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SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA;
THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 20,1850.
Pub. Doc.—We tlvank Judge Weliborn for 3
copy of the President’s California Message, and the ac
companying document*
The Agricultural Society.— Tlie Society at its ;
last meeting appointed the following gentlemen a
Board of Managers, Gen. A. Abercrombie, Col. \ an [
leonard, Hon. A. Ivcison. Geo. Hargraves Esq., and
Charges A. Peabody, Esq. The Society will meet
•again on Saturday, the 29tli, inst., in its room adjoin- j
ing Concert Ilall.
Read Mr. Wallace's letter to liia constituents. It
is an able exposition of our rights, and our wrongs.
Imtortant Vote. —ln the Senate, on the 11th inst., ,
Mr. Turney, of Tenn., moved to strike out of the
Compromise Bill so much as relates to the Boundary
*,f Texas, and upon that motion the vote stood as fol
io.vs:
Yeas: Messrs. Baldwin, Benton, Butler,
f has-, Clarke, Corwin, Davis, of Mass., Davis,
of Miss., Dayton, Dodge, of Wis.• Greene, Hale, !
Hamlin. Hunter, Mason, Miller, Seward, Smith
Soule, Spruance,Turney, Upham, Wales, Y nice—24. j
Nays—Messrs. Atcliinson, Badger, Bell,Berrien, j
Bright, Cass, Clay, Cooper, Dawson, Dickinson, j
Dodge, of lowa, Downs, Foote, Houston, Jones, i
Morton’ Norris, Pearce, Pratt, Rusk, Shields, Stur- j
geon, Underwood, Walker, Whiteeomb.—27.
Found Dead. —The body of a man who had evident- j
ly been dead several days, was found in the woods near
this city on Sunday mornfjng hist.. The remains were j
with some difficulty identified as those of John llyrne, j
a young man of this city who was by trade a painter, j
Mr. Byrne was in feeble health, and it is supposed I
that ho was taken suddenly ill in walking out and was j
unable to make his way back home.
The Census.—A bill lias been passed by Congress, !
making provision for taking the United States Census. !
It is intended to collect informotion, not only as to the
population, but on all subjects of general interest, in the ;
1 nion.. We may therefore expect soon to open our
hen coops and old chests to the inspection of Uncle .
tain's agents.
Gen. Lopez.—A most redieulous farce is being en- i
acted ill New Orleans in the form of a judicial exami
nation of the Cuban Liberator, before a United States j
commission. As yet, the prosecution have been to- j
tally unable to elicit any proof of the General’s guilt! ,
and the defeat which the attorney general has encoun- j
tered, seems to have excited his indignation into ven- j
otn, and he is now vigorously persecuting rather than j
prosecuting the accused.
The Nashville Convention.
This body adjourned on the 12tli inst., after a ses- i
sion of nine days. In another column we publish the j
Resolutions which were unanimously adopted, and I
also an article from the editorial of the N. Y. Herald , I
which will be found very interesting, not only as indi
cating the impression which the proceedings of the
convention have made upon the public mind at the
North, but oh account of the ability with which it is
written, and the remarkably friendly and patriotic
tone which characterizes it. Wc have also received
the address to the people of the South, which was
passed by the unanimous vote of the States, and
against the dissenting voices of only six members of
the convention. We think we may congratulate the
country as well as the friends of the Southern conven
tion, upon the triumphant vindication of its objects
and utility, from the base and unfounded slanders of
its enemies. The proceedings of the convention, do
not meet the undivided approbation of the South;
that was not. to have been expected. There are
men at the South who arc determined to square ev
ery plan of adjustment by the interest of party , and
with such men, it is a sufficient objection to any
scheme which promisee a settlement, that it presents
obstacles in the way of a party triumph. The ques
tion with them is, not whether it settles our dift’er
•enccs on an honorable basis for the South, but wheth
er it will interpose barriers to the unity of their par
ty. Such men prate loudly about union , and half j
witted credulity might be deluded into the idea that
they were really actuated by an honest zeal in be
half of the perpetuity of the government. They do
love union, but it is the union of party for which
they clamor, and they love party, not because it pro
mises any good to the country, but because of the
spoils it secures. Such men still oppose the conven
tion, and we implore them not to abate their opposi- J
tion. They have so long sneered at every thing j
that gave promise of good to the South, that their ;
approbation would absolutely excite suspicion. The j
ease of the South has nothing to fear from their vi- j
tuporation. bq.t it might sutler serious detriment front !
their praises.
With such exceptions, the csult of the Nashville
convention is hailed with joy throughout the South. I
The address is a plain, unadorned and truthful expo
sition of the wrongs of the South, on the one hand,
and a mild but determined expression of her rights
on the other. It is addressed to the people of the
Southern States, and in view of the circumstances in i
which it originated, and the earnestness and honesty ;
•which pervades every line of it, it will go more di- i
-rectly home to the hearts and feelings of those to j
whom it ,ie addressed, than any either paper which j
‘has yet appeared on this subject. We shall publish
it next week. lu the meantime, we invite theatten- ;
tion of our readers to the Resolutions which are found j
in another column. Read them carefully, one by j
one, and if they contain one improper sentiment, if j
they assert one unwarrantable right, then discard
them; but on the other hand, if they do not lay
claim to any thing juore than belongs to the South, j
we ask if the people of Georgia are not prepared to j
stand by them ? We know there are those who, for :
the sake of the Union, are even willing to make an
absolute surrender of some of the unquestioned rights
of the South. But why do either ? Wc need ncitli- j
er surrender our rights nor the Union. Does toy
•man In his senses believe that the North would rath- j
er dissolve the Union than do the South justice ? If j
there was any thing involved in this contest, of tital 1
importance to the interests of the North, there might i
be some ground of apprehension that she would per- i
eist in her demands even to the extremity of divi
ding the Union, but the North has not one dollar to
lose, nor one right to surrender in acceding to the
just demands of the South : and on the other hand,
she perils every thing by forcing the South to a dis
solution of the* Union. When the issue then is nar
rowed down to the alternative of cither doing the J
South justice, or surrendering the Union, there can ;
he no question as to her choice. If, then, these Res
olutions claim nothing but justice, shall we not insist
upon them ? Shall we be frightened from their sup
port, through tear that we might thereby endanger
the Union ? We trust not. Let us have both the
Union and our rights. If they are not inconsistent,
we moy have both ; and if they are inconsistent, wo
Appeal to Southern men to know which they hold
most dear ?
