The Southern museum. (Macon, Ga.) 1848-1850, December 02, 1848, Image 2
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EDITED AND PtBLISUED WEEKLY, BY
M'li.JLl.l.fi it. Z/.1 /CillSfP.'W
[FOR THE SOUTHERN MUSEUM.]
Tlic Rriile of Ui ath’
“Thy bride ! never whilst this fair cheek
Retains its light of gold,
Or lives this lustrous eye undiramcd,
Or this young heart unsold.
M v hand shill feel a .Monarch’s touch.
And Ia Monarch’s bride :
My realms, the continent around,
My home, the earth so wide !"
Thus mused a uiaid ofhaughty speech,
And never fir rowed bfow ;
Whose look proclaimed the inward thought
And firmly studied vow.
And thus, while grand and floating dreams
Os wealth and rich display,
Kept her enwrapped in those bright worlds
Which soon would pass away :
Behold ! in that secluded bower
Within whose shade she came,
A youth in ardor's springing tide,
Possessed of love’s bright flame,
Ushered himself beneath her feet,
And opened there his heart,
Confessing what hut love can own,
And lovers' tongues impart :
“No wealth or fume I bring to llice,
Maid of the bright blue eye ;
My name is not a conq’ror’s wreath
Asyet, unborn to die ;
But stalwart arms, unknown to fear,
A heart in wisdom bold,
Whose love for tlice is riches store,
A world itself of gold !
“Reign thou, Cleora, in this soul,
Alone uphold-thy sway :
Its warm affections will endow
A wreath of fadeless hay.
Time’s path is dark ; with energy
And oft redoubled care,
Perhaps the day’s not far when I
The Monarch's crown may wear!”
“Never !” she said in haughty tone,
“I’ll be no mortal’s slave,
, 'Tis sweeter far to open hero,
And fill my youthful grave.
My nod shall boa million’s law,
And my displeasure pain ;
My smile shall he for years of toil
Reward enough for gain.
“Then hark thee ! trouble never more
One thy superior born,
Nor think thy love’s ambitious hopes
Will e'er return unshorn.
I’ll never marry thee, thy name
Shall never me deride :
For I was destined to a crown,
I'll be a Monarch’s bride
“Alas', vain beauty ! mystic dreams
Like thine, a vapor prove,
For wealth and fortune never heir
The purity of love.
Another’s hand will press thy brow,
It cannot he more true,
Another’s heart must call thee won :
Bull must cease—adieu!”.
Years rolled along in sombre trace,
And autumn’s sun had set,
And on the horizon afar
Its glorious tints stood yet.
The flowers of spring had faded long,
The lily lived no more,
And nature, drooping with fatigue,
A sullen aspect wore.
Still one remained, in by-gone days
Cleora, young and fair,
But now we 11 stamped by lengthened time :
Her hopes and looks were bare !
The rose had left with dying spring
Which bloomed upon her cheek,
And all the lustre of her eyes
xWas now hut vision weak.
She stood, a remnant of the gay,
The belle of other days ;
O e who hud listened oft and long
To hear the flatterer’s praise ;
One who had looked, in ages gone,
For wealth and fortune’s bow,
But white and ghastly with the print
Os fading beauty—now.
At last 7ie came, the Monarch catne,
'Tvvas winter’s cheerless hour :
“I claim thee for my waiting bride,
I’ll shew thee all my power.
Kings and coui tiers bow them down,
And empires do I sway ;
The world doth own me conqueror,
I lead in honor’s way.
“I'll take thee to my palace halls,
Where thine own worth shall reign,
And every wish shall prove success,
And naught desire in vain.’’
So took he in his chilly arms
Cleora, once the fair,
» And bore her through the thick, cold storm,
The diadem to wear.
And soon he halted, then around
Her lifeless figure threw
His frozen cloak, then laid her down
Within a mansion new—
Whose walls with pallid white were strewn
Around on every hand—
Then kissed he fondly her cold cheek,
And loosed his grappling band.
He turned away, the heavy sods
Fell lumb'ring on her form,
And now Cleora’s visage felt
Nor wind, nor cold, nor storm.
The trees stood nodding round her grave,
And each in moanings tried
To give its anguish vent, and said :
1 Alas ! thou art Death's bride !”
.1 W. F. H.
