Newspaper Page Text
LITERARY
f’jmjjermtcf
PENFIELD, GEORGIA.
L. LINCOLN VEAZEY, Editor.
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 6, 1858.
MEMORY, from the office which it holds and
. the part which it performs, deserves to be
considered one of our highest faculties. That it
does not always receive this consideration, is at
tributable to the fact that few persons fully un
derstand its nature, and have a due conception of
its importance. Many assign it to the lowest rank
of our faculties, and speak of whatever it accom
plishes alone with contempt. Never do they err
more egregiously. Memory is so intimately con
nected with all our mental powers, and so neces
sary in their operations, that without it they would
be utterly worthless.
We may, then, very reasonably place memory
in the very highest class of the attributes with
which we are endowed. Reason may make itself
more manifest and achieve greater conquests, but
is not so indispensable to man’s preservation and
happiness. Indeed, as we shall further show,
memory is essential to reason in its every opera
tion. The two attributes being thus related, we
must of necessity assign the higher position to
that one upon which the other is dependent.
In carrying on a process of reasoning, memory
indispensable. Though any amount of
facts might be successively grasped by the mind,
the relations which they respectively sustain to
each other could not be ascertained without the
powor of retention. Each would present itself
loose and disconnected. It is only through our
powers of recollection that two propositions can
be compared and a conclusion drawn therefrom;
for, if we could not remember while considering
one thought, the thought that had occupied the
mind the moment previous, it would be clearly
impossible to bring them together in any form.
We accordingly find that all those who have been
distinguished for skill and ability in reasoning,
have likewise possessed high powers of memory.
Some who think profoundly have seemed to be
wanting in this particular. This deficiency, how
ever, was only apparent. Many things escape
their remembrance because they never gain their
attention; but of those things about which their
minds are employed, the recollection is prompt
and faithful. The powers of our memory vary
greatly in reference to different things. In many
cases this can be accounted for without difficulty,
by the-effects of habit or education. The account
ant who has spent years over the pages of the
ledger, of course has a good recollection of num
bers, while his brother, perhaps, who is a physician,
has a memory trained to an equal degree of re
tentiveness for an entirely different set of things.
The business of every man, as it draws his atten
tion from the great mass of things a#d occurren
ces around him, and fixes it upon that in which
he is particularly interested, naturally produces
varied powers of memory. But there are multi
tudes of instances which cannot be accounted for
in this way. We have seen men with whom you
could not intrust a commission with any certainty
of its execution for fifteen minutes in the future,
who could at the same time treasure up the fruits
of half-a-day’s steady reading without difficulty.
One person has a good recollection of names, but
none of dates, while, perhaps, another can tell all
the events of a history without any notion of the
time or order of their occurrences. These are
facts in the philosophy of the mind, the explan
ations of which are beyond our knowledge, and
whicli we, by searching, cannot find out.
There is a great diversity in the power of this
faculty in different individuals. In some, it ap
pears to exist almost entirely alone to the exclu
sion of all others, while in many it is weak, and
in some almost entirely wanting. We are of
course unable to decide how far this is natural, or
the effect of cultivation in a given fnstahce. In
some cases, either by nature or the force of train
ing,-the memory exhibits powers which seem in
credible. It is related of Voltaire that on one
Occasion, while visiting Frederic, King of Brussia,
he read an original poem of considerable length
to that monarch. When it was finished, the
King denied its originality, telling him that he
knew a man who could recite it all. He then
called in a man from another room, who repeated
the whole poem, word for word, without the
smallest mistake. The enraged poet, whose tem
per was none of the best, in a moment of anger,
tore the manuscript in pieces, doubting for the
time being the dearest evidences of his own
senses. When the monarch had sufficiently en
joyecfliis confusion, he explained that he had
placed behind a curtain a person whose strong
and accurate memory had enabled him to com
mit the poem by over-hearing it read. Upon
Voltaire’s expressing regret that he had destroyed
the manuscript, and that it should thus be lost,
the mnemonist undertook to remedy the matter,
•and succeeded in reciting it again, so that it could
be re-written.
This may be an extreme case, but a multitude
of other instances are not wanting to prove the
degree of strength the memory is capable of at
taining by cultivation. There are no known
limits to its capabilities of improvement. One of
the most ready means of accomplishing this, is
through our powers of association. By this, every
■object may be associated with some idea or any
number, so that at any time it can bring up a
long train of thought to the mind. Thus is laid
the ground-work of the useful and important
•Bcience of mnemonics.
> The memory is more affected by age than any
other of our mental faculties. Even whore its
•strength has been the result of education, it grows
weak as the weight of years enfeebles the physi
cal frame. The very aged are frequently unable
to retfein for an hour the contents of the page
which they have diligently perused, and have to
day but slight recollections of the occurrences of
yesterday. Yet, these same persons have the
moßt vivid remembrances of the scenes and trans
actions of their early years, which seem to become
more fresh as they grow older. There is philo
sophic truth, as well as much poetic beauty, in
th©lines of Burns- -
“ Still o’er these scenes my memory wakes,
And fondly broods with miser care ;
Time but the impression deeper makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.