The Cuba Prisoners.— We are pleased to learn
that the accounts brought by the Isabel, of the ex
ecution of 6ome, and the torture of others, of the Cu
ba prisoners, are altogether unfounded. By the ar
rival of the Saranac bringing Havana dates to the
6th inst. we learn that fill the prisoners including the
five who had been taken at Cardenas, and who were
reported to have been shut, were still ip confinement,
but were treated with great humanity, The Sell.
Fairy, has also arrived at New Orleans, confirming
the accounts by the Saranac, and bringing the addi
tional gratifying intelligence that all the prisoners
were to be liberated and sont home. The Cuban, au
thorities have some “discretion.”
The Remedy worse than the Disease.
An argument which we hear frequently us
ed in support of Mr. Clay’s compromise, is,
that if the South aids the ultras of the North j
in rejecting it, the result will be, we
; shall have to swallow California alone. We j
are by no means so sure of this; but admit- !
ting the truth of the argument, we see no
i force in it. We have an indistinct recollec
tion of having been threatened when we
were quite a shaver, by the physician, that
; if we did not take a dose of oil which he had
j prescribed, he would pour a dose of salts
down in its place, and we think we never
! took the oil after that threat. The compro
mise itself embraces the admission of Cali
fornia, and what is there, we ask, in its ac
companying provisions, which sweeten that
bitter pill. Is it the feature which proposes
to abolish the slave trade in the District of
Columbia ? Or is it the proposition to bribe
us with $15,000,000 of our own money into
a surrender of 125,000 square miles of our
land, to the rapacious spirit of free-soilism l
Or is it the condescending agreement not to I
| gag ns with the Wilmot Proviso in Utah and
i New Mexico ? Or is if the milk and cider
i scheme of re-enacting our right to recover J
j fugitive slaves, a right which the constitution
, could certainly secure as well as any law en
acted under it ? Which of these accompa
nying provisions, is it, that makes the com
promise so much better than California alone*
The admission of California exacts but one
surrender on the part of the South, and the
compromise bill demands three concessions
equally grave, and does not give us one right
which is not ours without it. Give us the
i .salts, by all means.
Corre pondcnccof the New York Herald, dated,
Washington, Jnne 13,1850.
After the scenes to-day, in both houses, the pros
pect of a compromise looks black enough. The
House of Representatives is getting heated up to the
| fighting point. The Senate is already there.
1 Some friends of Mr. Clay assure us, however, that .
he will take no further notice of his aftair with Ben- i
ton, so that no bloodshed is apprehended on that score, j
But things in the House have a very warlike com- ‘
| plexion.
The Compromise bill is good for two weeks yet in
the Senate, and its passage then is extremely doubtful, ■
if not hopeless.
The Senate have confirmed the appointments of ;
Bcnj. Biddle as Consul for Chihuahua, and Daniel I
Riggs as J udge for the U nited States District Court j
| at Arkansas.
Captain Ditperu publishes a card, in the “Intelli- j
gencer” of this morning, denying the report that he ‘■
was one of the five sliotyt Cardenas.
From California. —We have recived a letter from
our former townsman, Col. Seymour R. Bonner,
bearing date at San Francisco, California May Ist.
which the crowded state of our columns prevents us j
from publishing. He writes: “I shall for the first!
time leave thus city, for the mines, tomorrow. My j
Brother with our men have been there since the 24th. !
of February last. I presume they havo not done
much as the waters have been very high all the spring.
The mines remind me of the Northern lotteries; a
man occasionally draws a small prize; it is magnified
by the seller of the ticket to a magnificent specimen,
and every body runs there to buy tickets. Nine out of
ten lose their investment, and it is so with the mines.
Y'ou hear of all the good luck, but could you know and
publish the fate of the many, yes, very many unfor
tunate individuals who conic here to seek fortunes, it
would be the means of keeping a large number of our
countrymen from starvation and death, suffering in
the extreme See. To show you what I think of the
mines, I have come to the conclusion not to work
them. That some places are rich, very rich there
can be no mistake, but they are like all other mines; !
every dollars worth of gold dug here, costs upon an
average, one dollar and fifty cents.
I am now Deputy Sheriff, and hope to make dollars,
where I made dimes in 1840 and ’4l. If I do not,
it will be my own fault. We have five courts here
which sit all the while, and Col. Jack Hayes is Sheriff
in them all. It only requires from seven to twelve
days to obtain judgement and sell property, and the
fees arc enormous.” Success to the Col.
We are also indebted to some of our attentive friends
in that land of gold, for copies of the “Pacific News ”
“Alla California ” and “ Journal of Commerce ,” all
dailies published in San Francisco, and the “Placer
Time r,” a tri weekly at Sacramento city. These pa
pers will compare favorably in their external appear
ance and editorial ability with the journals of Boston,
New York and New Orleans. We were curious
enough to make an estimate of the profits of one of
the San Francisco dailies. It is published at $25 per.
annum. We do not know any thing of the circulation.
The advertising patronage is worth from $130,000 to i
$150,000, per. annum, and Job Wort, we presume j
in proportion. Among the advertisements in the
Sacramento paper, we notice a proclamation by the
Mayor of that city, calling on the inhabitants to de
termine by ballot, whether the council should bo au
thorized to levy a tax to raise a revenue of $250,000
per. annum, the charter prohibiting the council to
raise more than SIOO,OOO per. annum without the j
authority of the people.
. The Great Pacificator and the Missouri Bear, i
—Mr. Clay and Col. Benton have had a personal al
tercation in the Senate, which in the way of ridiculous
child’s play, lays in the shade any of the redieulous
scenes which have been enacted at Washington this
session. The former read a letter written by a Mr. I
Reed of Independence, Mo. to Mr. Foote, in which it j
was stated that Col. Benton had expressed himself to j
the writer, during last Summer, in opposition to the j
admission of California, denouncing the executive ■
policy looking to that end as a cowardly evasion &c. .
