Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

jjaapBasaagaaiaaft l ■ - m r>i TmUmm WEEKLY 1NTELLICENCER. ATLANTA, GEORGIA, Wednesday. September 13. 1865. the state road. Preliminary to the reception of the State, or “Western & Atlantic Railroad,” by Gov- xhkob Johnson from the Military Au thorities who have had, and still have charge of it, in accordance with negotiations still pending between the Governor, on the part ol the State, and Major Gen. Thomas, on the part of the Government, the follow ing appointments have been made by Gov. Johnson: DIRECTORS. Richard Peters, of '.. .Atlanta. Robert M. Goodman, of Marietta. J. R. Parrott, of Cartersville. Robert Batey, of. Dalton. W. L. Whitman, of. Ringgold. SUPERINTENDENT. Robert Bangb, of. Atlanta. TREASURER. Miles G. Dobbins, of Griffin. Should the Road, which has not yet been turned over to the State, but which it is be lieved will be,then the foregoing named gen tlemen will constitute the principal officers to whom its conduct will be entrusted. Most of them are widely and favorably known to the .people of Georgia—all of them are enti tled to public confidence. Governor John son has been fortunate in these trying times to secure the services, for the State, of gen tlemen, who are “without fear, and beyond reproach.” Major Gen. Thomas, under directions from the War Department, has proposed to turn the Road over to a “Board” composed of “true and loyal Directors,” whom he can conscientiously approve of, and accept, and upon the further conditions that bond shall be given,, and an account shall be taken of expendimres, receipts, &c. These terms have been complied with by the Governor, and the Board is now proceeding to com ply therewith—when consummated, the Road will again be under the control of the State, and not until then. To satisfy the natural curiosity, or anx iety of the people of this State, who stand in relation to it, as the stockholders of any other Road do to theirs, we make, by author ity, the foregoing statement. In a day or two, we may be able to go further into particulars connected with the restoration to Georgia of her great “internal improvement work,” and of the appointed officials into whose hands and to whose management, the Road will be entrusted. Possibly ere we go to press, we may have more to say, connected with this important transaction. Macon & Western Railroad.—The Macon Journal & Messenger contains the following change, of schedule in the running of this Road. This is indeed a great con venience to the travelling public. Passen gen may now leave Atlanta, jgy the night train, on Sundays, Tuesday^ Van d Thurs days, and reach Milledgevf 6 # the next morning, and Eatonton at about; midday.— We hope soon to hear of the trains running daily from Macon to the last named places. Leave Huon .... 7 60 A. M. Arrive at Atlanta 4 05 P. M. Leave Atlanta 7 20 A. 11 Arrive at Macon 8 20 P. M. NIGHT TRAIN. Leave Macon 6 80 P. M. Arrive at Atlanta 8 28 A. M Leave Atlanta - 8 10 P. M. Arrive at Maoon 8 30 A. M. Since writing the foregoing, an official notification of the foregoing change of sched ule has been received from its efficient Su perintendent, Mr. E. B. Walker,which may be found in another column. We also notice says thejJournal & Mes senger that “our old friend Carson Cox has again taken his old position of Conductor on the Macon & Western Road. The trav elling public, especially the lady portion of it, will receive this intelligence with pleas ure, for Cox is one of the model Con ductors.” “Carson” is our old friend too. A more efficient and gentlemanly conductor, trav ellers will never find. This, with exceed ingly rare exceptions, may be said of the Macon & Western Railroad—it has always had gentlemen engaged asconductors, who, while efficient, give satisfaction to the trav elling public. The same we are pleased to •ay of the gentlemen who now have.charge, as conductors, of the Georgia Railroad, over which we have recently passed two or three times. Attentive and polite—accommoda ting to all who are seated in the cars—one feels at home while under their charge. In this new era of railroads and railroad travel, we are pieased to make this early record of the faithfulness and gentlemanly bearing of the conductors on these two important roads. To all Whom it Concerns.