Examinations into the philosophy of the mind
have induced many to believe that men never
forget* Impressions made upon the mind may
be for the time obscured, but not wholly effaced.
We know that every day some recollection of the
past, of which we have not thought for years, is
brought up with a clearness which makes it seem
as but of yesterday’s date. At sudden convul
sions of the mental faculties produced by disease
or other causes, long trains of remembrances
which had been swept into oblivion for indefinite
periods, have been restored without any percep
tible-diminution of distinctness. With these
facts before us, we may reasonably infer that when
the soul is delivered from its external surround
ings, all that it has experienced or acquired will
original vividness of impression. At
the moment of its dissolution from its earthly
tenement, the mind will become cognizant of
every thing that has transpired during a lifetime,
however long. Entertaining these views, may
we not regard man as his own recording angel,
continually inscribing on blank pages, entries
which no hand but that of Jehovah can efface?
fpHERE is no greater fallacy than that a man
X can live in this world, act meanly and injure
no one but himself. That person does not exist
who does not wield some influence, either for
good or evil. It may be small—so small that
none hut He who suffers not a sparrow to fall un
noticed, will take it into account. It is always
exerting its force, whether he is asleep or awake,
in idleness or action. The extent to which it !
operates on those around him is unknown to’
himself. When arraigned at the Bar of Eternal
Justice, he will find himself charged with many
deeds which he never committed, of which he had
probably never heard. This continual action
upon others, whether we will it or not, makes it
a fearful thing to live.
Astronomers tell us that were a star to-day
stricken from the universe, it might be years be
fore we would perceive the loss. It would still
continue to deck the nightly vault, and send us
its feeble contribution of light, as if nothing had
occurred. So is it with the influence of every
man, especially if he be one to whom Heaven has
granted the high endowment of genius. It still !
continues a living, active power, long after the
elements that composed his frame may have been
resolved to their native dust. Man can never
award to his fellow-man his deserts to the full
extent; for that which must be a part of the be
ing which shall be resurrected at the last day—
his influence through all time—cannot in this
world be known.
Who can form any estimate of the amount of
guilt which Hume, Tom Paine and other authors
of like principles and talents will have incurred !
As long as their works shall continue to exist,
they will lead thousands of every generation to
error and perdition. On the other hand, what a
grand monument of moral glory is continually !
building up to the names of Baxter, Bunyan and |
Doddridge! To what a sublime height will it have j
attained when the final triumph shall summon
all to account for the deeds of life, whether they
be good or evil!
There is no escape from the responsibility of
this influence which we are continually exerting
on our fellow-men. In olden times, religious
zealots fled to the mountain caves, and the
gloomy desert wastes, hiding themselves in soli
tude. In self-torturing ascetism, which they mis
took for holy devotion, they sought to live for
themselves alone. But their efforts were vain.
In their seclusion they still had an influence, and
from those dreary wilds their voices spoke to the
world. They taught men the important lesson
slowly learned—perhaps not yet fully learned—
that Heaven cannot be gained by making earth
a hell.
The ./lower that opens to the morning sky gives
its fragrance to the breeze, and yields its sweet
ness to the insect that culls it with patient in
dustry. In a few brief hours from its opening,
the delicate essences that clustered within its b U( I
are scattered far and wide. So is it with man’s
influence. It emanates from him, and goes he
knows not whither. If, however, it proceeds
from a pure heart, he may be assured of its doing
good wherever it may go. But alas! liow many :
are like that flower that blooms along the high- j
way in gaudy splendor, tempting by its beauty
those whom it will kill by its poisonous odors!
THE Savannah Georgian , in an attempted reply
to our comments on his notice of Everett’s
oration, lets off a drunken squib, which* proves be
yond doubt that liquor must have been uppermost
in his mind at the moment of its perpetration.
Even his “characteristic” stupidity could not
have caused him to expend that keenly satirical
home-thrust in air by directing it at the wrong
person.
From the scurrility and irreligious blackguard
ism that marks every column of that sheet, we
have no doubt that the editor of the Georgian
would very willingly sit down with Sumner, Banks
and Greely, did not the smallness of his mental
calibre forever exclude him from such society.
But we have no wish to meddle with him farther,
as we have a feeling remembrance of the adage,
that “If you touch filth you will be defiled.”
+. ♦ —__
flgpThe May number 1 of the American Colton Planter
has been received. It is printed at Montgomery
Ala., at One Dollar per annum, and edited by N.
E. Cloud, M. D. and Mr. Charles A. Peabody.
Harper's Monthly Magazine of May has been from
some cause more than a week later than usual in
making its appearance. The table of contents
presents an attractive variety. “ A winter in the
South” is continued, affording some graphic
sketches of life in Tennessee. The never-failing
excellence of this Magazine renders it very cheap
at its price, $3,00 a year.
The Star Editor of the Augusta Evening Dispatch
proproses writing a series of articles in favor of
the revival of the African Slave Trade. He lays
down as one of his propositions, that it is neces
sary to produce harmony in the world. We fear
the proof of this strange paradox will be rather
a heavy tax on his logical powers.
