THE WORLD AT LARGE.

A map of busy life,

Its fluctuations and its vast concerns.-COWPER.

IT has been suggested that, as the readers of THE NATIONAL, probably without exception, preserve its successive volumes in the family library, a monthly digest of prominent public events-national, cosmopolitan, and ecclesiastical-would be an acceptable addition to its contents. We are disposed to make the attempt, and will adopt it as a permanent feature of our periodical, if found to be generally approved. Of course, we can present only a digest, a mere record for reference, a brief, almost statistical summary, to which the reader can turn at any future time to ascertain the date and attendant circumstances of any prominent event respecting which interest may be awakened. We have only to add that our arrangements at the time of preparing this initiatory article are not so complete as they will be hereafter.

RELIGIOUS.

The Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, at its session at Ithaca, which commenced on the fourth of June, by a formal vote, consequent upon the presentation of the report of the Committee on Foreign Missions, severed the connection of the Reformed Dutch Church with the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, deeming that the time had come for such a dissolution, and that henceforth the foreign missions of the Church should be conducted by their own board. The subject occupied the Synod two days, and the resolution of separation was passed with only two dissenting voices.

The General Conference of the United Brethren was held in Cincinnati in June, seventy delegates being present. They reported sixty-one thousand four hund red members, being an increase of six thousand during the year.

Exeter Hall, London, has been licensed by the Bishop of London as an Episcopal place of worship. A series of "Sunday evening sermons for the working classes" is instituted, the first of them being preached by the Bishop of Carlisle, on the evening of May 24, from Romans, iv, 3, "What saith the Scripture?"

The Rev. Mr. Butler, superintendent of the mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India, very recently sent out there, has already two Mohammedans under instruction, who seem sincere and earnest in their inquiries after truth.

Important movements have lately taken place in the Church of England. Three new bishops have been appointed, all of an eminently evangelical character, who are active in suppressing the papal observances that had crept into many of the churches, and fearless in rebuking the clergy who persist in such follies. The Bishop of Carlisle, (Rev. Mr. Villiers,) the Bishop of London, (Rev. Dr. Tait,) the Bishop of Norwich, (Rev. Mr. Pelham,) with Mr. Bickersteth, lately appointed to a bishopric, are young men and full of zeal. The Bishops of Carlisle and London encourage and set the example of out-door preaching.

A secession of the Southern members of the New School Presbyterian Assembly took place at the late sitting of that body at Cleveland, Ohio. The Assembly took action upon the subject of slaveholding in the Church, after a protracted debate, re-affirming its previous declarations upon the subject. The Southern members, twenty to twenty-five in number, first protested, and subsequently issued a call for a convention of "Presbyterians from all sections of the country, in the city of Washington, on the 27th of August, for the purpose of consultation and of organizing a General Assembly, in which, it will be distinctly understood, the subject of slavery will not be introduced."

The Methodist mission in Germany, since the establishment of its publication department, has distributed 4,921 Bibles, 6,577 New Testaments, 956,028 tracts, 192.757 children's tracts, and 19,200 illustrated hand-bills. It has sold 37,440 books, 65,094 pamphlets, and 34,790 children's books.

The annual report of the Wesleyan Missionary So

ciety, read at Exeter Hall, London, on the 4th of May, 1857, recorded the baptism of three Chinese at Macao, in the preceding February, the first fruits of the Society's mission in China. It also presented a summary of the society's labors and agency during the past year.

The total ordinary income of the society was £78,913 168. Od. A further sum of £40,291 128. 2d. cies, etc., making the total income of the society was derived from foreign auxiliary societies, legs£119,205 88. 2d. Thirty missionaries, and fifteen wives

of missionaries, were sent out during the year. Among the speakers at the anniversary meeting were two venerable ministers; the one remarkable for his la bors and influence in the mission, and the other in the domestic field of Methodism; namely, the Rev. William Shaw, general superintendent of the mission in Western Africa, with which he has been connected since its establishment in 1820, and the Rev. Dr. Bunting, who, from his great age, may be said to have taken his farewell of missionary anniversaries. An ef fort is being made, with strong probabilities of success, to raise the society's annual income to £150,000 It is also in contemplation to take measures for more general out-of-door religious services in the streets and lanes of the larger cities in England and Ireland.

