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AMERICAS AUTHORSHIP.
What it Was, and Wliat it is.
‘ A country which has no national literature,
or a literature too insignificant to force itself
abroad, must always be, to its neighbors, at
Least in every important spiritual respect, an
unknown and mis-estimated country.’—Edin
burgh Review.
So much has been written by the ablest per
sons both sides of the Atlantic, upon the sub
ject of American Literature, that it seems pre
sumptuous now to attempt its discussion ; but
the resources of our rapidly growing country,
and the station which she holds among the na
tions of the earth, render it a topic of daily in
creasing importance to all who make any pre
tensions to patrotism or literary taste. To form
an idea of the science of a nation we must ex
amine its various institutions for the instruc
tion of its youth ; to learn a proper estimation
of its literature we need only make ourselves
acouainted with its periodical pre-s. If we
take the most cursory view of the monthly,
weekly and daily journals which traverse our
country from Georgia to Maine, we cannot
fail to be struck with the variety of tal
ent which they exhibit; however we may
complain of them for want of independ
ence, party spirit, etc. The fugitive poetry
which floats from paper to paper, read, admired
and then forgotten, is of a far higher order than
that which made the reputation of many a vo
tary of the muses in the days of Queen Anne,
while many of the slightly sketched tales and
essays which are thrown into oblivion, after
they have afforded a momentary amusement,
are worthy of an Addison or a Goldsmith. But
the very abundance of talent causes it to be un
dervalued and we examine the pages of a maga
zine as we might a cabinet of gems, where the
richness of the collection soon makes us too
fastidious to pause over anything of less price
than the diamond. The reproaches which have
been cast upon America for her total neglect of
the elegances of life will never more be heard.
The young nation has heretofore labored for the
means of existence—industry has brought wealth
and she is now able to indulge in luxuries. We
have our poets and our painters, our architects
and our sculptors, our writers and our readers,
and while establishing institutions for the pro
motion of the fine arts we have but just awaken
ed to the necessity of forming a national litera
ture.
Heretofore there have been two grand obsta
cles in the way of the establishment of a nation
al literature, viz: the want of literary patron
age, which necessarily involves a want of literary
industry, and a strange fondness among our
writers for foreign rather than American subjects
on which to employ their pens. The deficiency of
patronage may be better explained than reme
died. We are essentially an active, industrious,
commercial people, and the merchant who sits
poring over his ledger, calculating the riches
which the four winds of heaven are daily waft
ing into his coffers the settler who takes his axe
on his shoulder and trudges off into the wilder
ness with the certainty of their building up his
fortune—even the farmer who by hard labor pro
cures a competence for his family and bequeaths
them an estate rich in nature’s bounties—all
look with contempt upon the inactive student.
To them his habits seem those of confirmed in
dolence, for the man who takes up a book to
amuse himself during his hour of relaxation
from bodily labor can never be made to com
prehend the intense and wasting toil of men
tal exertion. The page which he reads with so
little effort, he supposes to have been writ
ten quite as easily, and remunerating an au
thor seems to him like bestowing the wages of
industry on idleness. He who has courage
to devote himself to learning, with its usual
attendant—poverty, is pitied by his friends
and ridiculed by the world as one who has
banished himself from the society of his fel
lows, in pursuit of a vain shahow. He will,
in truth, find himself alone; there are few
professedly literary men in onr country,certainly
not enough to form a class with whom he may
unite himself. Our professional men make
some approach to snoh a class, but devoted
as they are to active employment in their sev
eral duties, they have but little time tor the
pursuit of classic lore or the speculations of
abstract truth. All useful labor can demand a
high price in America, but we have scarcely
yet learned to rank the intellectual above the
physical, and years must elapse before our citi
zens can live as well by the exercise of the
brains as by the work of their hands. The
roads to wealth are so numerous and so easily
trodden, while the path of science is so rugged
and unpromising that it is not to be regarded
as a matter of surprise if our youth are tempted
rather by the glittering prizes which await them
at the shrine of Plutus, than by the laurel bough
which grows by the temple of Minerva. The
influence of wealth they feel at every step of
their progress in life; but time may bleach the
dark brown locks and disease farrow the lofty
brow before the fadeless laurel wreath can be
won and worn. A few gifted spirits may rise
superior to the temptations of worldly aggran
disement, and straggle successfully against the
tide of popular opinion, but how few are they
compared with the multitude who, after a few
ineffectual attempts either sink into oblivion, or
cease their efforts, and float onward with the
current. We want literary patronage, such as
will enable men to live in comfort; if not af
fluence. by the exercise of their intellectual as
well as their physical powers. We want a spirit
of liberality among all classes of men, such
as may enable them to regard the author as a
no less useful member of society than a mem
ber of some every-day profession. Then and
not till then can we have a literary class in so
ciety—a class willing to admit all who can show
themselves qualified, and which demands no
other qualifications than the possession of intel
lectual superiority.
