Newspaper Page Text
From the Charleston Mercury.
1 few Questions to my Northern Brethren.!
Mksshs. Editors : Being a native and resi
dent of the North, and only a traveller in the
Southern States, I feel privileged to inquire ol
that portion of rny (ellow-citizens who are so
bitter in their enmity to the institution of slavery,
what is your object ? To many ol you lam
known as a writer of some candor ami truth ltd- ;
ness, though mostly confined to agricultural sub- j
jects, from which I would not deviate, only in
the hope that whatever light I may he able to
give, will ad l a mite to guide us through the
threatening darkness, that unless soon dispelled,
will assuredly dissolve this, to me, much loved
Union of the States of my native land.
First then: Is that your object? Do you
earnestly desire dissolution? If so, why not say
*oat once? If that is not your object, what is
it ? What do you propose, in case you can effect
the abolition of slavery in all the States ? Is it
to benefit the negro race, or is it to wreak ven
geance on those who hold them ? If it is the
former, I hava only to give my opinion, after a
long and careful investigation of the whole sub
ject, and more extended travel and better oppor
tunity to make observations than has probably
fallen to any Northern mail, that no evil of so
fearful import could fall upon the whole inass of
the negroes of the South this day, as to free
them from the control of their masters.
Take, then, as a whole, with very, very few
exceptions, and they are the best fed, best cloth
ed, best housed, best provided for in sickness, in
fancy, and old age, and ligliest worked, of any
of the laboring class in the world.
And more than that, they enjoy the great ob
ject, end and aim of life, in u higher degree than
you yourselves do, for they are more contented,
chaerful and happy, and never repine or sigh
for liberty; and, in point of morality, nay, re
ligion, they exeel any oftbe lower orders in any
country ; and their masters, instead of being
the monsters that you deem them, are as well
beloved by their slaves us you are by your hire
lings; ah! more, by your children.
I could name hundreds of instances, where I
have seen marks of the strongest ties of affec
tion, and where the death of the master or mis
tress would produce more real distress among
the negroes than would the loss of any of their
own number. It is a solemn fact, that slavery
as it is generally understood ut the North, does
not exist at the South.
Nowhere have I ever seen any exercise of
that wanton cruelty so often described. Whip
ping or other punishment is like Tubal’s account
of his pursuit of Shy lock's daughter: “I often
come within hearing of her, but never saw
her”—and so it is with cruelty to negroes. It
is often heard of at the North, but never seen at
the South.
I have often heard persons express the. great
est apprehension and dread of the negroes, and
they could hardly believe me when I have told
them with what perfect fearlessness of all insur
rectionary raovemeuts l have travelled and dwelt
among them. Even now,at this present writing,
I am upon a rice plantation, thirty miles from
Charleston, and isolated from neighbors, where
there are upwards of 200 slaves, and about half
a dozen whites, including women and children,
occupying two houses, as free front all fear of be
ing disturbed by the negroes, as tlu; owner of
that farm house is of Iris own children. No ser
vants in public or private houses in any of the
Free States are so trustworthy, or so kind and
respectful, as these “poor miserable. slaves.”—
And why should they aot he? for here a negro
is treated with kindness and respect, hut as a ne
gro, and not elevated to the level of a white man.
How is it at the North? There he is constant
ly told that in everything hut his color he is
equal to his “white brother.” but in all their ac
tions the said white brottiers take care to im
press it upon the “man of color” that he is not
a white man, and never will 3*e treated as one.
The consequence is he is discontented and un
happy, and sighing for freedom from his degra
ded position in society ten times more earnestly
than slaves sigh for freedom in the South.
Why then would you abolish—nut slavery, as
yon view it, for it is not here.—but the con
dition of things that eualdes a few whites to su
perintend and manage a large number of ne
groes, and cause them to labor and provide for
their own comfortable siqvpoit, iit a far better
manner than they would do it if freed from that
superintendence and management of a superior
mind ?
Abolish it you cannot. Change it you may, hut
only to put it in a worse form. The rice swamps
of South Carolina, and the sugar fields ot Louis
iana. and the broad acres of cotton in all the
Southern States, that, never have been cultivated
by any but negro laborers, never will be ; and
there, as long as these lands continue to be cul
tivated, the negro will he a slave to the white
owner, call him by what name you will; and
never will his condition he better than it is note.
Why then will you continue to agitate the
subject, unless you are determined to dissolve
the Lnion ? You have called, ami are daily
calling, as good men as ever lived, by all the
vile names that the copiousness and billings
gate of the English language can furnish, mere
ly because he calls the negro slave, instead of
“brother,’ until you have goaded their high born
the last point of forbearance; and un
less you cease the irritation that you have so
long persevered in, the days of this Union are
numbered- “A house divided against itself can
not stand.”
I write to you in the spirit of brqtherly kind
ness, to beg ofyou to pause and reflect. I have
no interest to prompt me to advocate the cause
of the South, but I know her people well: and
more noble sons of America do not breathe ;
none that possess all the attributes of good men,
than do a large majority of those that you de
nounce as “inhuman monsters,” “traffickers in
human flesh and blood, ’ and “unworthy to asso
ciate with freemen,” because they continue
peaceably to exercise the right that your ances- j
tors accorded to them, and to cultivate the land. ,
that their insalubrious climate will not allow
them to cultivate themselves, by slave labor.
