Newspaper Page Text
postponed the further consideration of the
subject to the Ist July, in order that the in
cipient feelings of independence of the col
onies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania,.Delaware, Maryland and South Caro-,
lina, might be fully matured and understood.
A committee was however appointed to
draw up in the interim a Declaration of
Independence and report the same to the
House. That committee consisted of John
Adams of Mass., Bern. Franklin of Penn ,
Roger Sherman of Conn., Robeit R. Liv
ingston of New York, and Thomas Jeffer
son of Virginia. Tho preparation of this
important paper was confided to Mr. Jeffer
son. Having written what he thought a
proper Declaration, he submitted it to the
committee, who suggested several minor al
terations. Jefferson then made two fair co
pies of the declaration as revised by the
committee; one for Richard Henry Lee,
who did not return to Congress till August,
and the other to be presented as the report
of the committee. This last was presented
to the House on Friday the 2Sth June by
Benjamin Harrison, (father of the late Pre
sident) and after being read was ordered to
lie on the table. For the subsequent pro
ceedings we again recur to the authentic
notes of Jefferson.
“On Monday the Ist July, the House re
solved itself into a committee of the whole,
and resumed the consideration of the origi
nal motion made by the delegates of Vir
ginia, which, being again debated through
the day, was carried in the affirmative by the
votes of New Hampshire, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and
Georgia.—South Carolina and Pennsylvania
voted against it. Delaware had but two
members present, and they were divided.
Tho delegates from New York declared
they were for it themselves, and were as
sured their constituents were for it; but that
their instructions having been drawn near a
twelvemonth before, when reconciliation
was still the general object, they were en
joined by them, to do nothing which should
impede that object. They, therefore, thought
themselves not justifiable in voting on eith
er side, and asked leave to withdraw from
the question, which was given them. The
committee rose, and reported their resolu
tion to the House. Mr. Rutledge, of South
Carolina, then requested the determination
might be put off’ to the next day, as he be
lieved his colleagues, though they disapprov
ed of the resolution, would then join in it
for the sake of unanimity. The ultimate
question, whether the House would agree
to the resolution of the committee, was ac
cordingly postponed to the next day, when
it was agaiu moved, and South Carolina con
curred in voting for it. In the mean time a
third member had come post from the Dela
ware counties, and turned the vote of that
colony in favor of the resolution. Members
of a different sentiment attending that morn
ing from Pennsylvania also, her vote was
changed ; so that the whole twelve colonies,
who were authorized to vote at all, gave
their votes for it; and within a few days
(July Oth,) the convention of New York
approved of it, and thus supplied the void
occasioned by the withdrawing of their de
legates from the vote. [Be careful to ob
serve, that this vacillation and vote were
on the original motion of the 7th of June,
by the Virginia delegates, that Congress
should declare the colonies Independent.]
“ Congress proceeded, the same day, to con
sider the Declaration of Independence,
which had been reported and laid on the ta
ble the Friday preceding, and on Monday
referred to a committee of the whole. The
pusillanimous idea, that we had friends in
England worth keeping terms with, still
haunted the minds of many. For this rea
son, those passages which conveyed cen
sures on the people of England were struck
out, lest they should give them offence. The
debates having taken up the greater parts
of the second, third and fourth days of Ju
ly, were, in the evening of the last, closed :
the Declaration was reported.by the com
mittee, agreed to by the House, and signed
by every member present except Mr. Dick
enson.”
The fact that the names of several persons
aro affixed to that instrument, who were not
in Congress when it passed, and took no
part in the deliberations which produced it,
J3 thu3 explained by Jefferson.
“ The subsequent signatures of members
who were not then present, and some of
them not yet in office, is easily explained,
if we observe who they were ; to wit, that
they were of New York and Pennsylvania.
