Newspaper Page Text
f LITERARY
Jcmpcnmce
*—•—
* PENPIELD, GEORGIA.
offawetay Qrfotntny, G4cvemlUa J, 1 sss.
OINVE AZbA^^F7DIIXVR^
Last week we had five cloudy days, during
which time there fell a considerable amount of
rain.
At the late Fair in Atlanta, a resolution was
passed to memorialize the Legislature upon the
subject of establishing an Agricultural College in
thjs State.
Rev. V. A. Gaskill has become associate editor
of the Atlanta Intelligencer. Mr. G. is extensively
known in various parts of the State, and we doubt
not'that his accession will add much to t-heedito*
rial strength of that journal.
The Southern Cultivator for November is before
us, in its accustomed excellence. The proprietor
promises, with the beginning of the next volume,
to make an enlargement and add an ornamental
cover. The price will continue as heretofore—
sl per annum, which renders it the choapest pe
riodical in the country.
if 4
Men often believe that they have found truth,
when really they have only found something
which seem to sustain their previously formed pre
judices. It is thus that they fortify themselves
so strongly within the bulwarks of error, that no
argument, however skillfully directod, can ever I
reach their position.
|
The Spirit of the Age (N. C.) announces the !
death of W. M. Johnsou, junior editor of that pa- j
per. lie was a vigorous and able writer, and the
Temperance papers which appeared from his pen
were among the beet published in this country
for the last several years. We rogret his death,
for with him we have lost one of the noblest of
our fraternity.
He who aims always at the wonderful, may be
interesting in conversation, but truthful he can
not be. Such an ambition begets a habit of ex
aggeration, which leads directly to the degrading
and ruinous practice of lying. Persons do not
think that when they add on a little to give sym
metry to an anecdote and make it more laugha
ble, that they aro inflicting an injury on their
moral nature, the effect of which may be more
lasting than their lives.
“Socrates, when asked what was the best mode
of gaining a high reputation, replied, “To be
what you appear to bo.”
Modern aspirants for fame seem, by their prac
tice, to adopt a very different theory. There are
none of the seekers of distinction and public favor
who do not exhibit characters differing very ma
terially from those which they possess. Did many
of them appear to be what they really are, their
chances for reputations would be but slight.
Harper's Magazi.ie for November contains along
and interesting paper on Gen. Ethan Allen, the
Chieftain of the “Green Mountain Boys,” in their
daring exploits during the Revolution, “The
Voyage of Paul” handsomely illustrated, besides a
great variety of other matter. This number con
cludes the volume, and we feel assured that no
reader of “The Virginians” will fail to renew their
subscription. Price, §3 per year; 2 copies, $5; 5
copies, $lO.
Friendly letters which contain neither news or
business, are sources of great consolation in moods
of despondency. Their expressions of kindness
act as balm upon the wounded spirit, and their
words of cheer are soft, welcome rays of light
thrown into the darkened chambers of the soul-
He vjho cares only for the useful, if he is wise,
will not scorn their influence. He will recognise
their power in illumining life’s pathway, and as
sisting us to surmount the rugged obstacles with
which it is filled.
During the middle ages, and as late ns the fif
teenth and sixteenth centuries, hunting was a
diversion much engaged in by ladies; and it is
mentioned as a curious circumstance, that the
first work on hunting ever issued from the press
was by a female pen. Queen Elizabeth was very
fond of the chase, as was her unfortunate rival,
Mary, Queen of Scotts. The custom soon after
deelitfed, and now women are not allowed, by
Fashion, to take any out-door exercise exeep’ a
lifeless promenade, or a short, purposeless ride on
horseback.
The tortures which conscience can inflict, far ■
surpass any which the crudest tyranny has ever
conceived. From them he cannot fly, nor can
human kindness administer any healing balm. ,
If we regard this world alone, it is the interest of
every man to be virtuous or completely reprobate. 1
He had better entirely destroy his conscience than
inflict upon it a gentle wound. The many bitter i
reflections which every bad action costs a mind, i
in which there are any remains of goodness, are !
not to be compensated by the highest pleasures ■
which such action can produce.
Satirical poems is now the rage in literature.
Since the appearance of Butler’s celebrated
“Nothing to Wear,” early in the summer of last
year, scores of a similar kind have been published,
most of which are servile imitations ofhat match
less satire. His “Two Millions” is causing news
paperdom to be again flooded with doggerel by
scribblers who get all their ideas second-handed.
All the tales, romances and novels of fashionable
writers now have for a name some very foolish
question, in imitation of Bulwer’s “ What will he
do with it?” Verily man is the creature of imi
tation/especially if he be a novollist or vsrse
scribbler.
-■* ii m
Tl/rOST men love to hear sarcasm. We are not
certain that it is not the kind of wit from
which they derive most pleasure. When two
men are quarrelling on the streets, how a crowd
of men will be gathered around to hear the abu
sive pithets which they heap upon each other.
When too men so far forget their self-respect as
to engage in a newspaper war, how anxious is
every one to see the bitter things which that and
the other has written. Who does not read,
with pleasure, the eloquent tirades of Junius and
works of kindred character ?
But thotlgh ridiculo and sarcasm are thus pleas
ant to hear when another is the victim, no one
admires it when applied to himself. However
much he may writhe under its tortures, he can
never be brought to acknowledge its keenness.
