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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1870)
the WEEKLY OOSSnrUTIONALIST WEOKVDAT MORNING, AUGUST li>. ISIO C l»b JUI.. Ur U»« w eekl T C.«.m»i«ou ■Hat* That every one may be enabled to sub scribe, and receive the benefits of a live jour nal, we offer the following liberal terms to duos : 1 Copy per year - - |3 00 3 Copies per year - - * * ' SO B Copies per year - - • - 12 00 10 Copies per year - - - - 20 00 We trust that every sulwcrlber to the paper will aid us In adding to our list. OBOPB AND OURRBN: tfEWS. Our subscribers and friends in the coun try will confer a favor on us and our nu merous readers by sending us items as to crop prospects and gcueral news in their different sections. We trust that each subscriber will consider himself a special correspondent for the Constitu tionalist, and thereby add to the Interest of the paper. THE GEORGIA BILL AND THE COMING CONVENTION. Immediately upon the passage of the Georgia Bill by Congress, we stated that, in our opinion, the questiou of an election this Fall was left doubtful and obscure by the wire-workers at Washington, and in tentionally so. This ambiguity was pur posely done to /irate the Democratic fire, and, if possible, compel the enemies of Radical ism to expose their policy prematurely. Fully impressed with thatficllef, we judged that discretion was the better course of the public press and the party at large, be cause If Is always good strategy to first find out what your opponent desires and then to disappoint him. Many of our con temporaries were of a different opinion. They no doubt acted upon motives of the highest patriotism, as we did, and so there need be no quarrel over a matter of pure ■peculation as to manocuvcrlng. As to the results of an election, If It be held, we can only give what seems to us the probabilities of the case. If it goes as the Congressional Committee recommend ed, that la, If all candidates chosen are pliant tools es Power, whether Bullock or Blodgktt or anybody else who will ac cept usurpations as verities or fixed facts never to be questioned, all will be right •t Washington. It Is wholly Immaterial whether the parties elected be Radicals or Democrats, so-called. Pliant tools of power qrc very much in demand, and If complying Conventions will nominate such and help elect such, all will be lovely and serene uo doubt at the head centres of Radical au thority. The State, under such auspices, will be permitted to eail back Into the Union, so-called. But If the election should go otherwise; If a real Democrat be elected Qoveruof, and real Democrat* be chosen to the Legislature and Congress, another turn of the Reconstruction sorew Is & probability so strong that It smacks of certainty. This opinion we venture with candor nnd reluctance; but, however un palatable, ifls worth reflecting upon. And ire here respectfully observe to all who violently differ from us, that he Is uat al ways the truest friend who tells the most flattering tales. Having thus stated some of the misgiv ings that beset us, wc now proceed to an other view of the subject, which, by the call of a Convention, has become a matter of Instant practical Importance. We are for an election, a fair and square election on principle. This brlugs up the whole question to Vie decided by the Con vention : Fir»t: Shall wo have au election, not withstanding the intcntloual ambiguity and double dealing of the Georgia Bill ? We answer, emphatically, Yes ! Second: Shall we as Democrats be gov erned lu nominations by the sinister de signs of this Infamous BtU If With equal emphasis, we answer No! Bat at this point the Democracy should be guided both by polity and principle. We would, for Instance, advise the nomination of a man for Governor who could qualify, if elected. No principle la violated by this action, far such meu, good and true, can be found—men *who will openly de clare that they hold these acts of Congress creating disabilities null and void. No man should be nominated who does not thus hold, and no man Is worthy of sup port who will not thus declare himself. The same course should be taken with re gard to the nomination of members of Assembly. Had such a course been pur sued by the members of the July Conven tion of 1808, with regard to Democratic electors, It might have been better for us. No principle would have been yielded by following such advlco at that time, and none will be yielded by thus acting lu our present emergency. For members of Congress, the case may be different. No one need object to the nomination of a true Democrat uuder no disabilities, so-called; but we would pre fer to run the strongest Democrat la any district without regard to the disability act of usurpations. It would be a matter of congratulation to see a true Democrat fairly elected to Congress whose disabili ties, so-called, were not relieved. Then we should have the Wilkes and Luttrell . case renewed In all Its power. If the Demo crat so elected should be denied his seat, let ua keep ou electing him