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constellation, as it loomed up brightly on
tbe horizon of war, pursuing, to its splen
did zenith, the fiery path of Mars, now be
held, not unmoved, its declining splen
(}. is going down in the gloom of eternal
Light. And he, its illustrious chief,
vrnose lofty plume was ever its rallying
point in battle, and around whom its af
fections warmly clustered, now commenced
it for its past devotion, and bade it adieu
forever. Slowly and sadly he rode from
that mournful field, and the cause that he
fought for was beneath the foot of Power.
Pew were the eyes that grew not moist
at witnessing that departure It was the
a .onv of a great cause, finding expres
y "in the sublime soul of its great
(] fender. And, though that cause lx;
j ad, yet, will its memory continue to
live, and ever honored will be those names
that were sacrificed at its altar3. And,
on the scroll of fame, no name among the
li.-t of eminent worthies will shine in a
purer, serener, or more resplendent light
than that of Robert Edmund Lee. His
fame is monumental. His name will be
placed by the side of those of the great
captains of history-—of Marlborough and
Saxe, of Tilly and Eugene; and as long
a- the fame of the Southern struggle shall
huger in tradition and song, will his mem
ory be cherished by the descendants of
the Southern races; while his character
will stand up in the twilight of History,
like some grand old Cathedral, lifting it
self in imperishable beauty, above the
objects of Earth, majestic in its vast pro
portions, awful in its solemn stateliness,
sublime in its severe simplicity.”
LETTERS FROM OUR OWN CORRES
. PONDENT.
NUMBER TWO.
Savannah, Ga., October 13, 1868.
Liar Banner :
You will, doubtless, recollect that my
last letter was written under the influence
of very melancholy feelings. You may,
also, remember, that I then expressed a
hope that my next might not be so
mournful. My hope was not a vain one;
Ido not think I could w T rite sadly now,
if 1 were to try. What do you suppose
I found waiting for me in Savannah,
when I got here ? A letter! If you
knew wiio wrote that letter, Mr. Banner,
you would not, (at least, you ought not),
wonder at my pleasant feeling’s. I had
been listening to the silvery notes of a
sad song, dropping from the rosy lips of
a fair young girl, and my heart was still
filled with the sweet melody, when this
letter was handed me, and the eordial
greeting sent me by a Rev. Father, whom
wc all love, filled the full heart to over
flowing. I found that my fair friend
could sympathize with me in my joy, and
that highly prized letter drew closer, and
riveted, the bands of friendship. I have
never been accused of being amiable, but
I thing I might almost lay claim to the
title just now.
Do you want the news of the day ? I
scarcely know what to tell you. Shall I
say “business is dull,” “money scarce” ?
Is that news to you ? If so, lam happy
to hear it; for, I assure you, it is no
news here.
A splendid statue of General Benjamin
“Spoon” Butler has been received in
Savannah within the last week. Mr.
Molina, the proprietor of the handsome
tobacco store, on Bull street, has it in his
window. The General has just come
from New York, and is dressed in full
uniform—a uniform peculiar to himself.
Small spoons, arranged in the form of
epaulettes, grace each shoulder. In one
hand, he holds a bunch of small spoons,
while the other supports, with indescriba
ble dignity, a couple of very large spoons
against his shoulder. The General has,
also, such a coquettish cast of the eyes,
that it is impossible to tell whether he is
looking up Bull or Broughton street.
Simultaneous with the General’s ad
vent, there appeared in Savannah a
most shocking malady. It may be that
his arrival has had something to do with
it, causing the people to be decidedly
spooney. [ will describe the premonitory
symptoms of this disease, that you may
cuard your family from its fatal inroads.
Tor several days before it breaks out, the
patient is very restless ; goes often to the
trout windows ; has a remarkable love for
leather straps, clastic bands, whalebone,
mid all such trash. This continues for
about two days, and then, with the pro
verbial cunning of a lunatic, the patient,
at once, subdues all restlessness. You
may know that the crisis is near at hand.