Pause and reflect. I know these people well
——know that their patience is nearly exhausted.
If the people of the North desire to perpetuate
this Union, they must cease to irritate the South
without cause or Fcason, and frown down the
disorganizing demagogues and abolitionists at
home.
Bo assured that I am a friend of my country—
the whole country—one and inseparable.
SOLON ROBINSON, j
Major Noah eavs tluit an Abolitionist was j
lately making a great parade of the fact that a negro
ts “a man and a brother.” “\Vl> v ,” cried a poor!
white man standing near, “yon wouldn't acknowl- !
edge me as a brother, nor shake hands wiih me in the j
street the other (jay, though I am the son of one of I
your tenants.” The Abolitionist sloped. Facts’
were not wanted. It was sentiment that he could
pile up to any height.
wS. Ho L rne Tookff ’ aske ' l b V George 111.
. er b< !, played at cards, replied, “I cannot, vour
“aajes.y, tell a king from a knave.” “ 1
Cotton Cultivation in India. —The ex
teriinents at Madras, in cultivating cotton to ri
val thai of the l niter! States, have been aban
doned; tin* London AlorningChronicle says it is
• total failure. It was zealously, and even lav.
ishly supported by the local government; but
the late failure of a similar experiment in Ben
gal, after an outlay of about £IOO.OOO, had nl
ieady given fair warning of the probable issue
of Dr. Wight’s eflbrt in the sister presidency.
The capital and mechanical skill which, since
the introduction of Whitney’s saw gin, in 1793,
have been brought to bear by the Americans
■ m ihe cleansing of the pod#, have given their
product an excellence which the Indian planter
cannot approach.
Fifty years ago India shipped to England
cotton goods to the value of three millions ster
ling. At the present time, the process is ex
actly reversed, and India imports British man
ufaetures of American cotton to the same
amount. In 1790 America did not export a
single pound. In 1634, she exported as much
us all the rest of the world put together. And
hi 1643, out of 407,856,274 lbs. imported into
England, 401.949.393 lbs. came from the Uni
ted States ; while only 34,546,143 were sup
plied by the East Indies and Ceylon ! The to
tal value of the cotton exported in 1843 from
the thiee presidencies does not amount to
£600.000. And now the failure o| the experi
ments made by the Government of Bengal and
Madras, with every appliance of skill and capi
tal to insure success, will at any rate render it
extremely dubious whether cotton be fated to
resume its rank among the great staples ot
India.
Manufacture of Cotton.—The following statement
of tliv number of spindles at work appears in the Borscn
hallc, a Gennau paper, of the 10th ultimo:
Great Britain, .... 17.. r >!)0,000
France, - .... 4,300,000
United States, where cotton spinning was first
commenced in 18‘M, ... 2,500,000
Austria, - .... 1,500,000
Zoll Verein., .... 815,000
Russia, - .... 700,000
•Switzerland, - - - - 650,000
Belgium, 420,000
Spain, - .... 300,000
Italy, - .... 300,000
Giving a total of, 28,981,000
Betting on the Cotton Crop.—A highly re
spectable gentleman of Selma, Alabama, writes us
tu the following effect, under date of the 24th ult.:
I understand that the cotton crop of this year is
estimated bv many in the ci’tv of New York, at from
2,300,000 to 2,500,000 bales, and that they will bet
on those figures. If so, 1 will bet from three to five
thousand dollars that the crop will come up to
twenty-four hundred thousand bales, and will place
the funds in the hands of Robert Desha &, (Jo., or
Rives, Battle &. Cos., of Mobile, provided a like
amount he placed in proper hands in New York.
What will our .-peculators say to this ? The chal
lenge comes from a perfectly responsible source, and
if accepted, would excite great interest throughout
the country.—-V. Y. Spirit Times.
From the Southern Cultivator.
A lure for Swinncy.
Mil. Editor: Y'otir correspondent “Bibb,”
in the .March No. of the Cultivator says, he is in
“distress for a certain cure” for this disease, so
common to the horse family. I regret t*-at his
inquiries had not attracted my attention sooner,
as I confidently believe that his horse’s shoulder,
if not already ruined hy the bat barons treatment
to which it seems to have fallen heir, that the
plan here recommended will cure-it effectually.
At least in dozens and almost hundreds of cases
to which I have known it applied within the lijst
12 or 15 v-irs, I have never known it fail in a
single instance, although some were old horses,
and the cases of long standing.
All will agree that counter-irritation applied
to the surface, is the proper treatment, but how
to produce it most effectually, is the question
about which doctors differ. Spirits Turpentine,
hot iron, rowclling, deep incisions in the shoul
der, poke root, tartar emetic, and all such things,
while they produce much suffering, and some of
them deep sores of long standing and permanent
scars, are not half so effectual, or instantaneous
in their effects, as simply blowing up in the
shoulder, giving but little more pain to the ani
mal than the bite of a big horsefly, and leaving no
scar that the eye can detect—while at the same
time it effects a cure in ten days or two weeks.
