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February 1, 1860—lv.
P. W. Alexander,
A T TO R X K Y A T LA TU.
Thomasto , Georgia.
imv 25, 18.5(1 ]y
G, A. MILLER,
ATTO HN E V A T la AW ,
Thomaston, Georgia.
E. Wakhux. C. T. Gooi>k
Warren Goode,
A TTOR X E YS A T LA W
Perry, Houston Cos., Ga.
nov 18, 1858—ts
THOMAS BEALL,
ATTOII NE Y A T LA W ,
Thomastcn, Gorgia.
ffbll IB6o—ly
E. A. .1. W, Spivey,
ATTO Ii X E V SS A T la AW ,
THOMASTON, GLOEGIA.
Aug. 27; 1869. 1,41 u -
WUUMB H lioi>ley.
ATT 011 N E Y A T LA W ,
Thomaston, Georgia.
AUILL jvraetiee in Upson, Tallnit, Taylor, Crawford,
Monroe, Pike and Merriwether Counties.
April 7. 1859 ly.
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THOMASTON, GA.
Qi’ FICE at mv House (the late residence
” of Mrs. Hicks,) where I am prepared
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’ns. My work is myßeference.
oviß—tf
William a. walker,
attorney at law,
Hootensville, Upson County, Ga.
YjM offers his professional services to the citizens ot
tt.n and adjoining Counties, and most lespect
. , a liberal share of patronage, pledging him
j,laf a h business entrusted to his charge wil <
4 4,,< 1 ptemptly atleuded to. Oct., 13, 1860- ly.
LETTER FROdI IIOV.IOII’V BELL.
. •Nashville. Dec. 6th, 1860.
Dear Sir :—Could I have flattered my
self that any argument I could address to
the Mass Meeting- appointed for the 29tn
ult., at Vicksburg, would contribute in any
important degree to aid you and your com
patriots in staying the progress of the sen
timent which threatens to precipitate your
State into a political vortex, which in my
judgment would he no less fatal to her own
interests than ruinous to those of her neigh
bors, I would, at any personal sacrifice,
have obeyed the summons of my friends ;
hut feeling no such confidence in my abili
ty to serve them as you ascribe to me in
your letter, 1 have yielded to the force of
circumstances which claimed my attention
at home.
So far as my views and opinions may
have any weight or in It lienee in determin
ing the course of any portion of the people
of Mississippi in the present critical junc
ture, they may he stated on paper, and I
suppose would he as effective for the pur
pose intended, as they would he if commu
nicated in a speech.
The question of chief importance to he
considered and answered, is, whether the
election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency,
considered in all its signilicancy nod hear
ings, together with all precedent and exis
ting grievances, would justify Mississippi,
or any other State or States, in withdraw
ing from the Union ? In torm, the elec
tion was in strict accordance with the reg
ulations prescribed by the Constitution and
laws. The objection to it is that it was
elfected by a purely sectional party, organ
ized upon the principled hostility to slave
ry, and having for its prime object the re
pression of slavery, as a permanent admin
istrative policy, with a view to i!s ultimate
extinction, it cannot he doubted that an
administration of the Government, based
ujioii this policy, could operate for more
effectually in bringing about t he extinction
of slavery in the South, through ollieial in
fluence and patronage, than by any more
direct mode of at tack.
But is clear that ihe Federal Govern
ment was established for no such purpose
■r object ; tor, however strongly many of
the trainers of the Constitution were op
j osed to slavery, it is notorious that it was
owing to their forbearance to insist upon
their objections to the clause in the instru
ment ; r viiling for the rendition of fugi
rive slaves to their own rs. that we have
any Fub ia! Union. It was upon this ques
tion that the Convention was, at one time,
upon liie point ot breaking uo in confusion.
!he policy it. making the Governim nt an
insti uinenlnlil v for tin* repression or ex
li net ion of slavery, as is now attempted by
he party which is soon to In* in power, was
uevi-i contemplated by the trainers of the
Constitution.
