Newspaper Page Text
LITERARY
temperance %ttsa%.
PBNPIELD, GbSrGIA,
L. LINCOLN VEAZEY, . . .1 .... Editor.
V THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 27,1858.
- ? -
¥OMAN IN POETRY is a very different af.
fair from the compound of silk, hoops and
crinoline with which we meet in the world of
reality. In the soft-moving measures of verse,
she is all that is elegant in thought and lovely in
sentiment. The gross elements which, to a more
prosaic view, constitute the great mass of common
mortality, form no part of her being. Her heart
js the seat of higher emotions than those who
tread the humbler walks of life ever knew or
conceived, while the acts proceeding from such
makes each a heroine. In a word, the poet’s
pen, when it bodies forth his ideal of woman,
creates a being far too bright and good for daily
contemplation.
Such is her general outline as she apjiears in
verse, but the particular features are variously
modified, as they receive their molding from dif
ferent hands. Between the fairy-like shape of
one who is light as the angel forms that bless
an infant’s dreams,” and the strong proportions
of the Amazon, there are countless gradations.
Each poet impresses upon every character that
his imagination shapes forth some distinguishing
; and yet, there is in all some com
mon quality that marks them as of one parentage,
anil something that distinguishes them from the
creations of every other mind.
Woman must of necessity always form an im
portant element of poetry. There is much of its
essence in all that concerns her, in every act she
performs, in every glance of her eye, in every
quiver of her lip, and in every word that falls
from her tongue. He who would strive to con
struct a poem of any length, while he ignored
woman’s existence, discarding the language and
suppressing the emotions to which she has given
birth, would attempt a task which he could never
accomplish. Even though its strains sounded the
notes of war, and dealt in battle-fields and steel
clad knights, they could not move on without her
■ presence or influence. The father ol Epic Song
has left pictures of her in his Helen, Hecuba, and
Penelope in tints which shall glow in unobscured
beauty, when the canvas on which Raphael and
Angelo penciled their heavenly inspirations shall
have moldered to dust.
The great Master of the Drama drew woman,
as Ke did all else which his pen touched, with a
truthfulness which has never been equalled. He
did not make her a mere puppet, to play a given
part upon the stage, moved by wires at another s
volition. She was a living being, of the same
feelings, actuated by the same motives, exhibiting
the same virtues and marred by the same faults
,as those whom we see in our every-day life. He
did not make her the impersonation of one qual
ity, and in order to show that forth more con
spicuously, strip her of every other principle.
(Consequently, none of his women are monsters
vice without a redeeming trait, or paragons of
virtue. In the faithlessness of Cressida, the wan
ton inconsistency of Cleopatra, the heartless
cruelty of Margaret, the base ingratitude of Re
gan and Goneril, and the unscrupulous ambition
of Lady Macbeth, he shows that when woman re
signs herself to the dominion of passion, she can
be guilty of as dark crimes as the sterner sex ever
commit. But the page which he devotes to the
bright side of her character is far more full. The
filial love of Cordelia, which neglect could not
abate or cruelty destroy; the pure chastity of
Imogen, whom oppression could not frighten or
temptation cause to swerve; the fearless inno
cence of Desdemona and the artless modesty of
Miranda are such tributes to woman’s noble na
ture as no other poet ever paid.
What a pure, holy light has Milton thrown
around the mother of our race! Her image rises
up in our imagination as a prominent object in
that garden, where hung in rich luxuriance the
fair fruit that caused her fall, and the immor
tal amaranth that bloomed near the tree of life.
Though she sinned when tempted, and thus en
tailed woe on all mankind, the innocence and
loveliness of her character is not impaired; yet,
in all this she is not, by any word or phrase, more
highly praised than by being called “ the fairest
. of her daughters.”
“ Most women have no character at all,” is the
. declaration of the poet who taught Moral Philos
. ophy in verse. Such a piece of splenetic sarcasm
may have been expected from one who, either from
. choice or necessity, spent his life in singleness of
‘! heart, evincing but slight impressibility to female
vfcliarms. Perhaps, had lady authors been as nu
.tnerous in his day as they are now, his reverence
for the sex would not have saved some of them
from an unenviable immortality in the Dunciad.
ffiit his own master-piece, “The Rape of the
Lock,” owes its chief merit to its heroine, and
in the tender pathos with which he delicately
•draws Eloisa, he makes ample amends to woman
t<w* whatever he may have said to her prejudice.
Byron and Moore wrote less truth and nature
of w oman than of any other theme. The former
r presented her as a softened, slightly changed im
age of himself. Reason was to her unknown, and
she was the mere creature of passions which she
had neither the power or the will to control.
Indeed, one might conclude that he had adopted
one tenet of the Moslem faith, and denied her a
soul capable of higher aspirations than earthly
love. The latter etherializcd her until he made
her too pure to be human and too gross to be an
gelic. The brilliant play of his fancy fell on her
as does a sunbeam on a web of gossamer, giving
forth a gleam, but not revealing a substance.