The disposition which too many of our au
thors have shown to travel abroad in search of
subjects for the exercise of their intellect, may
be, in some measure, attributed to the want of
independence which has heretofore prevailed
among our critics. Until very recently a book
written by an American was scarcely deemed
worthy to come under the scalping-knife of crit
icism unless it had first attracted the notice of
an English reviewer, and if written upon an
American subject would have inevitably fallen
lifeless from the press. Few have been found
prepared to brave the unequal conflict with
opinion, and many a young writer who might
have been a glory to our country has been
allowed to sink into oblivion, while our reading
public have been nauseated by the reproduction
of myriads of trashy English books, exaggerat
ed in sentiment, bombastic in style, and false
in delineation. I said few have been found,
but America may well be proud of those few.
Long before our eyes were opened to see the
exhanstless mine of literary wealth which our
country held within its bosim, Irving, Pauld
ing and at a somewhat later period, Cobper,
coined some of its fine gold and sent it forth to the
world stamped with the impress of genius. The
name of Irving will be loved as long as America
exists ' he has associated himself with our most
intimate sympathies-he has discovered the
sources of our smiles and tears—we have laughed
with him till our ■ eyes ran o’er with glee and
we have wept with him till our tears fell like
rain-drops on his page. How, then, can we
fhink of him as the mere author, the nommis
umbra ' It is Irvin, the man, the follow citi
zen, the friend, whom we love though our eyes
may never have rested on his face. And who
does not honor Paulding, the keen satirist of
foreign fopperies, the true-hearted American
author, whose every thought has been devoted
to his country ? His pen has ever been employ
ed in her service, whether he used its point to
sting those who would undermine her strength
by luxury, or its feather to paint her exquisite
scenery and the workings of human nature in
the hearts of her sons. Cooper has done more
good abroad than at home. His books were
American in scenery and incidents, as sach
they were received with avidity in E l rope, and
though creatures such as he drew never existed
in this or any other quarter of the globe, still
they served to keep alive the interest which our
literature had now awakened. Many a brilliant
name may now be found among our authors
who are American in heart as by birth. We
have'a Bryant whose soul is filled with images
of beauty, and whose words breathe the sweet
ness of the ‘ summer wind. ’ His muse was born
amid our forest scenery, and though her eye
has since delighted to watch ‘ the rnshing of the
Barre tried to put parts into a large trunk. The
trunk was too small, however, and it was then
resolved to dispose of the body piecemeal. The
River Bievre, which runs through this quarter
of Paris, was selected in preference to the
Seine, as its waters are muddy and soon cause
putrefaction. The arms and thighs w'*re cut off
and done np in packages, and the partners in
crime set off for the river. When they arrived
on the bank it was still light, and they did not
dare to attract attention. They could not stand
in the streets with the suspicious packages, »Dd
after making a few turns they came into the
Rue Bolivean, where they found a room to let.