Pinch up the skin with the finger and thumb of
the left hand, near the upper end nfthc shoulder
blade, (and at that point where the muscle com
mences shrinking first)and with a sharp pointed
pen-knife pierce through it, and cut out, making
only such an incision as will admit the end ol a
small cane, the size of a common pipe-stem.—
Insert the end of the cane, and by pressing the
skin around it with the finger and thumb, and
gently pulling the skin from the shoulder, you
may blow in wind to any desirable quantity.
Care should be taken to train it down the
blade-bone, six or eight inches xvide, until it
reaches the lower point of the shoulder. In
sert a little salt in the cut place, turn the animal
to grass, wash off the matter with a little warm
soap-suds once a day, but be careful to not press
the wind out. It will escape itself, and the an
imal he well in about two weeks.
A Mountaineer.
Greenville , S. C„ April , 1849.
Dr. Parkman. —We clip the following ex
traordinary letter from the N. Orleans Delta.
The remarks appended by that paper seem ap
propriate to the subject. Whether the letter be
a hoax or no', there are coincidents attending it
that painfully enhance the mystery in which this
extraordinary tragedy is involved.
THE PARKMAN CASE.
The following letter was received by us yes
terday, through the. post office :
Near Washington, Texas, Dec. 27, 1849.
Dear Sir : It is with difficulty that I can get
paper to rite you ; but I am induced to do so
for the safety of Dr. Webster. He is not guilty
of the crime, I myself perpetrated the Deed
that he is charged with,
And I am off for Californiar.
Yours, Oronka.
the 23d of November was
a Bad day for me.
This letter came directed to the Editor of the j
Delta, New Orleans, and is stamped with the
post office mark of Washington, Texas. It is
not post-paid, as is the case with nearly all our
letters. Our first impression, after perusing this j
letter was, that it was an idle and highly im- i
proper hoax of some witless young man ; we I
therefore threw it aside determined to take no !
notice of it; hut a second thought, and on remem- j
bering hoxv important a bearing the slightest in
cidents may sometimes hax-e in an investigation !
into a charge of murder, we deemed it proper to
publish the letter in our paper, and to retain the !
original in safe keeping.
Though our first impression, that it was in-1
tended as a hoax, is decidedly the strongest, \
there arc certain circumstances which render i
it by no means impossible or improbable, that
®® notno i® iso aisair aso§ t=
I the letter may constitute an important link in
i the inquiry into this mysterious affair.
The letter is written by an illiterate man, on
coarse paper, and is folded in an awkward man
ner. It came by the mail from Texas. The
231 ‘November referred to in the postscript, as a
bad day fur the writer, is the day upon which
Dr. Parkman’s murder is declared by the Coro
ner’s Jury to have occurred. Washington is a
very remote town of Texas.
We remember seeing, in some Boston paper,
that members of Dr. Parkman’s family had re
ceived an anonymous letter stating that the wri
ter had murdered Dr. Parkman, and gone off to
Texas in a schooner.
i We submit these considerations without de
j siring to give the letter more importance than it
is entitled to. We can scarcely conceive that
i any sane man would perpetrate so senseless a
1 joke on so serious a subject. There would be no
| fun or humor in it. It could not deceive or im
pose upon any body. Nor can xve believe that
j any friend of Dr. Webster could be so absurd
as to hope to help his case by such resorts as
this. Besides, the letter wants the preciseness
and coherence which the perpetrator of a hoax
would employ, as well as the person writing, to
divert public suspicion from Dr. Webster.
The Parkman Murder.
Philo Delta, the correspondent of the N. O.
Delta, writing from New York, says :
“I xvas at Boston not many days since, where
the chief topic ot conversation has been, and is,
; the Parkman murder—for that it was a cold,
blooded, determined killing with malice afore
thought, no well-balanced mind can doubt. The
; evidence upon which the Coroner’s Jury brought
in their verdict implicating Joint W. Webster,
then and now incarcerated on suspicion, is said
to be overwhelming, and enough to hang a dozen
i men, even by a Nexv England jury, which ac
j quits a man of murder on the ground of insanity,
| and incarcerates him ten years for arson, com
j mittedat the very same time. I xvas told by a
i respectable clergyman such facts as these, which
| have not yet found their way even into the in
satiable penny-papers. Two men from Dock
Square were forthcoming, who would swear,
the one that he sold Webster the knife, which xvas
i found in his lecture-room, three days before the
disappearance of Dr. Parkman ; and the other
that he sold Webster the large codfish hooks at
the same time. The piece of brown-paper,
j which xvas sent through the Post-office to Mai
| sha! Tukey, and on which xvas scrawled some
| lines, evidently with a stick, the purport and in
| tent of which xve re to put that officer on a false
| scent, was found to match exactly a similar
j piece found in Webster’s drawer, from which it
; had been torn ; and in the same drawer there
j was also a stick—one end of which was inked.
