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CHRONICLp AND SENTINEL.
AUGUSTA.
THURSDAY C ORNING, DECEMBER 10.
F< R CONGRESS,
HINES HOLT, Jr.
'IF MUSCOGEE.
Election on JPtrvf Monday in January.
|rhe Mails.
Again we are Without a mail beyond Charleston.
and from the success which has thus far attended
the u distingui&heS.s*ivicts" of the “ accomplished ”
member of Congress from Charleston, in regulating:
the mails, we ratljer guess if he could be again
prevailed on to urldeitake the “ important duty,"
and the editorial cfn'ps would consent to puff liinr.
a little, we should), ere long, have no mails.
i
The Races.
Wednesday—Pijrse S4OO, entrance S2O, 2 mile
heats. ;
Col. Crowel’s b.'f. Nancy Clark, 11
Jas. Lampkin’s r?h. f. Mary Elizabeth,...2 2
Col. Johnson’s b; h. Wonder, 3 3
Chas.*Lewis’ eh. f. Emily Speed 4 4
Time, | 3.46—3.46
Wonder the favorite, at SIOO to $75. —Nancy
led off in both heajs, and finished the race in fine
style, making one pt the best two mile races ever
made over the Course.
Entries for to-day's race, purse S6OO, entrance
$30 —three mile hyats.
Col. W. Hampton’i; ch. f. Fanny, by Eclipse, out
of Maria West, Ihe dam of Wagner—4 years old
Col. Johnson’s ch.jh. Ford ham, by Eclipse, out of
Jeanette, own sister to Sir Charles—s years old.
Walton & Lamkin|s b. h. Gano, by Eclipse, out of
Betsy Richards-|-5 years old.
Correspondent of the Chronicle Sf Sentinel.
IjliL ledge vill, December 7th.
In the Senate td-day, the resolution requiring
the Treasurer and -Central Bank to receive in pay
ment of debts, &x. jthe Certificates or the Commis
sioners of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, pay
able in State stocll, was taken up, and after some
discussion, laid on >the table and made the order of
the day for Wednesday. Its passage is doubtful ,
but I think it will *oe adopted by the Senate.
The bill to authorize the Commissioners of the
Western and Atlanjic Railioad to purchase land for
depots and trading towns, was also taken up,
amended and lost. ’ There may be a reconsidera
tion in the morning. The bill of the House, in re
lation to Common Schools, was taken up, and pass
ed without amendment.
Nothing else of -interest occurred in the Senate,
except the presentation, by' Mr. Calhoun, of a me
morial from Columbus, in relation to the resump
tion of specie payments by the Central Bank and
Bank of Darien, which was referred to the Com
mittee on Banks ; and the introduction by- Mr. Mil
ler, of a bill to incorporate the “ Clinch Riflemen”
of Augusta.
The Resumption Bill is the order of the day for
U-movrow, in theSenale. It will no doubt past
with some modifications.
In the House a considerable part of the morning;
was consumed by t.ne introduction of new matter
The two most important bills introduced were,
one by Mr. Chester, of Decatur, to authorize the
Banks to Issue bills of the denomination of one dol
lar and upwards, -.md one by Mr. Toombs, of
Wilkes, to repeal the charter of the Bank of Da
rien, and to provide for winding up its affairs.—
The bill reported bV the Committee on Internal
Improvements, authorising the issue of State bonds
for the completion |of the Western and Atlantic
Railroad and imposing a specific tax on Negro prop
erty, t j provide for payment of interest on those
bonds annuallv, and for the gradual payment of
the principal was indefinitely postponed.
The bill intended to secure the assets of banks iu
certain cases for tbe‘payment of their debts, intro
duced by Mr. Barclay, of Habersham, being under
consideration, after an animated debate, in which
Mr. Barclay, in favor of the bill, and Messrs.
Crawford, of Richmond, Toombs and Miller parti
cipated, was lost. The afternoon session was
chiefly devoted to the passage of local bills, and
the reading of bills h second time. Q.
From the Charleston Courier of yesterday.
wiiig Dinner,
IN HONOR OF THE HON. W. C. PRESTON.
A more numerous, respectable and influential as
semblage of the citizens of Charleston, never con
vened together on a similar occasion, to do honor to
any public representative. The arrangement were
Harmoniously in unison with the feelings of those
present, and but one sentiment appeared to inspire
ail; that they had t&us united, to offer their testi
mony in favor of th|y political principles of him,
who had been repudiated and proscribed by a reck
less and dictatorial rjiajority in his own State.