If he cannot show it to be a failure in point of
wit, ifllttngers him too much to afford him any en
joyment. Men do not like to bo told of their
faults. JThey can listen with patience-to a sermon,
or reaij with delight a satire upon mankind, when
they can pass each remark to their neighbor; but
when they must apply every sentence to them
selves, their power of endurance soon fails. They
would prefer being charged with faults which
are not_theirs, to having those pointed out which
they possess. Such is their aversion to hearing
the truth about themselves, that there is no
friend, however much loved, who can venture to
tell them candidly of their errors.
POLITICAL PARTIES.
IT is a debatable question, whether or not the
existence of political parties is essential to the
welfare of a country. But however it bo, the af
firmative has been believed, until it has attained
all the force of an axiomatic truth. Men will
make professions contrary to their principles
merely for the sake of differing, because they
think it necessary. They will, rather than not
contend, wrangle about the most insignificant tri
fles, and make themselves quite as ridiculous as
the Lilliputians, who disputed so furiously about
which end of their eggs should be broken.
It frequently happens, that the issues upon
which parties are formed are totally forgotten,
and nothing but the names remain to create ani
mosity and breed strife. But the insignificance
of the question is no measure of the rancor of
party spirit. In fact, we rather think that great
oxcitement is often aroused simply because the
matter is trifling. Artificial stimulants are em
ployed by party leaders to excite popular feeling,
and manv things presented which do not legiti
mately come within the range of discussion.
Thus it is that thousands answer to their party
| call, and muster under its banners, who could not
| define their principles or tell one particular
I wherein they differ from their opponents,
i Instances could be named in which no one can
j entertain a reasonable dqubt, that parties have
1 been productive of good. When very nearly of
, equal strength, their mutual fear of each other
| will prevent either from becoming corrupt or dan
gerous. Their struggles for power will keep up a
oontinual interest in the affairs of the State, and
cause the conduct of those who are placed in of
fice to bo rigidly scrutinized. Neither oppression
or any form of mis-rule will be long continued ;
: for, the party in .power cannot hope to maintain
its position but by justice and moderation. It is
| not often, however, that parties are thus situated j
I toward each other, and hence they are seldom re- !
: ally beneficial. Time would fail us to mention
all the evil which they have produced, nor would j
the half then be told. The tale is written in
blood all over the earth. The bleached bones on !
many a plain, where brethren met in the fury of j
civil strife, tell of the cruel work in which party j
has been often engaged. It has upheaved thrones,!
laid cities in ruins and blotted out some of the j
greatest nations that have ever had an existence :
on the globe. Ruthless in its deeds and reckless
of consequences, destruction has been its mission,
and ruin and misery have followed its footsteps.
All through the course of history can its influence
be seen, in Greece, Carthage, Rome and every
nation of modern Europe. It is now causing our
country to totter to its very foundations, and per
haps ere long will lay in ruin this noble fabric of
constitutional liberty.
Party spirit assumes its worst form when prin
ciples are disregarded, in a blind adherence to
leaders. It then produces certain anarchy, and
in most cases ends in the oppression and miseries
of a military despotism. No law is recognised,
no right regarded save those which Might estab
lishes. They were parties like this which under
mined the influence of Hannibal, frustrated all
his plans and finally caesed the proud city, for
whose glory he had so long striven, to succumb
to her haughty rival. The existence of such par- ,
ties is an evidence of the degeneracy of a nation.
Rome had passed the culmination es her great- .
ness, and was pervaded through every part by the ‘
corruption which prosperity engenders, when the (
rivalry of Marius and Sylla kindled fierce wars <
1
in all her domains.
This degeneracy had become still more con- .
firmed, when a Roman army heaped the plains of
Pharsalia with slaughtered Romans, and those
vvhohad lived togetheras neighbors, incarnadined
the seas of Actium with each others gore. It was
the same blind adherence to leaders which oaused
the streets of Tewksbury and St. Albans to run red
with English blood which English swords had shed.
These princes, for whom the yeomanry periled
their lives and fortunes, were not the exponents
of important principles, upon the success of which
their happiness depended. Their zeal was pro
duced by an infatuation alike unhappy in its cause
and its consequences. The masses of the people
had to endure all the hardship, suffering and
toil; the leaders only derived advantage. Such
is the state of things in every instance, where
measures and principles are abandoned to follow
men. Whenever the parties in our country shall
assume this form, we may give up our hopes of
national greatness, and expect a long, gloomy,
perhaps an oternal night.
Notwithstanding the many things that have
been written and said to the contrary, a religious
hypocrite is rarely found. Many are inconsist
ent, who do not exhibit in its purity and beauty
the faith wnich they profess; multitudes are de
ceived ; but there be few, indeed, wlio merely
use religion as a cloak for their designing schemes.