New York did not sign until the 15th, be
cause it wa3 not till the 9th, (five days after
the general signature,) that their Conven
tion authorized them to do so. The Con
vention of Pennsylvania, learning that it had
been signed by a majority only of their del
egates, named anew delegation on the 20th,
leaving out Mr. Dickenson, who had refus
ed to sign, Willing and Humphreys, who
had withdrawn, re-appointed the three mem
bers who had signed, Morris, who had not
been present, and five new ones, to wit,
Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Ross;
and Morris and the five new members were
permitted to sign, because it manifested the
assent of their full delegation, and the ex-
Eress will of their Convention, which might
ave been doubted on the former signature
of the majority only. Why the signature
of Tliorr.ton, of New Hampshire, was per
mitted so late as the 4th of November, I
cannot now say ; but undoubtedly for some
particular reason, which we would find to
nave been good, had it been expressed.
These were the only post-signers, and you
see, sir, that there were solid reasons for re
ceiving those of New York and Pennsyl
vania, and that this circumstance in no wise
affects tho faith of this Declaratory Charter
of our rights and the rights of man.”
The Declaration of Independence was
received by all the Colonies with satisfaction
and joy. On the Bth July it was publicly
proclaimed in Philadelphia amidst salvoes
of artillery, and salutes of the multitudes.
On the 11th it was published before the Ar
, my near New York, with all the pomp of
military show; and in the city on the even
ing of its arrival, the equestrian leaden sta
tue of king George which loyalty hod erect
ed, republicans threw down, and converted
into bullets to drive outliisarmies. In Bos
ton the demonstration of pleasure was equal- J
lv great. An immense feast was prepared
to which the whole people were invited, and
where under the superintendance of the
civil authorities, they drank toasts to liberty
and independence. In Delaware the Com
mittee of Safety took from tlieir room the
portrait of the king, and marching with it
followed by the light infantry and people
round the square of Dover, the President
committed it to the flames saying, “ com
pelled by strong necessity, thus we destroy
even the shadow of that king who refused
to recognize a free people.” In Virginia
the Convention which was then in session,
decreed to expunge the name of king from
the liturgy of the church, and every emblem
of royal authority was supplanted by tokens
of freedom and self-sovereignty.
In Charleston, S. C. the news of the De
claration was received by express on the
2nd of August. The account says Drayton
was received with the greatest joy; and on
the stli August it was formally announced,
the civil and military authorities making a
grand procession on the occasion. In the
afternoon the continental and provincial
troops were paraded under the old liberty
tree, the same, under which Cristopher
Gaosden and twenty-five others met in 1766
to celebrate the repeal of the stamp act;
the Declaration of Independence was then
read at the head of tho troops by Major
Barnard Elliot, and a sermon appropriate to
the occasion was preached by the Rev. Mr.
Piercy.
The intelligence reached Savannah on
the 10th August. “ The Provincial Coun
cil,” says McCall, “ was convened by the
President at the council chamber; where
the Declaration of Independence was pro
claimed in due form : from thence the ptc
sident and council proceeded to the public
square, in front of the house appropriated
for the deliberations of the provincial as
sembly ; where the Declaration was again
publicly read, and received the acclamations
of a crowded assemblage of the people :
they then proceeded to the liberty pole, in
the following order of procession :
The Grenadiers in front.
Provost Marshal.
Tho Secretary with the Declaration.
His Excellency the President.
The honorable Council.
The Light Infantry.
The Militia.
The Citizens.
At the liberty pole, they were saluted by
the first continental battalion of Georgia,
under the command of Col. Mclntosh, with
thirteen guns, accompanied with vollies of
small arms; from thence they proceeded to
the battery, where they were again saluted
by tiie discharge of thirteen cannon.
A dinner was provided under a grove of
Cedars, where the civil and military officers,
and a number of citizens from the town
and country partook of a handsome dinner,
and thirteen toasts were given suitable to
the occasion.
In the afternoon there was a funeral pro
cession, attended by the grenadiers, light in
fantry, and militia companies; and the royal
government of Great Britain was interred
with tho customary ceremonies. In the
evening the town was illuminated and the
day closed with joyful acclamations, for the
birth of the Independence of the United
States of America.
With regard to the original Declaration
as written by Jefferson and adopted and
signed by Congress, we insert part of an in
teresting letter, written by the late venerable
and distinguished John Vaughn of Philadel
phia, to I. K. Test, Esq. of this city, which
has been kindly furnished by Mr. Test. “On
the Bth July, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Mr.
