The Georgia temperance crusader. (Penfield, Ga.) 1858-18??, August 12, 1858, Image 3

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LITERARY Semple PENFIELD, GEORGIA. O/Jtui4(/ay Q/ffiotneny, Ij. IiINCOLN VE AZKV - ~KDITOK Among the graduates of the Law School at the University of Virginia, wo notice the name of Isaiah S. Stephens, of Newnan, Georgia, Thomas M. Turner Esq. has been elected May or of the city of Savannah, to till the vacancy oc casioned by the death of the Hon. Richard Wayne. The Clarksville Chronicle learns that the pros pect for a large and fine crop of tobacco, from the country tributary to Clarksville, is very flattering indeed. Col. Nelson Tift, for many years the editor and proprietor of the Albany Patriot, has disposed of it to A. J. Macarthy, Esq. who will in future con duct its editorial management. The Newnan Banner <£• Sentinel, of August 6th., says it has been requested to give notice that a public meeting of the citizens of Coweta county will be held at Newnan, on the Bth of September to take measures to memorialise the legislature to abolish the Supreme Court of Georgia. - • For two weeks past the weather has been in tensely warm. At this immediate locality, we have, during that time, had several showers, but in a large portion of the county, the want of rain is being severely felt, and farmers are indulging gloomy apprehensions in regard to their cotton and small crops. Very practical, very philosophical is the follow ing, which we clip from a clever essay-like column in the Chicago Journal: “If a man die, shall he live again?” And once ft year have daises answered it, and * springs lit tle infant’ givens it testimony; and every day has morning testified, and yet the murmuring still, “if a man die, shall he live again ?” Objects present more distinct and beautiful out lines with a back-ground of dark cloud, than of clear sky. There is often a contrast of color, as well as of form, which gives a heightened loveli ness. Thus is it with life. Its ills and sorrows must come to all, but the darkness which they cast over our sky brings out in clearer perspective our virtues and the joys which are here and there interspersed. Speaking of the photographic copy of the De claration of Independence taken upon a surface no larger than a pins head, which may now be seen in Salem, and can be read with a powerful microscope, the Salem Gazette says: When such success in reducing the size of documents and likenesses has been attained by the photograph art, it is easy to imagine what might be accomplished in the time of war by the microscope. The most important official docu ment could be contained in an ordinary vest but ton, and worn with impunity by a spy in an ene my’s camp, or by a traitor eager to injure an active army of his own country. Seeing the world and knowing it are very dif ferent things. A man may tread every plain, climb every mountain, follow the winding course of every river, view every landscape upon the wide earth, and yet be as ignorant of himself and his kind as when he first began. Those who have understood human nature mrst profoundly and analyzed all its varied springs of action, have not been those who have seen it in the most nu merous phases. The philosopher in the retire ment of his study, reads the human heart with a clearer insight than he who is constantly amid the stirring crowd. Fielding says, “ many men who, in all other instances want common sense, are very machiavels in the art of loving.” This, if true in his day, is infinitely more true at the present time, when but little of what glitters is pure gold. A good form, a face of effeminate beauty, brass, and fine clothes, will win smiles unsought, in bounteous profusion from the fair. We need not be at all surprised at seeing women of known worth marry brainless dandies. It requires more penetration than falls to the lot of most women to discover a rascal or a fool through those disguises which good breeding produces, especially when set off by the charms of real or imputed wealth. We were disappointed, sadly so, in the antici pated visit of Mrs. Bryan to our place during the late Commencement of Mercer University. But the poignancy of our regret at this disappoint ment has been in some degree relieved, by the reception of an elegant ambrotype of herself. Though we must confess to disappointment in the style of her beauty, this likeness proclaims her eminently a, fine looking woman. It was execu ted by C. 11. Remington, of Thomasville, and though we are unable to judge of its faithfulness, the neatness of its finish induces us to believe that he is an excellent artist. We thank the fair donor for this present, and assure her that we consider it an invaluable souvenir. - . Tho true secret of conversational ability lies, not in talking, but in listening. It has been re remarked of Burr, that he never said a great deal: yet, he fascinated every one who fell into his so ciety. This resulted mainly from the interested and appreciative attention which he paid to what others had to say. I)r. Johnson was an example of an entirely opposite quality. lie could talk much and ably, conveying a vast amount of in formation in regard to any subject on which he chose to converse. But his power lay only in speaking. He could not listen with any degree of patience, and consequently his society afforded sincere pleasure only to such sycophants as Bos well. He who assumes more than one-half of the conversation may instruct, but can never truly interest. Every man who has sense enough to appreciate a woman’s worth, and energy and industry enough to support her, and virtue and intelligence enough to train up his children in the way they should go —every such man, we say, should marry. And every woman who is able to comprehend the value of a good husband, and love enough to prompt her to cheer him in his time of trial and weari ness, and generosity enough