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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (May 9, 1866)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST. WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 9, 1 W THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST. By reference to our new terms, it will Ik seen that the price of the Weekly CoxsTtir- TtONALIST has burn reduced to $-1 per annum. Our weekly edition is a mammoth pujx r, and one of the v- ry best family journals published, containing ail the latest news of the day, re views of the markets, and a judicious selection of the daily editorials. Our country friends wonid do well to give it a liberal support. THE CHIEF JUSTICE. It is stated that Chief JUSTICE Chase lias no thing like that commanding influence on the bench of the Supreme Court of the Unite!* States possessed in their day and generation by his illustrious predecessors, Makshall and Taney that his decisions are often overruled by the more matured opinions oi his learned brethren—and that, even where bis own view is coincident with that of the Associate Jus tices, the presentation thereof is not looked on as adding any strength to the voice of the Court. How far these statements may be eor rlie# we have no means of knowing, bnt from Mr. Chase’s avocations and bias for years past are inclined to suppose them not altogether lacking in truth. The Suprcma Court of the United States has, since its organization, made it a point of professional honour to con form wy rigidly to the strict rule of English Law, and however in tribunals of lesser dig nity a corrupting latiludinurianism may have, crept in there lias been no time when such in sidious advances wore not repelled from that august body tlrst presided over by John Jav. So well indeed had it maintained itself at once Inflexible and pure that, even up to the out break of the late civil war, strangers reaching Washington were very stir*' to visit its session and, visiting, equally certain to retire profound ly gratified and impresssd. During the winter of 1861 It was our own fortune to tin frequently in the Supreme Court chamber, ami one of the piuMnntest recollections of a time tli.it soon melted redly into the clouds of war, is that we have of our first visit. A ease involving some millions ol property was under argument on appeal, and a great lawyer, steeped to the lips in the lore of his profession, stood at the Bar. Just beyond and above him was the Bench whereon sate the < 'hike Justice and ills breth ren he In the centre and they on cither side.— The Associate Judges we do not now very well remember, but the image oi that great and good limn, Roger B. Taney, now gone to his rest, is never to he forgotten. So very still that, but for the undimmed sparkle of Ids eye, you would say he were a stautc; garbed, like ids breth ren, in jet black robe of silk ; bearing the very Image and superscription of Authority upon him, lie seemed to us, as a great British lawyer said of Mansfield, the grand and uwfbl em bodiment of Justice. Since those days, lure ohm rneminisse juvnbit, circumatauct* have not permitted us of the Sooth to know much about the Supreme Court lieyoml two particular circumstances forcibly illustrating its past glory ami present state. One of these, the /treat Mbrkvman ease, occurred during the latter days of Chief Jus tice Tanky, and shows how to the last that re nowned juristupheld the dignity of the Law. At a time when the war spirit was sweeping over the North like a sirocco, and all ordinary procedures of justice disregard ed in its wild l\nv, there was taken from ids had at midnight, by a detachment of Federal soldiery, a citizen of Maryland. Hurried by his captors to the dungeons of Fort McHenry, there was still enough courage and ingenuity left the prisoner to have ids application for a writ of Habeas Count's brought before the good Chief Justice. On the proper legal evi dence presented, such writ was at once award ed and ordered, In the terms of the law, to be forthwith served and due return thereto made. On presenting himself at the gates of the fort ress, the marshal was repelled by constructive military violence, and a return to that effect made. Firm as adamant, the Chief Justice then issued attachment for contempt against the party recusant. The commandant of tile fortress appeared in person, and, pleading the order of President Lincoln, declared he would not surrender the body of his prisoner. Pow erless as he was in the presence of muskets and cannon, the just Judge was yet true to himself. He laid before Mr. Lincoln a statement of the case, and formally demanded the execution of those laws that functionary was solemnly sworu to maintain, observe,and execute. Noth ing further was done in the premises, hut from the first to the last, Kookh B. Taney perform ed his whole duty, and was taken to that Got), of whose justice he had been vicegerent on earth, with this last crown of glory encircling his old grey hairs. / know, said a great English judge, no reasons of state , 1„m here to deitare tb* low at it is atid with just that same noble sentiment our CniKK Justice closed his .piar tc.r of a century iu the seat ot judgment. And now for the second ease. It is that which occurred during the tlrst incumbenev of CttiEr Justice Chase—.