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About News & planters' gazette. (Washington, Wilkes County [sic], Ga.) 1840-1844 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1842)
From the Ladies’ World of Fashion. THE MINISTER’S DINNER. BY MISS LYDIA JANE I‘IERSON. The Reverend Mr. N was a man of excellent temper, generous feelings, and well cultivated mind, but lie was eccentric even to oddity. lie was a powerful prea cher, and his ministration was blest to the | reformation of many in his parish. At the i age of thirty-four he became enamored of a j beautiful light-hearted girl of seventeen, 1 daughter to one of his richest parishioners, and who imagined that to refuse the hand of the minister would be a sin bordering hard upon the unpardonable. Well, the marriage was consummated, the bride’s fat portion paid ; and tfie husband, as hus bands in their first love are apt to do, gave in to the humor of his wife, and accompa nied her to several festive parties given by his wealthy neighbors, in honor of his mar riage. The happy couple were sitting together in their comfortable parlor, one evening to ward spring, the reverend gentleman study ing the Venerable Rede, and bis wife equal ly intent upon a plate of the latest fashions, when she suddenly looked up with an ex pression between hope and fear, and thus addressed her companion : “ My dear husband, I have a request to make.” “ Well, Nancy, any thing consistent.” “ You do not imagine that I would make an inconsistent request, surely V’ “ No—not a request you considered in consistent. But come, what is it ?” “ Why, my dear sir,” and her voice trembled a little, “ we have been to several parties among the neighboring gentry, and now I think that to maintain our position in society, we should make a party too.” The minister looked blank. “ What sort of a party, Nancy ?” he said at length. “ Why,” she replied, “ such a party as those we have attended. We must make an elegant dinner, and have dancing after it “ Dancing ! in a minister’s house !” e jaculated Mr. N . “ Why, yes, certainly,” replied his wife, coaxingly. “ You will not dance, the par ty will be mine ; and then we have been to similar parties all winter.” “ True, true,” he muttered with a per plexed air, and sat silent for some time as if considering. At length he spoke. ‘‘Yes, Nancy, you may make a party, give a din ner, and if the guests desire it, you may dance.” “ Thank you, love,” she cried, putting her arms around his neck. “But 1 have some stipulations to make about it,” he said ; “I must select and in vite the guests, and you must allow me to place some of my favorite dishes upon the table.” “ As you please, love,” she answered de lightedly, “ but when shall it be ?” “ Next Wednesday, if you please.” “ But our furniture and window-drape ries are very old-fashioned. It is now time we had new.” “ I should think it hardly necessary to refurnish our rooms, Nancy. All our fur niture is excellent of its kind.” “ But our smooth carpets, white drape ries, and cane chairs have such a cold look, do consent to have the rooms new fit ted, we can move these things to the unfur nished chambers.” “And of what use will they be in those rooms which we never occupy ? Besides, it is near spring, and to fit up now for winter is superfluous.” “ Well, I would not care,” she persisted, “only people will call us parsimonious and ungenteel.” “ Oh, if that is all,” he said gayly, “ I will promise to expend a thousand dollars on the evening ofthe party, not in furniture, but in a manner which will be far more grateful to our guests, and profitable to our selves, and which shall exonerate us from all imputation of parsimony ; and you may expend in dress, eatables and desert, just what sum you please, and do not forget the wines.’ And so the colloquy ended. He resumed his studies, and she gave her mind to the consideration of the dress which would be most becoming ; and the viands that were most expensive. The next day she went busily about her preparations, wondering all the time how her husband would expend his thousand dollars, but as sho had discovered something of the eccen tricity of his character, she doubted not that he meant to give an agreeable surprise ; and her curiosity grew so great, that she could hardly sleep during the interval. length the momentous day arrived. The arrangements were all complete, and Mrs. N retired to perform the all-im portant business of arraying her fine person in sne attire. She lingered long at the toi let, pelying on the fashionable unpunctual ityof fashionable people, and when the hour Bt . ru \ ‘ e *' t her chamber, arrayed, like Ju dith cAold, gloriously, to allure the eyes of all look upon her, and full of sweet srrtiles and graces, notwithstanding the uncomfortable pinching of her shoes and corsets. Her husband met her in the hall. “ Our guests have all arrived,” he said, and opened the loor of the re viewing-room. Wonderful! wonderful! What a strange assembly. The-e were