The Weekly times & sentinel. (Columbus, Ga.) 185?-1858, November 08, 1853, Image 2

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[From the Chronicle &. Sentinel.] Female Education in Geonria• Mk. Editok :— I The recent Convention of Teachers and the prospect of another in Novem ber, have made the public interested in the sub ject of schools: and 1 have made some memo randa of subjects on which to make some re marks. lam not a teacher, but circumstances have turned my attention to the subject, and a prolonged stay in various parts of Georgia have given me opportunities for observing the results of our present system for femalo education, which very few persons have had. The first item is text books. The constant changes of books which so drain the purses of parents, really make one fancy that Yankee teachers must be in league with Yankee publishers. The elementary books now used are especially un fitted for use. A really good compend of his tory is a thing yet to bo seen. If uniformity could be secured, so large editions would be required that the books could be furnished very cheaply ; but even were a good edition prepared by competent authority it might be impracti cable to bring it into general use, except in few schools under State control. The Legislature might possibly pass a law prohibiting the col lecting of school bills in such schools, unless these books were used, lu saying a set ot text books ought to be prepared by Southerners, l would not be supposed to sanction the notion of those, wiio are so intensely and ridiculously Southern as some were, who prepared a South ern speaker which did not even admit speeches by any but Southern men, and a very poor at fair it was t*o. The second item is female colleges. There has, probably, been no subject on which more humbug has been uttered for the last 20 years than female education. In Georgia it has, in an especial manner, been our pet humbug; one which but to name was to open the purse strings of all liberal people. Now, when a people have a pet humbug, woe he to that luckless in dividual who attempts to open their eyes. In Georgia we often heai the boast that this is the first State in which colleges for women were ever established. Vain glory, even where the , boast is true, is rather ridiculous, and leads to a habit of meditating on one’s own merits, which is certainly not favorable to seeing or correcting faults. The first objection to them is to Board ing Schools altogether. If education only re ferred to what one learned of books, it might be admitted that it could be obtained at a large boarding school, perhaps, as well as elsewhere. But it refers to character, manners, tastes, Ac., and for all these the gregarious system of large boarding schools is exceedingly had training.— I can speak with experience on this subject, for I was partly educated at one myself, and a very excellent one, the Barhamviile (S. C.,) School, kept by Dr. Marks- The training of character can be very little influenced by teachers in these schools; but is almost entirely influenced by the association of other girls, and this association is, in such schools, the result of accident. As for manners, no boarding school, either North or South, can train them properly; for good manners are the result of a fine character as a foundation, educated into a proper expression of itself in manner, by association with well breu people. The self-possession, which is the chief characteristic of fine manners, is based upon a proper appreciation of one’s self and others. A proper appreciation of one’s self de pends on having a character which entitles us to respect, and a proper appreciation of others, on good feeling, improved by that deference well bred society compels us to pay each other, j Girls educated at home in a family which has 1 well bred visitors are improved by that associa- [ tion, but in a hoarding school, of course, for j girls to go into society would evidently lead to ; so many evils that it could not he desirable. A ; good many of those who go North, come home with a sort of confidence, the result of the con- ; ciousness they- have been to Mrs. so and so's j fashionable school, and so are supposed to be I accomplished; but this, though it certainly is! better than the muuvais honk, with which they ! would otherwise be afflicted, only produces a sort of pert forwardness, rather than lady like ease and self-possession. Where girls do come home with really fine manners, they would have had them had they remained at home, for some people are constitutionally well bred.— The only thing which can bo said in favor of the gregarious system, is that it is a substitute for something better, when, as in many cases, that something better can not be obtained The daughters of planters living in the country, sometimes, cannot have the benefit of a good day school, and all mothers are not calculated to be an advantage to their daughters in train ing character and manners. Most of our wo men are so devoted lo “stitch, stitch, stitch, seam and gusset and gusset and hand,’’ like . Hood’s Shirt woman, that they have no time for anything else. Not that I would be sup posed to slight stitchery, for to he a fine needle woman is certainly a feminine and graceful accomplishment, (I do not refer to the working of worsted enormities, or the making of purses and slippers too fine to he used, or any other such time, eyes and health-wasting abomina tions; hut life has other duties not inconsistent with needles and house-keeping. The truth is, the state of things which make these huge boarding schools desirable, is by no means lo be gloried in- Since, however, wc must have them, they should have as little of the grega rious element as possible, and in no caso should the number be greater than should be sufficient to sustain teachers of English, Music and French; and a large number of girls never ought to board together. There is more specu lation in these things than people imagine.— Men who own property in stagnating little vil lages are very willing to have female colleges, and while contributing to the wants of us be nighted females, improve the value of their pro perty. As for the name College we Georgians take such exuberant pride in applying to female schools, unless the things which we call colle ges are something better than the things which are called by the good old fashioned name of boarding schools, I must tliink the magnificence of the term only a little ludicrous. I have known many of the pupils, and 1 think the standard of scholarship about on an average with that of Barhamviile and other schools. Few of the “col lege” girls, however, seem imbued with those literary tastes, which Dr. Marks excited in his pti; i!s. The only difference that i can see is. that the colleges are called so, are chartered, and I believe, to some extent, endowed; the classes into which the girls are divided, are call ed Senior, Junior, Ac., the teachers are called the “Faculty,” and the examinations are called Commencements, and they give Diplomas. A testimonial of having gone through with the prescribed course of studies is, doubtless, a very good thing, especially