-lieu iu the citv of Washington, under the very eyes of that sworn conservator of the law. luou-Atid worse, a wo man, also were put to death by a drum head court martial, and ho opened not his mouth. Mr Lincoln was cruelty murdered and we have no tears for the fine of his base assassin. Cspt, Win* may have been guilty of great cruelty to the helpless and, if so, should have had our suffrage for his punishment. But why. in either ease, did not the Chief Ji stiv k, were it hut for the sake of his own professional hon our, at least seek to have the trial in court* of •he common law ? The request might safely have been mule since it would not have been grant,a! but. not having been preferred, how docs such negligence stand by the side of Tankv s spotless fame. But, writing of justice, one should himself just .otobe is at least our constant effort. Irrespective of political bias or p.-r-onal ani •uoHtv, of birth place, of position, or of color w * would do no man living » wrong The journalist wields a power in his pen, and in our view, is deeply responsible for that pen's eveqy utterance. No man, because he writes himself We, has a right to malign, misjudge, or villify another, and the greater his power in this re gard the blacker his offense in yielding to temptation. Chief Justice Chafe we do not pretend to judge. It is said, we know, that he is made’of but litt’c ai conut, as above stated, on Ids fiench, and flirt tier said by the public prints that lie is much given to haranguing pro miscuous assemblies and consorting with igno rant and fanatic persons. If true, all this is at least no crime. Professional insignificance is a misfortune, not a fault; and even a haunting of low company, ihotigh disreputable, is not, per se, an unpardonable offence. That, however, such statements should be made, and in such wav as to lend some color ot truth, is matter of profound regret. Where there is much smoke, says the proverb, there is some fire, and it is truly to be hoped there will speedily be put away any unbecoming thing which subjects a high judicial officer to censure. The great need of this whole American peo ple is the restored rightful supremacy of the Law. Laxities engendered by war lead, if un checked, in the end, to either anarchy or abso lutism. To that latter extreme tilings seem now tending. The people are debauched and their leaders at once unprincipled and grasping. To stand up on the one hand against popular licentiousness and on the other to oppose mad individual ambition is the most solemn duty of all to whom is in any way entrusted judicial functions. England is great because the law there is omnipotent, and on no pretext, nor at the hands of any man or party whom or what soever, would any “ policy,” any “ platform,” or any “ view” be allowed to stand for an in stant in opposition to its voice. So desirable n state of things cannot be looked for in this country for many years, bnt Liberty will slip from us, perhaps forever, if approximation thereto is not essayed. In such effort the Chief Justice must take the most prominent part as he holds the highest judicial office. Mr. Chase must put away childish things—eschew ragged harangues and Ethiopic endeavors—-devote him self to the sacred duties of his high calling, and thus qualify himself to receive the sympathy and assistance of those wh6, having now little respect for the man, have not entirely lost their ancient reverence for the Judgeship. MILLARD FILLMORE. The New York Tribune thinks it unfortunate that the Hon. MtLLAKD Fillmore, now travel ing in Europe, should have written to President Johnson in warm commendation of the Execu tive policy. That it personally respects Mr. Fillmore the same paper is good enough to say, but immediately subjoins to this honey the bitter declarations that “ his heart teas with the Rebels throughout our great struggle," and that not "ten other copperheads" in New York were so hostile to co-crcion as that gentleman. Asa man once holding great office and well known for singular purity of character, it