As the fit progresses, the hands become
almost useless, and hang like a wet rag;
the body is thrown violently forward ; a
monstrous hump makes its appearance on
the back. The poor creature is now en
tirely out of her senses; and, notwith
standing the violent screams of her old
iplnoned mother, the patient rushes into
B'-o streets, suffering from a violent at
ta:k of—“ Grecian Bend.” I advise you
to build a wall around your city to keep
the monster away. The ladies have en
tered into a league to make themselves
as hideous as possible; and, what with
waterfalls and Grecian Bends, they are
succeeding admirably.
I am afraid you will find me terribly
unfashionable when you see me; but we
must leave fashion to the young people;
it would not do for a person of my age to
get the Grecian Bend ; it might prove
fatal; Measles often does, if it attacks a
person late in lite. Age is a very delicate
subject, Mr. Banner, but you will ob
serve that I have not told you how old I
am !
I am waiting in Savannah for some
letters ; as soon as they arrive, I will go
on. I may date my next letter from
your own City.
Good-bye, dear Banner, and beware
of the “Bend.”
Yours, truly,
Ruth F.
NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE
OF THE BANNER OF THE SOUTH.
The Triennial Convent ton of the Episcopal
C hurch — lhtualism—The Yearninfj of
the Human Heart for the Unchangeable
— St. Albans Church—The Great Com
mandment, “Pay / ’ —Some Description of
the Ritualistic Ceremonies—Dispensation
to be Rebuked in the Convention—The
Dr. lyng Case—A JYord to the Sinners
—Prospects in Pennsylvania , Ohio , and
India n a Heat y Bribery Po li tica l
Goods Stores — Gini- Crackeries — The Cost
of the Democratic Torch Ligh t Procession
—“ Sensationalism ” of the People—A
Warning from Rome—Sudden Death of
Howell Cobb , of Georgia—His Public
Career The South Carolina Legisla
ture—The Beauties of Radical Recon
struction—“ The Bottom Rail on Top ”
How—Soon to be Reversed. .
New York, Oct. 12, 18G8.
Banner of the South :
The great event of the week here is the
session of the Triennial Convention of the
Episcopal Church. This Convention is
made up of two bodies, the House of
Bishops answering somewhat to a Senate,
and a lower House of Clerical and Lay
Deputies, which may stand for the House
of Representatives. The purpose of the
meeting, is to consider the state of the
Episcopal Church in general; but the chief
issues, it is thought, will be Ritualism and
what is known as the Tyng case. Ritual
ism is, to strip it of all disguise, an effort
to assume the outward appearance of
Catholicity without being Catholicity in
truth. The move, which is also the occa
sion ot much ecclesiastical agitution in
England, may be attributed to a revolt in
the popular heart against the baldness and
bareness of Protestant worship. In these
days of upsetting and negation, when old
forms,-old ideas, old modes of thought,
and old principles are, more or less, openly
decried, and when it seems as though
change and shifting were the one thing
deemed desirable, there is a deep seated
yearning in men’s hearts for something
that does not change with the ebb and
flow of merely human thought, something
that is the same in storm and sunshine—
something, in one word, that is fixed ; and,
in an effort to satisfy this yearning, cer
tain Episcopal Clergymen in England have
sought to outwardly approximate their
faith to Catholicity, as though outward
ness would do the work. From England
the u movement” has spread to this sec
tion, and is finding a certain degree of
favor, set. Alban’s Church, in this city, is
the great Ritualistic temple, and this is
what, on one occasion, the writer there
heard and saw. Entering a quaint porch,
you emerge into a building in the form of
a cross. The ceiling is sky-blue, and the
windows are full of stained glass. The
seats are free, but, as you are informed,
only on conditions: first, you are to re
member that this is the House of God,
which would seem to insinuate a doubt
as to your knowing that circumstance
otherwise ; second, you are to remain till
service is over; and third, you are to con
tribute according to your means. Where
as, the two prior conditions are in small
type, this latter is in the hugest of letter
ing, so that one is left under the painful
impression that, it typography goes for