Mi** quotiee until the whole country ehoutd be con vulsed wlta the monttroue usurpations at Washington. The Convention will mou assemble » u d then we shall see who la who and what U what, h may be that an attempt wilt lie made to wheel the Georgia Democracy Into line with those who accept the 14th and 15th Amendments as ** verities." never to he warred agaiae: or disputed If a ma jority of the party favor this mode of pro cedure, the case is indted a bad one. If they do not favor it, tker should take care to send wise, lust, moderate and patriotic men :o represent them in the Convention. Richmond county should do her whole duty now, though every other county iu the State deserted her. We have con fidence in our people In this county, and feel assured that a majority of the conn ties of old Georgia, i: not all, will come up squarely aud boldly to the issue. A LEAF FROM THE HISTORY OF RETRIBUTION. | Several years ago, we were never weary ! of pointing our people to the example of i Huugary in her struggle, after the battle, with Austria. We pointed out, agaiu and tlgaln, how very analogous her position was with that of the South, and vainly 1 suggested a similar Hue of policy which, after seventeen tremeudous years, euded in the most splendid triumph that a down trodden nationality ever gained over the tyrant. It is too late, perhaps, to Imitate, at tills time, the *• masterly Inactivity " of ' Hungary, who kept her faith aud bided her time ; but the history of the Magyar has receutly furnished another grand lesson for Southern pondering, which should not lie lost upon us or upon our children. We had iuteuded to make thfc application In our pwu way, but the Baltimore Sun has done it so beautifully, so graphically and so exhaustively, that we glidly push aside what had been fashioned by our pen and avail ourselves of the superior effort of our contemporary. The Sun siys: “In the concluding portion of Scott’s novel, ' Waverly,' there Is an affectlne passage, where the hero, himself just am nestied for complicity lu the rebellion ot 1745, makes an unavailing appeal to au official friend to save the life of Fergus Mclvor, who was about to suffer death for high treason at Carlisle. The functionary appealed to writes back to Mr. Waverly to say that he Is very sorry for ‘ the unfortu nate young gentleman,’ but cannot Interfere In his behalf, so that the law must take Its course. Such, Sir Walter Scott pauses sorrowfully to add, was the mode of reason ing common among persons of honor and humanity only 'sixty years since.’ The London Telegraph, which reviews this sug gestive fragment from Waverley, applies it to the case of the Hungarian patriot, Count Louis Batthyanl, who, only tweuty years since, was hung by the Austrian Govern ment for the sole crime of patriotism, as though he had been a murderer, or a dog. “In this period of European perturba tions, aud also-as affording au iustancc of the chatfge which has taken place sluce political matters were conducted In Austria a iid Hu Hilary with such a hlyh hand, aud when it was quite consouaut with the code of repression adopted by the savage com manders,- of whom Hayuau was the most prominent type, to hang and shoot men and tp flog women, the story of Count Bat thyani may not be without Interest. One of the most distinguished of the Hungarian maguates, he signalized himself at an early period by his zeal In behalf of* the Indepen dence of his country, and after waging a fierce war against the Austrian Govern ment he became afterward Instrumental in promoting Kossuth’s election to the Diet. Subsequently he officiated as Prime Minister of the revolutionary administration. On the approach of the Austrian army towards Pesth the members of the Diet aud of the administration withdrew. Batthyanl alone would not desert his post, aud the conse queuce of his clilvalric resolve was that he was arrested and sentenced by court-martial, presided over by the Infamous Marshal Hay nau, to die on the gallows. A horrible story was current at the time that on the night before his execution the Magyar’s noble wife, anxious that he should avoid the Ignominy of the gallows, forwarded to him, in a packet of clean linen, a long, sharp, crooked nail, with which he Inflict ed a jagged, but not mortal wouud; in his throat. Other accounts have it that he stabbed himself with a dagger, and inflict ed so many wounds upon his neck that he could not be hung, aud, accordingly, was shot. He met his tragic fate with heroism and resignation. The resentment of Aus tria extended also to his wife aud his three children, who were expelled from the coun try, while his property was confiscated by the Government. This was only twenty one years ago; but a change has come over Austria In its treatment of the heroic race upon whom It will have hereafter to rely as Its right arm In battle. The policy of cruelty and oppression has given place to the wiser counsels of clemency aud con ciliation. The people of Hungary stand once more erect, aud one of their latest acts, which Austria evinced no disposition to