is of course, gratifying to know that Mr. Fit,t.moke's sympathies wore ever with the weak against the strong, tint, beyond this, there is a further mat ter connected with his position which sets the sage of the Tribune on thorns. Mr. Fillmore was once President of these United States, and, with Mr. Buchanan aud Mr. Pierue, forms the third of a now living ex-Presidential trio. Singularly enough each of these geutlemeti, known for long and varied political service, and especially experienced as to the theory and workings of this government, from the insight obtained during their respective executive terms, were, during the 'ate civil war, cither avowedly in htvor of the South or so under stood. Mr. Buchanan, though much, and it would seem unjustly, maligned, held very firmly to the doctrine of State rights, whereon the theoretical justice of secession depended, while both of bis compeers are understood to have openly taken the ground that the South was in the right. This sort of evidence, though of no value now as to the dead issue of Seces sion, is of worth as showing that in the eye of statesmanship and experience, the present po litical views of the Radicals o.to highly baseless and wrong. For some time, perhaps, even such high testimony may, like much other sound polity and good sense, be disregarded in this country; but the day will come for us as for all other peoples, when the sober second thought will be neither laeKing nor disregard ed, and In that day, we are of impression no little weight will be given the views attributed to Mr. Fillmore. STANDS UP TO THE RACK. In a late number of that vigorous paper Ihe Macon Telegraph appears an article which, though hearing some marks of haste and incau tion, is yot replete with w holesome truth and vivid with a tire that it does us good to see. It is devoted to that damnable heresy of the day which, under the name of “ making treason odious” is in reality nothing but consuming hate, and handles the matter without gloves. Alluding, in particular, to that latest bantling of Radical iniquity, the Reconstruction Com mittee ultimatum, it speaks as follows of the villainous provision relating to exclusion from all office, for many years, of those who stood bv the Confederate States Government. We know not who may have written this pas sage but, whoever he may be, he had red blood in his heart. *’ But suppose the scheme should he carried out what good effect can it have upon the pnhiic welfare* We suppose these pseudo r. formers at teast pretend to he influenced hj- sound policy and patriotic consid erations; if not they aiv mere political charlatans and ruthless disturbers of the public peace. Would it promote the welfare, stability, peace and harmony of the government to have several millions of ths most tnteili*vnt and influential ntiiens deprived of all po litical liberty and *o'er. ed bylaws which thev took no part in making, and hv an official corps of which they can never form a part» Laying aside all oMeo ttons to the introduction ol such a principle into a o"eminent of tho people one founded alone iu their consent w ha; would tv the moral influence of such treatment towards millions of citizens! Would it “ make treason odious," or would it implant treason as a tvlttfiou* sentiment in the heart of even- victim of such s tyranny * Would the subjects ~f such proocrip- Uon be the friends or th. enemies of the covemment t " ould peon!, accustomed to !v free, love their sue niios and lick the hand that -mote them, or would t M-.r bosoms .we 1 with cl,-real race and hate toward tic authors of their degradation aud ruin i Would thev cluster around the constitution and government of their father, with filial affection, or would thev aco mrc under a sens,- of wno.c. and pray God for th, dav of deliverance and the inter detraction of their pef- - o 0 a ‘ North 'withaaotdia Lit body aasw er these questions tor himselfi” THE HONOURABLE CLEMENT C. CLAY. On the eighteenth of last month the Hon Clement C. Clay was released from captivity. Incarcerated on the twenty-second day of May, I«<5V he had thus, it will be seen, been dun geoned to within four cl ys of a full year, and thrust into his oubliette without trial, has been set at liberty without acquittal. There comes to us - Uni e account, purporting to be written on the spot, of his demeanSr on release, and I there is something in its perusal that sends a I strange chill to the blood. “He could not," ! says the tale, "find words to express his gratis ! nation. Jt was with the utmost difficulty he sup \ pressed his emotions of joy and thankfulness, I andfor some time his articulations were confused I and indistinct. He thanked