—Mr. Watson, the United States Assessor for this, the “Fourth District of Georgia,” whose office is in “No. 2 Engine House,” is required by the law and by instructions from the Treasury Department at Washington, to is sue licenses to all Merchants, Billiard or other Saloon Keepers, Hotels, Carpenters, Blacksmiths, Brick Masons, Manufacturers of every description, Salesmen also of any and every description, and all persons doing busi ness in the city of Atlanta. All these there fore are required by the Assessor to come forward at once and take out their licenses. The penalty tor not doing so, is a severe one. This penalty, Mr. Watson requests us to say, however disagreeable it may be personally to him, and severs upon delin quents, he will enforce without respect to individuals. We give this information to our readers, that they may be saved trouble and much loss. Ignorance of the law, they must re member, is no excuse for its violation, or non-compliance with it. It is easy to apply for, and get a license. A gentleman who was iond of wine said it had two bad qualities: “If I pat water to it" says he, “it spoils it, and if I don’t it spoils me.” On Friday Last we 84* in our city Col. B. F. McDonald, who informed us'that he was here shipping the necessary implements and supplies for the purpose of resuming operations on his mining grounds in the county of Fannin, formerly known as the “Lovinggood Mine.” We have in years past heard this property spoken of as valua ble, and we trust that the efforts of ColoDel McDonald to fully develope its hidden trea sures will be crowned with success. It is gratifying to us to hear that efforts are ma king in the mineral region of our State to revive its business. The prosperity of all our people can be greatly promoted by a proper development of the rich and produc tive mines that abound within onr limits, needing but the energizing hand of capital and labor to bring forth the treasures that have so long been concealed from the view of man. Nerer has there been a time when these rich products could have afforded so much comfort or been so promotive of the general happiness of the community, as the present, when all the industrial pursuits of the country have been so utterly prostrated, and its material interests so completely par alyzed by the untoward events of the last few years. Let the proper and necessary efforts be made to bring forth the mineral wealth of this highly favored region, and soon its in fluence will be felt in all the diversified ranks of society, and an impetus will be imparted to every branch of industry, that speedily would restore to our people much of our former prosperity, if indeed it should not place us on vantage-ground .far ahead of anything we have realized in the past. When the gold and copper mines, and iron ore and coal .beds, of Georgia, shall be , placed under a proper system ot develop ment, and the immense water-power, which we possess, shall be made to perform its proper part in laboring for the good of mtm, then will the sun not shine upon any portion earth containing a happier, more thrifty, or a more prosperous population. If this be true, then it is the duty of every one in our midst to labor for its consummation. EX-GOV. BROWN PARDONED. * Among the telegraphic items which we publish to-day, we are gratified to see one containing the'pleasing intelligence that the President has granted pardon “to Ex-Gov. Brown, of Georgia.” The great mass of the people of this State, will, as we do, re joice at this magnanimous exhibition of cle mency on the part of the Chief Executive of the Natfod. We congratulate them upon it. The programme laid down by the Ra leigh (N. C.) Standard, Governor Holden’s organ, for that State to adopt, on her way to restoration, is embraced in the following: 1. Unconditional, cheerful submission to the national authority. 2. The prompt insertion in the State Con stitution by the approaching Convention, of the ordinance of ’87, forever abolishing slavery;or involuntary servitude in this State. 8. The prompt non-recognition of debts contracted by the State in aid of the war but an equally prompt determination to pay every cent of the State debt contracted previous to the war. 4. The inviolability of private contracts, and such action by the convention as will cure all defects in the bargains and titles since May 20, 1861, and provide lor the pay ment of private debts contracted since that date on a just basis. 5. The right of the States to determine the question of suffrage for themselves. 6. Unqualified opposition to whatiscalled negro suffrage. The Cincinnati Commercial publishes lengthy article reviewing the “First West ern Campaign” of the Federal army, in which we notice the following singular re ference to Gen. Sherman, made by Gen. D. C. Buell: “When more responsible persons than General Sherman shall avow those imputa tions of delay, I shall have further to say on the subject.” It will be hard to find, in the opinion ot the public, a more responsible man than Gen. Sherman, though General’Bueil may think otherwise. Three hundred and sixty of the citizens of Augusta and of Richmond county, have, in a letter addressed to the Hons. C. J. Jen kins, Jno. P. King, and A. C. Walker, re quested those gentlemen to represent that county in the approaching State Conven tion. Should they consent to do so, we agree with the Constitutionalist, that the county and State would profit largely by their experience, wisdom, and modera tion. Vandalism at the White House.