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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1869)
tUechlj) Constitutionalist BY STOCKTON & CO. OCR TERMS. The following are the rates of Subscription: Daily, one year.... ? }lO 00 Wksklt, one Too Late. “ & •' »» tajeunnesse savait—si la riellesse mu vait!" There sat an old man on a rock And unceasing bewailed him of Fate— That concern where we must all take stock lhough our vote has no hearing'or weight ■ And the old man sang him an old, ofd song’ Never sang voice so clear and strong That it could drown the old man’s lon<* For he sang the song “ Too late ! Too late!” “ When we want, we have for our pains The promise that if we but wait Till the want has turned out of our braine Every means shall be present to state; While we send tor the napkin the soup gets cold, While the bonnet is trimming the face grows old, When we’ve matched our buttons the pat tern is sold, And everything comes too late—too late! “ When strawberries seeme'd like red heavens— Terrapin stew a wild dream— When my brain was at sixes and sevens If my mother had ‘folks’.and ice cream, Then I gazed with a liquorish hunger, At the restaurant-man and fruit-monger; But oh! how l wished I were younger When the goodies all came in a stream in a stream I “ I’ve a splendid blood horse, and a liver That it jars into torture to trot; My row-boat’s the gem of the river— * Gout makes every knuckle a knot 1 I can buy boundless credits on Paris and Rome, But no palate for menei —no eyes for a dome— Those belonged to the youth who must tarry at home When no home but an attic he’d got— he’d got. How-I longed in that lonest of garrets. Where the tiles baked my brains ail July, For ground to grow two peaks of carrots, Two pigs of my own in a sty, A rose-bush—a little thatched cottage— Two spoons—love—a basin of pottage : Now in freestone I sit—and my dotage— With a woman’s chair empty close by close by 1 “ Ah ! now, though I sit on a rock, I have shared one seat with the great; I have sat, knowing naught of the clock, On Love’s high throne of state; But the lips, that kissed and tjje arms that caressed To a mouth grown stern with delay were pressed, And circled a breast that their clasp had blessed Had they only not come too late—too late!” \Fitz Hugh Ludlow, in Harper's Magazine. The Rives of Time. Oh ! wonderful stream is the river of Time, As it runs through the realms of tears, (With a faultless rhythm ajid a musical rhyme, And a broad’ning sweep and a surge sublime, That bends with the ocean of years. • How the waters are drifting like flakes of snow, And the Summers like buds between, And the year is the sheaf—so they come and they go On the river’s breast, with its ebb and flow, As it glides through the shadow and sheen. There’s a musical isle on the river of Time, Where the softest of airs are playing j There’s a cloudless sky and a tropical clime, hAnd a 60ng as sweet as vesper chime, f When the Junes with the roses are staying. And the name of this isle is Long Ago, And we bury onr treasures there ; There are brows of beauty and bosoms of snow— There are heaps of dnst, bnt we love them so I There are trinkets and tresses of hair. There are fragments of song that nobody sings And part of an infant’s prayer ; There’s a lute unswept, and a harp without strings, There are broken vows and pieces of rings, And the garment SHE used to wear. There are hands that are waved when the fairy shore By mirage is lifted in air ; And we sometimes hear through the turbulent roar Sweet voices we heard in days gone before, When the wind down the river is fair. Oh ! remembered for aye be that blessed isle, All the days of our life till night— HThen the evening comes with its beautiful W smile, And out eyes are closed to slumber awhile, May onr “ greenwood ” of soul be in sight. A Bird's Nest. BY FLORENCE PERCY. Over my shaded doorway Two little brown-winged birds Have chosen to fashion their dwelling, And utter their loving words ; All day they are going and coming On errands frequeDt and fleet, And warbling over and over, “ Sweet, sweet, sweet; O sweet!” Their necks are changeful and shining, Their eyes are like living gems; And all day long they are busy Gathering straw* and stems, Lint, and feathers, and grasses, And half forgetting to eet, Yet never filing to warble “ Sweetest, sweet, sweet, O sweet!” I scatter crumbs on the doorstep, And fling them some flossy tnreads; They fearlessly gather my bounty, Arid turn up their graceful beads, And chatter, and dance, and flutter, And scrape with their tiny leet, Telling me over and over, “ Sweetest, sweet, sweet, 0 sweet!” Why if