Lee as follows : I enclose you a copy of the
Declaration of Independence as agreed to
by the House and also as originally framed.
This was the second copy which he had
made for Mr. Lee. Mr. Jefferson added,
you will judge whether it is better or worse
for critics; on this suggestion of Mr. Jeffer
son, the comparison was made by Richard
Henry Lee, and his brother Arthur Lee,
who drew a black line upon the original
draught proposed by the committee under
every part rejected by Congress and in the
margin opposite placed the word out. This
document thus marked is the one possessed
hy the American Philosophical Society.
Sometime after the death of Richard Henry
Lee, his grandson of the same name, wrote
the memoirs of his Grandfather having ob
tained from his Father and Uncle, all the
papers and correspondence of his Grand
father with the eminent? patriots of that day.
These memoirs were published in I’hiladel
liliia by the gtandsomn 1825, with whom
’ was on terms of intimacy. Whilst pub
lishing he was requested to favor the A. ’P.
S. with the original papers and documents
as soon as he had made use of them. The
request was gronted, and on the 17th June
1825, they were put in possession of the
correspondence, which is bound up in two
volumes, and on the 19th August 1825, Rich
ard Henry Lee sent them the original foi m
proposed by the committee, in the hund
writing of Mr. Jefferson, and with the re
marks thereon made by the two Lees above
alluded to. When received it was duly re
corded by the Society, and Mr. Wtn. Short
and Mr. Edward Coles, who were intimate
friends of Mr. Jefferson, and the undersign
ed (John Vaughn) who had been his corres
pondent for more than forty years, certified
on the book of records, that this document
was of the handwriting of Mr. Jefferson;
and Mr. George Washington Smith to whom
the delivery was entrusted, certified that he
received the whole from Richard Henry
Lee, the grandson, with directions to deliver
them to the A. P. S., and that he delivered
them to the undersigued for the Society.
A copy of this proposed Declaration, was
published by tho grandson in the memoirs
of his Grandfather, the parts left out by Con
gress being printed in italics. Several edi
tions of this italicised copy of 1825 £were
published between that year and 1829, when
it was republished and lithographed in simi
lar form in the memoirs of Thomas Jeffer
son, which was first published in that ycai.
This original draught of the Declaration,
is framed between strong glass plates, so as
to be perfectly viewed and examined by
those who feel an interest in it. The other
original sent to Congress, cannot be found.
The form of Declaration finally adopted,
signed by the Members of Congress exists
s<d s? in nis a di a©<©imilil &it n ®
at Washington in the Department of State,
but the originally proposed form has not
been found, fiom which circumstance the
Document in possession of the Society has
with propriety become the sole original
draught.”
Jefferson, as well he might, felt proud of
his agency in thissublime movement. When
he was elected to the Presidency, he was
waited on by the Magistrates of Washing
ton City, to ascertain his birth day, that they
might celebrate its returning anniversaries;
Jefferson answered, “ The only birth day I
ever celebrate is the 4th July, the birth day
of my country’s liberties.” When towards
the close of life lie sat down to ask himself
whether his country was avy better for his
having lived, he looked upon the Declara
tion of Independence as one of the services
which he had rendered to her fame. Fifty
years after that 4th July 1776, the room of
a humble dwelling in Quincy, Massachu
setts, and that of the stately mansion of
Monticello in Virginia, were occupied hy
the sick and the dying. In the one, was
John Adams, the 2nd President of the Unit
ed States, and the most ardent supporter of
the Declaration of Independence ; and in
the other, was Thomas Jefferson, the 3d
President and author of that glorious docu
ment. Fifty years before, they had strug
gled successfully with an earthly tyrant, and
released themselves and their country from
his gripe ; now they were struggling with
their last enemy, and struggling in vain, for
e’er the sunset guns of that nations jubilee
bad pealed upon the ears of a happy nation,
their spirits had passed from earth and re
turned to him who gave them.
The American Congress which passed
this Declaration, has ever been commended
for its calmness—its policy and its profound
wisdom. We have room however to cite
but two opinions, one from a man thorough
ly versed in legislative bodies and affairs of
State; and the other a3 well acquainted
with human nature, and the true springs of
wisdom and greatness.
