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tended, also, with the advantage of relieving from embarras
ment, a vast tramber of the best Southern men, who have
always been in the habit of regarding the Missouri Compro
mise as unconstitutional, and who would shrink, on that ac
count, from giving it a positive and voluntary support.
,It would still more signally relieve another large
class of Southern men who fell into the unhappy syn
chronism of advocating the measure of the annexa
tion of Texas with the Missouri compromise princi
ple in it, and then turning immediately and making
war on that principle, and who having unfortunately
succeeded but too well in battering down its strength
and popularity both in the North and South, now in
sist on making it a sine qua nan for the adjustment of
the portentous controversy that is convulsing the
country. There is an incomparable awkwardness,
a moral paralysis in such a position, which makes it
quite impossible that those who occujry it should be
very influential in maintaining the sin& qua non on
which they have taken their stand.
For my own part, I have to say that the Missouri
compromise principle is an old favorite of mine for the
settlement of territorial strife between the slavehold
ing and non-slaveholding sections of the Union. I
have had occasion to vote for it twice : once on the
passage, in 1815, of the Texas annexation resolutions
which contained it, and again on the passage in the
House of Representatives, in the same year, of a bill
for organising the Oregon territory —in which hill the
Erinciple was also contained. When Mr. Polk, Mr.
luchanan, and other leading men recommended it as
the basis of settling the controversy to which our ter
ritorial acquisitions from Mexico gave rise, I was
anxious that their advice should be taken by the
country. But it failed of popular acceptance, mainly
through the influence of Southern objections and hos
tility. At this time there is evidently a strong re
turning tide of popularity setting throughout the
ranks of the Democratic party of the South, in favor
of the Missouri compromise principle. How soon it
is destined to suffer another ebb, no man can tell. I
believe, however, that in the<afctual and probable fu
ture state of the public mind, the adoption of it as an
amendment to Mr. Clay’s bill would produce n better
effect in the South than any other mode of adjustment.
And every body knows that in the settlement oi
all quarrels from the least to the greatest, the giving
of permanent satisfaction to the parties is the most
important thing to be done or attempted. For this
reason, notwithstanding in point of abstract merit, I
would prefer Mr. Clay’s Bill amended as I have just
above suggested to anything else, yet in deference to
the existing strong concentration ot Southern public
opinion in favor of the Missouri Compromise princi
ple, I would readily yield up my preference and glad
ly accept of Mr. Clay’s Bill, modified by the intro
duction into it of that principle. But I cannot es
pouse the idea of making either the Missouri Com
promise principle or the proposition I have mention
ed a6 receiving my abstract preference a sine qua non
in this matter. On the contrary, in case they both
fail of adoption, I should feel constrained by a sense
of general patriotic duty, corroborated by all the ar
guments and considerations I have heretofore adver
ted to as peculiarly affecting Southern Democrats, to
fall back on Mr. Clay’s bill with such modifications
as would be certainly obtainable by proper Southern
co-operation and to accept it with these modifications
as the basis of conciliation and adjustment of the
humiliating and dangerous strife which now afflicts
the country in regard to our conquered Territories.
Having now noticed all the provisions contained in
Mr. Clay’s Bill, and expressed myself in favor of
supporting it as a final alternative, even though that
part which I disapprove. —to wit, the measure of ad
mitting California as a State, —should not be
modified so as to make it more acceptable, the ques
tion may perhaps be asked, how is it to be reconciled
with the principles of duty for a man to co-operate in
the passage of a bill, so material a provision of which
he disapproves ?
To which I reply, that there never was a wilder, more mis
taken and untenable idea, than that a man must approve of
ell the material provisions of a Bill in order to make it his du
ty to co-operate with its friends and to give it his final sup
port and vote. Such a principle would be incalculably per
nicious. It would amount to a practical repudiation of all
republican Government by rendering Legislation itself an im
practicable thing, under such a Government. The very con
stitution of the United States was adopted by means of the
votes of members of the Federal Convention who were dissat
isfied with much that it contained, and much that it omitted.
It wa 4 ratified in the State Conventions, by receiving numer
ous votes from those who voted for it with reluctant and dis
satisfied minds. It was a strong, all-conqueriDg sense of duty
that constrained them to vote for what they disaj proved, in
order that they might get along, with it, what they felt to be
needful for the salvation of the country. And shall we take
upon ourselves to be so much better tlian our fathers ?
After they, with manly wisdom and greatness, have formed a
Constitution and founded a Government, by acting on the
principle of concession, conciliation and Compromise, sacrifi
cing in a multitude of important points, their strong indi
vidual opinions and sectional feelings, shall we be so degene
rate as to refuse to act on that principle, even in a case where
the very preservation of their glorious work requires it at
our hands ? Shall we though standing on their gigantic
shoulders, be such miserable pigmies, as to sink altogether
below their lofty example 1 With such an example before u‘s
shall we be utterly callous to its ennobling influences, and
deliberately leave our country to all the awful hazards of the
impending crisis, because, for sooth, before wc can be pre
vailed on to give our immaculate vote for its salvation we
must have a law proposed to us which shall, in all its pro
visions, square, exactly, with our particular ideas! Shall
we bo guilty of such a course, regardless of the tremen
dous consequences involved, and flatter ourselves that our
country or the world will mistake our intense perverseness
and narrowness, for Roman sternness of principle and wise,
patriotic devotion to our natal soil f
Mr. Clay's Bill is a complex measure. It embraces provi
sions for the admission of one State into the Union, the
organization of Governments for two Territories and the
settlement of a Boundary question of immense importance
between one of those Territories and a Sovereign State of
the Confederacy. And, it undertakes to do all these things
in such a manner as will effectually and forever settle the
Slavery Question in its most fearful aspect—that of its con
nection with the Territories of the United States. Now it is
hardly probable that such a Bill should, in all its propositions,
be so framed as to suit precisely, even Mr. Clay himself, or
any one member of the Committee of Thirteen that re
ported it. It was presented, however, by them as the most
feasible and hopeful plan they could devise for the settlement
of a most perplexed, exasperated and dangerous quarrel be
tween the North and the South. It would be absurd to re
quire that a Bill designed for such a purpose should contain
nothing decidedly objectionable in the eyes of either section.
