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i WHITTEN EXPBXS.-LT FOB THE ATTANtA HERALD .\
MARCEL’S PORTION.
A NOVEL IN THREE PARTS.
BY S A.MJY DeTAVARKS.
Mr. Sniff was rather confused. He had I «P back as have yon in Iny office for
hoped, not only to gain Belle’s confidence and !'■ w ^^y*' c ! u . r b°>irs longer. Go.
win her over to Christianity, but also to be- With tins forcible expression of his con-
comeher protector against Mr. Van Dusen. tempt for Mr. Sniff the rich man again threw
Instead of finding her a weak woman he had himself into his; chair, hoisted his legs upon
met with a person of strong and resolute | the table and lit a cigar. But when Mr. Sniff
*. .. i . , . ° a , . 1 Viorl loft flio ronm Vita Innlf f hfl PlOBf IHim IYA-
Entered according to Act of Congress, by the Herald
Publishing Cowfant, in the office' of the Libra
rian at Washington.
CHAPTER VII—(CONTINUED.)
I mind, who neither aBked his advise nor took
I it when offered.
I “Perhaps I am wrong,” he said, after read
ing the contents of the letter, “But are you
; not acting hastily. Think of the scandal a
i fulfilment of you threat will make.”
■■ “I am the best judge of that,” she returned.
I do not wish your advice or opinion. You
are paid to perform certain services. Per
form them and do not interfere one way or
the otiier, in matters thAt do not concern
yon.”^H
“Very well,” replied Mr. Van Dusen, who
then added: “By the way, have you those
memorandums about you that I gave you
yesterday?”
“Yes, Sir; they are in my pocket,” he an
swered.
“Let me have them,” said his employer, “I
want to make some corrections. I am afraid
that fellow Smartin is trying to get the best
^Mn SDiff thrust his hand in his pocket and j G °° d **
pulled oat several papers which he^ laid be- j sh y r g Diff w n0 othe ’ recourse than to
Mr. Sniff took up his hat to leave.
**My interest,’'said he, “in the well being
of a fellow creature prompted me to speak as
I have. Beyond the present there is a future.
I aid you, not so much for the money you
pay, as for the good of society which has been
outraged in you.”
She moved her hand to command silence.
“Leave me,” she said, “I wish no sermons.
had left the room, he took the cigar from be
tween his lips and fell to thinking.
“What the devil can Belle be up to,” he
soliloquised. “Confound the woman. I
never was so bothered by any person in my
life. The idea of setting that despicable fel
low to watch me, means that she intends
never to lose sight of me again. Well, she
gave me six months and I’ll give her the
same time, and then—”
Here Mr. Van Dusen took up her letter and
read it.
“Bah, the same old threat,” he said, light
ing a match and destroying the missive.
CHAPTER VUL
MB. SNIFF, WITH HIS FAMILY, ATTENDS A PBAY-
EB-MEETING, ENTERS UPON HIS NEW DUTIES
AND HAS ANOTHER INTEBVIEW WITH
BELLE.
One week after Mr. Sniff retirfed from the
services of Mr. Van Dusen, he brought his
t... Vi. ^mnlovcr 'who merely nodded and omu u»u iiu uuic. »«««—-- ——- ~ ; family to town for the purpose of attending a
resumed the P pe'rn.4l of the Consol, the leader j '«‘ ve > muoh h j£?f“uell^ On\rnv!n« at I I’™yer-meeting called for the purpose ofpray-
n-Wh oreaitv interested him character exhibited by belle. Gn ®. rn ' ins at ing for the souls oi some too-zealous Pions
“There 8 is nothing else 1 can do for von be- lhe office ft gllmce at Hiram told him some- F dg who in cn deavonng to persuade cer-
fore l leave -’oteervea Mr Snifl ! ‘bing had gone wrong ?*e. tain of the niggers to burn down their mas-
“Xofhino Be sure to return bv three ” ! s< ’* red ftnd perplexed as he stood at the door, ter , g houses and murder the inmates, were
LeavLig him Mr. Sniff passed Lough the scratching btahwdiwith*ne hand,j detected, arrested and promptly lynched,
office and after cautioning Hiram to copy sev
eral papers before his return, and to make a
note of all the persons that called upon his
employer, entered the street and stood waiting
for the arrival of an omnibus. In those days
bing the post with a new knife held in the | -J--J ns j aw irssne-s on the part of the Slave-
other. . . ; holding Aristocrats, who could not perceive
“Wbat is the matter; Mr. Sniff inquired. ; tbe pminnthropv of the purpose designed,
“The very devil is to pay, he began but I d ‘ wete indisposed to lose their valuable
before he could say another word^ Mr. Snm ; maus j onSi to say nothing of their more vain
'the luxury of street cars, with their crowded office. 5 Goi^to towX Z \ *!?. the
passengers and disagreeable odors had not ; fa Ue took dQwn a , strap of Ieather
yet oeen introduced. The old fashioned orn- j on u and adm inistered many
mbus with its frightful jolt was the only pub- j neDhew
lie vehicle of transportation through Jthe ; ^ . g da , y ^ owe to t he dead,” he said,
streets, exceptiug, of course, tbe cabs. But
r ™ ■^Divine the strup, 4 ‘that you shall not use
Sniff wasneverkuown to patronise a cab. PJ ^ P’w^t w * Bld brother Nasal
Not that his circumstances prevented his en-j“«. { be h kn “ w that yon addressed me as you
joying the luxury, for during many years
labor he had laid aside some money and was
the possessor of a neat villa standing on four
acres fronting the nver, and the next place to
Mr. Van Dusen’s country residence. He was,
however, an economical man and had repeat
edly been heard to assert that he would not
be guilty of the extravagance of a cab.