I have often exj ressed the opinion that
tile* success of a ] nrt ly sectional party, or
ganized up n any principle, sentiment or
j obey, in strong antagonism to the ititer
i sts and sentiments of the opposing and
d* seated section, would deeply imperil the
Union : nor did I b. lii-ve, until the result
of the October elections became known,
ihat a majority of the Northern people
would ev< r so tar disregard the counsels and
win nings of Washington as to elect the
candidate <d such a pariy to the Presiden
cy. Tim election of Mr. Lincoln, by a sec
ilonal party, organiz'd and sustained upon
the distinctive principle of opposition to
slavery, as it exists in the Southern States,
and avowing the policy of its repression,
and final extinction, (by proliibiiing its
•■xiensimi into tin* Tcrrit“r : ’ _) was a bold
*xj 11 inn nt, r.; on the 1(m) < r ar.d forbear
ance of the South, and upon the strength
of their loyally to the Union. This expe
riment, if not conceived in a spirit ot dis
union, was made with a reckless disregard
of consequences. No gnat or strain upon
lhe li <r aiucu.s which hind tin* two great
sections of the country together could he
devised, than the attempt- to establish or
inaugurate a permanent Government poli
cy upon such manciples. The late Harri
son Gray Otis, of Boston, one of the most
distinguished aud able ot New England
statesmen, when called upon, in 183.5, to
give the weight of his name and influence
in checking the further progress of a rabid
abolition spirit, then beginning to ditfuse
itself over Massachusetts and other States
of the East and the North, in a speech de
livered in Faueuil Hall, did not hesitate to
express the opinion that the plans and de
signs of the Abolition Societies, or, as they
were then called, Anti-Slavery Associa
tions, contemplated such an interference
with the domestic policy and institutions
ot the South as would he a violation both
of the spirit and letter of the Constitution,
and were in fact revolutionary in their char
acter and tendency.
lam not able to discriminate between
the character, spirit and tendency of the
anti-slavery principle and the slave repres
sion policy of the Republican party, con
sidered in connection with the torrent of
inflammatory publications and invectives
against the domestic institutions and social
relations of the South which is daily pour
ed forth by Republican journals and ora
tors, and the character, tendency and de
signs of the Abolition Societies, and the
incendiary publications which find their
way to the public under their auspices.—
The only essential difference I can perceive
between the spirit and tendency ot the doc
trines and avowed policy of the Republican
party and those of the doctrines and avow
ed policy of the Abolition Societies, is in
the extent and degree of the mischiefs
which may-he inflicted upon the South by
one or the other, and the deliberate inten-
‘THE UNION OF THE STATES!-DISTINCT, LIKE THE BILLOWS; ONE. LIKE THE SEA.”
THOMASTON. GEORGIA. SATURDAY MORNING. DECEMBER 22, 1860.
tion to inflict them by the Abolition Soci
eties, which it would be unfair and unjust*
to impute to the whole body of the Repub
lican party. But both are obnoxious to the
charge of pursuing a policy which is in vio
lation of the spirit, if not of the letter of
the Constitution, and revolutionary in its
tendency. The policy of both tends strong
ly to stir up internal strife in the South
ern States, to e-xcite dissensions aud insur
rections among the slaves, to produce alarm
and a sense of insecurity, both as to life
and property, among the white population
of every Southern State, and finally to in
fluence the whole South to revolt against
the Government. The degree and extent
of the mischief which the Republican par
ty may be able to inflict by its anti-slaverv
policy, it will be readily acknowledged, will
he tenfold greater titan any which the Ab
olition Societies have it in their power to
inflict.
That I do not unjustly charge the Re
publican party with having adopted a pol
icy which, in its character, tendency and
practical operation, is in conflict with ihe
spirit, if not the letter, of the Constitution
can be made manifest in a very few words :
One ot the important objects to be accom
plished by the adoption of the Constitution,
as declared in the preamble, was to “insure
domestic tranquility,” and the power was
expressly given to the Federal Government
by that instrument, to “suppress insurrec
tions.” The simple announcement to the
public that a great party at the North, op
posed t has succeeded in electing
its candidate for the Presidency, disguise
it as we may, is well calculated to raise ex
pectations among the slaves, and might
lead to servile insurrections in the South
ern States. If such an event, which is more
than possible, should really happen, it
might become the duty of Mr. Lincoln to
restore the tranquility which the policy of
his party had disturbed, and to suppress
an insurrection which the same policy had
excited.
