Newspaper Page Text
it, and my hair is ail in papers; and this
frightful, unbecoming cap ! 1 had no idea
he would have been here so early—let me
off to my toilette!” But now he is your
husband—” Dear me, what, consequence is
it?—My object is gained. M3’ efforts to
win him, my little manceuvets to captivate
have been successful; and it is vety hatd
if a woman is to pass her life in endeavor
ing to please her husband !” I remember
greatly admiring a lady who lived among
the mountains, and scarcely saw any one
but her husband. She was rather a plain
woman—yet when she set to breakfast
each morning, all the day long her extreme
neatness, and attention to the niceness of
her appearance, made her quite an agree
able object. Her husband loved her, and
would look at her with mote pleasure than
at a pretty woman dressed in a slovenly,
untidy manner; —for believe me, those
things, (though your husband appears not
to notice them, nor, perhaps, is he conscious
of the cause) strongly possess the power of
pleasing or displeasing.— Mrs. Ellis.
M o®©lE iNI Y.
From the Woonsocket Patriot.
THE ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL
AMERICA.
Recent enterprise has ascertained the ex
istence of immense, but ruined and desert
ed, cities in various parts of Central Amer
ica. Stupendous and elegant structures,
exhibiting a style of a*t unknown in the his
tory of Asiatic or European architecture,
are there found, butied in the deep recesses
of the woods—surrounded and overgrown
by the luxuriant foliage of a tropical forest.
The frequency anil number of these re
mains is remarkable. They are found at
Paletique in Mexico, at Uxmall in Yucatan
at Copan, and in fact spread’out in every
direction ovor the States of Central Ameri
ca. The sites of fifty or sixty cities have
been visited, and time only will determine
how many yet remain covered by the im
penetrable forests. The distinguishing fea
tures in these American structures is that of
an artificial and lofty elevation. From the
level plain rises a pyramediul terrace, gen
erally oblong in shape, and sometimes sev
eral hundred feet in length. The sides of
this pyram and or terrace are cased with stone,
and furnished with a regular succession of
steps, affording access to the top. XJjtoti
the summit level of the terrace is erected
the temple or palace, which thus stands
high in the air, and commands an extensive
view of the fertile plains around its base.—
The structure itself, thus elevated, is always
composed of massive stone-work, decora
ted with sculpture, and divided into a suc
cession of apartments, differing essentially
in theirform and arrangement with the apart
ments belonging to other modes of building.
Colossal statues, some standing entire and
nearly perfect, others ovei thrown and dila
pidated, yet exist on the sites of some of
these cities. They are gorgeously encum
bered with sculptured decorations, and
bear no trace of affinity to the statuary of
other lands.
The original character and the total ab
sence of all resemblance to the architecture
of the old world, observed in these remains,
has been not the least interesting consider
ation of those engaged m the study of Amer
ican antiquities. And this circumstance
has also contributed to invest tbe subject
with a mystery greater than would exist
were it possible to refer the origin of these
buildings to an imitation of the struclures
of Egypt, Italy or Europe. But they “stand
alone”—“ upon their own merits”—and the
traveler, as he leaves the modern Spanish
town, with its motley population, and comes
into the silence of the woods where stand
these mouldering hut royal cities, asks in
▼ain—who huilt them 1 The Spaniard can
not tell their story, and the ignorant Indian,
in whose rude traditions we might expect
some ray of intelligence, only mutters, “ who
knows V’
It were strange and anomalous, however,
if in a country possessing some men of re
al intelligence and learning, no attention had
been directed to such a subject. Some few
ecclesiastics of liberal taste, have attempt
ed to answer the question. By these pious
and learned Catholic “ padres,” it is said
that not only may the whole subject be one
day clearly understood, but future investi
gation may discover far in the wilds of an
unexplored country, living cities, furnishing
a counterpart to the skeleton remains al
ready known. From the highest range of
the Cordilleras, the report says has been
seen a city reared in wilds never trodden by
a Christian foot. There , it asserts, live a
remnant of uubaptised idolaters, who flee
ing from the Spanish arms, found a refuge
in the impenetrable fastnesses behind the
Cordilleras. If such be tbe fact, what a
volume of interest will be opened when tbe
first explorer, happily penetrating to that
unknown country, shall stand amid struc
tures like those of Palcnqne arid Uxmall,
and converse with the kings, priests and ar
chitects who reared and who now inhabit
them ! This speculation of a living abori
ginal city exhibiting the ai ts, arms and man
ners of its actual inhabitants, is replete with
interest and romance. Nor is the fact of
its existence impossible. The early Span
ish historians relate that large masses of
population were expelled from parts of the
conquered country, and were become lost
to them in the unknown and unexplored
parts of the continent. Once placed in a
secure situation, the inventive industry of
such a people would have preserved and
perpetuated their existence.