As already reported in the Mercury, the medical
student engaged the room, and soon afterwards
brought the two parcels. It was their intention
to consign them to the river, but both men were
seized with fear, and never dared to enter the
house in the Rue Bolivean.
The rest of the corpse was put into the large
trunk and sent to Mans as traveler’s baggage.
Here it remained twenty-five days, for, owing to
the fact that the station was being painted, Ihe
odor did not attract attention. When the trunk
Personals.
The wife of John Bright died of apoplexy in
Gordon on the 13th.
Joaquin Miller has written a song and dedicat
ed it to Yinnie Ream.
General Grant has got back to Paris and the
Exhibition still goes on.
Kate Field says she ‘is over thirty,’ but won’t
tell how much over.
Edison has sent a phonograpy to Dom Pedro,
and it is liable to raise Sancho in Brazil.
Even the Country papers are beginning to
decline letters about the Paris Exhibition.
Senator Garland has been called to his home
at Little Rock, Arkansas, by the death of his
son.
Ben Harrison, who ran for Governor of India
na against Blue Jeans Williams, is again a can
didate.
Henry Clay Dean is writing letters to the
Iowa papers in favor of the abolition of the jury
system.
Arrowy Rhone,’ yet does she turn with una
bated love to her native shores. Halleck, too,
has followed no foreign leader in his flights of
fancy. His feelings are the impulses of an
American heart, and his Satire leaves us only
causeto regret that its local merit cannot be most
uflly estimated beyond the broad Atlantic.
The Dismembered Woman.
Confession of Iler Butchery--The Latest
Parisian Mystery, and How It
was Unravelled.
The murderers of Madame Gillet, who are the
two individuals who hired a room in the Rue
Poliveau, have been arrested. A man named
Barre, who was formerly a lawyer’s clerk, had
for some time been speculating in stocks, and
generally had lost. A sum of 3.0U0 francs,
which he received from his father, was the last
money he had, and tnis soon went the way of
the rest. Shortly previous, however, he had
been introduced to Madame Gillet by a ‘medi
um.’ Barre conceived the design of getting
into the woman’s confidence and using her
money. He found the woman too suspicious,
however, bnt he confesses that from this time
he had resolved to obtain her money. He en
gaged her to bring him milk every morniDg,
thus obtaining an easy opportunity of carrying
out his purpose. He was so hard up imme
diately before the murder that he was continu
ally borrowing sums of ten francs from his for
mer messenger. This man, named Demol, was
afterward employed, by Barre to dispose of the
valuables found in the apartments of the mur
dered woman. Barre did not feel himself equal
to the task of carrying out his murderous plans
singe-handed. Among his acquaintances was a
young medical student named Liebiez. The
French Academy of Medicine deny that there is
any medical student of that name on its books,
and doubtless the man was merely an amateur
‘Sawbones.’ Barre went to him and unfolded
his plan for the murder and robbery. Early on
the morning of March 23, Liebiez went to the
lodgings of Barre, where both waited impa
tiently ior the arrival of Madame Gillet. The
woman entered out of breath from her anxiety
to be in time for her customers. Scarcely had
she entered the room, however, when Barre
struck her
A TERRIBLE BLOW
on the back cf the head with a heavy, iron-hand
led hammer. The woman was felled like an ox,
but she uttered a smothered cry. Barre then
knelt down and pnt his hand over her month,
while his partner proceeded to finish the mur
der. All was done coolly and methodically.
The instrument used was an erasing-knife, but
of a peculiar make, and it was in fact a sharp
lancet Liebiez took this instrument and struck
her in the breast and heart. He actually
“gouged” the heart, and two mortal wounds
were given here; the woman was also wounded
in the lungs, and in all seven blows were given.