In stating the exceptions which may ho
fairly taken by the South to the election of
Mr. Lincoln, 1 have purposely presented,
in the strongest light, the dangers to which
Southern rights and interests are exposed,
that it may not he supposed that I had
not considered or comprehended the full
extent of the injurious consequences which
may result from the present menacing at
titude of the North upon the slavery ques
tion, before I formed art opinion upon the
grave question, whether the election of Mr.
Lincoln, in all its bearings, together with
all the precedent grievances of which the
Smith have a right to complain, furnish
any sufficient can.se to justify the surren
der by the Southern States of (heir interest
in the rich and glorinus heritage of the
Union, and to seek safety and the undis
turbed enjoyment of their rights in a South
ern Confederacy. With this explanation,
lam now prepared to say, unhesitatingly
and unequivocally, that it would not ; and
the confidence L feel in the solidity of the
grounds upon which I give this answer will
be justified by thefollowingconsiderations :
Ist. Mr. Lincoln, it. is well known, does
not hold extreme opinions on the subject
of slavery. It. is certain that he has ex
pressed a decided opinion that the /South
has a constitutional right to demand the
faithful execution of the Fugitive /Slave
Law ; and that under certain circumstan
ces he would feel it his duty not to oppose
the admission of anew slave /S'tate into the
Union. His declaration on this point is
little satisfactory to the South ; hut neith
er tL<it declaration, nor the opinion ex
pressed by him on the subject of the Fugi
tive S'lave Law, is at all satisfactory to the
extremists of his own party.
Upon the whole, if Mr. Lincoln’s pub
lic declarations on the subject of slavery
are to he considered as the true exponents
of his future policy, and if he possesses the
moral courage to adhere to them in oppo
sit ion to the counsels of the extreme men
of his party (and it is just and fair to pre
sume that he does possess that virtue,) no
serious mim hies need be apprehended dur
ing his administration, except the usual
evils attending the perpetual agitation of
the slavery issues.
2. But it is assumed by some that Mr.
Lincoln has disguised his true sentiments;
that his true character has not been under
stood ; and that he will he under the con
trol of the worst men of his party. Ido
not think so. I have every confidence that
his future policy will be found to be it)
strict conformity with his past declarations.
But apart from this, it is now generally
known that he will be powerless for mis
chief, except to a very limited extent dur
ing the first two years of his administra
tion, unless the Southern Senators and
Representatives elected to the next Con
gress should rashly, and, as I think, inex
cusably resign their seats or retire from
Congress, and thus voluntarily surrender
thi* control in both Houses to the Repub
lican patty, which surely they will not do.
With both Houses opposed to him, Mr.
Lincoln cannot appoint his Cabinet minis
ters or fill any offices of high grade, with
out the assent of the Senate, or indeed of
any inferior grade above that of a clerk or
petty deputy postmaster. He will he able ‘
to carry no measure connected with the
subject of slaveyv which does not commend
itself to the South and the conservative
members from the North.
3. As to any apprehensions that the Re
publican party, encouraged and stimulated
to further efforts by their late success, may
he so strengthened in the result of the
election of Senators and Representatives,
in the mean time, as to obtain a majority
in both Houses of the 38th Congress—
T at is, during the last two years of Mr.
I.mc< In's administration :—while it may
ha well to regard such an event as possible,
the strongest reasons exist for the confident
belief that no such unfortunate result will
attend the elections in the North, which
are to decide the complexion of the 38th
Congress.
r ot (he whole number of votes cast for
Mr. Lincoln in the recent election, from my
own persona 1 knowledge, an! from infor
mation received Irom other sourees, of the
sentiments of the South, and especially of
those ot the Middle States, and the States
north of the Ohio, I am sure I hazard
nothing in stating that a large number—at
least one third—are devoted to the Union,
and, althougn opposed to slavery in the
abstract, have but little sympathy with
the Republican party, and would be sin
cerely glad to see the slavery controversy
tween the two great sections of the coun
try speedily terminated. They supported
the Republican candidate in the late elec
lion, mainly influenced by their strong and
inveterate feelings of opposition to the
Democratic party —believing that Mr. Lin
coln was Iho only available candidate in
the field to defeat that party.
1 am, also, well satisfied that not more
than one-third of Mr. Lincoln’s supporters
are so extreme in their anti-slavery senti
ments, and are animated by so intense a
hatred of the South, as to he either wholly
indifferent to the effect upon the Union of
the policy of the Republican party, or ac
tually desirous of a separation of the free
from the slave States.