Thackeray speaks on this subject pertinently and
sensibly:
We have all of us, no doubt, bad a flue experi
enc< of the world, and a vast variety of charac
ters have passed under our eyes; but there is one
sort of men—not an uncommon object of satire
in novels and plays—of whom I confess to have
met with scarce any specimens at all in my inter
course with this sinful mankind. I mean, mere
religious hypocrites, preaching forever, and not
believing a word of their own sermons; infidels
in broad brims and sables, expounding, exhort
ing, comminating, blessing, without any faith in
their own paradise, or fear about their pandemo
nium. Look at those candid troops of hobnails :
clumping to church on a Sunday evening; those i
rustling maid-servants in their ribbons whom the 1
young apprentices follow; those little regiments j
of school-boys ; those trim young maidens, and j
staid matrons, marching with their glistening j
prayer-books, as the chapel bell chinks yonder ;
(passing Ebenezer, very likely, where the congre- j
gation of umbrellas, great bonnets and pattens; I
is by this time assembled under the flaring gas
lam'ps.) Look at those! How many of them are |
hypocrites, think you? Very likely the maid-!
servant is thinking rf her sweet-heart; the gro- :
cer is casting about how he can buy that parcel
of sugar, and whether the County Bank will take \
any more of his paper; the head school-boy is
conning Latin verses for Monday’s exercise; the
young scape-grace remembers that after this ser
vice and sermon there will be papa’s exposition
at home, but that there will be pie for supper;
the clerk who calls out the psaim has his daugh
ter in trouble, and drones through his responses,
scarcely aware of their meaning; the very mo
ment the parson hides his face on his cushion he
may be thinking of that bill which is coming due
on Monday. These people are not heavenly-min
ded ; they are of the world, worldly, and have
not yet got their feet off of it; but they are not
hypoorites, look you. Folks have their religion
in 6ome handy lock-up, as it were—-a valuable
medicine, to be taken in ili-health.
Thought a Beautifies.— A writer in the Home
Journal thinks that mental activity tend to keep
the body young:
We were speaking of handsome men the other
evening, and I was wondering why K had lost
the beauty, for which, five years ago, he was fa
mous. “O, ’tis because he never did anything,”
said B; “he never worked, thought, suffered.
You must have the mind chiseling away at the
features, if you want handsome middle-aged
men.” Since hearing that remark, I have been
on the watch at the theatre, opera and other pla
ces, to see whether it is generally true, and it is.
A handsome man who does nothing but cat and
drink, grows flabby, and the fine lines of his fea
tures are lost; but the hard thinker has an ad
mirable sculptor at work, keeping his lines in re
pair, and constantly going over bis face to im
prove the original design..
Lord Surrey’s translation of the 4th was
the first specimen of English blank verse. Turo
eryille’s translations from Ovid the second, and
{ Kit Marlowe’s Lucan the third.
THE practice of many lawyers would bespeak
them to be rather the foes than the friends
of law. By the aid and comfort which they give
to criminals, they directly encourage vice and
help to defeat the ends of justice. Here is a man
who has committed a deed violative of the sacred
majesty of the law, and in its horrible details
shocking to the feelings of the whole community.
Every one believes him guilty, and aro desirous
that he shall expiate his guilt by the severest pen
alties. But he or his friends havo money, and
that is poured out lavishly to secure the best legal
counsel which they can employ. These accept
the case on the promise of liberal fees, without
any inquiry into the justice of the cause which
they are espousing, and often with a full confes
sion of guilt from the party whom they have en
gaged to defend. Yet, will they earnestly strive
to curse society again with ono who has shown
himself dangerous to its peace, and has forfeited
all claim to its protection by his misconduct
They throw into the effort all their talents and
energies, and not seldom employ all the under
hand trickery which their ingenuity can suggest.
As long as the money lasts, their zeal continues
unabated. The case is continued from one term
of eout£ to another, on the most trifling preten
ces—the merest quibbling used to gain anew
trial when an adverse decision has been made,
and in this way is the life ot the wretch prolonged
in lingering, torturing anxiety, and the law ren
dered as uncertain in its operation as a game of
hazard. All this is done when they aro well ap
prised of his guilt, and know that the well-being
of society demands his condemnation.
Is this right, just, consistent or honorablo? J
His profession requires the lawyer to see that the
client who entrusts his caso to him has a fair and
impartial trial. If the client be innocent, be
should use his best endeavors to make that in- I
noccnce appear; but if he bo guilty, he should
not strive to prove him innocent, thU6 defraud
the State and inflicting a great wrong ou society.
BELWER ON THE DESTRUCTION OF
JERUSALEM.
A few weeks ago Sir E. Bulwer Lytton deliv
; ered a lecture in Lincoln, which city he has for
! a number of years represented in Parliament, on
! the early history of Eastern Nations. He gave
| an outline of the history of the Babylonian, Per
sian, Egyptian, Greek and Jewish nations, closing
with the following powerful and dramatic des
cription of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus:
Six years after the birth of our Lord, Judea
and Samaria became a Roman province, under
subordinate governors, the most famous of whom
was Pontius Pilate. These governors became so
oppressive that the Jews broke out into rebellion, ]
and seventy years after Christ, Jerusalem was fi
nally besieged by Titus, afterwards Emporor of j
Rome. No tragedy on the stage has the same
scenes of appalling terror as are to be found in
the history of this siege. The city itself was rent
by factions at the deadliest war with each other
—all the elements of civil hatred had broke looso
—the streets were slippery with the blood of citi
zens, brother slew brother —the granaries were set
on fire--the famine wasted those whom the sword
did not slay. In the midst of these civil massa
cres, the Roman armies appeared before the walls
of Jerusalem. Then for a short time tho rival
factions united against ilie common foe; they
were again the gallant countrymen of David and
Joshua—they sallied forth and scattered the
eagles of Rome. But this triumph was brie.;; the
ferocity of the ill-fated Jews soon again w isted
itself on each other. And Titus marched on, en
camped his armies close by the walls, and from
the height, the Roman General gazed with awe
on the strength and splendor of the city of Je
hovah.