When the public attention was aroused
to the subject of these American antiquities,
the question of their origin and history im
mediately became a theme on which was
expended much and discordont speculation.
The magnitude and splendor of the build
ings, and the advanced civilization evidently
belonging to the founders of such cities, ap
pear to have misled the ingenious inquirers,
for on all sides it was agreed that a race so
abject, ignorant and inert as tbe present
Indians of Central America, could never
have founded cities and institutions, the ru
ined fragments of which present so much of
grandeur and power. This was the capital
error. It might have lieer. easily perceived
that tbe American Spaniard of the present
day, is as widely inferior in genius and en
ergy to his conquering progenitor, as is the
Indian of the present day when compared
| with the national character requisite to pro
duce Cities and States, like those subdued
by the followers of Columbus. To our dis
tinguished countryman, Stevens, belongs
the honor of a satisfactory settlement of
this contested point. Step by step, that in
genious traveller collected a mass of evi
dence based upon history and facts, and all
tending to demonstrate that the ancestors of
the present Indians were the “ royal race”
who reared these lofty cities, and filled their
country with useful and elegant woiks of
art. The conquests of Cortez were effect
ed in a country abounding with population
and the early historians of the Spanish in
vasion are continually, though casually, re
ferring to the magnificent structures and the
architectural embellishment witnessed by
the soldiers. It is recorded by the barba
rous but energetic invaders, that those largo
and splendid cities, built of lime atul stone,
were inhabited by a numerous and warlike
race of men who defended them with des
perate courage until themselves were exter
minated, or until resistance was hopeless.—
Under the succeeding dark and despotic
rule of Spain, the country appears to have
undergone an entire change. Ancient
clearings are now overgrown by dense for
ests, and a few miserable villages in the in
terior, supply the places of the extensive
cities that once adorned the plains. Local
knowledge, and even tradition, have died
out ; and while some few of the inhabitants
are informed of the existence, in their vicin
ity of ancient remains, tlie mass of the pre
sent population, so far from being familiar
with the history of those antiquities, do not
know that such remains exist. Amid this
deplorable and supine ignorance, it has re
mained for a citizen of the United States to
hew his way among the desolate cities ofCen
tral America, and giving history a voice, <0
point out to the world that these were the
strongholds, in the capture of which the
Spaniards displayed such prodigies of va
lor :—that here, within these mouldering
walls, and upon these still lofty and decora
ted battlements, lived and fought the idola
trous and fierce pagans, whose souls were
crushed into the emth Ly pious soldiers;
and further, to check the antiquary in his
laborious search after the remote origin
of American art, by pointing to the misera
ble Indian who crouches beneath tiie shade
of the sculptured wall reared by his abori
ginal ancestors.
O
STATISTICS OF POPULATION.
We have recently been looking over the
last Census of the United States, from the
official Report presented to Congress ; and
having been much interested in the same,
we have thought a few gleanings might
prove equally interesting to our readers.—
It appears that the entire population of the
United States in 1840, wits 17,008.006 —of
which number, 14,189,108 were free white
persons; 380,275 were free colored per
sons, and 2,487,213 were slaves. The po
pulation of each State and Territory w'os as
follows: Maine,501,793 —New Hampshire,
281,574 —Massachusetts, 737,699 —Rh, Is
land, 108,830 —Connecticut, 309,978 —Ver-
mont, 291.94N —New York, 2,428,921 —
New Jersey, 373,300 —Pennsylvania, 1,-
724,033 —Delaware, 78,085 — Maryland,
469,232 —Virginia, 1,239,797 —North Caro
lina, 753,419 —8. Carolina, 594,398 —Geor-
gia, 691,392 —Alabama, 590,750 —Missis-
sippi, 375,051 —Louisiana, 352,411 —Ten-
nessee, 829,210 —Kentucky, 1 79.52S —Ohio,
1,519,467 —Indiana, 685,866 —Illinois, 476,-
IS3—Missouri, 383,702 —Arkansas, 97,574
—Michigan, 212,267 —Florida Territory,
54,477 —Wisconsin Territory, 30,945 —lo-
wa Territory, 43,112 —District of Colum
bia, 43,712.