If such a requirement is to be made, all bills of peace become
at once impracticable, and every sectional controversy, how
ever alarming or dangerous, is put utterly beyond the reach
of cure or adjustment. We may, therefore, lay it down
that sensible, reflecting men, friendly to the South, to the
Union and to the peace and happiness the country, will not
lake any hostile stand against this Bill merely because it is
obnoxious to a grave objection which they have no hope of
being able to remove by any amendment of its provisions.
They will look to the good which the Bill contains, and the
evil which it will prevent, as well as to the objections, great
or small, with which it is chargeable. And they will feel
that, where such tremendous interests arc at stake as in the
present matter, they are under the highest moral and patriotic
obligations to take their stand firmly in favor of that side on
which, on the whole, they find the preponderance of good
and the best chances for the country to lie. We must pur
sue this course in order to avoid contributing by a different
action on our part to the present admission of California as
a separate measure with her constitutional inhibition of slave
ry, and contributing also tbe future successive admissions of
New Mexico and Utah with like anti-slavery constitutions.
We must pursue this course or we shall make ourselves
partakers in the great political crime of withholding the
benefits and protection of Civil Government from the people
of New Mexico and Utah until, years henc*, they shall be
prepared for admission and be actually admitted as States
into the Union.
We must pursue this course or we shall be guilty of a
great and inexpiable crime against the South, herself, the
crime of keeping New Mexico and Utah without orgaization
or government, in order to serve as extensive fields for Free
Soilism and Abolitionism in the North, for years toeome.
By means of the Agitation thus kept up, Abolitionism and
Free Soilism will rapidly grow and spread. Our friends at
the North will be cut down to a mere corporal’s guard, if
jsJeed there shall be a man left to tell the tale of their fate,
and heap burning reproaches upon us for having contributed
to it.
We must pursue this course, WC must 6but up this vast
territorial arena and vantage ground of Anti-slavery Agita
tion, or the knell of the Union is already sounded and its
funeral procession will be seen distinctly shadowed forth in
the long lines of Geographical Parties that will emerge ap
pallingly to view, in the next Presidential Flection.
Southern Democrats are, in an especial manner, bound
to pursue this course, that the magnificent territorial acquisi
tions which they had so prominent a part in making for their
eountry, may not become, by their fault in the present cri
sis, the originating cause of tlicir country’s ruin and an
eternal monument of their delinquency and shame.
For myself, as one who, six years ago devoted himself
a victim on the altar of party in support of the measure and
the man with which and whom began tlie train of events
which now threaten us with universal explosion and ruin, I
cannot feel a particle of doubt as to the duty which every
consideration sacred and profane concurs to heap up moun
tain high upon me.
It should be our fervent prayer that this territorial quarrel
should be settled. Things have reached a point which ren
ders the effecting of some settlement critically, fearfully im
portant. It is a quarrel which is rapidly degenerating into a
malignant and incurable gangrene on the fair body of our
Confederate Republic. Already does she feel from it, a deep
derivative morbidness taking possession of her system, more
formidable, by far, than the cause of irritation out of which
it lias sprung.
In addressing ourselves to the work of pacification and set
tlement, let us do it in a manner and spirit comporting with
such an object. Let us be careful of involving ourselves and
our country in the perils of sine qua nous and sine qua
nonism. They are things essentially minatory and irrita
ting and not conciliatory in that character. And we have
seen that a conciliatory conduct is what duty and honor
unite to demand of us in the present controversy. Every
sine qua non gives rise to a factitious point of honor—a
point of honor which, however small, requires of the party
laying it down to stand by it and insist upon it to the utmost
extremity, without regard to the hazards or consequences.
How perfectly sure, then ought we to be of the position we
have taken, in all respects, and how entirely certain that there
can bo none other which we can accept as a basis of adjust
ment and peace consistently with our safety and honor, before
we entangle ourselves with sine qua nons and points of
honor absolutely compelling us to reject all others. Mr.
Clay’s Bill, although objectionable in one leading feature, docs
present a general basis of compromise and settlement to
which we can accede consistently with onr safety and honor.