General Miles for \ th e courteous treatment he had always received at I his hands. He thanked the officers who had been his custodians for their many and uninterrupted civilities, lie thanked those who had waited on him. He was full of thanks to everybody. He felt himself in fact , anew man, and his looks and actions showed it." Great God ! what a picture is here presented. A proud man humbled. A great heart bowed and broken. The head bent, the eye dim, the [step uncertain, the voice faltering and low. Recall, O ! render, in The Tale of Two Cities, Doctor Manette as he came forth, grey and weary, from his Tower and behold, in this son of Alabama, a like victim of the lettre tie cachet and the Bastille. Conscious of no offence, evading all subter fuge, seeking no flight, Clement C. Clay gave himself voluntarily up to a great and victorious Republic; was hustled, without even the poor allegation of an indictment, into gyves ; kept, with a mortal disease upon him, for a twelve month in durance; aud then, with the iron deep into his soul, turned out, yet innocent, to die. O! Liberty, what crimes, indeed, are commit ted in thy name. “ His long imprisonment ,” continues the ac count, “ shows its painful traces." After what had been given, no such renewed assurance was needed. .Suffering, even amid the fondest attentions of home, untold agonies from an eating malady that was slowly sapping his life away—the victim, too, of a bronchial affection that besought minutest care, Mr Clay was de pendent for his every hope of any length of days on liberty, on regular exercise, on pure, fresh air, on kindly medical attendance, and, above all, on those incessant and searching minis trations unwearied affection can alone bestow. Pent in a fortress, inhaling alone that noxious prison air, and receiving only a care that, with the beat intention, must yet have been mechani cal and rude, it is not surprising that, when brought out into the court-yard, he looked like the dead-alive. Recording his freedom now, we shall count it a happiness if not, erelong, called on to chronicle his death. There is reason to believe that nothing freed him from captivity but a fear that captivity might rid him of life— and that we owe to the odium of murder what justice and mercy, innocence and suffering, might alike have pleaded for in vain. But, letting that pass, for the present, with the memory of his days and nights of anguish, this fact remains that Mr. Clay is coming home to us again. Here, if solicitude and sympathy can be of service, they shall uot be lacking. No true man or women among us believes he could by any possibility be guilty of the atrocity laid at liis door. So far from conspiring to slay Mr. Lincoln, he, like we who write, would, if pre sent on that memorable night, have been as ready as any Federal soldier, or titled func tionary there, to shoot down John Wilkes Booth in his felon tracks. None of us have any sympathy with butchery, be it that ot a triumphant ruler or a fallen private man— whether it work by the bullet or come by the the prison cell. We are fair foes or honest captives. Whjen enemies, we did all the legiti mate damage we could, aud are sorry we could not have effectually done more. As beaten and vanquished prisoners, we have yielded ourselves up, rescue or no rescue, and shall abide, come weal or woe, by the conditions of our sur render. But, so feeling for the past, so resolving and resolved tor the future and the present, we record our testimony in the ease of Clement Ct.ay, and of ail men whomsoever who, falling by the rope or the firing party, lie uamelessly buried; or, hurried secretly away, now pine hopelessly in chains, in the teeth of the Con stitution and to the eternal dishonor of the Laws. HONESTY THE BEST POLICY, There was lately appointed by the New York Chamber of Commerce a special committee to take into consideration divers petitions and memorials desiring that body to present such statements to Congress and the President as might lead to action on their part, requiring guaranty of ante-war indebtedness from the States of the South, prior to their full politica restoration. That committee, after dne deliber ation, submitted a report which it is exceedingly pleasant, barring some offensive phraseology, to here present; as follows : ■■Thu the voluntary action of those State* since the suppression of the rebellion, furnishes gratifying evi dence that no interposition on the part of the General Government is needed to secure the results asked for by our petitioners. No one of the States lately in rebellion has shown any disposition to repudiate their liabilities incurred prior to the war. On the contrary, most