A widow lady near Marietta, Ga. was recently
robbed of a thousand dollars, by a strolling gyp
sey, who got it from her under the pretence of
using it in sorcery to find some gold which she
made her believe was buried near her residence.
At the late term of the Superior Court of Hen
ry County, Rev. Noah Smith, a minister of she
Methodist Episcopal Church, was tried for a grave
misdemeanor, and was found guilty. It was his
second trial on the same charge, and the length
of time that it had been on hand, the standing
of the accused and the ability of the counsel on
both sides, imparted to the case an unusual de
gree of interest.
The Athens ‘Watchman estimates the loss in
curred by the burning of the Pioneer Paper Mills,
over and .above the insurance, at SIB,OOO or $20.-
000.
On Friday evening last, (30th ult.) about one
o clock, our citizens were startled by the alarm of
fire. It proceeded from some stables and out
buildings on the premises of L. L. Andrews, which
were entirely consumed. By prompt exertions,
it was prevented from spreading, and the destruc
tion of those houses and a fine lot of wheat, we
believe, were the only damages. It was caused
by some negro children who were playing with
matches and powder in one of the buildings.
r, ' llE followin g line8 > gotten off by some fellow
“who can have but little respect for himself or
the ladies,” we find passing the rounds. Wc think
they contain “more truth than poetry-.”
* Youngster, spare that girl!
rv ffi° Be bps so meek !
Unruffled let the fair lock curl
Upon the maiden’s cheek !
Believe her quite a saint;
Her locks are all divine;
Her rosy hue is paint,
’ Her form is—crinoline!
At the late session of the Superior Court of
Franklin County four men were sentenced to the
penitentiary. James H. Burton, for negro steal
ing, 7 years; Howell, for burglary, 3 years; F.
Askew, for receiving stolen goods from a negro]
2 years; and R. W. Cain, for throat-cutting, 2
years. His brother, B. B. Cain, was fined SI.OO
and sentenced to 4 months imprisonment for
aiding and abetting in the same.
IT would be a real treat to meet with a novel in
which the subject of love was entirely ignored.
We have historical romances, sea tales, stories of
domestic life in great numbers, but in all is the
same old plot, with such variations as the inge
nuity of the writer can contrive. Some young
man of character extremely admirable and praise
| worthy, sees a young lady who is clothed in the
light of beauty, and possessed of every mental
and moral excellence. They are instantly drawn
to each other by some mysteriously sympathetic
influence which they denominate love, and they
conclude that their destinies are inseparably
linked. But opposing obstacles present them
selves or are thrown in their way, and the two
poor mortals are rendered very miserable by the
prospective disappointment of their cherished
hopes. This is the ground-plot of every novel,
from the trashy “ Yellow back” to the stately
romance, “ Complete in three volumes.”
Now besides the unnaturalness of this, it con
fines genius for fictitious writing to a very narrow
field. Admitting that there is such a passion
as this intense, all-absorbing love whicli they de
scribe, (which we regard as extremely apocryphal,)
are there none others that might exercise dram
atic skill? Is the whole of man’s emotional na
ture monopolized by this one feeling? We have
portrayed, indeed, in works of fiction, many other
passions which agitate the human soul, and con
stitute the motive powers to action. But these
are merely thrown in for variety, and are always
made to play subordinates to the “Grand Pas
sion.”
All this is very pernicious; for though no one
ever found a counter-part for such representa
tions in real life, it causes many to believe that
such things do exist somewhere. Some spend
! many years of their lives in the fondly-cherished
| hope of finding this soul companion to whom
j they will be instinctively drawn. Our imagina
tions have much to do with our happiness or mis
ery, and we have no doubt that many have been
rendered seriously unhappy—not by the pangs
of unrequited love—but because the expectations
which fancy produced and error nurtured, were
not realized. Poets may create fairies and gob
lins at their pleasure, as they may serve some
useful end in amusing or frightening children;
but when they permit their imaginations to j ro
duce such sad effects as these, they are guilty of
a great moral wrong.
AVhethcr or not there ever existed on this earth
that noble love which poets describe and novel
lists write about, it is certain that it has long
since disappeared. With all gloss of sentiment
that can be thrown over the matter, the fact can
not be concealed that the sexes occupy the posi
tion towards each other of speculating parties,
and that the matches made between them are
purely of business character. The problem of
loss or gain is calculated with as much accuracy,
in regard to marriage, as any mercantile trans
action. We have no objection to all this; for in
our working, prosaic matter-of-fact world, we do
not think it can be otherwise. But we condemn
the hypocrisy which seeks to hide the truth un
| der a covering of such gauzy texture. Let mar
j riage be made a trade in word as it is in deed, so
that each party may know what is to be expected.
Were this the case, we opine that matrimonial
bliss would become far less rare, and celibacy
would fearfully decline.
B@teCol. Edwards, a prominent citizen of Cass
county, died on the 27tli inst, of typhoid fever.
last Banner states that the Bank of
Athens will resume specie payments on the Ist of
May.
Mother,” said a little boy, “ I’m tired of
this pug nose; it’s growing pugger and pugger
every day.”