When the bloody work was done, Barre took the
keys from the body, and went to the lodgings
of Mme. Gillet, where he soon possessed himself
of the different securities. The murderers were
now confronted with the corpse, which had to
be got rid of. It was disembered by Lebiez and
Wallace, the Actor.
was opened a few weeks ago the head of the
missing woman was found between the two
limbs, from which the shoes and stockings had
not been taken. A smaller trunk contained the
bust and the rest of the body. Barre left his
lodgings immediately after the murder, and,
curiously enough, went to live at No. 3 Rue
Rochebrune. Exactly opposite, in No. S, re
sides Monsieur ltoch, the French executioner,
whose name is as terrible in France as was that
of Calcraft in England. Barre was now out of
his difficulties. He immediately began to nego
tiate the securities and sent Demol to different
money changers. The evening after the mur
der he called at Demol’s and paid him 120
francs which he owed him. He was in such
good spirits that he invited Demol to go with
him to Lebiez. When leaving that young gen
tleman, Barre turned round to Demol and re
marked: “You can’t imagine how much that
young man has to cut up. He is very busy at
present, but what is most singular is that his
mistress, who lives with him, is not at all
afraid.” On the 30th of March Barre sold secu
rities to the amount of 3,225 francs. Now, how
ever, the Paris police were on the alert. Barre
had gone too far. The diff erent money-changers
were arrested and examined, and Demol’s testi
mony conclusively established the guilt of the
man. Lebiez had not changed his manner of
living in the least, but his partner seeing him
self lost denounced him.
When Lebiez was arrested his landlady and
her husband would not believe in his guilt.
“Such a nice young man could never have cut
up a woman.” He was very popular in the
whole neighborhood. He took the arrest quiet
ly, and stated that he only dissected the body
to save his friend. The French law puts a very
crucial test to murderers. On April 24, both
Barre and Lebiez were
BROUGHT TO THE M ORGUE
and silently put in presence cf the mutilated
remains. The effect was terrible on both men.
Lebiez was completely overcome, and had to be j
supported. He confessed His guilt. Barre was
also deadly pale, but firm, and took some notes
in a diary. He, too, had to be held np as he i
came out. The evidence is, of course, complete
against both prisoners.
Camel Breeding in Texas.
Mr. Lanfear, a man engaged in breeding cam
els in Texas, says of them that they are no more
trouble to raise than horses or cattle. The
colts, for the first three or four days, are rather
tender, and require close attention, but after
that take their chances with the herd. They
feed on cactus and brush, eschewing all grasses
that cattle and horses eat, if the favorite cactus
can be had. The females, with proper care,
give a colt every year, and the price at which
they are sold, the ease with which they are rais
ed, their extreme docility, and the adaptability
of our climate to their nature, would seem to
indicate that camel-raising is a profitable busi
ness in Texas. Mr. Lanfear says there is one
camel in the herd that has traveled one hundred
and fifty miles between sun and sun, and that
almost any well-broken camel is good for more
than one hundred miles in a day.
Charles H. Morgan, of New York, who died
on Wednesday, was the owner of twenty-one
iron steamships.
Mr. John T. Raymond was arrested at Wheel
ing on Tuesday, for a broad bill contracted in
18<35. He paid it.
The late Chief Justice Chase was the origina
tor of the term ‘greenback,’ as applied to the
currency.
Lawrence Barrett refused to give a recitation
for the benefit of a clergyman at Detroit. He
said his profession owed nothing to the clergy.
The Hon. James Pollock, of the class of 1831,
will deliver the annual oration before the litera
ry societies of the College of New Jersey on
Wednesday, the l‘.*th of June.
General Butler told a reporter of the New
York Express yesterday that he didn’t know
anything about Mr. Hayes’ title; didn’t care
anything about it, and had nothing to say
about it.
‘Ouida’ complains that the spirit of modern
improvement is ruining the natural and artis
tic charms of Italy. It is a pity the spirit of
modern improvement can’t get hold of ‘Ouida’
for awhile.
Flotow, the composer, is said to be a splendid-
looking man, with snowy hair and flowing beard,
eyes as brilliant as Madame Sautz’s, and a head
Raphaelite in its noble proportions.