The number of males among the free
white population of the United States in
IS4O, was 7,249,260 ;--of females, 6,939,-
542. Os the males, 1,270,790 were under
five years of age, and 476 wete one hundred
years of age and upwards. Os the females,
1,203,349 wete under five years of ago,
and 315 wete one hundred years and up
wards.
The number of males among the ftee co
lored population in IS4O, was 186,467,
whilst the females numbered 199,778. Os
the males, 56,323 were under ten years of
age, and 286 were one hundred years old
and upwards. The females under ten years
of age, numbered 55,069, and those of one
hundred years and upwards, numbered 361.
The number of males among the slave
population in IS4O, was 1,216,408 —of whom
422,599 were under ten years of age, and
753 were one hundred years and upwards.
The female slaves numbered 1,240,805 —of
whom 421.470 were under ten years of age,
and 580 were one hundred years old and
upwards. We thus learn that longevity is
natch more common atul greater amomg the
colored people of the United States'—both
bond and free—itt proportion to numbers,
than among the white population.
The increase of white persons in the U.
S. from 1830 to 1840, was 34 per cent.; the
increas of free colored persons in the same
time was 20<1 per cent.; tlie increase of
slaves in the same period, 23$ per cent.—
Allowing tlie same ratio of increase for the
next ten years, the population of the United
States it, 1850 would he 22,556,997; and
the number of each description of persons
would be as follows :—whites, 19,015,478
—free colored persons, 461?,593—51ave5, 3,-
077,920.
Now let us compare the increase of the
population of the United States for the last
fifty years,* The increase from 1790 to
IBOU was 35 per cent.; from ISOO to 1810;
36£ per cent.; from 1810 to 1820, 33 per
cent.; from 1820 to 1830, 33. j per emit.;
from 1830 to 1840, 32j per cent. Thus
we see that the average increase each ten
years for the last fifty, has been 34 15-100
percent.; therefore, at this rate, the popu
lation of the Uuited States in 1850 would
be 22,872,2 C iB6O, it would be 30,619,-
182—and in 1870, 41,070,803.
The number of deaf and dumb persons
in the United Slates in IS4O, was 7,679 —
of whom 0,682 were white persons, and 977
were slaves and free colored persons. The
number of persons blind, was 6,916 —of
whom 5,024 were whites, and 1,592 were
colored persons and slaves. The number
3 <D H ®HI m SiH mot 9(0IBIL IL
j of persons who were insane or idiots, was
j 17,434 —of whom 11,508 were whites, arid
i 2,926 were slaves and free colored pet sons.
I Os this description of whites 4,329 were at
! public charge, and 10,179 at private charge,
j Os the free colored persons and slaves 2,-
j 093 were at private charge, and 833 at pub
j lie charge.
| The total number of persons employed
! in agricultural pursuits in 1840, was 3,717,-
! 756—total number employed in manufac
tures and trades, 791, 545; total number em
ployed in commerce, 117,575 —total num
ber employed in mining, 15,203 —total
number employed in navigation of the
ocean, 56,025 —total number employed iri
navigation of canals, lakes and rivers, 33,-
J 067—total number employed in the learned
professions, 65,236. The total number of
pensioners for revolutionary or military ser
vices, was 20,797 —total number of stu
dents in universities or colleges, 16,233 —
lotal number of students in academies and
gt a miner schools, 164,159 —total number
of schollars in common schools, 1,845,244
—total number of scholars at public charge,
468,264 —total number of white persons orer
twenty years of age uho cannot read and
write , 549,693 ! *
These interesting statistics are obtained
from authentic sources, and may be depend
ed upon as correct.