PTDuring the last year, the Baptists alone
have added 59,000 members, most of which ac
cession has been at the South.
pgPThe King of Prussia has become stark mad.
Prince Frederick, with his English wife, may
soon have an opportunity at governing.
B@°Mr. William Talman, of Germantown, Pa.,
has been compelled to pay $2,000 to a Miss Ellen
Graham, whom he promised to marry, but did
not.
JES@pThe Tallahassee papers record the death
of Charles Godbold, a native of South Carolina,
and for several years proprietor of the City Hotel,
in that place.
Js£g“‘The Mississippi papers announce the death,
on the 16th instant, of the Hon. Wm. R. Cannon,
a prominent political! of that State. lie was a
native of South Carolina.
Hon Hiram Warner has been elected by
the Phi Delta Society, and will deliver the next
annual oration before the two Literary Societies,
in Oglethorpe University, at their next commence
ment on the 21st of July.
RtgteThe Secretary of the Treasury received, on
Tuesday, the 20th inst. fifteen hundred dollars
in treasury notes, from an unknown individual
in New York, who states that he had cheated the
government to that amount during Gen. Pierce’s
administration.
learn from the Sparta Georgian, that
Judge Thomas W. Thomas, of Elbert, has had
the great misfortune to lose his young and ex
cellent wife. She died last week, while Judge
Thomas was absent from home, in attendance on
Hancock Superior Court.
J&siyOn Thursday the Mount Vernon Associa
tion, at Richmond, Va., received a check for SBOO
from Wm. If. Brune, Esq., of Baltimore, treasu
rer of the Norfolk and Portsmouth fund. This
sum is the unexpended balance of the amount
subscribed by the citizens of Louisville, in aid of
the yellow fever aufforers at Norfolk, and Mr.
Brune has disposed of it as requested by the city
council of Louisville.
>•••♦■
IJggUC'oui'ting in the country is altogether a dif
ferent institution from the city article. In the
former, you get rosy lips, sweet cider, johnny
cakes, and girls made of nature, and in the latter,
a collection of starch phrases, formal manners,
fine silk, jewelry, and girls got up “in hoops.”
Always take to the rural district when you want
to get a good style of calico.
jgggKThe Boston Courier, gives the following no
tice of Mr. Garrison’s Liberator:
“ Inone respect it is worthy of study in apurely
rhetorical point of view. Its vocabulary of vitu
peration is probably the richest and.linest in the
world. Whoever would learn in tlie highest per
fection the art of cursing without swearing—who
ever would fain measure the wealth of the Eng
lish language in expression of venom, brutality
and ferocity—should give his days and Ixis nights
to the columns of the Boston Liberator.
831F“The human race, says Charles Lamb, ac
cording to the best theory that I can form of it
is composed of two distinct races—the men who
borrow and tlie men who lend. To those two or
iginal characteristics may be reduced all those im
pertinent classifications of Gothic and Celtic
tribes—white men, black men, red men. All the
dwellers upon earth, “ Persians, and Medes, and
Elamites,” flock hither, and do naturally fall in
with one or theother of these primary distinc
tions.
StST" Mike Davis, charged with the Murder of
Mr. Gay, of Jasper county, has been arrested.
®*sY“Goy. Brown was a delegate to the Baptist
Convention at Americus, from Milledgeville.
Thirty Years’ View is said to have
already attained the sale ofseventy thousand vol
umes ! _
pg°The general the Methodist
Church South, will meet in Nashville, Tenn., on
the Ist of May next.
S. Woolsey who was injured at
the late explosion of gas in the Methodist Pro
testant Church in Cincinnati, has sued the gas
company, in that city, for SIO,OOO.
Mother, send for the Doctor.” “ Why my
son ?” “ ’Cause that man in the parlor is going
to die; he said he would if sister Jane did not
marry him, and Jane said she would’nt.”
Bgp“Tlie Detroit Advertiser of April 17th, says
it has learned confidentially of new developments
which warrant tlie supposition that the perpetra
tors of the Burdell murder will soon be disclosed.
ggy'Mrs. Prudence Munroe has obtained $1,837
damages against the city of Boston, for injuries
sustained in a fall occasioned by an edge stone
of the side-walk on Bow street being out of its
place.
jggyMr. C. W. Howard, of Kingston, proposes
to publish at Atlanta, a Monthly Journal, devoted
to Agriculture and such other kindred topics as
may be of interest to Southern Planters, Farmers
and their Families.
accounts from several portions of
the wheat region of Tennesse, state that the re
cent frosts and cold weather have not injured the
growing wheat, although fruit and garden vege
tables have been damaged.
private letter to musical gentleman in
New York, states that Ole Bull lias been received
with great enthusiasm, not only at Bergen, the
city of his birth, but in Christiana, and every city
and village through which he passed.
53P”Thirty converts have been added to tlie
Church in Albany, Ga., within ten days.
Forty five have joined the Church in LaGrange
in the last two Sabbaths. Over seventy have
joined the Church in Beaufort, N. C., within a
short time, and many more are expected to be
gathered in.