The attempt to implicate the Janitor of the
College in this crime is worse than ridiculous.
; To accuse so simple a man of conspiracy is
1 merely silly. He can doubtless prove his where
abouts for every moment of time, which he
must have employed far otherwise, had he been
engaged either in making way with Dr. Park
man, or in conspiring to hang Prof. Webster.”
Horrible Death of Insane Prisoners by Fire
The Victims Chained to the Floor. —The burning
o! the jail at Gettysburg, Pa., on Monday morning
last, with two prisoners, lias been mentioned. The
Sentinel gives the following afflicting account:
“ There were but two persons confined in the pris
on at the time, Isaac Mussel man and John Toner—
both insane, and confined for safe keeping. The
fire is supposed to have originated in the room of the
former, but in what manner, is not and never can be
known. It was hist discovered by a gentleman resi
ding near the prison, whose attention was attracted
by the loud and continued cries of Museelman, and
who, upon rising from his bed., found the flames al
ready bursting from the windows of Musselman’s
room. From the progress the fire had made, it is in
ferred that it must have been burning some time
probably an hour. The alarm was of course imme
diately given ; but some delay ensuing before the
Sheriff’s family (occupying the first story of the
building) could be roused, and the advanced hour of
the night preventing a prompt gathering of the citi
.! zens, the Haines spread rapidly and soon enveloped a
I large portion of the prison, rendering abortive all es
! forts on the part of firemen and citizens to save any
j part of the building.
| The saddest part of the story, however, remains to
be told. As soon as an entrance to the building
could be effected, every possible effort was made to
save the two unfortunate beings confined in it, hut in
vain. The flames had progressed so far as to render
it impossible to reach tiie room of Musselman, who,
it is thought, fell a victim to the devouring element
before the alarm was fairly given, as bis cries ceased
immediately after the first discovery of the fire. A
i portion of his burned body was recovered after the
falling in of the building, and the remains have
since been interred in the cemetery of iSt. James’
church. The dense volume of smoke issuing from
the burning apartments rendered it difficult to”reach
j the room in which Toner was confined, such as at
tempted to enter being drix'en back by the suffocating
volume of smoke. The poor victim being chained
to the floor rendered his release the more difficult.
The body was at length recovered, but life was ex
tinct—every effort to restore animation failing.
A White Negro. —Some eight or nine
years ago, we noticed in tlie Carolinian some
thing ol a natural curiosity—a negro man with
white spots on his face, about his mouth. He
xvas an old man, probably fifty, as black as any
African, who had been bitten in his boyhood,
by a rattlesnake pilot. We thought then that
he xvas a good subject for a museum, but to our
I astonishment he came to town a few weeks
j ago, almost a white man ! the only traces of
j the negro about him, were his kinky hair, and
j some spots or streaks, such as would be made
: upon the skin of a white person by the applica
tion of lunar caustic. The probability is, if he |
: lives five years longer, that there will not be !
the trace of a negro about him except his hair, i
He re is a theme for a philosopher. Many !
learned essays have been written, theorizing ;
upon the cause or causes of the color and other
peculiarities o( the African race. No other
i cause than the snake bite can be assigned for
this astonishing metamorphosis, and the phiios
| ophy of its operation would no doubt puzzle the
most eminent chemist.
But so it is ; xve have a white negro in
| North Carolina. And xve would suggest to his
master, if he will excuse the impertinence of
! the remark, that he can make more money by i
exhibiting him through the country, than he
can by his labor, if he lives fifty years longer;
although he is a jolly old fellow and can crack
i a joke yet. —Fayetteville Carolinian.
“How do I look, Pompey ?” said a young
| dandy to his servant, as he finished dressing.
! “Elegant, massa ; you look bold as a lion.”
i “Bold ns a lion, Pompey? How do you
know ? You never saw a lion.”
“O yes, massa, I seed one down to Mass
Jenks, in his stable.”
•‘Down to Jenks’s, Pompey? Why, you
great fool, Jenks hasn’t got a lion; that’s a
Jackass.”
“Can’t help dat, massa, you look ’zactly like
him,”
• Election of Senators by the People.—
| Mr. Clqinens, of Alabama, has given notice in
; the Senate of the United States, that he intends
to introduce a hill, amending the Constitution so
as to make the Senators elected by the people.
The New \ ork Tribune favors the idea and
; talks as follows :
j “We believe a popular election of Senators
would greatly improve the composition ami char
acter of the Senate ; that many pompous block
heads and wire-working knaves who can con
trive to get elected by the Legislature, would not
even venture to be candidates before the people;
that man) abuses and corruptions now entrench
ed behind Senatorial irresponsibility, would re-
I ceive from popular election their death blow ;
and, in short, that the next best thing to the abo
} litioti of the Senate, would be the election of its
members by a direct popular vote. Such is our
view o| the matter.
i “The suggestion that greenhorns and braw
-1 lers might get into the Senate, if the mode of
j election were changed, has little weight with us.