to prevent her from making him the slave of her extravagance—every such woman, we say, should marry. Alas for poor human nature, did none marry but such as are"described above. Matrimomny, would soon be a forgotten institution and the world a wilderness. There are such men and women, doubtless, and they are “the salt of the earth;” but who know themselves possessed of the requisite qualifications ? It demands far more of self-knowledge than falls to the generality of mortals. For instance, who of the present day ean tell whether or not he has energy and indus try to support a wife? These qualities, though *fioble and valuable, would do but little in sup plying the wardrobes even of country damsels, to say nothing of first-water fashionables. Let no young man be so imprudent as to “commit mat rimony” with no other reliance than his “energy and industry.” These, though never so patient and untiring, would soon be converted into laces and silks, and stilj the ery of “ nothing to wear” fef Ett&g in fci§ ear by an angry spouse. J THE seasons of commencements is now about over. Tho gay throngs that flocked to these “ literary festivals” have retired again to their homes, or have gone to end the summer at some fashionable watering place. As the excitement which they produced has now passed away, we may indulge in some sober reflections concerning the design of these annual gatherings around every seat of learning, and what they actually ac complish. We claim to be utilitarian in this as in every other particular, but our notions of utility are not confined strictly to what will pro duce wealth or impart wisdom. Those innocent recreations which some consider foolish and prof itless, are really as necessary as the most arduous labors; for they recuperate the body and re-m ----vigorate the mind, and prepare both for exertion. But that combination of the pleasant and useful which is often attempted is not always good pol icy. Either one or the other will predominate to the detriment of the opposing interest. Os these two, profit or pleasure, that one will be paramount which those engaged in the pursuit are most de sirous of obtaining. It is a fact to be regretted, that the crowds who attend the annual exhibitions of our schools are much more bent upon enjoyment than upon giv ing or receiving any benefit. To see and be seen, to gallant and be gallanted, to talk and be talked to, are their principal, if not their only aims. A few go to hear and examine, to estimate the mer its of the educational system to which youth have been subjected, and to decide as to the claims of an institution upon the public for support. But as these are largely outnumbered by the talkers and laughers, their opportunities for hearing are but slender. Nothing save exhibitions of low, coarse wit on the part of the speaker, can for a moment gain the attention of these latter. 1 er vid strains of eloquence, the bright gems of poetic thought and charming graces of rhetoric are dis played before them only to be unheeded. They believe they are giving their encouragement to the cause of education; and so they are, by their presence, and by that alone. Were the annual exhibitions of our schools attended more largely by a different class—by the old, who can appreci ate, rather than the young, who seek frivolous gayety—our educational system would be much improved. There would be more substantial worth and less of that tinsel glitter so character istic of the present age. The school-room would impart practical truths and give a practical train ing, and the transfer thence to the real scenes of labor would not be so much like a change from a couch of roses to a bed of thorns. Another objection to the assemblage of immense crowds once or twice a-year to witness the public exercises of schools, is found in the large amount of time and labor wasted in preparing for these occasions. In the case of public examinations, this evil has become so apparent that they are now being generally discontinued. The plan of drilling pupils half the year on what they under stand sufficiently well, in order to make a show on one day, is too absurd to be tolerated when once exposed. But in all public exhibitions, time and trouble are expended by the student, far more than commensurate with the profit derived there from. Besides, people aie too much disposed to consider these exhibitions indices of excellence in an institution or ability in a teacher. At best, the criterion is very uncertain. The opportuni ties for cheating are too ample, and the tempta tion too great for a student to display himself in other than a favorable aspect. The composition for whose graceful diction and elegant train of thought he is lauded without bounds, is often the work of other brains which he has purloined. An objection equally just to the assemblage of such vast multitudes at school examinations and exhibitions is, that it gives youth an undue idea of their own importance. The praises which are bestowed upon the young are always relative; but by them it is not so understood. When they are told that at times they have spoken elo quently and thought profoundly, they take the terms in their full import. Consequently, the/ enter the world with false impressions of their talents and abilities which it requires years of bitter experience to efface. But what is to be done to remedy these evils, someone will inquire. Support must be given to the cause of learning, pupils must be encour aged and teachers sustained. Well, do all this, but do it with less confusion and less eclat. Let our school examinations cease to be made seasons of pleasure, then they will be more justly appre ciated, and when honor is bestowed, it will be more deserved. The World. —The following was one of the late Major Noah’s stories: “Sir, bring me a’good plain dinner,” said a mel ancholy looking individual to a waiter at one of our principal hotels. ‘ Yes sir.” The