Os the remaining third of Mr. Lincoln’s
supporters, I think I atn warranted in say
ing that they are attached to the Union,
though anti-slavery in their sentiments.—
They joined the Republican party as a re
taliatory measure, adopted in resentment
of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
which they regarded as little less sacred
and binding than the Constitution, and in
further resentment of the attempt to force
the Lecompton Constitution upon the peo
ple of Kansas. 13 t now that they have
so signally triumphed in the late election,
aud in view of the evils already inflicted
upon the country, and the still greater
evils to be apprehended, they will he con
tent to cease the war upon Southern inter
ests and feelings.
For the foregoing reasons, I feel confi
dent that the 38th Congress will exhibit a
falling off iu the strength of the Republi
can party, instead of an increase.
4. All of the existing grievances of
which the South may justly complain, can
bu redressed in the Union. As to the in
dignity, not to say insult, offered to the
South, of nominating and electing the can
didates tor (he two highest offices of (he
Government by a sectional party on prin
ciples which practically excluded the South
ern States from a voice in the election,
contrary to established usage, and in vio
lation ot the spirit of the Constitution :
they may he pardoned for the sake of peace
and harmony, and in consideration that
the South has not been guiltless of having
contributed, and that in no small degree,
to increase the violence and asperities of
the slavery controversy between the two
sections.
In expressing the opinion that all griev
ances may he redresssed in the Union, I
intended to exclude other greater offences
which have been apprehended from Repub
lican domination, and which are of possi
ble occurrence. How they shall be re
dressed, should they unhappily occur, will
call for new counsels; but “sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof.”
* t
The existing grievances are the obstruc
tions interposed by some of the non-slave
holding States to the prompt and fathful
execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, by
what are called Personal Liberty Laws, and
the refusal of the Governors of several of
those States to surrender fugitives from
justice from the siaveholding States in
those cases in which the crime imputed to
the fugitive is the abduction or stealing of
slaves. Some further legislation by Con
gress may he required to secure tnesurren
der of such fugitives, hut the due enforce
ment of the Fugitive Slave Law is all that
is required to redress the grievances arising
from the escape and abduction ot slaves
from the Southern States. The President
is armed with sufficient power and means
to enforce this law, in defiance of all ob
structions which may he thrown in the way
to defeat it. If he neglects or fails to see
it executed, he is liable to impeachment.
The next subject which I purposed to
myself to notice briefly, is the doctrine or
theory of secession, which, as I understand
it, is the right claimed to exist under and
by the Constitution, in the exercise of
which a State may withdraw from the
Union, whenever a majority of the citizens
may decide to do so, for any cause what
ever. For it is quite immaterial whether
any grievance or wrong sustained at the
hands of the eo-States or by the action of
the Federal Government, is set up to jus
tify the exercise of this right or not. inas
much as the peojde of the seceding State,
under this theory, claim to he the sole tri
bunal or judges to decide whether any such
grievance or wrong has been inflicted, and
upon the extent and sufficiency of th<*
wrong. In fact, the theory of secession
implies the right of a State to dissolve its
connection with the Union at discretion :
and the whole question resolves itself into
this : whether the Federal Union, as it now
exists, and as it was intended to be by its
framers, is anything moFe than a voluntary
association of States for common defence
and other objects of vital importance to
their interests and prosperity, carrying
with it no binding obligation upon any one
of the States to yield obedience to the
Federal Government any longer than such
State should consider it expedient. 1 pro
pose to enter into no elaborate argument
to demonstrate the unsound ness of this
theory, and to show that no such right was
reserved by the Constitution either to the
States or to the people. That has often
been done by abler pens. I must he per
mitted, however, to say that when its na
ture is properly defined and its logical and
necessary consequences are candidly stated,
its absurdity must strike the commonest
understanding. Its unreasonableness and
folly, aside from its absurdity, will be il
lustrated by a single example ;
The possession and control of the mouth
of the Mississippi was held to he of such
vital importance to the interests of the
people inhabiting the valley of the Mis
sissippi, it being the great outlet to market
of the rich products of their soil, as to
make its acquisition, either by purchase or
conquest, a great, political necessity. The
purchase was made by the United States
for that reason, at a cost of fifteen millions
of dollars. It was stipulated in the treaty
of cession that the territory thereby ac
quired should be admitted into the Union
as a State, or States, with all the lights
and privileges of the oilier States of the
Union. But can it be supposed that Mr.