Would it be possible to choose a worse spec
imen of mischief-making, empty-headed
demagogue, than Foote? Could any man be
j chosen by the people thiough such barefaced
j corruption as secured the election of Chase? or
j could you by any means send to the Senate a
more servile and mindless implement of party
I than D. S. Dickinson? Does any body believe
i that Senators chosen by the people would help
| themselves to forty thousand dollars out of the
| public chest, under the pretence of taking pay
j for a journey which no one of them performed ;
i a journey supposed to have been made between
j Saturday night and the following Monday morn
i ing, and for which they charged the Treasury
j from s•'>,) to S2OOO ; the one ot them whodeci
j ded and certified the claim to be just, taking
j over S'2ooo ot it to himself, while the people’s
j Vice President, who ought to have decided the
t question and was well known to lie adverse to
l this rascally gouge, had been elbowed out of the
j chair for the brief remainder of the season ?
Rely on it, the cure of a great many such run
ning sores as this would be found in an election
of Senators by the people.
“It our correspondent, or any body else, con
siders the fact that Mr. Clemens was just now
defeated in a canvass for Congress before the
people, and has since been elected to a seat
therein by Hie Legislature, as proving anything
adverse to the superior discernment and discrim
ination of the people, wo beg leave to disagree
with him.”
Oh ! Matty Van.
“Oh ! Susannah”
“I had a dream the other night,
When all around was still,
I thought I saw Old Kinderhook
Agoing doicn the. lull.
“A cabbage-stump was in bis mouth,
The tear was in bis eye ;
Says be, * We’re beaten north and south,
Hut, Johnny, don’t you cry.’ ”
Slavery in the District.—The New York Tri
bune gives the following from a letter written at
Washington on Tuesday :
“There was some talk Saturday among the Union-
I ists about getting over the sectional disputes about
| the District of Columbia by creating for it a sell-gov
\ erment and a representation, with the power to abol
ish slavery within its limits. There are hut few
| slaveholders here—not more than one in ten of the
! resident, population being owners or hirers of slaves,
! and the moderate wages and superior services of the
i numerous foreigners here make slaves more undesi
rable servants everyday.”
Go it, Bob Tail.
j
j A specimen of the genus “Hoosier” was
found by Captain . of the steamer ,
in the engine room of bis boat, while laying at
Louisville, one tine morning in June. The Cap
tain inquired to know “ what he was doing
there?”
“Have you seen Captain Perry?” was the in
terrogative Response.
“I don’t know him; and can’t teli what that has
to do with your being in my engine room,” replied
the Captain angrily.
“Hold on ! that’s just what I was getting at.
You see, Captain Perry and I walked down to
gether. Captain Perry asked me to drink, and
so—l did ; I knew that l wanted to drink, or I
wouldn't have been so very dry. So, Captain
Perry and I drank too or three times. Captain
Perry was putting in some extras on one toe.—
I sings out “go it. Captain Perry,” if you bust
your biler.” With that a man steps up to me,
and says lie,
“See here, stranger, you must leave.”
Says I, “What must I leave fur?”
Says he, “You're making too much noise.”
Says I, “I’ve been in bigger crowds than this,
j and made more noise, and I didn’t leave nuther.”
With that he Ink me by the nap of the neck !
and the seat of the breeches, and l left. As 1 j
was a shovin’ down the street, I met a lady. I |
knew she was a lady by the remark she made.
Says she,
“Young man, I reckon you’ll go home with
me ?”
Politeness wouldn’t let mo refuse, and so—l i
went.
I’d bin in the house but a minute, when Ii
heard considerable ot’ a knocking at the door. Ii
knew the chap wanted to get in, whoever he :
was, or he wouldn’t have kept up such a treinend- !
ous racket. By and by, says a voice—
“Efyou don’t open, I’ll bust in the door.”
And so he did !
I put on a bold face, and says I,
“Stranger, does this woman belong to you ?” \
Says he, “she does.”
“Then,” says I, “she’s a lady, I think, from
all that I have seen os her.”
With that he came at me with a pistol in one
hand and a bowie knife in the other; and bein’
a leetle pressed for room, I jumped through the
windy, leavin’ the bigger portion of my coat tail.
I was streakin’ it down town, with the frag
merits fluttering to tlie breeze. I met a friend. 1
knew he was a friend by a remark he made.
Says he,
‘Go it, Bob tail, lie’s a gainin’ on you !”
And that’s the way I happened in your en
gine room. I’m a good swimmer, Captain, but
do excuse me, if you please, from takin’ water !”
A Very Good Story is told in the New York j
Globe, which that papersays is strictly true, the per- I
son who got tiie money being in the office of that pa
per. It is as follows :
“We Rectify no Mistakes.” — Mr. Jessu ran, Treas
urer of the Building Association in this city, received
yesterday, from the Seaman’s Saving Bank, a thou
sand dollar note instead of a one hundred. He did
not discover the mistakeat the time, nor until an j
hour or two afterwards, when he was within an ace !
of paying away the bill for the amount he supposed j
itto represent,but caughta glimpse ol the additional
cypher before lie passed it out of his hands. Hurry
ing back to the hank, he informed the paying teller
that he had made a mistake.