At the last Election in Ohio Bishop, the De
mocratic candidate for Governor, carried four
teen of the twenty Congressional districts, and
the Wooster Democrat doesn’t think there is any
necessity for reapportiontment.
The New York Telegram sees a coincidence in
the fact that simultaneously with the news of
the presentation of Minister Bayard Taylor to
the Emperor William occurs the novel ship
ment of a large quantity of American beer to
Germany.
BretHarte, who acquired some fame as a poet
familiar with the ways of the Heathen Chinee,
will cross the deep, rolling ocean, and accept
consul-ation in Crefeldt, Germany, as a repres
entative of the United States Government.
While Booth was playing Othello at Balti
more a few evenings ago, a scene not down on
the bills happened, to the intense amusement
of the audience. When he kissed Desdemona
he left the imprint of his painted moustache on
the lips of his wife. She tried to wipe off the
black mark, but only spread it over her face,
and for once the wronged wife died amid up
roarious laughter.
‘Gum logs’ is the latest and best Americanism
recorded. It was used by the llsv. Dr. Winfield
of Arkansas, who objected to the appointment
of evangelists on the ground that all the ‘gum
logs’ would want the position ; and when called
upon to define the nickname, he said, ‘well,
sir, they are those fellows who won’t do for any
thing. They won’t split; you can’t work them
into any good, sound or square work, such as
we want. They are knotty, and are not worth
bothering with.’
‘Resolutions endorsing Hampton’s adminis
tration and demanding his re-election, have
been adopted by every county convention that
has assembled in the State. Some of the papers
are making a to-do about the opposition to
Hampton. We know of none worth notice. Not
one in a hundred in South Carolina has thought
of any one else for Governor, not only for the
next two years, but for as long a time as he will
serve the people. It is a pity we could not have
Hampton for Governor all the t-'me. His place
in the Gubernatorial chair can be filled, but
like Washington, he will never be supplanted
or superceded m the love and admiration of
the people.
The union of the Cameron and Sherman fam-
lies yesterday by the marriage of Senator Came
ron to Miss Sherman, is a social event that nat
urally attracts very general attention, not only
because of the distinguishad parties to the nup
tial contract, but also because of the almost ex
ceptional political power wielded by the families
in their respective States, where they are nota
ble for the honors they have attained in the
nation. The senior Senator Cameron is one of
hut two men in the history of our government
who retired from the United States Senate and
bequeathed his seat to his son. The elder Sena
tor Bayard, of Delaware, and the present Senator,
his son, were both elected to the Senate on the
same day by the Legislature of Delaware ; the
father for an unexpired term made vacant by
his own resignation, and the son to succeed the
father for the full term, which the father declined
The elder Cameron had been chosen to the Sen
ate four times by the Legislature of Pennsylva
nia; the first in 1845 when he acted with the
Protection wing of the Democratic party, and
the last in 1878, when, for the first time, his
election was uncontested after the Republican
sweep of 1872 under his lead; and in 1877 he
voluntarily retired to private life to mako his
son safe in the succession. The Sherman fami
ly have gathered the highest honors from State
and nation excepting only the Presidency.
There are three brothers—one of whom is the
Goneral of the Army of the United States, an
other has been Congressman, Senator and now
Cabinet officer, and the third was United States
Judge until he resigned a few years ago. It is
the daughter of the latter who yesterday be
came the bond of union between these two dis
tinguished families. The bridegroom has been
Secretary of War, and the youngest man who
ever filled the offioe, and is now one of the
youngest members of the Senate, with a re-elec
tion assured if he can give victory to his party
in the coming campaign. Being a gentleman
of national fame and elegant fortune, and
the bride coming from the highest social and
political circles of her State, he has wisely ap
preciated the attention the occasisn would legit
imately command, and, while studiously avoid
ing everything approaching vulgar ostentation,
has rather aided than attempted to restrict pub
licity. However earnestiy and even bitterly
many may antagonize the political efforts and
pretensions of Senator Cameron, all will joih
in sincere well-wishing to him and his house
hold.—Philadelphia Times.