in the case of a young la dy who expects to teach ; and, perhaps 1 might be inclined to attach more importance to them had 1 found the ownership of one, always indi cative of scholarship. My chief objection to the college system, however, lies in the Com mencements. Can you, Mr. Editor, give me one single reason, good or bad, which shall justify the public reading of compositions by young girls. To write a good English style should be part of the education of every lady, because all may be called upon to write tetters, but this can be attained without this public reading, and if it could not, every well wisher to the young ladies of Georgia would say, in the name of common sense, give it up. I don’t know whether it is in tended to train our young ladies into the ora tors of Women’s Rights Conventions, but the plan seems admirably designed to effect that ob ject. If anything cruel be needed to convince parents that such exhibitions are utterly incon sistent with all our ideas of female delicacy and retirement, surely the epithet “female brass I foundries,’’ applied to them by some wit or oth er, should settle the matter. The true state- j ment of the case is, that they are designed as 1 an annual way of bringing the school before j the public, getting into the papers and adverti sing it. Surely parents can see that. This ! evil, however, will soon work its own cure, for 1 see the editors who have been remarkably long suffering, are getting tired of such advertise ments, which pay nothing and bore their read ers. W ere you, Mr. Editor, ever so unfortunate j as to attend one of these Commencements?— Were you ever so unmercifully bored ! If so, | you will excuse me for getting a little excited ! upon the subject. Os course, it is not to be ex- j pected every young lady could write an article ■ in which people generally could be interested, and therefore the more shame to those who com pel the poor things to “embody and unbosom, that which is not within them, and wreak u-ant of thought upon expression,’’ if I may be per mitted to make a parody. These productions remind me of what 1 once heard said of some similar effusions, “that they had a!! the merrit which proceeds from want of fault, and all the bruit that proceeds from want of merit.” To put a total end to them, it would only be neces sary to apply the first part of Dr. Witherspoon's advice to young theological students, “never be gin until yon have something to sav, and be sure i to stop when you have got through;” and I don’t j know but the same rule would put an end to the j annual addresses made at'Commeneements, and I dare say the respectable gentlemen, whose time and talents are called into requisition, would be glad to be freed in future from such demands. Not that I would accuse them of having nothing to say, for I dare say they have many valuable ideas to offer upon many sub jects, and that is the very reason they shotdd not be expected to wrote time and talents on a sub- j ject which has been so wofully used up, that he who could find anything new to say on it would be a genius indeed. The truth is, we Americans have such a singular idea of enjoyment that we seem to imagine if we have somebody to make a speech for us, vve have provided the most de- j lightful entertainment ofvvhich mortal man could j conceive. Query, if female education is an ex hausted subject now, what will it be a hundred years hence, if this speechifying continues ? In some newspaper this summer, I saw a list of the proposed commencement addresses, with a note from some editorial pen characterising the whole as a rich literary treat. If that editor was not talking lor the gullible constituency of Buncombe, which 1 suppose he was, Ihe worst i wish him is to be confined to such literary treats for the rest of his life. I have been quite amused with the reports given by the selected official character, of the exercises and state of the schools; each one wishes to give the idea that the school he writesfor is the best of all, and as hyperbole and inflammatory language have al ready been exhausted, the contest for suprema cy gets more ludicrous every year. 1 expect they will have to resort to the devices of the pa tent medicine venders before long, in order to be read, and I suggest for the benefit of all those I have heard, complain of the tiling, that they be put in the same column with the patent me dicines, for the convenience of skipping. 1 have been quite amused with the distress of poor Bishop Andrew, as to where the sixteen hundred young ladies, now educating in female colleges, (1 am not sure of the number, but only fear understating it,) were to find husbands, since there were only three hundred young men educating in the various male colleges. Dear compassionate old gentleman ? I am happy in being able to relieve bis mind, and at the same time pour balm into the hearts of the unhappy young men who must lie distressed at the idea ‘ of being overwhelmed with the company of six- j teen hundred blue stockings; but the truth is, j I doubt if a hundred of them ever read a book ] j through after leaving school, unless it be a no vel. This bringing them before the public and talking about (lie children of Georgia will, 1 am j afraid, only tend to make them alarmingly pre- j coeious. If the editor of Harper’s Magazine j were to send some comic lintner here, 1 am cor- j tain he would find good food for the comic pages j of that Magazine. He would be certain to j have some of the brass-buttoned likenesses of | young Shanghais at Marietta talking to their | ma’s about the way “we military men” do. One | more remark, and 1 will leave the subject. If ! public delivery of their sentiments Vie concluded j advisable in the education of young ladies, I j propose we send North and get Miss Lucy Stone to be professor of oratory, as she is more used to that, sort of tiling, than any other lady I have heard of. I have a plan to offer, to which 1 wish all those who have money to spare for the endow ment of literary institutions, would devote their ] spare dollars. We often hear complaints that Northern teachers are so constantly employed in Southern schools ; but the reason there is no supply to meet the demand for Southern teach ers, is, that facilities for education at the South not being as good as at tile North, only those i who were too rich to resort to teaching could become sufficiently prepared. What 1 would suggest (with beaming diffidence, for perhaps someone may be able to give a better plan) is, that people contribute money for the endow ment of a Normal school (not a “college” 1 hope,) for the education of Female teachers.