Smile with the sunshine in his light, Smile with the gem and flower; With all that’s fair, and pure, and bright, Throughout life’s fitful hour; And lift, in praise, thy smiling eyes, And, smiling, breathe a prayer To HIM who lives beyond the skies, And _smiles forever there_. [Illustration] The Water-Spout. The water-spout is a strange meteor, which has attracted a good deal of attention, but the causes of it are not entirely ascertained. Dr. Franklin’s opinion was that a water-spout and a whirlwind proceed from the same cause; the only difference being that the latter passes over the land and the former over the water. This opinion is generally believed to be correct. It is supposed that opposing winds give a whirling motion to the air, which force up masses of water, and produce the phenomena to which we allude. The engraving represents the appearance of a water-spout. This usually resembles an enormous speaking-trumpet in shape, the mouth end being near the top of the sea. The wind is commonly blowing first this way and then that, causing the spout to bend and writhe and move from one point to another. Beneath, where it nearly touches the water, the sea is agitated and covered with foam. Wo to the vessel that is assailed by one of these meteors! The usual defence at sea, is to fire a cannon shot into the whirling tube, which usually dispels it, and the water falls in a tremendous shower. Upon land, a water-spout sometimes commits the most fearful ravages: attended both by a furious wind and torrents of water, it often spreads devastation over the country which it visits. In 1839, a considerable district upon the Seine, in France, experienced the most dreadful calamities from a water-spout. It uprooted and carried away trees of the largest size; walls of stone were overturned; and tiles, roofs and even houses were carried away. * * * * * ECCENTRIC OLD MAID.――Mrs. Sarah Bedwell, spinster, at Woodbridge, died on the 15th ult., aged ninety. She was formerly housekeeper to Mrs. Doughty, and by her penurious habits had accumulated considerable property. In a tin canister were found seventy sovereigns, and memoranda of cash in the bank and mortgages amounting to about 15,000_l._ She had in her possession 75 chemises, 30 bonnets, 25 silk gowns, four dozen damask table-cloths, and a chest of bed-clothes; and yet she expired, covered with merely a piece of old carpet, without a nightcap, and shockingly infested with vermin.――_Ipswich Express._ “Beauty.”