Humor.
A resident cf Fourteenth street writes as fol
lows .
There is a tfoarding-house,
Not far away,
Where they have onion hash
Three times a day,
0! how the boarders yell,
When they hear the dinner bell,
0 ’. how the onions smell,
There, every day.
This is the way one of the ladies who be
longs to the Atlantic Monthly’s Contributors’
Club remembers things: “General Forrest was
buried the day my new hat came home. Hayes
was inaugurated the spring I made over my old
silk. Dickens died when Jennie was a baby.
Lincoln was killed when Mary was creeping. The
King of Spain was born the year I was married.'’
“John,” said a poverty stricken man to his son,
“I’ve made my will to-day.” “Ah!” “Yes,
John, I came down handsome. I ve willed you
the whole State of New York—to make a living in,
with the privilege of going elsewhere if you can
do better.”
It must be admitted that it ia discouraging to a
colporteur when he enters a Mississippi village to
inaugurate the work of salvation and distribute
tracts, to find that the pastor of the place has had
to take to mule-driving for a living, and that the
entire population is temporarily out ou the street
observing a dog fight.
She never told her lover, but she roped him in
for half a ton of ice-cream, all the same, and as
much candy as two sugar refineries could turn out
in the course of a year, and now he says if any
worm in the bud is going to prey on her damask
cheek, it would be advisable to let the contract
out to a sea-serpent, and then bet on the cheek.
Brown tried to quarrel with his mother-in-law
the other everung. Ho married the eldest of seven
girls. Said she, “Brown, my boy, I’m not going to
ruin my reputation by quarreling with you. Wait
till all the girls are married. At present, as a
mother-in-law, I’m only an amateur.”
Sarah Ann: “0, ain’t my brother a clever boy,
Eliza Jane . He’s only been to school two months
and he’s got the catechism.” Eliza Jane: “Wot’s
that! Why, my brother’s only bin to school two
weeks and he’s got the measles !”
A demoralized soloon-keeper while bewailing to
a friend the bad state of his business, looked to
ward a new spire creeping heavenward, and with
a wave of the hand said: “Them’s the things
that’s ruinin’ the country.
There was a period of over one thousand years
in the history of this world when doors had no
key-holes, and a citizen could be seen feeling all
over the door without exciting the least suspicion
against his social standing.
An exchange says : “A beautiful example of
force of habit is to see a disciple of Murphy fill
his glass with water, and dreamily blow the froth
off the innocent water before drinking.”
A Man of Iron.
The Joints of His Body Have All Grown
Solid.
New York, May 3.—Jonathan R. Busb, of Cam
bria, Niagara oounty, has not a joint in his
body. He went to bed in 1857 and has never
been out of it since. He cannot move even a
finger. He ran as captain of a canal boat be
tween Buffalo and Rochester in 1850, and was
getting stiff then. When he conld not do any
work he had to quit canalling, and then went
to book-keeping. His joints kept getting stiffer
and stiffer. The doctors could do him no good,
and at last he had to give up, and, after twenty-
one years, he has been abed at the farm home
stead of his family, between Lockport and Lew
iston. His trouble commenced with a pain
shooting through the bottom of his right foot,
that tumbled him to the ground. The foot com
menced to swell and got to be almost twice its
natural size. Stiffness in the joints followed.
Now Bass is literally a bone man. There is no
more bend to his legs, arms and body, than
there is to a marble statue. His arms are as
fast to his sides as if they were nailed there.
For eight years after he went to bed he could
move his arms, but the joints finally became
solid bone. They have to feed him with a spoon.
His jaws are as immovable as his other joints.
There is a space between his teeth that is just
wide enough to get food through. In I8G9 he
became blind: His mind is sound, but he speaks
with difficulty.