The reading of th| ‘-Third Regular Toast,” was
received with the m.jst heartfelt and enthusiastic
demonstration of approbation, and the Hon. Sena
tor rose, apparently deeply affected, t© respond to
the kind and marked distinction. It is vain for
us to pretend to sketch even an outline of the
picture, he furnishet:*, of our national and political
position, the unhappj?- influence of the present ad
ministration, and the beneficial results that must
naturally ensue from that of Gen. Harrison.—
With a master’s hand he pencilled the abuses and
corruptions of the “powers that be,” pointing out
how popular sentiment had been controlled and
checked by the influence of Executive dictation ;
and altho’ the people “had the wills to do, and the
souls to dare,” they' still bowed to the nod of patro
nage, and quietly submitted to the continued impo
sitions of Government. But, in this silent calm
ness of endurance, a storm was brewing which was
to waft destruction before it—at length the spirit
of indignant justice, shook off its stupefying and
dangerous lethargy ; public opinion was unfettered
of its shackles ; the people in their majesty were
awakened to a sense .of justice and their “inaliena
ble rights,” and thosij rights,in a voice of thunder,
were proclaimed upon the banks of the St. Law
rence and re-echoed from the valley of the Missis
sippi. At length the mighty convulsion took place;
the flood gates of public opinion were opened, and
the waters let loose to carry destruction upon theii
onward course, and we now behold the administra
tion an Ararat to staijd upon.” He then preceded
to shew the question)* which had created schism'
and sectional prejudices between the North anc.
South, and adverted |to the “Compromise,” as the
holy and connecting pond of union. Mr. Clay re
ceived, at his hands, a well deserved and beautiful
eulogium, which was gratefully responded to by
; the whole assembly, j
It is admitted by all, that Col Preston seldom
if ever delivered a; more powerful appeal—it;
aroused the dormant energies of those who had
been inactive, and inspired a general sentiment
which augurs well for political revolution and
redemption in South-Carolina. He enchained
his audience, for anjhourand three quarters, with
the most impassioned bursts of eloquence and
pathos we have ever listened to; and so complete
ly were they taken by storm that frequently the
whole assemblage ijose, as if with one voice, to
urge on the inspired speaker. He made an im ■
pression never to be eradicated or forgotten.
Dr. Robertson, j>f Augusta, responded, in a
very spirited and cllaste manner, to the compl.-
ment to Georgia, anil illustrated very appropriate
ly the difficulties Encountered in behalf of the
cause of Reform in l|is State, and pointed now to
i
the pleasing and beautiful result. He concluded
by urging Carolina to follow the foot-steps of her
sister sovereignty, and raise her shield against the
parricidal arm of him who would dictate opinion
for an independent people.
The Hen. Hugh S. Lf.gare, in reply to a com
plimentary sentiment, gave a brief but another
powerful evidence of his accomplished and gi
gantic mind. He was succeeded by James L.
Pktigku, Esq., in his peculiarly forcible and at
tractive style. He argued tne constitutional prin
ciples of republicanism, demonstrating clearly
and satisfactorily, that, in South-Carofina, the
voice of the people was neither fairly heard nor
justly represented ; that the citizens of this State
enjoyed the name without the authority of pow
er, for if a majority of the legislature were led
by fanatical or political zeal, to the election of
electors for the Chief Magistracy of the Nation,
the minority of the people were thus left to la
ment without a voice, their situation. He re
commended strongly the matter of general suf
frage, and the return of the right which exclu
sively belongs to the people, that of selecting lor
tfiemselves a President of the United States.
In the course of the evening, several other gen
tlemen addressed the meeting, and the Glee Club,
with well arranged songs, contributed rruch to
the hilarity and general enjoyment.
The Central Bank.
The report of the Committee appointed by the
Legislature, to investigate the affairs of this insti
tution, will be found in this day’s paper, and we
hope will command, as it deserves, the careful at
tention of our readers.
We have long entertained the opinion that the
affairs ©f this Bank were rapidly approaching a
crisis, and this report conclusively proves the cor
rectness of that opinion. If any other proofs are
wanting, we would call the attentien of the people
of Georgia, to the subjoined report of the President
and Cashier, showing the disposition which has
been made of the State stocks held by that insti
tution. The stocks of the Augusta and State
Bank have usually paid an interest of S per cent,
but to subserve the purposes of the Bank directory,
they have been gold for Central Bank bills, which
were under par, iu almost every section of the
State, and the money thus obtained, loaned out on
notes payable in five years, at 6 percent, interest.
Central Funk of Georgia, J
Milledgeville, Nov. 21, 1840. 5
To the Hon. President of the Senate,
Sir.—ln compliance with the resolution of the
Senate, agreed to November 20, 1840, the Board
of Directors submit the accompanying statement
of the Cashier of the institution. No account is
kept of the funds received in payment. The
Bank has considered as cash all money receivable
at its counter, and all evidences of debt against
it. The persens to whom loans have been made
under the distribution, and in one case a bill of
Exchange payable in New \ ork, being placed
to the credit of th- owners, were taken in pay
ment for stock.
The sale that was made to Mr. Horace Smith
was founded on a negotiation which commenced
in July. The letter of the President to Mr. Smith,
accepting his proposition to purchase one hun
dred shares of stock, is dated 31st July, 1840. By
a mistake in the superscription, this letter re
mained in the post off.ee. The mistake was at
length discoveied. This caused a delay of the
transaction to the 2<th of October. 1 his state
ment is made because the dividend of the Staie
Bank, although unknown to the Board at the
time, was made a few days before th° date of
this transaction.