Let it not be said or feared, that by acceding to it and
thereby manifesting a conciliatory and compromising spirit, we
shall embolden and strengthen the Demon of Abolitionism,
and expose the South and her slaveholding institutions to
increased jeopardy. The contrary will be the effect. That
Demon will be dispirited, weakened and crest-fallen, under
such a course of policy on our part. For well he knows,
that we shall thereby raise up ever-augmenting troops of
friends at the North, to espouse our cause there, and boat
him down in his own strong holds. Well he knows, that
the great vantage ground of agitation which the Territories
have afforded him ;uid_will continue to aflbrd him, as long as
the Territorial controversy is kept open, will be taken away
from him, so soon as controversy shall be closed on terms
such as those contained in Mr. Clay’s Bill. Well he knows,
and fearfully foresees how straight!)’, from that moment, he
will bo “ cabbined, cribbed, confined,” and that from thence
forth he will be cut off, forever, from the vast range of lati
tudes and climates on which he has grown so huge, and will
be restricted to comparatively poor nibblings and impotent if
not contemptible ravings against the slaveholding system of
the South, as entrenched securely in her impregnable cita
dels of State Rights and State Sovereignty. For no man
who has made himself aquainted, as every Southern man
ought to do, with the great doctrines of State Sovereignty,
State rights and State remedies, as they exist under our Fed
eral system, can doubt that in them lie real safety and protec
tion for us against the assaults of Abolitionism. In thorn
each, Southern State possesses, in Majestic, Severalty its
own all-sufficient citadel, sword and shield, against the in
roads of this foul enemy, even though they should be made
through the avenues of the General Government. If the day
shall ever come when such inroads shall be made or attempt
ed, and the enemy shall not recoil and disappear altogether,
before the sharp sword of Nullification, who can doubt the
eourse which the Southern States will sternly take ? Resu
ming at once all the robes of sovereignty and grasping again
all the awful attributes of unlimited political power, they will
throiv themselves, solemnly, on their sovereign right of se
cession, and withdraw from a desecrated Union, in full pa
noply as organized States and Governments, with all their
peculiar institutions still standing undamaged and unjostled.
So, gentlemen, it is the Union of the States and not the
institution of Slaver)- in the South that is in real and ultimate
danger from whatever forwards the growth and stimulates
the audacity of Abolitionism. The first appaling shadow of
Disunion that will be east oefore it, as it visibly approaches,
will be a Geographical division of parties in the Presidential
Election. Should the present Territorial quarrel, instead of
being adjusted as it ought to be, be prolonged as thousands
and tens of thousands in the North and South are striving
to prolong it, the very next election will exhibit a division of
this kind. The opening scene in the grand tragedy of Dis
union will then have commenced. Tho catastrophe may not
perhaps even w ait for the occurrence of a second or third
election of this sort. For w hen great National parties dif
fused throughout every part of the Union and which form its
strongest cement shall cease to exist and shall give place to a
state of things in which the people of the slaveholding and
non-slaveliolding State* shall be arrayed against each other,
in the elections, in solid antagonistical sectional masses, then
farewell, fareweH forever, to this Glorious Federal Union, of
ours, which now over-arches America from Ocean to Ocean
like a very Heaven sent down to us w retched undeservers by
a too benignant God.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your friend and ob’t servant,
A. 11. CHAPPELL.
(Original
THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS.
DY T. 11. CHIVERS, M. D.
XVI.
There is no doubt of one fact that the merits of
any true work of art are entirely independent of their
appreciation. But when we see any Poem univer
sally imitated, it is prima facia evidence of its ex
cellence. Not that the Popular Mind is at all quali
fied to judge of any superior work of Art, but that
there are minds within the compass of the great sea
of mind able so to judge of it, as, by their repeated
imitations of it, to give it the name of a superior cre
ation.
There is a vast difference between a Poem whose
rhythm is written after a model, and one that is en
tirely original. V hat I mean by an original rhythm
is, one that is not only not to be found in any of the
English rhythms, but no where else. It is very easy
to write after another man’s rhythm, but it is more
than difficult to create one that does not exist any
where. Byron wrote altogether in another man’s
rhythm. So did Southey, Moore, and nearly all the
English Poets. The great fault with American Poe
try is, that its rhythm is copied after the old English
rhythms.
An able writer in the April number of the “Lite
rary Union,” published in Syracuse, N. Y., under
the head of “ The New School of Poetry ,” says,
Such is the term which has been employed to indi
cate a variation in poetical style, introduced by the
lately deceased author qf “The Raven” —that extra
ordinary Poem, which/m the words of N. P. Willis,
electrified the world of imaginative readers, and
has become the type of a School of Poetrv of its
own.”
This writer further states, (which is only an echo
of those who are no better informed,) that Mr. Poe
has “ deliberately, powerfully, broken loose from con
ventional schools, and proved his independence by a
series of Poems, the like whereof, we venture to say,
has never before been known. Not content with i
SHI iITIXIR.
launching forth into strains of weird and unearthly
grandeur, he has bid defiance to the dull pedantry
of antiquated prosodists, and created for himself a
measure and a style not at all in accordance with
their dicta, and yet rich in melody and all potent in
strength
This is, indeed, truly refreshing. It is a green
oasis in the desert waste of life—a Rainbow of Hope
to the weary soul thirsting for the healing W ell
springs of Immortality. But what does it all amount
to? What will all that will ever be said about the
originality of “The Raven,” and the “ style of which
it is the type” amount to, after this ? Why, “ merely
this and nothing more ” —namely, that the authors of
such criticisms betray not only a deplorable igno
rance of the current poetical Literature of the Day,
but an entire ignorance of the subject matter in
hand.