“These lines were suggested by reading an ar
ticle in a recent number of the “Southern Lite
rary Gazette,” written by Mrs. Hentz, entitled
“The Victor Monarch's Bride.”
LOST ARTS.
BV WENDEI.I. PHILLIPS.
“Ours is an extraordinary age.” Our age, its
wonders and improvements, are the standing
theme. They are like the man w hom Coleridge
mentions as taking off his tiat with respect when
speaking to himself. The age vaunts much of
its achievements in science *nd literature, and
yet in these very boasts has been outdone ages
since, hv nations passed away. Every new de
velopment of science, and every new research
throwing light upon the arts of the ancients,
prove them to have been in possession of many
now'entirely lost, and that they peiformed won
ders which we not only do not equal, but cannot
even perceive how they were performed. Even
oh the hitherto accoun ed new world, like Ro
binson Crusoe on his island, we have discover
ed in the ruins ofCentral America,the foot-prints
of a nation long sunk in oblivion. These traces
show that,they too, like the people of the East,
were in possession of arts now lost. These arts
e:tn be considered under four divisions, to w it,
Glass, Colors, Metals, and then miscellaneous
articles and facts.
1. Glass. — This was for a long time believed
to he a modern invention. Within fifty years
four quarto volumes were written in Italy, to
prove, in opposition to the assertion of Pliny,
that the article waif unknown to the ancients,
and on the very day that these volumes were
published, a warehouse wasopened in Pompeii,
filled with cut, wrought, pressed and stalled
glass, far more beautiful and perfect than are now
manufactured. There is glass found too among
the ruins ofSouth America. In the Museum of
Florence, I have seen a piece of glass, w hich
was long supposed to he a gem, an inch square
by a quarter of an inch thick, on which was re
presented birds which could he seen equally well
on both sides, and their plumage so perfect that
the microscope shows in it no fault or want of
finish ; and though it is apparently a mosaic, it
is impossible to detect where or how it is put to
gether. The art oftnaking them so is not known
and vve cannot even imagine how it could he
done Pliny tells of a drinking glass which
could he folded so us to occupy a small space,
and which was destroyed, audits construction
kept a secret by its inventor, because his mon
arch would not offer him what he considered a
sufficient sum for the invention. The moderns,
with all their arts, cannot equal the beautiful
stained glass of the middle ages, iuferior as this
was to that of Egypt.
2. Colors —ln these the ancients ccrtain’yfar
surpassed the moderns. Sir Humphrey Davy
made many efforts to analyze the celebrated
Tyrian purple of the East, hut these efforts were
without success. He declared he could not dis
cover of what it was composed. The Naples
yellow, too, though less known, was much used,
and (he art of making it is now entirely gone.
The Tyrian purple is the color of many houses
of Pompeii, and they look as fresh as if just
painted. The colors of Titian are as vivid and
baautifulas when first laid on hv the artist,while
those of Sir Joshua Reynolds already look chalky
and dead. And Sir Joshua himself confessed,
after tnakinO it a study of his life, that he had
never been able to discover how Raphael and
the other great artists had been able to preserve
the brightness and beauty of their paintings.
But if wo marvel at these artists three centuries
hack, what shall wo say to those paintings found
in the tombs of Eg' pt, more than two thousand
years old, and yet kept fresh and bright, though
buried for that time beneath the ground in the
damp, dark cavesofthe East? The very wife of
Solomon is found here, just as she was painted
on the eve of her departure from her father's
home to share the throne of Judea, and not only
is color of her garments preserved, hut the bloom
is on her checks and lips, and the lustre iri her
oyeus it was then. There are paintings, too, as
far hack its the time of Moses ; a portrait suppos
ed to he Niro, the king who drove the Israelites
into the Red Sea ; and even the colors of this are
pet Cecily preserved.
3. Mila’s. —Of the use 1 of these the Scriptures
make very early mention. In the days ol'Aloses
gold is spoken of as put and sometimes kept in a
liquid state, w hile it is beyond our power to re
duce it to a powder. The corner stones of the
Pyramids are so sharp as to break the skin of the
hand when passed over them, and so hard as to
resist the sharpest steel. The French found
great difficulty in carving two lines upon the
obelisk now iu La Place Concorde; yet the an
cients have covered till the facades with figures.