Let us here pause, and take, ourselves, a mourn
ful glance at Jerusalem, as it then was. The city
was fortified by a triple wall, save on the one side,
where it was protected by deep and impassable
ravines. These walls, of the most solid masonry,
were guarded by strong towers; opposite to the
loftiest of these Titus had encamped. From the
height of that tower the sentinel might have seen
stretched below the whole of that fair territory of
Judea, about to pass from the countrymen of
David. Within these walls was the palace of the
kings—its roof of cedar, its doors of tho rarest
marbles, its chambers filled with the costliest ta
pestries, and vessels of gold and silver. Groves
and gardens gleaming with fountains, adorned
with statues of bronze, divided the courts of the i
palace itself. But high above all, upon a precip- i
itous rock, arose the temple, fortified and adorned |
by Solomon. This temple was as strong without i
as a citadel —within adorned more than a palace. !
On entering you behold porticos of numberless
columns of porphyry, marble and alabaster; gates j
adorned with gold and silver, among which was J
the wonderful gate called Beautiful.
Further on, through a vast arch, was the sacred
portal which admitted into tho interior of the
temple itself, all sheeted over with gold, and
overhung by a vine treo of gold, the branches of
which were as large as a man. The roof of (he
temple, even on the outside, wus set over with
golden spikes, to prevent the birds settling there
and defiling the holy dome. At a distance, the
wliolo temple looked like a mount of snow, fret
ted with golden pinnacles. But, alas! tho vail j
of that temple had already been rent asunder by j
an inexpiable crime, and the Lord of Hosts did
not fight with Israel. But the enemy is thunder
ing at the wall. All around the city roso im
mense machines, from which Titus poured down
mighty fragments of rock, and showers of fire.
The walls gave way, the city was entered, and the
temple itself was stormed.
Famine, in the meantime, had made such havoc
that the besieged were more like spectres than
living men; they devoured the belts to their
swords, the sandals to their feet. Even nature
itself 60 perished away that a mother devoured
her own infant; fulfilling the awful words of the
prophet who had first led the J ws toward the
land of promise—“ The tender and delicate wo
man amongst you, who would not adventure to
set tho sole of her foot upon the ground for deii- j
cateness and tenderness—her eyes shall be evil j
toward her young ono, and the children that she j
shall bear, for she shall eat them for want of all j
things, secretly, in the siege and straitness where
with thine enemy shall encompass thee in thy
; gates.”
Still, as if the foe and famine were not scourge
; enough, citizens smote and murdered each other
I as they met in the way—false prophets ran how
ling thro’ the streets—every image of despair
i completes the ghastly picture of the fall of Jeru
| salem. And now the temple was set on fire, the
I Jews rushing through the flames to perish amid
! its ruins.
It was a calm summer night, the 10th of Au
j gust, the whole hill on which stood the temple
I was one gigantic flame of fire; the roofs of cedar
I crashed, the golden pinnacles of the dome were
like spikes of crimson flame. Through the lurid
atmosphere all was carnage and slaughter; the
echoes of shrieks and yells rang back from the
Hill cf Zion and the Mount of Olives. Amongst
the smoking ruins, and over piles of the dead,
Titus planted the standard of Rome.
Thus were fulfilled tho last avenging prophe
cies—thus perished Jerusalem. In that dreadful
day men were still living who might have heard
tho warning voice of him they crucified: “Verily
I say unto you, theso things shall come upon this
generation. 0, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets and stonost them that are
sent to thee, behold your houso is left unto you
desolate.”
And thus were the Hebrew people scattered
over the face of the earth, still retaining to this
hour their mysterious identity, still a living proof
of the truth of those prophets they had scorned
or slain, still awaiting that Messiah whose divine
mission was fulfilled eighteen centuries ago upon
the Mount of Calvary.
frWWs have somewhere read of a traveller
who stood one day beside the cages of some birds,
that, exposed for sale, ruffled their sunny plu
mage on the wires, and struggled to be free. A
way-worn and sun-browned man, like ono re
turned from foreign lands, looked wistfully and
sadly on these captives, till tears started in his
eye, and turning round on their owner, he asked
the price of one, paid it in strange gold, and
opened the door and set the prisoner free; and
thus he did with captive after captive, till every
bird was away, soaring to the skie3 and Binging
on the wings of liberty. The crowed stared and
stood amazed ; they thought him mad, till to the
question of their curiosity ho replied, “I was once
myself a captive; I know the sweets of liberty.”
REST is desired by all. The laborer is sustained,
in'his daily toil, by thoughts of the rest and
sweet repose which night shall bring. Did he see
no pause before him, his hand would lose its
strong energy, and his feet cease to advance. The
over-worked brain craves rest, and demands it to
restore wasted vigor. In a word, all orders of
men, in whatever vocation engaged, need, and
must have, periods of relaxation from labor to re
fresh the mind and re-invigorate the frame.