Col. Benton in reply, denounced the writer, Mr. Reed, !
and the publisher, Mr. Clay, as infamous calumnia- j
tors. Mr. Clay called Mr. Benton a calumniator— j
back again, and Mr. Benton retorted, I called you so j
first! The idea of two potent, grave and reverend sen- i
ators playing at the game of tag is supremely ludi- I
erous.
S. C. Senator. —Hon. Robert W. Barnwell ‘
has accepted the seat in the U. S. Senate, vacated by j
i the death of Mr. Elmore.
The Rochester Kuocking’s.
These “spiritual visitations,” which were at ;
first only noticed, to be ridiculed as anew fang
led ism are after all, it seems, assuming a reali
ty, and are beginning to excite the attention of
the learned and scientific, not less than the ig
norant and credulous. Mrs. Fox and her three
daughters, who were the pioneers in the new
Yankceistn, removed from Rochester, and are
at present sojourning in New York city. The
last number of the Home Journal contains a
long account, dver the name of N. P. Willis , one
of its Editors, of a visit which he recently made
to the ghost — seers , in company with J. Feni
more Cooper, Win. Cullen Bryant and other
distinguished men of New York. \Ye have not
room for the extended account of the visit, but
will extract few of the most interesting particu
lars. It is proper to mention that the party met
ai a house which the ladies had never before en- 1
*crcd. ‘ the walls and floors of which “says Mr-
Willis, they had no opportunity of cramming
with accomplices and hammers.” For some
thirty minutes after the arrival of the company,
nothing was heard, but at the expiration of that
time,they began to hear faint knockings which ap
peared to prodceed from the floors, and walls and
different parts of the room. The Spirits were
then asked by the ladies if they would commune
% ith either of the gentlemen present. They sig
nified by three knocks, their willingness to do
so. Mr. Henry F. Tuckerman, one of the gentle
men present, was invited to question them and
having fixed in his mind the name of an individ.
ual, asked ‘Did he live in New-York V No an
swer. ‘lnßaltimore? In Cambridge? In Bos
ton V —three distinct raps, which is the sign of
!an affirmative answer. A negative reply is in
dicated by silence. Mr. T. continued. ‘Was
he a lawyer ?—A merchant ? A Physician ?
A clergyman?’ Knocks. ‘Was he an Episco
palian? A Presbyterian? A Unitarian?—go
ing over the names of the principal sects. No
answer. At the suggestion of a gentleman, Mr.
T. asked, Was he a Christian ?’ Knocks. Mr.
T. then asked the age of the person hi a series
of tens. ‘Was he twenty years old at the time
of his death? Was he thirty? Fifty? Sixty?’
Knocks. ‘Has he left a family?’ Knocks.—
‘Children?’ Knocks. ‘Five? Three? Two?’
In Albany ? In Bennington ? Knocks ‘Did
he die of Consumption? Os fever? Os Chol
era? Os old age? Knocks.
“The person in Mr. Tuckerman’s mind was
■ the late Rev. Dr. Channing of Boston, who died
!in Bennington, Vt., while on a journey. The
1 degree ofcorretness in the answers may be judg-
Jed by the reader. It may be stated, however,
that for the last year of his life Dr. C. disclaimed
j the use of all his sectarian names, preferring to
! be called only Christian, and that, though under
j seventy, his physical powers had long sulfered
! from premature exhaustion.
“Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper was then requested
j to enter into the supra-nnmdane sphere, and
proceeded to interrogate the spirits, with the
I most imperturbable self-possession and delibera
tion. After several desultory questions, from
i which no satisfactory answers were obtained,
i Mr. C. commenced anew series of inquiries. Is
the person I inquire about a relative? Yes,
was at once indicated by the knoks. A near rel
ative ? Yes. A man ? No answer. A wo
man? Yes. A daughter? A mother? A
wife? No answer. A sister? Yes. Mr. C.
then asked the number of years since her death.
To this the answer was given in rapid and indis
tinct raps, some counting forty-nine, fifty-four,
&c. After considerable parleying, as to the man
ner in which the question should be answered,
the consent of the invisible inlocutor was given
to knock the years so slowly that they might be
distinctly counted. This was done. Knock
knock-knock—for what seemed over a minute,
| till the number amounted to fifty, and was
unanimously announced by the company. Mr. C.
now asked, Did she die of consumption ?—nam
ing several diseases, to which no answer was
given. Did she die by accident? Yes. Was
she killed by lightning? Was she shot? Was
she lost at sea ? Did she fall from a carriage ?
Was she thrown from a horse ? Yes.
“Mr. Cooper did not pursue liis inquiries any
further, and stated to the company that the an
swers were correct, the person alluded to by him
being a sister, who, just fifty years ago the pre
sent month, was killed by being thrown from a
horse.
The evening was far advanced, and it was not
thought desirable to continue the colloquies any
further. At the suggestion of several gentle
men, the ladies removed from the sofa, where
they had sat during the evening, and remained
standing in another part of the room. The knock
ings were now heard on the door, at both ends
of the room, producing a vibration on the pan
nels, which was felt by every one who touched
them. Different gentlemen stood on the outside
and the inside of the door at the same time
when loud knockings were heard on the side
opposite to that where they stood. The ladies
were at such a distance from the door in both
cases, as to lend no countenance to the idea that
the sounds were produced by any direct com
munication with them. They now went into a
parlor, under the room in which the party was
held, accompanied by several gentlemen and the
sounds were then produced with great distinct
ness, causing sensible vibrations in the sofa, and
apparently coming from a thick heart-rug be
fore the fireplace, as well as from other quarters
of the room.”
[YANKEE CORRESPONDENCE.]
Boston, June 10, 1850.
The Boston Mummy—The Egyptian Priestess a
Man, after all—The Travelling Spirits-—The
Spirits of a Pint of Water — Mr. Paine, the
Conjurer—Wonderful Times Coming.
’Within the last few days, the summer, the real)
downright summer has come upon us suddenly, and
round a corner, as it were—thermometer up to 90.
On Saturday evening we had a thunder storm that
cleared and freshened the atmosphere greatly. Our
horticultural exhibitions of fruits and flowers have
been as plentiful and magnificent as ever they were,
and have shown what industry and science are capa
ble of doing for even such a cold stony soil as this of
Massachusetts.