congregated the cripple, the maimed and the Mind ; the pal sied, the extreme aged, and a group of chil dren from the alms-house, who regarded the fine lady, some with wide-open mouths, oth ers with both hands in thoirhair, while some peeped l v om behind furniture, to the covert of which they had retreated from her daz zling presence. She was petrified with as tonishment, thenja displeasure crossed her face, till having ran her eyes over the gro tesque assembly, she met the comically grave expression of her husband’s counte nance, when she burst into a violent fit of laughter, during the paroxysms of which the bursting of her corset-laees could bo ! distinctly heard by the company. “ Nancy !” at length said her husband, j sternly. She suppressed her mirth, stam- j mered an excuse, and added, “ You will forgive me, and believe your- I selves quite welcome.” < “That is well done,” whispered Mr. N ; ‘then, my friends,’ he said, ‘as my < wife is not acquainted with you, I will make i a few presentations.’ Then leading her to ward an emaciated creature, whose distor ted limbs were unable to support his body he said, ‘This gentleman, Nancy, is the Reverend Mr. Niles, who in his youth tra velled and endured much in the cause of our common Master. A violent rheuma tism, induced by colds, contracted among the new settlements of the west, where he was employed in preaching the Gospel to the poor, had reduced him to his present condition. This lady, his wife, has pious ly sustained him, and by her own labor pro cured a maintenance for herself and him.— But she is old and feeble now, as you see.’ j Then turning to a group with silver locks j and threadbare coats, he continued, “These | are soldiers of the revolution. They were j all sons of rich men. They went out in i their young strength to defend their oppres- | sed country. They endured hardships, toils and sufferings, and such as we hardly deem it possible for men to endure and live; they returned home at the close of the war, maimed in their limbs, and with broken constitutions, to find their patrimonies des troved by fire or the chances of war, or their property otherwise filched and wrested from them. And these worthy men live in poverty and neglect in the land for the pros perity of which they sacrificed their all.— These venerable ladies are wives of these patriots, and widows of others who have gone to their reward. They could tell tales that would thrill your heart, and make it better. This is the celebrated and learn ed Dr. B ■, who saved hundreds of j lives during the spotted epidemic. But his great success roused the animosity of ■ his medical brethren, who succeeded in : ruining his practice, and when blindness came upon him, he was forgotten by those ! whom lie had delived from death. This lovely creature is his only child, and she is motherless. She leads him daily by the hand, and earns the food she sets before him Y'et her learning and accomplish ments are wonderful, and she is the author of those exquisite poems which appear oc -1 casionally in the Magazine. These children were orphaned in infancy by the Asiatic cholera, and their sad hearts have seldom been cheered by a smile, or their palates regaled by delicious food. Now dry your eyes, love, and lead on to the di ning-room.’ She obeyed, and notwithstanding her emotions, the thumping of coarse shoes, and rattling of sticks, crutches, and wooden legs behind her, well nigh threw her into another indecorous laugh. To divert her attention she glanced over the table. There stood the dishes for which her husband had stipulated, in the shape of two monstrous, homely-looking meatpies, and two enormous platters of baked meats and Vegetables, looking like mighty moun tains among the delicate viands that she had prepared for the refined company \t hich she expected. She took her place, and prepared to do the table honors, but her hus band, after a short thanksgiving to the bountiful God, addressed theeompany with “Now, my brethren, help yourselves and one another, to whatever you deem prefer able. I will wait upon the children.” A hearty and joval meal was made, the minister setting the example, and as the hearts of the old soldiers wore warmed with wine, they became garrulous, and each re counted some wonderful or thrilling adven ture ofthe revolutionary war ; and the old ladies told their tales of privation and suf fering, and interwove with them the histo ries of fathers, brothers, or lovers, who died for libertv. Mrs. N— —was sobbing convulsively, when her husband came round, and touch ed her shoulder, whispered, ‘My love, shall we have dancing?’ That word, with its ludicrus associations, fairly threw her into hysterics, and she laughed and wept at once. When she became quiescent, Mr. N thus addressed the company: ‘I fear my friends, that you will think my wife a frivolous, inconsistent creature, and I must therefore apologize for her. We were married only last fall, and have at tended several gay parties, which our rich neighborsgave in honor of our nuptials, and my wife thought it would be genteel to give a dinner in return. 