He seems to have known nothing of the depth
and earnestness of woman’s soul, and the strength
of her character. He recognised but one passion
by which she could be moved, and with that her
being began and ended. It was the exiled Peris,
the children of Imagination, too airy in form to
tread the earth, too sinful to enter the courts of
Heaven, to whom his love ditties were addressed.
Mortal woman, of flesh and blood consistency, j
> claims no part cf his song.
Scott has, next to Shakspeare, succeeded best
in painting woman in the colors of truth and
natural beauty. In artless simplicity, she resem- j
Lies the timid hal t that roams amid the seques- j
i tered glades of his native land. Her purity and :
• innocence made her heart as transparent as the J
iglassy surface of Loch Katrine, while in the no- ,
Ibleness of incorruptible virtue, she towered aloft
2 ike Benvoirlich’s head that buried itself in clouds, j
All this with
“ Those silver sounds, so sott, so dear,
The listener held his breath to hear,’’
makes a being whom there never bieathed a soul j
so dead as not to love.
In poetry of a later date, there is too much ■
tendency to display the faults and frivolities of.
woman, or if her virtues, only those which form
the lighter part of her character. Our enervating
aad destructive system of female education, too, is
calculated to do away with that inherent nobility
of nature which would make her life a glorious
epW. One might write very passable doggerel
about a lady’s extravagance in dress, sentimental
nonsense enough about her beauty and amiability;
but a woman aWit whom poetry can be written is
rarely found. *
AVe had the pleasure on Sabbath morning last
of hearing the < ’ommencement Sermon ofGreenes
boro’ Female College by Rev. I)r. Wilson of Au
gusta. His theme was, the proper sphere for the
exercise of religious influence by woman, and was
treated in a clear, pointed, highly-polished style,
abounding in passages of eloquent beauty. The
sermon, we believe, gave universal satisfaction to
the large and intelligent audience. AVe under
stand that he preached again at night, and will
also deliver the annual address at the close of
the commencement exercises on Thursday even
ing.
Harper’s ‘Magazine for June contains a continu
ation of “ Tropical Journeyings,” “The City of
Elms,” “The Microscope”—all elegantly illustra
ted—and Thackeray’s “ Virginians.” “The Easy
Chair” defends Thackeray’s picture of AVashing
ton thus far, but seems to think that he will not
be able to carry his heroes through the revolution
without an outrage on American feeling. The
Drawer has become so proverbial for good things
that a notice of it would be superfluous.
The Sparta Editor of the Central Georgian cor
rects in his last issue a statement made in a pre
vious number, respecting rust in wheat in that
vicinity. He reports the crop in that county to
be made beyond a contingency, and the indica
tions for a good yield very favorable.
The Southern Baptist Publication Society has
favored us with two small volumes, “The Lit
tle Preacher,” and “The Life of Henry T. AVim
berly”—both from the pen of Rev. C. D. Mallart,
D. D. They are designed as contributions to the
Sunday-school Library—for which they are well
suited. We knew and loved Henry, and have
read with no little pleasure this tribute to his
worth by the venerable “ Uncle Charles.”
The Tiii Delta Society of our University cel
ebrated its anniversary on Friday last (21st inst.)
The Orator, Mr. Geo. AV. Wimberly, delivered a
very handsome and appropriate address on the
subject of “ Popularity,” which he treated in a
manner that reflected on him much credit as a
writer and thinker. The exercises were enlivened
by good music, and passed off to the satisfaction
of all, save the regret that the audience was so
thin.
In the evening of the same day we had the
pleasure of listening to an oration delivered be
fore the Tau Delta Society, by Mr. James P.
Sharpe. His theme, “ The Three Cultures,” was
discussed with an easy diction and gracefulness
of style rarely found in College-boy efforts.
- -•■
Plausibility of speech is seldom indicative of
real candor. AVhen a man makes an effort to
express himself in a pleasing manner, it is a good
sign that he desires to conceal his real sentiments.
The Southern Cultivator for June has been re
ceived. it contains a number of interesting ar
ticles. No farmer should be without it. Pub
lished in Augusta, Ga. by Wm. S. Jones. Daniel
Lee and D. Redmond, Editors. Price, 81 a-year
in advance. Cheap enough.
There are thousands who are neither rogues or
honest men. They would not stealthily invade
ycur house by night and carry off your goods or
demand your purse with a pistol at your head,
but would think any means by which they could
overreach you in a trade honorable and praise
worthy. .
♦■!
The Edgefield Advertiser announces the death
of H. R. Spann, Esq., who was a prominent lawyer
in that place.
The Directors of the Bank of Augusta, have de
clared a semi-annual dividend of three dollars
and fifty cents per share.
The Albany Transcript which has a school
master among its editors, is responsible for the
following:
The principal of one of our Select schools has
been sending circulars to the parents of the pu
pils, which, signed and returned, will authorise
him to inflict such punishment, corporeally or
otherwise, as may in his judgment be proper.