Presently an omnibus came in sight which
he hailed, entered, paid his fare, and took a
seat in one corner, where he indulged in
thought until the residence of Bell was reach
ed. This was not the first time Mr. Sniff had
embarked in a purely moral speculation, Dut
it was the first in which his employer was
concerned. He had long fait great doubts of
that gentlemans implicit obedience to all the
commandment’s. He had even heard of his
affairs of gallantry, and when, on one occa
sion, Mr. Van Dusen happened to ride over
to his villa, during his absence, and (poke a
few words to the wife of his bosom, (a tall,
spare woman with an angular face and horny
red hands), the immaculate Snifl became
alarmed for the virtue of Lis better half and
forbid her ever receiving Mr. Van Dusen
again. He had told her.of the affair with
have. I must teach you, young man, a
lesson. *
“Leave that boy alone. Sniff, and come
here,” exclaimed the voice of Mr. Van Dusen
in an angry tone, from within, at which the
pious uncle administered a parting blow and
hastened to the presence of his superior.
Mr. Van Dusen was standing near the win
dow on which his left arm rested. In his
right hand was a folded bit of paper which
he held extended before him. His face was
dark and wore an angry look.
“Sniff,” he said, “I always thought you a
hypocrite, but I never knew before that you
were a scoundrel. This morning I asked you
if you kuew what had become of the woman
that called to see me and you said that you
did not. Not three hours afterwards you
placed before me a package of memorandums
at the bottom of which was this letter—from
her.”
As he spoke he threw the paper before Mr.
Sniff, who stooped and picked it up. It was
Belle’s letter in answer to his communication
of the morning.
“And so you have been playing the spy on
Mr. Van Dusen continued, “I hope you
Belle and had duly warned her of the sinful- , Mr * va “’T V T 1 ■it
, , .' J , . j j , i have been well paid for your services. But it
nese of humanity. IV hen she suggested that unnec P esBary . You could tell that
woman nothing that I would not tell her my-
he would be placed in an awkward position
if Mr. Van Dusesn learned of his connection
with the betrayed woman, Mr Sniff had
sharply rebuked his wile for her lack of
Christian couiage and charity. Still, truth
to tell, as he sat in the omnibus the thought
would come whether Belle was not a very
bad woman, after all. Would he not serve a
moral purpose by warning Mr. Van Dusen of
her whereabouts?
self. Did she let you know what her busi
ness with me was? Perhaps, not. W ell, I’ll
tell you. That woman was once my mistress;
and she has taken a notion in her head
that I ought to marry her. Now, what have
you to say for yourself ?”
Had Mr. Van Dnsen been more brief in his
remarks, Mr. Sniff would have been unable
■to say anything for himself, as the 6udden-
By this time the omnibus had gone two or , — ^ attack had thrown his mind into
VU11U ALISS I ,. , _ T»„a A- .1 V.o/1
three blocks beyond the house in wb
■r - - . • v xr c -«■ disorder. But as the speaker went on he had
£XTthe leather string’and soon alighted. ' collected his thoughts and was ready with an
“I left this letter before you on purpose,”
he replied.
“You utter a falsehood,” said Mr. > an
Dusen. “You had no idea of leaving it.’ ,
Mr. Sniff clasped his hands together and
“I’ll think over this,” he muttered as he
walked along. “I must not fall a prey to_ a
designing woman. It may be 1 hat Mr-Van
Dusen would prefer me to aid him in escap
ing her toils. Ah, this world, this world.”
Matilda admitted him on his arrival at the ^bem to his heart,
house, which was located in a respectable, «-i left it there,” he continued; “I left it
though retired part of the city. He was there ’ oeeauge x felt that the time had come
shown in the parlor where Belle sat with his when cou j d no i ODger remain together. 1,
letter in her hands, looking, if anything, y an Dusen, have a character to preserve,
paler than when she parted with her child, , W jj en i Bee ft y 0UD g woman betrayed by my
and with face calmer and sterner. Without | em pi OV er, I think it time to consider whether
noticing his salutation she entered upon the ; my du * ty doe8 DOt comp€ i me to leave him.
subject of his visit. i It becomes a matter of seif respect; itbe-
1 ‘I cannot understand why Mr. \ an Dusen . comc8 a question of Christian duty; it be
comes a question of right.”
! “Is it a matter of duly for you to become a
>inan?*’ asked Mr. Van Dusen
“1 repeat, yon are a scoundrel,
should have inquired about me,” she said, ! a
“and I have sent for you to learn why he
should have done so. I do not believe he de-, .. -r
sire9 to see me, although—although.” And ' fP?.'^ w ??? an .
she fell to musing.
of knowing of your movement* as y«ou are of haid names Mr -J.an Dusen no hard
knowing of his. I do not pretend to know j namea, ll 5° u j’ ea *• ... . ’\ -
k r nnnvjflA i a •nd-1” member that all of the quilt is with you. Il
—j y 0 u h ftd ft conscience I would «sk you: Who
; is the scoundrel in this businet-s ?’ T
1 ‘There is not the slightest occasion for you
to know it,” she interrupted coldly. “It ap
pears singular to me that Mr. Van Dusen
should have suddenly sent for you to ask if
you knew where I was. Can he be aware
that 1 employ you to watch his movements?”
