provinces began to pour in, company after company; and such a motley assembly of men never before thronged together on such an occasion, unless an example may be found in the ragged regiment of Sir John Falstaff.

3. It would have relaxed the gravity of an anchorite to have seen the descendants of the Puritans marching through the streets of that ancient city (Albany), and taking their situations to the left of the British army: some with long coats, some with short coats, and others with no coats at all; with colors as varied as the rainbow: some with their hair cropped like the army of Cromwell, and others with wigs, the locks of which floated with grace around their shoulders.

4. Their march, their accouterments, and the whole arrangement of the troops furnished matter of amusement to the rest of the British army. The music played was the airs of two centuries ago; and their appearance, on the whole, exhibited a sight to the wondering strangers, to which they had been unaccustomed.

5. Among the club of wits that belonged to the British army there was a Dr. Shackburg attached to the staff, who combined with the science of a surgeon the skill and talent of a musician. To please the new comers, he composed a tune, and with much gravity recommended it to the officers as one of the most celebrated airs of martial music.

6. The joke took, to the no small amazement of the British. Brother Jonathan exclaimed it was "mighty fine," and in a few days nothing was heard in the provincial camp but the air of Yankee Doodle.

7. Little did the author, in his composition, then think that an air, made for the purpose of levity and ridicule, would be marked for such high destinies. In twenty years from that time the national march inspired the heroes of Bunker Hill, and in less than thirty Lord

Cornwallis and his army marched into the American lines to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

8. This tune, however, was not original with Dr. Shackburg: he made it from an old song, which can be traced back to the reign of Charles I,-a song which has, in its day, been used for a great variety of words.

LXXXV.-HOW THE UNITED STATES CAME TO BE CALLED "UNCLE SAM."

1. I have often puzzled myself as to the origin of the term "Uncle Sam," now in very common use, in designating the Government of the United States; but the following account of the matter, which has recently come under my notice, seems quite satisfactory.

2. Immediately after the declaration (June 19, 1812) of the last war with England, Elbert Anderson, a contractor of provisions to supply the army of the United States, visited Troy, on the Hudson, where he purchased a large quantity of beef, pork, etc. The inspectors of these articles at that place were Messrs. Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson. The latter gentleman, known as "Uncle Sam," generally superintended, in person, a large number of workmen, who were employed in overhauling the provisions purchased by the contractor for the army.

3. The casks were marked "E. A.-U. S." This work of marking fell to the lot of a facetious fellow in the employ of the Messrs. Wilson, who, on being asked by some of his fellow-workmen the meaning of the mark, (for the letters U. S. for the United States were entirely new to them,) said that he did not know, unless it meant "Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam;" meaning by "Uncle Sam" simply Samuel Wilson.

4. The joke took among the workmen, and passed currently; and Mr. Wilson, being a good-natured man, was often rallied by them on the increasing extent of his possessions. Many of these workmen were found shortly after following the recruiting drum, and pushing toward the frontier lines, for the double purpose of meeting the enemy and of eating the provisions they had labored to put in good order.

5. Their old jokes accompanied them; and before the first campaign ended, this identical one appeared in print. It gained favor very rapidly, till it penetrated, and was recognized in every part of our country, and will, no doubt, continue, so long as the United States remain a nation.

WOODWORTH.

LXXXVI. NIAGARA FALLS.

Hail! Monarch of the World of Floods! whose majesty and might

First dazzles, then enraptures, then o'erawes the aching

sight:

The pomp of kings and emperors, in every clime and

zone,

Grows dim beneath the splendors of thy glorious watery throne.

No fleets can stop thy progress, no armies bid thee stay, But onward, onward, onward-thy march still holds its sway;

The rising mist that vails thee, as thy herald goes before,

And the music that proclaims thee is the thundering cataract's roar.

Thy diadem is an emerald green, of the clearest, purest hue,

Set 'round with waves of snow-white foam, and spray of feathery dew;

White tresses of the brightest pearls float o'er thine ample sheet,

And the rainbow lays its gorgeous gems in tribute at thy feet.

Thy reign is from the ancient days, thy scepter from on high;

Thy birth was when the distant stars first lit the glow ing sky;

The sun, the moon, and all the orbs that shine upon thee now,

Saw the first wreath of glory that entwined thy infant brow.

And from that hour to this, in which I gaze upon thy

stream,

From age to age, in winter's frost, in summer's sultry

beam,

By day, by night, without a pause, thy waves, with loud acclaim,

In ceaseless sounds have still proclaimed the great Eter nal's name.

For whether on thy forest banks, the Indian of the wood,

Or, since his day, the red man's foe on his fatherland have stood,

Whoe'er has seen thy incense rise, or heard thy torrents

roar,

Must have bent before the God of all, to worship and adore.

Accept, then, O Supremely Great! O Infinite! O God!
From this primeval altar, the pure and virgin sod,
The humble homage that my soul, in gratitude, would

pay

To Thee, whose shield has guarded me, in all my wandering way.

For, if the ocean be as naught in the hollow of Thy hand,

And the stars of the bright firmament, in Thy balance, grains of sand;

If Niagara's rolling flood seem great to us who humbly bow,

O Great Creator of the whole! how passing great art Thou!

But though Thy power is far more vast than finite minds can scan,

Still greater is Thy mercy shown to weak, dependent

man:

For him Thou clothest the fertile globe with herbs, and fruit, and seed;

For him the seas, the lakes, the streams, supply his hourly need.

Around, on high, or far, or near, the universal whole Proclaims Thy glory, as the stars in their fixed courses

roll;

And from creation's grateful voice, the hymn ascends above,

While heaven re-echoes back to earth the chorus, "GoD IS LOVE."

J. S. BUCKINGHAM.

Diligence, industry, and proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young.