The following answer proves that some of the
parents are pleased with the idea:
“Deer Mr. Ratten. —Your flogging cirklar is
duly received. I hope as to my John, you will
flog him just as offin as you kin. He.is a bad boy
—is John. Hithto I’ve bin in habit of teachin
him myself, it seems to me he never will larn
anithing—his spellin is otti’agously defishent.
AVallup him well ser. and you will receive my
thanx.
P. S.—AVhat accounts for John bein sicli a
skollur is that he is my sun by my wife’s fust hus
band.”
Mrs. Durpree, wife of J. AV. Puvpree, of Sump,
ter county, was burned so bad on Friday last, by
her clothes taking fire, that she died in a few
hours. She had been married but three weeks.
Out of thirteen cases, says the Georgia Citizen,
tried at the present session of Bibb Superior
Court, and which is not half through, five were
Libels for Divorce. This does not present a very
flattering view of affairs matrimonial in Bibb.
—1 ♦
AVillis M. Russel, Esq., editor and Proprietor of
the “Bainbridge Argus” otters one half interest
of that paper for sale. From the many evidences
of prosperity in the “Angus,” we think such an
investment would be safe and profitable.
The pains of a noble soul arc the May frost of
life; the pains of the wicked are the frosts of au
tumn—they precede the punishment of winter
Many a man has ruined himself by being too
often guided by the opinion of others. Ask the
advice of twenty different persons on the same
subject, and ten to one you will receive as many
different answers, each borne out With fitting ar
gument to make it appear the better reason. 1 A
man who has no reliance on his own judgement be
comes perplexed, endeavors to take a sort of
middle path, assimilating as near as possible with
the various advices he had received; and as a
f matter of course, fails in the undertaking lie may
! have in hand.
! __ _
The Cotton Planter’s Convention is to meet
again in Macon, Ha., on the Tuesday in June
next. 0
The (Supreme Court, at its late session, settled
the Constitutional question as to the right of the
present members of the Legislature of Georgia
holding their seats until the expiration of the
next session. By this decision, the members of
the last session will retain their seats for another
term.
We learn that the commencement sermon of
Wesleyan Female College will be preached this
year by the Rev T. Hamilton, D. D. of the Ala
bama Conference. The Literary address will be
delivered bythollon. Washington Poe, of Macan
A trial took place in Atlanta, in a case brought
by Mrs. Mary Sofge, by her next friend, vs. Fer
dinand Sofge. The Amertcan says “thecause was
instituted to recover the custody of an un weaned
child—a sprightly little boy of two or three sum
mers—which had been adducted by the defen
dent, its father. The Court directed that the
child should be restored to its mother.”
THERE’is no sightmoie disgusting than to see
a man—more especially a young man—in
sound health and strength engaged in doing —
nothing. It is an error, or we should rather say
a vice, for which no good qualities of the head or
heart can atone. No circumstances in which a
man can be placed will authorize bis wasting bis
time and energies in idleness, when he has the
ability to labor. Fortune may relieve one from
the necessity of exertion ; but this does not re
lease Mm from the obligation to employ the tal
ents with which the Creator has endowed him.
Indeed, that wealth-which delivers him from
laboring for himself, renders the duty of laboring
for others more pressing, and delinquency more
unpardonable.
There are, however, in our land multitudes of
idlers, who have not even the pitiful plea to of
fer for their indolence, that fortune has raised
them above the necessity of exertion. Many of
those who may be seen sitting at the shop doors
in every town in the State, perhaps in the South,
during winter basking themselves in the sun
shine, and in summer seeking some shqde, are
men of means. But very many of them boast
names unknown to the tax books save by the
slender pittance they pay for the undeserved
privilege of voting at the polls. How they pro
cure a support, no one knows; for there they sit
while days, weeks and months roll off, whittling
sticks and charming each other in turn by long
winded falsehoods. They are never, by any ac
cident, found doing anything in which there is
usefulness or profit; yet, they dress decently,
sometimes fine, never complain of any lack of
funds, and in general seem to enjoy a greater im
munity from all pecuniary cares than the steady
and industrious. AVhence is the clue to this par
adox? The gamingtable, with its crowd of de
votees holding their revels in the late hours of
night, could solve much of the mystery. Some
of them are married men, (?) and the fingers of
their wives, toil-worn by the eternal “stitch, stitch,
stitch,” and eyes weakened by trimming the mid
night lamp over “wristband,gusset and seam,”
might reveal the history of their daily bread.
Our land is not atfiicted by any greater evil than
this practice of loafing, to which many are addic
ted. Besides the ills, both physical and mental,
which it inflicts, it is a prolific source of vice.
There is no adage more often exemplified than
that Satan will find something for idle hands to
do. AVhen a crowd of lpungers assemble at a
shop door or elsewhere “to kill time,” no good
result can follow. Ifaiothing worse ensues, false
hoods are told, and the man feels conscious of
degradation. Never loaf, young man; avoid it
as you would tlio serpent whose deadly fangs
would destroy your life. However pleasing it
may seem for a time, it will eventually waste
your faculties, blight your prospects and perhaps
involve you in everlasting ruin.