1 consented on conditions, one of which was that 1 should invite the guests. So being a professed minister of him who was made so lowly in 1 heart I followed to the word of command, ‘But when thou makest a feast fiv the poor, the maimed, the lame, the bb'nd’ —you all recollect the passage. Mrs. N , not knowing who her guests Were, was highly delighted with the rase I have provided ; and Ido not believe there has been so no ble and honorable a company assembled this winter. My wife desired new furni ture ; lest we should be deemed parsimoni ous, 1 pledged myself to expend one thou sand dollars in a manner more pleasing to (?urguests, and which should obviate any such imputation.’ Then addressing the children, he said, ‘Aou will each he removed to-morrow to excellent places ; and if you continue to be industrious, and perfectly honest in word and deed, you will become respectable members of society. To you, Dr. B , under God, I owe my life. I did not know your locality,neither had I heard of your misfortunes until a few days since. I can never repay the debt I owe you, but if you and your daughters will accept the neat- I furnished house adjoining mine, I will see that you never want again. To you, pa traiot fathers, and these nursing mothers of our country, I present the one thousand dollars. It is just one hundred dollars to each soldier, and soldier’s widow. It is a mere trifle. No thanks, my friend. You Mr. Niles, are my father in the Lord. Un der your preaching I first became convinced i of sin, and it was your voice that brought i me the words of salvation. You will re- j main in my house. I have a room prepared t for you. and a pious servant to attend you. I It is time you were at peace, and your ex cellent lady relieved oi lier heavy burden.” The crippled preacher fell prostrate on the carpet, and poured out such thanksgiving and prayer as found way to the heart ot Mrs. N , who ultimately became a meek and pious woman, a fit helpmate for a devoted gospel minister ; and seemed never j so hapny as when presiding at Ruch parties, ] whicli were frequently given by her spe cial request. PROGRESS TO LUXURY & RUIN. The following story so well illustrates the progress our country is making from the simplicity of republican times to the extra vagance which leads to a forfeiture and loss of national freedom, that we arc dispo | sod to give it a place. We could write S nothinj; that would bo more likely to arrest I . . J i serious thought on this subject, than this. A Story for our own Times. A venerable old Dutchman, after having occupied all the offices of one of the princi pal cities of the republic, with great honor, and having amassed a great fortune in the most unexceptionable manner, finally form ed the resolution of going to terminate his days in tranquility at his country seat. — But before retiring, he wished to take leave of his friends and connections, and accord ingly invited them all to a feast at his house. The guests, who expected a most sump tuous repast,were much surprised on going into the room to see there a long oaken ta ble, barely covered with a coarse blue cloth. On being seated, they were served on a wooden plate, with salted herring, rye bread and butter, with some cheese and curdled milk. Wooden vases, with small beer, were passod for each of the guests to serve themselves. This extreme oddity of the old gentleman caused secret murmur ings among the company ; but out of res pect to his age and wealth, instead of shew ing discontent, they pretended to relish their frugal fare ; and some of them even com plimented him for the cordiality of these good old times which he had thus brought to rememberanee. The old man—who v.as not to be duped by this feigned satisfaction; did not wish to carry the joke further—but at a signal which he gave, some servants habituated as country women, entered, bringing the second service. A white cloth succeeded the coarse blue one, and pewter plates replaced the wooden ones. In stead of rye bread, dried herring & cheese, they were served with good brown bread, fresh beef, boiled fish and strong beer. At this unexpected change, the secret murmur ceased ; the polite invitation on the part of the old man became more pressing, and the guests ate with better appetite. Hardly had they tasted the second service, when they saw the butler enter, followed by a dozen servants in brilliant livery, bringing the third. A superb table of mahogany, covered with a beautiful flowered cloth, replaced the oaken one. A side board was immedi ately covered with the richest plate aud most curious china ; and the guests charm ed at the profusion of rare and exquisite meats. The most delicate wines were freely passed round, while a melodious concert was heard in an adjoining room. Toasts were drank, and all were merry. But the good old man, perceiving that his presence hindered the guests from