In 1843, I published a Poem in the “ Southern
Literary Messenger,” entitled “ To Allegra Florence
in Heaven.'’ It was written with a bleeding heart j
upon the death of my precious little daughter—“ that
blue-eyed child that teas the load-star of my life!”
The following verse will give the intelligent reader
some idea of the nature of the Poem :
“ And as God doth lift thy spirit
Up to Heaven there to inherit
Those rewards which it doth mcrit^
Such as none have reaped before;
Thy dear father will, to-morrow,
Lay thy body, with deep sorrow,
In the grave which is so narrow—
Thereto rest forever more.”
Soon afterwards, another Poem appeared in the
same Journal, entitled “ Autvmn,” under the nom
deplume of “ The Stranger.” I give one of the
verses to show that it was modeled precisely, in every
sense of the term, after the above Poem:
“Summer's sunny days are ended,
And the Spring hath long descended
To the grave, where Seasons blended
With the dust of beauty lay ;
And o'er lull and valley ringing,
Blithesome birds no more are singing,
But the feathered tribes are winging
Back to the mild South their way.”
A little while after, another Poem appeared in
“ The Broadway Journal,” entitled “ The Depart
ed ,” modeled after the very same Poem, rhythm and
every thing. Here is the first verse :
“ Where the river ever flowoth,
Where the green grass ever growctli,
Where each star most faintly glowcth,
Do I wander on,
My thick pulses hastily beating,
My quick glances now retreating,
And with bold advance, now meeting
Shadows of the gone 1”
, Some time after, appeared another in “ The Bos- ;
ton Weekly/Museumf entitled “To My Angel j
Daughter,"%y J. W. llanson. The following is the ;
first verse:
“ Now a sister have the Angels,
Chanting all their grand Evangels
Sweetest ’mong the Star-crowned sisters,
Is tho Angel Florence May !
With her songs of braided sweetness,
Her white wings of light-like fleetness,
And her joys in full completeness,
In that world of upper day.”
A short time after, a beautiful Poem appeared in j
the “ National Fra,” entitled a “ Dirge,” by Miss !
Phcbe Carey, the first verse of which 1 now give:
“ Where the shadows dull are creeping
O'er the green mounds of the sleeping,
And the mournful night is weeping
For the beauty from us gone ;
Years on years 1 would not number,
One earth's cares no more will cumber,
Has been lying in that slumber
Never shaken by the dawn!”
The Poem of which this verse is a specimen, is ;
the best that lias been quoted, except the one enti
tled “ The Departed,'’ which possesses a peculiar
sombre beauty, truly pleasing.
About this timo a Poem appeared in Blackwood's
Edinburgh Magazine, written in the very same
rhythm, but not equal to either of the two last quo- j
ted.
Immediately aftenmy Poem “To Allkgua Flok- ,
ence in written, I wrote Mr. Poe a i
letter in which I copied the following verse, request- j
ing him to let me know how lie liked it:
“ Holy Angels now are bending
To receive thy soul ascending
Up to Heaven to joys unending,
And to bliss which is divine;
While thy pale cold form is fading
Under Death’s dark wings now shading
Thee with gloom which is pervading
This poor broken heart of mine!”
Not long after this, a Poem was published in “ The
American Review,” entitled “ The Raven,” the fol
lowing of which is the first verse:
“ Once upon a midnight dreary,
While I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious
Volume of forgotten lore ;
While I nodded, nearly napping,
Suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping,
Rapping at my chamber door. Ac.”
Here we see the same rhythm— precisely the
same—and the consequent artistical finish. The
only difference between my Poom and Mr. Poe’s, is,
the Refrain, which lie puts into the mouth of the
Raven, of nevermore, which he took from a Poem of
mine, entitled “Lament on the Death ok My
Mother,” and published in thoOliddletown “ Senti
nel,” in 1839. The following iis one of tlie verses ‘A
“ Not in the mighty realms of human thought,
Nor in the kingdoms of the earth around ;
Not where the pleasures of the world arc sought.
.Nor where the sorrows of the earth are found ;
Nor on the borders of the great deep sea,
Wilt thou return again from Heaven to me—
No, never more!”
Write my Poem in Hexameter lines, (\\hich by
the-by is the very way in which it is written,) and it
will appear precisely in the form of Mr. Poe’s Poem,
thus:
‘ And as God doth lilt thy spirit up to Heaven there to in-,
her it
Those rewards which it doth merit, such as some have
reaped before;
Thy dear father will, to-morrow, lay thy body with deep sor
row,
In the grave which is so narrow—there to rest forever
more!”
M hat plqased him in my Poem was, not only tlie
original novelty oi the rhythm, but the sonorousness
ot the words never more. Another thing which
pleased him was, the peculiar novelty of my rhymes
in the middle of the Hexameter line. So, in order
to make it more apparent in his Poem, he wrote the
lines long instead ot short —as though drawing the
Poem out into one continuous line would change the
nature of it at all.
Mr. Poe was a great genius. No man ever lived
who possessed a higher sense of the Poetic Art, than
he did. He was a consummate Artist. But he
would never go to the trouble to invent.
wrote in another man’s rhythm. He was forever in
search of something new, which, by his Ithuriel Pen,
lie could transmute or convert, into something bizzare.
He always attempted to carry out the somewhat
true adage that “ To appropriate was the province of
true genius!” He was, undoubtedly, the best Poet
ical Critic that ever lived.