According to history, they had an art, now lost,
of making copper, (one oftlic softest of uietals,)
harder than steel, and it was out of this that they
made their tools. The famous Delhi blades, as
it was well known, are unrivalled. They would
cut off'the heads of a row of hob-nails, placed
one after another, without dulling their edge;
and-yet so pliable that the point could bo made
to touch the handle. Then the warrior, too, im
patient to wait for his sword to he cooled in the
usual way, snatched it red hot, and waving it in
the air, thus gave it its temper. They tried in
Paris lately thus to temper steel, hut without
success. Scott gives a description of the sword
of Richard, which cut down steel with the same
facility. The cannons oftlic British in India, it
is well known, soon become honey-combed by
dampness of the dew, so as to be totally useless
in war. The lines of Byron on the rust upon
the steel efthe warrior, are according to truth,
though that warrior had lain hut one night be
neath the open sky. Necessity has been to the
East Indian the mother of invention lie will
take the cast off hoop of an English cask, and
make a sword of it equal to the best Parisian
blade. The pliability of the steel of the ancients
was wonderful, hut that of their bronze was more
so.
4. Gems of the Ancients, their Cameos , S, c. —
The imitation ofgcnis is truly wonderful. An
instance is cited of a vase preserved in a church
at Genoa, believed since the middle ages to he
pure emerald ; declared by the priests to have
been presented by the Queen of Sheba to Solo
mon, and to have been the very vase from which
Christ drank tit the wedding in Gallilee ; held
in such veneration that ail were forbidden to
touch it on penalty of death. He mentioned
one who had just escaped this penalty for trying
to touch it with a diamond. Coming near to it
as he did, he thought ho perceived bubbles in
it, which proved it to have been glass. This
vase in the time of Buonaparte, was removed
from the church in Genoa to the museum in
Paris, and there was subject to an examination
which proved it to he a false gem. It has since
been returned to its place ; hut still it is by the
priests declared to ho an emerald, and the vase
presented to Solomon, and used by our Saviour.
The full beauty and perfection of many gems in
the museum of Italy, can only be seen by the
aid of the glass, and one is therefore handed to
the traveler at the door. So that it seems the
ancients must have known and used the micros
cope, else how could they have done work
which cannot he seen without its aid ?
There isevidonce too, of their use oftlic tel
escope ; they are said to have seen ships at a
great distance by the aid of an instrument, and
without such aid it is impossible to conceive
how the astronomers of Babylon could have
gained their extensive knowledge of the stars
The stories of Herodotus have been deemed so
incredible that he has been styled the father
lies, in contradistinction to the father of histo
ry. Yet science has discovered many of these
stories to be nor only possible, but probable.
For instance, the story of Archimedes having
set fire by means of a glass to the enemy’s fleet,
laying at a great distance, has not only been
proved by actual experiment probable, but that
the result must have followed from the observ
ance of the conditions stated. Science and re
search may hereafter prove all his seeming lies
to he indeed truths. The Marquis of Worcester
had a discovery in his mind which lie could not
carry out, but would sometime, he declared, be
brought into use, and by which a tea-kettle ot
water might be made to blow up an enemy's
fort. When the steam engine was really dis
covered, this assertion, then deemed so absurd,
was considered prophecy. Even so may the
progress of science prove the assertions of Hero
dotus true. There was also a liquid fire which
could he thrown into the enemy ’s ships at a dis
tance to destroy them. This was used by the
Norwegian pirates as late as hut the art ot
making it is now unknown.