Lord Chatham, in his place in the House
of Lords, said, “ For myself, I must declare
and avow, that in all my reading, and it has
been my favorite pursuit, that for solidity of
reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of
conclusion under all the circumstances, no
nation or body of men can stand in prefe
rence to the General Congress at Philadel
phia.” Robert Burns in one of his letters,
says, “ J will not, I cannot enter into the
merits of the cause—hut I dare say the
American Congress in 1776 will be allowed
to be as able and ns enlightened as the Eng
lish Convention in 1688; and that their
posterity will celebrate the cen'.enuary of
their delivery from us as duly and sincerely
as we do ours from the oppressive measures
of the wrong-headed house of Steward.”
We close this long, hut hope not uninter
esting narrative, hy quoting part of a letter
from John Adams, whom Jefferson termed
“ the main pillar of the support of the De
claration of Independence on the floor of
Congress” to his wife, dated July Ath, 1776.
“ The fourth of July 1776,” says he, “will
be a memorable epoch in the history of
America. lam apt to believe it will he
celebrated, by succeeding generations, as
the great anniversary festival. It ought to
he commemorated as the day of deliverance,
hy solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God.
It ought to be solemnized with pomps,
shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires
and illuminations, from ono end of the con
tinent to the other, from this time forward
for ever. You will think me transported
with enthusiasm, but lam not. I am well
aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure
that it will cost to maintain this Declaration,
and support and defend these States; yet,
through all the gloom, I cars see the rays of
light and'glory. I can see that the end is
worth more than all the means; and that
posterity will triumph, although you and I
may rue, which I hope we shall not.”
From the Savannnh Georgian.
OLD NEWSPAPERS.
Few j )ersons seem to he aware of the
value of old newspapers. The paper once
read is thrown by as useless, and suffered to
be destroyed; scarcely a thought is given
hy any one of the importance of preserving
these sheets as the true transcripts of pass
ing history. Though not always to be re
lied on, yet files of old papers are far more
veritable than the authorities on which were
based the early history of the Western na
tions of Europe, and the fabulous antiquity
of ancient States. The newspaper tells
you what is done to-day, what was done yes
terday, what may he expected to-morrow.
It is, as Cooper has rightly said, “a map of
busy life,” written all over with tho doings
of the great babel-world of commerce and
literature, of ignorance and vice, of religion
and virtue. There is a great deal of extra
vagance, of bitterness, of extortion, of false
hood, of crime going on without, and the
lineaments of all are transferred and pre
served by the Daguerre-like plate of the
press; there is, however, after all, truth at
the bottom, and it does not take the saga
cious observer long to ascertain its where
abouts and its character. No one has ever
attempted to go back fifty or a hundred years,
but what he 1 has been mystified at finding
so few periodical memorials of those stirring
times.
How invaluable appears to us now a file
of the old “Boston News Letter,” begun in
1704; or the “Philadelphia newspaper”
commenced in 1719, or the New-York news
paper of 1725. They are histories in them
selves. What a faithful record of the times
is the “South Carolina Gazette,” begun
oyer a hondred years ago in Charleston; it
pictures before us, men and affairs, far bet
ter than He watt or Ramsey; because it is an
every day picture of every day life, and not j
a portrait of society, conjured up by the stu
dent in the retirement of his study. Yet,
these papers, now of almost priceless worth,
were as valueless then, as our daily sheets
are now, and were hut little better kept, for
only a file of each of the above papers, and
these imperfect, has descended to our time.
Isaiah 1 homas, tho distinguished printer,
was a diligent collector of old papers; these
he carefully preserved and arranged in
chronological order; and at his death some
years since, lie bequeathed, besides ten
thousand dollars to erect a building for the
“Antiquarian Society,” of Worcester, no
j less than nine thousand volumes, a large
portion of them hound newspapers, to its
Library. This society have thus the best
collection of papers in the United States.