Whisper to Husbands . —The happiness
of die wife is committed to the keeping of
the husband. Prize the sacred trust; and
never give her cause to repent the confi
dence she has reposed in you. In contem
plating her character, recollect the ma'eri-
I als lilt man nature is composed of, and do
not expect perfection.
Do justice to her merits and point out her
faults ; for 1 do not ask you to treat her er
rors with indulgence, but then endeavor to
amend them with wisdom, gentleness and
love,
Do not jest about the bonds of a married
state. Make it an established rule to con
sult your wife on all occasions. \ T our inter
est is hers; and undertake no plan contrary
to her advice and approbation ; then if the
affair turns out ill, you are spared reproach
es both from her and your own feelings.—
There is in woman an intuitive quickness,
sagacity, a penetration and foresight into
the probable consequences of an event that
make her peculiary calculated to give her
opinion and advice.
If you have any male acquaintances,
whom, on reasonable grounds, your wife
wishes von to resign, do so. Never wit
ness a tear from your wife with apathy or
indifference. Words, looks, actions—all j
may be artificial; hut a tear is unequivocal; j
it comes direct from the heart, and speaks at i
once the language of truth, nature and sin
cerity. Be assured when you sec a tear on
her cheek, her heait is touched ; and do not
behold it with coldness or insensibility.
Let contradiction lie avoided at all times.
Never upbraid your wife with the mean- I
ness of her relations; invectives against her- j
self are not half so wounding. Should suf- j
sering ofanykind assail your wife, your ten- I
derness and attention are particular called j
for. A look of love, a word of piety or sym- !
pathy, is sometimes better than medicine, j
Never reproach your wife with any per- ;
sonal or mental defect ; for a plain face
sometimes conceals a heart of exquisite
sensibility and merit, and her consciousness
of the defect makes her awake to the slight
est attention. When in the presence of
other’s let your wife’s laudable pride he in
dulged by your showing you think her an
object of importance and preference. The
most trivial wotd or act of attention and
love from you gratifies her feelings ; and a
man never appears to more advantage than
by proving to the woikl his affection and
preference for his wife.
Never run on in enthusiastic ecomiums
on other women in presenee of your wife;
she does not love you better for it. Much
to be condemned, is a married man constant
ly rumbling front home for the purpose of
passing away time. Surely if he wants
employment, bis house and garden will fur
nish him with it, and if he wishes for socie
ty, he will find his wife and children and
books the best society in the world.
There are some men who will sit an entire
day with their wives and scarcely a word
escape their lips. This is wrong: you
should converse freely on all such occasions.
Be always cheerful, gay and good humored.
When abroad do not avoid speaking to your
wife. Few women are insensible of ten
der treatment. They are natutally frank
and affectionate, and in general there is
nothing but austerity of look, or distance of
behavior, that can prevent those aimahle
qualities from being evinced on all occasions.
In pecuniary matters do not be penurious
or too particular. Your wife lias an equal
right with yourself to all your worldly pos
sessions. Besides, really a woman has innu
merable trifling demands of her purse, many
little wants which is not necessary for a
man to be informed of, and which even if j
he went to the trouble of investigation he j
would not understand.
Gen. Harrison. —There is a beauty and
pathos in the following incident more elo
quent and touching than the power of lan
guage can depict. The lamented Han ison,
who, whilst living, received the inostunqual
ified evidenccs-wf a nation’s love and vener
ation, and whose memory is embalmed in
its recollections, enjoyed, also, the esteem of
the warriors ho overcame in battle. During
the passage of the remnant of that formida
ble tribe of Indians, *t!\e Wyandots, from
lower Sandusky, Ohio, to the Jiansas river,
as they approached North Bend, on the O
hio river, where repose the remains of Gen.
Harrison, the principal chief requested
Capt. Claghorn to have the “big gun” load
ed as the boat neared that hallowed spot,
the chiefs and braves silently gathered upon
the hurricane roof, and formed a line front
ing the resting place of their departed chief.
The engine was stopped, and the boat was
suffered to drift with the current. As they
passed the tomb they all uncovered, and
gently waved their hats, in silence ; and af
ter the boat bad passed, and the report of
tbe cannon bad died away, the chief step
ped forward, and, in an imptessive man
ner, exclaimed, “Farewell, Ohio and her
Brave !”— N. O. Tropic.