giving themselves up to their full joy rose and ad dressed them thus: “ I give you thanks, ladies and gentle men, for the favor you have granted me. It is best that I should retire myself, and leave you to your liberty ; but before the ball commences, which I have ordered to be prepared for those who love the dance, per mit me to acquaint you with the design that 1 proposed to tnyself in inviting you to a re past that has appeared so odd. I have wish ed thereby to give you an idea of our re public. Our ancestors rose to their high estate, and acquired liberty, riches and power, by living in the frugal manner which you saw in the first service. Our fathers preserved those great blessings only by living in the simple manner of which the services have retraced an image. If it is permitted to an old man who is about to leave you, to speak freely what he thinks, I must say, that I fear that the extravagant profusion which you have remarked in the last service, and which is the present style oGiving—will deprive us of more than our ancestors have acquired by the sweat ofthe brow, and our fathers have transmitted to us by their industry and wise calculation.” INDUSTRY AND PERSEVERANCE. The following extract from Burnap’s lectures, is worthy the attention of all young men: “When you have sufficient intelligence to perceive what you ought to be, and judgement enough to discern what you may be, the next indespensible qualities to suc cess are industry and perseverance. La bor is the universal law, a law in which all who have their fortunes to make, that is, all the young enterprisiug ought especially to rejoice. Labor is the grand magician which is secretly conveying the good things of this world from hand to hand, while man kind look on and wonder now it is done.— Who now possesses the wealth and high places of the land? Mainly those who la bored for them hard and long. From those who arc too indolent to keep them. It is incredible what mere industry M ill accom plish in this world of toil, I had almost said ; it is the prime requisite. “It is wonderful what deception lurks under a few common words and phrases in our language. ‘What a fortunate man!’ we hear the world exclaim, when they see a man flourishing in his business. In nine cases out often, the very term is a flatter ing unction, which the indolent or unenter prising man is laying to his soul, that the only difference between him and his suc cessful neighbor, is that of luck. In a ma jority of instances he may at venture sub stitute in the place of fortune, industry.— He may venture to soy before he examines the case, that the cause of success was the same as was observed by Julius Caesar, ‘He always succeeded, because he left nothing undone which could secure success.’ “Let not the young mind repine at the law of labor, and the inevitable and inex orable necessity of personal exertion, which it imposes upon him. It is the most favor- I able thing to those who have their own way to make in this world, and is among the favorable circustances by which, they are surrounded. It is the great agrarian law which in a manner levels ull distinctions, and gives the poor man an inheritance in this world more certain, though not so ex tensive as the rich, in his own talents, facul ties, and capacities. By making all wel fare and acquisition depend on labor, all mankind are provided for, and all monopo lies in effect done away.” INDUSTRY AND ENERGY. “There arc few difficulties that hold out | against real attacks ; they fly like the visi | ble horizon before those who advance.— l A passionate desire and unwearied will can perform impossibilities, or what seem to be such to the cold and the feeble. If we do but go on, some unseen path will open a mong the hills. We must not allow our selves to be discouraged by the apparent disproportion between the result of single eflbrts and the magnitude of the obstacle to be encountered. Nothing good nor great is to be gained without courage and indus try ; but courage and industry must have sunk in despair, and the world must have remained unornamented and unimproved, if men had not nicely compared the effect ofa single stroke with the pyramid to be raised, or of a single impression of the spade with the mountain to be levelled. All ex ertion, too, is in itselfdelightful, and active i amusements seldom tire us. Helvetius owns that he could play on an instrument all day long. The chase, we know has al- ways been the favorite amusement of kings and noble. Not only fame and fortune, but pleasure is to be earned, efforts, it must not be forgotten, are as indispensable as desire.—The globe is not circumnavigated by one wind.—We should never do noth ing. “It is better to wear out than to rust ■=>ut,’ says Bishop Cumberland.—‘There wilt be time enough for repose in the grave said Nicc-le to Pascal. ‘As a young man you should be mindful of the importance of early industry, since in your habits are easily formed, and there is time to recover from defeats. An Italian sonnet justly, as well as elegantly, compares procrastina tion to the folly of a traveller who pursues a brook till it widens into a river, and is lost in the sea.