Very respectfully,
TOMLINSON FORT, Pres’t.
Bank Stocksold by the Central Bank of Georgia.
BANK STATE OF GEORGIA.
1840. June 18—S00 shrs sold Jus Smith, $30,000
July 3 —400 W. W. Gordon, 40,000
30— 50 H. Rozer 5,000
Aug. 13—17 W. B. 8u110ch,1,700
oo—sQ F # W. Heinneman,. •. .5,000
22—50 John Milieu, 5,000
25—20 Wimberly & Jones,. . .2,000
25—20 H. Frozen, 2,000
31— 68 C. A. Greiner, 6,800
31—10 G.T. Durtic, 1,000
Sep. 11—81 Hrnd & Scranton,. .. .8,100
11—46 Wimberly & Jones,. . .4,600
14— io Edward Thomas, 1,000
22—71 Kerrs & Hope, 7,100
28—50 W. W. Gordon, 5,000
Oct. B—2o Hand & Scranton,... .2,0i)0
10—160 R.R. Cuyler, 16,000
10—30 Wie. Bostwick 3,000
14—36 E. Withington, 3,600
17—30 Wm. Bostwick, 3,000
17—40 Gould & Bulkley,... .4,000
20— 10 Kerrs & Hope, 1,000
21— 40 Hard & Scranton,... .4,000
27—50 3 Horace Smith, 50 000
Nov. 13 —20 Wm. Bostwick, 2,000
16—5 C. S. Henry, 500
$212,800
planters’ bank of savannah.
June 5—340 shrs said Wm. Robinson, $27,200
5-r-660 J. W. Anderson, 52,800
80,000
BANK CF AUGUSTA.
Mar. 18—86 shs sold K. E. Cunningham, $8,600
Nov. 9—12 C. J. Jenkins, 1,200
9—12 G. W. Crawford,.... 1,200
11,000
Dollars, 303,800
Central Bank of Georgia, Nov. 21, 1840.
The above is a correct statement from the
books of this institution.
A. M. NISBET, Cashier.
We learn from an address by Bishop Smith
Superintendent of Public Schools in Kentucky,
the astounding fact that of the 140,000 children,
of the proper age to gc to school, only about 32,-
000 are receiving an education! He further
states that it costs about as much to educate the
32,000, under th epresent system, as it would to
educate the whole 140 000 under the Common
School system!
In one of the Circuit Courts the Judge ascer
tained that not one of fifteen persons summoned
as grand jurors could read or write his own name!
In another county, in a public assembly of about
fifty persons not one could be found capable of
reading and attest.ng an instrument of writing ’
This lamentable state of things is ascribed to
the “Charity System, by which all Who are not
able to educate their children have them educated
at the public expense”—which is not adapted to
the genius of ths people. “The proud-spirited
Kentuckian revolts,” it is said, “at the idea of re
ceiving the education of his children as a charity.”
And pray does not the “proud-spirited” freeman
of every Commonwealth revolt at the same ideal
The system has failed wherever it has been tried,
and Bishop Smith very properly urges Kentucky
to adopt the New England Common Sys
tem. —Newark Advertiser.
Vessel and Crew Lost. —We learn by the
Cleveland Herald of the 24th ult., that the Schoo
ner Gleavet, of Ohio City, Capt. Case, with a crew
of three men, left that port on the 28th Sept, with
a cargo of corn, for Kingston, U. C., since which
time she has not been heard of. She is supposed to.
have foundered, and all on board lost.]
Central Bank.
The committee to whom was referred the duty
of enquiring into the situation and management
of the Central Bank, and into the expediency of
repealing its charter, beg leave to
report:
We have chiefly confined our investigation to
the general management of the Bank since the
last session of the Legislature, and its situation
now, as compared with that period. We find
the capital of the Bank gradually wearing away,
under the .pressure of legislative appropriations
and its own ordinary expenses, which, if not ar
rested, will, in a few years, without the aid of
other specific legislation for that purpose, leave
hut little, except its debts, to exercise the finan
cial skill of its future guardians.
Your I committee regret exceedingly to find
that the debt due to the Phoenix Bank of New
York has not yet been paid ; and they are com
pelled to deem the reasons for the delay of pay
ment, given by the directors, as wholly unsatis
factory, and their conduct in relation to that debt
highly censurable. The credit of the Bank, the
good faith and honor of the State have been
wantonly sacrificed, it seems, for no better reason
than the high rate of exchange between Georgia
and New York, or in other words, which give a
much better idea of the truth of the case, the
credits of the Central Bank which its directors
put into circulation as money, were, in fact, !
worth 15 or 20 per cent, less than money. But
to allow the argument, as stated, its full force, it
was a question with which our creditor had no
concern. The Central Bank, by authority of
law, contracted the debt payable in New York.
The inconvenience of our complying with our j
contract, was not the fault of our creditor, nor j
is it a sufficient reason for us to violate that con- ■
tract. But the high rate of exchange, as it is
called, was not the real difficulty. That difficulty I
consisted in converting the credits of the Cen
tral Bank into money ; for money, we appre
hend, could have been transported from Georgia
to New York as cheaply during the present year
as it could when we contracted the present debt.