Put all men look forward to some period in the
future when they can enjoy one long season of
rest, and toil no moro; The sailor, when holding
his watch upon tho rocking billow, and appalled
at the fury of the storm, indulges in pleasing
dreams of the time when he shall leave the ocean
and have a home. The soldier, though- he may
pant for glory and brave every danger in its pur-;
suit, longs quite as much for the day when his j
warfare shall be over. The man of ambition, from \
whose eyelids care drives all sleep, has “a good !
time coming” ahead, when he can cease from his j
tolls with a reputation secured and every object !
attained. The poor, disappointed one, weary and ,
sick of heart, to whom Hope no longer smilingly
beckons, looks forward to a rest beyond the ;
grave.
Yet, how few men ever rest in this life. From I
the oradle to the grave, their whole history is
continued turmoil, hurry, confusion and toil.
They p&uso not to contemplate the brightness
and beauty of the spot upon which they have
been placed. Never reaching the point where
they can feel that enough of wealth, or knowl
edge, or honor has been obtained, they still strug
glo on as if their existence depended on their
efforts; Thus, giving no relaxation td body or to
mind, they soon grow woary in this world of woe,
“ In deeds, not years, plodding the sands oflifo.”
Modes of Walking.— The phrenologist roads a
man’s character* by the bumps on his head : the
physiognomist by tho expression of his counte
nance ; but we ire thus told in the Home Journal
how a man may be known by his walk :
Observing persons move slow, their heads move
alternately from side to side, while they occasion
ally stop and turn round. Careful persons lift
their feet high, and place them down flat arid
firm. Sometimes they stoop down, pick up some
little obstruction and place it quietly by the side
of the way. Calculating persons generally walk
with their hands in their pockets, and their heads
slightly inclined. Modest persons generally step
softly, for fear of being observed. Timid persons
often step off from a sidewalk, on meeting an
other, and always go around a stone instead of
stepping over it. Wide awake persons “ too out,”
and have a long swing to their arms, while their
hands shake about miscellaneously. Careless per
sons are forever stubbing their toes. Lazy per
sons scrape about loosely, with their heels, and
are first on one side of the walk, and then on the
other. Ver/strong-minded persons have their
toes directly in front of them, and have a kind
of stamp movement. Unstable persons walk fast
and slow by turns. Venturous persons try all
roads, frequently climb the fences instead of go
ing through the gate, and never let down a bar.
One-idea persons and very selfish ones “toe in.”
Cross persons are apt to hit their knees together.
Good-natured persons snap their thumb and fin
ger every few steps. Fun-loving persons have a
kind of jig movement.
A Noble Looking Indian Girl. —A soldier in
tho U. S. Army, writing from the camp before
Red River, New Mexico, under date of July 28th,
communicates to the Richmond Dispatch the fol
lowing:
It was here that I saw the noblest looking In
dian girl that eye ever beheld. Her dress consis
ted of a piece of brown cotton cloth, wrapped
around her loins and hanging to the knee. On
her head she wore her native war plume. She
was tall, strait as an arrow, and had a free wild
Indian look, that was quite taking. (Some of
her tribe were given to another kind of taking,
which required all of our watchfulness to pre
vent.) She appeared to be about 18 years of age,
and was the wife of a young chief about 20 years
old. It was interesting to see with what respect
she waited on him. Her example would be edi
fying to the wives of more civilized life. But it
was amusing to see with what lordly indifference
the young savage regarded her attention, I trust
I have too much of the native gallantry of my
own Erin to see anything to commend in this ex
ample of coolness towards such a devoted and
sweet spouse, although oxhibited by “ one of the
rulors of the earth.”
The following little “Scotch argument for Mar
riage” is very pleasantly simple, though not very
logical:
Jenny is poor, and I am poor,
Yet we will wed—so say no more;
And should the bairnies to us come.
As few that wed but do have some,
No doubt but heaven will Btand our friend,
And bread, as well as children, send ;
Fo fares the hen in farmer’s yard,
To live alone she finds it hard;
I’ve known her weary every claw,
In search of corn among the straw ;
But when in quest of nicer food,
Sho ducks among her chirping brood;
With joy we sec the self-same hen,
That scratched for one could scratch for ten.
These are the thoughts that make me willing,
To take my girl without a shilling,
And for the self-same cause, you see,
Jenny resolved to marry me.
HENRY CLAY’S RELICKOUS VIEWS.
A writer, in whose signature wo recognize the
initials of Rev. J J. Bullock, D. D. of Walnut
Hill, Kentucky, communicates to tho Louisville
Herald, a very interesting sketch of an interview
with Henry Clay towards the close of that great
man’s life. It presents his religious views more
clearly than any other statement which has been
given. After speaking of the personal friendship
existing between him and Mr. Clay, Dr. Bullock
says:
“Upon meeting him on one occasion, he said
to me, ‘Sir, I wish to come and spend a day with
you in the country. There are some things about
which I wish to converse with you.’ Shortly af
ter, he came early in the morning and spent the
entire day. It was not long before he left his
home for the last time for Washington. I can
never forget this day. Mr. Clay was very feeble,
and evidently believed that his busy and eventful
life was drawing rapidly to a close. I had seen
him in the vigor of his manhood, and certainly he
was the pacst imposing and commanding man I
ever saw. Now, he was gentle and tender as a
woman : his mind was clear and strong; his views
and feelings about religion had evidently under
gone a great change. They were evangelical and
catholic, and his feelings were those of a large
hearted and humble Christian. He spoke freely
upon tho whole subject. Iljo expressed great
doubt about his living to take his seat in the Sen
ate, but hoped God would spare his life until he
could once more speak to his countrymen. I was
exceedingly struck with the purity and depth of
his love of country and the Union. He seemed
to have merged his character, as the greatest of
party leaders, into that of a second Father of his
country.”