POLITICAL.

At our present writing we are enabled to state that a successor to Brigham Young, as governor of Utah, has at last been found. The post had been offered by President Buchanan to Major M'Culloch, of Texas, Hon. F. R. Thomas, and others, but in each case was declined. It was finally offered to Colonel Cumming, who accepted it. He is eminently fitted for the position, and will have at his disposal a body of two thousand five hundred United States troops. The act of 1850, establishing the Territory of Utah, contains a provision by which Congress can at pleasure abolish the territory, or attach it to any other state or territory. The act was passed with the understanding that polygamy would not be tolerated. Colonel Cumming possesses much firmness and decision of character, and has had a large experience in just that field of public life which fits him for his present position; and we may now look for a sure termination of the shameful outrages against common decency so long enacted by the Mormons of Utah. The election of dele

gates for a convention to frame a state constitution for Kansas took place in June. At Washington, District of Columbia, on the first of June, being the day of the charter election, a riot occurred. The marines were called out, and were fired upon by the rioters, who were principally from Baltimore. The marines returned the fire, killing six and wounding fifteen persons.

On the first of May General William Walker left Rivas, and went on board the sloop of war St. Mary's, Captain Davis, her commander, having negotiated with the Costa Rican general for permission for them thus to retire. When Walker surrendered the provisions in his camp were reduced to three horses, two mules, and two oxen, and one hundred and seventyfive of his men were sick in the hospitals. The Costa Rican government had signified their intention of collecting the destitute wanderers who had deserted Walker, and sending them home free of expense. . . . The British Parliament have granted a marriage portion of forty thousand pounds, and an allowance of eight thousand pounds a year to the Princess Royal of England on her approaching marriage with Prince Frederic William, of Prussia. The engagement between these scions of sovereignty is said to be one of mutual affection. The United States steam

ship Niagara, dispatched to convey a portion of the submarine telegraph cable about to be laid in the Atlantic Ocean, arrived at Deal on the thirteenth of May. The passage from New York occupied seventeen days. The vessel is taken into Portsmouth dockyard to have some alterations effected to fit her for the work.

The anniversary (seventeenth of June) of the battle of Bunker Hill and the death of General Warren was celebrated this year with much ceremony. The National Guards, of New York, took part in the imposing display, as did several other military companies from this and other cities. Lieutenant General Scott bad accepted an invitation to be present, but, in consequence of advices from Paris that Mrs. Scott was in dying circumstances, he did not attend. A statue of General Warren, seven feet high and of the best Italian marble, was inaugurated. A splendid oration was delivered by the Hon. Edward Everett.

of churches. This strikes you as a thriving and picturesque village; you announce your impressions to your neighbor in the car. But he assures you it is no village, but a bona fide city; looking, at the same moment, as if he had some compassion for your ignorance in not being aware that you were approaching "the Queen City" of the valley.

From Waterbury to Winsted, the terminus of the Naugatuck Railroad, the scenery continues very beautiful, although not equally varied. Mr. C. L. Brace, in his 66 Home Life in Germany," says of the picturesque scenery of the Elbe, in Saxon Switzerland, and its accompanying railroad :

"It was like a railway through the Alps. If any one of my readers has traveled up the Naugatuck road in Connecticut, or followed the lower valley of the Wye, in England, he will have, on a smaller scale, a very good idea of the Dresden and Prague Railroad."

Indeed, this valley presents many strong points of resemblance to that world-renowned scenery. There is the same happy commingling of the wild and savage with the soft and beautiful in nature. The same fantastic rock and mountain outline contrasted with smiling cultivation.

But having glanced at the character1stic features of the Naugatuck Valley scenery, let us stop for a time at Waterbury, and from this point we will hereafter make excursions up and down the river. We will make this our stoppingplace from the fact of its being a central point in the valley, as well as the most important town, and, besides, we shall find that the enterprise of this flourishing young city has not overlooked the wants of the stranger; here are the Scovill House, Brown's Hotel, and Adams's, all good; but with our host of the Scovill House we shall find a home for the traveler that is scarcely excelled in its appointments by the larger cities of the Union.