Upon this question there should be no compro
mise, no concession, no delay. We, therefore,
recommend that the debt be immediately paid;
that the funds provided for that purpose shall be
immediately remitted ; and that the deficiency be
raised from the sale of the stock owned by the
State in the Bank of Augusta and the Bank of
the State of Georgia.
The act of 21st December, 1839, altering and
amending the charter of the Central Bank, au
thorized the Directors to sell the stock owned by
the State in the Banks of Augusta, Darien,
Planters’ Bank Savannah and the Bank of the
State of Georgia, at not less than par value , and
directed that the money raised from such sale
should become a part of the capital stock of said
Bank. This section of the act, as you/ commit
tee believe, has been wholly evaded, to the great
injury of the public interest. Unless the plain
letter of the act had declared it, we could not
suppose that the Legislature intended to sell
sound secure Bank stocks, yielding eight per
cent, per annum for simple promissory notes
payable, in effect, in five annual instalments, and
bearing six per cent, interest. The actadmilsof
no such construction; yet the Directors of the
Central Bank first throw into circulation upon
such notes, their own credits, known at the time
to be from 12 to 20 per cent, below par, taking
specie as the basis, and then receive those credits,
thus depreciated, at par, for the Bank stocks
which they sold—thereby exhibiting a total dis
regard of the public interest, without a parallel,
i except in the act which clothed them with such
j power for mischief and the public injury. The
act, from its very language, contemplated that
those stocks should be sold for money, and that
money should be the basis of the issues of the
Bank, and a fund for their redemption.
Your committee find that the Directors have '
greatly enlarged their “Bill account,” if mere
promissory notes, payable at places other than i
their own counter, without an acceptance, nor
drawn against produce shipped, can be called
“bills.’’ That account has swollen, your com- |
mittee believe, beyond any former precedent in 1
that Bank; and it is a power liable to very great (
abuses, and ought to be restrained. A very salu- !
tary provision of the charter, which restricts the i
amount which shall be loaned to any one indi
vidual, is, by the exercise of this power, very ;
easily evaded. And we lind under this head, in- I
dividual accommodations ranging from 6,000 to
$12,500 ; and we find another fact by no means
favorable to this kind of business, that nearly one
fourth of the entire amount of bills are in suit,
notwithstanding a very large amount of them '
are not yet matured ; and unless the Bank shall j
be more fortunate in their bills yet to fall due,
their maturing will father enure to (he benefit of l
the legal profession than to the Bank.
The amount of promissory notes in suit is also j
very large, amounting to above $ 173,000, be-j
sides the vast amount due and not in suit. These j
facts show a want of punctuality without paral
lel in the history of banking, and cannot result |
otherwise than in ruinous losses to the Bank.
7 our committee find the Central Bank in pos
session of about $90,000 of the bills of the Da
rien Bank, which have long since ceased to an
swer any of the purposes of money, except at a
great depreciation, to which the State ought not
to submit—she being ultimately liable for the re
demption of seven-tenths of them, when the capi
tal of that Bank shall have been lost; if, indeed,
that yet remains to be done. We would recom
mend that the State exercise the right she re
tained in the charter of that Bank, to repeal the
same, put it in the hands of Commissioners, and
wind up its affairs as speedily as possible.
Prom the investigation which your committee
hayc given to this subject, they are clearly of
opinion, upon general principles, as well as from
the practical operations of the system, that the
charter of the Central Bank ought to be repealed.
We deem it unnecessary to enter at large into
the reasons which condemn the policy of that
act; and the more especially, as the report of the
Commissioners appointed, under the resolutions
of 1838, upon the Stale finances, and the protest
of those whaopposed the act of 1839, extending
the charter of the Bank, are within the possession
of this House, and, as your committee believe,
are conclusive upon this branch of the subject.
If those views and reasons needed confirmation,
your committee believe it is abundantly furnish
ed by the practical operation of the Bank since
the last session of the General Assembly. After
10 months operations, we find the Bank indebted
to bill-holders alone in nearly $1,000,000, with
out having paid out during that term, a much
greater amount than it received from its collec
tions from the former debtors of the Bank, and
the amount received from the sale of State
stocks, and other items of revenue, independent
of their own issues. It has been incurred chiefly
by lending its credit to individuals, and conse
quently it has scarcely any thing but its promis
sory notes, and the bills before described, with
which to redeem their issues, and finds itself
wtiolly unable to sustain its credit, even at its
present depreciation, without calling upon the
State to issue its bonds upon the faith of the
property of all the people of Georgia, to sustain
loans ot public credit to a very small portion of
those people. our committee are clearly of
opinion that these bonds ought not to be issued,
unless accompanied with such legislation as will
prevent tfye future recurrence of similar evils.—
Whenever it can be shown to be prudent and
sound policy to levy money out of one citizen’s
pocket, to loan to another certainly not more,
and probably much less meritorious, then ought
the policy of the Central Bank to be sustained,
but not till then. Your committee, therefore, re
commend the passage of a bill to repeal the act
of 1839, and to provide for the redemption of the
bilis of the Central Bank, &c.