Since my last letter to the Sentinel, I have curi
ously witnessed the unrolling of Mr. Gliddon’s mum
my, which, as you will remember, he received from
Mr. Harris, the English, resident at Thebes. Great
was the gathering of the erudite on the occasion, and
greater the gathering of the inquisitive sex, in the
large room of the Tremont Temple. Professor Agas
siz, Drs. Jackson, Warren, Hayward, Winslow,Lew
is, Jenks and others, formed a sort of committee to
superintend the process of unwinding and note the
peculiarities of it. Mr. Gliddon had removed the
outer coffin, and the inner one containing the mum
my was laid upon a frame, in view of the audience,
ready to be opened by an assistant, with a saw.
From the exterior of both the coffins, Mr. Gliddon
announced that he gathered enough to tell him that
the mummy was that of a woman, a Priestess of the
Egyptian mythology, and that she lived about 3,500
years ago. While the work of sawing the inner cof
fin proceeded, the lecturer exhibited several speci
mens of animals, bird and reptile mummies, those of
a jackal, a eat, an owl, an Ibis, a crocodile, &c. In
the meantime, Professor Agassiz and a few of the
savans had got the mummy of an ibis to unrol; and
they did it, with a good humored industry, removing
rags and strings, till they came to the centre where
they were rewarded with one indubitable wing, hold
ing palpable feathers and enveloped in a yellowish
quantity of dust and crumbling hay. By this time
the sawyer had separated the upper part of the cof
fin from the lower, and the mummy, swathed in an
ancient and dusty looking shroud, was lifted out of
her centenary resting place, and placed upon a mov
ing pedestal. ‘The curiosity and interest of the au
dience were intensely excited, and no wonder. Here
was a woman, a priestess, it was said, who lived in the
time of Moses, who might have talked with him, in
fact, and in the way of her profession, have made him
learced in all the knowledge of the Egyptians. In
deed he might have borrowed the chief portion of her
j'ewels and trinkets from her, when he and the Go
shenites had artanged everything for a departure ;
from the .country. But still it was hoped she had
some left, and, as it was customary to fold such things
in the swathing of Egyptian mummies of rank, it was
concluded that tlie opening of the tight grave dress
would reveal them on this occasion. The mummy
came out of the coffin in perfect order, save that a
portion of the outer covering was torn by the saw. j
The lecturer read the hieroglyphics which were in- i
scribed upon this covering, and corroborated from it j
his previous assertion that the being inside was A rich- ;
ph, an Egyptian priestess, beloved of Osiris, &c. 1
This inscription (except the name,) was a portion of j
a regular “service of the dead,” which was written
upon the shrouds and exterior coffins of all mum
mies.
The first lecture left the lady in her close costume, !
and the audience in the pleasant agonies of suspense
! for two days. But you shall have no further sus- 1
; pensc, and I’ll give you the result of the two next lec
tures, without hiatuses. The mummy was unrolled
t by Professor Agassiz, assisted by two or three other
I learned pundits; and the dust of centuries flew up
I and got into the people's noses, and set them sneez
. ing—and also into their eyes, which was not consider
ed ominous, at the moment. The bandag: s taken off
appeared to be from four to six inches wide, of a dull
safiVon color, and from six to twelve feet long, and
more. These bandages were found to be linen, of
different degrees of fineness or coarseness. One of
them, over twelve feet long, had fringes at each end,
and looked like a modern scarf. But as they procee
ded, no trinkets or jewelry were found. A roll of pa
pyrus inscribed with some verses from the “Book of
the Dead,” was found, and also a scarabaeus, or wing
ed beetle, held in as much mystic reverence among
the Egyptians, as the butterfly—the symbol of Psyche,
or the soul, was among tlie Greeks. At last they
came to tlie body—the face was black ! Another
bandage or two oft’, and they saw that the body was
entirely black. This was an unexpected thing, for
this reason. There were two ways- of mummifying
among tlie Egyptians—the more aristocratic and ex
j pensive way was by embalming—the way in which a
1 priestess and member of the aristocracy would, of
■ course, be preserved. The other way was, by means
jof bitumen. The bodies of the poorer sort were put
; into a cheap and bituminous bath, and thus sent down
| to posterity with a pitch-plaster, as their security
against decay. It was now concluded that the lady
was no priestess after all, for the priestesses would be
sure to get the best funerals in Egypt. But the worst I
was to come in this ease. Having removed all the j
bandages and exposed the body, burnt and charred
by the fierce heat of the antiseptic bath, the physicians
i present said the osteology of it could not have belong
ed to a woman! And so it proved, Anch-ph, the
Priestess, was nothing but a big, burnt, bituminous
monster of a male !
This announcement was not made by Mr. Gliddon
till the middle of the last lecture, (though the body
had been exposed to tlie audience since the preceding.)
Then, how the ladies smiled and whispered! and
how the gentlemen grinned, as at a devilish good :
joke I Suro enough, there he lay, in his glass-ease, j
on the platform, and they all had their secret doubts,
from the very first moment they had seen his ghastly
j teeth and liis burnt up eyes, etc., that is was or would
j not be a woman, though they did not mention it, and so
i forth.
t
j It was a mistake, no doubt of it; but Mr. Gliddon
j said it was not his. He still asserted that the signs
and hieroglyphics on the coffins and on the outer cov
ering of tlie body, indicated that the mummy was
that of a female. And Ido not really see any reason
to doubt him. lie threw the blame wholly on the old
Egyptian undertaker, who wronged the mummy, and \
perhaps they deserved it. At the time in, which, pro- |
babty, the body was mummified, the city of Thebes
had a population of half a million of people, and the
business of the undertakers was necessarily heavy, in
the funeral establishments which were under the con
trol of the sacerdotal order. It is highly probable
that the body of an inferior male was taken up, by i
mistake, and put into the coffin prepared, and in- j
scribed fora lady of high rank. This was Mr. Glid- j
don’s explanation, aud we all felt that we could no I
more contradict it, than we could believe it. in fact. !
The unrolling of the mummy was interesting enough,
very interesting; but Mr. Gliddon showed himself
less the man of science than the lecturer, in having
i announced, with such a flourish, the sex, and the
j name of the mummy. This has done him more inju
j ry than service, in tlie estimation of the public. Mum
mification is not at all so well understood that any
man, even the most skilled in the archaisms of Egypt
could speak with certainty of a mummy from what he
finds or thinks he finds on the coffin.