Jefferson and the other great statesmen of
that day, if they interpreted the Constitu
tion as the advocates of the theory of se
cession now do, would have been so ineffa
bly stupid and blind so consequences as to
have assented to such a stipulation ? Far
wiser and better would it have been to J
have paid five times the price, and to have
held the country as a subject province,
having first amended the Constiution sons
to authorise such a holding. And should
Louisiana now secede from the Union and
set up an independent Government, in the
exercise of the right of secession, even sup
posing the right to exist, can there be any
doubt that the same commercial and po
litical necessity which led to its original
acquisition, would lead to its subjugation
by the Government of the United States,
or by the States interested in the navi
gation of the Mississippi and its tributa
ries ?
After due consideration of the* subject,
with becoming deference to the opinions of
others, I am forced to the conclusion that
secession is but another name for an or
ganized resistance by a State to the laws
and constituted authorities of the Union,
or, which is the same thing, for revolution.
The theory appears to me to have been con
ceived and propagated in a spirit of disaf
fection to the Union, and can serve no
other purpose than to lead the unsuspect
ing and credulous into the support of the
scheme of disunion, under the delusive ex
pectation that they would only he thereby
exercising a right reserved to them under
the Constitution, and that they would be
iti no danger of incurring the penalties of
treason, or of exposing themselves and
their country to the calamities of civil
war.
11l the preceding pages of this letter, I
have attempted to show that the friends of
the Union in the South, should not de
spair of obtaining redress from the North
of all existing grievances, and that the
prospects ofbeing able to avert the greater
ones, of which there may be some appre
hension in future, are so encouraging that
it would be the extreme of rashness and
folly to think of resorting to any means of
redress not warranted by the Constitution.
What gives me the greatest concern at
present is the painful conviction that the
movement in favor of secession in Missis
sippi and other States of the South, is led.
for the most part, by men of distinguished
ability and influence, with whom the ex
pediency of secession is a foregone conclu
sion and a settled conviction—men who
can he reached by no argument or remon
strance—men who do not want to he con
vinced of the insufficiency of existing
grievances to justify a disruption of the
Union—men whose imaginations have been
taken possession of, and their judgments
led captive, by the dazzling, but, as I think,
delusive vision of anew, great, and glori
ous Republican empire, stretching far into
the South. The scheme of disunion, as
have reason to believe, has been long cher
ished by some of these leaders, and they
have only waited a pretext more plausible :
than any heretofore presented to attempt
the accomplishment of it.
What between the inflammatory appeals
and highly colored and exagerat*d story of
wrong and oppression already endured, and
the still more intolerable oppression to be;
anticipated from the fanatic spirit of the
North, on the one hand, and the glowing
pictures and seductive representations of
the grandeur, power and prosperity of the
new Republic, on the other hand, it is not
surprising that a body of highly gitted
men, strongly excited and carried along by
their own fancies, have been able to mis
lead many thousands of a peculiarly exci
table. and impressible population again
the dictates of their sober judgments. And
it is a sad reflection that upon the speedy
return of this class of Southern citizens to
wiser and more temperate counsels may
depend tlie fate of the Union. May no
hope be indulged that a little time fur
calm thought will suffice for the change of
what seems to be their present purpose j
and determination ?—a little time sos re
flection upon the nature ftlid amount of
evils whicli are certain to attend a revolu
tionary movement, and also Upon other
and more appalling contingent evils, which
may and probably will arise between its
[Editor and Proprietot 1
Volume T—Nntnhfi 0.
beginning and consummation ?
I do not forget that 1 am address!^
through you, urare man who are ready to
die in vindication of their honor or in de
fence of what ihey believe to be their rights.
I do not appeal to their fears.