Editors. —The business of an editor, says
the N. H. Telagraph, who attemps to give
to his readers something new every day of
publication, we believe is greatiy underra
ted, especially by the more learned of man
kind. They do think it a very easy matter
lo write for a newspaper. Let them try it.
Let some of our ablest men or women,
moke the attempt to write for us, one single
article each week, without fail—an article,
mind, which they shall not hesitate to put
.their name to, and let the world know it. is
theirs ! We verily believe that they would
find it no easy matter. Yet such is the po
sition of an editor. With only a modicum of
brains, peihaps, he must not only write one
article, but half a dozen ; and what is more
arid worse, too, his name goes out attached
to them all. Really, the public should
judge charitably of an editor's efforts. It
would be strange if lie never said a silly
thing—very strange if he never said an un
wise one—passing strange if he never said
an erroneous one. His opinions of traris
\ piling events are expressed hastily, usual
i ly on the spur of the moment, before time
! is given for thorough examination, and the
j wonder is I hat they are so uniformly such
j as their authors are willing to stand by, af
ter mature deliberation. The London West
minster Review says, in truth to write a
good leader on occurrences of the hour, acute
and ready in its arguments and humorous
or forcible in its illustrations, with the brief
statement of facts, and the skillful manage
ment of personalities, which it demands in
reference both lo 1 lie newspaper and its
party, is the most difficult of all kinds of
composition.
S/rarinc. —The manufacture of Lard Oil
has opened anew source of wealth to the
West, and one which, as yet, is only on the
threshold of profitable operation. Not only
does it furnish a vent for the immense quan
tity of laid which the West produces atul
which its capacity to produce is unbounded,
but it furnishes a material for candles, call
ed Stearine, which is destined to supersede
tallow and spermaceti as lard oil has sperm
and olive oils. This substance is the resi
due of laid after the oily paits have been ab
stiacled by immense hydrostatic pressure.
It is of various qualities, according to the
perfection of the manufacture. We saw a
paicel a day or two since, perfectly white,
as hard as maible, and resembling in all ils
qualities the purest wax —indeed, with the
admixture of one-tenth part of wax the com
pound cannot be distinguished from it, ex
cepting hv the most experienced judges. It
can also he so made as closely to resemble
spermaceti. The quality of Stearine of
which we saw a sample, is worth 20 cents
per pound, and the candles made fiom it 22
rents per pound. Compared with sperm
they are equally handsome—do not run, are
much harder, and will burn from a quarter
to a thiid longer. The price of sperm is
now 30 cents per pound. This fine descrip
tion of Stearine bus but recently been pro
duced.
A sample in neat blocks lias been sent to
England to try the market, and a large ex
port demand is confidently anticipated at
some future day. Os the candles only about
200 boxes have yet been made. Several
poorer qualities of Stearine are produced,
selling as low as 6 to 7 cents per pound.—
The candles made from these ate worth
about 14 cents per pound, and are much su
perior to those made o{ tallow, which ate
worth 12J cents. Those croakers who have
predicted the eventual destruction of all the
whales and a consequent unillurnitiated
world, will see by the above facts that in the
boundless Valley of the Mississippi we have
1 lie means of light, both in the shape of oil
and candles, from a source which cannot
well fail us. We can breed hogs although
we cannot Whales; and with candles made
of this hog’s wax—for it is wax to all intents
and purposes—we can very well do without
tiie yield of the sperm whale.
In these articles of Oil and Stearine we
see another avenue worked by American
skill and industry by which wealth is to he
poured into the lap of our Western farm
ers. We can produce enough to supply the
world, and with our advantages, can under
sell any other nation on the globe.— N. Y.
Tribune.
The Baltimore Patriot in the extract be
low, sketches a scene nearly as appalling as
the night panic on the inclined plane in
Pennsylvania, when the rope broke anti it
was supposed t lie train was going at tbe rate
of CO miles an hour to the ‘‘Old Harry”—
or that Sunday scene in Boston, when the
servant rushed into Church, and without
speaking to anybody in particular, shouted,
“your bouse is afire !” Such commotions
of a crowd are more pleasant in the recol
lection than in the enjoyment, and no one
has the least idea of the aggregate amount
of l rains in the heads of a thousand people,
till he has seen them fermenting together in
some imaginary or real danger.— Charleston
Mercury.