Apropos of coffins—what do you say to ghosts?
Let us talk of ghosts ? You have doubtless heard of
| those ladies of Rochester, in the State of New York,
who have kept up a sort of knocking acquaintance
with invisible spirits. The spirits make noises, as of
tapping or knocking ; anrl, being questioned, silently
and mentally, by any body, are said to convey their
replies through the Rochester ladies. These sur
prising things have been a good deal bruited abroad
by the newspapers, aud credulity is opening its eyes
as round as saucers. Die ladies have conic to New-
York, and are now at Barmirri’a Hotel. The editor
of the New York Evening Post went to see them,
and try to test the mystery. Entering the room, ho
found the three ladies seated on a sofa, and was de
sired to seat himself with his friends at a table, cover
ed with an ordinary cloth. At the request of one of
the gentlemen, one of the three asked a spirit if it
would answer some civil questions; but it did not re
ply. Then cnc of the ladies told the spirits the visi
tors wished to talk to them, on which there were re
peated knocks. Tlie man of the Post then wrote
down “short hand” questions, some of which receiv
ed correct, and others incorrect answers.” What a
pity ! The price of admission is only a dollar ’ Wil
lis, of the home Journal, went to see the ladies also,
and on coming away expressed himself satisfied ! I
should think so. The levees of the three ladies are
crowded every morning. The best definition yet giv
en of man, is the “credulous animal”—Plato’s “un
fledged biped” is nothing to it.
“Surely, the pleasure is as great,
Os being cheated, as to cheat!”
I, myself, look you, will give a dollar to be cheated,
when these ladies shall come here—l will. But I’ll
tty them closely. I’ll examine them; they shall
stand up, and I’ll look everywhere—darned if I don’t!
Talking of spirits, I can’t turn to anything lower or
less ethereal than gases. Superstition has her spir
its ; let us talk of those which science can raise, just |
by way of variety. There is a man in Worcester, in i
this State, who draws two astonishing and subtle spir- j
its out of a glass of water ! This is a fact. Listen ;
and perpend. Fire and light are the two spirits.
Mr. Henry M. Paine, of Worcester, has invented
an apparatus by which he decomposes water, and
converts it into inflammable gas. He does this with
an electric apparatus, for which he is now looking for
a patent. This is no new discovery. It has been
known for 65 years that water could be resolved in
to inflammable gas. Mr. Paine merely puts tlie the
ory into effective practice by an electric means never
thought of, till this electric age. He does not write
a book about his discovery ; but he has got a stove,
and by its means, he warms his room, and could
cook his meals with a little decomposed water ! The
entire labor required to make a day’s supply of gas
for a house does not occupy two minutes, in turning
a crank in his cheap apparatus! A couple of seien
tifio gentlemen from this city have just been to see
Mr. Paine, and they are surprised and delighted.
The flame is so pure that the faintest tints of blue and
green can be distinguished by it. An excellent da
guerreotype has been taken by it. Llisha Burnt,
our learned blacksmith, went and saw the machinery
and pipes, and he says he has no words to express his
astonishment and pleasure at what he investigated, j
He says two jets r ?ere lighting in his house, which :
would be sufficient to light a moderate sized hall, ev
erv night, at an expense of the interest on the cost of
the machine, (about $G per annum,) with only tire
trouble of occasionally tilling the water cistern.
Just fancy what a revolution this thing may make.
If light and heat can be produced to serve a house ,
why not to serve a steamer ? Then fancy the ship's ■
coal coming up over the side in buckets 1 One buck- j
et full goes, dutifully, into the boiler, and the other
goes underneath, in a suicidal and fiery manner, to
i turn the first into steam.
This sounds incredible, but there are truth and sei
; ence to justify the fancy. Fancy the happiness of
j getting our household coal and timber out of the tea- j
ter-pipes, for a cent a day! Yes, you may laugh, !
j for it is really a pleasurable fancy to you and me.
But, remember, it is a fact at Worcester! Just
fancy a man toasting his toes, of a cold winter day, at
a pint of pump-water ! Fancy a man saying, ‘fit is j
i rather cold, I think—let Betty bring in another gal
| lon of water!” Sir, my imagination is running
awr y with me. Just think of the cheapness of steam
conveyance. You can go to Europe for a few dol
lars ; timber will not be wanted for fire ; ships will,
of course, be all the more cheaply built, I remember
i hearing it often asked what should the inhabitants of
| the world do, when the forests were cut down, and
the coal mines exhausted. Alas! there are millions
\ of unknown resources lying hid in the elements of
| this world, and waiting to be developed by science,
i If we had neither timber nor coa! to-morrow, man
; would find substitutes for them in a year. He has
i these substitutes almost within his grasp already !
Even should Mr. Paine not be able to make an appa
j ratus sufficiently effective for generating steam in
| ships, the fact that it may be done exists, and the sci
! ence of the next decade will undoubtedly be able to
; lay hold of it and change the social history of the
world, with it.
Take a glass of water, Mr. Editor, and then swear
as I do, j ust now, that there’s a great deal of light and
heat in you ! Good gracious, the real ‘‘fire-water”
after all, comes out of the pump!
YANKEE DOODLE.
[correspondence of the southern sentinel.]
Eaton ton, June 10th, 1850.
My DearC: A man by the name of Powel has re
cently put out a book, called the “Living Authors of
America.” Amongst a great deal of chaff - you find
the following precious grains of wheat:
“The Americans arc a shrewd and far-seeing pco
j pie, but they are somewhat too material; they must
I not believe that a nation can long exist without men
jof thought, as well as men of action. The salvation of
i America lies in the possession of a republican Litera
ture. The literature of England is slowly sapping
the foundation of her institutions. England does all
her thinking, and if this system continues, the action
of this great nation will be in accordance with the will
of the old country. Like the Gulf Stream of Florida,
the current of aristocrat ical genius is slowly drifting
the ark of America to a point they little dream of, and’
j never intend. The very bulk of this country renders
j the oporation unseen; but, though imperceptible to
i the eye, it is palpable to the mind, and certain in its
j results.”
j In the last number of the Southern Quarterly Re
! view, in an article on Kennedy’s Life of W irt, the
| writer, speaking of the want of a Southern literature,
thus discourses:
“we are paying the penalty of our indifference.—
Our histories are slurred over by Yankee historians,
the most important truths suppressed ; our heroes re
ceive but cold applauses, and our relative claims to
rank with sister States is constantly disparaged by
false glosses and misrepresentations, the natural fruit
of a custom which leaves to jealous rivals or secret
■ enemies to write our books. Much of the insolence
i of northern aggression, at this moment, is derived
| from the conviction which they owe to their false his
tories that the South is indebted to them for rescue
and protection in past time, and cannot possibly sus
tain itself without them now.”