dinner was brought and devoured, and the eater called the landlord aside, and thus addressed him — “You are landlord ?” “ Yes.” “ You do a good business hei*e?” “Yes,” (in astonishment.) “You make—probably—ten dollars a day clear?” “ Yes.” “Then I am safe. I cannot pay for what I have consumed ; I have been out of employment seven months; but I have engaged to go to work to-morrow. I had been without food four and twenty hours when I entered your place. I will pay you in a week.” “ 1 cannot pay my bills with such promises, blustered the landlord; “and I do not keep a poor house. You should, address the proper au thorities. Leave me something for security. “ I have nothing.” “I will take your coat.” “ If I go into the streets without that, I will get my death such weather as this.” “ You should have thought of that before you eame here.” “ You are serious ? Well, I will solemnly aver that one .veek from now I will pay you.” “ I will take the coat.” The coat was left, and a week afterwards re deemed. Seven years after that, a wealthy man entered the political arena and was presented at a caucus as an applicant for Congressional nomination. Ihe principal of the caucus held his peace—he heard the name and the history of the applicant, who was a member of the church, and one of the mast respectable citizens. He was chairman. I he vote was a tie, and he cast a negative—there by defeating the wealthy applicant, whom lie met an hour afterwards, and to whom he said— “ You don’t remember me?” “No.” “I once ate a dinner in your hotel, an though I told you I was famishing and pledged my word and honor to pay you in a week, you took my coat aud saw me go out into the inclement air, at the risk of my life, without it. “ Well sir, what then?” “Not much. You call yourself a Christian. To-night you were a candidate for nomination, and but for me you would have been elected to Congress.” Three years after the Christian hotel keeper be came bankrupt. The poor dinnerless wretch that was, is now a high functionary in Albany, We know him well. The ways of Providence are in deed wonderful, and tho world’s mutations al most beyond conception or belief. Christian Fellowship. —ln one of the last of his published works, Dr. Archibald Alexander makes this remark: “ The author in a long life has found that real Christians agree much more perfectly in experi mental religion, than they do in speculative points; and it is his belief, that a more intimate acquain tance among Christians of different denominations, would have a happy tendency to unite them more j elosely in the bonds of brotherly love. YOU detest flattery, you say. Everybody says so, and we have no doubt they do, in theory, but in reality, it is as sweet to their souls as the balm of Gilead. Ask a young lady if she dislikes flattery. “Oh yes; very much,” is her ready res ponse ; yet, she will listen for hours with ill-con cealed delight to the second-hand compliments of a brainless fop who, if he has one spark of sense, chuckles inwardly over her gullibility. Her weak, languid eyes are compared to twink ling stars in their brilliance, her sallow cheeks are called fields where roses and lilies alternately struggle for victory, and her harsh voice is said to rival in sweetness, symphonies played upon the harps of Heaven. He pronounces her a Ve nus in graceful beauty, a Minerva in wisdom, and a Juno in the queenly majesty of her bearing. A smile, he assures her, spreads over her counte nance like the blushing beauty of a rising morn, and her face is always “a tablet of unutterable thoughts.” All this, and far more, he pours into her ear, and as she eagerly drinks it in, her whole being is filled with delight. Ask that mild, quiet mother if she loves flat tery. No; she cannot tolerate it, and can con ceive of no form which it could assume to be ac ceptable. Praise her children; take up that great dirty-faced, tow-headed boy, speak in en thusiastic terms of his bright eyes, massive fore head, and predict his advent into the councils of his country. Touch the cheek of that tall, pale, scrawny girl, admire the elegance of her form and the delicacy of her complexion, and though the mother may not believe one word of what you say, every nerve will thrill with intense pleasure. These instances are those of a vain girl, and a weak, though, perhaps, sensible mother. But are those who call themselves the strong of earth less lovers of flattery, or less liable to be imposed upon by its seductive insinuations? Can that states man who has directed the helm of the nation and held thronged assemblies enchained by his eloquence resist its influence ? Could his motives be analyzed, it would be ascertained that he is cajoled by flattery into the performance of things which his judgment disapproves. Many unde serving applicants for his favor have “ bent the pregnant hinges of the knee,’’ and thus attained office and honor. We might increase illustrations to an indefinite extent; but we have said enough already on a theme so trite. We have heard of men who could not endure flattery in any form ; we have read of those who loved candor for its own sake, and who preferred an unwelcome truth to a pleasant falsehood; but so far as our observation has ex tended, those are mythical characters. We have found that all men are vain enough to love flat tery and weak enough to be swayed by its influ ence. rriIERE is something inexpressibly solemn in the A first sere leaf which we behold. It has al* ready fallen, and now we can scarce find a tree amid the deep emerald of which there is not some spot of yellow. They speak a language full of sadness, telling that summer is rapidly passing away, and autumn will soon be here with its dark days and chilly breath. They come unwelcome messengers ; for their announcement weighs upon the soul in dark, gloomy heaviness. The first falling leaf. It is a small object; yet, it awakens a thousand tender