—An other instance of vandalism occurred at the White House on Friday. A well dressed and apparently respectable woman, accom panied by her little daughter, was arrested in the act of cutting a piece from one of the curtains of the east room, which she said she wished to send to her mother as a curiosity. Her terror on being detected was pitiable, and so affected one ot the officers of the Executive Mansion that he ordered her un conditional release. STAGE COACHES VS. RAILROAD CARS. The slow speed of travel over the railroad lines from here to the Atlantic coast, the long steps at stations, and the inconveoieat time tables, have induced a former proprie tor of the stage coach line to re-establish it in opposition to the railroad. Certain it is that travellers would lose no time, and add to their cumtort, by patronizing a stage line. Any one who has travelled over the rail road more than once will attest to this state ment. Death of J. M. Brown.—This gentle man, who was a merchant of this place, for the last eight years, died on Friday the 1st instant. Re was a man ot pare and elevat ed character, without enemies, and his death was a source of gi ief to all who knew him.—Neuman Herald. iff»■1 v-w ■ - -------= ~ Tria New York Tribune thu3 introdu ces the letter of our fellow-citizen, Col. R. A. Alston, addressed to its Editor, which we publish below. Mb. Greeley is right when he awards to Mr. Alton sincerity and honesty, with not the “ skeleton of a doubt” resting upon his mind, that “he truly expresses his own thorough opposition to any repetition of Secession or Civil War.” CoL AL Tvfa is one of the yonng and prom ising men of Georgia who thoroughly ap preciates the condition of the South, its relative position to the Union, and by whom the future of this State is destined to be shaped. The old are fast passing away, and the yonng must soon take their places. To the new order of things they will doubtless accommodate themselves, preserving their own and the State’s integrity to the Amen- ican Union, and piomoting the happiness of its people. We who are fast passing away, derive consolation ia the reflection that we shall leave behind us those, who, having realized the horrors of war, will live to promote peace: From the New York Tribune. In printing herewith the letter ot Mr. R A. Alston, formerly of South Carolina, now of Georgia, who was an ardent Nullifier, then an active Secessionist, aud who fought through the late war on the side of the Con federacy, we take pleasure in saying that we know Mr. A. to be sincere and honor&lA#, and hay$ no shadow of doubt that he trul* expresses ,his own thorough opposition £> any repetition of Secession or Civil War.-** Many others, we doubt not, are fully in ac cord with him. He .is simply mistaken in his averment that certain States, ia acceding to the Union, “ reserved the right to amt the firm.” This has beeu repeatedly as serted, but it ia not trne, and its reiteratiop, however bones’, is mischievous. Other points in Mr. A’s letter invite comment; but we forbear. Mr. Alston is mistaken, we venture (though it may seem impoliti) to assure him, in his belief that everybody at the South ha9 al ways believed in State Sovereignty and the Right of Secession, according to “ the R if) lutions of ’98 ” Not to insist on the fact that a majority of the Southern electors voted for Bell and Douglas against Bieck inridge in 1860, as a similar majority had voted for Harrison against Van Bureu and Taylor against Cass, we will instance bare ly two Southerners and slaveholders, widely known and respected, whatever may have been thought or heard of them in South Carolina, who were conspicuous, determined antagonists of the dogmas aforesaid. Their names were George Washington and J*hn Marshall. letter from a southerner. To the Editor of the N. Y. Tribune: Sir : You will recollect, no doubt, the sur prise I gave you in December, 1860, when, a perfect stranger, I called upon you, and, without even a friendly voucher from any mutual acquaintance, obtruded upon your valuable time, and asked an hour’s talk upon the state of the country. Some few weeks since, you were kind enough to say, when I met you in New York, that the opinions I then expressed in regard to our impending troubles had been verified semewhat^too literally, and, by your manner aud kind re ception of what I had to say, I am embijld- ended to address you this letter. I ardently hope that my frankness and honesty of*pur- pose to do good in what I have heretofore said to you of my section of the Union* will f insure on impartial hearing of what iUUtm about to remark. J • Very recently, 1 have passed through the country from Southwestern Virginia, through the States of North and South Carolina, to this place, where I reside. I have spent much of the last two years in Virginia— lived for years in South Carolina, and Wave numerous relations and innumerable acquaintances in the “Old North State.” If r then, in speaking of the people of t'kese States and the tone of public