anything, Pay is the first and great com
mandment. Pretty soon you hear the choir,
which is composed ot little boys in long,
white, shirt-like raiment. Then a proces
sion emerges from the robing-room. At
the head is a Cross-bearer, or rather the
bearer of something which is intended to
be taken for a Cross, but it is in reality a
mere dim outline ot that holy form, envel
oped in a wilderness of filagree. Then
come small boys, in long red robes, then
two ot the Elders, in long white ditto, then
more boys in purple ditto, and then more
ot the Elders. The procession moves, at a
snail’s pace, out in front of the chancel,
and then along that to the gate therein,
which it enters, and proceeds straight up
to the Communion table, on which are
flowers, aCross, and, it I am not mistaken,
some candlesticks. Then, the officiating
Clergyman advances to a little desk, and
informs the dearly beloved, that, insuiidrv
daces, they are exhorted to confess,
whereunto all are at once invited. For
greater ease in this matter, it is found
necessary, according to the truth as it is in
St. Alban’s, to sing the piteous declara
tion that we are all miserable sinners,
then, the Lord’s Prayer is “intoned” like
wise—intoning it being a melancholy sort
One noticeable feature of the canvass
is the political goods stores. By this is not
meant that votes are up on sale, but that
dags, streamers, torches, transparencies,
oil-cloth capes and hats for the foolery
known as Boys in Blue, campaign badges,
etc., etc., are vended in largo or small
quantities. Some idea of the profits in
this business may be had when knowing
that the great Democratic procession of
Monday night last, cost over SIOO,OOO,
and, of this, probably two-thirds went for
these campaign goods. As ono item, the
streets for three squares were lined, on
either side, with parti-colored Chinese lan
terns, and rare times had the ragamuffin
boys, next morning, in carrying off the
spoil. Bands of music are, also, reaping
harvests, everything that can make a noise
iri a procession, it only so much as an ante
diluvian drum, bringing a high price.
Calcium lights are likewise in demand, and
one enterprising genius has a regular es
tablishment where he hires out Ins patent
illuminators by the dozen, at so much per
night. All this “ yim-craclxrie ” may strike
you as ludicrous, but it lias its uses here,
she people are, in their own phrase, sensa
tional. They must have raree-shows like
children. I hey are getting to be pretty
much like the degenerated Romans, whose
cry was panem et circenses , and, as long as
they got something to eat and a free show
to look at, cared nothing for liberty.
Since beginning this letter news has come
ot the sudden death of the Hon. Ifowell
Gobb, in this city. While talking to his
daughter, this morning, at the Fifth Ave
nue Hotel, he suddenly exclaimed, “I am
ill, lam very ill,” and would have fallen,
lie was at once taken to a lounge, and al
most immediately thereafter expired.—
Being of full habit, it is extremely proba
ble that apoplexy was the superinducing
cause of this awfully sudden demise.
hat Mr. Cobb was is too well known in
Georgia to need any lengthened account
of the details of his public life. When
only twenty-one, he was one of the Presi
dential Electors in the election of 1836;
was five terms in Congress, once Governor
°f Georgia, and then Secretary of the
Treasury under Buchanan. For over thir
ty years he was in public life; and in pass
ing away there goes one of the old school
ot Southern Statesmen, the most sagacious
of whining way of saying it, which is in
immense favor. And, this is about all
there is of it. There is some talk that pri
vate confessions are heard by the Ritualistic
Divines, that they fast on Fridays, and
wear certain robes on certain days* all in
faint imitation of the consecrated rites of
Catholicity; but there is not sufficient war
rant to say that Ritualism goes further
than the vapid fol-de-rol I have mention
ed. Such as this thing is, however it is a
source of, wonderful disquietude ’in the
Triennial Convocation, and has alreadv,
though the body is only in the second day
of its deliberations, led to some sharp
scenes, not to speak of the launching of a
set sermon against it in the delivery, by
one of the Bishops, of the opening homily.