Bgy*Capt. Bennet of the late brig Cornelia lias
been arrested at San Francisco and held to bail on
the charge of having scuttled liis vessel at sea, hav
ing first robbed her of $50,000 in silver, which lie
shipped at Mazatlan for San Francisco. The
treasure is said to be buried near Cape St. Lucas,
to which some vessel had been sent for its recov
ery’
frWMr. James Larey, of this county, says the
Sparta Georgian, had his house, kitchen, and smoke
house entirely consumed by fire on Friday hist with
all of his furniture,Jmeat, &c. Itis supposed that a
child set fire toabed in a room adjoining in which
a number of women were engaged in quilting. It
seems they did not have presence of mind enough
to save anything.
B@teThe following bit of quaint humor has
about as much sound philosophy in it as could
well be crowded into so small a space.
Bad luck is a man with his hands in his breeches
pockets and a pipe in his mouth, looking on to
sec how it will come. Good luck is a man to
meet difficulties, his sleeves rolled up, and work
ing to make it come out right.
lUP’Advertisments contain matter that interests
every class of the community. Free and liberal
advertising is like seed sown in spring time, it
will bear fruit after mqny days. Advertisers gen
erally admit that it ultimately benefits them.
The man who is seeking custom in any branch
of trade, must invite and attract it by notoriety.
Business will go to no house or shop unsolicited,
and could not, if it would, find it in obscurity.
It is a fact, attested by universal experience, that
the merchant or manufacturer who is best known
—who is, in other words, best advertised through
the newspapers —lias the best run of custom.
The advertising columns of a daily newspaper
form a sort of mirror, in which the general char
acter of a great commercial metropolis is reflected
to the eye of the world. People at a distance
judgeofacity in its business condition, and other
wise, by the evidences of an antiquity, enterprise,
wealth and commerce which it presents in the
pages of its press.
t
Nil Desperandum.
Oh! what if the prospect be clouded,
And what if the sunlight be fled ;
The bl ight sun himself may be shrouded,
And the bright crown be torn from his head;
But he bends never long to the rigor
Os the tempest that beats on his form ;
And he comes forth anon full of vigor,
More glorious because of the storm.
From the sun let the soul take its moral,
Nor shriek ’neath the battle of life,
Near the cypress grows ever laurel,
And we pluck, as we please, from the strife,
Though the foe presses on with his legions,
And we bend for the hour to his will,
Keep you calm in the turbulent regions,
And the triumph ensures to you still.
W. GILMORE SIMMS.
Family Names. — The following facts are from
an interesting article on the family nomenclature
of England asd Wales, in the sixteenth annual re
port of the register-general of England :
The indexes of births, and deaths for
seventeen :and.a half years contain more than 21,
000,000 names. In England Smith is by far the
most common name, while in Wales the name
of Jones predominates. During the period above
named, the records of both England and Wales
show 285,037 persons named Smith, and 282,900
named Jones. Os the whole population of Eng
land and wales in 1855, one person in 73 was
named Smith, one in 76 was a Jones, one in 115 a
Williams one in 148 a Taylor, one in 152 a Davis,
one in 175 a Brown. Over a half a million of
the whole population were named Smith or Jones.
“Therange of avocations which make up the
complex system of civilized and social life, pre
sents no business of such extended influence as
that of the editor. For his periodical issue is read
by thousands, day after day; he descants upon a
larger variety of persons syad subjects than any
other; and his opinions are received with pecul
iar respect from the mass of his readers, under
the idea that he is an organ of public sentiment.
•K* %r vS* #
“The wide diffusion of its (the editorial busi
ness) products and the daily reiteration ol its
teachings place it in the first, if not the highest
rank of influences, which arc constantly operat
ing on the character and destiny of the nation,
not only in reference to our internal welfare, but
in the judgment of the world. * *
“ The editors of our newspapers, as 1 have shown
are the class whose business calls to bo pre-emi
nently, the guardians of the Republic. r I hrough
them, above all others, the citizens ot our land
receive their general ideas, especially with regarc
to the discharge of their political duties, it tnc
editors were always right, therefore, it is mani
fest that the people could not be wrong,
hence, the great desideratum, in my opinion,is
adopt some plan by whioh those whose c 1
function it is to govern the public, may fus
how to govern themselves. # ...
“ In fine, there is not belonging to this world
so manifold, so diffusive, so penetrating, so active
an institution as the newspaper press Oh ! how
great should be the wisdom, how pure the patii
Stum, how lofty the principles of those wh o
imida its enerev! How worthy of all honoi, aro
the editors who reach the mark of their vocation !
And how safe would be the destiny of our favored
county, if the guardians of its weltaio did not
themselyes too oftpn load it astray.
OLIO.
A Waif.
“ The rain had fallen, the poet arose,
He passed by the tovrn and out of the street;
A light wind blew from the gates of the sun,
And waves of shadow went over the wheat;
And he sat hint down in a lonely place,
And chanted a melody loud and sweet,
That made the wild swan pause in her cloud,
And the lark drop down at his feet.