ERRORS OF GENIUS.
It is a curious fact that men of genius often
facy themselves strongest in thoso departments
ot intellectual effort where they are weakest. —
Montaigne calls attention to tho fact that Julus
Coesar is at vast pains to make us understand his
inventions in bridge building and contriving war
enginos, while he is very succinct and reserved in
speaking of the rules of his profession as well
as the rules of his own military conduct. Liston,
while convulsing London nightly with laughter,
thought tragedy his forte. Milton preferred Par
adise Regained to all other poems; and Gootbo
used repeatedly to say, “ As for what I have done
as a poet I take no pride in whatever. But that
in my century I am the only person who knows
the truth in the difficult science of colors—of that
I say lam not a little proud. There I have a
consciousness of superiority to many.” Equally
naive and fitted to provoke a smile was the remark
ofMichaol Angelo, who, when he proposed to
fortify his native city, Florence, and was told to
Btick to his painting and sculpture, observed these
were his recreations, but what he really under
stood was architecture.
■■■
..An Indiana paper refuses to publish eulogies
gratis, but adds: “We will publish the simple an
nouncement of the death of any of our friends
with pleasure.”
There are now in the United States about 29,-
000 post offices.
Hon. J. Glancy Jones has received the appoint
ment of Minister to Austria.
Another telegraph cable has been successfully
laid across the Ohio River at Cairo.
Four hundred and sixty-eight thousand of the
slaves at the South arc church members.
During September §255,000 in silver half dol
lars were coined at the Now Orleans mint.
The royal families of England, France and Por
tugal are all expecting an increase this year.
Carlyle’s much-talked-of book, the History of
Frederick the Second, has appeared in London.
j It has been decided lately in Court, that the
word “children” iu a will includes grandchildren
also.
A young lady 15 years of age sent to tho State
Fair, in Connecticut, a quilt containing ten thou
’ sand pieces.
i An Irishman making lovo to a lady of great
| fortune, told her “he could not slape for dhram
; ing of her.”
| Someone is telling how to submerge the At- ;
’ lantic Cable. How to submerge gold is easier—
buy cable stock.
Hon. Robert J. Walker is writing a book on the !
relations of capital and labor, and not a pam
phlet on the tariff.
The amount of taxable property in New Or
leans is §107,576,693; real estate, which is not
taxable, $31,056,315.
Woman has found her true sphere at last. It
is about twonty-Beven feet round, and is made of
hoops and crinoline.
Fifteen of the Florida Indians have determined
•to adopt the manners and customs of the whites,
and become citizens.
Advices from the French West India Islands
state that 500 Africans and 750 Asiatics had just
been received at Guadaloupe. *
I
Mr. Bacon, and other merchants of Boston,
have contributed and forwarded $l,lOO to tho
Howard Association, of Now Orleans.
Bayard Taylor and family arrived by the Sax- |
onia. lie has been absent nearly two years and j
a half, lie will devote the winter lecturing.
A late Parisian invention consists in making a
parasol so that it can be folded in the form of a
fan, instead of folding it in the common manner.
Measures are being taken to introduce into this
country an article of Tea from Paraguay. It is
said to be an excellent and wholesomo beverage.
Anew five act comedy of New York life, by
Dr. Wainwright, son of the late Bishop Wnin
wright, will be produced at Wallack’s, New York,
soon.
A would-be smart editor concludes that Noah’s
Ark, as none of the ancient paintings of it exhibit
any paddle wheels, must have been a screw pro
peller.
The marriage of Count de Meaux, with M’lle
Montalembert, daughter of the distinguished ora
tor, was celebrated at Paris recently, with much
simplicity.-
Hon. J. R. Chandler had an audieuco of the
King of Naples on the 20th ult. to present his
credentials as U. S. Minister to the Court of the
Two Sicilies.
It is recommended to housewives, in making
their pickles, to add a cluster or two of green
grapes, which w ill completely preserve the vigor
of tho vihegar.
J. T. Headley, author of the “Sacred Moun
tains,” “Napoleon and his Marshals,” and other
interesting works, died at Buffalo, N. Y. on Tues
day of last week.
Mrs. McMahon, the New York “Fifth Avenue”
actress, does not seem to gain in favor with the
public. Last Saturday night she was hissed oft’
the stage in Detroit.
A man in Falmouth, Maine, has raised, this
year, from one seed, seven squashes, weighing, in
the aggregate, 599 pounds. From that one seed
the vine grew to over 300 feot in length.
The Boston Adas says there was a great crowd j
at Trinity Church on the morning of the 6th inst.
to witness a “fashionable wedding.” The
bridesmaids were dressed in deep scarlet.
“Mother, have I got any children?” asked an
urchin of eight summers. “Why, no; what pdt
that in your head?” “Because I read in the Bi
ble to-day at school about children’s children.”