— (n every community there may he found some indigent girls, “ ho, if they had the opportunities would make most excellent teachers. Let every one who contributes a certain stun iiave the right of presentation to a situation in this school, the presentee however, before accepted, subject to a rigorous examination as to capacity; for not every woman, Mr. Editor, has the raw ma terial out of which to make a teacher and such an institution being designed mainly for public benefit and only incidentally as a charity, I should exclude all who do not present a pros pect by capacity and diligence, of being useful to the public. The intellectual training in such an institution could be as thorough as that at West Point is well known to be, and for a sim ilar reason it would be independent of public patronage for support. Testimonials should be granted to those who qualify themselves for teachers. After leaving school, unless they taught a certain number of years, they should Vie considered indebted to the institution for the expenses of education. (For some of the three j hundred educated young men might take a I fancy to marry some of these teachers—certain- \ ly none but educated men would, for they would verify Bishop Andrew’s fear of knowing too much for any others.) In all (heir schools they should be bound to receive a number of poor children gratis. Such teachers as such an institution would produce, would be in demand not only in Georgia, but all over the South ; and if got up without any pretentious nonsense to make it ridiculous, the school would he a legiti mate boast of our people. The imitation of our plan, by people in other States, would prove the usefulness of it, far better than vain glorious laudations by every speech-maker, who wishes to gain popularity by talking for Buncombe.— [ did wish to say something as to what women should be taught, but I have already been more lengthy than I wished, Betsy Trotwood. Influence of Health upon Opinions.—Very mortifying is the reluctant experience that some unfriendly excess or imbecility neutralizes the promise ofgenius. We see young who owe us a new world, so readily and lavishly they promise, but they never acquit the debt; they die young and dodge the account; or if they live, they lose themselves in the crowd.— ll. IV. Emerson. qiXy* A weekly paper in tile Magyar language i- to be started in New York. It will be called Merekultek L-jf a, which means the Hungarian Exile’s Journal. Himes avfo Brntind. COLUMBUS, GEORGIA TUESDAY MORNING, NOV. 8, 1853. Superior Court of Muscogee Count*.—We are authorised, and requested by Judge Iverson, to sav, that the Superior Court of this county will bo adjourned over Jlo the 4th Monday in this month. Jurors and other parties interested will act accordingly. November 4 th, 1853. ! (£7"Attention is called to the several advertisements ! in todays paper, of Mtssrs. Wvnee & Edwards.— ! Their lot of Boots and Shoes is large and gotten up in elegant style; and they can not fail to suit any person who may favor them with a call. O’ The advertisement of Mere & Gallagher, of Philadelphia, in to-days paper, will attract atten tion for the ready facilities offered towards securing the best designs, as well as finished workmanship in all that partaius to ornamental and architectual iron work. Strawberries in spite of Frost. On entering our sanctum this morning, we were very agreeably surprised to fi id a most elegant and luscious collection of strawberries. The fruit so ripe and deli* i cious—the leaves so green. and blossoms peeping out ! here and there, made us forget for a time that it was j November. They came of course, from the gardens of ! Charles A. Peabody, who has now had for ten months such specimens of his skill and success in this cul ture. The varieties sent us, were the “Hovey Seed ling’’ and “Early Scarlet. ,? To the skeptical, we will i state, that they were taken from their beds and sent : in with roots and vines while the dew was yet upon them. 66 Female Education in Georgia. 9 ’ We like to see a free, candid and reasonable expres sion of opinion upon every subject worthy an opinion ; it does one good in this age of “humbug” and finical sensitiveness about “public Lvor” or disfavor. The article we give from the Chronicle if Sentinel speaks just to our liking. We all know that there is a perfect mania in our State on the subject of Female Education. It is one of our ‘* weak nesses.” Let us not be understood as wish ing to detract from the very commendable desire now I so common, to improve the Female mind—we but re- ■ fer to the manner in which this is so popularly sought j to be attained. The whole system, with some very | rare exceptions, at present goes upon stilts. A teaelu r I is no longer to be called such, but. a Professor. We have no mere schools and seminaries now-a-days, they have all become Colleges, or at the very least. Colic gi ate Institutes. No longer does a neat unpretending “circular,” announce that Mr. and .Mrs, or Madame so and-so, would be pleased to take a few scholars, offer ing the associations of the family and the care of the same with other unobtrusive and delicate expositions of minutiae, foi the purpose of convincing parents of the fitness and propriety of placing daughters under their charge—when in order to afford them an educa tion, eircumatances compell them to be sent from home. But uow flaming, pretentious—green, yellow and pink “catalogues’’ are distributed through every public place, announcing a “Collegiate course,” expatiating largely upon the “extensive accommodations’’—thereby meaning in most instances narrow, ill-ventilated dor mitories, each for half a dozen occupants, more or less. An annual “commencement,” of course , when modest mien and gentlo worth, with scenic accompaniaments not so modest nor so gentle, are wrought into a display j “To stretch the gaping eyes of idiot wonder, j And make men stare —” More we might truthfully add, but have already written ! at greater length probably, than we ought in the presence of one so accomplished as Aunt (?) Betsy Trotwood. Whether she bo such a strict, plain,eccentric,noble hearted ! personage as David Copperfield’s “Aunt Betsy,” or i some thoughtful, yet cheerful, candid spirit, who loves | lo tell the truth for truth’s sake, the interest she mani- I fests for the improvement of her sex will commend her 1 views to tho kind and grateful consideration of all, i particularly, as we are informed she is a native Geor j gian, and tells so pleasantly and readily what she thinks. i The Wliis? Press vs Second Congressional Dis trict—W big estimates of the results of the j lute election— charges of bribery Arc. j “Contrary to our expectations H.V. Johnson is Cover- j ; nor eh-ct ol the State of Georrgia, by two or three hun- i j Jred votes. We did onr utmost to prevent it, but the i people have decided, and wc must submit. At all events the reunited have not much of which to boast, and the raje was a noble one, and will not he forgotten soon. Wo look upon the late election as an utter rebuke to the ad ministration of Franklin Pierce. Going into power as he did, with twenty thousand majority, the Union party have reduced it to two hundred , and that majority they gained by bribery in the second Congressional District one hundred thousand dollars, having been spent in that district to secure the election of Colquitt. These are facts that have not yet been denied.” We clip the above choice specimen of Whig fab rication from the Washington Gazette , an insignificant Whig Conservative sheet, the rural organ of Mr. Bob Toombs. We should not notice the bare faced falsity of the article, were it not that it but re-echoes