From the Louisville Journal.
Premature Scramble for Office.
The following is from a New York letter of
the National Intelligencer:
“ I am sorry to state that an undignified and
unworthy scramble for place has already com
menced in this city. Men are going about get
ting other men to sign tlieir names to papers re
questing Gen. Harrison to give them such and
such an office ! If I know the character of that
well-schooled and well-disciplined man, whole
reams of paper will have no effect upon him in
the distribution of offices, and particularly when
they come from such a Babylon as this, where
the easiest way in the world is to copy the direc
tory entire, or to manufacture names at will. I
have alluded to tile subject, because no where
ought society to be agitated by tnis business of
getting names—a custom borrowed from the ene
my, and ending in no good—by which an ap
peal is made, not so much to men’s merits and
fitness, as to the row-dy-dow influences of Lo
cofocoism that we have just put down. A pret
ty spectacle, indeed, to throw the national offices
of this great metropolis into the pot-houses of
the streets, taking from them what belongs to the
whole republic—such lam sure the Whig prin
ciples of a new Administration can never tole
| mte !—The quicker the good sense of our friends
every where put such business down, the better.
Offices are not what we have scrambled for, but a
change of principles from a change of Govern
ment.”
It will be perceived, from the preceding extract
; that a disgraceful scramble has already com- i
j menced in New York city for the loaves and j
j fishes that are to be within the bestowal of Gen. |
: Harrison after the 4th of March next.. We have I
I but too much reason to fear that this premature j
and indecorous scuffle is by no moans confined to
that city.
That men who will indelicately thrust forward
their importunate pretensions to office are to be
found in all parties is to be expected. But we
do trust that no prominent or intelligent Whig
is giving them any countenance or sanction. If
there be any one ot the many abuses of power
by the predecessors of Gen. Harrison, which i
more than any other has received the condem- j
nation of the Whigs, it is that growing out of
the spoils principle. There is no other abuse,
for the reform of which they stand, as a parly,
more distinctly and unequivocally pledged. To
fulfil that pledge and to work that reform upon
right principles will be much the most delicate
and difficult of the duties of the new President.
It will be anything but an act of kindness, on
the part of his personal and political friends, to
aid in getting up a system of memorializing and
petitioning in behalf of particular individuals,
which will not only tend to disturb, but may pre
vent the calm dispassionate discharge of that du
ty, and which cannot be otherwise than person
ally most distressing and harrassing to him.
I or ourselves, we take the liberty to enter our
most earnest jrotest against having the new
President assailed with such wagon-loads of pe
titions for office, which cannot but serve to de
grade, in his estimation, the true motives for ac
tion of the petitioners, and make him think that
after having aided to elect him upon one set of
principle, they are base enough to try to instruct
him into the practice of the opposites of those
principles.
Such a course may serve to embarrass and
perplex the new President, as it undoubtedly will
tend to render his situation uncomfortable and
disagreeable: but he falls far short of the high
appreciation we put upon his character for integ
rity, if it can drive him from a proper into an im
proper course, and if it do not rather, from a gen
eral disgust produced by the whole of such a plan
of operations, create a bias in his mind prejudi
cial to all those who put forward their claims to
office in that manner.
I o the expectants of office themselves, we
now say, do not injure your claims, whatever
they may be, by a premature and indecorous
haste. Place no trust whatever in the length of
the list of signers to a petition. The longer it is
the stronger the ground for suspecting that the
applicant needs to be thus bolstered. A certifi
cate of character, qulification, and claims, from
two or three men personally known to the Presi
dent or one of the heads of departments, ought
to have, and no doubt will have, ten times the in
fluence of hundieds of names wholly unknown
to him or even mixed up with a few that are
known to him. There is some responsibility up
on two or three gentlemen who will unite in re
commending ain applicant to an office in their
neighborhood. There is no such responsibility
felt, nor does any such exist where a man barely
adds his name to a list of a hundred others, such
as most men are known to sign principally by
the fear of giving offence by refusing to sign.
Let it not be supposed for an instant from any
thing we have said above, that we are in favor of
having the whole of the present horde of office
holders, or even a majority of them, continued
in power. There are swarms in all parts of the
country, that owe their appointments to a re
morseless exercise of the proscriptive principle:,
there are swarms that have been guilty of per
sonal and political dishonesty and dishonor;
swarms that have aided to “ oring the patronage
of the Government into conflict with the freedom
of elections;” let all such be searched out and
removed at once from the stations which they
have no right to hold for a moment. Our aid
will be promptly and vigorously rendered in
searching them out and marking them for their
just fate. But,in the mean time, we beg all of
our political friends to respect themselves, to bear
in mind their past professions, and to do every
thing in their power towards aiding instead of em
barrassing the action of the new administration..
The Progress of Science.