the sky is clouded ? What If the rain comes down ? They are all dressed to meet it, In water-proof suits of brown. They never mope nor languish, Nor murmur at storm or heat, . • But say, whatever the weather, “ Sweetest, sweet, sweet, 0 sweet!” Always merry and busy, Dear little brown-winged birds! Teaeh mo the happy magie Hidden in those soft words, Which always, tu shine or shadow, So lovingly ydu repeat, Over over, and over, " nwuetest, sweet, swevt, O »w«d 1" [For the Constitutionalist PEN AND INK SKETCHES. PERSONAL AND POLITICAL OF THE NEW YORK PRESS. PAINTED IN FACE AND FEATURE, WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR, BY COL. LEON LAFITTE. “ Jkholt?! in Yarioua th ongs the s-rihbling crew. For Eotice eager, pass in !o. g review.’’ As the great metropolis of the Western world increases in power and prosperity; in the same ratio does the New York Press advance in influence and fasten its hold upon the public mind. Progressive with the commercial and the material interests of the city, it partakes as well of the commercial wants of the coun try, and throughout the laud wields an in fluence that, in a great measure, governs the opinions of- the American people. The highest intellectual culture and lit erary ability are, therefore, attributed to the New York Press, aud' this mistaken be lief governs two-thirds of the journalistic community of the United States. Nearly every reader of the New York daily and weekly papers is in the habit of associating with them the mistaken idea that they are exalted standards of literary attainments, and are thoroughly established upon a cultivated and intellectual founda tion that can withstand the rudest shocks, make or mar all aspirants for fame, drive to the wall all rivals, and in fact “ rule the world.” The leading men of the New York Press are more the financial, commercial, aud po litical representatives of the nation’s ideas, than writers of great ability upon questions of diversified interests in the literary,‘artis tic and scientific world, and hence the press has become the refuge of a great many mere adventurers, who have made money in other pursuits, and who are anxious to gain influence and power through this “ palladium of popular liberty.” The press has combined Itself also, in many instances, with political, financial and commercial stock-jobbing adventures —and become, therefore, to some extent, an instrument in the hands of political and financial “ sharpers.” Thus, to start & paper in the interest of some political desperando, who never wrote a line of English, or Irish, or Dutch in his life, and to make it the medium of “ Gov ernment advertisements,” which nobody ever sees, or if seeing, never reads, is one of the numerous “ liberties ” which one por tion of the press “ preserves,” and which pays for its preservation hundreds o( thou sands per annum of the people's money. While’the “ reportorial ” departments of the daily press are very thoroughly filled with accomplished and able reporters, who are employed at a very meagre compensa tion, as a rale, it is an acknowledged fact, that the great majority of the writers on the press are men who were never educated to it, and who would be just as competent to go into Wall street and open a banking house without money, as they are qualified for the position of first, second, or third rate journalists. They appear competent to fulfil the positions upon the New York Press, for the standard of intellectual quali fications is so very low, that almost any ordinary ability can fill the editorial chairs on many of our papers. The popular opinion, therefore, that pre vails, of the real literary worth of many of the New York papers, is erroneous, and where the greatest tact and ability should be required, there is realiy a dearth of them, and a starving gaunt-form of literary merit stalks boldly in their place. As there, are however, many who can penetrate the mask ot brass that hides this skeleton of literature, the public are kept in a constant state of disquietude, for the In digestion of bad ink lies as heavily upon the mind as uncooked and unsavory food upon the corporeal palate. The night mare of a departed guest, hanging between a gouty landlord and a distempered editor, would be a good “ cartoon” for the Evening idegram, or any other enterprising illus trated sheet, to picture the condition, thus produced ot a disgusted public. In “ sketching” the leaders of the New York Press, the first rank belongs by general consent to THE HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT. So much has been written respecting Mr. Bennett, that very little can be added, good