the senseless mid malignant assertions that have been made by other sheets of the same ilk, but claiming a more respec table position. The assertions that Pierce’s Administration has not been sustained and strengthened by the late election, and that bribery and fraud had been the means of se curing Democratic ascendency in the Second District, have been proved untrue in the one, and denied in the other so conclusively, that none but those who in the late contest waged the most ungenerous, dishonorable warfare, would fail to acknowledge. There are those whose associations have been so vile; whose habits have been so demoralizing, and whose character has been so corrupt, that neither truth, nor a sense of duty can have any effect upon a stolidity which lias become ingrained, and which gives a coloring to their every thought and act. Incapable of a noble impulse them selves, they deny its existence in others. Accustomed to resort to fraud and deception, they become enraged when an honorable antagonism defeats their diabolical designs. Trained to demagoguism, and schooled in slander, they dare to strike their envenomed fangs 1 when imbecility has overtak n them, and made them but things of scorn. Never in the history of political warfare in this State has th* re been a contest, char acterized by a more malignant, demon like, onslaught than the recent one on the part of the Whig press and Whig orators. Judge Johnson has been a very Catalino. and the Democratic party eonspii ators all. With the cries of disunion, jillibuslcring, public robbery, red republicanism , treason, affiliation tcith freesoilers they have made the State to ring from mountain to sea-board. With senseless and despicable combination of odds j and ends from all shades and shadows of every politi j cal stripe, they hatched up a pie-bold, ring streaked ! striped and speckled advertising hand bill,of a “platform’ such as was never before concocted to gull an intelligen and patriotic people. Defeated in a warfare thus waged on their part, well may they writhe, and With livid rage, their shameless laces blacken. As soon as the result was ascertained, the Second Dis trict became the mark for their poisoned shafts. At I first the “inactivity” of the Whigs of the South-western counties was bewalcd in lugubrious accents—but the tone soon changed to barges of corrupt on and foul play against the Democrats. Bribery and fraud have become words as common in the Whig vocabulary as treason and disunion had been during the canvass. Whig reek tiers estimated at first twenty five thousand dollars as the bribe fund : a little later and it reaches fifty thousand, an! now it is set down at a cool hundred thousand. Continue your investigations gentlemen, and perhaps you may eventually discover a secret mine where biennially the “mint drops” are shoveled forth without stint. We think a more plausible reason can be assigned however, f< r their vindictive imputations. Having by an act of the last legislative session carved out the Sec ond District to secure their own ends, they have been thwarted and defeated in one of their intended strong holds, and u*der the lead of their chosen Chief. To militate as much as possible against the victory achieved in this district, which gave the State to the Democrats, scriblers have been busy at work with their cock and bull stories, and a system of detrac tion indulged in which will eventually recoil upon the authors with more than seven fold power. And the result has been an “utter rebuke to the ad ministration of Franks p ierce.” Figures and facts .t * said, never lie, but they can be made to lie—we will lei them speak for themselves. In 1851, Pierce received 34,792 votes ; in ’53, Johnson received 44,343. With such a gain so palpably set fi.nh, that any one “though a fool could not err,” Whig editors have the hardihood to controvert. We will now let siu-h knights *4 the quill as the editor of the Washington Gazette, sink to theii iiflliiral level. It is seldom we reach down so far to drag up such fish, from their filthy beds, but having held them up to the sunlight a sufficient time to display their putresceni qualities, we shall now let them drop, to flounder with their kind in congenial mud. A Subject, not the leastjmportaut of many, for consideration during the next Legislative session, j It is to be hoped that the briefest period possible will j be consumed in the organization of the Legislature, and j that the elections of Judges and U. S. Senator will j take place with the least expenditure of time, in order to give ample opportunity for the consideration of mea sures affecting vitaly the internal and local interests ci the State. One of the most important of there, is a judicious and liberal system of common sthools. The right or expediency of providing education at j government expense, is no longer a matter of contro versy. The only question now is, “how shall this be best effected ?” The subject only requires attention to be satisfactorily disposed of. Common school education baa been so perfected in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, besides in several other States, that a plan is no longer a deside ratum. If our Legislators will but take up the subject with a determination to establish a system commensu rate with the wants of the State, and the ability of the State, wo need no longer labor under such a partial crippled system as at present disgraces our statutes and the n<ze in which we live. It is a remarkable fact, that Georgia has expended as much, if not more money, in proportion to her population and age than, any State in the Union, and has reaped the least benefit. Wc have in the first con stitution adopted by the State in 1777, the declaration that “schools shall be erected in each county, and sup ported at the general expense of the State.” To carry out this intention, the Legislature in V. 83 appropriated 1000 acres of land to each County for the support of these schools. In 1792, an act was passed appropri ating one thousand pounds for tho endowment of an academy in each county. In 1817 there was an ap propriation of $250,000 to the support of her schools. The year following, every 10th and 100th lot of land in seven new counties were appropriated to educational purposes. In 1821, there was another appropriation of $250,000 to the support of county academies.. The State also established a University, so called, with an endowment of 40,000 acres of land. Through the negligence of tho Trustees, as alleged, 5000 of the most valuable of these acres were lost by tho Beaufort treaty, and became a part of South Carolina. Os all these appropriations, $30,000 are only available for school purposes, and but about S7OOO for maintaining tho “University.” 1 here arc about 40,000 poor children who depend upon these $30,000 for education. 