recollections, and brings up a thousand sweet, though melancholy, thoughts. The infant*whose pure spirit passed into eternity before its lips had learned to lisp a prayer or speak a parent’s name; the loved com panion of school days who was stricken down and laid in the cold grave, and all those whom earth has laid in their freshness and beauty as first-fruits on the altar of Heaven, rise up to our view. How well do we now remember the first companion of our early years, whom Death em braced with cold, icy arm. Her spirit was pure and free from guile, and she shrank not at his touch, but yielded herself calmly to his power. They buried her all alone, where the tall pines waved their branches in sombreness, and scarce a ray of sunlight stole through to give life to the flower which sprang up on the sod that covers her head. But since then, mother and brothers and sisters have lain down by her, and with th em she will rise when the trump shall sound the res urrection morn. The first leaf has fallen ; every breeze that now passes loosens one from its parent tree and flings it to the ground to aie. Soon all will oe scat tered, and the naked branches will tremble and moan in the rough hyemal storm. How bleak and cold and dreary is the winter of the year; how still more so must be the winter of life, when all whom our youth has loved and our manhood cherished have fallen, one by one, on the way side, and the foot-sore pilgrim must finish” his journey in solitude. “ When friendships lie withered And fond ones are flown, Oh ! who would inhabit This bleak world alone?” Mr. Dusky, a contributor of Blackwood, in giv ing mock-seriously his opinions of art in general, thus speaks of the paintings of the present year: The first thing that strikes me, in the work of the present year, is, that though all other seasons and times of the day are produced in landscape (except the pitch dark of a winters’s night, which it would be difficult for any one, in the present state of art, to place satisfactorily on canvass) yet that particular state of the atmosphere which ex ists in the month of August from about five min utes before two to about twenty minutes alter, when the sun’s sultry and lavish splendor is tinged with some foreboding of his decline, and when Nature is, as it were, taking her siesta, is nowhere sought to be conveyed. I thought, on first look ing at a small picture in the east room of the Acad emy, that this hiatus had been filled up; but, on further study, I perceived that the picture in ques tion had beer. painted rather earlier (abont five and twenty minutes before two is the time I should assign to it) and is therefore deficient in many of the cheif characteristics of the remarkable period I allude to. How comes it, too, that, anncl all the rendering of grass and flowers, there is not a single dandelion—a flower which has often given to me, no less than to Wordsworth, thoughts that do often lie too deep lor tears; nor a group of toadstools, which can give interest to a lore ground else bald and barren ; nor, among the minute studies of insects, daddy-long-legs swaying delightedly across the path, and dancing to mau dible music, as the mid-day zephyr waves the slender fabric of his gossamer home, lam sur prised. too, to find (so far as my survey has ena bled me to note) that there are nowhere any frogs, though every artist who painted out doors the first warm days of spring must have heard their choral music from the neighbonng ditches. The old heralds, speaking of the man ner of the frogs holding his head, talk of the pride and dignity, or, as they phrase it, the lording” of frogs, and gave them a place ill her aldry ; and their ideas are generally valuable to artists, and worth studying, both for their liteial exactness and their allegorical significance. Let us have some frogs next year. It appears from the following item that one of the Rothchilds, notorious for their wealth, lias been drawing a prize in a lottery. May not this fact give US a clue to the method adopted by these Jews to obtain their gold: Baron Rothschild (the Vienna one) has been declared winner in the “lottery of St. Genois to the amount of 73,000 florins. It is needless to add that servant maids, washerwoman, and simple tons of humble life have made up this purse tor the great capitalist. A certain dissatisfied wife says that her husband is such a blunderer that he can’t even try a boot or a shoe on without “ putting his foot into it.” A nail in the ink-stand or some old steel pens that the acid of the ink can eat upon, will.prevent steel pens in use from being rusty ; ONE heart knoweth not another’s sorrow. We may see pain written on the brow, witness tho convulsive struggles of grief, and hear the an guished sigh ; we may hear the sad moanings of the soul in whom the milk of human kindness has been converted by the world’s rude touch, into waters of bitterness; we may read the mad dened wailings of a heart that has found its faith to be misplaced, has had its idol rudely thrown from its pedestal, and that, though broken, has “brokenly lived on;” we may have seen and heard all this, and our whole being the while have been stirred by deepest sympathy ; and yet, we have not known another’s woe. One heart feels not another’s woe. Not that all natures resist the tender pulse of sympathy which brings happiness in whatsoever breast it beats. But our sympathy with the sorrows of others is more pleasant than painful, and we se cretly rejoice at our superiority over those for whom we shed tears. There is between us no magic line that conveys with telegraphic speed the deep-wrought aneuisli of their souls to ours. Wo read the outward signs of suffering, but know not what is within. Too often, alas! is it that one heart careth not for another’s woe. Sorrows fall thick and fast among all our race, without favor or respect of persons. Here a young mother hugs to her bosom the lifeless form of her first-born, and thinks all other griefs were light to this. There the fond, doting wife sheds tears distilled in purity from the fountain of her affections, over the grave of one whom her soul has held most dear. Another weeps in secret over the perished hopes which treachery, more cruel than death itself, has blighted. But amid all these the world moves on, sometimes gaily, sometimes busily, but always uncaring for the woes which continually send up their heart-rending sighs and deep moanings of anguish. A Beautilul Extract.