We have read with pleasure in the Alexandria
Gazette, the Introductory Lecture delivered be
fore the Alexandria Lyceum, by Benjamin Hal
lowell. The following extracts from it, we are
persuaded, will be acceptable to our readers ;
“ When Piazza, a Sicilian Astronomer, disco
vered a new planet, on the first day of the pre
sent century, it seemed to predict, from such a
beginning, that this would be a century of disco
veries and inventions. Truly has this prediction
been verified. In every field of Nature, every
branch of Science, and every process of Art,
there has been almost a continual series of suc
cessive discoveries. In Astronomy, notwithstand
ing that, previous to this discovery of Piazzi, the
planet Herschell alone had been discovered since
the Christian era, or indeed, for an unknown
period before, yet, through the observations of
Olbers and Harding, three others have since been
added to the number of known primary planets
belonging to our system, so that, of the eleven
at this time known, four have been discovered
during the present century. Nor are these ad
vances in practical Astronomy, brilliant and in
teresting as they are, at all superior to the inves
tigations of La Place and others, during the
same period, in the physical department of this
science. By these the minutest irregularities of
movement, in any one of the planetary bodies,
is perfectly and familiarly explained, and its place
capable of being predicted, with unerring cer
tainty, for an unlimited period to come. Thus
do we seem to have attained to the summit of
this most noble science. The deflecting force of
the planets, the irregularities in the motions of
Saturn, and the inharmonious distance between
the planets Mara and Jupiter, all of which were
formerly sources of constant and inexplicable
difficulty with astronomers, are now perfectly
understood and harmonized; and, save the vain
search for the gravitating principle, which, as
the knowledge of it could not be rendered sub
servient to a single want, will in all probability,
forever remain concealed from human investiga
tion, scarcely a single observed celestial phenom
enon remains to be explained.”
“ But, interesting as is this persevering, may
I say railroad trait in the American character, it
is to be regretted that it is sometimes attempted
to be introduced where it can never be success
fully applied. However much may be achieved
over material objects, and in physical relations,
by indomitable perseverance and locomotive en
ergy; and although these may have an elfect to
stimulate to increased activity the powers of the
mind, yet true mental discipline and culture are
not to be best attained with so great a rapidity.
The consequence of an attempt to crowd into
the minds of youth, in such quick succession,
the entire circle of Science and Literature, and to
finish the course of study at so early an age, has
had the effect to lower the standard of literary
eminence in our country, until the Diploma in
Law, in Medicine, or as a College graduate, has
ceased to be evidence of any unusual proficiency.
What is wanted is a change in the models of our
Institutions of Learning. They are at present
very generally modelled after corresponding in
stitutions in Europe, where the circumstances of
those who avail themselves ot their advantages
are materially different. We are a working, ac
tive. business people, and we need institutions of
learning for our youth adapted to this our pecu
liar characteristic, where the innate energy which
they possess will neither be stifled, nor directed
to objects where it cannot be successfully applied.
Look at the men most noted for enterprize and
business in this or in any other community where
you are acquainted, and see what proportion of
them are graduates of a College, or, indeed, ob
seive the comparatively small number of College
graduates that are successful in business, and it
then ceases to be a wonder that it has become so
general a sentiment that an education disquali
fies for ordinary pursuits. But assuredly, a pro
per education cannot disqualify lor business; but
on the contrary, it must necessarily be a great
auxiliary in any pursuit whatever. The defect is
not in the knowledge possessed, but in the sys
tem by which it has been acquired, and in the
habits and notions that have been acquit ed with
it. Habits of piactical industry, without which
no business can be carried on to full advantage,
must be acquired, if at all, in the early periods of
life; but at this very period, the youth in our
institutions of learning, are placed where they
are not only generally deprived of an opportunity
of increasing their habits of industry, and bodily
activity and energy, but also likely to lose any
that they may have previously possessed. We
need institutions of learning adapted to the ge
nius of a business people, an American commu
nity, where the bodily and mental powers, shall
have an equal opportunity to a perfect develop
ment, as there is, in after l.fe, an equal demand
upon them in the wants of their countrymen.
We should combine education with business,and
a means of cultivating habits of industiy. lam
aware of difficulties attending an effort of this
kind ; that the few experiments that have been
made in this country have resulted rather unfa
vorably, and that seme of those who have been
inclined to the view theoretically, have yet been
apprehensive of its practical results. That there
might be difficulties at first in changing the sys
tem, I readily admit; but that they are insupera
ble, I do not believe. I entertain too high an
opinion of American ingenuity, that opinion
based upon what it has already achieved, to deubt
for a moment, if such a system of education as
has been referred to would be as decidedly bene
ficial as there is every reason to believe it would,
their entire ability to carry it readily into success
ful operation. For the failure or comparative
want of success of most of the ‘ Manual Labor
Schools,’ as they have been called, there is a
sufficient number of causes that may he assigned,
without bringing us to the conclusion that Edu
cation cannot succcesfully be combined with
business pursuits. The term manual labor itself,
as applied to these institutions, was unfortunate.