repress, was to do justice to the memory of Louis Batlhyaui. Treated even after his death like a felon, and burled with muti- lated rites, his remains havefoeen receutly removed from the place Into which they were hastily thrust, aud, after lylug In state for four and tweuty hours at the Church of the Franciscans, they have been escorted to the new cemetery at Pesth by 40,000 Hungarians, while for three miles along the route the windows—nay, even the house tops—were alive with men, wo men aud children, looking down with pride aud love, upon the ashes of the man who died for bis country lu her darkest honr. In view of the-war clouds which are now boverlug over Europe, aud the poaalbljlty that Austria may some day have to make a life straggle for her own existence, itisper- for her that heroic Hungary la herself oaee more, aud no longer treated aa a subjugated and vassal race. Let the lea son be applied here In the Catted States lu regard to our Southern brethren " North Carolina.—By systematic chok ing and other modes of torture, Holden's myrmidons have forced sixteen-weak breth ren to confess they were members of a sort of Ku Klux Klau. Among these victims of the inquisition was one J. E. Botd, a nominee for the Legislature. This wretch, not satisfied with criminating himself, through lear, basely heaps odium upon his friends who sought to honor him. The election will end on Thursday next, but, as the Richmond Dispatch eloquently observes, there are other things which will not end with It—“ the sown wind—the seeded retri bution—the embalmed revenge.”-. And the man who so glibly prated him self into power by words of peace is the abettor of the worst of strife. Let him be ware. He may want friends even in North Caroliua one of these days. Very Strange.— Of the five prominent in -tlgators of Mumford’s death, but ope— the chief assaasiu—remains alive, and he, though as hard as flint to the world’s re proach, is a moral leper. The other four, according to the New York Democrat , have died terribly and swiftly. Andrew J. Butler lived miserably after his return from the South, and then desperately com mitted suicide. Bell, a member of But ler’s staff, and also of the military com mission, died a raving lunatic. Haggerty, the Judge Advocate, perished In the streets of New Orleans of delirium tremens. An other member of the staff, and an Interested party, recently, at Hong Kong, blew out his brains. A ' * The Widow’s Art. —Speaking of the liability of English statesmen of repute to marry widows, and the happy relations in cident to these matches, the New York World makes this fine point: “ We decline to entertain for a moment the “ hypothesis that the skill which Is so often “ displayed by a lady was acquired at the “ expense of her first spouse, on which she “ experimented as on a corpus vile until he “ became a corpus cold. Far more proba “ ble Is It that the first was made even “ more happy than the second—so happy “ that flesh aud blood could not stand it— “ aud that, being warned by • this experi ** cnce, the widow who becomes a wife J 1 gives to her second husband only just “ that amouut of bliss that is good for him “ and uo more.’’ How to Do It.— The New York Sun shows how the troolv 101 l are exalted.— Describing the triumphal exit of a great and good patriot from Gotham. It says: “ The ex-policy dealer went In on the “ make, aud sold out the Republican party “ which gave him his office, sold out his *' fellow Commissioners, sold out the city, “ sold out his Mends, sold himself to the “ devil, and Is now going to Europe to have “ a continental spread on the proceeds. He “goes down the bay this morning with “ ccfafk-that Is to say, with tugboats ac “ companjluar. and music playlnjr, and the “American banner floating on the breeze.” The satire Couched in the last line Is simply exquisite—and so appropriate. Beware of the Rebound.— The New York Herald, alluding to the murder of the millionaire Nathan, says: “ This shocking event has created a sen satlou of horror and fear throughout the entire community. People feel that we live In the midst of a terrible class of lawless ruffians, at whose hands no man’s life is safe from hour to hour.” People who break down all reverence for law, in order to be revenged upon others, must expect an upheaval of the bad ele ments of society In their own midst. Com placent aud devilish concocters of lying Ku Klux outrages at the South are having their curses come home to roost. The end Is uot yet. A Sticking Point. —The “ Hon. John W. Fohney, who Is nothing If not epigram matic, says: “In Prussia, as well as lu the United States, ‘ Bayonets think." ’ We may observe likewise that, in the United States, they also lie occasionally, at the rate of 40 cents per line. We dare say It Is the same thing hi Prussia. Bayonets when they think or speak, at the bidding of tyrants, must perforce of their confor mation have crooked ways. Snubbed. —When NapolEon heard that a Yankee spy and Prussian sympathizer, named Philip Shkiudan, was sailing from the United States to observe his movements, he seut a telegram by cable forbidding foreign officers from coming near the French army. Yankee tricks do not always succeed. Mum. —Attorney general Akerman has been written to by several Georgians, ask ing him to place his opinion in writing on the status of Georgia under the bill passed on the last night of the session, admitting the State, but he declines to do so uutil it Is bfought before Idm in a legal form. A Commercial Conundrum.