—The following paragraphs from the May number of the Wisconsin Farmer, were written by Prof. J. W. Hoyt, one of its ed itors. They contain both poetry and sublime truth. The article from which we clip them is upon “The Plant—Sources and Nature of its Food,” and contains more interesting facts on the ■ubjcct of agriculture than many writers would condense into an ordinary volume. He says: “To the majority of men, we are satisfied the sail is nothing but dirt ; but to the chemist who knows its origin, its history, its nature and its ca pabilties, it is a wonderful mixture of those beau tiful elements which, in their ever-varying forms, become the ambient air, the liquid ocean, the precious opal, the amethyst, the jasper, and the still more precious diamond ; or the delicate blue-bell and violet, the amaranth, the lily and the rose-bud, the spire of the blue-grass, and the cedar of Lebanon ; or again theruby lip, the match less orb of the love-lit eye, the nobly palpitating heart, and yet more wonderful brain! “These are the jewels of which the soil is com posed, and out of which the husbandman so un heedingly strives to force the food his hunger craves. “ Henceforth, as he turns the furrows of his field, let the sleep of his thought be broken of the reflection : This earth, thus stirred by my plough share is doubtless composed in part of the ashes of ancestral heroes, whose mortal remains are the plastic material out of which we are building the bodies of the men of to-day !” James Monroe was a country boy of Westmore land, the countryman of Washington. From the eighteenth to the seventy-third year of his age (for fifty-five years) he was almost incessantly in the public service. At eighteen he left his letters and science, his Horace and his Homer, at William and Mary, to enlistin the battle fields ofindependence. He took a commission low down, next to the ranks, was severely wounded before he rose to a higher rank than that of Captain, and never rose higher in the line of the military. In the staff of Lord Stirl ing was an Aid de Camp, and acquired the title of Colonel of a regiment of Virginia, which was never raised. He was a Commissioner of Virginia to the Southern Camp. He was a Legislator of Virginia. He was was a member of the Continental Congress. He was a member of the Convention of Virginia to adopt the Federal Constitution. He was a Sena tor of Virginia in Congress. He was a Minister to France. He was twice Governor of Virginia, lie was again Minister to Franee, Minister to Eng land, and to Spain, and again to England. He was (Secretary of State, and in the war of “ Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights,” for which he had con tended as early as 1807, he was Secretary of both Treasury and War. He was twice elected Presi dent of the United States, and once almost unan imously. And from the height of the Chief Mag istrate of the nation he again descended to the ranks of the People, and became a Magistrate of the Quorum of Gentlemen Jrstices of the Peace for the county of Loudoun. And, lastly, in the years 1829-’3O he was President of the first Con vention of Virginia to reform the Constitution of the State. This last post infirmity and old age compelled him to resign; and then, in 1830, his course run, his good fight fought, full of years and full of hon ors, the great and good old man retired to the bosom of his family, in the State of his adoption. There he had told the tale of his youthful love— there he had inhaled the perfume of the conjugal affection—there he had married the wife of his bosom—there he had buried her—there his chil dren were settled—and there, weary and heavy with labors and years, he sought repose. Soldier, Legislator, Commissioner, Diplomat, Statesman, President, Justice of the Peace, Conventionist and Constitutionalist, he had filled every measure of public place, and filled it well, and had re ceived nearly $400,000 of Slate and Federal pay, and yet retired poor—a debtor for the Government, not to it—having spent all, and more than all, his substance in his country’s service, and went out of her high places an Honest Man, impoverished by his self sacrificing patriotism! He became in volved in debt by pledging his private means for the defence of the country in the war of 1812, and died before a grateful return was ever made. The full debt to him never was, and now never can be repaid. Trees. —“Woodman, spare that tree,” popular as it may be in song, ought to be more familiar and popular with all who are possessors of trees. How beautiful, most beautiful of earth’s orna ments, are trees? Waving out on the hills and down in the valleys, in wild wood or orchard, o r singly by the wayside ; God’s spirit and benizon seem to us everpresent in trees. For theirshadc and shelter to man and brute, for the music the winds make among their leaves, and the birds in their branches; for the fruits and flowers they bear to delight the pallate and the eye, and the fragrance that goes out ancl upward from them forever, we are worshipful of trees. “Under his own vine and fig tree”—what more expressive of rest, independence and lordship in the earth! Well may the Arab reverence in the date-palm a God-given source of sustenance. Dear to the Spaniard tho olive, and to the Hindoo his banyan, wherein dwell the families of man and tho Heaven build their nests. With out trees what a desert place would be our earth —naked, parched, and hateful to the eye. Yet how many are thoughtless of the use and beauty of trees. llow many strike idly or wantonly at their roots. Above all other things in the land scape, we would deal gently with trees. Most beautiful where and as God plants them, but beautiful even as planted by the poorest art of man, trees should be protected ana preserved. If ho is a benefactor who causes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before, how much greater his beneficence who plants a tree in some waste place, to shelter and shade, to draw thither song birds, and to bear fruit for man. Plant trees, O man, that hast waste land, and be care ful of those that are planted. ‘ W idi to Woman’s Heart.