The Mechanical Arts. —The French consider
ed it so great a feat to place the Obelisk, which
was one solid piece of stone, on hoard a vessel,
and then convey it from thence to La Place
Concorde ; to raise it from a horizontal to a
perpendicular position ; that they deemed it
worth recording on its base, with representations
of the machines by which it was done. And yet
this obelisk had been drawn front quarries, and
thus raised, ages before, and by mechanics now
unknown. It is well know n that in the tombs
of Egypt were representations oflhc various arts
then practiced. A distinguished decipherer ol
the hieroglyphics thinks he finds . there the re
presentations of the five mechanic powers, the
lever, &c. Even new patterns of dress, and
new patterns for shawls, are taken from those
tombs. Their cloth, too, cotton ann linen, aqd
even tnuslin-de-laine, were fopnd there of su
perior quality. Most of the mummy cloth was
indeed coarse, hut some lias beeq found of great
fineness, even five hundred threads to a square
inch. The porcelain of the Egyptians was very
rich and beautiful ; and here we have evidence
of commerce in vety early times. There is
found in Egypt much of the China poicelairt, so
that there must have been commeice between
those two distant nations. Canals, a boasted
modern invention, was made and used by the
very ancients, if not for travelling, at least'to
convey merchandise and burdens. Descriptions
of a canal across the valley of Goshen are spoken
of by the French and English engineers, which
has been filled up with sand ; and again, in
modern times, in a great overflow of the river,
has been filled with water. There is unotlier,
occupying part of the space between the Thebes
and its quarters, over the rest oftlic space s a
road, answering in a great measure to our ail
roads, being evidently leveled by art and pivcd
with immense blocks of store. These are not
all the details prepared, hut sufficient for i.lus
tration.
Are we then superior in nothing to the ancient
nations? Yes; and principally in this—that
learning is not buried in the tombs, nor hidden
in the erupts of churches. It does not now live
'apart from the world iu the sacred cloister, or
behind the coif of the monks ; nor is it kept for
kings and princes; but it goes forth among 'he
people and works for them and receives from
them in return ; it “casts its bread upon the wa
ters and after many daysit returns again.” I’lie
art once employed upon the pyramids is row
making habitable the hanks of the Mississippi,
and all the great Western rivers, and rendering
their inhabitants prosperous and happy. Where
too, among the ancients shall we find hospitals ?
Where do we find men associated for the relief
of their fello .v men ? Iri this tiling wo are su
perior, but not in arts and sciences. And yet to
iead to these modern results hut one slop was
necessary ; and for centuries the world was, .as
it were, on the point of making the step. The
step was taken ; Printing was and scovered—and
it has revolutionized the world.
MACON , G A .
SATI RD \Y MOR NING, DEC. 2, 1 f t<
(Pi” Messrs J. P. Robinson, and .1 K. Har
mon, are authorized to receive subscriptions for
the Southern Museum, in any of the South-
Western Counties of Georgia.
o*We forward the present number of the
Southern Museum to several of our friends,
with a view- of obtaining for it their support.
We disclaim, however, any desire of forcing the
paper upon any, therefore, whilst wo shall he
thankful for any patronage which may he extend
ed to us, we respectfully request those who are
unwilling to aid us in the enterprise, to notify us
of the fact by returning the paper to this office;
otherwise their names will be entered upon our
subscription list.
'S’o She Bu'adiug I’iihlir,
It is an old and hackneyed custom, in the con.
duct of newspapers of every grade, for the edi
tor to appear before his readers in the first issue,
in order to make a salutatory address. For the
very reason, that this is the usual mode of com
mencing the first volume of a paper, we beg
leave to differ from this common course, and
therefore will content ourselves with a very few
remarks as to what the readers of the Southern
Mi si i m may expect the sheet not to he.; leav
ing what it will he, a mutter open for considers,
t ion in the progress of its publication. We know
full well, that it is far preferable toexceed one’s
promises than to fall below them ; and ns we
shall promise little, we hope to make the paper
worth a great deal; whereas, should we promise
a sheet unparalleled, and fail to comply with the
obligation, we should do violence to our own
feelings, and justly merit the displeasure of our
friends.
The Museum shall never become a source of
scurrilous abuse, or the medium of parly invec
tive ; nor shall it, in the presentation of politi
cal events, express any biassed opinions, hut,
aiming at hare facts, vve shall present them with
out comment, leaving those interested to form
their opinions for or against as the case may bo.
Personal satire shall he avoided ; and while a
vituperative sectional feeling shall not obtain
with us, our columns will be purely Southern)
devoted, as they should he, to the maintenance
of Southern rights. The interests of the Farmer
shall not he neglected ; nor shall the man of
business return profitless from the perusal of its
colnmns. In short, in claiming the patronage of
all, we hope to benefit all, so far as we can, hv
using our best exertions to render our paper in
structive, beneficial and amusing to the different
classes of the community.
