitled to notice as the production of an American pen, although the author pursues his profession on another continent-for which he, doubtless, has more substantial reasons than could be given for his return, we have perused it with much attention. As it is the acknowledged offspring of one who, by general consent, stands first of all our American dealers in fiction, we would treat it with great respect. We shall confess, however, in the commencement, that we are pleased neither with its form nor its features, neither with the particular limbs, nor the compounded fabrication. As "a picture of the social system" of an ancient Republic, it is in many respects powerfully, and we doubt not, correctly drawn. As a romance, a drama, a mere work of fiction, depending upon the imagination and ability of the author, it is an able-failure. The action of the Bravo,-and the same, it is believed, may be said of each of the author's works,-is too like the performance of an excellent piece, one of Shakspeare's or Massinger's best, by one of our "tragical companies of tragedians;" it has but one prominent character, who is the star of the evening, or the piece, and to whom the subordinates are the foils, and not the assistants. They have neither presence, finish, nor character of themselves; they might say, with Nick Bottom's lion, "If you think I come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life;" they come, rather, as the same worthy's fingers did, to represent a wall, because a wall was necessary, and not because it was of any advantage to the dramatic effect of the piteous tragedy his friends enacted. So with this tale. The Bravo stands alone. He has no natural connection with the story to which he has given his name; and appears to be rather a stranger upon his own premises. He walks about, with a pale face, and an eye of wonderful powers, shunning every body, that he may give them an occasion to suspect him of nameless crimes, and makes a blood-thrilling and horrible confession of-nothing at all; for in the end he avows that he was an injured man, and that he had no crimes to confess. His whole story is told in few words. He is a secret agent of the Venetian police; hired by them, like

Hamlet's actors, to make his "damnable faces" on the Rialto, to draw the attention of the populace upon himself as a public bravo; exposing those who offer to employ him to his own employers; and finally suffering death, through the policy of the State, for a murder committed by the State. This tissue of improbabilities, having an abundance of one prime ingredient of legitimate romance,-fiction,-is made palatable by the propriety of his motive, which is filial affection. He suffers for the sins of the whole republic, and receives in payment the privilege of visiting his father in prison. This is the whole story of The Bravo. The tale has one merit. We do not recognize in its few characters, the faces of our old friends, Leather-Stocking or Tom Coffin,-which is more than the Prairie can say to the Pioneers, or the Red Rover throw in the teeth of the Pilot. But as these two are decidedly the best characters the author has ever drawn, the merit is somewhat doubtful.

The god-father of the tale, who ler.ds it his name, may truly say to his author, with the honest scissors-grinder of Mr. Canning's satire,

The

"Story! God bless you! I have none to tell, sir.” and truly there is no story. He mixes so little with the other dramatis persona as to be forgotten, from time to time, and leaves the tale in fact without that necessary personage, a hero. author does not appear to have had a very clear conception of what he would make; he gave the Bravo a peculiarly marked face, and a striking eye, but nothing more. If he ever walked the earth, and was the imperfect personage which our author has made him, there was abundant ground for the suspicion of the people; he certainly was a very doubtful character.

The tale is drawn out to its proper length, by means of two episodes, for such they would be in a poem, although it has required no ingenious weaving of scenes to connect them with the Bravo; he is so conveniently ambiguous and mysterious as to be dropped in at all times, without exciting a moment's astonishment even in the company he visits. The episodes of which we speak are the rambling and unfinished adventures of Don Camillo and his mistress; and the story of Antonio Vecchio. The Don procures his mistress where Paul Pry obtained Mrs. Subtle's letters; he

fishes her up, as it were, from the Adriatic. This, however, is before the story begins, and when they are first introduced, "the course of true love" has become as tortuous and confused as the endless canals of Venice; that part of their history is in the full tide of sighs and obstacles. Donna Violetta being a retired maiden, we see but little of her; she is a passive actress, and too inof fensive to justify criticism. They are married at a moment's warning, separated, re-united, and make their escape with a strong southerly wind; we are never told whether they are happy or miserable, which would be interesting information, or even whether they reached their destination at all; and, for aught that appears, they may still be enjoying the southerly breezes, and wondering at the similarity of a hawk and a handsaw.