— Shall the negro have his life insured ? It is thought that, as a XVth Amendment and one of the political “ verities,” he is just as much en titled to do so as to ride In a street car, go to the United States Senate and bay a ticket in the lottery. VrryUnreliablb.— France and Prussia control and manipulate the telegraphic re ports from their respective camps. Pre scription : Two gratus of salt to each tele gram. The Cbncus Brings Atlanta Down.— The Atlanta A'« Era, referring to the re sult* of the census, says: Mushroom cities, exulting in their swell ing population, find themselves suddenly curtailed of their fair pro|K>rtions, and mode to look as if they were « sent Into the world before their tine, half made-up, ete." War Dots —The New York Freeman» Journal {Women Catho'.tc) says: - Very stupidly It has been asserted that the triumph of France would be for Catho licity, and the triumph of Prussia for Protestantism. We believe it will be so accepted, at large. And yet the Catholic Church Is more free end more happy In Prus sia than she is in France. “The miserable course taken by the present French Ministry towards Rome well represented by the doctrinaire Parodol, who shot himself—makes ns doubt about whether the success of France could be for the benefit of Christianity.” John Mitchel gives the following ad vice to his fellow-irishmen: “Our plain policy is to do nothing unless it be to accumulate money in the hands o. local trustees (avoiding carefully New York Headquarters), to refrain from boasi ina, expressing rash sympathies, which we might have to turn into antipathies before long; and, in short, to take no ‘action, and to hold our tongues. - ’ The New York Herald shows, in a pithy paragraph, that German Unity, or rather a Prussianized Germany, may be better brought about by war than by peace. The Prussian reason is thus given: «i u a state of peace the South German countries have an independent existence, but during war they become practically a part of the Prussian Power. War, then, effectively joins South Germany to the North German Union. And this is the reason why war may be regarded without displeasure at Berlin; for when war has once added these South German States to Prussia we may trust Bismarck that they will never be free again.” A German correspondent of the New York Times puts that paper right on the whole question. Thus: “I merely wish to state that Prussia, since Sadowa, has continually been work ing for a German unity, which could only be achieved by a war against that despot whose main oblect has always been to impede, if he possibly could, the attainment of the desired aim.” To which the Times responds: “ Then what becomes of the statement “ that France, and France alone, is respon « sible for the war ? Our correspondent Is “ doubtless right. German unity could not “ have been accomplished, at least so soon, « without a war with France. The end ** may be worth a war; but is it just to )* saddle Napoleon with the whole respon “ sibillty of it ? Can we not give' ‘ moral “ support ’ to the Germans without falsity “ lug all the facts of cotemporary history ? “ It is all very well to renounce Napoleon “ and all his works, but surely something «< is due to our own credit as the chronl “ clers of passing events.” • Physicians for the Prussian Army.— The New York German Patriotic Associa tion has resolved to send over to Germany young physicians who speak the German language, to assist in the care of the sick and wounded, knowing, from official sources that this course will be very ac ceptable to the Prussian Government. All appllcants-are examined by a commission, and if found qualified, receive a certificate and a letter of recommendation from Dr. Rosing, Cousul General of the "North Ger man Confederation, to the Prussian Gov ernment, which will insure their appoint ment. IFrom the New York Timea, editorial. “Lawlessness in the South.” The sea serpent and the monster goos berry render periodical service to a certain class of newspapers. There are others, and those, we are sorry to say, of the Republican faith, with marvelous regularity, descant upon “the reign of lawlessness In the South." The heading appears periodically. We accept it as a sign, when Congress is in session, that some extiavagant measure is In contemplation. At other times, the stale story Is Intended to serve some elec tion purpose, or to afford a semblance of justification forsomeextraordlnary assump tion of authority of the kind with which Governor Holden is familiarizing North Carolina aud startling the country- What ever the end to be served, we are quite sure that usually