or bad, old or new. What Canning said of Mirabeau, might justly be said, with some variation, of Mr. Bennett ide-t, he stands like an isthmus between the sea of contend ing parties, beaten by the billows of the Radical jacobins on the one side, and lashed by the waves of the conservative Democrats on the other. Regarded the foe of religion, he is courted by the clergy and feared by the laity. With no fixed political principles, he is one day the idol of the South, at another the great Mogul of the progressive Ideas of the North ; only to be denounced the next by the great monster public opinion, which has changed its side too soon for the quick foresight of the farsighted lightning-eyed veteran of the quill through a half century of cam paigns. More unsparing in his cruelties to rivals than victorious, he is the Richelieu, instead of the Napoleon of the press. He spares no one who stands in his way. What the President and constitution were to the Radicals, he has regarded all rivals to the Herald— -an ob truction to be remov ed, to be overcome, to be crushed. Private individuals identified with public interests or men, he has opposed, he has sacrificed. Public crimes he ins denounced in the mass, while individual criminality he has ex tenuated and spared in several instances; while again, in the vindication of public security, he has pursued a wretched crimi nal with all the grim terror of death, the unscrupulous administration of the law, and a ferocity that has surpassed the necessity ti the executioner. . Those who imagine that pecuniary inter est dictated those feelings neither know the man nor the policy upon which his govern meiU of the Herald is established. Without indiscriminately mingling in society, he is courted by all classes and all parties; and thus, this exclusiveness, partially constitu tional and partially habitual, adds much to a charmed influence. At a very advanced age, he still retains vigor of health and intellect, and has lived i to survive a torrent of opposition which j W ould huveengulphed In oblivion thousands i of men of less extraordinary abilities, and ! Ims built up a power In the /ArnW that 1 places |t as a Journal foremost In the land, ; and among the most lurtuuutlal in the world. AUGUbTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, JGNE 23. 1869. THE TRIBUNE. HORACE GREELEY. There never was a great man who had not a dash of hum buggery about him. The unintellectnally vulgar, who is a humbug out aud out, and who reverts to small and sometimes great tricks, is not of this type ; but it is the man who has talent with brass, and a trumpet of brass, whether it be in a newspaper or in the pulpit, or on the Stage or in the forum, in which to pro claim his own and the merit of his mental wares. Not applying this picture to Mr. Greeley literally, he has impressed The world with the idea that he is not devoid of the dash of humbug. A rapid, able and effective jour nalist, he has acquired a reputation ds an author, in which he is deficient, and a re nown as a lecturer for which he qualifications. And yet, as many people flock to hear his “lectures” and read his “ books ” as read his newspaper. The master mind of a journal unsurpass ed in its mechanical skill and appearance, and varied in its intellectual character, he has vagueries that go into social and polit ical sciences of which he is a mere sm&t terer. In the numerous socail problems of which he has been the advocate, doubtless he has done immeasurable harm—not so much by a misdirection of the public mind as in his conjured and contradictory ideas of what is good for the public good. For instance, a car conductor writes to him to defend his class against the egre gious wrong of being subjected to nineteen hours labor during the twenty-four at $2 per clay. Mr. Greeley has no sympathy with him, but advises him to go to “ Pro ductive Industry 1” This is a good illus tration of his general views. He forgets that a man who conducts a car is as neces sary as horses which draw it; but he is told to go to Productive Industry—capitals —because that is a vaguehobby of Mr. Gree ley’s that prevents him from looking directly at an Individual grcivance aS long as there is a general theory to be spun out dally, for the purpose of airing some favorite egotis tical idea. Availing himself of all uses for popularity, he does uot overlook his very infirmities. In this, he is not unlike many historical characters greater than himself; Lord Chatham made his crutch and his gout tell, in many of his marvellous speech es in the House of Lords, and Mr. Gree ley’s walk and dress, and singularly indif ferent manuer