Mr. Sniff winced and moved uneasily in
his seat.
“Do not use that term,” he said gravely,
“in connection with my services. As I told
you at the start, nothing but a firm conviction
that I am serving a moral cause makes me do
as I am doing.”
“That is not an answer to my question,”
she remarked quietly.
“Can be be aware of the interest I take in
your case?’ observed Mr. Sniff. “Why,
bless me, not at all. It is quite impossible
for him to know.”
Mr. VanDusen moved a few steps towards
him.
“I’ll speak if you kill me,” said Mr. Sniff,
heroically placing the table between the two,
and looking behind him to see if the door was
open. “You seduce this girl, and when she
appeals to you to marry her and legitimize
your child, what course do you pursue ? Do
you lend a favorable ear to her appeal? No;
you turn her from you and order me never
again to admit her into your presence. She
pleads with me to aid her. Could I, as a
father with daughters—small it is true, but
still daughters—refuse ? Could I, as a Chris
tian man, turn her away ?
By this time Mr. VanDusen had recovered
his temper and thrown himself upon a chair,
Theu he mart be informed somehow that whlah r> e looked up at the speaker
I am still in town watching him. What he
means I cannot now imagine. Perhaps he
has an idea of getting the child in his pos
session. Y'ou heard him threaten to take it.
Perhaps he wishes to put me in & lunatic
asylum, (she gave a loud, bitter laugh). Y'ou
heard that too. The child is beyond his
reach : he has no legal claim to it”
“You have not thought,” observed Mr.
Saiff, “that Mr. Van Dusem’s name has re
cently been spoken of in connection with the
position of representative in Congress. He
belongs to a party noted for its strict morali
ty and he may wish to prevent you from
making any disclosures likely to affect his j
political prospects.”
So out of pure philanthropy you entered
into an alliance with her against me,” he re
marked. “Pooh, Sniff, your affectation of
morality and religion don’t deceive me. I
know that woman too well to believe that she
ever asked your aid. But I am not afraid of
her. I shail dismiss you because I will have
no miserable spies about me. Here is a
cheque for your month’s salary and that of
your nephew. Never let me see you cross
the threshbold of my door again. ”
“There is no prospect of that” returned
Mr. Sniff, “I hope, «r, that I know how to
keep away from evil associate™. ”
“As for the woman.” Mr. VanDusen went
You can tell her that I laugh at all her
If th/t i« the purpose, he will fail,” ahe ! « fforta 10 me - Tell her that if she at-
ii-a tiT _ r , - I , i.mnta to foree herself into DQV oresence
replied, “I care nothing for wbat the world
may aaj of me. If joa wish to know it, mj
purpose is to injure that man; to follow Lim
down to tbe death. If I can blast his pros
pects I shall do it. Anything that will thwart
his ambition or his purpose I will not hesitate
at.”
“Pardon me the liberty,” seid Mr. Sniff,
“Your remarks are unchristian. But you are
a Catholic,’’and the good Man sighed/
“Mr. Van Dusen must know that I am
here,” Belle continued, “and you must tell
him so.”
“Great Heaven! madam,” exclaimed Mr.
Sniff, “that is impossible. Think of my
character aa a member of the church. What
would be said if it was kaown that I was on
terms of acquaintance with a wo—lady who—”
“la infinitely your superior in every reepect,
Sir,” she interrupted haughtily, and she im
mediately added, “Pshaw, it would be folly
to quarrel with you. If you cannot tell him
1 am in town, I will write him. Matilda,
bring my desk.”,
The desk being brought she sat before it
and wrote a brief letter which she enclosed
in an envelope and addreaeed to Mr. Van
Duaen.
“You must let him have this,” ahe said,
handing Mr. Sniff the letter, “It ie not sealed.
You may read its contents. If Mr. Van Du
sen wishes he can accept my challenge. In a
few days I shall leave Goram, to be absent
util October. Any communication you may
wish to make me must be addressed to Mr.
Adam Fradden, my business agent here.
That is all I have to aay, Sir.”
tempts to force bereelf into my presence
again, I will have her placed into a lunatic
asylum. There now, you can go. If I catch
you spying me I will break a horsewhip across
your shoulders.”
Mr. Sniff took up the cheque that lay on
the table and at the same time placed Belle's
note before Mr. Van Dusen.
“I would have saved you from barm” he
said, “but your violent temper leads yon to
destruction. It makes me sad to think that
if I am asked why I left your services, I most
say that it was because of vonr immorality,
because of your guilty violation of God's
commandment, and because of your outrages
npon society. But I hope you will repeat.