There is too generally associated with it an idea
of degradation—that they are a kind of juvenile
work-hoose. Again : there has been too close a
calculation of dollars and cents at the commence
ment, and because the institution would not yield
a profit at first, it has been given up in despair;
when, from the nature of things, several years
must necessarily elapse from the commencement
of such an instilution, before it could possibly get
into successful operation. It appears to me, too,
and I say it with great deference to the judgment
ot those who have been engaged in the manage
ment of institutions of this Kind, that too little
attention has been paid in the government of
them to the studying of human nature, particu
larly in regard to the minds of youth. The
young mind requires for its vigorous development
the entire direction and control of its own pow
ers as far as this can properly be admitted, and
the great art of education consists in being able
to hold out inducements for the youth volun
tary to direct their efforts in away it is de
sired they should. Every one knows with what
cheerfulness and vigor a youth, even one many
times that will engage relu. tantly in what he is
directed to do, will enter upon his plays and
voluntary amusements; that the bodily exertion
there uselessly employed would, under different
and proper direction, be capable es accomplishing
important purposes. Now let us reflect what it
is that constitutes the difference between work
and play. It is not the amount of laoor. But
that is play, no matter how hard it is, or what
amount of bodily exertion it requires which is
done under our own direction, and of our own
choice ; that is work, no matter how easy, that is
done by the requisition and under the direction
of another. If, then, we can hold out induce
ments for the youth to direct their energies into
a particular channel during the hours of recrea
tion from study, which I believe to be entirely
practicable, we thereby obtain all the benefits to
the discipline of the mental powers, that result
from the exercise of their felt-free agency; we
obtain the full development of their physical
powers, the knowledge of some business pursuit,
the addition of that much active labor to the
operative business of the country, the superior
health, and, above all, the youth will have ac
quired those habits of voluntary and practical
industry which will render idleness a burden
to them, and business a pleasure. Besides
it would eventually have a tendency to cheap
en education, and thereby place it more
within the means of every one. Who can cal
culate the full amount of benefit that would re
sult to a people whose youth should receive such
a system of education ! It would be immense,
especially in a country of such vast extent as
ours, and where industry and habits of business
aie so continually in demand. And nothing, I
am persuaded, is required to secure so desirable
an object but to have it judiciously commenced.”
“ The use of the Gin, in seeding cotton, the
invention of the ingenious Eli Whitney, of New
Haven, Connecticut, although partially intro
duced towards the close of the last century, was
not brought into general use till during the pre
sent. *1 he effects of this invention upon the
agricultural interests of the Southern States, or,
indeed, upon the world at large, can scarcely be
calculated. Previous to the use of this machine,
it was the labor of one hand for a whole day to
separate a single pound of clean staple from the
seed. The lands were of comparatively little
value, and a general gloom covered the agricul
tural prospects of the whole South, when, by one
of those mysterious coincidences of circumstances
for administering to the necessities of mankind,
which give so strong an evidence of the immedi
ate superintendance of a kind and careful Provi-
donee, Eh \\ hilney, a young
and genius, who had seemingly
very purpose, was thrown aln f *‘
the most conspicuous planters of
South Carolina by the kindnes of a , Ut * <W
sole object was to benefit a worthy jfr’S
friendless and penniless young man * 3
“ How often has it occured that a sintrl
kindness, flowing from a heart filled with I 40101
lent desires for the good of a single L-T°*
has, m accordance with the true
goodness itself, spread aboard till h . Cl * of
ted, with its blessed influence the h a , Pr °® 0 -'
thousands. To the kindness of #f
Gen. Greene, .he lady alluded to. with . 91
M h.tney had accidentally become accli "S
travelling from Connecticut to Georgia
Southern country indebted for this°in’» ■* ll “
machine. 1 lo.e to reflect upon and oC ‘ “f M '
lhi» single act of woman’s kindness hi!
blessed, and how many thousands hav t
made happier and more comfortable by ..
circumstances were these ; Whitney Wa ‘
to Georgia to fulfil an engagement with a
man of that State, to become a private tU t
his family. On his way thither, he was *l*
erably indisposed, and, accidentally
in company with the widow of General (j l#g
his indisposition excited her sympathies I*?!’
were increased by the circumstance that Jk
he arrived in Georgia, he found that the
man with whom he was engaged had emplo
another person, and he was, consequently in w
feeble health, without employment, and’ a , n
strangers. She kindly invited him to her r°°*
dence near Savannah, showed him the attenr^
[ of a mother, ami eventually, to bring him i"?
employment, introduced him to the ronsnic u mu
planters accidentally assembled at her ho °*
Majors Forsyth, Brenner, and Pendleton *!*'
had served under her husband in the Hevoluti
ary war, as an ingenious person, who could? 1
move the very difficulty in regard to seeding J
ton, which he afterwards so successfully accorn
plished. Now, was this all accidental, or 1
we not rather trace in it the verification of th
declaration in Scripture, ‘ Man deviseth hi,
but the Lord directeth his steps ?’ ” - ’ a
Egypt.