The indications are that Ritualism will be
rebuked by the Convention. Next conies
the Tyng case, which is this: It seems that
there is a canon in the Episcopal Church
forbidding one Clergyman of that denomi
nation to preach in the bailiwick of an
othei w ithout leave first from him obtained.
Some time since, a young Episcopal Divine,
Mr. Py ng, saw fit to disregard this ordi
nance, by preaching in the Parish of a Rev.
Mi. Stubbs, ot New Jersey, without leave
or license, and not only that, but, horresco
reftrens , preached in a Methodist Church.
For this lie was duly brought into judg
ment, tiied by the proper ecclesiastical
Court, found guilty, and sentenced to be
reprimanded by his superior ofiicer, the
Bishop, on parade. This was done, but,
deeming the judgment unjust, Mr. T. ap
pealed to the Convention. The probabili
ties are that the sentence will be upheld,
the case being as plain as this, that, know
ing of the canon, he went against the
canon. The affair lias created much dis
turbance, one side holding that Mr. T. is
persecuted, and the other that lie is merely
trying to get a little cheap martyrdom.
Having thus touched on the Saints, let
me give a word to the sinners—those im
penitent thieves, the politicians. The can
vass is at fever heat, and by the time this
letter sees print you will, doubtless, have
the returns from Ohio, Indiana, and Penn
sylvania. If any two of the three go
Democratic, Seymour’s election is assured.
If Pennsylvania alone goes Democratic,
that event, though not ensuring the tri
umph of the Constitution, will give it the
inside track. If none go Democratic but
still the Radical majority is very small,
the final event is in doubt, with the
chances in favor of the Butcher of the
M ildemoss. Having thus given you some
clue from the most authentic quarters, let
me caution you not to hope too much. Earth
and hell are leagued against you here. The
illustrated papers are teeming with lying
cuts, the magazines are prostituted to mis
representation, and the daily Radical press
is lull of the vilest appeals each morning
to the passions ot the hour. Monev, the
money wrenched by taxation from’ the
toiling poor, is poured out like water, to
carry the day. One installment of $150,-
000 was sent to Pennsylvania but a few
days ago, and has since been followed by a
quarter of a million more. In Maine, as
high as $6,000 were given in a single bribe,
and, as the stake is greater in Pennsylva
nia, doubtless, even more has been spent
there on a desirable convert. The issue is
yet trembling in the balance as I write,
but lain not without hopes that, when the
news does come, it will be good. If so, in
Pennsylvania and Indiana, carpet-bags
farewell.
ami indomitable that ever held power in
the days, when, in the hands of trained
law-givers, this country waxed in glorv
prosperity, and power.
There has lately been issued here what
you might call a campaign document, in
the shape of a Photographic delineation of
sixty-three members of the pretended
South Carolina Legislature. Among these
worthies, fifty-six of whom are Negroes
are to be seen a Negro parson from Boston’
a coal-black barber from this city, and a
Cuftee lawyer and preacher from Pennsyl
vania. Under the hideous jumble of apish
looking faces, though I must do the “gem
men the justice to say that they are more
trustworthy and repectable in appearance
than theii white associates, there is a para
graph which reads thus: “These are the
Photographs of sixty-three members of the
reconstructed South Carolina Legislature,
fifty of whom are Negroes or mulattoes, and
thirteen . white. Twenty-two read and
vs rite, (eight grammatically,) the remain
der (b>r.ty-o.ne,) make their mark with the
aid of an amanuensis. Nineteen are tax
payers to an aggregate amount of $146 10;
the rest (forty-four,) pay no taxes, and the
body levies on the white peoble of the
State for $4,000 000.” Quite a pretty pic
ture isn’t it, of the way in which these
scoundrels reconstruct the
blessed old Luion. But the bottom rail
am on top now. When we get the perse
cuted whites of the South, and the reviled
Catholics and foreigners of the North into
a solid phaianx, we will show these proud
oppressors that there is life in the old land
yet, and in that day Grant can’t save ’em •
neither can Shoddy prevail. Selah !
Tyrone Powers.