Congress. —The second session of the Thir
tieth Congress, commences at Washington, on
Monday next. It will lie one of interest, espe
cially as the question of the establishment of a
Territorial Government in California and New
Mexico, and with it the propriety of permitting
slavery therein. It is said by several of the let
ter writers from Washington, that a united ef
fort will bo made at an early day to adjust this
difficulty by extending to these Territories the
Missouri compromise line.
Literature and Criticism.
The question is often asked, Why are the
people of the South so negligent in the cultiva
tion of Literature ? and yet, although the an
swer has been claimed by a great many writers,
of all classes, the mass of the people have yet to
he enlightened upon the subject—an effectual
remedy lias yet to he applied to the acknowl
edged evil. The question, “Who reads an
American hook is, we believe, fir less appli
cable to the interest manifested in our publica
tions iu England, than the one, Who reads a
newspaper? among the inhabitants oftlic “sun
ny South.” Tins is the great foundation of the
evil which lias long fettered the mental energies
of our citizens, and forced them, m point of in
tellectual commerce at least, to bow the knee of
obeisance to the more liberal and independent
spirits of the North. It is our intention here, so
far as our limits may permit, to enter into a
calm and truthful exposition of the reasons
which we assign for this lamentable ignorance
ot nearly all classes of Southern society, and
in so doing, we deprecate all intention of cast
ing i< reproach upon the land of our birth.
\\ e presume it to he an incontestable point
that the vehicle, or rather the distributive pow
er, by which Literature is given to the world,
is the press. This assumption being true, we
then class the products of this great power in
their legitimate spheres, as hooks, newspapers
and pamphlets.
The first, being naturally more difficult to
procure, are proportionally less common among
us. It is true, we find the novel, the romance,
the essay, and the hook of poetic gems gracing
the centre tables of our parlors, and standing
out in hold relief upon the shelves of our libra
ries; still, it is nevertlic ess the case that the
dust is often suffered to accumulate upon tlielid ß
of hooks worthy our perusal, while those of a
light, ttifling, and unprofitable character are the
constant companions of our leisure hours. The
press of the United States is daily teeming with
volumes of execrable stuff', bred in the foul im
aginations of fantastical idealis's, who have
seized upon the frailty of nature, and appropri
ated to their sustenance the proceeds of minis
tering to the depraved appetites of man. And,
at the same time that they cloak their narrow
minded and selfish ends under the ostensible
virtue of guarding others from the vices and in
discretions of their heroes and heroines, they
very gravely and impertinently pen a tribute to
morality—planting a feeble spark of virtue in
the mind of the reader, to he extinguished hv
the irresistible torrent of destructive and poison
ous examples embodied in their productions.—
And why is it that there are so many of these au
thors extant? the reply is tin easy one : it is the
taste of the people which makes the author, and
they who live by mental labor are driven from
the field of pure and genuine Literature, by the
want of patronage, and the consequence is, they
must either gi\e tip their voTalion, or accommo
date their writings to the prevailing channel of
corruption.
If a work of fiction appears, it must ho filled
with the relation of the wonderful adventures of
some modern Blue Beard, or chronicle the win
ning graces and irresistible charms of a beautiful
courtezan, whose aristocratic birth and associa
tion prevent her 'mingling with the common
herd, to which companionship her remarkable
experiments in love and “affairs of the heart” so
justly entitle her. This work, hearing an inge
nuous title and hypocritical face, escapes the
notice ofthe parent, and passes into the hands
ol the young person, (by whom works of fiction
are most appreciated,) to he conned at the hour
of midnight, when the mind has and desires no
restraint from counteracting influences, but sips
in silence, and with growing avidity, the draught
of a fearful and boundless poison. Thus it is
that these base pretenders for Literary honors
encourage a taste they should condemn, and
foster an e\ il they should endeavor to extinguish;
while the minds of reading persons, strengthened
by this ready acquiescence to their will, be
come fortified in an enthusiastic and vigorous at
tack upon the better principles of our nature.—
In the majority of instances, these worthless
and baleful volumes are the visitors of the parlor,
and the objects upon which the the young and
the gay, the romantic and the impure, engross
their idle moments. Books of history are mere
chronological facts, to be appealed to in proving,
in learned arguments by the lovers of novels,
the date of some incident, portrayed by a late
publication of an European re-print. Metaphys
ical works, in the common parlance of the dav,
are for the old and the dying, as grave subjects
are only fit for the hour of approaching dissolu
tion. Poetical writings are merely bought for
the purpose of affording a change ofconversation,
and to embellish the collections of the library
Thus, the books we read arc few of them wor
thy our attention, and canno, be said to consti
tute a part of true Literature. Now let us exam
ine the newspaper press.