“We rectify no mistakes after the parties have
left the bank,” was the reply.
“Yes, but you’ve paid me too much money!”
This was quite “another pair of sleeves.” The
officers of the bank were instantly on the qui tire.
Mr. Jessnrun handed in the one thousand and receiv- i
ed a one hundred in return, without even a “thank 1
you !” by way of difference.
A Piece of Legal Advice.
Rennes, the ancient capital of Brittany, is a
famous place tor law. People come there from
1 the extremities of the country to got informa
tion and ask advice. Rennes without
getting advice appears impossible to a Breton.
This was true at the
j tury, just as it is at\tegent% and especially
among the country peonft, Vliatoue a timid and
1 cautious race.
Now it happened one clay that aJarmer nam
j ed Bernard, having come to Re Dims on busi
ness, bethought himself that as he had a few
hours to spare, it would be well to employ them
in getting the advice of a good lawyer. He
j had often heard of Monsieur Potier de la Ger
mondaie, who was in such high repute, that
people believed a lawsuit gained when he un
dertook their cause. The countryman inquir
ed for bis address, and proceeded to bis house
in Rue St. Georges. The clients were numer
ous, and Bernard had to wait some time. At
length his turn arrived, and be was introduced.
M. Potier de la Germondaie signed to him to
bo seated ; then taking oft’ his spectacles, and
placing them on his desk, he requested to know
his business.
‘Why, Mr. Lawyer,* said the farmer, twirling
his hat, ‘1 have heard so much about you, that,
as I have come to Rennes, I wish to take the
opportunity of consulting you.’
| ‘1 thank you for your confidence, my friend :
you wish to bring an action, perhaps ?’
‘An action ! oh, 1 hold that in abhorrence !
Never has Pierre Bernard haft a word with any
I one.’
‘Then is it a settlement—a division of prop
erty V
! ‘Excuse me, Mr. Lawyer; my family and I
have never made a division, seeing that we all
draw from the same well, as they say.’
‘Well, is it to negotiate a purchase or a
| sale ?’
‘Oh.no; I am neither rich enough to pur
! chase, nor poor enough to sell !’
‘Will you tell me, then, what you do want of
I me ?’ said the lawyer in surprise.
‘Why, I hare already told you, Mr. Lawyer,’
replied Bernard. ‘I want your advice—for pay
] meiit, of course, as l am well able to give it to
you, and 1 don’t wish to lose this opportunity.’
M. Potier took a pen and paper, and asked
the countryman his name.
‘Pierre Bernard,’ replied the latter, quite
happy that he was at length understood.
‘Your age ?’
‘Thirty years, or very near it.’
‘Your vocation V
‘My vocation I Oh, that means what I do ? I
am a farmer.’
The lawyer wrote two lines, folded the pa
per, and handed itto his strange client.
‘ls it finished already ? Well and good.
What is the price of that advice, Mr. Lawyer ?’
‘Three francs !’
Bernard paid the money, and took his leave,
j delighted that he had taken advantage of his
: opportunity.
1 When he reached home, it was four o’clock.
; the journey had fatigued him, and he determin
ed to rest himself the remainder of the day. In
the meantime the hay had been two days cut,
and was completely saved. One of the work
ing men came to ask if it should lx* drawn in.
‘VVliat, this evening?’ exclaimed the farmer’s
wife, who bad come in to meet her husband.
‘lt would be a pity to commence the work so
late, since it can be done to-morrow without
any inconvenience.’ The man objected that
the weather might change : that the horses
were all ready, and the hands idle. But the
farmer’s wife replied that the wind was in a
good quarter, and that night would set in before
their work could be completed. Bernard, who
bad been listening to the argument, was uncer
tain which way to decide, when he suddenly re
collected that lie had the lawyer’s advice in his
pocket.
‘Wait a minute,’ he exclaimed ; ‘I have an
advice—and a famous one too—that 1 paid three
francs for : it ought to tell us what to d.*. Here,
Theresa, see what it says ; you can read writ
ten hand better than I.’
The woman took the paper, and read tliL
line—‘Never cut off till to-morrow what
you can do to-day !’
‘That’s it!’ exclaimed Bernard, struck with a
sudden ray of light. ‘Come, be quick ; get the }
carls, and away ; boys, girls, all to the bay- j
field !’
His wife ventured a few more objections, but
j he declared that he had not bought a three franc {
I opinion to make no use of it, and that he would |
I follow the lawyer’s advice. He himself set the ;
example by taking the lead in the work, and not
returning till all the hay was brought, in. The
event seemed to prove the wisdom of his con
duct, for the weather changed during the night ;
j an unexpected storm burst over the valley ; and I
| the next morning it was found that the river had |
| overflowed, and carried away all the hay that
| bad been left in the fields. The crops of the
neighboring farmers were completely destroyed.
| Bernard alone had not suffered,
j The success ot this first experience gave him
j such laith in the advice of the lawyer, that from I
i that day forth he adopted it as the rule of his j
: conduct, and became, by his order and diligence, I
i one of the richest farmers in the country. He j
never forgot the service done him by M. Potier j
1 de la Germondaie, to whom he ever afterwards 1
carried a couple of his finest fowls every year ,
as a token of gratitude.