THE estimate which young persons form of
themselves are, almost without an exception,
very different from that which others form of
them. Some are so exceedingly extravagant as
to be very ludicrous, though the results which fol
low are often lamentable. By overrating them
selves, young men of naturally fair parts are im
pelled to enter upon vocations for which they arc
totally unfitted. It is to this cause more than
to any other that we are to attribute that exces
sive crowding of all the professions for which in
tellectual endowments are requsite.
It is a rule, with scarce an exception, that every
young person supposes himself possessed of tal
ents of some kind. This would be well if each
would study his own character and ascertain with
certainty for what business their qualifications fit
them. < )ne is told, perhaps while a white-haired
urchin, thumbing the leaves of AVebster’s spell
ing book, that he is destined to be a great man,
and that the halls of national legislation will one
day reverberate with his eloquence. That idea—
more successful than many others that would be
of far more value —makes a ready entrance into*
his cranium. It becomes so well established
there that it fcannot be driven out by the reason
and experience of later years. At fifteen he as
sumes swaggering airs and a very dignified de
meanor for the purpose of impressing the world
with a due sense of his importance, He imag
ines that he already occupies an elevated position
in the world’s regard, and that innumerable eager
eyes are turned to note his every action. He
learns, perhaps, after a while, by bitter experience,
that many of those whom he reckoned his devo
ted admirers are as indifferent to his welfare as
they are ignorant of his abilities.
This disposition to over-estimation is a serious
impediment to the success of young men. It is
necessary that they should have a due apprecia
tion of themselves. Each young man should
know himself to be honest, and believe that he
is capable of accomplishing what he undertakes.
But this belief should lie founded on self-knowl
edge, and not on the deceptive image of liis in
tellectual greatness which a vain fancy has pre
sented to his view. If all men would consult
their reason, rather than such ill-advisers as their
self-love, vanity and pride, many of those who
have adopted the learned professionswould .be at
the plow handles.
Effect of the Human Voice. —No sound, how
ever loud, whether produced by a cannon or a
fowling-piece, causes the same amount of terror
among wild animals and wild birds, as the human
voice. We have always known more grouse to be
sprung by sportsmen speaking to their dogs, or to
each other, on the mountains, in the shooting
season, than by any other cause; and it is r rule
with sportsmen only to make use of the whistle
and signs to their dogs, such as taking off the hat,
etc.; and a wicked and cross look has often more
good effect upon a dog than a whipping. So,
likewise, in snipe-shooting, one word spoken
springs more birds than twenty shots. If you go
to a rabbit-burrow to ferret, you may bang away
all da/ with your gun, and the rabbits will still
bolt; but once commoue speaking, and yoiir
sport is over, the ferret lies in, and tho rabbits
submit to certain death sooner than move towards
your voice. Partridges are so much accustomed
to the loud voices of farmers and laborers, that,
generally speakilig, you may talk as much as you
like in pursuit of them. Nothing proves the
power of man over the brute creation more than
his voice. Even in the thickest jungles, wild
beasts will skulk away if they hear him speak.-
Home Journal.
Ah enterprising gentleman in Buffalo proposes
to start a newspaper which shall furnish all the
news twenty-four hours in advance of its occur
rence. Spiritual reporters have been engaged,
and lines of spiritual telegraph ai’e being rapidly
put in operation, to aid in carrying out the
scheme.
< <• • ♦ • —" —
The Rome Southerner says that the Hon. A. R.
Wright has succeeded in getting the committee
on post offices to report in favor of an appropria
tion of five thousand dollars, to erect a post office
building in Rome.
T ..
An Offer from Lieut. Porter. —The repeated
outrages on our vessels, by British crusiers, have
induced Lieut, W. D. Porter, late of the United
(States navy, to suggest to the New \ ork mer
chants to employ a pilot-boat, armed with a long
nine inch shell gun, to convoy their vessels from
the coast of Cuba. He volunteers his services,
and pledges himself to return the fire of British
steamer Styx.
The wheat crop in Maryland, throughout, it is
supposed will be excellent.
| “Jerrold said to a very thin man, { Sir you are
like a pin, but without the head or the point. ’’
Napoleon 111. lias completed his 50th year,
having been bom at Tuileries on the 20th of April,
1808.
Billy Bowlegs and his whole party, consisting of
one hundred and sixty persons, reached New
Orleans on the 15th inst. j
The largest regular army ever seen in India is j
that now under the orders'of Sir Collin Campbell, j
constituting a force of 65,000 men.
Old people are like beacon-lights along shore.
Some light us to a haven of safety; others warn us
to shun the place where they have gone to wreck.
“ One word more, and I have done.” llow we
dread to hear the sentence from the lips of the
speaker at public meetings! It is always a sure
indication that he is bracking up for afresh start.
The Louisville Courier says there is now an ex
traordinary stampere of the slaves in that State.
Negroes are daily escaping from their owners in
startling numbers. They, go off, one, two, three
or a dozen at a time.
“ I have no apprehension that the devil will
ever come for me,” said a young man of ques
tionable morals. “He will not be silly enough
to take the trouble,” said a bystander, “ for you
are going straight to him.”