70 cents each, for a years tuition ! and of this pittance they arc often swindled. Indeed, the Slate but “offers it,” says tio Rev. Dr. Scott, in an address delivered be fore r the Central Agricultural Association in ’sl, “for such is the public apathy on the subject that the coun- j ty authorities in many instance neglect to call for and appropriate even this pittance for the benefit of tho poor forty thousand.” And we may add from facts withinour own knowledge, that when applied for, by the districts, after distribution to counties, some of those to whom it I haebeen entrusted, have had the criminal effrontery to j withhold, or wish to withhold a part of it. Such is the j shameful truth, and this in tho face of nearly eight thou sand poor children unable to read and write! The people demand a more efficient system in every j particular. Wo may boast of our hundreds of miles of; Railroads, of our scores of cotton mills and other manu- j factores, but woe 1 bo to Georgia, it her people arc left to slumber in ignorace, and the mind bo sacrificed to the j body. The more wealthy classes may bo educated, J but what are to become of the poor ? A heavy rospon- i nubility rests upon our legislators in this matter, and if J they possess the souls of men and the integrity of good i oilizens, they will no longer remain listless to the de- j mands of duty aud public right. This is a theme upon which we could never tire— • but so much has been said and written, and to so littls purpose that \v# would despair of readers . were it not that the subject is pressing itself up on tho attention of every thinking citizen ; and the j time has arrived when decisive and efficient ac tion can,and must betaken. The people will hold legislators responsible* for this trust, and if no other | means to bring their attention to the subject in a direct : and practical way can d< .b-v Ltd, it wili be made a matter of issue in election “Are ywti in favor of a liberal and efficient system of common schools ?” will ef fect more towards the attainment ot moral excellence among the people than all the liquor tests that can be applied from Maine to California. Nor will we stop as to common schools, the higher institution of learn ing require public attention. The people of Georgia do not realize their delinquency in these publio wants. Had the system as designed by the legislative session of i 1781 been carried out, Georgia would now have an • educational system equal to any the world, and instead of sending her young men at a distance to bo educated, ; other sections would have been sending to our Stats University and a degree signed by her President would j have given a greater prestige, than is now afforded by i any instituiion on the American continent. How the | matter stands, the people are begining to be acquainted, j Says Dr. Church, than whom on this subject no one is better qualified to give an opinion, “the plan of the University was conceived in wisdom and most admira bly adapted to the nature of our institutions, and the conditions of the people. Had the requirements of its charter been fully carried out, we should now have a system of education more perfect than that of any state in the Union, and as perfect and efficient as any king dom in Europe. According to this charter, the educa tion of the State was one connected system—every j school and academy, suppoi ted by public funds, was a j branch of the University, and over each the head of tho j University, had a special supervision. It was his du ty to visit the several institutions connected with the J University, to correspond with the trustees and instruc- ; tors, and endeavor to secure for them competent teach- j ers, and to insure from them an ample number of well prepared students for the higher departments of learning.* It is not too late now to adopt such a plan. At any rate let us have some efficient system that may afford at least, a good rudimental education. Tho present system is but an imposition and a mockery. •Discourse delivered before the Georgia Ilistorial Society. O* Wc have been shown some sterescopir pictures from Wood bridges Daguerrean Gallery—a new feature in the art and which for finish and effect surpasses any thing we have ever seen. Mr. Woodbridge, as will be seen by reference to his advertisement, has recently re- j turned with all the latest improvements in his elegant j art to which he lends a master hand (LT The Democrats of Stewart county have nomina ted the following ticket for county officers: For Sheriff—D. C. Thornton. “ Clerk Sup. Court—E F. Kirkeey. “ “ Inferior Court—D.W. Surles. “ Tax Receiver—James Armstrong. O” The Whigs have made themselves so ridiculous about the Democratic vote in this County and District, that while we feel a contempt for their charges, we are disposed to touch them now and then for their reck less presumption. The Federal Union thn9 applies its causiic stick. A poor compliment for the Whigs. —A correspon dent of the Republican who subscribes himself Observer insinuates that the Democrats of Muscogee county bought many Whig votes with the money of broken banks. — Whig principles must hang very loose upon nun, when they can be bought so dog cheap as Observer insinuates He says some of the Conservatives proposed to make up a purse to buy votes, but the plan was abandoned. We suppose they found out that Democrats were not in the market. Ex-Colltctor Bronson has been nominated for the United States Senate, to suoceed Mr. Seward, whose term expires in 1855, by the Democratic Convention of Orange county, New York. Stop the Clamor ! We daily hear complaints about the obstruction of streets and side walks with carriages, wagons, refuse of shops, foundariet, &a., &e. until the matter ought no j longer to be overlooked. For the benefit of all concern- j ed, vve respectfully tali the City Father’s attention to the following sections the city ordinances: Beet. 13—No shall place in any street or upon i Any side walk casks, boxes, iron or oth* r obstructions j No person shall, without permission from the Couu- ! oil, deposit city building material or earth in any of the ktrccts or on any of the side walks of thia city. No person shall keep in the street or on auy side walk in said city any firewood or any species of wheel carriage for a longer time than twelve hours. Query—A friend at our elbow wishes to know what rent the City Treasurer receives from Livery Stahl*s* Carriage Warehouses, &c. } for street room? No person shall deposit in any street or on any side walk any shavings or brick bats, or other refuse of building material, or permit those there to remain for a longer period than twelve hours. The following paragraph supplies tin desideratum in theory — Any person violating any of the provisions of this Motion shall be cited by the Marshal to appear before the Mayor or Mayor and Council, to answer such charge or charges ; and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars for each vio lation and for each day such violation may continue to exist. [What a hill some would have to foot if the ac counts were balanced !J For tear lest the ordnances may have become rusty in the memory of some, we call attention of those whose duty it is to enforce them to the Forty-Ninth Section which points out the manner in which the fines shall be collected. We have done our duty, Messrs. Mayor, Council men, Marshal, Deputy Marshal, and hope you will look to the ordinances. Remember “he that is faithful over a few things shall be made ruler over many’*—the converse need not be expressed. Some of you under stand us. A word to the wise, &c. Startling Intelligence—The Union in Danger, j We find the following dispatch in the New York \ Herald of Thursday. We should add that no other paper has the news : HIGHLY IMPORTANT FROM WASHINGTON. National Democratic Convention to be called to take into consideration the policy of the Cabinet [Special Correspondence of the New York Herald.