— There is a period inthe.early life of every true woman when moral and intel lectual growth seems, for the time, to cease. The vacant heart seeks for an occupant. Theintelleot having appropriated suoli aliment as was. requi site to the growth of the uncrowned feminine na ture feels the necessity of more intimate compan ionship with the masculine mind to start it upon its second period of development. Here at this point, some stand for years without making a step in advance. Othew marry and astonish, in a sow brief years by tlflKr sweet temper, their beauty, their high accomplishments, and noble womanhood, those whose blindness led them to suppose they were among the incurably heartless and frivolous. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, the wonderful pul- I pit orator, contemplates visiting the United States. Colonel Pickens, United States Envoy to Russia, passed through Berlin on the 2d ultimo, en route for St. Petersburg. The Governor-General of Canada gets §31,000 per annum six thousand dollars more than the President of the United States gets. Much excitement exists in Cincinnati, at tlic I cruelty practised towards the inmates of the Lu j natic Asylum in that city, by the keepers. Peaches, -ays the Cincinnatti Gazette of Thurs day, about as large as walnuts, sold in the market on the day previous at eight dollars per bushel! It is said that ivy will not cling to a poisonous tree or other substance. What a pity that the tendrils of woman's heart have not the same salutary in stinct. “When a woman has once married with a con gealing heart, and one that beats responsible to her own, she will never want to enter the mari time state again. A mania of suicide prevails among the Asiatics on the island of Cuba. Almost every paper con tains accounts of suicides of Coolies by hanging, poisoning, drowning, &c. Anew stove has been invented for the comfort of travellers; it is to be put under the feet, with a mustard plaster on the head, which draws the heat through the whole system. When Lady Holland wanted to get rid of a fop, she used to say, “ 1 beg your pardon, but I wish you would sit a little further off —there is some thing in your handkerchief which I do not like.” A Railroad Convention is to be held at Decatur, Alabama, on the 18th of August inst., to take into consideration the subject of extending the Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad to South Alabama. Prentice, of the Louisville Journal, thus hits the present fashion of low neck dresses. lie says: “ It is supposed that angels do not wear dresses. Our fashionable ladies are getting more and more angelic every year. We are sorry to learn, says the Florence Gazette, that the distinguished guest of our town, Colonel Yancey, is confined to his bed, at the Rev. Dr. Mitchell’s, with a painful and enfeebling di-easc, “sympathetic neuralgia.” Among the arrivals in the North Star at New York from Bremen and Southampton on the 14th were H. R. Jackson, United States minister to Vienna; Mr. Glantz, consul at Stettin, and Dr. G. 11. Taylor, bearer of dispatches. Within the last twenty years upwards of fifty colleges i; vi h. ,n founded. There are now in the United Slates a hundred and twenty-four col leges anil ui.dies, with an aggregate number of students of fourteen thousand. G. P. R. James, Esq., has been tendered the appointment of Consul General at Venice, which, it is probable he will accept. The previous offer to him of the consulship at Odessa, he had notac eepted, on account the insalubrity of the place. A statement having been made that Washing ton Irving, and not John Howard Payne, was the author of “Home, Sweet Home,” Mr. Irving has written a letter disclaiming the authorship, to the honor of which he thinks Mr. Payne is undoubt tedly entitled. The French minister of State has informed the managers of theatres at Paris that the censors have orders to strike out” hereafter all slang from plays, and no piece will be licensed which con tains slang. The motive is to protect the purity of the language. A writer in the New York Journal of Commerce suggests the word “electrograph,” as a substitute for “telegraphic dispatch,” and “telegram.” The latter means only a communication by siguals as far as can be seen, while the former literally sig nifies writing by lightning. What a beautiful virtue is benevolence! It is a precious tie existing between man and man as children of one common father—a tie wholly un affected by difference of age, station, kindred, or country, and over which the artificial distinctions of a vain ivorld have little power. Mrs. Marcet, one of the most valuable writers for the young, authoress of “ Conversations on Po litical Economy, Natural Philosophy, and Physi olgy,” and a number of other works tending to render the study of science attractive to youthful minds, died suddenly in the 90th year of her age. A young lady who wore spectacles, exclaimed in a voice of sentimental enthusiasm to a young ploughman who was walking in the road : “Do you, sir, appreciate the beauty of that land-scape ? Oh ! see those darling sheep and lambs skipping about!” “Them ain’t sheep and lambs—them’s hogs, Miss.” Professor J. H. Ingraham formerly -a novelist and the writer of some celebrity, but who has been for several years past a clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church, has recently received a call as rector of Christ Church, Holly Springs, Mississippi, and also to the charge of the school in that town, known as St. Thomas Hall. A prudent and well disposed member of the So ciety of Friends once gave the following advice : “John,” said lie, “I hear you are going to get married?” “Yes,” replied John, “I am." — “ Well,” replied the man of drab, “ I have a little piece of advice to give thee, and that is, never mar ry a woman worth more than thou art. When I married my wife, I was worth fifty cents, and she was worth sixty-two cents, and whenever any dif ference hasoccuired between us since, she has al ways thrown up the od l shilling.” A Kind Heart.