of them have already re-acknowledged that liability, and many ot them have also been engaged in devising ways and means for paying off the accumulated interest and providing for the future payment of interest and prin cipal. Your committee is informed that the State of Geor gia has already authorized the issue and sale of new bonds sufficient to liquidate their entire hack interest, to the payment of which the proceeds ot the new bonds am to ne applied. The State of Florida has done fhrther than this, in inserting in her-new Constitution, recently adopted, a provision that a!) the individual indebtedness of her citizens existing prior to the rebellion shall be held a* valid, legalk-iaims against them. Cither of these States are taking such measures for resuming the payment of interest on their bonds issued before the rebellion as their present limited means and impaired .'red:! will permit. Equally honorable sentiments have been mar ifestod by the most of the citizens of those States w inch are indebted to the North for purchases made antecedent to the war Few, if any of them, have Med to ac knowledge their obligations, or to provide for the fu ture payment of such portion of them, as their re duce,! assets will allow. In view Os these manifestations of honorable senti ments at the south, on the pan >f loth .Stan* and in -1 “ k - v - V " :r V'nimiuee that no ac tion on the part of the General Government is called for. Speaking some days since on another matter connected with this cognate theme of credit, it was said that it was hard work to fool the dollar—that politicians might rave and presses preach but the sound sense' of business men would sooner or later penetrate through the husks of vituperation to the sound kernel of financial honesty. In this report of the Cham ber of Commerce committee the reader may find a fresh exemplification of the truth of those remarks. Onr people have, individually and through their State governmental organi zations, done that which was right in their moneyed relations, despite great temptations to an opposite course, and this rectitude has not been lost. The report just given has been extensively republished throughout the North ern press, and very happy results may be an ticipated from so full and voluntary a testi mony to our honest intentions. Faithful in poverty to financial obligations why—will be the first reflection suggested to the Northern reader—shall I not also believe that these Southern people will, in defeat, he also true to the political guaranties they have given. One sign of upright intention paves the way to a crediting ot others, and in this way the report we give comes, in our view, to speak as hope fully of our political future as it honourably does of the business past. GENERAL_ GRANT. Our esteemed cotemporaries of the Atlanta Intelligencer and Columbus Enquirer unite in an acknowledgment ol General Grant’s friend liness of feeling toward the South. From cer tain most reliable information, lately put in our possession, we are induced to believe this kindly disposition has not been overrated, and, in that impression, tender to the Lieutenant General our own sense of his humane and up right bearing. To bis influence it is, we learn, that General Lee was not, by the base machina tions of radical tricksters, made the victim of a hate as cowardly as it is great. At the first whisper of an intent to annoy that gallant gen tleman by proceedings in utter derogation ol his parole, General Grant, we are informed, at once stated that were such atrocity commit ted, he would forthwith throw up a commis sion that could not then longer be retained without some degree of military dishonor. Through the person of their General command ing the pledged faith of these United States would, by so wilful a perfidy, have been griev ously broken, and, though a past uncompro mising enemy of that successlul Captain, we now take a special pleasure in recording this our present testimony to his soldierly good faith. It was said by one of our cotemporaries above alluded to that hardly due justice was rendered General Grant by the people of the South tut we know this mention—based on such irrefrag ible evidence —of his honest demeanour will go far to correct any deficiency in the rendition of honour where honour is due. Besides the case of General Lee, venerabile et clarissimum no men, it is also stated to us that, by a like course of action on the part of the Lieutenant General' Admiral Semmes was released from captivity and the Hon. Clement C. Clay restored to the supplications of a most amiable and devoted wife. “ Gen. Grant” —says our informant, whose name, might we mention it, would be recognized at once as that of a distinguished Georgia patriot and statesman —“ “is not dis posed to oppress the South ; on the contrary he is striving to lighten her burthen.” For such generous intention—an intention that bears for ns a sweet fruition already—the hero of the North may rest assured he will be held by this people in kindly esteem. More, we know, he would not expect, for our hearts are with that past in which so many of our dearest fell before his legions, but on this at least—a meed prompted by justice arid accorded in all sincerity—he may confidently rely. Negro Aristocracy.