when addressed, doubtless avail him as much as if he were a Lord Chesterfield in manner and a Beau Brum mel in apparel; for this slip-shod style keeps off bores, while repelling others of more re finement. It is said he has recently adopt ed the somnambulic dodge when people now address him, he falls asleep. He has had an example in this; Irving fell asleep when Miss Edgeworth was talking to him, and we have known other people talked to sleep. Perhaps Mr. Greeley has taken a lesson from his audience and readers, aud revenging himself upon sleeping individuals, he is de termined to come the somnambulic when ever he is bored! The contradiction in the tastes of people of various periods, which Sir Walter Scott remarks in the singular infatuation that the Parisians had for so ill-favored a man as Robespierre, applies in many respects to this country. In the heroic ages men were admired for their physique, while in this polical and fanatical era, men are admired and made idols of for their grotesque and eccentric appearance. Perhaps this accounts for the prevailing taste upon the stage for burlesque and caricature. The grotesque of our age, however, is something that partakes Os the horrible and the tragic. The influence that Macaulay ascribes to the priests in the day of their transcendant power applies to a certain class of rulers of the public mind of the present day in the United States, with out a tithe of the priests’ talents or accom plishments, The name of a priest on a book would ensures it sale, and so with the class we speak of, for their name to a book ensures its success, though it contains nothing in it. People rail against it, as they do against the burlesque of the stage, but others read it as they stare, until anew day dawns, and a clear atmosphere with a purer taste is diffused. In literature, the Tribune is Iribunish. — It publishes long notices of books, with the views of which it sympathizes, while It ig nores others of more merit and longer lived. Professing to advocate progress, it is as circumscribed as the movements of a crab. It is exclusive, confining itself to the advo cacy of doctrines outre and, in many in stances, wholly selfish. Its egotism is monstrous, and a part of its stock In trade, and yet, under the eye of Mr. Greeley, it influences a large numjier of people, and makes converts to its own peculiar ends. THE SUN. CHARLES A. DASA. The astronomical hoax in the Sun news paper that gave it its great celebrity in the Moon hoax, has never been equalled since the appearance of the great luminary that recently passed its disk in its present editor, Charles A. Dana. From a great favorite photographer lie became a great encyclopedist, and without knowing one hundredth part of the subjects, of which he was the ostensible editor, he became famous for possessing the knowl edge of all. An editor of the “ Household Book of Poetry,” he never was a poet, or knew one principle of i's sentiments. Some men are frauds, others are hum bugs, but Mr. Dana is a hoax. Professing in a recent letter, resigning a position as appraiser of merchandize, a dis interestedness of office,he arrested his claim for the coliectorsnip of the port of New York, under President Johnson, and after being refused the office, he turned round and became one of bis greatest defamers. Appointed under Me. Stanton as Assist ant Secretary of War, he served his chief in many things that were not conscienti ously correct. Without a particle of knowledge of war, or any military ex perience, he endeavored to destroy some of the first men of the army—for instance, Rosencranz. Gaining influence from his association with the New York Tribune, he left that paper, with its power backing him, after having quarrelled with its-chief, and ieuv- In" the War Department, for which he was disqualified, lie went to Chicago, and falling ! in a press undertaking there, he returned to New York. The Associated J'ress Isong a close cor -1 poratlon, requiring an enormous amount of i money for any oue entering it, It was found necessary to secure the purchase of the New York Sun: This was accomplished, and by force of habitual perseverance and a great deal of assurance, he placed himself in power with some of the leading men of the Union League, and became the editor of the Sun, which paper he conducts with unquestionable ability. Asa writer, he really possesses merit,- though his style is emotional and his disposition impulsive. Vanity he certainly has, and his nature is oppressive; but in social life Mr. Dana is a genial, cultivated gentleman, with a smattering of universal information, that renders him conversant upon