If, in years to come, you can look me in the
face and say. ‘Sniff, I have sinned and re
pented’ none wili take you by the hand sooner
than I wilL Until then, I must hold you up
as a warning to my children and to my
nephew—”
“Leave me, leave me, yon infernal hypo
crite.” exclaimed Mr. Van Dusen, starting
from bis chair. “Take my advice and mind
yonr own business. I can get the best of any
such punny wretch as you. Suppose you
were to go on the streets and tell the public
the worst thing you could of me, who would
believe you ? And if even people did believe,
what difference would it make? Pshaw, man,
do you not know aa well as I do that men who
have done worse things than 1 ever have done,
hold up their heads with tbe highest io this
republic and fill the moat exalted stations tn
the land ? Go, now, and never let me see
yon sgsin. I’d ss soon have a snake running
among the Pious Frauds. Large meetings
were held denouncing the execution as an act
of unparalelled barbarity, though nothing
was said of the plot at arson and assassi
nation. It was a doctrine of the Pious
Frauds that the end aimed at justified the
means used. To burn and murder in behalf
of human freedom, and for the pnrpoae of
carrying out a great moral idea, was, accord
ing to their ethics, at once praiseworthy and
commendable. To lynch several philanthro
pists in the-cause of self-preservation, was
the very essence of barbarism. The rule of
justification was not found to work both ways.
Still, this was nothing more than human na
ture. It is very proper for me to punch my
neighbor's head when he offends me, but I
cannot conceive the propriety of his punch
ing my head when I offend him. Such is the
nature of man, and of such was the ethics of
the Pious Frauds. .
But, on the day in question, when Mr. Sniff
brought his family down from the villa on the
river, in a buggy of ancient appearance—so
ancient looking in fact that it might easily
have passed for the original vehicle which was
first landed on Plymouth Bock, by the re
spected progenitors of the gentleman—and
drawn by a venerable horse, his (not the
horse (general outfit excited the satirical views
of numberless ungodly boys who did not hes
itate to express their opinions regarding, not
only the obnoxious buggy and horse, but also
the pious Sniff and his religions family. And
to tell the truth nothing but the most power
ful conviction of their moral worth, could
have possibly elicited an admiring sentence
about them. Mrs. Sniff was a bony angular
woman, with gray eyes and brown hair slight
ly sprinkled with the tint of age, a pair of
thin lips and large red hands which looked
as if they had been gradnally reduced to a prop
er scouring hardnees. From the peculiar cast
of her features one would have supposed that
she had been pertinaciously engaged in
snubbing her husband, and be in snubbing
her from tho day of their marriage. She was
attired in a style of severe simplicity, which
aided materially in imparting to her entire
figure an air of sanctity not nulike that worn
by the last witch burned at the stake in Con
necticut. It is but due to Mrs. Sniff to state
that she bore a reputation for religious fervor
amounting almost to austerity.
The children composed three girls, aged
twelve, ten and six years respectively, and two
boys, aged fourteen and eight years. All
wore moral, pious looks, and all were us thin
as if thev had been fed from their births on
praver books and tracts, which, though ex
cellent food for the soul, are not to be recom
mended for tho stomach. A11 were pale,
sharp featured children, who eyed the lruit
stalls with a longing gaze, as if apples and
peaches were luxuries rarely indulged in by
them. As they rode along the street, Mr.
Sniff did not fail to bid them take warning by
the ragged and girls on the sidewalks.
“Where do they get their money from ? ”
asked Jerusha, tbe eldest daughter, as she
saw several of the urchins purchase some
irnit.
“Money, -Jerusha!” said Mr. Sniff reproach-
fullv. “ How many times have I spoken to
you about thinking of money ? ’’
“Do. for gracious sakes, leave the girl alone,
Mr. Sniff,” put in his amiable lady. “ She ain't
said any harm that I know of. Leave her
be.” .
Mr. Sniff turned short, and would certainly
have retorted sharply, had not the baggy came
in contact with a grocer's wagon, which nearly
upset it. The sudden shock quite drove the
answer from his mind, and before he could
collect his ideas again the Church of the Pil
grims was reached, and the happy family
were received with demonstrations of pleasure
by the Beverend Mr. Mobtwanger, the fa
mous Pious Fraud preacher, whose Sunday
Sermons were noted for their eloquence, and
I the applause they invariably received.
“And how are you brother Sniff,” said the
holy man; “and how are yon, Mrs. Snifl;
and the children, are they well too? I felt
certain that it you heard the news you
would be here. Oh Lord, how long shall thy
fettered children suffer ?” And he clasped
his hands together and gazed reflectively at a
spider spinning its web on the ceiling of the
portico.
Mr. and Mis. Sniff shook their heads sug
gestively.
“And to think,” continued the Kev. Mr.
Mobtwanger, “only to think that a member
of Congress could be found to justify the
murder. Is it not mockery to call the man
Honorable? Ah, my dear friends, what a
load must be on the conscience of Gustave
Laurissini ?”
Mr. Sniff started and became red in the
face.
“Has he justified the deed of blood?
asked Mr. Smffi
Before the preacher could reply several
ladies and gentlemen, including Mr. Green-
mount and his estimable lady, arrived and
drew his attention fiom the speaker. Pres
ently the entire party entered the church
which was already nearly filled with Pious
Frauds gathered togerther to pray for the
souls of the martyrs.
Ascending the pulpit, Rev, Mr. Mob-
twaDger kneeled npon a cushion placed be
hind tbe desk, rested his elbows on the top,
clasped hie hands together, then, taking a
glance at the congregation and rolling his
eyes, said, “Brethren, let us pray.” The con
gregation accordingly knelt and theu the
preacher closed his eyes and prayed.
•“Oh, Lord, God,” said he, swaying his
body to and fro, “We are assembled here, to
day, for a holy purpose, as thou knowest well.