The old church standing on Church Hill, in
Richmond, A T a., where Patrick Henry is said to
have delivered his “Give me liberty or give me
death,” is stilLvisited as an object of veneration.
It is still in^H^ireservation.
MK
“ to the appetite like early
dew; the stomach like grass and
wild flowers, taken with a fasting eye at five in he
morning. It was Adam’s own salad, and that is
why he lived to nine hundred and thirty.”
If I were asked from my experience of life, to
say what attribute most impressed the minds of
others, or most commanded fortune, I should
say, “ earnestness.” The earnest man wins for
himself, and earnestness and truth go together.—
Bulwcr.
At a recent exhibition of paintings in New
York, a lady and her son were regarding with
much interest a picture which the catalogue des
ignated as “ Luther at the Diet of Worms.”
Having descanted at some length upon its merits,
the boy remarked : “ Mother, I see Luther and
the table, but where are the worms ?”
Anew kind of cotton called the rose cotton,
excelling in firmness of lint and length of the
staple, the kind ordinarily produced, has been
sold in Galveston, Texas, at a price above the
market value of the Mexican Gulf cotton. Asa
new variety, it promises to be a very decided im
provement.
It is said that Napoleon, when he was asked by
Dr. O’Meara ifhereally thought he could have in
vaded England at the time he threatened to do
so, answered in the following anagram—“ Able
was I ere I saw Elba.” AVhether this is true or
not, we should like to seq a more ingenious and
extended anagram.
“ An eccentric party, of whioli Jerrold was one
agreed to have a supper of sheep’s heads. One
gentleman present was particularly enthusiastic
on the excellence of the dish ; and, as he threw
down his knife and fork, exclaimed, ‘AVell, sheep’s
heads forever, say I!’”
“ Jerrold, ‘ There’s egotism!’”
N. P. AVillis Fsq., of the Home Journal, has suf
ficiently recovered from his late illness to renew
his daily exercise in the saddle, but on Friday
his favorite horse took fright and threw him,
dragging him some distance with his right foot in
the stirrup. He was very badly bruised by the
feet of the running horse, but fortunately no
bones were broken, and the confinement to his
bed will be but temporary.
The Young Orchard. —A young orchard should,
by all means, be cultivated with a hoed crop, and
never allow small grain or grass to be sown among
them. If you wish your trees to fruit young,
train the tops to branch within two or three feet
of the ground, and keep your pruning knife in
your pocket and stock out of the orchard. It
will soon pay you for your trouble.— A. JR. Whit
ney in Emery's Journal.
Brown University. —The librarian of that in*
stitution gives the following classification of the
students of the University:
The whole number of professors of religion of
different denominations, out of 205 names on
our annual catalogue, is 90. Os this number 70
are Baptists, and the remainder are Congrega
tionalists, Episcopalians, &c. The number pro
fessing to have the ministry in view is 30.
Truth-Rills. —Truth does not embrace the
world like the great tidal wave, sweeping along
in majestic calmness of power, and filling every
creek and estuary ; it rather descends in many
fertilizing rills, from the mountain side: and it
is better that it descends for the present even so,
than that it should flow in one broad river, leav
ing an arid desert over all the land, save on his
immediate banks. — Payne.
———
Use of Time.— An hour each day wasted on
trifles or indolence, saved, and daily devoted to
improvement, is enough to make an ignorant
man wise in ten years—to provide the luxury of
intelligence to a mind torpid from lack of thought
—to brighten up and strengthen faculties perish
ing with rust —to make life a fruitful field, and
death a harvest of glorious deeds.
South Carolina College.— The Board of Trus
tees of this institution have examined thoroughly
into the facts connected with the recent disturb
ance, and made a report triumphantly sustaining
President Longstreet and the Faculty in the course
they pursued. The result will be gratifying to
the numerous friends of Judge Longstreet in
this State, and lead, it is hoped, to a more per
fect organization and discipline for the College.
Hon. Edward Everett. —Since this distin
guished gentleman started on his mission in be
liaHAfftha Mount Vernon purchase, he has been
rutflßky assailed by parties who cannot bring
up to the belief that any thing good
can Como out of Nazareth. A\ r e would sooner
trust the interests of the South to Edward Ever
ett than in the hands of his assailers. While he
has a patriotism as large as the Union, their vision
does not extend beyond the limits of their own
neighborhood. Change of interests, climate and
location would make men of such narrow preju
dices the worst of Abolitionists. —Athene (Tenn.)
Post.
A Large Estate Left Witiiout a Direct Heir. —
The death of Jessie Barber, aged four years and
nine months, is announced in the Chicago pa
pers. This little girl was the last surviving mem
ber of the family of tho late Jabe/. Barber, oi
Chicago, who, with his wife and daughter, perished
in the Collins steamer Pacific, in 1856. At the
time of death his property was estimated at about,
$250,000,. and has increased in valuo to $400,000.
By his willthe entire property fell to infant Jessie.