This shows whether he was the author of the style
of “ The Raven,” or not. That he possessed a most
consummate power to appropriate and transmute, is
proven by tlie chrysomelphonian Dialogue, which he
uses in “ The Raven,” compared with the Poem
from which it was taken. But that the form of my
j Poem is more admired than his is proven by the fact
that it has five times as many imitators. The fact
is, it is absolutely in vain for any man to wait for
the fulfillment of the Prophecy —Magna cst veritas,
et prevalent —for it never will be done this side of
the grave—unless it is done by the right Seer. This
every man under the sun has a right to do.
XVII.
Christ had two very remarkable titles while here
on earth—one, tlie “ Son of God,” and the other,
the “ Son of Man.” It appears that no persons un
derstood the meaning of these two names beside
himself, so well as Daniel and Stephen—the one who
called him so in his Prophetic, the other in his ec
static vision.
[For the Georgia Citizen.]
EDUCATION*
[continued.]
“I wish to be excused for repeating here, that if
the Bible did not convey a single direction for the at
tainment of future happiness, it should be read in
our schools in preference to all other books, from its
containing the greatest portion of that kind of
knowledge which is calculated to produce private
and public temporal happiness.
“We err, not only in human affairs, but in religion
likewise, only because we “do not know the scrip
tures.” The opposite systems of tlie numerous sects
of Christians arise chiefly from their being more in
structed in catechisms, creeds, and confessions of
faith, than in the Scriptures. Immense truths, I be
lieve are concealed in them. The time, I have no
doubt, will come, when posterity will view and pity
our ignorance of these truths, as much as we do the
ignorance of the disciples of our Saviour, who knew
nothing of the meaning of those plain passages of
the Old Testament, which were daily fulfilling before
their eyes. Whenever hat time shall arrive, those
truths whieff have escaped our notice, or, if discover
ed, have been thought to be opposed to each other,
or to be Inconsistent with themselves, will then, like
the stones of Solomon’s temple, be found so exactly
to accord with each other, that they shall be cement
ed without noise ©r force into one simple anil sublime
system of religion.
“But further, we err, not only in religion, hut in
philosophy likewise, because we “do not believe the
scriptures.’’ Tlie sciences have been compared to a
circle, of which religion composes apart. To under
stand any one of them perfectly, it is necessary to
have some knowledge of them all. Bacon, Boyle,
anrl Nwton included the scriptures in the enquiries
to which their universal geuiusses disposed them,
and their philosophy was aided by their knowledge
in them. A striking agreement has been lately dis
covered between the history of certain events recor
ded in the Bible, and some of the operations and
productions of nature, particularly those which are
related in W hitehurst’s observations on tlie deluge
—in Smith’s on the origin of tlie variety of colour in
the human species, and in Bruce’s travel’s. It re
mains yet to be shown how many other events, re
lated in the Bible, accord with some late important
discoveries in the principles of Medicine. The events
of the principles alluded to, mutually establish the
truth of each other. From the discoveries of the
Christian philosophers, whose names have been last
mentioned, I have been led to question whether most
harm has been done to revelation, by those divines
who have unduly multiplied the objects of faith, or
by those deists who have unduly multiplied the ob
jects of reason, in explaining the scriptures.
“I shall noiv proceed to answer some of the objec
tions which have been made to the use of the Bible
as a school book.
“i. We are told, that the familiar use of the Bi
ble in our schools, has a tendency to lessen a due
reverence for it.
This objection, by proving too much, proves no
thing at all. If familiarity lessens respect for divine
things, then all those precepts of our religion, which
enjoin the daily or weekly worship of the Deity are
improper. Ihe Bible was not intended to represent
ajewish ark; and it is an antichristian idea, to sup
pose that it can be profaned, by being carried iuto a
school house, or by being handled by children.—
But will the Bible be read by young people, with
more reverence than in a school i Not in most pri
vate families; for I believe there are few r parents, who
preserve so much order in their houses, as is kept up
in our common English schools.
ii. We arc told, that there are many passages in
the ohl testament, that arc improper to be read by
children, and that the greatest part of it, are no
ways interesting to mankind under the present dis
pensation of the gospel. There are I grant, several
chapters, and many verses in the Old Testament,
which in theirpresent unfortunate translation, should
be passed over by children. But I deny that any of
the books of the Old Testament are not interesting
to mankind, under the gospel dispensation. Most of
tlie characters, events, and ceremonies, mentioned
in them, are personal, providential, or instituted
types of the Messiah : all of which have been, or
remain yet to be fulfilled by him. It is from an ig
norance, or neglect of. these types, that we have ma
ny deists in Christendom; for so irrefragably do they
prove the truth of Christianity, that 1 am sure a
young man who had been regularly instructed in
their meaning, could never doubt afterwards of the
truth of any of its principles, If any obscurity ap
pears in these principles, it is only (to use the words
of the poet) because they arc dark with excessive
bright.
I know there is au objection among many people
to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because
they are liable to be controverted. But where w ill
this objection lead us ? The being of a God, and the
obligations of morality, have both been controvert
ed; and yet who has objected to our teaching these
doctrines to our children ?
The curiosity and capacities of young people for
the mysteries of religion, awaken much sooner than
is generally supposed.