The late Hon. Samuel Smith, of Peterbo
rough, N. H., was an active collector of past
and present newspapers. The Portsmouth
Journal in a notice of his death thus alludes
to this propensity. “Regarding newspa
pers, as the most minute history of the times
that can be preserved, he patiently toiled
; for many years in the accumulation of these
! important records. In the year 1536, lie
I called upon us to complete his files of the
! Portsmouth Journal, and he then stated that
he had formed files of seventy different
American newspapers, which were all sys
tematically arranged, and were as perfect as
they could be made. Some idea may be
formed of their completeness hy the fact,
that he had regular files of the Boston Ccn
tinel, from the time of its commencement in
1754, to the (then) present time, with only
seventy-five papers missing. He had also
files of the Boston Chronicle, from its
commencement, with the exception of only
sixty papers missing. He had files of almost*
every paper in New Hampshire, and of
papers in Boston, New-York, Philadelphia,
and Washington. His collection consisted
at that time of about seven hundred and fifty
volumes, and from the assiduity with which
he was engaged in his labors, we have no
doubt they have since increased to a thou
sand volumes.”
The late Dr. Burney of England, had
probably gathered together the largest col
lection of newspapers ever made in England.
His catalogue comprised numerous and rare
series of them for over 150 years, viz: from
1665 to ISIS, numbering in all seven hun
dred volumes, and prized at about $4,50Q.
With a spirit greatly to be commended, this
valuable collection was bought by the gov
ernment, for the purpose of adding it to the
files already preserved in the British mu
seum of all the newspapers published in
the realm, from 1818 to the present time,
consisting of over 3,000 vols.; and as has
been truly said of them, “form a record of
public events not to he paralleled by any
similar collection in any other library in the
world.”
The “Georgia Gazette,” the earliest pa
per published in this State, was commenced
in 1763, only seventy-nine years ago; not a
perfect file of it can now he found, and sin
gle copies of it are esteemed both rare and
valuable.
Os the “Augusta Chronicle,” the next
established paper, in 1755, and which is now
issuing its 57th volume, we doubt whether
an entire series can be found in any library.
Os the “Savannah Republican,” estab
lished in 1798, not a perfect copy remains:
and yet these papers were the daily histo
rians of the times, and would now be turned
back to with almost reverential delight. We
would therefore urge upon our friends, one
and all, to preserve their papers; it will give
them hut a moment’s trouble at first, and
habit will soon step in to assist them in lay
ing aside lliese records of the present, to
instruct and guide the generations yet to
appear on the stage of life.
© ea a iiw AL a
Written for the “ Southern Miscellany.”
Z ANONI.
Clarence Glyndon having been led on
step hy step, by the mysterious power of
Zanoni, had relinquished all love for Viola.
That passion had been swallowed up in the
more absorbing desire, to become a par
taker or that knowledge which Zanoni pos
sessed—and which he had been induced to
believe was accessable to himself. A thirst,
burning and insatiable, to become acquaint
ed with the mysteries of nature, and a com
panion of those lofty spirits, who belonged
to the Empire of Mind, and whose powers
were but little less than the power of Om
nigotence, had been excited within him; and
unmindful of the claims of social life, and
the compansliipof Love—regardless of the
suggestions of prudence, or the plain dic
tates of common sense—and undaunted by
the dangers which Zanoni-taught him to be
lieve lay thick along the path-way which he
would be compelled to journey—he deter
mined to forsake all—to brave all—to be
come the disciple of this philosophy.
This determination was hastened by the
. events which arc recorded in the work, and
to which wc can only briefly refer. After
the declaration of Love made by Zanoni
for Viola—and which was recorded in the
extract given in my former number, and ere
they could leave the house, as it was their
design to do, and fly from Naples, the Prince
di , with his followers, rushed upon the
house, snatched Vipla from the embrace of
Zanoni—whose power to save her he loved
was only as another man’s—and bore her to
his palace. But shortly after this, Zanoni
j foretold the death of the Prince di , anu
the rescue of Viola. This occurred as pre
dicted—and the mind of Glyndon was now
swept of every doubt in reference to the
powers of the ntan, for it now appeared to
him this “dark and wondrous being could
convert the most ordinary events, and the
meanest instruments into the agencies of his
inscrutable will,” and the decision was
made. This decision is thus most forcibly
expressed by the author :
“Whoever has, in the course of his life,
induiged the absorbing passion of the Game
ster, will remember how all other pursuits
and objects vanish from his mind; how sole
ly he was wrapped in the one wild delusion;
with what a sceptre of magic power the
despot-demon ruled every feeling and every
thought. Far more intense than the passion
of the Gamester was the frantic, yet sublime
desire that mastered the breast of Glyndon.