In case of her death, it was to revert to the next of
kin. The nearest of kin are Mary Ann, Harriet
and Lucy Barber, of Birmingham, England,
and Eliza Bell, of Sincere, C. E. These ladies,
who are in straightened circumstances, will re
ceive something over SIOO,OCK3 each.
The L' ve of Chiuhlen.— Tell me not of the
trim, precisely arranged homes where aro no
children, “ where,” as the good Germans have it,
“the fly-traps always hang straight on the wall:
tell mo not of the never disturbed nights and
days of the tranquil, unanxious hearts where chil
dren are not; I care not for these tilings. God
sends children for another purpose than merely
to keep up the race—to enlarge our hearts, to
make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies
and affections; to give our souls higher aims; to
call out all our faculties to extend enterprise and
exertion; to bring round our hre-side bright
faces and happy smiles, and loving, tender hearts.
My soul blesses the Great Father every day, that
be has gladdened the earth with little children.-
Mary Howxt.
THE RUN FOR LIFE
BV A SOUTHERN MAN.
I’liilip Rodney, .a planter living in the.interior
of Arkansas, has missed .several hogs from the pen
in which he was fattening them for the autumn.
The pen was built at the base of a high hill which
| hid it from the house, ami .just on the edge of an
; upland jungle or thicket, of undergrowth, which
! extended along to the nearest spur of some j
j neighboring bills, which swelled upward to a
I height almost entitling them to be called a moun
tain range. Surprised at the loss of liis hogs, Mr.
Rodney determined to keep a strict watch, and,
if possible, detect the depredator upon his prop
erty.
One morning, just at dawn of day, he heard
the squeal of a hog in the direction of his pen.
Springing out of hed'and putting on his garments,
he hurried to the rescue of the squealing porker.
As soon as he came in sight of the pen, he saw a
huge bear, with a hog in his mouth and fore
paws, leisurely retreading to the thicket. Re
turning to the house for his gun, a trusty rifle, of
large bore, lie soon came back to the pen. The
bear and hog had both disappeared.
Mr. Rodney, who was a bold adventurous man,
of high courage and great physical strength, at
once determined upon pursuit. The blood of the
mutilated hog making a distinct mark upon the
ground, made it an easy matter to follow the track
of its captor. Entering the thicket and going
forward a short distance, Mr. Rodney saw the
bear, some forty or fifty steps in advance of him,
deliberatley munching the hog for his morning
meal. To raise his rifle aim and fire, were the
work of but a moment. The bear fell, apparently
lifeless, in his tracks, at the crack of the'gun.
Feeling certain, from the range of his aim and
the plump fall of the bear, that he was killed
outright, Mr. Rodney approached with the view
of taking a nearer look at his bulky proportions.
When within a a few yards of where he lay, the
bear, to the great surprise of the planter, rose
slowly up, looked fierely back, ’gave a deep gut
tural growl, and started forward in the direction
of the neighboring hills.
Mr. Rodney, seeing the copious discharge of
blood from the wound made by his ball, and ob
serving that the bear staggered in his gait, fol
lowed on after him, expecting soon to see him
foil. ‘1 he bear moved slowly, but steadily on,
never once looking back at his pursuer, but keep
ing up a low moan or growl indicative of pain or
anger, or of both combined. Having reached the
base of tne steepest and highest bill in the group,
he began the ascent with a still slower pace and
deeper growls. Mr. Rodney was only a few paces
in the rear and gaining upon him every moment.
At last, when near the summit of the hill, he
came quite up with the bear, whose steps, stag
gering and slow, seemed faltering with fatigue
and loss of blood. Thinking that only a slight
push was needed to bring him to the ground, Mr.
Rodney gave the bear a severe punch with the
butt end of his gun.
The blow seemed to recall both strength and
spirit to the now enraged and desperate beast.
Turning quickly and sharply round, he stood
within a few feet of his pursuer, upon whom ho
manifestly purposed to make an immediate at
tack.
Mr. Rodney comprehended the full peril of his
position in a moment. He had no weapon but
his gun, which he had not reloaded after the first
discharge. To defend himself with it by blows
mis utterly impossible, considering the size and
massive weight of the bear. The only hope of
escape was a retreat down the hill, which he be
gan at once with rapid strides.
The hear, accelerated in his speed by the mo
mentum of the descent, and perhaps also by pain
and anger, rushed headlong after him. From
crag to rock, and from rock to crag, the planter
leaped with an agility and speed incredible al
most to himself. Well he knew that, once within
reach of those terrible jaws gaping to rend and
devour him, his wife would be a widow and his
children fatherless, before he could commend
himself and them to the mercy of Heaven in a
prayer.
Every moment seemed to increase the speed
Imd fierceness of the bear. When the chase be
gan he was only a few feet in the rear of the plan
ter. At the bottom of the hill, which they had
now reached, the distance between them was les
sened by nearly half.