—Lord Nelson, when forced to see men whipped on board his ship,'ascended to the deck precipitately, read rapidly, and in an agitated voice, the rales of the service, and then cried “ Boatswain to your duty; admiral par don !” Lord Nelson would then look around at his officers—all keeping silence, he would say, “What! notone of you, gentlemen, not one of you has pity upon that man, or upon my suffei ings ! Untie the man—my brave fellow, on the day of battle remember me !’’ It was very rarely that the sailor thus rescued by his admiral did not distinguish himself at a later period. One day a man was going to be whipped. He was a marine. A beautiful young girl sprang through the crowd of soldiers ; she fell on her knees before Nelson, and seized his hand, “Pardon, your honor,” said she, “pardon, he will never be guilty again !” “Your face,” said the admiral, “ answeirs for his future good conduct. Untie that man ; he who has such a beautiful creature as this for a friend cannot be a bad man.” This* marine became a lieutenant. It was hard to catch “Old Jack Jones,” in a place too tight for him to slip out. Tlie following occurred last week at Cedar town Court. There had been a very heavy frost the night before, and some ot the knowing ones prophesied an entire failure'of the wheat crop. “ I have got 100 acres,” says Old Jack, “ that I’ll take SIOO for.” “ 1 )one! I’ll give it, and hand you the money in an hour,” said Mitcliel. Before the expiration of the hour, a negro from the plantation reported the wheat unii\jured, and Mitchel advanced money in hand. “ Thank you,” says Jones. “ When will y° u take your wheat away ?” “ Take it away ? Why as soon as its ripe.” “No you don't! you must cut it this week. ± want to plough up that field and put it into corn. Carrying Deadly’ Weapons. —The Baltimore American has some judicious remarks on this su ject suggested by the recent occurrence m Balti more, in which young Farlow met his death. Here were two lads, both provided with pistols, both reckless in the use of them, a dispute oc curs, and with means of death at hand, in tne heat of passion one kills the other, destroyed the peace of the family of the deceased, torturing the hearts of his own friends, and consigning himself to the horrors of a jail. “ How littlejustly ex claims the American, “can the law do to remedy such a wrong. Admit that the perpetrator is punished by imprisonment or even death, where are the feelings of his family, which are to suffer for the hastiness of a passionate boy, or what pro per solaoe will his fate bring to the friends of the deceased? Is it too much to say that the law which fails to forbid a practice productive of so much mischief, and the state of public opinioia which tacitly sanctions the thing, is morally, though indirectly, accountable for all the evil , that may spring from it V’ The following neatly-turned and very pretty j original verses are by a gifted Kentuckyan. Fur • ther communications from the same pen will bo welcome: LITTLE EDNA. Edna had a happy heart, Always careless, always free; Cupid missed her with his dart, As he hid behind the tree; And she laughing at his art, Clapped her little hands with glee. Edna then was very young. Always laughing, always gay; Joyous were the songs she sung. As she plucked the flowers ol May ; Nor could ardent lover’s tongue Steal her little heart away. Edna she is older now, Always thoughtful, always sad— Shades of sorrow on her brow, That her girlhood never had. Could a lover tell you how Love drove little Edna mad ? Edna laugheth now no more, Alwaysquiet, always wild; All forgot her songs of yore, That her rosy hours beguiled— Is that Allan at the door ? Surely little Edna smiled. Selma. The Sunset Land, Oh! dimly through the mists of years, That roll their dreary waves between, The gorgeous sunset land appears, Arrayed in hues of fadeless green, And front that far offsunny clitne, Old half-forgotten songs arise. And stealing o'er the waves of Time The sweetly lingering music dies. As some bright island of the sea, Forever blooming—ever lair; Though cold, dark billows round it be, Eternal sunshine hovers there. Thus o’er the silent sea of years, Our eager longing looks are cast, Where robed in fadeless spring appears The sunlit Eden of the past. There memory weaves her garland green Beside the lone, hope-haunted shore ! And music ’mid the Arcadian scene, Twines flowers that bloom for us noniore. Oh! hallowed clime ! blest land of love ! Sweet paradise of early dreams ! Still through thy vales may fancy rove, Still hash beneath thy evening beams. And. there they dwell—those cherished ones With snow white brows and waving hair ; I see them now—l hear their tones Os sweetness 3igh along the air. Hark ! how their silvery voices ring Not sweeter is the wind-harp’s string That wakes at eve its melody. They call us ; see, they wave their hands— As by the mirage lifted high, That clime in all its beauty stands Against the forehead of the sky. With wreathed brows —with laugh and song, With tender looks —hand