He would be the rival of Zanoni, not in
human and perishable affections, but in pre
ternatural and eternal lore. He would
have laid down his life with content—nay,
rapture, as the price of learning those
solemn secrets, which separated the stranger
from mankind. Enamored of the goddess
of goddesses, ho stretched forth his arms
the wild Ixion—and embraced a cloud !”
The resolution taken, the purpose fixed—
Glyndon must now seek his teacher. He
is to be found in the person of Mejnour, the
companion of Zanoni, and from whom he had
learned someofhismostsublimesccrets; and
in the intercourse between the teacher and
neophyte, we have disclosed some of the
doctrines to he taught, and a glimpse of
some of the truths of that philosophy, which
many of the following pages of the work
are intended to shadow forth. And as it is
our purpose to investigate, in a future num
ber, the claims of this philosophy to credit,
and analyze some of its teachings, we pro
pose to extract the whole scene in which the
intercourse between Glyndon and Mejnour
is described.
“ The night was most lovely and serene,
and the waves scarcely rippled at his feet,
as the Englishman glided on by the cool and
starry beach. At length he arrived at the
spot, and there, leaning against the broken
pillar, he beheld a man wrapped in a long
mantle, atul in an attitude of profound re
pose. He approached and uttered the name
of Zanoni. The figure turned, and lie saw
the face of a stranger; a face not stamped
by the glorious beauty of Zanoni, but equal
ly majestic in its aspect, and perhaps still
more impressive from the mature age and
the passionless depth of thought that char
acterized the expanded forehead, and deep
set but piercing eyes.
‘“You seek Zanoni,’ said the stranger;
‘he will be here anon; but, perhaps, he
whom you see before you is more connect
ed with your destiny, and more disposed to
realize your dreams.’
“‘Hath the earth, then, another Zanoni]’
“‘lf not,’ replied the stranger, ‘why do
you cherish the hope and the wild faith to
be yourself a Zanoni ? Think you that none
others have burned with the same godlike
dream ? Who, indeed, in his first youth—
youth when the soul is nearer to the heaven
from which it sprung, and its divine and
primal longings are not all effaced by the sor
did passions and petty cares that are begot
in time—who is there in youth that has not
nourished the belief that the universe has
secrets not known to the common herd, and
panted, as the hart for the water-springs, for
the fountains that lie hid and faraway amid
the broad wilderness of trackless science?
The music of the fountain is heard in the
soul within, till the steps, deceived and err
ing, rove away from its waters, and the wan
derer dies in the mighty desert. Think you
that none who have cherished the hope have
found the truth; or that the yearning after
the ineffable knowledge was given to us ut
terly in vain? No! every desire in human
hearts is hut the glimpse of things that ex
ist, alike distant and divine. No! in the
world there have been, from age to age,
some brighter and happier spirits who have
attained to the air in which the beings above
mankind move and breathe. Zanoni, great
though he be, stands not alone. He has had
his predecessors, and long lines of succes
sors may he yet to come.’
“‘And will you tell me,’ said Glyndon,
‘that in yourselfl behold one of that mighty
few over whom Zanoni has no superiority in
power and wisdom ?’
“‘ln me,” answered the stranger, ‘you
see one from whom Zanoni himself learned
some of his loftiest secrets. On these
- shores, on this spot have I stood in ages that
your chroniclers but feebly reach. The
Phoenician, the Greek, the Oscan, the Ro
man, the Lombard, I have seen them all!