The lives of thy servants have been taken by
the ungodly, and the blood of the martyred
dead crieth alond for vengeance. But for thy
forbearance the guilty deed could never have
been committed. Why, O’Lord, didst though
look calmly on while the hand of the de
stroyed was placed heavily upon the children
of Israel? Why didst thou not launch the
thunderbolts of Heaven upon the beads of
the guilty? How long! Oh Lord, shall the lash
of the slaveholder fall upon the shoulders of
the slave? Lo, these many years hare we
prayed and our prayers have been unanswered.
When, oh when, shall this iniquity ceaae?
We do not upbraid thee, moet Powerful Crea-
ator, but our hearts grow sick with waiting.
Could our will bs all powerful, long since
would the crime and sin ©f Human Slavery
have been swept away from the face of the
earth. But, O-o-o-o-h, L-o-r-r-r-d, we ac
knowledge that thy will and not ours must
govern the Universe. We, thy humble ser
vants, therefore beseech thee to hearken to
our prayers. Receive into thy bosom the
souls of those heroic followers of Christ who
have so recently fallen into the hands of their
adversaries. Confound the machinations of
the Slaveholding Aristocracy! Open wide the
jaws of Hell to receive their sinful spirits!
And by thy strong arm aid that great Party,
that fights thy battles here on earth, even, oh
Lord, the party of the Pious Frauds. Turn
thine ear, Oh Lord, away from the Repeaters
and let them be scattered over the face of the
earth. We know. Oh Lord, that our cause is
a holy and righteous one, therefore aid us.
We feel certain that the hour of our triumph
has come, therefore delay no longer. Thou
knowest well, Most Beneficent Providence,
the danger of delay. Thou knowest, even as
we know, that the Slaveholders have sinnep
beyond redemption, therefore, do not hes
itate to deliver them into our hands? Oh,
Heavenly Father we have Truth and Righte
ousness npon our side. Tempt ns not then
to lose Faith in Thee, lest thy kingdom npon
earth should fail; but hearken to this our
prayer with suen promptness as the exigen
cies of the hour require. Oh, Lord, the day |
for the elections are drawing near at hand, i
We know that thou wilt support the candi
dates of the Pious Frauds, and we implore j
Thee to lend us thy aid so that they may tri- \
umph at the polls. Let not the Devil obtain
another victory over thy children. We feel j
assured, Oh Lord, God, that thou wilt be with
the Right on that momentous day; for if we
fail then will it seem as if Heaven has for
saken earth. Once more we pray Thee to re
ceive into thy bosom the souls of the mar
tyred dead Through Jesus Christ. Our
Lord, Amen !!”
After this prayer the Reverend Mr. Mob
twanger delivered a remarkable discourse
which so pleased his auditors that the roof of
the sacred edifice resounded with their plaud
its. It is to be regretted that the reader can
not be furnished with this delectable treat in
full. Sufficient to say that the holy man de
clared he smelled the brimestone which sur
rounded the murderous slaveholders, and
inhaled tbe heavenly fragrance B which sur
rounded the mai tyred Pious Frauds.
Upon the conclusion of the discourse, Mr.
Sniff and his family left tfie church and re
entered the buggy in which they were driven
to the residence of Mrs. Sniff's sister. Here
the worthy Sniff left them and walked down
to the store ot his new employer,* on Dow
Neast street. The way to tbe store lei by
Mr. Van Dusen’s office and just as the pedes
trian came in sight of it he saw the dress of
a woman vanish through the half open door.
Mr. Sniff walked hurriedly on, but before he
came opposite the door had already closed.
Lounging near by, however, were two men
whom he at once recognized as detectives.
Jeux D’Esprit Against Wives.
It is also il 1 nHtlativc of a noble change in
social taste and opinion that, instead of im
puting a want of the nicest delicacy to tome
tew sentences of our “Office for the Solemni
General Notes.
Want of grit, the Transcript says, has been
too long a characteristic of Boston's Mayors.
... , Boston’s next important convention is to
zation of Matrimony," Samuel Johnson re- i 0De of bald-headed men, to be held June
gretted that the excessive refinement of the 14 *
a John H. Drinkwater, a Boston bar-tender,
drank too much fire-water, Friday, assaulted
a customer, and got into jail.
President Abbott, of the Michigan State
Agricultural College, has been granted a year’s
leave of absence, to visit Europe.
The shoe business in Haverhill, Mass., is
represented to be very dull, and hundreds of
workmen are out of employmont.
The city of Portsmouth, N. H., has appro
priated $10,000 to defray the expenses of the
reunion of the Sons on the 4th of July.
Mr. Alexander N. Webb, who is in ill-
health, has sold the Hudson daily and week
ly Star to Messrs. L. Goeltz and Herbert N.
Webb.
service rendered it inappropriate to weddings
of an unromantic kind. “Talking of mar
riage in general,” 6ays the biographer, “he
observed, “Our marriage service is too re
fined. It is calculated only for the best kind
of marriages; whereas we should have a form
for matches of mere convenience, of which
there are many.” He agreed with me that
there was no absolute necessity for having the
marriage service performed by a regular cler
gyman, for this was not commanded in Scrip
ture.”
It was on the occasion of this conversation
that Boswell, blushing at his temerity in
submitting verses of his own writing to the
critical attention of his “illustrious friend,”
repeated to Dr. Johnson “the little epigram
matic song,” which was subsequently set to
Governor-elect Ingersoll, of Connecticut,
music by “the very ingenious Mr. Dibdin,” j will not deliver his inaugural address in per-
*Thi« prayer is r
It ia
batim an *it 'wan delivered by
auti-alavery troubles.