The swallow stopped ns he hunted the bee,
, ,T1 1C snake slept under the spray,
1 he wild hawk stood with the down on his beak.
And started, with foot on the’prey,
And the nightingale thought,‘l have sung manysongs,
out never one so gay,
or lj e sings of what the world will be,
vv hen the years have passed away.”
Celibacy.
We heartily commend the following, from Fow
ler's “ Life Illustrated” to the perusal of every
woman and girl in the land:
•‘Single blessedness” is rapidly on the increase.
It threatens to become an established “institu
tion.” Marriage, and the family relation, are in
danger of being supereeeded. These and similar
utterances have become one of the prominent
topics of the newspaper press.
In all of our large cities the disinclination to
marry on the part of young men is frequently
spoken of and written about. And it is said,
truthfully too, that just in the ratio that me in
cline to bachelorism, rowdyism, debauchery and
crime become rampant in the land.
This is a subject of great, importance to all, and
of fearful interest to some. It requires no extra
ordinary reach of thought to comprehend that
the natural and inevitable result must be, sooner
or later, the general demoralization of both male
and female and the utter disorganization of hu
man society. Without the maintenance of those
domestic associations and duties, which are known
only where the marriage institution is made sa
cred, no society ever did or ever can exist above
barbarism or savageism.
To arrest this downward tendency of the race,
two causes must be corrected. Young men must
be trained to Ike, move, and have their being,
without those blood-inflaming and soul palsying
poisons, liquor and tobacco, and yonng ladies
must learn to be useful as well as showy. On this
latter clause of our text we purpose to expatiate
very briefly, and then leave the matter, for the
present, to the reflections of all whom it may con
cern.
It is notorious, all over the civilized world,
that American females are unhealthy, and that
tendency to disease and infirmity is constantly
increasing. The daughters, as a general rule, are
more infirm than their mothers, and their moth
ers compare unfavorably with their grandmoth
ers. There is no_theme so much written about,
talked about, lectured about, as sickly American
women and girls. Even the medical journals and
daily newspapers of Europe are frequently com
paring the health and stamina of American fe
males with those of the females of Great Britain,
France, Germany, etc., and always to the disad
vantage of the former. And they seem to see,
•not without reason, one of the leading causes cf
the ultimate degeneracy of the American people,
and the final overthow of our republican govern
ment, in the fact that the vitality of our females
is running down.
Young men cannot be ignorantof these things.
They are, and must be fond of the society of
young ladies. Nature, and instinct, and reason,
and custom incline them to marry. But with
the thought of a matrimonial alliance come the
thoughts of every thing except beds of roses and
domestic joys. So far as courting goes, all is
pleasant enough; but with marriage is associated
the idea of doctors, nurses, and a greater or less
number of Bridgets and and Mary’s and
Ellen’s. Instead of a help-mate, a wife to cheer
him on in the arduous pathway of life and take
charge of the household affairs, he dreams of del
icate nerves, tender stomachs, falling hair, decay
ing teeth, and spinal irritation. He anticipates,
as well he may, aconstantmonologueabout pains,
aches, bad feelings, morbid sensations, as the pre
vailing music of the fireside. He thinks of ever
recurring bills to pay. He knows the chances
are against him of marrying a patient to take
care of, instead of a wife to enjoy.
Now men are just as selfish as women arc. On
the whole, wo think they are more so. The young
lady who supposes that any young man on the
face of the earth wishes to marry her for the sake
of nursing her through life, makes a very great
mistake. There have been, indeed, “marriages
of sympathy.” But Heaven sanctions not, and
nature abhors such alliances.
If young ladies advertise themselves as pretty
play things, young gentlemen will take them at
their word. If in their actions, and by their man
ners and accomplishments they declare them
selves flirtable and courtable, but unmarriageable,
young men will so understand the matter, and
act accordingly. They will be ready enough to
dance and frolic with those they do not respect.
They will make themselves agreeable to those
they cannot love. They will play court where
they cannot think of manying. Whenever they!
find their attentions are beginning to be taken in
earnest, they will seek other society. They will
not, of course, give the l’eason for this, and, the;
young ladies will of course wonder “why don’t
the man propose ?”
Young men, we repeat, will sport and amuse
themselves with young ladies whom they neither
love nor respect. But if they do respect them
and could love them, they are frightened from a
proposal to marry by the sad evidence of infir
mity, which cosmetics, false hair, artificial teeth
and expensive skirts are unable to conceal. Hence
they rather avoid all approaches to intimacy, and
often abandon the company of those who could
be healthy, and who would make good wives, and
seek amusement in less respectable society amid
more debasing associations.
The young ladies of America have it entirely in
their power to arrest this growing evil. Let them
make themselves healthy and have their capac
ity to be useful as well as ornamental, and they
will not be long in the matrimonial market. Let
them snap their fingers at the fashions of London
and the follies of Paris, and act like sensible hu
man beings. Otherwise, they are neither fit for
wives nor mothers.