The station-house, you will observe, is a meager affair, and by no means commensurate with the wants of the place. Omnibuses and numerous carriages are in waiting. The well-known voice of the Colonel calls out, "Carriages to the Scovill House, Brown's Hotel, and all parts of the city." It is at eight o'clock that we arrive by the half-past three o'clock express train from New York. The street lamps are lighted; were it not for these we

should scarcely imagine ourselves entering a bona fide city. Now do not look at the side-walks; they will not bear inspection; but only imagine yourself driven by gas light to the hotel. A street, compactly built for a short distance, is passed; this is Exchange Place, of which I present an illustration. We are now in the midst of the business portion of the city. Gas lights flash out from the tastefully dressed windows of handsome stores. It is a summer evening; the manufactories are all closed, and from the throng in the street and about the post-office you might fancy yourself, perhaps, for a moment in one of the bustling thoroughfares of Gotham. But a sudden turn to the left

brings us to the Scovill House, situated upon Center Square.

It is a quiet spot; the street lamps glimmer under the dark, overshadowing trees, lighting up the fronts of two or three stately edifices. But we must wait for the daylight to enjoy the view.

The morning sun develops to us the quiet rural beauty of Center Square, an illustration of which I present at the commencement of this article. Who would here imagine himself in the central portion of a large manufacturing place? Stately churches and elegant private mansions surround the square. The residences present, for the most part, extensive grounds tastefully laid out, with fountains sparkling here and there. In the distance we discern wooded heights forming the outline of the horizon. The surface within the city is varied by abrupt eminences, upon one of which is the High School; others are occupied by stately mansions; beyond these the line of wooded hill-sides forms an amphitheater, of which the city itself is the arena.

Here is no jar of machinery and no smoking chimneys, but all about us would seem to indicate that we are in the central portion of a singularly picturesque New-England rural town. The manufacturing establishments are, for the most part, in the outskirts of the city, consequently this portion of Waterbury, with its beautiful Center Square and its quiet shaded streets lined with handsome residences, presents an appearance quite unique for a manufacturing town.

Those residents of Waterbury whose memory extends back a distance of some thirty-five years, are able to summon to

mind a picture of Center Square as it then was, which presents a striking contrast with that of the present day. Huge rocks then covered almost its whole surface. It was among the boyish sports of some of the present middle-aged men to jump from one rock to another the whole length of " the Green," as it was then called. Here were, at that period, numerous ponds filled with stagnant water, so that teams in passing over it, unless they confined themselves to a very narrow strip, were in danger of becoming so deeply mired that they could only be extricated with difficulty. Frogs of enormous size abounded here, and furnished the only music to which the inhabitants listened at evening. But this is changed; the harsh dissonance of the frogs has given place to the warblings of birds, and the occasional addition of the music of two very excellent bands, which perform alternately during the summer months, from the platform which has been erected for this purpose in the center of the square. For many years" spells" were frequent among the inhabitants, when not only the residents of Waterbury proper turned out to fill up the low ground and the ponds, but also those who constitute at the present time separate towns. one occasion, the people of Watertown, Plymouth, Middlebury, etc., came in large numbers with their oxen and carts, and

On

generously gave a week's time in assisting the poor parent town. At last, in 1821, there was a grand rally upon one fourth of July; when, in place of expending powder, as usual, on this anniversary, the people used it to blast the rocks, and the square was thus cleared of this nuisance.

As one of the sites earliest selected for a settlement in this portion of Connecticut, the history of Waterbury presents a certain degree of interest.

The report of the first committee, sent in 1673, upon the petition of the citizens of Farmington to the General Assembly, to inspect the interval lands upon the River Naugatuck, and to report upon the expediency of a settlement here, was delivered to the Assembly in May, 1674, and was to the effect that Mattatuck (aboriginal name of Waterbury) would probably afford sufficient means for the support of thirty families. The tract of land upon which this committee reported, it will be remembered, included Waterbury, Watertown, Plymouth, and Naugatuck, as well as most of Middlebury, half of Wolcott, and a portion of Oxford and Prospect.

Hollister, in his History of Connecticut, referring to the first settlement in the Naugatuck Valley at Derby, remarks:

"When we think of the feeble infancy of this eldest of inland towns in the Valley of the Naugatuck, and see the thousands that now inhabit