[CONTINCED IN Ot'R NEXT SUNDAY'S EDITION.]
An Interesting Trial.
The death of Chief Justice Chase recalls
the story of a trial iu the United States
Circuit Court in Ohio, which was a noted one
in its day, ia which Mr. Chase was the leading
counsel for the defense, the defendant him
self being formerly a Kentucky farmer, al
though at that time a citizen of Ohio, and the
original of Yan Tromp, one of the characters
in “ Uncle Tom s Cabin." The case occurred
in 1842. Mr. Van Zandt, a farmer of this
State, some years previously being impressed
with the convictioo, which was shared
by not a few of the best citizens of
Kentucky of that day, that slavery was wrong,
set his slaves free anil removed to a farm iu
Ohio, near Cincinnati. He is described as a
rough, uncultured man, but warm-hearted,
impulsive, and apt, in carrying out his views,
Ito go to a length which those of cooler terrn-
perainent might have called lanaticism. Y an
Zandt from the day when be cut the personal
tie between himself and the peculiar insti
tution took ail opportunities ot sheltering fu
gitives who came to his new home and dis
patching them on their load to Canada,at that
day the promised land of runaway slaves.
He was finally arrested with several fugitive
slaves in his wagon tiy a pursuing party from
Kentucky, and the slaves taken back over the
river. Van Zandt was indicted under the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1703, and tried on the
charge of concealing and harboring fugitives
Mr. C hose, then a brilliant lawyer iu the flower
of his youth, was retained lor the defense,
and made an ingenious and powerful speech
for his client, who was nevertheless convicted.
An appeal was taken and the case was
carried np to the Supreme Court of the
United States, where Mr. Chase had the
assistance of William H. Seward in conduct
ing the argument The court, through Jus
tice Woodbury, affirmed the decision, and
Van Zandt, impoverished by the fine imposed
upon him, and by the heavy expense of his
protracted trial, died poor and broken hearted.
Thirty years have elapsed since then, and the
actors in a drama which excited the deepest
interest from one end of the country' to the
other have all passed sway; the two counsel
for the defense taking prominent places in tbe
subsequent history of the country, and their
poor client receiving his share ot fame in the
pages of the most extensively circulated par
tisan novel ever published in this country.
Courier-Journal.
and published under the title of “A Matri
moriial Thought.”
“ In lhe blithe days of honeymoon,
With Kate’s allurements smitten,
I loved her late, I loved her soon,
And called her de&re.t kitten.
“ But now my kitten’s grown a eat,
Ani cross like oiher wives;
Oh I by my soul, my dearest Mat,
I fear she has nine lives.”
“It is very well, sir,” said the illustrious
friend, smiling condescendingly, ere he added,
gravely, “but you should not swear.” Out
of regard tor the great man’s religious sensi
bility, Boswell substituted, “Alas, alas,” for
by soul;” but, after the Censor Morum had de
parted forever from Fleet Street, the poet re
sumed his profane habit, and restored “by
my soul’' to its place in the humorous trifle.
Love and marriage were topics on which
eighteenth-century writers of vers de socieie,
more skilful in their art than Boswell, de
lighted to make merry. To one of them we
are indebted for Celia’s retort on the cynical
dean:
“ Cries Ct-lia to a reverend Dean,
• What reason can be given,
Since murriage ie a holy tiling,
That there is none in heaven ? *
The literature of epigrams and epitaphs
comprises some of the smartest jeux d esprit
written by meu against women, and by wives
against their masters. The German poet,
Besser, produced the epigram on Adam’s
sleep:
“ He laid him down and slept—and from his side
A woman in her magic beauty rose;
Dazzled and charmed, he called that woman ‘ bride,*
And his firBt sleep became his last repose.”
To a German poet, also, we are indebted
for the “Epitaph on a Scolding Woman,"
which has been rendered in Engliph:
“ Here lies, thank God, a woman who
Quarrelled aud stormed her whole life through;
Tread geDtly o’er her mouldering form,
Or else you’ll raise another storm.”
Napier and the Juggler.
We give an anecdote illustrative ot the un
paralleled dexterity of the natives of India
with the sword, as well as of Napier's sim
plicity of character. After the Indian battles,
on one occasion, a famous juggler visited the
camp, and performed his feats before the
General, his family and staff. Among his
performances, this man cut in two, with a
stroke of the sword, a lime or lemon placed
in the hand of the assistant.
Napier thought there was some collusion
between the juggler and his assistant. To
divide, by a sweep of the sword, on a man's
hand, so small an object without touching the
flesh, he believed to be impossible, though a
similar incident is related by Scott, in his
romance of the “Talisman.”
To determine the point the General offered
his own hand for the experiment, anil he held
out his right arm. The juggler looked atten
tively at the hand, and Baid he wonld not
make the trial.
“I thought I would find you out!" ex
claimed Napier.
“But stop,” said the other, “let me see
yonr left hand.”
The left head was submitted, and the man
then eaid firmly: “If yon will hold yonr arm
steadv, I will perform tho feat.”
“But why t*>e left hand and not the
right ?’’
“Because the right band is hollow in the
center, and there is a risk of cutting off the
thumb; the left i* high and the danger will he
less. ”
Napier was startled.