A frightful Scene. —The steamer Geor
gia, Cupt. Coffee, left Spear’s wharf last
evening, on a moonlight excursion down the
Bay, projected by the Independent Blues,
a military company of this city. The num
ber of persons on board was probably not
touch less than six or eight hundred, about
one half of whom were ladies. Most of the
passengers had congregated on the upper
deck. Soon after the boat left the wharf,
the excessive weight above caused her to
rock and overbalance. At this, many be
came alarmed, and thinking to right her a
gain they changed positions in a body to the
other side. This triads the matter worse,
and the lurching became awfully frightful,
so that the boat teemed on the eye of cap
sizing. Terrified and heart-rending screams
ascended from the vast multitude, especial
ly the female poition, several of whom faint
ed and fell senseless upon the deck, whilst
others were crying to be set on shore, and
many seemed to anticipate immediate and
certain destruction. One man in the I'ijght,
we learn, jumped overboard and swam to
the shore. Others wete in the act of follow
ing as the boat reached the wharf and was
brought to rights, when a large number of
those who had taken passage got off and re
turned home. Many, however, remained
on board and proceeded down the bay about
thirty miles, having a delightful time, and no
further cause for fear. They returned, all
safe and in good spirits, about half past 12
o’clock this morning.
True and devoted Love. —“ ‘I care not,
Julie.’ replied Francis <le Langy; ‘so that
you are mine, and I am always with you,
to protect, to cherish, to support you, I can
not think that there can be any situation in
life which would not have its happiness for
us. Indeed, Julie, indeed, there seems a
strange sort of satisfaction, which I cannot
account for, in having the opportunity of
loving so dearly as I love you amid dangers,
and difficulties, and anxieties. When I
thought 1 should lose you, then all was dark
and terrible indeed ; but now that you are
mine—certainly mine—that blessing seems
to be doubly sweet, from its contrast with
all that is taking place around us. Come
what may, our mutual aflection shall guard
us against sorrows such as others feel, and,
out of the difficulties and dangers that sur
round us, we shall gather materials for hap
piness ; as I have heard my uncle say, that
the inhabitants of the frozen zone render
their warm cabins impervious to the cold
wintry blast, by covering them thickly with
the snow itself.’
“So reasons youth; ay, reader, and it
reasons justly too; for those who have known
vvliiit it is to have loved truly arid well, will
recollect that, under the touch of sorrow—
which every one, more or less, is destined
to feel—the tender and the true aflection has
burned out with brighter lustre from the
dark things that surround it. All ordinary
stones we back with tinsel; we set the dia
mond upon black : tire lighter affections may
gleam with borrowed rays from the glitter
ing things of prosperity ; true love, the bea
con of life, shines most brilliantly in the
darkest night. Julie, too, felt that it was
so; and, with such words and anticipations
of the future, gathering firmness from each
other, they rode on, till at length they reach
ed the place of their rendezvous, and there
dismounted to wait the coming of the count.”
An Alligator Story. —The last Concordia
Intelligencer tolls a good story of an old ne
gro cook on board a raft getting out timber
in the Yazoo country. The fellow’s name
was Bristo, and lie was much annoyed by
the incursions of the alligators, who were in
the habit of stealing the “ greens and vege
tables” which were intended for bis ma-tei \s
table. He was ever on the watch for the
foragers, and one bay lie found a huge wretch
of an alligator, which had imprudently got
on board the raft for the purpose of taking
its siesta. Ibe monster, with closed eyes
and wide distended jaws, lay basking in the
sun, ever and anon bringing down the “up
per story” of his head, as Biisto called his
upper jaw, upon the troop of flies that ven
tured upon his tongue.