Os this, we have two remarkable proofs in the
Old Testament. The first is mentioned in the 12th
ch. of of Ex. “And it shall come to pass when your
children shall say unto you, ‘•what mean you by this
service ?” ’ That ye shall say, “It is the sacrifice of
the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the
Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the chil
dren of Isnel went away and did as the Lord com
manded Moses and Aaron.” A second proof of the
desire of children to be instructed in the mysteries
of religion, is to be found in the Oth chap, of Deut.
“And when thy son asketh thee, in the time to
come, saying, ‘what mean the testimonies—and the
statutes —and the judgments which the Lord our
God hath commanded you I Then thou shalt say
unto thy son, ‘we were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt,
and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a migh
ty hand.”’ These enquiries from the mouths of
children are perfectly natural; for where is the pa
rent who has not had similar questions proposed to
him by his children upon their being first introduced
to a place of worship, or upon their beholding, for
the first time, either of the sacraments of our reli
gion ?
Let us not be wiser than our Maker. If moral
precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the
mission of the Son of God into our world, would
have been unnecessary. lie came to promulgate a
system of doctrines, as well as a system of morals.
The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon a
doctrine, which though, often controverted, has nev
er been refuted.
I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of
God. This sublime and ineffable doctrine delivers
us from the absurd hypotheses of modern philoso
phers, concerning the foundation ofmoral obligation,
and fixes it upon the eternal and self-moving princi
ple of Love. It concentrates a whole system of
ethics in a single text of scripture. “ Anew com
mandment I give unto you , that ye love one another
even as J have loved you.” By withholding the
knowledge of this doctrine from children, we deprive
ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sen
sibility in their minds. We do more, we furnish an
argument for withholding from them a knowledge
of the morality of the gospel likewise; for this, in
many instances, is as supernatural, and therefore as
liable to be controverted, as any of the doctrines or
miracles which are mentioned in the New Testa
ment. The miraculous conception of the Saviour of
the world by a virgin, is not more opposed to the or
dinary course of human events, nor is the doctrine of
the atonement more above human reason, than
those moral precepts, which command us to love
our enemies, or to die for ouv friends.
hi. It has been said, that the division of the Bi
ble into chapters and verses, renders it more difficult
to be read, by children, than many other books.
By a little care in a master, this difficulty may be
obviated, and even advantage derived from it. It
may serve to transfer the attention of the scholar to
the sense of a subject; and no person will ever read
well, who is guided by any thing else, in his stop,
emphasis, or accents. The division of the Bible in
to chapters and verses, is not a greater obstacle to
its being read with case, thaij the bad punctuation of
most other books.
I deliver this stricture upon other books, from the
authority of Mr. Rice, the celebrated author of the
art of speaking, whom I heard declare in a large
company in London, that he had never seen a book
properly pointed in the English Language. lie ex
emplified, notwithstanding, by reading to the same
Company a passage from Milton, his perfect knowl
edge of the art of reading.
Some people, I know, have proposed to introduce
extracts from the Bible, into our schools, instead of
the Bible itself. Many excellent works of this kind
are in print; but if we admit any one of them, we
shall have the same inundation of them, that we
have had of grammars, spelling books, and lessons
for children, many of which are published for the
benefit of the authors only, and all of them have
tended greatly to increase the expense of education. —
Besides these extracts or abridgements of the Bible,
often contain the tenets of particular sects or persons,
and therefore, may be improper tor schools compo
sed of the children of difierent sects of Christians.
Thy Bible is a cheap book, and is to be had in every
bookstore. It is, moreover, esteemed and preferred
by all sects; because each finds its peculiar doctrines
in it. It should therefore be used in preference to
any abridgments of it, or histories extracted from it.”
OBSERVER.
For the Georgia Citizens.
A Chapter from the last Book of Chronicles.
by and. e, h. Lee County , Ga.
1. In the fourth month of the third year of the reign of
.lames, sirnamed Polk,
2. There was tribulation in the Synagogue, for iniquity a
bounded much, for the spirit of the Lord hath departed from
the people, because they walked not according to tHe ordi
nances of the Lord.
3. About this time there dwclleth on the other side of the
‘.lordan” a man whose name was Moses, who was a ‘Samar
itan.’
4. And going to the pool of Silo, where the great ‘Sanhe
drim’ was in session, and being desirous to become a member
of the ‘Synagogue,’ he gave his hand :
5. And after a term of probation he was received into the
Synagogue and being circumcised at the pool probation, he
resolveth to quit his past transgressions and walk in the ways
of the Lord blameless;
6. About this time there cometh up from Jerico a man
whose name was Samuel, of the sect of the ‘Pharasies,’ who
hateth Moses, and hath indignation in his heart, because Mo
ses hathbceomca member of the Synagogue.
7. And Samuel went out round about among the Brethren
to find wherewith to accuse Mos** with;
8. But he could not find wherewithal to accuse Moses with
since he was plunged into the pool probatiea:
{. But he saith, “lie hath drank strong drink and profa
ned the name of the Ird, since he gave us his hand; and he
hath another wife in “Samaria,” which is contrary to the
laws of Moses.”
10. And Samuel put on the appearance of sanctity and
put ashes on his head, and shaved his beard and girded him
self with a girdle of cow's hair :
11. And when he had put on this appearance of mourning,
he went out round about amongst the brethren, for he was a
mighty tnau and had many kindred.