sentiment in reference to the state of the country, I do not speak correctly, all I have to say isthat I am either a man of feeble powers of ob servation and induction, or that very great deception has been practiced upon me. If deceived, then has every grade of intelli gence and respectability, every walk and class, every outward, expressed desire of heart, every phase of life, in these States, conspired to mislead and betray me. I am misled, too, after making a deliberate and toilsome search after truth. Two months ago, I left home to visit (he North, that I might see for myself what was the state of feeling there in regard to the South and her future. I resolutely adjourn ed every project ot a private and domestic character till I should ascertain (if that were possible) the animus of the States that wielded the military and political power of the country- toward my unhappy section. Previously, I had (or thought I had) ob tained full insight of the truest and deepest seated feeling of our own people, which was furnished, as I have intimated, by every variety of character and position. Of your section I take great pleasure in sayiDg that I was agreeably surprised, and since my re turn I have been more than gratified to speak of it. Everywhere, and I may al most say, among all classes of people, I found a*universal feeling of conciliation. I talked as freely and unreservedly as I could do whenever the conversa* ion was intro duced. I stated that I had been an easiest rebel; that I thought I was right, and. had no reason to change my opinion; un der the same circumstances, would in honor and duty bound to act as I had i&one. That I had sacrificed my time, exposed my life, and lost what property I had; but, now that the matter which had been subntftted to the sword, had been decided by tbe sword, I regarded it as my duty to sufbmii cheerfully and patiently, and to do . all I could to restore peace and harmony to the country. That I had taken the oath with an honest purpose to keep it, and believed that I was now as faithful and true to my allegiance as any man either North or South. These, sir, are the honest sentiments of every brave and true man who has done his duty; and I take great satisfaction fa ac knowledging that they met with a warm and friendly response from every gentleman to whom they were spoken. Among the military men almost universally, a generous sympathy was felt and expressed for the sufferings of the South, at least where I chanced to listen.' With your leading po litical minds, I found clement and frate* nal feeling predominating, and a very general desire to promote any fair measures for ameliorating our condition and healing eve ry exacerbation of the public mind. Jlow, this being the case among the soldiers who have fought and won the fight, and the earnest and true citizens of the North who aided them to do it, it is painful, and I may say disgusting, to permit a set oi scribbling correspondents to- throw any obstacles in the way of Peace. That the men who were elected at the late election in Richmond are true and loyal citizens, every honorable man believes, the Herald’s correspondent to the contrary notwithstanding. The faithful discharge of duty to one side is tho surest •ruarantee of integrity to the other. ° I feel, sir, the greatest importance in bringing these matters to your attention, and I sincerely hope that you will set them before your readers in their true light, and. not permit the hurtful and malicious mis representations, which are being dropped thick as hail stones all over the North by wicked and designing men, to gain credit Your paper, sir, is believed and respected, no matter how wide the difference ot opin ion, and you have it in yonr power to ac complish great good. These correspondents, because, forsooth, seme lady drops her veil when she is stared at on the street, or refuses to bow to one with whom she is not acquainted, tell you that the Rebellion is scotched, not killed ! — that amnesty oaths are taken and pardons accepted by the leading men of this coun try for a “snare and delusion;” and they influence the minds of good and v/ell-mean- ing people throughout the North by hint9 of more bloodshed aud renewed terrors ol civil war. In reading these pernicious slanders, I am filled with disgust, and stand overpowered at the actual and possible turpitude and cru elty of the human heart. In the name of God, are not a million of men lost to the peaceiul walks ot lile—are not the crutches or crape in ten thousand households all over this once blessed land, a qua r ter ot a million of families with noth ing over their heads for shelter but the blue Heavens, silently gazing on the ashes and crumbling foundations of what once used to be “sweet home,” are not, I say, these enough to make the chapter of terrors suf ficiently spicy for these unchained demons that they shouid desire to heap other hu miliation upon u»? Southern men, they say, are