— Aristocracy, says the Richmond Times, in some shape or other, is gen erally found to exist among the people of all na tions. It is to be found even among barbarous and uncivilized races. Hence we need experience no surprise at the discovery of its existence among the freedmen, as was recently strikingly illustrated by tbe action of the Washington ne groes. In the celebration which washeldin that place wc learn they appealed to General Howard to prevent the “common negroes from Rich mond and elsewhere” from participating. Gen. Howard, it is said, declined to interpose his au thority “ between the wind and their nobility.” Doubtless the Washington negro esteems it an honor and a privilege to live at the national capital, upon terms of intimacy with Sumner and Stevens. Proud of this high distinction, he does cot want the contamination of the ig noble rulgus “from Richmond and elsewhere.” He wished to have a choice and select celebra tion ; no “ common negroes” were to be pre sent. These stilted sentiments certainly indi cate that the negroes entertaining them are un common negroes, and probably they are all like that black chap who, the other day, while at tending the session of the Senate, moved and inspired by the passage of the Civil Rights bill, insisted on sitting with tbe foreign embassadors and ministers. We hope that the freedmen of “ Richmond and elsewhere”—the “common negroes”—will be able to survive tho mortification of having “ the cold shoulder” turned upon them in this manner by their aristocratic and uncommon brethren in Washington. They must console themselves with the reflection that it is a great thing to sit “cheek by jowl” with the Radicals, and„that these are advantages which they have had no opportunity of enjoying; that they only attend the Freedmeu’s and Mayor's courts, while these Washington negroes visit the Sen ate of the United States and consort with ministers plenipotentiary. Brave and True.— The remains of Major Davis, a gallant son of Massachusetts, who was killed while serving on General Dick Taylor’s staff at Front Royal in 186”, were re-interred in the “ Stonewall ” cemetery at Winchester last Monday. He was a brave chivalrous soldier.— Os him the Winchester Times says; “He pos sessed the entire confidence of his general and comrades in arms. * * * * He now sleeps among the stranger friends, for whose princi ples he battled gallantly bnt unsuccessfully, and there may he rest quietly loved and lamented by all true Virginians.” There were many gal lant Northerners who fell in our service. Whitewashing a Fine Art.— There - strong probability, says the Richmond Time * of “ Bummer Butler" being whitewashed 7m' a state of moderate respectability. During it/ past fortnight his prospects have brightened very materially. In the first place, two valiatr bank officials rushed into print to vindicate Butler from all suspicion of having pockets the funds of a savings bank. In the seeon * place, the counsel of a New Orleans broker* named Smith, from whom Butler took fift - thousand dollars in gold, gave him a certificate last week that the seizure was properly mafiZ and the certificate so delighted B. F. that he straightway paid over the fifty thousand dollar to Smith’s attorney. The certificate was well worth the money, and so emboldened But’.e that he at once swore that the great rebellion had bankrupted him. After the skillful whitewashing of Cataline by Louis Napoleon in his life of Caesar, the elaborate defense of Nero and Calligula bv Thomas De Quineev, and the complete vindica tion of Judas Iscariot by a German philoso pher, we think there is a strong probability of somebody’s making, one of these days a "whited sepulchre,” at least of Butler’s repu tation. Give Printers Fair Plav.