* Washington, Oct. 26,1853. j Th*> National Dei n oca tic Committee are i u call a j National Convention of the Democratic party at Baltimore | about the time of the meeting of Congress. The object is j to take into eonsiderrtion “the State of the Union,” as il lustrated in the conduc t of the present administration They will determine the question whether the Baltimore platform has been properly undeisro-'d by the Cabinet, and whether their policy meets the approbation of the peop’e. The Southern States will be fully represented, as will the anti-free soil party of the North and West. It. It would he curious to see a Notional Convention held to settle the disputes of the New York democracy. The democratic party of the South have managed to settle their own disagreements, and will no doubt ex pect the New York “shells” to do the same. W hat ever are the merits of the cast), it is a New York af fair, and New York is not quite the whole Union. — The city of New York is not the political Paris of the United States, that its party emules should be permit ted to disturb the whole confederacy — Sav. News. Targett shooting by the Columbus Guards.—Last Saturday, this elegant corps turned out in bright array with well filled ranks to compete for a full uniform, which was won by private C. S. Pryor—tviih an ave rage of three shots, 4 9-1 C inches. 2d Best shot, fi 2-16 “ ‘N,. * 3d “ “ G 2-16 “ The Performance of the Camdell Minstrels to-night.—The Campbells have come and will per- j form at Temperance Hall to-night. This vve are re quested to say is positively the only concert they can ! give in our city. Os course every body will go. See j advertisement in another column. Accommodations at Milledgeville. —Th** Federal j Union says: l:i respect to accommodations, Milledgeville, we un> 1 hesitatingly say. is better prepared than ever to aecom* j inodate visitors and the members of the Legislature.— Besides our spacious Motels, which are seldom crowded, [ except during the first few days of the session, there ! will he open, eight or ten private boarding houses, j which, alone, could accommodate two hundred persons. Vistitors need not be deterred from coming to this city, from a fear of bad accommodation. Our crowd vv-il he large, but our Hotel proprietors have a way of putttinu away large numbers, conveniently, which is not the case in other cities, as wc have frequently noticed. The late lire has not in the least affected the arrange ments for accommodating the visitors to the city. On the contrary, it has extended the facilities for entertain ment, by the opening of larger houses for reception. California Congressmen.- —The Hon. M. S. Latham ! inemßer elect from California, arrived in the Not thorn ! L : ght, from California. Senator Gvvin, lady and fami- I ly. Senator Weller, and lion. J. A. McDougal, were ; t<* leave California on the steamer leaving on the sth j instant The Superior Court for Fairfield county, Connecticut, lart week granted a divorce to a Mrs. Baldwin, now seventeen years of age—only fifteen when she married ! The ground of her petition was intolerable cruelty. 05” The New Haven Register thinks the reason why the thanksgiving proclamation of the Governor of Massachusetts was so short, is to be found in the fact that there are so many and various religious creeds in Massachusetts, that it is difficult to write a Proclama tion that would be satisfactory to all 1 lion. John A. Dix and the Administration —This gentleman in a reply dated the* 24th uit., to a request to ad.ii *> . meeting at Rochester, X. Y., urges that Gen. Pei • - .‘.•{ministration t<> be generously sustained approves i * poll.*;, .s far as developed, particularly in th’ Iv>* nd highly commends, from personal know!- andg i', lu* Treaury Department as worthy of p raiße * (IT Commodore Perry’s squadron arrived at Japan j on the the Bth -July, and left again on the 17tlt. The were well and kindly received by the inhab itants, but the opening of official negotiations had been postponed until spring when the matter will be duly entered upon between the two author ities, fiortrnur of Vermont,. —Hobiaon, the Democrat ic candidate, has been elected Governor of Ver mont. United State* Senator. —The Hon. Mr. Bell has j bu< ii re-elected to the United Stales Senate from Ten- j neesee. ET The Hon. Henry K. Jackson, our Charge to j Austria, aoeordiug to late accounts made his official j visits to the Court on the Sth October. Death of the Sleeping wan.--Cornelius Vroo ! man died at his brother's residence in Clarkson, * on Monday, the 17th instant, While on exhibi- \ tion in New York he was taken sick, which j seemed to induce a wakeful state for a short ! period, and them a stupid condition, with inter- j vals of wakefulness, until he was brought home I on the 14th. He talked very little, inquiring after his mother, who had been dead two years his father and brothers, whom he seemed par tially to recognise, lie complained of groat internal heat and soreness of his throat and stomach. On the morning of the day of his death he called for food, and ate a hearty meal, and from that time seemed to be in pain until about 2 o’clock p. in., when he died with out a struggle. His age was some thirty.four years. —Rochester Democrat. Cgr Tile Hon. Robert M. MoLnne. U. S. Commissions er to China, is in Washington, attending nt the State De partment, where he is receiving his instructions eonneo ted with the duties of bis mission. t FOR TK£ HUES ACID SEXTIXT.L.] Greenville, Ain., t October 38th, 1853. ) In company with the President and several of tile ; Directors of the Girard Railroad, I have attended meet- | ings on tho line of the road in Pike, Lowndes and But ler counties. These meetings have been generally well attended and characterized by the must gratifying evi dences of zeal and interest in the success of this great en tei prize. At Farriorsville, Pike co., the friends of the Road gave a fine barbecue, at which several hundred per sons were present, including a fair proportion of the ladies of the surrounding country. This was the first of tl:#.se ries of appointments, the President and Directors are now filling, and wr-san earnest of the deep interest felt in the completion of the Girard Road along the entire line. Many of the most prominent citizens of the coun ty were present and participated in tho proceedings, and not only by their presence encouraged the work, hut gave the most substantia] proof of their confidence in it as a profitable investment by subscribing liberally for the stock. At a meeting held in Lowndes every man present who was not already a stock holder, except two subscribed for stock—one of these will subscribe and that