Below is an extract from a letter to the
of the Boston Morning Post, from a young Boi
lonian, which will well repay the reader for the
time bestowed upon its perusal.
Grand Cairo, March 15, 1840,
Fu I end Gulin;— From this far-off pl aC e--ih(
capital of the ancient Pharaohs—the city 0 f Sala
din, the foe of Richard Cceur de Lion—within
sight of and almost under the mighty walls ofth*
Pyramids—l send you a hearty shake of the
hand. You know something of my former route,
The facilities afforded to me in travelling in Ria.
sia enabled me to see the country more thoroughly
perhaps, than almost any foreigner who hasgou
before me; but whether I make any use of the
information which I have collected, I havenotu
yet determined. I was in Turkey and Svriadur
ing a most interesting period—just when the
death of the Sultan Mahmoud had occurred, and
when the disaffected in all parts of the country
were rife for rebellion and outrage, and also when
the army of Ibrahim Pacha, triumphant over that
of the Sultan, was sweeping through these parti
of Syria which he had subjugated, and restoring
order by chopping off the heads of the disaffected!
Passing through Syria I went to Damascus, and
thence to Nazareth, Samaria, the sea of Galilee,
the river Jordan, and thence to Jerusalem. lake
visited Bethlehem, Bethany, and all the places el
interest mentioned in the life of Christ. I ban
gone through the whole length and breadth «f
the Holy Land—that hallowed soil where
“trod those blessed feet,
Which eighteen hundred years ago were aaikd
For our redemption, to the cruel cross.”
In one of the rooms of the Latin Monastery at
Jerusalem, my heart leapt with joy at seeing thru
copies of the Boston Morning Post.' An English
traveller who had been at Jerusalem about three
months before me, had brought them with him
from Malta, and with most Christian-like kind
ness, had left them behind at the Monastry, to
gladden the eyes of some future pilgrim. In look
ing over these papers I observed an editorial arti
cle in which you alluded to my humble self, and
return you many thanks for the flattering notice.
I have also received here in Cairo a copy of th*
Post of 15th September, containing my letter to
you from the Caucasus. And now to Egypt—
here I have travelled thoroughly ; 1 have been
through its whole extent, from North to South,
and, leaving the Nile, have passed on beyond the
frontier of Egypt into Nubia. Egypt now is cer
tainly one of the most interesting countries that«
traveller can visit: he there sees before him the
evidences that men of all ages have trodden upon
that soil. Her mighty temples carry him backu
a people from whom the knowledge and art which
are now diffused all over Europe and the world
orignally flowed ; he sees there the towers of Ro
man occupation—the ruins of baths and templet
built under the emperors; he has, then, again, |
the Saracenic architecture of the middle ages, the !
memorials of Saladin and his followers. Eviden
ces of the temporary occupation by the Frencfl
are not wanting; and then again the great works
of the present, which are going on under Mo
bamed Ali, are continually before his eyes.
At one moment you meet with an ancient
temple, which for more than 3,000 years has de
fied all the ravages of time, and close by its side
you see some modern improvement—-a sugar
mill or a cotton fabric, placed there bv the Pacha,
who, by introducing the arts of civilization among
a oarbarous people, is doing one great thing to
wards making them happy. In no other place
in the world do you see such a mingling of th*
past and the present; the monument of antiquity
seems literally to be shaking hands with the worb
of our own time. I spent many days at TheUi
but the glory of the t% city of the hundred gatul
which Homer sung, has long since departed. Th*
men of Thebes have gone, but whey have left eter
nal monuments behind, and “Memnon’a statu*
which at sunrise played,” still stands as irmly on
its colossal pedestal as when thousands flocked *
out from those gates to listen to the music of it*
morning song. And that other statue of iramens*
size, which was said to throw back the rays #t r
the rising sun from its polished surface, as if k 1
were of molten gold, also still remains, though
fallen to the ground and broken in its fair proper
lions. One wanders through the immense teo* ,
pies that still remain, and hears nothing, unless
it be that his own voice or footsteps start up
echoes in the hall of a hundred columns. o°*
of these temples has a hall alone in which are »
hundred and fifty columns, many of them tweh*
feet in diameter and of a goodly height. Mob*' I
med Ali has caused two of the largest tempi**
that were filled nearly to the roof with earth, w
be entirely cleansed, and they are now as clear# 1 t
when services were performed in them of old. A
decree has recently been issued by the Pack*#
prohibiting the export of antiquities from
country.
Egypt has been in fact, for the last forty ye***
over-run by diggers for statues, coins, sphynxef*
&c.; but the Pacha now speculates, upon m*
stock of columns, obelisks, &c., to ingratiate him*
self with the European Powers. Cleopatr#*
Needle, which stands upon the sea shore u«# r
Alexandria, was given to the English, but they
hesitated about the expense of bringing it
and there it remains. I think we might make #
good speculation by swapping our Bunker B»
Monument for it. On the 13th of November'
took to my boat,” over which the “star-spangi*
banner” had been floating for more than a '
and while
—“My swan-like yacht
Was gliding down the gleaming > T d*