yet thinking evil, are yet feeling quite too proudly tor people that are whipped and have lost ev erything. And as to their cheerfulness and relief over the enfranchisement of their ne groes, they solemnly warn the North that there is nothing of it, depend upon it. In the name of all that is just, is this to be expected of us? I believe not. I conless that we are not altogether hap py over the state ot things existing at pres ent; but 1 do say that we accept it as a fact., and are making the best of it with heroic lortitude aud resignation ; and I appeal to the magnanimous aud Cbr stian charity of all large souled men who sit in judgment, on us, if any more could be required—it any more would be consistent with that, self respect aud dignity which entitles us to be a part of a great nation. As to evil thinking, or sulking, or medi tated outbreak, I indignantly and solemnly deny them. The Southern man who says it is true as charged, is the basest of human kind, who either states it to avenge the verdict, of hi a own countrymen ou his own truthfulness, or is prompted by a mean and m iligu&nt spirit to see better men than himself hum bled and brought to his own level. Tue Northern man who testifies thus against ns is either duped or hired, or has some petty insult or slight to avenge. I have taken uote3 of the state of feeling all over this country, among high aud low, and among all sorts of representative m* n. These are the facts in the case, and I give them to you upon my sacred honor. Sou'hern people, as you well know, have be in bred and born politically in the Jet fersonian State Rights school. More Jews can be found who suspect the geuuiueness of the Ten Commandments, than Southern men who doubted the truth or tenableness ot Stale Sovereignty and the undeniable aud irr< fragible strength of the Kentucky and Virginia resolution* of 1798 and 99. A larger proportion even than this iu the South believed that there was no seat of power outside of the States that could justly arraign or try an internal regu lation and State Institution, much less over turn one. The reservation of the right to quit the firm made by certain States at the very hour of giving in their adhesion to the great co-partnership—the very oath that to this hour every Massachusetts min who holds office must take—the incessant teach ings of Southern leaders for 60 years—the unchallenging silence of the Northern lead ers lor all that time—the struc ure and ge nius of the Government, as we all under stand—the spirit dealiug with the case ol impending dissolution of the Union, by the last Democratic Administration—the “God speed you” of Mr. Stanton, (Who has been rubbed with plentiful spittle in the eyes,) the copious, sympathizing tears of poor old Mr. Cass—all, all these should surely make our blunder on a doctrinal point a venial one, to say the least of it. Somehow or other we can’t tor the life of us, help saying with poor, old, overwhelmed Galileo, “It does tarn round, though.” We believed, tnen, in’61, and believe yet, in ”65, that Gen. Banks was right, who said in May, 1861, as he raised his sword over Arlington Hights, “Never, never, shall we see tbe old state of things,’’ unless the “old state of things is re-established by a sincere and unreserved acknowledgment of the sov ereignty ol the States and rtc ignition of the Federative structure of the Union. But let all this pass, as most assuredly it does seem that it has passed. We showed our devotion to the principle; and, if it shall forever perish, it will not be our fault. Then, while it is true that we did go to the war with a unanimity that the world’s his tory cannot match, in maintenance of this doctrine, and only incidentally in defense ot property rights, it is absolutely and mali ciously false to assert that anywhere, in all these States, any set ot men dream of ris ng again in arms against the Government for this, or for anything else. W>, made theS ; ates sovereign; we thought negro property assured to ut by dted a* solemu and act as august as human powers could make them; we Went to war to main tain what we thought was our right; you opposed us; you tought u*; you whipped us. B ood, you say, has cmceled the deed ; *nd now the new rendering of the text ri “the G >vernmeat is supreme, aud the slave is free.” So let it l»e. Tki9 is not our deed, our will, our belief; but, so help us God, never, never again do we intend to disturb this settlement. Never again do we mean to offer one more life or shed one more dro; of blood in deleave ol them. Secession is obsolete; the matter i3 sealed now and tor ever, so iar as we are concerned. If you can live by it and with it, let the Government be as strong andsupiema as you can make it If 500,000 bales of cot ton are enough for you, as we will get the first shirts and petticoats, surely they will be enough for us. If Petroleum, and bets on what gold will be in the next twenty minutes, will make us all rich and