Our newspapers are, almost without excep
tion, identified with one or the other of the
political parties now distracting the country ;
and, as they are every year engaged in a political
canvass, in National or State elections, pictu
ring forth the claims of some aspirant to civil
power, or declaiming against an opposing influ
ence; and ns, in the heat of an exciting politi
cal campaign it is unreasonable to suppose tha 1
the milder and more refined interests of Litera
ture can he advanced, it is useless to look to the
partizan press for the advocacy of those princi
ples which so deeply concern the man of letters.
This being the case, then, vve are forced to draw
this conclusion : that neither the books read by
the people, nor the productions of the partizan
press are at all calculated to promote the cause
of genuine Literature—for the former adap
tiiemsclvcs to a corrupted taste, and the latter
aim at the elevation of an entirely foreign and
irrelevant interest. What then, it behooves ua
to enquire, can create a pure and exalted Lite
rary taste among us ? Why, let the distinctive
parties support their respective advocates ; let
the light and trifling support the fountain-head
of profitless and impure fiction : but let those
who desire to see the mental products of the
South worthy of our talent and the ago, rally
around the Literary periodicals and newspapers
now in progress in this section of the L'nion—
give them the aid of a generous purse ; cheer
them with the marks of their esteem and appro
bation ; assist them with the endeavors of their
own minds—and then we shall see, as these or
gans increase in interest and patronage, the flood
tide offalse Literature ebbing, and the pen as'
stiming its high prerogative in the progression of
the mental abilities, and in the exultation of hu
man reason and human tiappincss.
But are these the only barriers to the progress
of Literature ? Would that they were! Ilu 1
alas! we have among us the descendant of an
ancient and esteemed patron of letters, disfig
ured by the hand ofcriine, and apostatized from
the devotion of-its ancestor. We refer to that
detestable system of monopolizing thought,
knovvn in modern times by the unmerited name
of Criticism. Every man is, according to the
false theory of the present day, born a critic,
and, as a free, sovereign citizen, it is his right
to exercise this function upon all occasions. He
who dares to deny this privilege is cried down
as an anti-republican—an enemy to free institu
tions! Shakspeare is to he tested in the cruci
ble of some ambitious wight, whose shallowness
ofintellect debars him from the comprehension
ofthe beauties and the profoundness of that sub
lime author. He w hose mind is incapable of
creating a reputation, hopes to gain notoriety
by cavilling about the defects of popular writers;
and, guided by no other desire than an enviou ß
and sordid self-aggrandizement, lie uses every
means in his power to crush the buddings of the
infant mind, by pointing out the faults of its pro
ductions to the public gaze ; leaving the occa
sional beauties to he discovered by some more
lenient eve. Were there but one case on record
to appear in condemnation of these hypocritical
blockheads, that would he alone sufficient to
cast eternal infamy upon such Literary stock
jobbers. Who does not recognise, in the death
oftheyoung, hut lamented Keats, a crime al.
most unparalleled in the history of tic deprav
ity of the human heart ? As soon as his first
poetical productions appeared, he was attacked
with all the fierceness and rapacity of such wild
brutes, and received the whole calibre of their
scurrility and abuse, because seine of his friends
chanced to belong to an opposing party faction!
And tints the splcndoi of an intellectual star
was Cwiipscd ere its light had reached the me
ridian of life, and a young, transcendunt genius
was buried, at twenty-four years of age, by the
hands of a debased, vile crew of ignoble critics !