“I got frightened,” he said; “I saw it was
an actual feat of swordmanship and if I had
not abused the man as I did before my statff
aud challenged him to the trial, I honesly,
acknowledge I would have retired from the
encounter. However, I put tho lime on my
hand, and held out my arm steadily. The
juggler bnlaneed himself, and with a swift
stroke, cut the lime in two pieces. I felt the
edge of the sword on my bond, as if a cold
thread had been drawn across it, and so
much,” he added, “for the swordsman of
India whom our fine fellows defeated at
Meeauee."
M. de Borda and M. Delpit lately fooght a
duel in the forest of Saint Germaine. When
M. Delpit was wounded the honor of both
was satisfied, and M. de Borde, throwing his
arms about his adversary's neok, embraced
him enthusiastically.
“*Soy« tranguiUe" was the epitaph ma
liciously suggested for the monument which
the French cook, of Crimean celebrity and
whilom of the Beform Clnb, raised in Kensal-
Green Cemetery over the grave of the virtu
ous Madame Soyer, whose good quali lies the
disconsolate chef commemorated in a gran
diose and highlv-sentimental inscription, re
specting which Douglas .Terrold remarked,
pithily, “Mock turtle.”
To the credit of the fair sex let it be ob
served that the sharpest things engraved by
widows on the tombs of their husbands were
innocent of disdainful purpose. A good
many years since, when that exemplary cler
gyman, the Kev. William Greenlaw, became
rector of Woolwich, he found in the church
yard of nis new cure a recently-erected tomb
stone, to the memory of a Woolwich trades
man, on which there had been inscribed, at
tho particular request of the dead man, the
well-known lines:
“ Youthful reader, passing by
As yon are now, so once was I;
Beneath which lines there also appeared on
the stone the following couplet, added by the
widow and executrix of the dead:
Offended by the apparent flippancy and ir
reverence of this couplet, the rector entreat
ed the widow to consent to its obliteration
from the stone. To his surprise he found
that she cherished no ill feeling to her late
lord and master, and was of opinion that he
surpassed in piety most of the husbands
whom he had left behind. The good woman
had always thought the epitaph a foolish epi
taph, and had repeatedly told her husband
her critical reasons for disliking it. Like a
docile wife, she had placed it on the stone, as
her husband desired it to appear there; but
she had|thougbt herself justified in pointing
to the obvious defect of the lines. She had
only availed herself of her opportunity to
have the last word in a literary controversy
that she and her husband had for years car
ried on in a friendly spirit. On being shown
that the stone, as it appeared, was suggestive
of disrespectful thoughts of her husbaud,
she consented reluctantly to the erasure of
her comment
Even more infelicitious than this widow of
Woolwich was the good lady who, with the
best intention, placed a highly scandalous in
scription on the tomb of her deceased hus
band, in* his day a famous London pyrotech
nist In the first month of her widowhood,
on mournfully walking away from his grave,
after watering it with a tear, this widow was
struck by the sublime dignity of an inscrip
tion on an adjacent tomb, erected to the liqu
or of a mnsical composer, who. in the lan
guage of the legend, had gone “to a world
where alone his harmonies could be surpass
ed.” Lacking the power to produce an ori
ginal eulogium, the simple lady adapted the
harmonious professor’s epitaph to the ingen
ous artist's case. With the accuracy of t
conscientious historian she substituted “fire
works” for “harmonies”—with consequences
that my readers may be left to imagine for
themselves. —Jeaffresons Brides and Bridals.
A German, residing in New Haven, re
cently shot his wife and subsequently blew
his brains out. The man was addicted to
drunkenness, and for six mouths had lived
npon his wile’s earnings. The immediate
cause of his attempt to kill her—an attempt
which proved to be successful—was a little
difference of opinion upon the subject of the
§ roper use of hot water. It can easily be un-
erstood that the wife felt herself wronged by
her husband’s drunken and lazy habits, but
she unfortunately went so far as to express
her disapproval of him by scalding him with
boiling water. This sort of conjugal reproof
failed to meet bis views, and he thereupon
shot her. Wives should take warning by this
little history, and abstain from scalding hus
bands known to carry pistols. Nothing is
more irritating to the unregenerate man than
to have a bucket of boiling water suddenly
thrown in his face.
There is lots of good in human nature, and
occasionally the newspapers enable people to
get a glimpse of it The other day, for ex
ample, tho Detroit Post contained a little item
to the effect that two orphan girls were at the
station house, homeless and penniless, aud
before noon thirteen different persons had
called and offered to adopt them.
In connection with the withdrawal of Gen
eral V langali, Russian Minister at Pekin, it i«
rumored that M. 8truve. at present Councei-
lor to tho Governor General of Siberia, at
Irkutsk, will proceed to occupy the post in
tbe Chinese capital.
son. it will be read to the joint convention
by one of the clerks.
A flock of sheep numbering 200,000 heaH
will form a part of the cortege which is to
visit Mecca during the coming festival.
Tongue-tied women are very skarse and
very valuable.
Ralph Walde Emerson was at the com
mencement exercises in the Workingmen’s
College, London, of which the H<»n. Tom
Hughes is President, and made a speech, in
which he gave England the second place in
the list of nations, America, of course, filling
the first rank.