pay tax es, we are content. No more war, if you please, for King Cotton or State Sovereign ty. If placed on my oath, I would solemn ly declare that this is the universal feeling and consent of the whole South. The resignation and fortitude ot.our peo ple, is to-day a standing miracle. If they were proud and resolute in their prosperity, they are grand iu their destitution. The unanimity of their consent and resignation exceeds their unanimity in going to war. Just think ot it. To-day a Whole nation in arms to defend what they believe to be right; - to-morrow, convinced of the hope lessness of the struggle, returning to the peaceful pursuits of industry with a cheer fulness and earnestness that can hardly be realized, each one striving with the other to restore peace and harmony, and carve out of the future some consolation for the past And then, sir, picture our situation now contrasted with that past. Whatever you may say of Ohio, or the grand grain State of Illinois, or (last, not least) the vine-clad hills of sunny Cape Cod, you really, Mr. Greeley, had no such country as ours once was. What is it now ? What must it be with $500,000,000 gone in the smoke and fire ot houses, barns, and fences? What must it be with over $1,500,000,000 gone in the shape of contributions to the war ? And shall we ask what can it ever be, it tfie machinations of wicked and sanguinary man are to be allowed to continue to create a feeling of distrust, and envy, and jeal ousy, on the part of those whose every care and wish should be for a speedy restoration to our position as equals in the participa tion ot the Government. With destitution and poverty everywhere, fine gentlemen and delicate ladies milking, aud scrubbing, and cooking, where there is anything to milk, or scrub, or cook ; with plantations and farms deserted by the labor ers belore the first plowing; all over the country are towns and villages filled by freed men, who are not only not producing, but are an expense to the Government—all confusion, despondency aud fear. Why, sir, the man who talks about our going to war now is either a madman or a tool, or does it from the basest and meanest of purposes — Oh, shame on the domestic trai’or or hire ling sc ibbler who could plot or connive to have the last weight thrown on such a people, and crush them to death ! No, sir, there are ceriain base men, who have dis covered in tbe policy of the President, and tbe tone of the Northern people, a dispo sition to act reasonably and justly with us, and they are afraid that the opportunity to wreak their spite and Iriumpn over men wfco wear clean shirts, may pass away for ever; aud it is more than they can stand.— Hence these lying misrepresentations of us. I said I never saw such fortitude. Take my nearest neighbor as a sample. He was bora to decent fortune, maintained always the first rank in respectable society, and was ultra pro-8)avcry, and (a9 I know) the kind est of masttrs—an oui-and out Seces-ion- is\ Ou the 25 h of last May, that man had 45 picked negroes about him; that night He milked his own cow, and his wife cooked supper ; anti from that day until now he has not had money enough to hire a seivaof.— In fact, he said to me the other day, “ If there was a toll bridge between him and Atlanta, he would have to swim the river if he got to town.” MaDy a merry laugh have 1 beard from that family over reverses—untried menial life, and awkward performai ce—but not one word ot regret. Men have gone to work every whi-re wk re anything could be lound to do, with uo 1 >oking behind or v ndictive yearning. Lit tle factories, once so well appointed, m>w dismantled, are being put in operation again wish a pertinacity that is amusing; their ou fit of machinery little more than a po ket-kuife and a whetstone. Give us lime, sir, and a fiir trial—it is all we ask. But suspicious, espionage—abuse because our spirits are not reduced to the level ot an Egyptian—inciting the negroes to outrage and violence, and the happy do- nothing—confiscation, beggary—we humbfy submit is not giving us a lair trial. We have differed from you, and how widely ! You have established your posi tions by something stronger than logic. We submit. We accept the fact, and are earn estly trying to make the best of it. What more? Is it desired that we should “hum ble ourselves to the earth, and with our moo bs ia the dust and our hands upon our mouth®, ciy; Peccavi, Peccavi?” Remembei, Mr. Greeley, that we were both mistaken. We thought you would not fight; and you thought we were an effemi nate, enervate race of people, that would require to be carried on the march by our negroes, aud whom your sewing societies could sweep into the gulf. Four years of terrible war have removed these delusions, and convinced us both of our error. The war has operated as. a mutual introduction of the sections. Henceforth let us be friends. Oh, for one hoar oi Daniel Webster 1 We know what he would say—as we all