A large double-barrelled gun was seized
by Bristo, who, without measure or fear
poured down the powder and threw in the
buck-shot uncounted—with cautious eve
and stealthy step he neared Mr. Alligator,
and upon getting within striking distance,
laid himself full length sprawling on the rail,
and awaited patiently a favorable opportu
nity of administering the dose. The upper
jaw again slowly rose, and upon reaching
the widest point of distention became fixed,
awaiting with sprung nerve for the entrance
of another troop of flies within the huge
cavernous mouth. Old Bris. levelled point
blank for the centre of the opening, cocked
both barrels, stretched himself, and with
closed eyes pulled triggers. For an instant,
stunned by the recoil from the tremendous
charge, he lay quiet; then rose, threw a
stealthy glance around to see if he was
watched, scratched his woolly natc, and with
triumphant air halloed at his topmost voice—
“Eh ! eh! mister Alligator, how dem
taste 1 Yioch ! yiock ! —hurray for old Vir
ginity; guess I gyn you a dose dat pull, old
fellow—yaw! yaw !! yaw !! !”
Wlat shall ire Talc ?—lt is the custom
with the female scions of the aristocracy, to
send for a doctor the moment the slightest
ailment manifests itself in their dedicate
frames. Enervated by fashionable dissi
pation, cruelly tortured by fashion, and un
mercifully betrayed by custom, they live a
living death species of suicidal self-torture,
redienlous and extravagant as that inflicted
upon themselves by the del vises of the East.
“ Send for the doctor,” People dont, send
for the doctor for nothing, and the doctor
knows it. A doctor to give genera! satis
faction, must give physic. Call one your
self, and if he tells yen that you must take
more exercise, or change your diet, or rise
earlier, and attend you without prescribing
a pill, a draught or a blister, you write him
down an ass immediately, if riot sooner.—
A lady of our acquaintance, young, lovely,
and intelligent, called in a celebrated phy
sician to “do something” for a rush of blood
to the head.
“ I have been doctoring myself,” said the
languid fair one with a smile, to the bluff,
though kind, M. I). while he was feeling
her pulse.
“Ah ! how t”
“ Why, I have taken Brandeth’s pills,
Parr’s pills, Stainburn’s pills, Jayne’s ex
pectorant, used Sherman’s lozenges and
plaster, and ”
“My God, madam,” interim,,ted the as
tonished doctor, “all these do your com
plaint no good.”
“No ! what shall [ take?” pettishly en
quired the patient.
“ Take !” exclaimed the doctor, eyeing
I’cr from head to foot. “Take,” exclaimed
he after a moments reflection, “take! why
talc off your corsets." — Mercury.
Present to Commander Maclenzic, —We
have just been taking a look at the sword,
which is about to be presented to Comman
der Mackenzie, by u number of our citizens.
Its mountings are solid gold, and the'i hilt,
guards and castings of the sheath are orna
mented with the appropriate devices and
anchors, and with other enchasings of ex
quisite workmanship. T he blade is adorned
with sundry naval emblems. One of the
guards hears the inscription—“ Presented
by the Citizens of Philadelphia, to Com
mander Alexander, Slidel Mackenzie, ofthe
United States Navy—lß43.” The end of
the hilt is formed in the shape of the head
of an eagle, tbe eyes of which are diamonds.
0 INI A L■
For the “Southern Miscellany.”
ORIGIN OF WEALTH.
Clear definitions give beauty and precis
ion to science. In literary composition or
popular usage, a latitude of meaning is una
voidable ; but in the science of magnitude
or quantity, absolute precision is both re
quisite and attainable. Utility and value
are wotds of frequent occurrence ; and we
must conceive with accuracy, and retain
with tenacity, a perception of their distinc
tive meaning. With this precaution w 0
shall not pass through a miry morass, but
glide along a limpid stream ; and, with a
greeable emotion, we shall find Political
economy ranking among the noblest and
most useful of the sciences, every step be
ing attended with demonstrative evidence.
I ‘tility, in scientific language, is solely ap
plicable to the original substances of nature,
and In t heir susceptibility ofehanging into va
rious forms for gratifying the desires of the
human race. These substances, being a
vast reservoir of utility, are incapable” of
proprietary mensuration, and can no more
be treated as exchangeable qualities, than,
color, thought or beauty. Air and water,
for example, being indispensible for the sus
tentation of human life, must be estimated
by devout aspirations, not by human arith
metic, l hat law of nature’s for instance,
which assimilates water into animal sub
stances, and that by which fresh air is trans
mitted to the respiratory organs, is essen
tial to the support ofhuman existence. The
greater utility by which life is sustained,
and the minor s'ility by which it is adorn
ed, ore, through incapacity of measurability,
excluded from the science of wealth, whicli
treats only of measurable quantities. The
works of Nature, in fine, being an immensi
ty of utility, are incommensurable by a finite
intellect; but value conferred bv human
exertion, is measurable by the same facul
ties, which, by delegated authority, has an
nexed that value to the original materials.