12. And he did not leave one that he did not stir up against
Moses, from Elijah the prophet, ;o the tribe of Benjamin :
13. And he sendeth, also, to a city of the Samaritans, that
standeth on the other side of the Jordan, fora young man to
• bear testimony against Moses,
14. But be would not give testimony against Moses, for he
himsell was a Samaritan, and he hateth the Pharasees.
15. And he procured also a forged letter against Moses,
which coining from a far, testifying that Moses hath another
wife in Samaria, and the iudignation of the Synagogue was
great against Moses:
16. And about this time there dwellcth in the house of
Samuel, a young man who was a Samaritan, and knew many
sins concerning Moses before his circumcision.
17. And Samuel saith, “My wrath is kindled against Mo
ses and my indignation is great against him—wilt thou bear
testimony against him, in all those sins which thou knowest
concerning him ?”
18. And the young man saith “Yea, but what wilt thou
give me to do this thing for thee ?”
10. And Samuel saith, ‘thou knowet I have a daughter
fair and young, whom no man hath defiled, her I will give
theo and her portion in cows and calves, yearlings and steers,
heifers and Bulls.’
20. And the young man saith ‘swear thou unto me,
21. And Samuel saith ‘draw nigh unto me’ and he did.
22. And Samuel put his hand under his thigh, and he put
his hand under Samuel’s thigh and they swore, by the Lord
of Host, the covenant they made should stand.
23. And it cometh to pass as Moses was again arraigned
before the Sanhedrim, that Samuel called in the young man
and he stood in the midst in the midst of the Synagogue and
he testifies!, against Moses in all the things that Samuel aeou
sctli him.
24. And the wrath of the scribe and the brethren was
wroth against Moses, and he was east out of the Synagogue,
and there was great rejoicing because the floor of the house
of the Lord was purged from uneloanness,
25. And when Moses was cast forth the young man whom
Samuel hath subornsd came unto Samuel, and saith, ‘give me
I pray the thy daughter whom thou hast promised and her
portion likewise.”
2fi. But Samuel saith,‘nay, for thou art a wicked one and
can be suborned by bribes, and perchance, on a future occa
sion, thou mightest bear testimony against me.
27. And the young man went away very sorrowful, for he
had done tliat which was not pleasing, in the sight of the Lord.
The Dickinson Dinner.— -At the dinner lately given
in New York city to Senator Dickinson, the following capital
toasts were drunk:
1. The Union— Conciliation called it unto being : simple
even handed justice will preserve it forever.
2. Our Guest —By unwavering fidelity to the L nion, he
truly represents the empire State; by according justice to ev
ery section, he has attained it for his own.
3. The Federal Constitution. —YVe cherish it with filial
veneration. YY’hilst we enjoy its blessing, we are willing in
sincerity and good faith, to perform its duties and commands.
4. Non intervention by Congress on the subject of slavery
in the States and Territories —A cardinal principle of the
democratic faith—founded in the spirit of the constitution ;
essential to the permanency of the Union—it must be sus
tained at all hazards.
5. The Territories of the United State —The adminir
tration proposes to govern them by the sword—the free soil
ers seek to impose upon them the despotism of Congress—
the democracy will leave them free to govern themselves.
6. The Citadel of American Liberties’ —Though mena
ced by the traitorous firebrands of political abolitionism, it
shall not be consumed; for the wise and good of all parties
will unite to extinguish them.
jyEx -Gov. Johnson, of Louisiana, is out for Clay’s Bill.
I* * CnrrespniiHire.
LETTER from ATLANTA.
Atlanta, July 9th, 1850.
Dear Doctor :—ln consequence of an attempt to uibowsa
some of the vile women who carry on their lascivious and an
holy trade in that portion of our city known as “Snake Na
tion,” the denizens of that vicinity have been kept, for several
days and nights past, in a continual state of turmoil; and
fights, and other disgraceful breaches of the public peaoe have
been of almost hourly occurrence. I have oftentimes beard
of the “Five Points” of New York; but I doubt whether that
sink of filth and infamy can—in proportion to numbers—ex
cel our “Snake Nation.” lam credibly informed that there
are not less than forty w omen, inhabiting the “Nation,” who
earn a precarious support by pampering to the basest passions
of men, and that some twenty five or thirty others of ths
same eharlicter (though less public) are scattered in other
portions of our fiir city ! YY'liat an amount of sin and mise
ry is herein covered up! llow startling the announcement!
How discreditable to our city! How humiliating to its citi
zens ! How baneful must be its influence upon every class of
the community! And still our legal authorities affect t*
have no power to rid the city of the withering, damning car**!