general topics. THE TIMES. HENRY J. RAYMOND. First making his mark as an industrious and skillful reporter of the Tribune, he be came afterwards a co-editor of the New York Courier and Enquirer. Gen. James Watson Webb having been sent as Minister to Austria, Mr. Raymond was left in its re sponsible charge* and soon after, changing the policy of the paper to his own interests, against the instructions of his principal, it brought on a quarrel that ended in his leaving the Courier, and, with others, es tablishing the Daily limes. Starting from a tame and timid paper, it became ujtra conservative In all social and political questions, until it was considered the synonyme of puerility. Adapting itself somewhat to the times, it revived to some thing of vuor, and Mr. Raymond’s unmis takable ability as a journalist began to show itself upon his paper. Frequent visits to Europe, however, and ventures in political aspirations, showed the want of an efficient head, and it became a tame and trimming sheet. The mental vigor of Mr. Raymond was diffused In his ambition for office, and his pursuit of political power, i Unprincipled as a politician, and selfish' as an individual, he was alternatively a Conservative and a Radical. He was the eloquent defender of the South at the Phll adelptua Convention, aud the supporter of President Johnson, to become the defamer of the one and the betrayer of the other. The dispenser of the patronage, with Thurlow Weed, of Mr. Johnson’s power in New York, after it was withdrawn he be came his bitter roe; and, rejected by the Senate as Minister to Austria, he turned against the man who hid nominated him. With pretentions to literature, lie has no sympathy with letters, and, like most men of ordinary learning, his ideas of ability are conjoined with pecuniary success. Not countlug this upon absolute merit, he at tributes prosperity to power; and when this cannot be achieved, lie recognizes merit its deserved reward. A sycophant to wealth and power, he is never In his ele ment except when advocating the most ful some laudations to conservative tyranuy. Hence, the limes is a paper printed Vu the most unexceptionable type and upon the finest paper, and would like to see the re cord of men and of principles refined down to the lowest standard of humility to meet Its own exalted standard of pretensions. THE EVENING POST. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. The theoretical character that is inherent in every intellectual man, not actually of the world, is particularly distinguished in William Cullen Bryant. , A superior poet, a sublime theorist, an educated Journalist, he is not entirely a practical man. Too exalted in ideas, if -not in principle, his nature is not political. Removed from the actual affairs of com merce, he is a theoretical economist, and retiring, he is a student of the political and social affairs of the world. Identified from an early age with one of the leading and most influential journals of the country, the necessity of a conflict with the ques tions of the day, has forced his nature from its natural quietude, to grapple with the energetic and engrossing turmoil of a pub lic life. Illustrating the necessity of habit ual adaptation to the demands of daily journalism, he has grown old with the har ness of political controversy yet upon bhn, and the wreath of poetry with the frost of age encircling his brow. It might with truth be said of Mr. Bryant, applied to his political and practical style, that lie “ wields the club of Hercules entwined with flowers” Like his cotemporary chief of the Prers—vl r. Bennett—he is not habitually a courtier of society, though courted by ft. In other respects, there is not much resemblance between these two veterans, or editorial gladiators. Both, indeed, are retiring and ohservant of the proprieties of life to asceticism, and both have lived to an advanced age, surviving many i>olltical parties and cotemporaries and amassing large fortunes. Surrounded with an admiring literary and artistic circle, Mr. Bryant has always been an advocate of the adornment of the more sterile and severer studies of the com mon place of life. With no apparent en thusiasm, his mind and feeiings have been wrought lip to an enthusiastic state of ex citement upon any question that has ap pealed to his philanthropical ideas of prin ciple. Without being an actual patron of letters in an individual respect, he has nevertheless shown a fraternal interest in literary aspirants; but that selfishness which corrupts the noblest natures when it becomes allied to prosperity in political pursuits, and fortune identified with the