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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.”