“I know I am a porfect bear in my manners,”
said a fine young farmer to his sweethear t. “No,
indeed, you are not, John; you have never ;
hugged mo yet. You are more sheep than bear.” j
{
It appears from the game list, that not less than .
six clergymen of tho Church of England have !
actually taken out certificates licensing them to !
kill game and sport this year. Society will be j
shocked.
The Comet, (says a Western cotemporary) which
does not hold to the doctrine of Abolitionism, has
gone South for the purpose of striking a blow at
the slaves, and knocking imported Irish into a
mess of “pi.”
“Well, Alick, how’s your brother Ike getting
on these times?”
“Oh, first rate! Got a start in the world—mar
ried a widow with nine children! A pretty siza
ble start, that.”
Tho Dubuque Timas says that by a recent cen
sus of that city, made by the District Board of
Directors, under the provision of the school law,
it appears the total population of Dubuque ;s 678
less than last year.
The Intelligencer of the 31st inst announces the j
death of lion. G. H. Julian, Representative from
Forsyth County in tho present Legislature. He
died at his residence in that-county, on the 23d
ult. in tho 54th year of his age.
A homo without a girl is only half blest; it is
an orchard without blossoms, and a spring with
out a song. A house hill of sons is like Lebanon t
with its cedars; but daughters by the fireside are i
like the roses in Sharon. j
. The Geysers of Iceland have been recently vis
ited by three young Scotch ladies, with their bro
thers. They are the first female travellers, ex
cept Madame Ida Pfeiffer, who ever penetrated
to that remote region of lava and ice.
The Amherst and Belchertown (Mass.) railroad,
which co t two hundred and twenty-five thou
sand dollars, was, on Friday last, sold to the
bondholders for forty-two thousand five hundred
dollars. The road is 20 miles long.
The Dutchess of Malakoff’s trousseau is one of
the great subjects of consideration in Paris at pre
sent; and, in particular, a diadem of brilliants is
spoken of, in which is inserted a wondrous pearl
presented to the Duke by the Sultan.
Tho Emperor of Russia has .just granted per
mission to the student sos the University of Mos
cow to publish a collection of translations of the
best German, French and other foreign works, to
be printed at the cost of tho University.
1
Tho Crowell family of North Carolina and Geor- .
gia are said to be desoended from two brothers of
Oliver Cromwell, who fled from England after the
Restoration, having dropped the m. from their
name to avoid the perseeution of the Stuarts.
Persons in England who leave railroad cars
whilo trains are in motion aro subject to legal
penalties. A burly was fined 5s and 5s cost, a few
weeks ago, for having stepped out of a train on
the Crystal Pajace line before the cars stopped.
The N. Orleans Bulletin, learns from Captain
McLellan, of the ship Wurtemberj;, from* Saint
Thomas, that, Santa Anna purchased an estate for
$40,000, and. left the island on the 24th ult. for
Porto Rico* from which place it \vat expected he
woujd sail for Mexico.
A CL.OUII— NOT NIGHT.
W. GILMORE swms.
’Oh! what if the prospect bo clouded,
And what it the sunlight be fled;
The bright sun may bo shrouded, _
The bright crown be torn from his head i
But he bends never long to the rigor
Os the tempest that beats on his form ;
And he conies forth anon full of vigor,
More glorious because of the storm.
From the sun let the son! take its moral,
Nor shrink ’neath the battle of life;
Near the cypress growtsever the laurel,
And wo pluck, as we please, from the strife.
Though the foe preeseth on with his legions,
And we bend for the hour at his will,
Keep you ca!m in the turbulent regions,
And the triumph onures to you still.
AXCEL VISITANTS.
* BY JOBS’ EDWARD CHALMERS.
Though angels long have left this earth,
Their shadows still remain ;
Where all that’s pure and good have birth,
| They seem to live again.
In homes and hearts they piny their parts,
I Where love and concord dwell;
While o’er life’s dreamß they cast their beam*,
And weave a magic spell.
Yes ; earth has angels of her own,
And not a few I ween,
Though angel’s visits, man is told,
Are few and far between.
j In every land, whoro’or we stray,
’Mong those we chance to greet,
When least wo think, perhaps wo may
With somo bright angel moot.
For while full well the eyes can toll
When beauty passes by,
Yet angels may pursue their way
Unheeded by the eye.
Oh. yet, a veil may oft conceal
An angel bright and fair,
Whose virtues would adorn a crown,
And shed a lustro there.
7IIXD AND MATTER,
But these conclusions, however vast their com
prehension, carry us but another step forward in
the realms of siderial astronomy. A proper mo
tion in space of our sun and the fixed stars, as
we call them, has long been bolieved to exist.—
Their vast distances only prevent it being more
apparent. Tho great improvement of instruments
of measurement, within the last generation, has
‘ not only established the existence of this motion,
■ but has pointed to the region in the starry vault,
| around which our whole solar and stellar system,
with its myriad of attendant planetary worlds,
appears to bo performing a mighty revolution.
I If, then, wo assume, that outside of the system to
| which we belong, and in which our sun is but a
! star like Alderbaran or Sirius, the different nebu
lse of which we have spoken, thousands of which
! spot the heavens, constitute a distinct family of
the Universe, we must, following the guide of an
alogy, attribute to each of them also, beyond all
the revolutions of their individual attendant
planetary systems, a great revolution, compre
hending the whole ; while the same course ot an
alogical reasoning would lead us still further on
ward. and in the last analysis, require us to as
sume a transcendental connection between all
these mighty systems —a universe of universes,
circling round in the infinity of space, and pre
serving its equilibrium by the same laws of mu
tual attraction which bind the lower worlds to
gether.