Home Difficulties. —The house-mother liai
her troubles, aye, be she ever so gifted with that
blessed quality of taking them lightly and cheer
fully. It is not pleasant for lazy ladies to get
breakfast over at that regular early hour which
alone sets a household fairly a going for the day ;
nor for unarithmatical ladies, who have always
reckoned their accounts by sixpences, to put down
each item, and persevere in balancing periodi
cally receipts and expenditures; nor for weakly,
nervous, self-engrossed ladies to rouse themselves
sufficiently to put their house in order, and keep
it so, not by occasional spasmodic “setting to
rights,” but by a general methodical overlooking
of"all that is going on therein. Yet unless all
this.is done, it is in vain to insist on early rising, or
grumble about waste, or lecture, upon neatness,
cleanliness and order. The servants get to learn
that “missis is never in time!” and laugh at her
complaints of their unpunctuality. They see no
use in good management or avoidance of waste.
“Missis never knows about anything. She may
lecture till she is weary about neatness and clean
liness. Just put your head into her room and
see!” For all moral qualities, good temper, truth,
kindliness, and, above all, conscientiousness; if
these are deficient in the mistress, it is idle to
expect them from servants or children, or any
members of the family circle. —A Roman's Thoughts
About Women.
Opening a Wife’s Lf.tteus. —A legal question
of a delicate nature is now exciting extraordinary
interest in Westphalia, viz: whether a husband
has a right to open his wife’s letters. The ques
tion arose out of a suit for divorce, instituted by
the husband, in which he obtained a decree; but
the conclusive piece of evidence was a letter from
the Lotharios, addressed to the wife, and the con
tents of which would never have been known had
not the husband Dcen so ungallant as to break
the seal. The divorced wife at once prosecuted
him for opening the letter, and the tribunal of
Unnohas decided that he was wrong, and has
sentenced him to a fine of ten dollars. An ap
peal is pending, the result of which is anxiously
watched for by the public.
May is considered an unfortunate marrying
month. A down East Editor says, a girl was
not long since to unite herself in the suken tie
to a brisk lad, who named May in his proposals.
The lady tenderly intimated that May was an un
lucky month for mai'rying.
“Well, make it June, then,” honesty replied
the swain, anxious to accommodate.
The damsel paused a moment, hesitated, cast
down her eyes, and said, with a blush:
“ Wouldn’t April do as well ?”
FARMER'S COLUMN.
COMMERCIAL,
AUGUSTA, Monday, May, 3, P. M .-Cotton.-' The
sales since Saturday afternoon, 218 bales, us follows ;
3aC at 39 at 12J, 112nt 12J cents. Receipts
311 baleS.
SAVANNAH, April 30.— Cotton. —The market con
tinues quiet at unchanged prices. Saleß foot up 535
bales, at the following particulars; 26 at 121; 9at 121;
388atl2i; and 112 at 12§. We continue our quota
tations:
Middling 111® 12
Strict Middling 12 ®l2&
Good Middling 12i®12f
Middling Fair “ 121® 12§
CHARLESTON, April 30.— Cotton —The market
was quiet to-day, the sales having been limited to some
352 bales, at about former prices.
Babbit’s Saleratus. —People will use saleratus
as long as bread is to be made. We never believed
in this agent, and waged war upon it without any
compromise, till wc saw Babbit’s preparation or
rather the effect of it, in producing nice bread,
and in this case, the saleratus tone was entirely
wanting. That has bean the desideratum. Bab
bit’s saleratus is all evaporated during the baking
process. All we can say, throw your “ pottekery”
saleratus into the gutter, and if you will use any,
try Babbit’s.
To Remove Rust.—- -To remove rust from steel,
cover with sweet oil, well rubbed on it; in forty
eight hours unslaked lime, powdered very fine.
Rub it till the rust disappears. To prevent the
rust mix with fat oil varnish four-fifths of well
rectified spirits of turpentine. The varnish is to
be applied by means of asponge; and articles varn
ished in this manner will retain their brilliancy,
and never contract any spots of rust. It maybe
applied to copper, philosophical instruments, &c.
London Field.
To Prevent Sprouts. —Many trees are liable to
throw up sprouts for yards around, and for years
after being cut down, to the great plague and
trouble of the owner of the soil, keeping him dig
ging and grubbing, to remove the sprouts, io the
detriment of his crops and his own patience—
such for instance as locust, poplar, gum and
others. To prevent this, all that is necessary,
after cutting down the tree, is to bore a hole, say
ten to twelve inches down into the stump, and
fill with common salt. This will kill the living
principle to the utmost extent of the roots. The
best time probably would be some time in August,
though I have killed locust in the Spring, and
gum in August, while others that I did not salt
kept me grubbing for years.
Variety of Farm Products. —A celebrated
French agriculturist, Gasparin, speaking of the
advantages cf cultivating a variety of farm pro
ducts, eloquently says: “We write upon our flag,
Variety! That’s my advice. That rapid locomo
tion which explores the world, which interrogates
all climates—that spirit of investigation which is
the characteristic of our age—all will concur in
concentrating upon our soil the young produc
tions snatched from rich countries, and we shall
find means to naturalise. The most humble table
shall be covered with new gifts: like that of the
rich, it shall enjoy a diversity of food, which is
the pledge of health, strength, and contentment.