The story of Antonio is perfect of itself, and exceedingly well told. The old fisherman is the only personage in the book who has any peculiar features in his character, or who would be recognized or remembered, upon a second reading. His rash honesty is of the Long Tom school, although of a more elevated cast, inasmuch as his motives of action are of a more dignified

character. He has our sympathies throughout; and his death is the finest scene in the tale,-the greatest effect being produced by the simplest and least artificial means. The power of the author is also shown in the closing scene, the death of the Bravo, and the dialogue is occasionally spirited, although such is not its general char

acter.

We have alluded above to the eye of the Bravo; but the author seems to have a father's fondness for it and introduces it in every page. It is, in truth, a miraculous organ, as we shall show by a few quotations. Thus

"Out of this striking array of features, gleamed an eye, that was full of brilliancy, meaning, and passion." p. 18.

"His glittering organs rolled over the persons," &c. p. 18.

Before his "form was lost in the crowd, that quick and glowing eye had gleamed," &c. p. 19. "Full upon the calm countenance and searching eye," &c. p. 52.

"The riveted gaze of the Bravo, &c. p. 52. "The organ which glanced at its seal and its superscription, gleamed with an expression which the credulous gondolier fancied to resemble that of the tiger," &c. p. 54.

"The dark eye of the Bravo was seen rolling over the person," &c. p. 55.

"The glowing eye of Jacopo," &c. p. 84. "The eye of the Bravo kindled with an ex

pression which caused his companion to pause," &c. p. 90.

"The pallid countenance and glittering eye of Jacopo," &c. p. 157.

"The paleness of the cheek was the same, and the glowing eye," &c. p. 180.

The action caused "the rays of the moon to fall athwart his kindling eye," &c. p. 228. "With a keen eye," &c. p. 229.

"The glaring eye of the Bravo," &c. p. 239. "He bent a frenzied eye," &c. p. 240. "When that speaking eye was unexpectedly met," &c. vol. ii. p. 32.

"His eye turned wistfully," &c. p. 39. "The Bravo paused and looked doubtfully," &c. p. 39.

"His look became still more wistful," &c. p. 41.

"Admonished by his impatient eye," &c. p. 63.

66

Here are not half the changes of this wonderful eye, but they are sufficient to show the peculiar affection of the author for its power and its performances. Whenever he brings us the Bravo, care is taken to show us that his eyes are still in his head, and ready to gleam, glow, glance, or roll, as the case may be. He has given us a book of eyes. Violetta has bright eyes, the monk Anselmo severe eyes, Annina suspicious eyes, Gessina timid eyes, and finally a crowd becomes, by a figure, changed into a vast court, paved with the swarthy faces and glittering eyes of the fishermen." These "Whiting's eyes," as Cacafogo says, become the most prominent feature in the story; and they are distributed with great liberality among all classes, from the secret Three to the gondoliers. To prevent competition between his two best characters, probably, or to give a pleasant variety to the work, the author has made the breast the most conspicuous part of Antonio; and he is never introduced without some allusion to "his naked breast," or "his brown and naked bosom. An inventory, like that of the properties of Jacopo's eye, might be made out were it necessary. His own sorrows were not a heavier burden to the poor fisherman, than are the epithets the author has heaped upon his breast.

Perhaps these things are hardly worth noticing; and yet to our mind, they show the poverty of the author, in a particular where he has been said to be unrivalled, that of description. But his descriptions are not always happy, or, to use a common word, "graphic;' and for the simple reason, that what an author has not accurately in his own mind, he cannot convey with much distinctness, by means of language, to the mind of another. This is the case