liberally ; the other is only prevented bv ha! luck, as he termed it. The meeting at this place to-day as small in consequence of the inclemency of the weather, but what was lacking in numbers was made up in zeal on the part of those who were present. Several of these appointments were upon the line of Montgome ry county, and were attended by citizens of that c-ounty who manifested equal interest with the rest in the early completion of the road. In fret, Messrs. Editors, the people are fully alive to the importance of this great work, and see clearly its bearing upon the interests and prosperity of their res pective counties. They manifest the most perfect read iness to aid, as far as they are able, its completion, and are fully sensible of the many advantages they will en joy when the waters of the Gulf aud Atlantic shall be united by means of the Girard Railroad. To an out sider the prospect seems good lor the entire Road to.be put under contract in a short time—“a consummation most devoutly wished for.” CmiNNENtfiGEE. iFrom the Charleston Mercury.] Mr. Gnthrie and his Enemies. Those unacquainted with the past history of the Hon, James Guthrie, Secretary of the Trea sury, as most of our readers are ; seeing the low and vulgar abuse of him, in the New York Her ald, and other kindred papers; must necessarily i feel some curiosity to know something of his antecedents, and Ihe cause of this onslaught up j on him. Mr. Guthrie, is a stalwart Kentuckian, with a remarkable striking appearance. His man ners are plain and unostentations. The expres sion of his countenance, at first sight, is rather forbidding, which soon disappears, upon ac quaintance, however, and gives place to confi dence. His high qualities of head and heart, placed hitn in the lead of his profession, in his native State, and his probity of character, secured the confidence of his people to such a degree, that he was always elected to the political positions lie sought, although a firm and unflinching States Rights Democrat, and living in a Whig district. His whole history, his pure morals, and his strict integrity, indicated him as a proper man to administer the Treasury Department; and so far as he lias gone, he has fully come up to the highest expectations of the public. It was not to be expected, that the man who undertook to correct the misrule of the Trea sury Department, under the Into Whig Admin istration, and bring it back to its legitima-e ac tion; enforcing strictly the accountability of those connected with it ; and driving oft’ those who like vampyros, were sucking from it; would escape without denunciation. Mr. Guthrie’s first act of reform was to turn tho forfoilures of twenty pt*r cent upon under , valued goods from the purses of the Collectors, i into the vaults at the Treasury, where it pro perly belonged, thus correcting an abuse which j had grown into practice, and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Treasury. The practice of giving the forfeitures to the i Collectors, which was clearly not contemplated by the law, gave the Collectors of New York and San Francisco, and other ports where the ; importations were large, better salaries than the President of the United States receives. In this connection, the manner in which the ! Collectors all over the country discharge their . duties, came under his scrutinizing eye, and iooso screws were tightened, and many abuses wore corrected. The contracts for public buildings pertaining to the Treasury Department, were looked into, remodeled, and put in proper trim, and the re sponsibility of the contractors most carefully examined. In order to systematise this branch of public business, be made a requisition upon the Secre tary of War lor a Civil Engineer, whose actual supervision will prevent any misapplication of funds, or improper discharge of duty on the part ot contractors. .Many sinecures were abolish ed, and this branch of business put upon a safe ; and economical footing. Mr. Guthrie’s next measure was the with- i drawa) ot the lands of tho Government front the possession ot Bankers and Brokers where they had been lying as a standing deposit, re sulting in vast pecuniary profits to the holders, j lhe agency ot Bankers and Brokers had been j used to redeem the stocks of Govermeut, which ! had fallen due, and also for the purpose of buy- j ing up those not due, which the condition of the i Treasury justified. Mr. Simeon Draper was one of these agents, I and by the timely settlement, and the withdraw al of the deposits from him, much lias been sav- ; ed for the country. Under Mr. Guthrie’s administration, the per nicious practice of allowing salareid officers of the Government to draw their salaries, and ex tra compensation for duty performed by them, lias been discontinued. By this practice, which had grown to be a 1 universal one, large sums of public money wore paid to officers of the army, acting in a civil capacity in California, and much more was j paid to civil officers engaged in running over the I country upon errands altogether unnecessary to ; the public- business, l have grouped together a few of the reforms j introduced into the administration of the Trea- • snry Department by the Secretary of the Trea- I surv, for the information of your readers, and tor the purpose ot pointing public attention to the latent cases which have given rise to the j furious assaults that have been hurled upon the ; Secretary by the disappointed plunderers of the i public treasury. It was not to be expected that the thwart- j cd would leave the rescued game, without : making a desperate attempt to regain it.— | finding this impossible, they, like a drove of J hungry wolves, when the wounded deer is almost within their clutches, is snatched from them by some skillful hunter, set up a howl of disappointment, and sullenly leave the ground. This course of policy is the head and front of j the Secretary’s offending, and is tho real cause of lhe denunciations which have been heaped i upon him, and for which his letter to Bronson • has been made tho pretext. It appears to be conceded, or rather taken tor granted, that the Administration lias interfered in the Now York quarrels, and Mr. Guthrie’s letter to Bronson is j seized upon as a proof of the fact.T his is in no j respect true, lhe Administration seeing the j difficulty between the two wings of the parly I in New \ork—was inevitable, determinod that j the policy ot the President in regard to appoint ments to office, should not be affected by it, j and hence the letter of the Secretary was writ-- ! ten to Mr. Bronson. Any one who will take j the trouble to read carefully Mr. Guthrie’s lotter ! to the Collector of New York will see that, so far from it being proscriptive, it actually pro. scribed proscription, it simply admonished the Collector that he was riot to appoint men from liis own wing of the party exclusively. but from the other also; in other words, the Secretary informed Mr. Bronson that the division was not regarded by the Administration at all acdisquali fving either wing, and that it must be so con sidered by him. But Mr. Bronson had his own ends in view, anti to carry them