The history of this transaction is but the public
transcript of a thousand, which remain in the
shades of oblivion. It cannot he expected that
the mind can arrive at perfection without the
practical exercise of its qualities; nor should
the effusions of youth furnish a criterion for the
advancement of age. The crude thought may
be shnpen into beautiful symmetry and grace, if
the artizau he encouraged and rewarded for his
labor. It is not'tile office of the ci ilic to separate
the beautiful font the unseemly, but to guard
the minds ofthe people from impure and vicious
writings. This done, his duty is peiformed ;
he ow es none other to the Literary world. But
how often do vve sec “instances of mnl practice
in the strictures of these nien ! A wav with such
criticism ! Let the critic guard our Literature
from corruption, and leave the merits and de
merits of an author to be decided by the reading
public. The opinion of one man, prompted, it
may be, bv selfish and unworthy motives,
should not he taken as infallible truth, without
a careful and unprejudiced examination of the
premises. Let this ciass of Literary aspirants,
then, abandon the ide of harping themselves
into notice upon tho merits of others; cultivate
their own minds; encourage every worthy at
tempt to excel—and the cloud which now over
hangs tho Literary sky will vanish, and innu
merable and brilliant stars, of the first magni
tude, will deck its spacious firmament.
Edu c ation. —The reader will find an interest
ing article on this subject, on the third page of
this paper, from the pen of Mrs. Sigourney.
Let this truth never be forgotten, that every boy
and girl in the country should have their heads,
their hearts, and their hands educated. By the
proper education ofthe head, they will he taught
vvliat is good, and what is evil—what is wise and
what is foolish—vvliat is right and what is wrong.
By a proper education ofthe heart, they will be
taught to love what is good, wise and right, and
to hate what is evil, foolish,and wrong; and by
a proper education of the hands, they will be
enabled to supply their wants, to add to their
comforts, and to assist those around them. The
highest objects ofa good education are to rever
ence and obey God, and to love and serve man
kind ; every thing that helps us in attaining
these objects is of great value, and everything
that hinders us is comparatively worthless.
When wisdom reigns in the head and love in
the heart, the head is ever ready to do good;
order and peace smile around, and sin and sor
row are almost unknown.
Making Sugar in Georgia. —We under
stand that Col. G P. Harrison, of Chatham
County, has made a very satisfactory experi
ment in boiling the juice ofthe Sugar-cane-, in
to a good article of syrup and sugar. This en
terprise is worthy theattention of our, fin tiling
friends, and vve hope soon to see our markets
supplied with these articles, of home manufac
ture. They will furnish remunerating prices in
lieu ot 5 cents per pound for Cotton. How long
before vve shall be enabled to chronicle another
essential mean of developing the varied resour
ces of our State ?
ICT’It is probable the lighting of Savannah
river, provided for by the latC/iacts of Congress,
will be completed during the present month.
Locomotive Speed. —The Lowell Courier
says that anew engine, having driving wheels
\of six and a half feet in diameter, capable of
running a mile a minute, lias been recently built
for the Boston and Lowell Railroad.
uj 1 Seven hundred and three persons have
died in N. Orleans, of Yellow Fever, the past
summer. Very few of them are Americans.
ILpTlie cotton crop ofthe United States,las*
year, was worth $05,000,000.
South Western lttiil Routl.
It gives us much pleasure to learn, front an
authentic source, that the work upon this im
portant Road is rapidly progressing. Thirty
five miles are under contra?t, and the grading
is nearly half done far that distance. The su
perstructure is also contracted for, upon twen
ty-five miles, and, it is estimated, that this
portion of the Road will be completed in about
12 months. It is the expectation ofthe Compa
ny, very soon, to let out another part of the
Road to a suitable depot on the western side of
Flint River. The public may reasonably ex
pect the cars to run to this station in 18 months.
When the Road is completed thus far, it will
bring a large amount of Cotton to Macon and
Savannah, which has hitherto been sent totlie
Gulf ports, and, at that early day, the Stock
holders and the people will begin to realize the
fruits ot the enterprise. Much has been said
about this work j many have been the advan
tages predicted to flow from it; and now wo
look with anxiety to the ti ne, when the last
remnant of opposition to it will he broken down
by the practical triumph and success of the ex
periment. This we are firmly convinced will
he done, and it is our opinion, that ifthere has
been any miss-statement in regard to the bene
fits likely to follow its completion, it has been
in under-rating them. The Road wall pene
trate the heart of ti e richest cotton-growing
country in the South, the products of which
have never, to any extent, been brought to this
market or that ofthe seaboard, but have found
their way, by a slow and unccrta n medium, to
less profitable marts upon the Gulf. An ex
tended patronage from the farming population,
consequent upon the shipment here of their sta
ple products, will enable our merchants to of
fer inducements to them, which the present
I mits of trade will not permit.