Mr. Rodney, although hard pressed and with
no time to lose, ventured to cast one backward
glance at his pursuer. The sight was enough to
strike even his stout heart with terror. The tongue
of the bear, red and swolen, protruded from his
mouth ; white foam covered his lips; the teeth,
sharp and shining, were visible in the jaws open
already for the seizure of his victim; the ears
were thrown back close to the head like those of
an angry horse, and a stream of fire seemed to
issue from the sockets of the glaring eyeballs. Es
cape, longer than for a moment, seemed now ut
terly impossible. A distance of more than a mile
lay between the planter and his home. Thick
bushes and brambles impeded every foot of the
way as far as the liog-pen, near which he must
pass to emerge from the jungle in the direction
of the house. To deviate from the path he had
come, which was partially trodden down by the
transit of himself and the bear over it, and by
the occasional visits of the latter from the hills to
the pen, would be to entangle himself in the un
dergrowth and fall an immediate victim to the
rapacity of his pursuer, whose heavy bulk enabled
him to force a swifter passage through the thicket.
Along this path, therefore, Mr. Rodney darted
with the speed of a man conscious that his life
depended upon the fleetness of his foot. Half
the distance between the hill and the pen had
been passed. Only a hand-breadth of space in
tervened between the planter and the muzzle of
the bear, outstretched and open to seize him.
The hot foam spattered over him, and the hotter
breath almost blistered his skin through the
thick covering of his clothes. There—he’s gone.
No! the sharp crack of a rifle rings through the
woods, and the bear springs forward and falls dead
across the legs of the planter who had been
thrown, by his death leap, prostrrato on the
ground.
O t
A hunter going early that morning to join his
comrades in the chase for deer, chancing to cross
the path of Mr: Rodney and the bear, saw the
peril of the former, and firing from a close dis
tance, sent a heavy rifle ball through the brain
of the latter. There was a feast of bear meat for
many days at the house of the hospitable planter,
at which, we may be sure, the hunter aforesaid
was the most honored of the guests.— Home Jour
. nal.
The Seller or Mount Vernon. —The N. O. Pic
ayune, commenting on Mr. Washington’s “hard
bargain,” makes the following suggestions:
There should be some appropriate recognition
of this sordid speculation. Nothing occurs to us
more fitting, if it were only possible, than that
the ladies should make it a further condition that
after the purchase is completed the seller shall
formally renounce the name of Washington and
adopt some other for himself. Judging by the
sordid character of his speculation, it would only
require a bonus of a few thousand more to obtain
his consent; and there is not a legislature extant
that would not pass a law,,unanimously and glad
ly, to legalize the change.
“ John you seem to gain flesh every day, the
grocery business must agree with you. What did
you weigh last?” “Well, Simon, I really forget
now, but it strikes me it was a pound of butter.
.V-, ■, , / ■-NETTIE. •. j
“‘ Nettie is a strange coquette !”
I All'the ladies C#y.
So long as Nettie-plts not me.
Pray what care i ?
if Nettie hath a mind to laugh,
And hath no mind to cry,’
Who shall rebuke her merry mood l
In truth, not I.
But if love, deep as deepest sea,
As lasting as the sky,
Be Nettie’s wish—who’ll give it her ?
I answer, J.
Flowers are the alphabet of angels, wherewith
they write on hills and plains the nvysterious
truth.
I3F”” Mister, I say, I don’t suppose you don’t
know of nobody who lon’t want to hire nobody
to do nothing, don’t you?” The answer was “Yes,
I don’t.”
m io-
“ I dot not allow my religion to interfere with
my business,” was very honestly uttered, not a
thousand years since. Such a rule of life in a
model professor, will block the influence of many
a prayer with the ungodly.
Rf.mgion at Home.— “Let them learn first,”
says Paul, “to show piety at home.” Religion
begins in the family. One ol the holiest sanctua
ries on earth is home. The family altar is more
venerable than any altar in the cathedral. Edu
cation of the soul for eternity begins by the “fire
side. The principle of love, which is to be car
ried through the Universe, is first unfolded in the
family.
Found dead—dead and alone :
There was nobody near,
When the outcast died on his pillow of stone—
No mother, no brother, no sister dear,
Not a friendly voice to soothe or cheer,
Not a watching eye or a pitying tear.
Found dead—dead and alone—
In the roofless street, on a pillow'of stone !
Can anythingbe more beatiful than the follow
ing record of childhood’s faith?
“ What do you do without a mother to tell all
your troubles to?” asked a child who had a mo
ther of one who had not ; her mother was dead.
“ Mother told me who to go to before she died,”
answered the little orphan; “ I go to the Lord
Jesus, he was mother’s friend, and he's mine.”
“ Jesus Christ is up in the sky; he is away off,
and has a great many things to attend to in Heav
en. 11 is not likely he can stoop to mind you.”
“ I do not know anything about that,” said the
orphan, “ all I know, he says he will, and that's
enough for me,”
A CYrious Scene.— At Lyons a curious scene
recently occurred at the theatre during the per
formance of “La Jcmtesse des Momrjvetahvs .” A
gentleman in the pit, having mounted on one of
the benches, demanded a moment’s attention.