A Home Made Locomotive.— The Wilmington
(N. C) Chronicle says: “We have had the pleas
ure of examining the new Locomotive, Jno. M. More
head, (named alter Ex-Gov. More head,) which was
turned out about three weeks since from the ma
chine shop in this town of the Wilmington and Roa
noke Rail Road Company, having been made there
under the shop. It Uan 8 wheeled Engine, of about
ten tons weight; is put together in an excellent man
ner, and performs most satisfactorily. It is in use
on the W. fc R. R. R. Another, intended to be of
considerably greater weight and power, lias been
commenced in the same shop. Success in every
way to North Carolina skill and enterprise.”
Mrs. Partington on Slanders. —‘lf there is
any body under the canister of Heaven that I have in
utter excresence,’ says the amiable Mrs. Partington,
‘it is a slanderer, going about like a vile boaconstrnet
or, inserting his calomel about honest folks. I al
ways know cme by Ids phismogony. It. seems as
though Beizabob had stamped him with his private
signal, and every thing ho looks at appears to turn
yellow.’
O’ The following beautiful sentiment was drunk |
standing, at a private fete among “do first circle”
colored elite of New York, a few evenings since :
“Here’s to de colered far sec—dar face need no
paint, dar head no ’funiery !”
O’ “ I shall soon die, Cliffy, I must soon set out ,
on a long journey.” “Berry well,” replied Cuffy,|
“ I guess you hnb good going, because it’s all the
way down hill.” 1
Rig Brindlc.
In Nashville, many years ago, there resided it g etu
! tleman of great hospitality, large fortune, and though
uneducated, was possessed of a hard knot of sense.
Col. \V. had been elected to the Legislature and
: had been also judge of the county court.
His elevation, however, had made him somewhat
. ; pompous, and he became very fond of using big
words. On his farm he had a large and mischievous
I ox, called “ Big Brindle,” which frequently broke
down his neighbors’ fences and committed other
depredations, much to the Colonel’s annoyance.
One morning after breakfast, in presence of some
. gentlemen who had staid with him over night, and
. who were now on their way to town, he called his
overseer and said to him: “Mr. Allen, I desire von
to impound Big Brindle, in order that I may hear
no more animadversions on his eternal depreda-*
■ | tions.”
I j Allen bowed and walked hfl, *ot*cly puzzled to
know what the Colonel meant. So after Col. \V
loft for town, he went to his wife and asked her
what Col. \V. meant by telling him to “ impound”
the ox. “ Why,” said she, “ the Colonel n>wt t
tell you to put him up in a pen.” Allen left to
; torrn the feat, for it was no inconsiderable one, m
the animal was very wild and vicious, anil alter a
great deal of trouble and vexation he succeeded.
1 “ Well,” said he, wiping the perspiration from his
I j brow and soliloquizing, “this is impounding, is if ?
Now I am dead sure the old Colonel will ask me if f
j impounded Big Brindle, and I’ll bet I puzzle him sta
: bad as he did mo.” ,
The next day the, ColWlfgave a dinner party,
anil as he was not the overseer,
sat down with the cmnpany.^Alter the second or
•bird glass of wine wirsd is cussed, the Colonel turn
ed to the overseer Th, Mr. Allen, did
j you impound Big BrinJo, sis ?’’ allien straightened
himsell and looking round at (lie company, said i
i “ Yes, I did, sir, but old Brindle transcended the im
pannel of the impound and sratterlophislocated all
over the equanimity of the forest.” The company
! hurst into an immoderate tit of laughter, while th*
Colonel’s face reddened with discomfiture.
“ What do you mean by that, sir?” said lie 1 .
“ Why, 1 mean, Colonel,” said Allen, “ that ofd
j Brindle being prognosticated with an idea of the
cholera, ripped and tared, snorted and pawed dirt,
I jumped the fence, tuck to the woods,, and would not
be impounded no how.”
1 This was too much; the company roared a gam,
j in which the ColoneLwas forced to jijjrqftind in the
j midst of the idlii-'i! 01 '. Allen quitted tit* say
| ing to hiiiiselTVs
won’t ask me to
‘ %
A Glance ixfljplsao.—'The editor of the’ Jfewr-
York Sunday Tithes “standing on this bank and
shoal of Time,” ami looking into futurity, says :
The first event visible in the distance, and about
hall way between this and 1851, appears to he a fu
neral procession. Hale and I*. King are carrying
the dead body of “Free Soilism” out to the Capitol,
with Giddings following as chief-mourner. On the
coffin-lid is inscribed, “Killed by Honorable’ Com
promise,” and some wag has chalked on the backs
of the coffin-bearers and chief-mourners, “Othello’s
occupation’s gone.” Farther on, ami not quite so dis
tinct, we observe Unde Sam mid John Bull shaHiior
hands across the river San Juan, and a dirty-lookinu
! darkey, wearing a paper crown, amusing himself
with eating a big cake of ginger bread and drinking
1 a jorum of arrack punch, which they have just tretf
j ed him to in exchange for the fee simple of a r j„ht
:of way over the mosquito bars in the stream. The
j buzziness seems to be settled to the satisfaction of all
parties—the royal sucker inclusive. At a still
greater distance, close upon the line of 185i, we ob
serve a se ies of tremendous explosions going on at
1 San Francisco—we suppose the place to he San Fra* •
cisco, from the fact that many inhabitants are walk
■ ing Spanish. Whew ! what a dust is hein.r kicked
up. Real estate, which seems to have been blown
up sky-high, is coming down by the run, and the n
j hob o! yesterday (/. e. futurity's yesterday) is without
I a hob to-day. Whole numbers ot inhabitants are
; reduced to vulgar fractions, and bursted individuals
i lie in tiers, cramming their eyes, on every side.