The “Maffitt Con i roversv.” —Rev. J.
N. Maffitt, a Methodist Minister, and an au
thor of great celebrity, at the North, is the sub
ect of a considerable discussion in s omc of the
Northern newspapers at the present time It
appears, as far as vve have been able to under
stand tho matter, that Sir. Maffitt, ”"wlio is an
elderly gentleman, married, some three or fl»ur
years ago, a young lady of sixteen or seventeen
years ot ago. Before the marriage, as ho says
in a let.er to Mrs. M , dated August, 1847, du
ring a temporary separation from licr, i;c? innrlc
•'til exposition of his sufferings, tVr., vjwn his
knees, and warned her, “again and again, of
the tremendous responsibility” she was “about
to take upon herself, in becoming his wife,
and also, vvliat he would require of her in that
capacity. This, however, lie had no idea of
doing, until lie was informed by “certain per
sons, ’ that l ‘she lured him distractedly,” and
then, of eotir-c, bo felt a “correspondent inter
est in bur tin that account.” Having indulged
in those preliminaries, the letter got s on to re
proach her lor misconduct, in going “out alone,
without her mother or some person older than
herself,” and neglecting to barn to play, du
ring his absence, “at least one tune upon the
piano, and, instead of working with her nee
dle, as she had promised him heliiro their en
gagement, for ripping and leuring about, and
f°r being lazy, prudish, indolent and impudent,
conducting herself with the greatest impropri
ety towards himself and her relations. At the
close of this extremely humiliating and wither
ing epistle, he lays down certain rules and com
mands, a promise to comply with w hieh waste
he the signal for their rc-union. Accordingly,
in her reply, Mrs. M. manifests the deepest
penitence, and pledges the most utter submis
sion t > his will. Subsequent to this inimitable
correspondence, the parties lived together lor
several months, when they again parted, and,
a short time ago, .Mrs.. M. died, as it is said,
of a broken heart. Tho matter is now subject
of dispute, as to who was most to blame in the
affair. Upon the whole, we regard it ns an un
called for publication of private domestic affairs,
and, from the present tone of the disputation,
vve very much doubt whether the friends of ei
ther party will realize tiny additional estimation
of their respective virtues, in the public mind,
or be enabled to fasten the wrong upon the
husband or wife, alone. For the sake ofthe
relatives of tho deceased, and the respectable
connection to which Mr. Maffitt belongs,
we think the matter should have been suffered
to remain within the circle of those acquainted
with the facts, as being unlikely to result in any
good. It furnishes strong evidence against
those mercenary and ill-fated marriages which
take place between young women and old men.
It is to be hoped that few sueli cases will ever
he recorded in future. Let the young look
well to their future happiness, and nip in the
bud file unworthy plans of gold-blinded parents
and' friends, and the public car shall never
again he saluted by a similar narrative.
Turpentine. — One hundred and ten barrels
of Turpentine were recently produced near Mo
bile, Ala.,and sold in that market for $3 per bar
rel, cash Cannot this article be obtained in
abundance at but a trivial cost from the inex
haustible pine forests in the lower part of Geor
gia? Wc think itcan,andno doubt if it were
undertaken would yield a handsome profit to
those engaged in its production, besides render
ing valuable thousands of acres of land, which
now arc comparatively worthless. We see tho
experiment has been made within a year or two
past by some of the citizens of the lower coun
ties, and the article was readily disposed of at a
remunerating price in the Savannah market. In
these days of light and progress, itwillbe some
lime before the supply oftl is article will exceed
the demand.
UTBerry, the Democratic candidate, has been
elected Senator in Orange District, N. ( ~ by a
majority of seven votes. This gives the Demo
crats the Legislature of that State, by one ma
jority. Waddell, his opponent threatens to
contest his election. The Legislature of that
State is now in session.
O’ Santa Anna’s liquor canteen, two leet
long, mounted with silver, and made of Mexi
can ox-horn, is in Philadelphia.