leaves gay and glittering on the trunk of the
universal life, scattered in due season and
again renewed; till, indeed, the same race
that gave its glory to the ancient world be
stowed a second youth upon the new. For
the pure Greeks, the Hellenes, whose origin
has bewildered your dreaming scholars,
were of the same great family as the Nor
man tribe, born to be the lords of the uni
verse, and in no land on earth destined to
become the hewers of word. Even the
dim traditions of the learned, which bring
the sons of Hellas from the vast and unde
termined territories of northern Thrace, to
be the victors of the pastoral Pelasgi, and
the founders of the line of demi-gods;
which assign to a population bronzed be
neath the suns of the west, the blue-eyed
Minerva and the yellow-haired Achilles
(characteristics of the north); which intro
duce among a pastoral people, warlike aris
tocracies and limited monarchies, the feau
dalism of the classic time: even these might
serve you to track back the primeval settle
ments of the Hellenes to the same region
whence, in later times, the Norman warriors
broke on the dull and savage hordes of the
Celt, and became the Greeks of the Chris
tian world. But this interests you not, and
you are wise in your indifference. Not in
the knowledge of things without, hut in the
perfection of the soul within, lies the empire
of man aspiring to he more than men.’
“‘And what book contains that science?
from what laboratory is it wrought?’
“‘Nature supplies the materials; they
are around you in your daily walks. In the
herbs that the beast devours and the chemist
disdains to cull; in the elements, from which
matter in its meanest and its mightiest
shapes is deduced; in the wide bosom of
the air; in the black abysses of the earth;
everywhere are given to mortals the re
sources and libraries of immortal lore. But
as the simplest of problems in the simplest
of all studies are obscure to one who braces
not his mind to their comprehension, as the
rower in yonder vessel cannot tell you why
two circles can touch each other only in ono
point, so, though all earth were carved over
and inscribed with the letters of diviner
knowledge, the characters would be value
less to him who does not pause to inquire
the language and meditate the truth. Young
man, if thy imagination is vivid, if thy heart
is dating, if thy curiosity is insatiate, I will
accept thee as my pupil. But the first les
sons are stern and dread.’
“ ‘lf thou hast mastered them, why not
I?’ answered Glyndon, boldly. ‘I have felt
from my boyhood that strange mysteries
were reserved for my career; and from the
proudest ends of ordinary ambition, I have
carried my gaze into the cloud and dark
ness that stretch beyond. The instant I
beheld Zanoni, I felt as if I had discovered
the guide and the tutor for which my youth
had idly languished and vainly burned’
“‘And to me this duty is transferred,’
replied the stranger. ‘Yonder lies, anchor
ed in the hay, the vessel in which Zanoni
seeks a fairer home; a little while, and the
breeze will rise, the sail will swell, and the
stranger will have passed, like a wind, away.
Still, like the wind, ho leaves in thy heart
the seeds that may bear the blossom and tho
fruit. Zanoni hath performed his task, he is
wanted no more; the perfecter of his work
is at thy side. He conies! I hear the dash
of the oar. You will have your choice sub
mitted to you. According as you decide,
we shall meet again.’ With these words
the stranger moved’ slowly away, and dis
appeared beneath the shadow of the cliffs,
A boat glided rapidly across the waters; it
touched land; a man leaped on shore, and
Glyndon recognised Zanoni.
“‘I give thee, Glyndon, I give thee no
more the option of happy love and serene
enjoyment. That hour is past, and fate has
linked the hand that might have been thine
own to mine. But I have ample gifts to be
stow upon thee, if thou wilt abandon the
hope that gnaws thy heart, and the realiza
tion of which even 1 have not the power to
foresee. Be thine ambition human, and I
can gratify it to the full. Men desire four
things in life, love, wealth, fame, power.—.
The first 1 cannot give thee; the rest are at
my disposal. Select which of them thou wilt,,
and let us part in peace.’
“ ‘Such are not the gifts I covet. I choose
knowledge (which, indeed, as the school’
man said, is power, and the loftiest); that
knowledge must be thine own. For this,,
and this alone, I surrendered the Jove of
Viola; this, and this alone, must be my
recompense.’
“‘I cannot gainsay thee, though I can
warn. The desire to learn does not alway
contain the faculty to acquire. I can give
thee.it is true, the teacher; the rest must
depend on thee. Be wise in time, and take’
that which I can assure thee.’
‘“Answer me but these questions, and’
according to your answer I will decide. Ia
it in the power of man to attain intercourses
with the beings of other worlds? Is it in
the power of man to influence the elements,,
and to ensure life against the sword and
against disease ?’