have erred, we all should confess our faults—a9 all have inflicted wrong, all should forgive. The Northern statesman who really be- lives that the South is worth having, has no time to lose in his work of co-operation and res’oratiou ; and rest assured, he has less time to waste on imaginaiy terrors aud dangers. There is just a9 much probability of my contemplating the murder of my wife—and parricide is now as possible a crime in these States -I again repeat, as war—and all we ask, or hope is peace, and such fortunes as we can rake from the embers left us. Trusting that you may see fit to publish this, as it is written, Swith a sincere desire to accomplish good, I remain, very respect fully, R. A. Al ton. “Meadow Nook," near Atlanta, Ga., Au gust 14, 1865. The Fading Leaf.—We all do fade as a leaf. Change, thank God, is the essence of lite. “Passing away” is written on all things, and passing away is passing on from strength to strength, from glory to glory.— Spring has its growth, summer its fiuiiagr, and autumn its festive ingathering. The spring of eager preparation waxes into the summer of noble work, mellowing in its turn into the serene autumn, the goldm brown haze of October, when the soul may robe itself in jubilant drapery, awaiting the welcome command, “Come up higher,” »here mortality shall be swallowed up in life. Why, then, should autumn tinge cur thoughts with sadness? We fade as tbe leaf fades, only to revivify. Though it fall, it shall rise again. Does the bud fear to be come a blossom, or the blossom shudder as it swells into lruit, and shall the redeemed weep that they must become glorified ?— Strange inconsistei cy. We faint with the burden and heat ot the day. We bow down under ihe e.osses that are laid upon our shoulders. We are bruised and torn by the snares and pitfalls which beset our way, and into which our unwary feet otien fall. We are famished, and loot sore, and travel- stained Irora our long journey, and yet we are saddeued by tokens that we shall piss away irom all these. Away lrom siu and sorrow, from temptation and fall, from dis- appoiuimerit and weary wailing, and a fear- iul looking for of evi 1 , to purity and holi ness, and the full Iruiiion of every hope— bliss which eje hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived—to a woild whence all that made this dreary is forever banished, and wheie all that made this de- lighttui is forever renewed and increased— a'world where tbe activities and energies of the soul shall have lull scope, aud love and recognition wail upon its at* ps forever. % “Po You keep rails litre ?” asked sleepy looking tad, walking into'one of our stores the other day. “Yes,”replied the gentlemanly pr< prietor, we keep all kinds ot nails. What kind will you have, sir, aud how many ?’ ‘ Well,’’said the boy, sliding to.vards the door, “I’ll take a pound of finger nails, and a pound and a half of toe nails.” A PEBBLE. BY MAY RIK. This pebble came from foreign lands, Where brightest sea-surfs curl. And softly poll hed by the sands, It shines as white as pearl. It journey’d far through ocean dell— It came by rock, It came by shell— God knows, and He alone'ean tell Whence came this shining pearl ? For, journeying ’n that lovely land Where palm and plantain grow, A sailor found it on the sand, Swept inla d by the flow. Beyond the bine rid>e of the waves, Like hermits in their quiet caves. The vi lage dead within their graves Were sleeping soft and.low. • But one in all that g e-n r. treat Was alien born alone; There, gleaming at his quiet feet, The sailor found tills stone. * tear fell on that shining sand : “Oh, brother, from mine own (ar land, I’ll bear this to that cherish’d strand Which claims us both its own.” I bartered for the sacred spoil— A tear against the shell 1 For I have graves In foreign soil More dear than tongues can te 1. G 'd knows, and He alone can say Who sheds a t ;ar, or stops to pray, My country, near our sacred clay, In that lone foreign dell 1 From the Christian Hera d. THE OLD CLOCK. It was the last night of the year. A ft w more measured ticks of the clock, aud the last moau of D<.ctmber, would have died ou tbe wild winds ot the storm. Outside the snow was tailing, white and soil, as if it were weaving a winding sheet for the de parting year, and the tempest was singing a rtquiem. Inside, the fire burned up brigbtlv, the cheerful gas light cast a spell oi beauty about the cosy household room, aud the curtains draping the windows, exc’uded the cold that reigned without. It was my duly to wind up the clock — The tick was somewhat faster than usual, and it seemed as it the faithful monitor, whose voice had been so many years in our house, was about to be silent. I wound it up, and the voice gained new strength, ticking, ticking, solemnly, as if it woubl say,* “Time is flying—prepare to meet thy God.” Seventy years ago, the dear old clock, then fresh and new from the makei’s hands, had begun its