press, has not been entirely exempt from his. Not invulnerable from contempora neous criticism, he is, however, an object of reverence and admiration. Keeping up with the spirit of tbe-ge, without mingling in its warfare, he has been identified with the radical section of the Republican party, though free from the desire to enforce the cruel doctrines of its leaders. Repudiating the. monopolizing, through a plausible policy of protection, he is a great champion of free trade, and is, we believe, at the head of the Free Trade League, of New York. Herein he differs, widely with one of his most formidable antagonists and cotempo raries. Mr. Greeley, who Is a violent Pro tectionist, and In the advocacy of Its su periority, lie has often carried his battle-axe into the Ktening Port* sanctuary, id eel, In his pen and Ink raids. Something, indeed, of the spirit of the old crusaders seems to actuate, If not inspire, the controversies of these two veterans of the press. Mr. Greeley particularly becomes very allusive and persoiml, and has been known to use language towards the venerable poet and editor which Ills age and vocation j should have shielded him from, if not his I potilb-iil economy. Hut that fierce crusade j spirit and lire that animated Lord Nelson I against the French, and which made him swear like a Trojan as well as a sailor, when he sent five hundred Frenchmen to the bottom ->f the sea, seems to inspire a certain class of our editors, when they are battling like Saladtn or Coaur de Leon for their principles against each other. That they use ink does not alter the single. That they may fte chicken-hearted instead of lion-hearted may be true, but that they are equally Id earnest, there is no •doubt. The truth is, the whole of political and social warfare is crusade, and though we are not surrounded with the trappings and romanoe of the days of the early cru sades, yet we are not without thousands of Peter the Greats; the Paiesitncs are often in the people's pockets, and the march is against everybody and every principle that is not strong enough to resist the selfishness and political brigaudage of the age. Bms enty-flve winters have encircled Mr. Bry ant’s venerable head ; yet lie is firm of step and bright of feye, and revered of his friends aud feared hy his foes. ♦ TRE-WOULD. MANTON MARBLE. In the rapidjty of this age of self made and ready made men, It is impossible to keep up with the large number of great men that rise to the surface. To do so, one would need to possess the calculating facul ties of-the lightning calculator, or keep pace with the changing mode of the ready made coat, self-adjusting hat, or self-im provised boot. Nay, the, velocipede speed of the age would have to be invoked to keep up with the great men tiiat spring up, particularly the great editorial crop, which at all sea sons seem to grow spontaneously in the prolific soil of New York city. Without applyiug these remarks to Mr. Marble, who bus made his- mark upon the New York World, we could not resist the force of the comparison, when, after describing Mr. Bryant as a veteran, his name suggested itself as a comparative Neophyte of the Press. The World newspaper Is the result of its anomalous combination with the Courier' and Enquirer. A number of able writers are connected with it, among them William Henry Hurlburt, and others of ability ; but these, like Mr. Jelliby, in Bleak House, being a part and parcel of Mre. Jelliby, are merged into Mahton Marble. The World, soon after its establishment, was quiet and dull, for its religious bias ill-adapted it to the controversial charac ter of the dally press, but finding a change necessary, it commenced a revolution and became a political journal. The Delphic oracle of Democracy that dwells in the Temple of'fammany was sup posed to inspire with her graphic words the political orthodoxy of the World; but, as in the revolving wheel of Time however, the machinery of the physical world some times gets out of order, so it would seem that in the progress of events the political machinery that governs Tammany and the World does not in every respect run with that harmonv that is necessary to their mutual support as two great controlling powers. The ancient world is represented as hav ing been borne on the shoulders of Atlas, and the New York Daily World should have for its cartoon the shoulders of Tammany for its support, and which, by the way, are hardly sufficient to sustain the weight.