! The scene is too awful —we’ll look no more. Wo
! have already strained our mental optics, and find that
j penetrating futurity with a. “gimblet eye” considera*
1 bie of a bore.
The Par km an Murder.— Important Discovery.
j —lt will be remembered that during the excitement
attendant upon the arrest of Prof. Webster, charged
| with the murder of Dr. Purkman. it was stated that
the Professor had received from Mr. Sawin a large
quantity of grape vine cuttings. It was at first re
ported that these were bundles of faggots to be nsed
j for the purpose of kindling fires, &c., but when tho
nature of the wood became known, it was supposed
j A*** the Professor had merely ordered them to be
; sent to his laboratory for some chemical experiment,
j It has been ascertained by burning flesh with prune
| vine cuttings, that the effluvia w ising i&entirely con
jce ded. Phis is ait important discovery in science
| and may or may not have been known to the Profes
| sor.
| We also l*‘iim that Dr. Alex. Houston called at
j t,,e house of Dr. Park man on the day after his dis
j appearance,and was informed by a member of Dr. P.’s
! family, that lie had left the city and would not return
J for several days. Our readers can draw theirown
| inferences. — Huston Herald. Dec. “7.
| O’ Nearly fifty thousand letters passed thromrh the
| * New I’ostoffire, on the 26th and 27th ult” The
j steamer Canada, for Europe, took out 32 JOO • the
; Ohm, for California, 14.500 ; the Crescent ’Citv
! f^ 00 ; ‘fie Cherokee, for California, 200 ; and the
Great Western, for Bermuda. 700—in all 18 500
The 05/o carried out f 5,005 newspapers, and the
Cherokee 1000. A New Wk paper, calculating
H.o revenue upon those letters and newspapers dis
patched to California, says llmt.at forty cents each
j for letters, and three cents for newspapers, the total
j seil pnstaage would amount to .$6,760. If to this
we add the postage on the letters to Europe, average
thirty cents each, we have $16,360 as the
of two days revenue to the New York Postoffice
from letters dispatched by mail steamers alone.
Miii.kdgSV.lle Factory.—The Milled-evilio
; Manufacturing Company has deck red a dividend of
I 10 per cent, on its operations lur the previous six;
j months, payable Ist proximo. This factory began
j its operations on a comparatively small scale, grifdu
i ally increasing its spindles and looms, until now it
i has in use machinery nearly equal to the full capaci>
1 ly of its power, and the extent of its buildings.
\Mdledgerille Recorder.
j Poverty not Crime.—Gov. Fish, in his annual
j message, says that out of 747 persons confined on
I Blackwell’s Island at one time during the past vear
: upon the charge of vagrancy, 2*20 were there-"from
; the effect of “poverty, sickness and destitution.”’
Out of the whole number, 7a7, l.e remarks, “only*
I three were lawfully imprisoned.”
Plank Road. —The directors of the Miland and
! Richland Plank Road Company give notice in to
! day’s paper that they have declared a stock dividend
of twenty-five per cent. ($12,55 on each share.)*
| This is from the earnings of 11 miles of road forau
; average period of 11 months.— Milan Tribune.
i A Soft—shelled T.v —A native of Chickesaha
yesterday—says the Mobile Tribune of Sunday
j while passing by the turtle soup man’s, opposite the
Mansion House, inquired, as he pointed to a huge
: green turtle, “is that what you call an oyster ?”
; “Taint nothing else,” replied a wag. “Well,” ejacu
: latedthe gawk, “I wouldn't have believed they was
so big. How one man can eat three or lour dozen
! on ’em, as I liearn tell, is mighty strange, unless they
i shrink up amazin’ alter they’re down.”
O’ “Doctor, said a gentleman wtio was notorious
for laziness in general, and slovenliness of person in
particular, “Doctor, I have tried evory tiling I can
possibly think of for the rheumatism, and without the’
least avail.” The doctor, after having surveyed him
for a moment, inquired, fhk ; Had. ever fried ‘a dead
skirl! ’’
O’ “ Now, Sam, if you don’t stop licking them
molasses, I’ll tell the man.” “Bv chalks, you tell*
the tuau. and I’ll lick you and the ’lasses too.”