Dead silence immediately prevailed, whereon
the speaker asked if Mr. B. were in the theatre.
The person thus addressed oame forward in the
boxes and was informed, in the same tone, that
his mother, whom he had left in health, was ex
piring from cholera, and entreated her son to re
turn without delay. This announcement, in
the midst of enjoyment, produced an indescriba
ble effect, and the theatre was soon empty.
Many people arc afraid to embrace religion,
for fear that they shall not succeed in maintain
ing it.
Docs this Spring say, “ I will not come unless
I can bring all fruits and sheaves under my
wings?” No. She casts down loving glances in
February, and in March she ventures near in mild
days, but is beaten back and overthrown by storm
and wind. Yet she returns, and finally yields
the earth to April, for readier for life than she
found it. The rains are still cold, hut the grass
is growing green, and the buds are swelling. In
May the air is yet chilly, but it has the odor of
flowers, and every day grows warmer till the deli
cious June, when all his bloom and softness, and
even the storms have nourishment in them.
Then comes the glowing July and the fervid Au
gust, followed by the glorious Autumn of harvest
and victory!
And shall nature do so much, while we dare
not attempt to overcome the coldness and dead
ness of our hearts, and to fill them with the Sum
mer of love ‘l—Beecher.
A philosopher once asked a little girl if she
had a soul. She looked up into liis face with an
air of astonished and offended dignity, and re
plied ;
“ To he sure l have.”
“ What makes you think you have ?”
“ Because I have,” she promptly replied.
“ But how do you know you have a soul ?”
Because I do know,” she answered again.
It was a child’s reason; but the philosopher
could hardly have given a better.
“ Well, then,” said he, aftera moment’s consid
eration, “ if you know you havea soul, canyou tell
me what your soul is ?”
“ Why, said she, “ I am six years old, and don’t
you suppose I know what my soul is ?”
“Perhaps you do. If you will tell me, I shall
find out whether you do or not.”
“Then you think 1 don’t know,” she replied,
“ hut I do. “ Its my think 1”
“Your think!” said the philosopher, aston
ished in his turn; “who told you so?”
“ Nobody. I should he ashamed if I did not
know that without being told.”
The philosopher had puzzled liis brain t a great
deal about the soul, hut he could not have given
a better definition of it in so few words.
E’en while beside the fountain bright
My harp’s glad echoes roll,
In thrilling strains of rich delight—
A sadness fills my soul.
My glance meets my confiding eye,
I hear no kindly tone ;
My bosom struggles with a sigh,
Because I am alone!
An Eloquent Extragt. —“Generation after
generation,” says a fine writer, “ have felt as we
feel and their lives were as active as our own.
They passed away like a vapor, while Nature wore
the same aspect of beauty as when her Creator
commanded her to he. The heavens shall be as
bright over her graves as they are now around our
paths. The world will have the attractions for
our offsprings yet unborn, that she had once for
ourselves, and that she now has for our children.
Yet a little while and all this will have happened.
The throbbing heart will be stilled, and we shall
be at rest. < >ur funen l rr'Jl wind its way, and the
prayers will be said, and our friends will all re
turn and we shall he left behind in silence and
darkness for the worm. Anditmaybefor a short
time we shall be spoken of, but the things of life
will creep in, and our names will soon be forgot
ten. Days will continue „t© move on, and laugh
ter and song will he heard in the room in which
we died; and the eye that mourned for us will
be dried and glisten again with joy; and even
our children will cease to think of us, and will
not remember to lisp our names. Then shall we
have become, in the touching language of the
Psalmist, “ forgotten and clean gone out of mind.”
“A Fair and Happy Milkmaid V’
She is a country wench that is so far from mak
ing herself beautiful by art that one look of hers
is able to put all face-physics out ot countenance.
She knows a fair look is but a dumb orator to com
tnCml virtue, there!ore minds it not. All her excel*
laces stand in her so silently, as if they had, stolen
upon her uiitlmt her knowledge . Though she be not
arrayed in the spoil of the she is decked
in innocence —a far better wearing. She doth
not, by long lying in bed, spoil both her complex
ion and condition : she rises with chanticleer, v
aiul at night makes the lamb her curfew. She
makes her hand hard with labor, and her heart
soft with pity ; and when winter evenings fall
early, sitting at her merry spinning-wheel, she
sings defiance to the giddy wheel of Fortune.
The garden and bee-hive are all her physic and
surgery, and she lives the longer for it. She
dares go alone and unfold sheep in the night,
fearing ne manner of ill, because she means
none; yet to say truth, she is never alone, but is
still accompained with old songs, honest thoughts
and prayers, but short ones ; yet they have their
efficacy, in that they are not palled with ensuing
idle cogitations. Thus lives she—and all her care
is that she may die in the spring-tinfe and have
stores of flowers stuck upon her winding-sheet.
Napoleon’s Death On amber. — Rev. Henry Wood
a chaplain in the U. S. Navy, writing from St.
Helena, says that in the room where Napoleon
died, there is now a threshing machine in opera
tion, and stalls for the horses that move it, in his
bed chamber.