It is stated that Chief Justice Chase, before
leaving Washington for New York, last week,
said to an officer of the Supreme Court that
he never expected to resume his seat on the
bench, or to come back to Washington. He
has had but a precious hold upon life ever
since his first paralytic attack, and appears to
have been fully conscious that death could
not be remote.
Chicago keeps on. The city is now about
building a tunnel nearly four miles long to
run under the river to the site of the lake
pumping-works and supply the west side
with water. The clear width of the tunnel
will be seven feet, and the height seven feet
two inches; and it is to be completed January,
1875, at a cost less than $600,000.
We noticed in passing Farmville yesterday
that the Appomattox was on the rampage.
Both above and below the town it had spread
over the banks, flooding a considerable por
tion of the country and making a stream
nearly as pretentious as the James is, ordina
rily, at Lynchburg, Virginia.
The wild oranges of Florida make a wine
which gets & man so drunk that he sleeps two
days and nights before waking. This beats
the California fig brandy, which gets a man
tight and sober again iu an hour's time.
A special dispatch to the London standard
from Vienna states that a serious difference
has arisen between th^ Archduke Charles
Lcuis, the patron, and Baron, Schwartz, the
Superintendent of the Universal Exhibition,
in consequence of the backwardness of the ar
rangements. The Emperor siding with the
Baron, the Archduke Charts has taken um
brage and left Vienna.
It is now denied that the Khan of Khiva has
offered unconditional submission to tbe Rus
sian demands, and the statement is made
that, although the Khan released some of his
prisoners, he accompanied the act with a de
mand for the withdrawal of the Russian ex
pedition, and insisted on other conditions
which the Czar will not accept.
A new era in the history of American horse
racing is to be inaugurated at Long Branch
this season. Admission to the field is to be
free to the general public, and au admission
fee is to be charged only to the grand stand
and quarter stretch. This is a very decided
step toward making horse-racing as much of
a popular spot in the United States as it has
long been in England. In fields of circum
scribed dimensions, like Jerome Park, it may
be found inexpedient to imitate the example
set by the Long Branch Committee, but their
action marks a revolution in American turf
management, which ought to be met in &
correspondingly liberal spirit by the general
public.
In the course of the summer the Prussian
Guards will be armed with the new Mauser
rifle. Another corps’ d’ arrnee will probably
! be armed in the winter. The Light Cavalry,
Dragoons and Hnssars have just had Chasse-
pot carbines distributed among them, a great
improvement upon the inefficient weapons so
long in use. A large number of French rifles,
captured in lhe war, mostly tabatieres asd
cavalry pistols, have been offered for sale, at
nominal prices, to the officers of the army,
each officer being entitled to one specimen of
each kind. They are evidently meant to
serve as substantial remembrances of the cam
paign.
The Minnesota has at length departed. She
got off at six o’clock a. m. yesterday, and ibe
passengers, including the legal gentleman
who has been practicing at the bar for about
three weeks, are released from the involuntary
detention. The only steamer now on the bar
is the Memphis. She is deeply laden, aud
draws, we believe, about nineteen and a half
feet ot water. But for her grounding iu the
channel, the detained sailing ships, some
fifteen iu number, would all have passed
safely over ere this. In view of all the facts,
it is clear that there should be a bar-master
appointed, under some competent authority,
who should determine the time aud order iu
which ships should cross the bar.—Xeic (> *-
leans Times.
A New Jersey paper complains of a youth
who came into towu to attend a circus, and
tried to beat the editor down to two cents for
a postage-stamp.
Minister Horace Ruble© reached his homo
in Wisconsin, last week. He will remain
there till the beginning of June, when he
will return to his post in Switzerland.
The conundrum that won the prize of a
silver cup in Harrisburg was this: Why
should the Harrisburg Fire Department be
sent to fight the Modocs ? Because their chief
is A. Schlatter. And the State Journal, that
publishes this, says that the conundrum for
the tin cup was too nonsensical to put into
print.
A speaker on Decoration Day, in Mont
gomery, Alabama, predicted that some of
those present “would live to see a reconcilia
tion between the lately warring sections so
complete and geneVous that tbe descendants
of Confederate soldiers will share the govern
mental benefits that are extended to those of
the soldiers of the Union; that all unfriendly
legislation will be blotted from the statute
books; that the terms ‘Yankee,’ ‘rebel,’
‘traitor,’ will be used in anger no more; that
the swords of Southern officers, now held as
trophies in Washington, will be restored to
their owners to be used as heir-looms in their
families, and that the ensign of the Union,
somewhere upon its ample folds, will proudly
bear the starry cross of the South.
The experience which Milwaukee, Vis.,
has had of the ingratitude of railroad corpo
rations may be worth something if kept iu
mind by cities that are likely hereafter to be
called upon for contributions to “encourage ’
the building of newlines. In his inaugural
message to the Common Council, the Mayor
of Milwaukee thus feelingly refers to a bond
transaction to the amount of $434,000 with
the Beloit and Superior Railway Company:
“It is difficult to repress a painful resent
ment when speaking of these bonds. The
city, through its sworn representatives, is
sued the bonds, but never received any equiv
alent for them. They were thrown upon the
market at a period of financial depression,
and pasted into purchasers’ hands at heavy
depreciation. It wa« only natural that the
city, in indignation, ahould protest and dis
own them. Fraudulently planned aud dis
gracefully executed, they are a shameful
transaction in our municipal history.