Uniformity, whatever may be the scale that we
assign to it, is the worst of conditions : It is the
spleen of the North; it is the misery of Ireland ;
it is the rule and the chastisement of convents,
the home-sickness of the barracks.”
Sorgho Sugar Ca.ve. —Gen. Daniel Wallace
writes to the Unionville Journal:
“It is known to the public, I believe, that du
ring the last summer I made several hundred
gallons of molasses from the juice of the Chinese
Sugar Cane.
1 understand a report is abroad that my crop
of molasses has become sour, and is, therefore,
worthless. So tar as I myself am concerned, I
care nothing for the said report. Knowing from
experience, however, that the Chinese Sugar Cane
plant is a valuable one to every class of our peo
ple, I deem it due to the public interest to say
that the said report is untrue in every particular.
“My molasses was of the most superior quality
when first made, and so far from having deteri
orated in quality from any cause, it appears to
have improved ftom the effects of time until I
feel warranted in saying, it is now equal, if
not superior, to any syrup manufactured in Amer
ica. D. Wallace.
Shoeing Hens. —A friend of ours, boarding in
the country, found his hostess one morning bu
sily engaged in making numerous small woollen
bags, of singular shape. Upon inquiry, he was
informed that they were shoes for heps, to pre
vent them from scratching. The lady stated that it
had been her practice for many years to shoe her
hens, and so save her garden. These “shoes”
(I believe they are not yet patented) were of
woollen, made somewhat of the shape of a fovyl’s
foot with case, after which it is closed with a
needle sewed tightly on, extending about an inch
up the leg. Our friend observed that some of the
biddies, possibly conceited with their new honors,
appeared to tread as though walking on eggs—
particularly wasthis the case when, fromtlie width
of the shoe, one would conceive that their toes
might be a little pinched.
A better plan is that invented down East. You
tie bits of iron, about the shape of a wish-bone
to the hinder part of a hen’s leg, having the por
tion not tied larger than the other. The hen
lifts up its leg, steps down on this rearward pre
jection, falls forward suddenly of course, and so
is rapidly assisted out of the yard where it is de
sired she should not scratch. The machine is
called the Double Back Action Hen Expediter.
It is a good sign to see a man doing an act of
charity to his fellows. It is a bad sign to hear him
boasting of it. It is a good sign to see the color
of health in a man’s face. It is a bad sign to see
it all concentrated in his nose. It is a good sign
to see an honest man wearing old clothes. It is
a bad sign to see them filling holes in his windows.
It is a good sign to see a wom?n dressed with taste
and neatness.
>■
.Teddo. —The city of Jeddo is said to be without
exception, the largest city in the world It con
tains 1,500,000 dwellings, and the unparalleled
number 0f5,000,000 of people. Some of its streets
are sixteen Japanese ris in length which is equal
to thirty two English miles. The commerce of
Japan is immense, and the sea all along their
coasts is covered with their ships. Their vessels
are laden in the Southern portion of the empire
with rice, tea, sea coal, tobacco, silk, cotton, and
tropical fruits, all of which find a market in the
North and then return freighted with corn, salt,
oil, isinglass, and other productions of the North,
which find a market in the South.
A fiddle improves by age and use ; a piano does
not, neither does a bell. There is perhaps, a
slight improvement for the first few years, but
afterwards the quality deteriorates. Metal we
know, is altered by repeated and long continued
hammering. Thump a piece of iron, and you
change the quality of its magnetism; the shock of
the waves modifies the magnetism of an iron
ship ; and some of the music is knocked out of a
bell by long continued use of the clapper. A pe
culiar effect is noticed in the bell of Cripplegate
Church, Scotland, when it strikes twelve. The
first two or three strokes are distinct and clear,
then a discord begins, which accumulates with
every stroke until, with the eleventh and twelfth,
a complete double sound is produced.
Human Nomenclature. —‘ What’s in a Name?’
Everything. Chns. Lamb understood this mat
ter when, speaking of giving chidren ugly Chris
tian names, he said, * Don’t Nicodemus a man into
nothing.’ A boy’s name has more to do with his
happiness and prosperity than we are apt to, im
agine. A diminutive, ill-sounding cognomen has
kept many a poor fellow in the background all
his days. And an unlucky nick-name, applied
to the wearer by the carprice or malice of his fel
owß, not unfrequently affects his peace and respect
ability through life. We once knew a man whose
real bona fide name was ‘ Stuffie Sickle.’ He was
called Stuff Pickle, for short. Well—what of
him? Nothing. He was ‘nobody,” of course,
and his whole history ‘ nix.’ Reader! if you are
young (as we hope you are,) and married (as you
ought to be,) and should have sons and daughters
(and may you be blessed with a half a dozen of
such sort,) remember that much depends on nam
ing them properly. Beware of top h eavy names-*
such as Byron and Washington and Shakspeare—
which only serve to belittle the wearer. Better
by half call them all John and Mary, and then num
ber as they do steamers in the West. Give them
good, plain, manly, spelling-book titles, and then
if any man ‘ nick-names’ your child, prosecute
him for slander.— Selected.