clasped in hand, They move along, that love-linked throng— Within the haunted sunset land. - THE OLDEST BIBLE ON THE CONTINENT—A BOOK OVER NINE HUNDRED YEARS OLD. The articles which have lately appeared from time to time in the Free Press, in regard to old Bibles, have had the effect to bring to our notice one of the rarest and most valuable specimens of biblical literature in the world. This is a volume of six hundred pages, containing the whole Bible in the Latin language. It belongs to the Rev. Dr. Duffield, of this city. The book is made en tirely of vellum, and the printing is all done by hand with a pen and ink. Every letter is per fect in its shape, and cannot be distinguished, by any imperfections in form, from the printed let ters of the present day. The shape of the letter is of course different from those now in use, but in no other case can they be distinguished from printed matter. The immense amount of labor may be conceived from the fact that there are two columns on each page, each of which lacks only about six letters of being a3 wide as the col umns of this paper. They will average sixty lines to the column. The columns numbering 1,200, we have about 70,000 lines in the whole book. Nothing short of a lifetime could accomplish such a work. The date of this book is A. D. 930. It was con sequently made 560 years before printing was in vented, and is 928 years old. There is probably nothing on this continent, in the shape of a book, equal to it in age. The vellum upon which it is printed is of the finest kind, and is made of the skin of young lambs and kids, dressed and rub bed with pumice stone until it is very thin. It is somewhat thicker than common paper, being a medium between that and the drawing paper now in use. The veins in the skin are distinctly visible in many places. A pencil mark was drawn by the operator to guide the construction of each line. Many pages have these lines visible on the whole surface, no effort having been made to rub them out. Two lines running up and down di vide the columns with mathematical accuracy. At the beginning of each chapter, highly colored ornamental letters are placed. These are the only marks of the division of chapters. There are no subdivisions into verses, the chapters run ning through in one paragraph to the end, and no descriptive headings. This invaluable relic was presented to Dr. Duf field by Lewis Cass, Jr. our Minister resident at Rome. lie procured it of a Greek monk, who brought it from the Greek convent of St. Catha rine, at the foot of Mount Sinai. Mr. Cass be friended this monk, who was in trouble; and he, in return, presented him with the volume which we have described. .According to his history, it is the work of one of the ancient monk scribes in the convent above named. When it became known that Mr. Cass was parting wi*h it, and that it was going out of the country, the round sum of §3,000 was offered him for it by the monks of the city of Rome. This was of course refused, for the pleasure of placing so inestimable a relic in the hands of one who can appreciate its value so well as our learned divine, Dr. Duffield. At the time of the late fire in the Doctor’s house, this book was thrown into the street among others, and came very near being lost. It was picked up on the sidewalk by one who recognized it as one of Dr. Duffield's most valuable relics, and preserved it. — Detroit Free Press. A Starved Heart. Two gentlemen stood by the roadside, opposite a grave-yard. “ And so our old school-mate, Edith Wynn, is dead,” remarked the elder of the two. “ 1 remember her, a little, dancing, warbling thing, yet thoughtful and wise beyond her years. I heared of her marriage in my Western home, but since then, have known nothing concerning her. She died of consumption, did she not?” “ People call it consumption, but she died ot cold and starvation,” calmly and slowly replied the other, the bachelor friend of Edith. “What do you mean?” asked the first speaker, eyeing his friend curiously, and not without sus picion . “ 1 mean there is a slow freezing and starving of the heart which, though more lingering, is often as fatal to life as the lack of bodily warmth and food.” „ “ I do not fully understand you. “ You did not know Edith, and love her as 1 did Long before she dreamed of love I had se 1* J wfn,. mv wife- but I kept the sweet se cret in my own bosom, and toiled to make myself worthy of her. When she was still very young, I left home to travel ayear or two. No matter how it happened, when I returned, she was married. U was a crushing blow to me, though God only knows if I could have won her. She married t* man just one remove from the curious talking au tomatons the Germans are so fond of manufacture ing. Ho was ffitellect but no heart. h*l have met her at intervals, since her marriage and have seen her gradually changing from the warm hearted, impulsive, ambitious woman to an automaton like himself. Outwardly, I mean—for the anguish of the famishing spirit within, none can know. He fed and clothed her body, but ig nored and slighted her affections. They could not cling to him,-but fixed themselve in a better coun try, where the All Merciful has taken her at last. Her husband is erecting a costly slab of marble to her memory. Heaven forgive the bitter thought, but if the truth were told upon it, it would read ‘ Died of a starved heart/” - A Definition in Political Economy.— “ Will you never learn, my dear, the difference between real and exchangeable value?” The question was put to a husband who had been lucky enough to be tied to a political economist in petticoats. “O, yes, my dear, I think I begin to see it.” “Indeed,” responded the lady. “ Yes “replied the husband. “ For instance, my dear, I know your deep learn ing and other virtues. That’s your real value. But I know, also, that none of my married friends would swop wives with me. That’s your exchange , able value!”