Thus I have given you my texts. Now you shall
J have my sermon. I promise you however, the latter
i shall not be proportionally as long as the former.
The extract I have given you from Mr. Powel’s book
! shows you tiie effect which a literature, whether indi
| genous or exotic, has upon the institutions of a coun
; try. The extract from the Southern Quarterly shows
I the effect which Northern literature has upon our in
stitutions. The anti-slavery literature of the Northern
States is as slowly but surely winding its folds about
our slave institution to orush it, as the anaconda twines
I its deadly coil about its victim that it may meet death
in its slimy embrace.
Let me submit a few facts. In the first place the
education of the youths of the Southern States has
been for some time, and still is, to a great degree, en
trusted to the hands of those wandering Yankees who
come upon us in the shape of pedagogues as thick as
the loeusts which were sent upon Egypt to devour the
substance of the land. Like tho wandering Bedoin
upon the sands of Sahara, finding no rest for the sole
of their foot upon the arid and moneyless soil of New
England, they seek an oasis in the Southren States in
the shape of a log-cabin school house. Here, for a
year or two, they insinuate their notions against sla
vers into the minds of our children, and, after they
have got money enough to buy a shirt or two, put out
again to the North, armed and equipped according to
law, w ith material for writing a yellow-covered pamph
let, abusing and belying our institutions ; not so much
because they themselves condemn them, but becanse
they know vilification and detraction will find them a
publisher and readers. Now, what is the remedy
here ? Why, we must get our own citizens to take
charge of the education of our youth. How shall we j
do this ? Why, we must quit being so niggardly and j
.mean as we are. We must build better school hous- j
es, supply them with better books and apparatus, and j
raise the profession of teaching from that pitch of |
degradation to which it has been sunk among us by
! vagabond yankee pedlars. Then, and then only, can
! wc expect our high spirited and honorable young men
| to engage in teaching the youth of our land, and in
j stilling correct notions in their plastic minds.
But again. The books which we use in our schools
j are all manufactured at the North, and contain aboli
tion sentiments. V)ur children read in their histories, j
their geographies, and their reading books, that slave- 1
ry is an evil. Their parents lie supinely upon their ;
couches of ease, carelessness and do-nothingness,
while the poison is being instilled in the minds of their
babies at school. By and by, when they hear John
or Sam express sentiments in reference to slavery,
which are utterly abhorrent to Southern orthodoxy,
i they wake up from their slumbers, rub their eyes and
| wonder how their sons obtained such notions, for they
! certainly never taught them. Os the many books us
-1 ed in our schools containing anti-slavery sentiments, I
would mention particularly Porter's Rhetorical Read
er, and many of Parley’s works—particularly his j
“First book of history.”
It is a notorious fact, that not only are our children j
dependent upon the North for their school-books, but j
our grown up men and women send to Yankecdom
for their books, newspapers and magazines. I am
ready to admit that we have very few or no books i
published at the South. But why is this ? It is be- \
cause our reading community have so fur stultified j
themselves as to spurn any thing coining from a
Southern press, to hug to their bosoms the cheap j
publications of Northern fanaticism, which have
sprung from deranged and crazy brains like mush- (
rooms from a dung-hill.
Our people subscribe for Such papers, trashy, wishy- j
washy and nambv-pambyish as they arc—such pa
pers as the Saturday Evening Post, the Home Jour
nal, McMakin’s American Courier, Ac., &e., when
they treat with contempt any paper of a literary east ;
that springs up at the South. While we have pub- I
lished in Charleston a literary paper as good as any in
the Union, and better than nine-tenths of them, true
as steel to the iutercst of the South, our people seein
to be unconscious of its existence, w’hile they open
their coffers and pour their treasure into the laps of
Northern publishers, and for what? “Why, to pay j
them for sending us sheets filled with abolitionism,
free-soilism, inormonism, fourierism, foolism, and a j
host of accursed Yankeeisms besides, too tedious to j
mention.
And when, my dear C., hare the editors of Geor
gia so far disgraced themselves as to notice and en
courage the Southern Literary Gazette ? It is true
that I am glad to have it in my power to exhonerate
you and the Augusta Republic from the charge of
criminal negligence which lies at the door of the
Georgia Press. But, you two excepted, when lias
any Georgia editor condescended to notice and en
courage any effort to establish literary journals at the
j South ? and why iit they have failed to do so. It is
i too frequently because our editors are not of us.
They have not been born, raised, or educated among
us. They are with us too frequently as the Yankee
pedagogue is, because they can’t make a living by
their trade at home. Witness one Dr. Lee, former
ly editor of the ..Chronicle & Sentinel—that political
hack, smart, and shrewd, it is true, who came as an
i emissary of abolition among us, and whoso pen was
j constantly dipped in venom and gall to strike at the
vitals of our home policy and domestic institutions.
‘Plie Chronicle, while under his charge, was devoted
to writing down every one who dared raise his voice
or pen for the South. Mr. Calhoun, because he was
the champion of Southern rights, was made the sub
ject of attack, marked by such rancor and virulence
as would have disgraced the back room of a doggery.
The New York Evening Post, the leading free soil
paper at the North, pronounced the Chronicle, under
Dr. Lee's administration, the leader ot an anti-slavery
movement at the South. Yet this same Dr. I-ee,
who, for his treason to the State he had adopted, de
served to be hung on a gallows as high as I laman’s,
was suffered to go on for a length of time unaecount
| able, without being honored even with one single par
ticle of tar, or the tenth part of an aecompanyiug
feather.
Let me not be misunderstood, my dear C. Ido
not mean to say that there is any Southern editor
now equal in the heinousness of his offence, to Dr.