NEW ORLEANS (LA.)CORRESPONDENCE
OF THE BANNER OF THE SOUTH.
Anniversary of the Death of Rev. John V.
Kelly—Requiem Mass for Fathers Kelly
and' Dwyer Ihe Health of Archbishop
Odin Ihe Afflictions of Hew Orleans —*
Overflow of Lake Portchaf train—The
House of the Good Shepherd—The Good
“ Margaret , the O-iphards Friend"—A
Hew Idea in Politics—One More Applica
tion of Plaster of Radical Misrule ne
cessary to Effect a Cure—The Hcgm, an
Important Element—A War Predicted
Anyhow The Effects of the Flood— Th e
Shakspeare Club—" A Scene Hot Down
in the Dills,"
New Orleans, Oct. 12, 1868.
Banner of the South :
Last week brought the anniversary of
the death of the Rev. Father John V.
Kelly, C. M.—the subject of some very
touching lines that lately appeared in the
Banner-- and, on Monday of this week, a
solemn High Mass of Requiem was sung in
St. Stephen’s Church, Bouligny, in memo
ry both of him and the Rev. Father Wil
liam Dwyer, C. M., who was equally a vic
tim of last year’s epidemic. The large at
tendance at the services proved the affec
tionate remembrance in which these de
voted martyr-missionaries are held by the
bereaved congregation. R. I. P.
I regret to announce that the health of
our beloved and venerable Archbishop
does not improve as rapidly as was hoped.
Indeed, his long life of unsparing labor and
self-devotion, have well nigli exhausted to
the uttermost his once powerful constitu
tion ; and the appointment of a coadjutor
is looked for at an early day, as it is sim
ply impossible for our dear old Archbishop
to attend to this large Diocese in his en
feebled state.
What a miserably afflicted city this is, to
be sure ! Every few years “Bronze J’ohn”
sweeps by, mowing down his ripened,
yellow harvest by the thousands of heads ;
then comes gaunt Cholera, to gorge itself
with countless victims; the advent, of a
Butler, Banks, or Sheridan, brings desola
tion to many a homestead ; again, a bank
rupt City Treasury—bankrupted by the
diabolical blow of the late Mayor Heath—
reduces thousands of our best citizens to
the verge of starvation, and thus the lita
ny of our sufferings might be prolonged
almost indefinitely.
But, of all the unanticipated dangers
that have been developed, none lias been
more startling than last week’s invasion of
half our city by the waves of Lake Pont
chartraiu ! Two or three days of incessant
and strong Northeast gales just blew the
Lake up into our streets and houses,
drowned out thousands of pigs, poultry,
goats, cats, dogs, <fee., destroyed a large
amount of provisions, cutoff many families
from market, besides putting them in a di
lemma even for drinking water, by sub
merging their cistern-faucets, and, worst
of all, produced a variety of painful dis
eases that now afflict the residents of the
unfortunate submerged districts.
Among the most pitiable cases, is that
of the House of the Good Shepherd, whose
hundred and fifty inmates were nearly
starved during several days, when their
kitchen was under water, and they had
no means to procure a fresh supply of pro
visions. Our liberal bakers, headed as
usual by the whole-souled, (and why not
also say whole-bodied, when speaking ofa
ruddy-cheeked avoirdupoise of about 250
pounds ?) the ever charitable “ Margaret,
the Orphans’Friend,’ responded promptly
to the call for bread, and sent wagon loads
ol loaves to the poor llood-bouml families
in the invaded parts of the city. The
Howard Association were also promptly
“on hand, and some of its members have
worked heroically in relieving the most
distressed sufferers. The waters have now
almost entirely disappeared, saving an oc
casional pond in some low and undrained
spot here and there. But the inconve
niences resulting from the flood must be
felt for some time yet, owing to the gene
nil sweeping away of floors, doo rs, fences,
door-steps, gutters, gunwales, bridges’
crossings, and a thousand other necessi
ties of daily and hourly use.