Mathematics, or “the science of quanti
ty,” owes its beauty of argumentation, the
symetry of its reasonings, the certainty ofits
conclusions, to a susceptibility of precise
definitions. “A line,” in geometrical phras
eology, “is length without breadth and
thickness“a superficies is length and
breadth without thickness.” As all ad
juncts, by these definitions, are removed,
there is no possibility of error or confusion
in geometrical reasoning. When a compar
ison is exclusively respecting distance, tbo
reasoning, freed from adjuncts, is purely
mathematical. Value, being the quantity of
any commodity which is exchangable for
that of another, is as capable of numerury
comparison, as that of a line or super ficies
in geometry. Value, wealth,or riches,used
ns synonimous terms, are, irr ordinary life,
compared and computed with absolute cer
tainty.
Ltility lias been defined, not so much to
fix its own usage, as to prevent its use in
the sense of value, which is a quantitative
term. Value might, with equal propriety,
be mingled with sweetness us with utility,
vv hen utility ends, value begins; ntid they
can never have a coteinpernrieous existence.
Materials existing in boundless profusion,-
without an occupant, ore utilities; but ns
soon as they ar e occupied and compared,
that veiy moment, they pass overtire boun
dary of utility, enter the pale of value, and
are subject to the calculation of the political
economist. Commodities, having a dollar
as a unit of comparison, areas calculable ns.
any problem in hydraulics or astronomy,—
A single relation, in all computation, is kept
in view. The engineer, when computing
volumes or pressures, excludes the sweet
ness and salubrity of his fluids; the trstron
omer, when calculating solar or lunar eclips
es, excludes the population and fertility of
I is planets ; so the political economist, when
reckoning the value of sugar or coffee, ex
cludes sacharine and aromatic utilities.
Had there not been two persons to esti
mate their respective acquisitions, the sci
ence a! wealth would have slept in everlast
ing silence. As two, at least, must concur
in every valuation, the value is not depen
dent upon the caprice of the occupant.—
Ihe value, instead of being arbitrary, is
measured by the equivalent offered in ex
change; so t lint the equivalency of every
commodity is known and acknowledged in
the mart. The intensity of any human want
is seen in the equivalent,and this equivalen
cy the economist takes ns the basis of his
calculation, though the propriety of the want
he cannot appreciate or control. Asa mor
alist or philosopher, the equivalency of thir
ty thousand pounds of corn with a single
pound of gold, might provoke laughter or
scorn; hut this seeming infatuation, like a
landmark in the valley ofthe Nile, must be
the starting point in proprietary mensura
tion. The merchant, content to learn that
a piece of cloth measures thirty yards, does
not make any allowance for the supposed
ductility of the web; so the economist, in,
his official capacity, computes the value of a,
house at a tbousaud dollars, without allow
ing for the exquisite taste ofthe purchaser.
The equivalent, the index of desire, is, in
all cases, his only guide.
A dollar, in our country, is the proprieta
ry unit; and every commodity is estimated
by a comparison with that established unit.
T he sum of all commodities, in the posses
sion of an individual, is his riches or wealth.
The sum of individual wealth, compose that
of a nation ; and the wealth of the world, is
the sum of all the wealth of the respective
nations, comprised into one universal to
tality.
The origin of value has always been held
as a reasonable arid au important inquiry.
No material, while in the store house of na
ture, is measurable ; but in the mart of men,
it lias assumed a definite degree of value.—
The line between utility and value, as a
thing cannot he and not he nt the same time*
is without breadth. The passage to value,
must he the moment of the first application
ot labor, for no other passage is conceivable.
In the accidental finding of a diamond, there
is a degree of labor; hut it is labor better
rewarded than in ordinary cases of produc
tion. No man can render an equivalent,
except labor, to the bountiful Author of the
first raw materials. Value, not existing
originally in the material, was annexed by
human labor, and when traced to its source.