But whatever may he the final decision
of the people of Mississippi upon the grav
est question ever presented to their couslCh
eration, ami which must deeply affect tlie
relations existing between them and the
people of Tennessee, and of every othft
State of the South, I can not bring myself
to the conclusion, all the existing evidences
to the contrary, that Mississippi will take
j upon herself the responsibility of doing An’
act that would expose the peace and secu
rity of her sister States of the South to di
rect and imminent danger, and perhaps
decide their destinies for weal or woe fof
ever, without previous consultation with
them, and first exhausting every peaceable
mode of redress for the grievances of which
she complains. In a Community of inde
pendent States or sovereignty a, if any one
of them should pursue a course w hicli would
put in imminent peril the peace and secu
rity of the other States, without first ex
hausting every means of peaceable redress
for any grievances of which she might;
complain, they would be justified by the
law of nations in making common cause
against her, ntul in preventing her by force,
it necessary, from pursuing such course. —
Such being the responsibility attaching to
the action of one of a community of sepa
rate and independent States, how much
greater would be the responsibility incurred 1
by one of the Southern States 6f this Union
in adopting the desperate measure ofbreak
ing up the Union, and thereby putting in
jeopardy the highest and dearest interests
of them all, without first taking solemn
counsel together ! These inforestsarecom
mon to all. Could the evil consequences
certain to ensue, be confined to the State
adopting the rash measure of secession,the
other States might not feel called upon to
protest against it. But that cannot be.—
The consequences—and who can foresee
their exteTit ?—must he felt by all.
Viewing the subject in every light in
which it can be presented, lam constrained
to say that bv no principle of Public Law,
by no code of morals, by no law of Earth
or Heaven, would Mississippi or any other
State bejustified, und*r existing .corcnin
stances, in withdrawing from theUniotl. Jt
confidently believe that t ho happiest conse
quences would result from a conference of
all the Southern States. I as confidently be
lieve that a majority of thq people of the
North are this day prepared to agree to any
fairand reasonable plan ofadjtffitrnent which
such a Conference of the Southern States
would propose. I purposely abstain from
suggesting what in my opinion, should be
the basis of such plan of adjustment,.
Alter what I have written on the prece
ding pages of this letter, it is scarcely nec
essary to say that I am resolved to adhere
to the Union. I will not say that in M
possible contingency would J consent to a
separation of the States. But 1 would ex
haust every constitutional means for thd
redress 6f our grievances, before I would
think of dissolving the Union. I am not
willing that onoA’tate should he withdrawn
from the Union —that one star should be
stricken from tin* bright clttefef which now
emblazons the national flag.
I have long .foreseen the probable occur
rence of a crisis like the j resent, and shrunk
from the possible issue of it ; nnd*L could
never contemplate the destruction of the
Union without sensations not unlike those
which I imagine would overwhelm me on
beholding the last going down of the suit
—never to rise again forever.
With the highest consideration and es
teem, I am your fellow-citizen,
John BetU.
To A. Harwell, Esq., Vicksburg, MisS.
Southern Manufacture. —We have
been shown the Rock Island Cassimerenj
manufactured by the Messrs. Young &
Wriston, of Charlotte, N. C., and are pleas
ed to learn that they received at the Agri
cultural Fair which has just terminated
here, the highest premium awarded in their
class. These goods sur; as in beauty and
intrinsic worth anything of the kind we re
member to have seen, and should attract
the attention of purchasers whenever they
may he exhibited We noticed among the
samples displayed several grades and styles,
any one of which Would grace the figure of
the most fastidious, and are fair exponents
of Southern enterprise in the old North
State, at the same time clearly proving
that we have already at o'Ur doors the means
of favorable competing with any manufac
tory in the country. Messrs. Young &
Wriston commenced in a small way sever
al years ago, and have triumphantly borne
down all competition from the North, at
taining a perfection in the art of wooleff
manufacture that has established their
goods as an indispensable article of trade
with the buyers of this and other markets.
The goods are made of pure wool, free front
the cheats and mixtures often foflnd in
Northern fabrics, and are put up ift hand
some and attractive style. By their energy
and perseverance, these gentlemen have
built up a business of about one hundred
thousand dollars annually, overcoming the
obstacles so long and urgently urged a
gainst Southern enterprise, and made the
Rock island Mills an important institution
of the South. With all our heart, we wish
them greater success than they have even
yet enjoyed— for they have demonstrated
conclusively that there is material in our
midst sufficient to gratify all our wants ’
and tastes, so far as adorniDg the outer
man is concerned, at least. —Richmond
(Fa.) Examiner.