It may bo thought that conceptions like these
are calculated rather to depress than to elevate
us in the scale of being ; that banished as he is by
these contemplations to a corner of creation, and
thero reduced to an atom, man sinks to nothing
in this infinity of worlds. But a second thought
eorreets the impvession. These vast contempla
tions are well calculated to inspire awe, but not
abasement. Mind and matter are immeasurable.
An immortal soul, even while clothed in “ thi3
mucldy vesture of decay,” is tho eye of God and
reason, a purer essence than the brightest sun
t hat lights the depths of heaven. Tho organized
human eye, instinct with life and soul, which,
gazing through the telescope, travels up to the
cloudy speck'in tho handle of Orion’s sword, and
bids it blaze forth into a galaxy as vast as ours,
stands higher in the order of being than all that
host of luminaries. The intellect of Newton*
which discovered tire law that holds tho revolving
worlds together, is a nobler work oi God than a
universe of miversies of unthinking matter.
If, still treading the loftiest paths of analogy,
we adopt the supposition—to me, I own, tho
grateful supposition—that tho countless planetary
worlds which attend ihc-se countless suns, are the
abodes of rational beings liko man, instead ot
bringing back from this exalted conception a
feeling of insignificance, as if the individuals of
our race were but poor atoms in the infinity of
being, I regard it, on the contrary, as a glory of
our human nature, that it belongs to a family
which no man can number, of rational natures
like itseif. In tho order of being they- may stand
beneath us, or they may stand above; Ac may well
be content with his place who is made “a little
lower than the angels." — id. Everett..
——- ■<•>-
TRIE WOMANHOOD.
Amidst the sordid selfishness which so pre-em
inently characterises the world, it is refreshing to
witness the occasional outbeamings of better feel
ings, illustrative of a better humanity. While
riding n few days since, in a Chesnut street, Phil
adelphia, omnibus, a young lady of pleasant as
pect was one of the passengers, the rest being
gentlemen. At one of the corners the vehicle
stopped to take up a male and female passenger,
husband and wife—porsonsof decent appearance,
but of the humblest walks of life. As the door
opened, the woman, with terror depicted on her
! palid countenance, and her eye wildly flashing,
shrieked, “ I cannot go in there!” It was at once
evident that she was laboring under a “mind dis
eased,” from which the glorious light of reason
had faded. Her husband, with gentle, violence,
took her in his arms and carried her in. Then
was tho beautiful occurrence to which we have
referred. While the gentlemen were confounded
1 and appalled, the young lady, in gentlo tones,
spoke to tho maniac, “Como in, none will hurt
you here.” At the samo timo sho encircled her
with her arm and pressed her to her bosom,
where the unfortunate sobbed herself into quiet
ness. It was a scene to touch the heart. It was
such a display of womanly heart and self-posses
sion as we have rarely seen ; and often since, as
we have recalled the"maniac, dinging fondly to
her unknown benefactress, with her face hid in
her bosom as in a kindly asylum, we have thought
how powerful is woman’s love and sympathy.
A Lawyer’s Story. —Tom strikes Dick over the
shoulder with a rattan as big as your little finger.
A lawyer, in his indictment, would tell you the
story as follows: “And that whereas the said
Thomas, at the said place, on the year and day
aforesaid, in and upon tho body of said Richard,
against the people and State of Pennsylvania, and
j their dignity, did a most violent assault and
: inflicted a great many and divers blows, kicks,
thumps, humps, contusions, gashes, hurts, wounds,
damages and injuries, in and upon the head, neck,
breast, stomach, hips, knees, shins and heels of
said Richard, with divers sticks, canes, poles,
clubs, logs of wood, stones, daggers, dirks, swords,
pistols, cutlassos, bludgeons, blunderbusses and
boarding pikes, then and there held in the hands,
fists, claws and clutches of him, the said Thomas.
Schmer Sxows. —The Valparaiso correspondent
of tho Pennsylvanian writes under date of July
16th;
“ This is mid-winter here, and the woather is
very cold and unpleasant. The Andes are co
vered with snow. Snow to tho ‘depth of several
inches foil in the streets of Santiago one night last
week. Tho “oldest settlers” unito in declaring
that they have never passed through a more un
pleasant winter than tho present. The snow is
so deep on the mountains that wild animals are
compelled to leave the mountain gorges and seek
a milder home in the valleys.
A piece of petrified wood, with a scrow perfect
ly formed in it, was one hundred
and fifty feet beneath tho surface of the earth,
near Panola, Miss. It was embedded in whatap
pearod to have been a block of hickory wood ten
or fifteen inches square.
—
In the town of Zahlagen, Wurtemberg, there
has been lately opened anew printing establish
ment-, by Mr. Theodore Helgerad. All the com
positors and pressmen are deef and dumb, to the
number of one hundred and sixty: eleven of the
former are women.
l i -
Qne of our Western editors, speaking of a large
and fat cotemporary, remarked that if all H4ki it
grass, he must be. a load of hay.
“I suspect I am,” said the fkfc man, “from ilia
way the asses are nibbling at m© ”