through he misconceived and misrepresented the Secretary’s letter, and made it the pretext of doing directly what he had been doing indirectly-that is,'opposing the Admin ; istration. It is well known that Mr. Bronson, and thus who were acting with him, were openly suport iug Brady and Cooley, who had declared wai i upon the President and the policy of his admin iatration, long before the letter o! the Secretary j was written In the vain hope of extricating themselves, from their inconsistencies, they tried to separate the President from his Cabinet, ami 1 put all kinds of reports before the country, through their mouth piece, the New York /hr. aid, of dissensions in the Cabinet, and the m-. i eessitv of its dissolution. It evidently was their intention to come to an open rapture with tin- Administration, and every subterfuge was i, sorted to to lead off public attention from their inconsistencies, and from the true cause of their discontent, and hence the hue and cry they rais- I ed against the Secretary of tho Treasury, whose j mortal offence was the reforms he had brought about in his Department, and not liis letter to Bronson. I have often heard our own Great Statesman say that the man who undertook to refomi tlie abuses of this Government, would have the cm I tire pack of disappointed place-seekers and plunderers of the Treasury at his heels, and that he was afraid that there was not virtue enough |in the country to save him from destruction. It i remains to be seen whether this Administration, which I believe has honestly sot out with this in tention, will he sustained by the people. In my last communication I classed the See : retarv of State, Mr. Marcy, with other Northern 1 politicians, as having been opposed to the ex tension of slavery in the territories; this, 1 learn from a friend, is not the case, and that his record is clean from this blot, and I therefore note the fact and make the correction. PALMETTO. Lu.)tirious Kissing Described. —Almost any writer, says the Yankee Blade, can describe j emotions of joy, anger, fear, doubt or hope; but there are very few who can give anything iik an adequate description of the exquisite, heaven ly and thrillmg joy of warm, affectionate kissing. We copy below three of the best attempts that jwe have ever seen. The first is by a young j lady during her first year of courtship; “Let thy ami twine Around me like a zone of love, And thy lond lip, so soli, To mine lie passionately pressed. As it has been so soft.” The next is by a lady after her engagement. ! It will readily be seen that her powers of des ; cription are far in advance of tiie one’s quoted iabove: “Sweetest love. I’lace thy dear arm beneath my drooping head, And let me lowly nestle on thy hear!; Then turn those soul-lit orbs on me and pro— My parting lips to tast the ecstaey Imparted by each long and tingening kiss.” But the best thing we have seen is the follow ing, by Alexander Smith. We think, however, than when a man so freely indulges in oscilla tory nectar as to imagine he is “walking on thrones,” he should be choked off Hear him: “My soul leaped up beneath ‘thy timid ki-n, What then to me were groans, Or pain or death 1 Earth was a round of bliss, I seemed to walk on thrones.” Street Meet ini’s Stopped in Washington. — On Sunday, Capt. Birch, of the Auxiliary- Guard, attended at the points at which temper mice meetings were proposed to be held, and notified those about to make addresses, that the law made it his duty to arrest them if they at tempted to address crowds in public thorough fares of the city. Thus he prevented Mr. Geo Savage and his friends Irom haranguing a crowd in the square between 7th and Bth streets, on Pennsylvania avenue; and also prevented tho intended proceedings of the meeting advertised to be held in front of the Patent Office building. The parties proposing to hold these meetings, at once acquiesced in this action of the officer of the law, by dispersing. — Star. Omar Dasha. — The Comhind Fleets. —Tbt London Times of the 14th nit., intimates that notwithstanding the threats of the Turkish com mander-in-chief, against the Russian army In the Dumibian Principalities, amounting to a condi tion al declaration of war, so far as that warrior is concerned, liis instructions forbid him from crossing the Danube. The Times adds; Those of our cotemporaries who exultingiy announced more than a fortnight ago that the combined fleets bad entered the Dardanelles, and that war had positively commenced, must ot course be distressed at asceitabling tiiat hostilities even now are likely to be avoided, and that the‘combined fleets,’ which the excep tion of the steamers detached at the Divan’s request, were still, on the 7th of this month at anchor in Besika Bay. A Valuable, Inrention. —Tho most valuable invention which we have seen for a long time, is one lately patented by Mr. Thomas Stubble field, of Columbus, Georgia, and the manufac ture of which is now extensively carried on bv our esteemed fellow townsman, Mr A, Fulton. It is an alarm water guage, for the. prevention of the explosion ot steam boilers. Whenever the water passes below a certain point, the whistle blows, reminding the engineer of his neglect of duty, and at the same time inform ing all on board ot it. Wo have one on the boiler of our steam press, with which we have experimented, and find it to answer our highest expectations. With it, it appears to us impos sible that an explosion can ever take place, un less an engineer chooses to commit wilful mur der. Mr Fulton is at present unable to supply the demand for them, but will place all applications on his registry, and fill orders as soon as possi i We. We commend it to the attention of our j steamboat friends, many of whom have alreadv availed themselves of its advantages. /it change. Senator Douglass among the ('ulmucl. Tar- I b/rx—The Paris correspondent of the Cincin -1 nati fla'.ette, says: Mr. Douglass has just returned from an exten j stvo tour, which emh.aced Italy, Greece, Svria, I nrkey, Russia, Prussia, Belgium and France. He leaves here Thursday, and after travelling’ i through Scotland and Ireland, wili take steamer at i.ivt i pool, on the Ifttli of this month, for the I nited States. He looks well, has enjoyed his trip and is “chock full,’’ of good stories, start ling adventures, and intervention arguments, with which to astonish the natives in the next ; sitting of Congress. He has had a long eon ! ference with Reschild Pasha at Constantinople, with Count Nesselrode, at St. Petersburg, and ! with many other great men ; and he has come lo tho conclusion that Louis Napoleon is the great est in Europe, that France is tiie best gorverned. country, and her people the most enlightened* Mr. Dounglass travelled over the principal parr ot Russia in a long carriage, which travelled, night and day at the rate of eight ami ten miles mi hour. It eontained a sleeping room and kitchen, so that he seldom left it. He penetra ted to the confines of Tartary, where a grand annual fair was going on, at which there were .400,000 persons, Siberians, Russians, Aus trians, Calmuck Tartars, Circassians, Georgians, Turks and, Persians. ’’