— The credit that is centered in the ostensi ble editor of a newspaper, as the writer of every editorial article that appears In his journal, surrounds the man so placed, with all the good and Indifferent productions that daily appear. This anonymous cur tain. has given so Mr. Marble, like others, a great deal of credit and discredit for a number of things he never wrote, but which he might have been equal to writing, as good or bad. Soon after the accession of Mr. Marble, the World certainly took a high position as a leading journal. Distinguished for a nervous and brilliant style of writing,’he placed his paper far above many of his cotemporaries, while, at the same time, he permitted It to iurtnlge in coarse witiclsms. In the discussion of public questions, Its logical compositions were models of purity and potntedness of style, and rare as daily newspaper articles. In a certain dilettante and blase style ot writing, with occasional quotations of French and Latin, can be seen the facile pen of Hurlburt, who, in straining after an outre effect, destroys the cultivated, pro ductions that at once can De traced to a scholar and a gentleman. In the theatrical department, in which the press is usually so deficient in just criticisms, the World occasionally has good articles. Generally, this department of the press is filled with fulsome flattery, or else downright blackguardism of both ac tor and actress; and it would hardly be be lieved that a journal of such high tone as the JWorld Is known to possess, would have permitted an article to appear In its columns against Rlstorl as was published some time since. And yet, such is the per versity of taste and unrecognltlon of art, thatßistori was abused in coarse language because she was So physically formed as to be able to bear children—as if the same discredit, for the same cause, might not be attributed to the mother of any mortal {pan. Given to sensational inventions recently, as a daily paper, the World has not enlarged its character as a first class journal, though It has increased its circulation. The Mo loch of popular excitement, however, Is In satiable In Its unnatural appetite, and It must be fed at whatever cost of public de cency, private morals,or human probability. When all Is corrupt, It Is impossible to es cape nncontmnSnated, ami the vices that are attributed to individuals are often but the result ol corrupt systems. WILKES’ SPIRIT OF THE TIMES. GEORGE WILKES. Early in life, engaged in many ventures of the press, George Wilkes never atttained Influence until he established the National Police Gazelle. This journal, in its orgin, was distinguished for its ferocious attacks upon criminals and its pursuit of dangerous characters, and those supposed to lie allied , with this class of people. Envious persons j associated the proprietor Os the Gazelle witli that class of men, but his Indomitable character and his innate capacity to sustain himself, soon dissipated this impression, ! and ngulnst all odds lie liecarnc to tie recog - I nixed and feared as one of the most remark - 1 able and antagonistic Journalists of the country. % Separating himself from the National P»- lire Gaulle, Mr. Wilkes subsequently be came associated with I‘orter'e H/iirlt of the I VOL. 28. NO.-25 Times, and before the death of that cele brated sporting editor, he established Wilkes’ Spirit, and though ostensibly de voted to sporting literature, this journal is one of the ablest political papers of the day. With great capacity for political writing, Mr. Wilkes has made his mark as a jour nalist of remarkable ability, and with more grace than sagacity he has made himself a power in the press. A thorough man of the world, he has an extensive knowledge of men, and without being an actual politician, lie possesses great influence with political parties. Fear ed more than courted, he stands independ ent; ami, couscions of the influence he wields, he is indifferent to the enemies he makes in asserting his opinions and attack ing his opixments. These he makes often, without consulting prudence or propriety ; but, always jealous, he has little care for consequences. A vigorous writer, bis at tacks are often indiscriminate and violent. In pursuing his course he courts no flavor, and what other men have gained by Dawn ing he lias achieved by force. Indomitable and energetic, he has acquired fortune and reputation. Associating with sporting men, this has not prevented him from being the intimate of some of the foremost leaders of the country, and equally the arbiter of the prize ring and the political arena; he is the friend of the heroes of the one and the champions of the other. Without being a courtier, he has been presented at the Court of England, and without being a military man, he has been present apon the battle field. A Radical Republican, Mr. Wilkes is an advocate of its extremest measures, and in questions of foreign policy he is ag gressive, as in domestic and personal con troversies. Altogether, Mr. Wilkes Is a re markable combination of a remakable cha racter, and few men, under similar difficul ties, would have acquired such an influence among men of opposite principles and pur suits, and to achieve which required such a standard of talents, courage and audacity. A Doubter.