Anew idea lias been started by some
of our statesmen—not politicians—who
advocate the election of Grant as the only
means of bringing Sambo to his senses
and Ins proper position. There seems to
be something in the tlieorv; but I fear
its advocates are like Jno.“ C. Calhoun,
in advance ot the age,” and I doubt of
leir ability to convince the majority of
voters to think with then. Their argu
ment runs somewhat thus: When a body
is diseased with a dangerous ulcer, and has
allowed itself to be tortured for a long
time by a powerful drawing plaster, it is
more sensible for the patient to submit to
a second application of the plaster, with a
reasonable hope of radical cure, than to re
fuse a continuance of the treatment, and
thus risk the almost certain fatal result of
the disease.
Our body politic occupies the critical
position here illustrated. The plaster of
Radical misrule lias drawn the matter
nearly to a head, but not quite. It is
thought that one more application of the
plaster will effect the desired cure.
The Negro being an important element,
for the moment, in politics, it is essential
to have him on the right side. Ilis present
wretched condition cannot be much im
proved tor some years under any circum
stances; and it will be only natural for
him to attribute his continued suffering,
during the next four years, to the party
that shall then be in power, and to be
ready to unite, heart and son], with the op
position party at the first succeeding elec
tion. Now, the question is, whether it
will not be wiser tor the Democratic party
to. let the present election go by default,
with a certainty of permanent rule there
after, than to go into power now, with an
almost equal certainty of being ousted at
the end of the term ?
Perhaps, after all, it won’t make much dif
ference which party wins, as many long
headed tolks prophecy an inevitable war
immediately after the election anyhow. I
don’t believe much in predictions of coming
political events, but any one with half an
eye can see that something of tremendous
import must follow close on the heels of
the present agitated condition of the coun
try. Each man of us should put and keep
his house in order.
Just as I am closing, the mail comes in
with the last Banner, which contains no
items from this quarter. Doubtless the
mails hence were last week detained by the
flood which overflowed the Railroad and
prevented all travel and transportation for
a few days. Now, however, the waters
have retired, and the roads are all again
in working order, except a few of the City
R. R. routes, where the entire road beds,
rails and all, were carried away.
The Shakspeare Club, who played Ham
let the other night for the benefit of St.
Vincent’s Church—and played it well
too—sent their audience home in a good
humor, by introducing a slight ‘‘variation”
in the closing scene. Hamlet’s thrust at
the King was so vigorous as to upset the
King, throne, and all! The dead Laertes,
dying Queen, and thanatoid King, all rolled
off in a roar of laughter, and so the curtain
dropped. Southern Radical.
Influence of Newspapers. A school
teacher who has enjoyed the benefit ofa
long practice in his profession, and
watched elosely the influence of news
papers upon a family of children, states,
as the result of his observation, that, with
out exception, those scholars of both
sexes who have access to newspapers at
home, when compared to those who have
not, are :
1. Better readers, excellent in pro
nunciation, and, consequently, read more
understanding!}'.
!L They arc better spellers, and de
fine words with ease and accuracy.
3. They obtain a partial knowledge of
Geography in almost half the time it
requires others, as the newspaper has
made them familiar with the location of
most important places, and National
Governments, etc.
4. they are better grammarians, for
the newspaper has made them familiar
with every variety of style, from the com
monplace advertisement, to the finished
and classical oratory of the statesman;
they more rcadiy apprehend the text,
and consequently analyze its construction
with more alacrity.
5. They write better compositions,
using better language, containing more
thought, and more clearly expressed.
From these important facts, three im
portant things can be deducted :
1. The responsibility of the press in
providing literature which is both 1 health
ful in tone, and ex
pressed.
2. The absolute necessity of personal
supervision of the child’s reading by the
parents.
3. Having once got a good, able
paper, no matter what the price is, don’t
begrudge it a hearty support.
Horrible ! —A Western editor thus
“cusses’ an opponent : “May his cow
give sour milk, and his hens ‘bad eggs;’ in
short, may his daughter marry a one-eyed
editor, and his business go to ruin, and lie
go to-—Congress.”
3