—The toils as well as risks of an active life are commonly overrated, so much may be done by diligent use of ordi nary opportunities, but they must not al ways be waited for. We must not only strike the iron while it is hot, but strike it till it is made hot. Ilershel, the great as tronomer, declares that 90 or 100 hours, elearenough for observation, cannot be cal led an unproductive year. The lazy the dissipated, and the fearful, should patient ly see the active and the bold pass them in the course. They must bring down their pretensions to the level of their talents.— Those who have not energy to work must learn to be humble, and should not vainly hope to unite the incompatible enjoyments of indulggpce and enterprise, of ambition and self indulgence.—l trust (fiat my young friend will never attempt to reconcile them.”— Sharp’s Letter. THE WAY TO RISE IN LIFE. No young man can hope to rise in socie ty, or act worthily his part in life, without a fair moral character. The basis of such character is a virtuous fixed principle ; or a deep fixed sense of moral obligation, sus tained and invigorated by the fear and love of God. ‘l’lte youth who possesses such a character can he trusted. Integrity, truth, benevolence, justice, are not with him words without meaning ; he knows and feels their sacred import, and aims in the tenor of his life, to exemplify the virtues they express. Such a man has a decision of character ; he thinks and acts for himself, and is not to be made a tool of to serve the purposes of party : Such a man has a true worth of character; and his life is a blessing to him self, to his family, to society, to the world. Aim, then, my friends, to attain this cha racter, and at virtue and moral excellence. This is the first, the indispensable qualifi cation of a good citizen. It imparts life, strength and beauty, not only to individual character, but to all the institutions and in terests in society. It is indeed the dew and rain that nourishes the vine and fig-tree, by which we are shaded and refreshed. THE EARLY DEAD. The aged die and are gathered to their resting places, like the sheaves of ripened wheat into the store-houses of the husband man. They have finished their day.— The young die, aud they too are buried. They fall as fallcth the blossom nipped by the untimely frost. Their day is also en ded. If in another and a better world there be distinctions of age as well as the grada tions of intellectual or moral excellence— if there one star may differ from another star in magnitude as much as in glory—it may be among the means of a wise Provi dence, that the young are culled in the midst of their beauty, to form a part of that perfect whole, where there is no more death where the light of life goetli not out for ever. Boring square auger holes has generally been considered rather a bad job. Accor ding to the New York Mechanic, one of our most readable and useful exchanges, the job is not quite so difficult as many have imagined. That papersays a machine has been invented, the boring part of which con sists simply of a screw-auger, inclosed in a hollow square chisel, which being forced down by a draught of the screw, or worm, chipped down the four corners very smooth ly, while the chips were cleared out by the tivist of the revolving auger. Two or more of these square holes in contact constitute a mortise That ingenious person, the editor of the Madisonian, gives, in his last but one, with indescribable seriousness, the following, evidently without a dream, a gleam, a stray notion (for idea, wc dare not say, such a j thing never having made itself conscioc- 1 in his sensorium) of what is really meant. EXPERIM ENTA L FARMING. ‘Pile follow ing letter, from an overseer to his employer, a member ofCongress, gives an amusing picture of “experimental farm ing,” and will, no doubt, be recognised as any tiling but fancy’s sketch. ‘Geor., Cos., March 23rd, 1842. Sir: 1 have the honor to inform you that things here have gone on pretty much in the old way since my last. There is noth ing new, but I regret to say that the sow you sent from Philadelphia is dead. Twen ty five oftlie lambs, out of forty, are dead. One oftlie colts is dead. The two D. calves which you sent to me are dead. I have been waiting for tiie rye to come up, that I might sow the clover seed you sent from Baltimore, but after all it would’nt grow, so I ploughed it up and set the ground in oats, and hope to get a crop if the seasons turns out fine. We had a freshet two weeks ago, that carried away one hundred and fif ty pannels fence, and the hands are all en gaged in doing up the fence Ben injured bis knee, in mauling rails, and lias been un able to work since the 23d February. As Emilina was tending on the cart, she fell from the top of it, and in jured her shoulder so much that she can’t stir. As for the wheat, there is scarcely any appearance of it, and the best thing we can do will be to plough up the land and put it into corn, but I shall wait your orders. All oilier matters are going on equally well. Now, sir, I have given you a fair account of what we are doing, and must say that I have done every thing in my power to please you ; and ifyou don’t like the way I’ve gone on, you will send me my walking pa pers as soon as possible, as I don’t like to be blamed when I conduct right, to the best of my knowledge. Yours, respectfully. Nota Bene.