Lee. But this Ido say, that the Southern press has
been too much under foreign influence. The Yan
kees have had too much to do with it. lam aware
that in speaking thus plainly, I may be in danger of
drawing down upon my head a shower of unmitiga
ted curses. But I must speak the truth, be the con
sequences what they may.
I must say a word in reference to the penchant
which our people have for Northern magazines. The
Democratic Review, American Whig Review, Go
dey, Graham and Sartain, are supported at the ex
pense of the Southern Literary Messenger, the
Southern Quarterly and De Bow’s Commercial Re
view. You may search the wide world over, and
you can’t find better journals than the three which I
have mentioned, published at the South. But they
; are suffered to linger out a languishing existence,
j while their Northern rivals, inferior in every respect,
■ fatten upon the contents of Southern coffers. There
i is a little magazine for children published in Charles
ton, called the School Fellow, wlucli is unsurpassed
by any similar publication in the world. But who
knows or cares any thing about it ? At the same
time, though, that this is suffered to pine away
through the negligence of Southern readers, Mer
ry’s Museum, a Northern Magazine for children, ed
ited by Peter Parley, alias S. G. Goodrich, who, in
his numerous works never suffers an opportunity to
pass to strike at slavery, is liberally patronized by
slave owners, and placed in the hands of their cliil
l dren to model their youthful feelings and sentiments.
I will tell you what I believe, my dear C. I be
| lieve that a few energetic men in every Southern town
| and village, ought to band themselves 1 ogetl e” y r.: order
| to> produce a revolution in the course of our people, in
reference to what they read. You may find in every
village a few men who keep themselves acquainted
with the literature of the times. They ought to set
their heads to work to have our Southern newspa
pers, magazines, and reviews patronized. They
! should take it upon themselves to find out who sub
i scribes for a Northern Journal, and then inform the
j subscriber where he win get a good Southern Journal
j for the same price. They should urge upon every
! newspaper reader .the necessity and importance of his
taking a journal which defends our institutions in
stead of abusing and viliifying them. My word for it,
this subject only need he brought properly before the
minds of our people in order to get them, to pursue
the right course in reference to it,
I fear I have made this eon nn uni cation too long,
j my dear C., and yet I don't sec how I could have
| made it shorter. I hope your readers will see the
importance of what I have brought before them. I
have written currents colamo , and there is probably
not as much elegance, order and condensation about
my communication os there might be. However, I
j care but little about these things, if I can rouse atten
! tion on the subjects I discuss. If I should live long, I
| am far from being done, at th:3, with what I have
written about. BANQUO.
For the “Southern Sentinel.”
Libraries.
! We promised a few weeks ago to give sdme infor
j mation respecting the Libraries of Europe, for which
| we shall be indebted to the learning and industry of a
| ripe and accurate scholar, John R. Bartlett Esq. of
| Rhode Island. Early in 1849 the British House of
| Commons appointed a committee, on the best means of
I extending the establishment of Libraries,■freely open
jto the public. The result of their labors was a valua-
I ble mass of information respecting the Libraries of
England and the continent, embodied in their report
on the main topic. From this report wc gather the
following facts, as they were digested by Mr. Bartlett.
| In the British Isles and in Holland, there are fewer
| books in the public libraries in proportion to the pop
| illation, than in any other countries of Europe. The
| public libraries of England, including those connected
! with the universities, are less accessible to the public,
than the libraries on the continent. The tax on books
is greater, thus making cost greater. The duty on
foreign books is greater ; And that there is less pro
vision towards enabling tho humbler class to read and
improve their minds, than in any other country in
Europe which ranks among civilized and enlighten
ed nations.
Tho smaller states of Germany take the lead, as
far as concerns the number of books in proportion to
the population. They have in their libraries 450 vols.
to every 100, of the population. Denmark has 412 ; |
France 120 and the British Isles but 68 to every
100.
France contains 10T public libraries; Belgium 14 :
The Prussian States 44 ; Austria with Lombardy and
and Venice 48, Bavaria 17 ; Saxon 6. and so on.
To all these libraries admission is free, to poor as
well as rich, to foreigner as well as native.
The principal Libraries of the capital cities of Eu
rope, rank as follows. Paris national Library 824000
volumes ; Munich, Royal Library; 600,000; Peters
burgh, Imperial Library 416,000 ; London, British
Museum Library 435,000 ; Copenhagen, Royal Libra
ry 412,000 ; Berlin do. 410,000 ; Vienna Imperial
do. 313,000 ; Dresden Royal do. 300,000 ; Madrid
national do. 200,000 ; and many others down to the
Ducal Library at Parma containing 100,000 vol
; umes.
The chief university Libraries are Gottingen 360,-
000 vols. Breslau 250,000 ; Oxford 220,000 ; Munich
200,000; Heidelburg 200,000 ; Cambridge 166,000;
Bologna 150,000; Prague 130,000 ; Vienna 115,000;
Leipsie 112.000;
Copenhagen 110,000; Turin 110,000; Dublin:
104,000; Upsal 100,000; Erlaugen 100,000; Edin
burgh 00354.
The following list shows the public Libraries in
England, when they were founded, and the number of
volumes they contain.
Founded Volumes.
The British Museum London 1753 435,000
Sion College Library do. 1631 35,500
Dr. William’s Library do. 1716 17,000
ArchbishopTenison’s dodo. 1684 30,000
Bodleiau do Oxford 1597 220,000
All souls College do do. 50.000
Christ’s Church do do. 30,000
Four others do. 73,000
Public Library Cambridge 1481 166,724
| Queens College do do. H4B a-, non
Trinitv College do do. an non
Two others do. lUlu!
Chitham Library Manchester iq’ooo
Warrington Libraries 4 stK>
The public libraries of Great Britain are not strict
ly free; access can be had only on eertaip conditions
such as being introduced or recommended by persons
known to the Librarian. From the university Libra
ries of Oxford and Cambridge not only the public but
the undegraduates of the University,* are generally
restricted. The Bodleian Library is only accessible
to masters of arts and those of higher degrees.
The British museum was founded in 1753 and
from that time to 1848 the Government appropriated
about $585,000 for printed books and $226,500- for
manuscripts.