The feet is, the Council with one or two honorable exception*,
would rather pnrsue their hitherto “masterly inactive” policy
than risk the loss of their present doubtful popularity with
the numerous hangers-on ab ut these loathsome dens. I
ain gratified, however, to learn that a number of respectable
citizens have taken the matter in hand. They will appeal ia
respectful terms to Council to abate the nuisance and remove
ail cause for a continuance of the irregularities 1 have spoken
of. Should their petition be seconded by an energetic, deter
mined move on the part of that body, well: Otherwise, I
have reason to believe that violent measure* will be adopted
to drive the filthy harlots without our limits. So mote it be T
The Preacher of whom I alluded in my last lias, I under
stand, retired into the country for the benefit *f his health, or,
perhaps, to recruit his morals ! Consequently, the further
investigation into his pleasant kissing operations is, for ih*
present, suspended. •
There have been several accidents on the Georgia and State
Railroads since my last. On Tuesday last the Georgia pas
senger train encountered obstructions which had been placed
upon the track near Madison, which threw the locomotive off,
and detained the train about 12 hours. On YY'ednesday, the
State passenger train ran oft’ and broke its baggage ear. Os
Thursday, the Georgia train ran over a bull, near Camak,
which threw the engine and a portion of the train off and
breaking the baggage and one passenger car. Arrived at t
o’clock, p. in. Same day, the State train, in consequence of
some accident to the engine, did not arrive here till 15 min
utes after 6 o'clock, p. in. losing the mail both ways. Oa
Friday, the Stab train, going up. ran oft’ near Aeworlh. break
ing anew passenger ear borrowed of the Georgia Road. On
| yesterday, the State train was brought in by a freight engine,
I the passenger engine having given out some where on the
Road; and last evening the freight train brought down the
broken Georgia passenger car, which, while passing the Do
pot, was again thrown from the track and damaged consider
ably more! This is a pretty lengthy chapter of accidents for
one week, all things considered. Those that have occurred
on the Georgia Road, you w ill perceive, were caused by no
fault of the Company or its officers, w hile those on the State
Road were the result of the ignorance and carelessness of its
officers in not keeping the Road in proper order. The Geor
gia trains perform their trips at night altogether: the State
trains run in the day time.
The weather has been hut aud sultry since l ‘addressed yea
last. Tbe health of our people continues good.
Yours, GABRIEL.
LETTER from i:DGI2 FIELD, %. f.
Edgefield, S. C. Juue 22*1, 1850.
Dr. Andrews :—I see hr roar paper, ( the Citizen)
that you receive communications from diffident Cor
respondents and different portions of our country,
but not seeing South Carolina represented, would
like to see her views given in the shape of corres
pondence. Our not being acquainted, I hope, will
make no difference; probably it may be some ad
vantage to us that we are not.
The first thing I will make you acquainted with
i is the interest that is taken by the people, in the
I Nashville Convention, which, by the wav, i* aliw*t
indescribable; not that they are so enthusiastic in its
merits, but on the contrary, from not understanding
a syllable of its purposes nor what is intended bv it.
Some of our worthy old citizens when asked for
their views upon it, reply, by shrugging their shoul
ders with a knowing look, say, that Congress has
lost all its power, and can’t settle the existing diffi
culties without the weight and advice of the Nash
ville Sages. Others are astonished and at a loss to
know how they ever get to Nashville, or bv what
authority. It pretends to be the peojlie’s conven
tion, but I will venture the assertion that, the peo
ple, at least of this section of country, are entirely
ignorant of what can be done by it, that is, bv what
power they act. The people here sav, it is not from
them that they received their delegation. They
would like to know if Nashville lias been made the
Capital of our Republic, and if so, when or how.
They don't seem to understand the notion of ha
ving two Congresses sitting at the same time, and at
different places. They would like also, to know
which of those Congresses they have to recognise
as being our lawgivers. They would also like to be
enlightened on another point or two: The first is,
why it is that there are no members of this Conven
tion with the exception of defunct politicians. Won
der if there is not some reanimating composition
blended with the notions of the convention, or is it
purely from patriotic motives they have taken upon
themselves the obligation to decide the dissolution
of our glorious Union. I won’t say the rendering it
permanent, for that is a point I don’t imagine they
think of at all, at least, I see nothing in their pro
ceedings to that effect, or with a least tendency to it.
One more question aud I have done with the Con
ventionists, that is simply, what among the people
has become an every day question but can’t as yet
be solved. Give us your notion of it. Who are to
pay those patriotic Conventionists ? Wonder if tbe
people are expected to pay expenses ! But it is a
very foolish question and can be answered readily.
The Conventionists pay it themselves; why should
they not, when it is one of the best political specu
lations that'has happened in some number of years
for the revival and bringing to life of certain en
tombed politicians i It is quite a resurrection for
them, I think. The Palmetto State can boast of a
few sueh entombed politicians.
I suppose I must give some idea of crops in our
section, being as it is a cotton growing region. Tbe
erops are at least four weeks later this year than or
dinarily. So say the planters. It is the usual sea
son of the year for cotton to be in bloom verv gener*
ally thoughout Urn portion of countrv, whereas at
this time there are very few if any squares. Wheat
crops are generally a fair average considering such
quantities of rain as fell this past spring. Oat crop
will not be so good in consequence of dry weather
settiug in some three or four weeks ago.
The people of our district seem not to be troubled
by any political differences. If any one might judg
of the spirit that is among them, it regards internal
improvements in the shape of Plank Roads. A
Plank Road is now being built between Hamburg
and Edgefield Court House, and thence to any oth
er point the stock holders choose. The Greenville
and Columbia Rail Road is also m rapid progress,
the contracts in grading and getting timbers t*i n £
generally or very nearly completed. Also a branch
from said road to Abbeville Court House; Laurens
and Anderson Districts having branches to conned
with said road. The people of the Baptist denom
ination are also making efforts to erect a college on .
some point of the road. I think they have thro*
places in view as a site for the college, viz: At * I
place called Greenwood, which is now a place of r
siderable note, in an educational view, there