“‘All this may be possible,’ answered 1
Zanoni, evasively, ‘to the few. But for one
who attains such secrets, millions may per
ish in the attempt.’
“ ‘One question more. Thou— ’
“ ‘Beware! Os myself, as I have said be
fore, 1 render no account.’
“ ‘ Well, then, the stranger I have met this
night, are his boasts to he believed? Is he
in truth one of the chosen seers whom you
allow to have mastered the mysteries I
yearn to fathom?’
“‘Rash man,’said Zanoni, in a tone of
compassion, ‘thy crisis is past, and thy choice
made! 1 can only hid thee be hold and
prosper; yes, I resign thee to a master who
has the power and the will to open to thee
the gates of an awful world. Thy weal or
wo is as nought in the eyes of his relentless
wisdom. I would bid him spare thee, but
he will heed me not. Mejnour, receive thy
pupil.’ Glyndon turned, and his heart beat
when lie perceived that the stanger, whoso
footsteps he had not heard upon the pebbles,
whose approach he had not beheld in the
moonlight, was once mote hy his side.
“‘Farewell,’ resumed Zanoni; ‘thy trial
commences. When next we meet, thorn
wilt be the victim or the victor.’ ”
Writlen for the “Southern Miscellany.' r
REFLECTIONS,
ON A VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF MY GRAND-’
FATHER.
’I here are times when we like to leave’
all the world, and retire to some secluded l
spot, when the “serene moonlight 53 80111/
slumbering on the dew-covered earth,” ana
the passions excited hy the cares, and dis
turbances of this selfish world, are all sooth
ed and tranquilized, by sympathizing with’
nature’s aspect. ’Tis then, that the soul is
fitted for correct thoughts of happiness, aod !
for musing on what it has seen and heard
through the day, or what, at any past time,
lias made an extraordinary impression upon
it. ’1 is then, that we delight to think on
those we knew and loved, when they were
on earth, but who have long since appeared
before the “inexorable Judge,” to give an
account of all their acts, and especially
when those acts, have stamped on their pass
port to eternity, that which elicits from the
“Judge,” the heart-cheering plaudit, “Well
done.” With these feelings and thoughts,
on a pleasant evening in May, I wended my
solitary way to the grave of one dear indeed .
to me, though known only hy report —the
tenant was my “Grandfather.” I took my
seat upon the stone, and threw my eyes up
ward to gaze upon the star-spangled con
cave, spread hy the great “I AM,” to de
clare his glory and shew his.handiwork. It
was a solemn scene—Orion and Pleiades,
had run their course through the day, and
were not visible—Arcturus was far on the
decline—Major Uisa was in the ascendant
—Corona was rising—that beautiful con
stellation, seemingly placed there by the
Christian’s God, for the express purpose of
reminding him that a starry crown awaited
him at the end of his journey. Death be
neath—glory above—earth spread around
me. Oh! what feelings came across me
while contemplating this scene. Earthly
fume, wealth, honor, that sometimes louroa
upon the imagination, excites the feelings,
captivates the heart, were left behind, and I
could have shrunk within myself. The
thought, that a wise, just, good Creator had
spread abroad this dome, set it with innu
merable lights—emblems of his own purity
and the impartiality of his favors —had
“rolled this little ball of Earth in his palm,
and set it a-going” amidst the millions of
others around his dazzling throne, planted
it with every tree that is good for food or
pleasant to the sight; and then, that man,
tho lord of creation, should alone of all na
ture around him, depart from his precepts.
Oh! Ingratc man! why sin —why raise a
barrier impassable to Eden, blissful Eden 1
Memory called up the history that had
been learnt of my revered “Grandfather.”
The hook is small—general outlines are on
ly given, with many a blank page. He waa
a revolutionary soldier. The passage of the
ever-to-be-remembered unjust laws of the
Mother Country aroused his energies. Her
own cannon was the clarion that sounded
the soul-stirring alarum that rang through
the vallies of gallant Virginia, summoning
her sturdy mountaineers to the filed, atid to
victory or death. He heard the call and
obeyed it. The “American Eagle,” after
a long contest for her rights, drove tte “L*