labor ot love. To thiee genera tions it had ministered ; for a revered grand- sire had < feu ghz d upon its face, and a father aud mother now aged, had treasured it among their earliest household effects — The child! en had watched it many a time, when its record was to tell ns how long we must stay in-doors, and when wc must ruth out into the glad free air and sunshine. It had pointed to tbe hour of morning wor ship, and of evening prayer. We went to school when its warning finger pointed us to the hour ot nine, and on the holy day, its steady voice always kt pt time with the silvery chime of the Church bells. It had not forgotten to note the hours when a new life had been added to our circle, and it had marked the sad hours when the angel of Death had darkened our hearih, and bore a loved one from our band. Dtar old clock 1 How smilingly had it looked on the bridal tcene; how cheerfully on the youthlul merry-making9, or happy leetive gathering i f friends. And now when the busy hand ot change had taken away so many of our idols, had wrought such mysterious things in places where all had seemed clear and bright, and written its record upon all that was lovely, the old clock in the corner, v*.n erable with age, but in all else unchanged, still held its honored place in'our home. The old clock taught me some lessons on that night in December. One was the value of constisiency. As the chronometer marks the hours, not by fits and starts, but minute ,by minute, with unwearied patience year after year, so should they who wait on the Lord, be patient and constant in their ser vice. Too many Christians serve earnestly at first, in the glow of their new born love, but. after awhile they become cold, and in different. OtLers are fervent, and living as it were spasmodic.-d y, a^.l for a sea on of warm eft >rt, they inink iij~\ may n lsx their vigilance. Ab, CLrisiiau irieud it is while you sleep that ihe enemy enters to sow taies. Remember, that many eyes are upon you. Christ from his throne of iuteicession looks upon his friends with an eye of tenderness and love. Angels are watching your course; fellow Christians, behold you ; hosts of un converted gaze upon you, anxiously, loving ly. Be consistent. The next lesson, was the value of steadi ness.' Let your light shiue, not like an ignis fatuas, flitting here and there, but like the clear flame of a beacon, ever bright and in the same place. “ Stand fast by the maid ens of Boaz,” and glean in no strange fields. Be found in your owu seat in the Sabbath school, in your own congregation on tbe Lora’s day, in your little circle at the week ly prayer meeting. Do good in some sphere, no matter how humble, but have it ior your own. Our old clock stands iu tbfe corner, but we know it none the less. Would you be a useiul servant, be a steady one! The last, lesson, was the value of time.— The hours and days are gliding onward, O, how swiftly, and on their ceaseless wings they bear you to their eternal home. Say, brother, sister, shall it be a home of singing, or of weeping? With the saved, or with the lost ? With the true, or with the false? In the light everlasting, or in eternal night? So live that daily you may utter— “ One sweetly solemn thought Comes to me o’er and o’er; I’m nearer home to-day, Than ever I was before. Nearer t v e bounds of life, Where I lay my burdens down ; Nearer leaving my cross, Nearer wearing my crown.” M. E. M. Cotton in California.—A San Francisco paper says that on the alluvial bottom of Kem river there is a field of one hundred acres of cotton which looks fine and prom ising. The land was all cleared of weeds and willows, by Mexicans, Indians and Chi namen. The latter are said to be the most reliable help, very prudent and industrious. The State of California offers a bounty of $3,000 for the first hundred acres of cotton also $3,000 for the first hundred bales of 300 pounds each. Tulare and Los Angeles counties can, it is said, raise cotton success fully. Cotton can be raised iu many parts of the world, but there is no country where so good an article ot short staple cotton can be so well raised as in our Southern and south western States. India is too hot and dry for a strong staple, and California will pro bably be found too dry. In our Southern Atlantic and south western Gulf States, there is the requisite heat and moisture to produce a prolific yield and a strong staple which is enjoyed in no other part of the world. The summer showers which there prevail, when a long dry season in other cotton growing regions shrinks the quantity and injures the quality, gives the bouth its superiority. A leading Western merchant, addicted to old Bourbon, was wont to shut himself up in a room over his store “io sleep it off.”— On one of these occasions he gave his part- u<r special orders not to allow any oue to go into his room. “But,” si d he, hesita ting “if my wife comes down you may let her in—she’s a particular friend of mine I”