— There was a man who lived In Cass county, Georgia, many years ago, who had once been in the State Legis lature, and never neglected an opportunity to emphasize the fact. He was a perfect infidel as to new discoveries and new sciences, being well Satisfied that It the world should turn over all the water wottld spill out of his well, and only giving In to by slow degrees. But all the vials of his contempt were poured out npon the idea of a telegraph, and he was wont to say that nobody need try to come “ the green" over him in that way, for he had been to the*Leglslature. Finally, the Htate road was built, and one day workmen be gan to put up telegraph posts right in front of his house and to stretch the wire.— His exultant neighbors thought they had him on that occasion, asked; “ Well, old fellow, what do you think of telegraphs now?” He was cornered, but died game. Drawing himself up an Inch taler, he said : “ Gentlemen, when I was in the Legislature I gave this subject my very attentive con sideration. and I said then, as I say now, that It may do for letters and small ban dies, bat it will never take a cotton bale, never 1” Pabiiunce of Jobc—Everybody iz in the habit ov bragging on Job; and Job did have considerable pashunce, but did he over keep a dlstrick skate for 8 dollars a month and board a round or ran a koun trec noospaper ? Did be ever reap lodged oats down hill on a hot day, and have all his gallus but tons bust oph at once ? Did he ever hav the jumping toothache and be made tend the babe while his wife wos over to Parkinses to a tea squall ? Did he ever get up In the mornln’ aufal drl, and tuf ft 8 miles before breakfast to get a drink, and find that the man kept a temperance house? Did he ever undertake to milk a kicking heifer w|#h a bushy tall, in fly time, and In a lot? Did he ever soironto a litter of kittens in the old rocking chair, with his Summer pantaloons on ? If be could du all these things and praise the Lord at the same time, all I have tusay iz, “ Bully for Job."— Josh DEUmgs. Caution to Strawberry Eaters.—Da vid Laudon, of Jackson county, Michigan, writes: “ One of your lady subscribers gave me the following to send you for publication: Two years ago I gathered some large ber ries from vines of Wilson’s Albany. On examining one of the largest, I found three worms coiled up inside. I continued the examination in fourteen berries. I found twenty-four worms, very full of legs—usu ally called thousand-legged worms—and more than an inch In length.' There whs no apparent scar on the berries. It has been stated that persons have died from eating strawberries put In tin cans. May not worms In the berries have caused the death ?” Rhubarb Vinegar.— The Country" Gen tleman gives directions for making vinegar from rhubarb, as follows. The process for ten gallons will be for a family; “Take iwentv-flve ordinary sized stalks of rhu barb ; pound them or crush them with a piece of wood ip the bottom of a strong tub; add ten gallons of water; let this stand twenty-four hours; strain off the crushed rhubarb and add eighteen pounds of sugar free from molasses, and a teacup ful of the best brewer’s yeast; raise the temperature to. sixty-five or sixty-eight degrees, and put your browst into a twelve gallon cask ; place it In a position where the temperature will not fall below sixty degrees, in a month strain off from the grounds, returning It to the cask again, and let it stand till it becomes vinegar.’’ Mil. A. T. Btewart.— lt seems some of the idle gosslpplng newspapers have been announcing that Mr. A. T. Stewart, the most successful dry goods merchant in New York, has become a Catholic. Seve ral friends have written "to ask if tb’s Is true. Mr. Stewart has no idea of doing anything of the kind. Bigger “camels” than he have gone through tills “ eye of the needle," but he Is no’, that kind of a camel. These announcements of conver sions to the faith, even If correct In fact, are In very bad taste, except In the case of persons who have been old teachers of false doctrines, or, at least, with the consent of tlie persons Interested. They are, often* times, exceedingly annoying. | New York Freeman's Journal,