-xTIio following excellent advice appears in an exchange paper: Do not forget that it costs something to puff as well as to advertise ; and never to sponge upon the printers in any manner whatever. It is printer’s ink that makes nine-tenths of your fortunes; it takes money to buy ink, type, paper, and yet, after all this, few are the thanks that the printers get. Give the printers fair play, and give up all expectation of gratuitous puffing, etc. The great American statesman* Daniel Webster, was “mighty near right’’* when he remarked of the press, “ small is the sum required to patronize a newspaper ; amply rewarded is its patrons, I care not how humble and unpretending the gazette which he takes. It is next to impossible to fill a sheet with printed matter, fifty-two times a year, without putting into it something that is worth the sub scription price.” Disappearance of a Nigger Idol.—Yes terday morning, at the opening of the Freed man’s Court, no clerk was either visible, tangi ble or in anywise comeatable. A little inquiry elicited the fact that the clerk had gone North on one of Saturday’s steamers. We congratu late the North on his arrival, as he took with him funds belonging to various parties here, which must necessarily be disbursed in New York. There is no Freedmen’s Bureau in ses sion in that city, and as horses and buggies can bo only had by payment in advance, the de faulting party will find that iris S3OO, or therea bouts, will not last long. We do not mention name, for the reason that he has a namesake or two here who are eminently responsible and deserving, but those who are posted will know the party. Among the sufferers are two or three poor men. S3OO is a small sum at which to sell reputation -and honor among one’s fellow men. —Savannah Republican. Our Confederate Dead.— The ladies cf Athens will, on Friday next, the 4th of May, meet at the Cemetery to strew with flowers the sacred graves of the Martyrs to Liberty, who sleep their last sleep within its hallowed bounds. It had been suggested that the 26th of April was a fitting day for a simultaneous of fering of this character, all over the South, hut in many places flowers in sufficient profusion could not be had at that, time. After all, the time makes little difference. It is the act itself, that tells, with an eloquence neither tongue nor pen could parallel the sentiments that prompt it. Not oue word need be said—not one note of eulogy sounded—History will take care of all that, when the Truth comes to be written. [Athens Watchman. One Effect of the Blockade. —A distin guished admiral of the‘United States navy, in recommending the pardon of an eminent cot ton merchant of Louisiana says: “Financial writers now candidly admit that the stringency ol the blockade, for which the navy is now re ceiving merited credit, kept cotton in this coun try to the magnificent amount of four hundred millions of dollars in greenbacks, or three hun dred millions in gold, wlieh since the closing of the rebellion lias come to the relief of the national credit, the national currency and the tax payers from one end of the Union to the other.” —Washington Star, 28 th. If Mr. A. H. Stephens’ advice had been fol lowed by the Confederate authorities at the out set this would not have happened, and the Con federate currency (the great cause of our de feat) would have been sustained. [Richmond Times. A Pertinent Suggestion.— Speaking of the radical scheme of re-annexing Alexandria coun ty, Va., to the District of Columbia, the New York News suggests that it would be a capital idea to extend the boundaries of the District of Columbia so as to include the States lately in insurrection. “ This would be a concise, neat, simple and cheap method of getting rid of all the complications wherein the reconstruction question seems to be hopelessly entangled, and would doubtless secure the support of all moderate and reasonable men.” The Last Man of the Retreating Army.— The Petersburg Index, speaking of the desecra tion of a burial lot iu Pocahontas, near that city, makes the following interesting mention of the last devoted Nortli Carolinian : “ There is buried here one soldier —a Cur tius—who, on the night of the evacuation, was left at Pocahontas Bridge to fire it, and was killed there, the last man of the retreating army. He was found dead by the Federal forces ad vancing, and by them interred, a blanket his only coffin, and the apron of a woman who came there to weep, his only shroud.” Sleep. —The editor of the Evansville Jour nal brings info his columns the following on the subject of sleep. Pray, sir, how do yon know how much sleep women require ? Women require more sleep than men, and farmers less than those engaged in any other occupation. Editors, reporters, printers and telegraph operators require no sleep at all.— Lawyers can sleep as much as they please, as they will thus be kept out of mischief. Clergy men are allowed to sleep twenty-four hours and to put their parishes to sleep once a week.