—The fodder is all gone, and there wont be half enough corn to last us till the grass grows.—Please not to forget to send on some money in time.” “It is unnecessary ta say that the above account of bis farming operations was high ly satisfactory to our friend, who \ery good naturedly, in answering the letter, expres sed his belief that the overseer had attended to his business, and, as he seemed to have obeyed orders in every thing, ho requested him to remain where he was until fault should be found with him for neglect of du ty- Some of our readers may think that the above is a fiction, but we assure them that, as the writers of stories say, the letter is “founded on fact; ’ and we doubt not, the experience of many of our friends, who farm at a distance, will bear witness to the proba bility of the tale.”— Madisonian. Now, who will not have seen at a glance that this is really an Allegory, an apo logue in the Eastern taste. This admira ble overseer, managing a plantation with such rare success and diligence, is clearly no less a person than ourown “heaven sent” John Tyler. Every fact fits, every sen tence squares with this solution. “Things going on pretty much in the old way”—just as under Van, only “sorter worse.” “Nothing new”—except the old depravities: the old Locofooo concern pret ty much, only that age hasn't much mended it. The “sow from Philadelphia,” now found out to be a bore, is clearly Mr. Bar ker. The “twenty-five lambs” whom he expected to have wooled at his ease, are evidently the Whig Senate whose fleeceing has proved something like that which the crow made when he tried to emulate the eagle. As for the “dead colt,” which piece of stock is meant Mr. Bradford or Mr. Stew art, we cannot be positive: but the calves are Bob and John, beyound all dispute.— On the whole we’ve never seen a prettier description of live stock, all dead, like the President’s. It reminds one, irresistibly, ofthe pathetic account which, in Peter Pin dar, the King receives of his sheep: “Dead!” replied Robertson, “dead! dead! dead” Then like a drooping lily, hung his head! As for the “rye, that won’t come up,” that’s plainly the Loco Foco seed sown last fall, which didn’t sprout: if it had, the Pre sident would have been “in clover.” But, alas! all flesh is grass. The seed from Bal timore can mean nothing but the unmean ing John Jones, who “won’t grow,” with all the Post office dung that’s put upon him; so that he’ll have to be “ploughed up,” and a certain Scotch grain, called Davidge, put in, as a spring crop, if another drought shouldn’t cut that short too. “The freshet” is probably one of Mr. Mangum’s or Mr. Archer’s speeches, which certainly swept away a pretty long line of the President’s fences, and has kepi the Guard, the Cabinet and the “Independent Press” building brush fences ever since. Who the “Ben” is, that mauled his own leg instead of a fence-rail, we can’t say, for want of know ing Mr. Bradford’s christened name. The mishap, however, is frequent enough among the Guard, and is contemporaneous with the Philadelphia Tyler Washingtonian fes tival, in escaping from which, sundries were run over. As for Emilina, that’s some accident about the Secretary of State’s office, and will probably bo set right by a few “certificates.” The wheat that “won’t come” is, presumably, Fiseality the fi'-st: and the corn that the birds have almost pul led up, the latter Exchequer. On the whole, the great “Experimental farm” is in what’s called “a blue way,” and we have every reason to concur with the over seer and the President, in the very favora ble view they take of their own doings.— As for the “walking papers,” oh that the “heaven-sent” would only make us that part of the overseer’s olFer! He’d scarcely have to ask twice. P. S. to the N. B. “Fodder” is palpably Treasury notes ; “Corn,” the Revenue ; “Money,” the Loan bill, which Mr. Wise is helping along so rapidlv Tndene.ndent. A tra.. I'.iUure of the Distress now pre . Bissi nt i l . l -': Minister of tie. , , n j.,, y;:a } scoral visit last v/, i hi ‘ •ug everal of his hem that thay werekvdeep distress; in consequrmoo of . , . . ~v ! a letter from „ .. TV I minster, stating . . no sos actual gi‘. v at kiddmminster 1 co|j . tin parents and J five i !.:ld ■ 1 steady, indus trious, mot u i c and the mother a member of a Ch: i: >n enurch. Ihe fol lowing is a copy oi tb • letter penned by her and sent to her husband’s b rot hi ’, & which will show, better than anything that we can say, the dreadful situation ol themselves and multitudes of others at thts terrible crisis: February 12,1842. Dear Brother and Sister, —We write these few lines to you, hoping to find you in good health, as thank God, we areas well as can be expected under present circum stances. We have no disease among us but the gnawings of hunger, of which none can give any idea what it is but those who are the fatal objects of experience. Wo have no work, nor have had but 10s. worth since the 11th December. James lias had but six weeks’work since he was at your house, and Ann has been at home all the winter out of work. Mary has some at present, and that is the only one we have to bring in anything. She brings in 3s. a week when she works all the week, but that is not always the case ; last week she got but 25., and that is all we have, for we have no one to give us a bit of anything, nor have we anything left to make money of, as we have parted wtth everything we possibly can, being so short of work so long before we were out entirely. Our chief diet’ is potatoes, for bread or other necessaries ws, cannot get,’nor yet half enough of potatoes, and I have been the day through without a crumb of anything within my lips; inshevt it is impossible for a family to be i” greater distress than w<> are, and live four broth er often says, if it were f°i f° r an eternity he certainly should make away with him self; and, to add to our trouble, we look every day to have another added to our fam ily, without die least preparation whatever, not even a sufficiency to dress it in. So dark does the dispensation of Providence appear towards us at present, that there ap. pears no way of escape ; but, mind you, wo do not send to you for relief, as we expect you have enough to do to provide for your own family, but we write just to let you know how we are situated, that, should wo perish with hunger, or anything else hap pen to us, someone belonging to us might know something about us. So no more from your affectionate brother and sister, JAMES and ANN . This is one case out of many, for others could be cited, did not delicacy of feeling forbid.- Worcestershire Chronicle. Compare the above distressing picture of the state of a people who profess to have so much sympathy with the American slave and are annually sending abolition mission aries among us, with the following descrip tion oftlie treatment and condition of the people whose misfortunes they pity so much. “Better,” as a poor English weaver once said ‘{better be a slave than a poor weaver, lie may possibly get whipped on his great fat back, while we are certain of being tor tured in heart and stomach.” From the Christian Advocate. SLAVERY IN ALABAMA. The following paragraph is taken from a communication to the Editor of the Wes tern Christian Advocate, from the Rev. FI. W. Shehon, distinguished minister of the Ohio Conference, now travelling in Alaba ma as Agent for the Bible Society. It pre sents the honest impression made on an in telligent mind, in reference to the social condition of a clsss of people in Southern communities, about whom the most extra vagant falsehoods are repeated from day to day, by those who ought to know better. After describing the palmy state of the church where he has been, Mr. Shehon says:—“Thus you see, this once persecu ted and trodden down Methodism is every where flourishing and looking up. In ad dition to these, they have also a large church for the colored people, under the care of brother Capers, numbering up wards of seven hundred members, with a flourishing Sabbath school attached to the church. To these good people, our breth ren regularly and faithfully preach. The large galleries in the white churches are also expressly for the accommodation of this portion ofthe community. They can thus, when they choose, attend either the white or colored church. Permit me here in all kindness to say, that some of our good brethren at the north and west, greatly err in their representations of the treatment of the slaves of the South. Now, brother El liot, I am and have been for weeks in the south, and I do declare, notto defend slave ry, but to speak the truth, the slaves in Mo bile are among the happiest looking beings I have seen in my whole journey. They are well fed and well clothed ; and do not positively labor half as hard, taken as a body, as many of the laboring people at the north. I have sail, that they look happy —yea they art happy ; and could you, or you: read’ : in sing, shout, and pray, such ti.’i bo your opinion.— The true soil'. G generous, kind, and gralrfn; ; ■ .• 1 ‘ongest possible attaehwx a mil}’ in which he has 1. 1. - are benevolent: frequent • \ has some good color'd ‘it'd me with adoiih •h’Y, to send the Dll Last Sab bath ■: ■ immense cong'* . .it-, r • • ; church the cole. . “i the galle ries, a 1 S’• • ii.ir the Bible cause, amoui •;* <h- us and some ern's. Noble sou is ! Noble collect. on