Parochial Libraries once prevailed to a considers
i ble extent throughout England, Wales and Scotland,
j Some are yet in flourishing condition, but the greater
part have been neglected. Os these 165 exist in
England and Wales, and 16 in Scotland. In Hamp
shire is one of these libraries which contains many
valuable books ; and in which is a notice stuck up,
dating 125 years back, stating that all persons who
take away books must deposit their value, showing that
it was once a public and lending library. These libra
ries originated with Deßray founder of the society for
the Propagation ot the Gospel in foreign parts who
founded sixty of them in 1704 and the following years;
; and his associates after him founded seventy eight
j more between 1757 and 1801. There were from 200
to 1500 volumes in each, consisting perhaps mostly of
i Theology and Ecclesiastical history.
The Religious Tract Society has contributed large
! ly to the founding of small libraries in Great Britain
and Ireland. Its custom is to contribute the same a
j mount in books as may be raised by the friends of these
| libraries. In this way, since 1832 it has made grants
to 5410 libraries averaging about one hundred volumes
to each. This, with the amounts raised by the friends
of the libraries makes an aggregate of 110,000 vols. in
libraries of this kind. Besides books ofa moral and re
ligious cliaracter, the Tract Society publishes a voriety
of historical works, popular works on science <Ae
The Society is conducted by an equal number of die
| scoters and members of the Church of England, hence
j none of its books are of a sectarian character. Me
’ chanics Institutes prevail to a considerable extent in
! Bermingham, Manchester and other large towns. Al
j though professedly formed for working people, but
few ol this class are able to join them, in consequence
of the expense, small as it is. They are supported
chiefly by the middle classes and higher order of skill
ed artisans. Attached to the Institutions arc libra
j rics. Bomc also have lectures, debating el'ubs and
j improvement classes. In Yorkshire they are all as
; sociatcd into a body called tlie “Yorkshire Union.”
j This embraces 79 institutions and 12 more have asked
| tor admission. The total number of members is about
j 16,000. The average number of books in each libra
ry is about 900. The Mechanic’s Institute at Liver
pool has 3123 members; tho two at Manchester a
bout 4000. It is believed that these societies and’
scientific associations, large and small, in England
and Wales number four hundred.
There are numerous libraries in Manchester and
Bermingham, belonging to artisans, and working
men’s clubs. The books in these are not of much val
ue ; the libraries are kept in public houses where peo
ple resort; they pay a small subscription, take a glass
of ale, and read. There is among this class of people
a great desire for books on historical and political sub
jects, and if books in these and the higher departments
of literature were furnished them they would be read
with avidity.
| In some instances, a few working men will club to
i gether and spend their spare money in buying politi
-5 cal works, not the writings of any particular school
but of various ones; and spend their evenings in
reading them. It has been observed that the increase
of reading decreases the turbulent spirit arising from
ignorance.
Some of the most intelligent and best read men in
Brimingham are working men. This class of people
write a great deal of poetry (such as it is) and contrib
ute much solid matter to the newspapers. Three
prize essays on the observrnce of the sabbath were
lately, gained by working men in Bermingham.
The system of lectures has had a beneficial effect on
the people. An instauce was shown in the effect pro
duced upon the reading of the town of Manchester, by
a series of lectures on Cromwell; every book on the
subject in the libraries of the town was out at the same
time. In this way lectures increase the taste for ; read
ing a spirit of liberality in opinion and action is diffused
among the people ; and numberless incidental benefits
accrue. Would that our fine city with its liberal mind
ed hospitable and intelligent comunity could reap some
of the benefits of public lectures. When such means of
public amusement and improvement have been pro
posed and discussed among us, tho invariable quietus
lists been ; “we are so far oft’ the line of travel and
communication that it is impossible to procure br
i pay leeturees to come to us with their treasures and wo
i have no other resources.” “What there is of force in
j this argument will, we hope, be soon obviated by tho
I finishing of the railroad which will “put. us in cominu
: nieation” witji “all the world and the rest of man-
I kind” ; but to us there is no force in it; have we not
| among us many who can, if they would, contribute
I bountifully to the amusement and instruction of an
| audience 2 have we none whose taste in study, has
led them in paths to hiden treasures, which they could
j lay open for the use of others ?
j The extent to which I>ooks are read’ in the libraries
i of the workingmen’s clubs may be known by the fact,
i that the recorded issues of books are three times that
j of the whole number in the library, and when it is eon
j sidered that nearly half the books in the libraries
| possess no interest,, and are scarcely ever looked at or
i taken out, it will appear that the books which arc read,
, arc read over six times during the year.
PAPYRUS.
[To be Continued.]
[communicated.]
To the Editor of the Southern Sentinel :
Allow me through the medium of your valuable
journal to call the attention of Land holders to ‘.he
necessity of “Processioning” their lands, and as this
term I find many are entirely ignorant of as well as
i the law in relation thereto, I herewith annex such ex
tracts from the Digest as I think will show the neces
sity of having some attention paid to it.
An Act for preventing controversies concerning the
hounds of Land and for processioning the same.
106. Sec. 1. Once in every ten years the bounds of
every persons land shall be processioned or gone round
and the land marks renewed in manner following, that
is to say; it shall be the duty of every captain or
eommading officer in each military company district
throughout this state at their respective company
musters, after the first day of June next, to hold an
election for three persons, who shall be appointed pre
cessioners of land for each distriot. And all and eve
ry person in this State are hereby required to proof s--
sion or go round their respective tracts of land ifcc.
[Page 554, Price's Digest.]
I shall make no further comment on this subject, as
every’body can read for themselves, and if they will
■ look over the Digest of the law’s for Georgia they will
; see the heavy penalties which are attached to this law\
and can judge for themselves whether it is best to
pay any attention to a law’ which has been now’ neg-.
: lected since the original surveys of 1826 and 1827
now 23 years. C. C. E.
Mr. Calhoun’s Religious Views.
We have often had a strong desire, and we
trust a not improper or unprofitable curiosity
to obtain an insight into the religious opinions,
and views of the illustrious Statesman and plilo
sopher, whose death our whole country mourns
as a national alfliction. His intellectual strength,
his wonderful powers of reasoning and analysis,
his almost intuitive preeeption of recondite truth,
his moral elevation and purity of character, all
combine to give an interest to his thoughts and
convictions, as to the things which belong not to
ime, but to eternity, which attaches perhaps to