there Is an unavowed purpose, the accomplishment of which seems to ren der expedient the awakening of popular in dignation against the South. * * * “The reign of lawlessness jn the South” is a stereotyped expression, which is used to fire the Radical heart when the tendency in matters political Is to Indifference and stagnation. The device is a blunder even in a party 1 sense. We do not say that It Is destitute of effect. Experience has shown that an Incessant repetition of sensational stories relating to crime in Southern communities influences the action of Congress, and Is effective as au electioneering agency in the North and West. ***** Thus, criminal incidents which are pass ed unnoticed at the North are invested with a political significance when they occur at the South. We have plenty of lawlessness In New York,.but who among us proposes to hold the entire community responsible for it ? Who proposes to make It an excuse for Federal Interference, or to use it for campaign purposes in Ohio or Mississippi? Yet the whole South Is ar | raigned at the bar of Northern opinion I because murders are committed In Tennes ! see or North Carolina. The whole South -1 ern people are made the text for solemu ! exhortations and loyal threats and warn ! ings, because some drunken rebel in Mem ' phis shoots an industrious negro, or be . cause a gang of ruffians In Georgia insult ' and injure some worthy Northerner, who ! has gone there to earn an honest living.— i These occurrences are bad, whether report ed from Kansas or the South. But we act unwisely and unjustly when we apply the -generalizing process to one case, and omit It in the. other. Os this injustice the South may reasonably complain. Asa whole, the South is as free from lawlessness as any other part of the coun try. There are bad localities in the recon structed States, but so there are in this city and In this State. The general con dition of things is, however, one that the Southern people have no reason to be ashamed of. Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Missis sippi may safely challenge comparison with States similarly situated In ordinary re spects at the South and West. There has been a fair average of progress everywhere. The mala body of the population lutve ap plied thetuoelvea to industrial pursuits, with a steady determination which ha* already borne good frujt. They are re building vilieg*** and cities, cultivating farm* and familiarizing themselves with enterprise* which will yield more than the old prosperity Our New York Correspondence. New York, July 28,1870. The intense heat of the atmosphere, from being the cause of much become the source of much distress. The mortality of the city, from an average of about'4oo per week, has Increased to about 1,100. Persons predisposed to apoplexy, and all young children, have contributed in a severe ratio to the increased mortality. The thermometer has not ranged so -high, on the average, as last week, but we have had this week a murky breeze from the south east, which has been an additional burde i instead of a relief. Upon animals, and upon persons engaged in active employ ment, much distress has been inflicted. The city railroad companies lost nearly n hundred horses in one day (Monday last), and many have been compelled to suspend their accustomed pursuits; and yet the mortality has not been so great as in previous heated terms of far less intensity and duration. This may be attributed to the .scarcity of ice and the difficulty of procuring cold drinks, which, however agreeable to the palate, are lull of danger to the health. We have fortunately had frequent thunder showers, of moderate violence, which have preserved vegetation from drought, and it is in a most luxurious condition. As I write, we are experiencing a considerable modification of temperature, with a strong, cooling breeze. The heated term has six weeks, and we feel as though we ought to be in the middle of August Instead of the last week in July. Politics are In abeyance. The leaders are employed in feeling the ground, but have not yet announced plans for the com ing Fall campaign. .Senator Fenton is near this city, and his friends give out that he is determined to “get square” with Grant for the manner in which his (Fen ton’s) friends have been proscribed, but is not quite ready to take the responsibility of a bolt from the Republican party. A politico-temperance movement, for which there are abundant facilities, may be re sorted to as the safest means to the de sired end. There is no longer any doubt that Grant will be a candidate for re-elec tion; and it is just possible that his fight with Fenton is all sham, being a prelimi nary to the nomination of Fenton for Vice- President instead qf Colfax, as a measure of “harmony.” In fact, if Fenton shall quietly submit to Collector Murphy, and join in his efforts to rescue thi- State from the Democrats, you may rely upon it that the sacrifice of Fenton’s friends is the result of a “ bargain ” between Grant find Fenton, looking to the next Presi dential contest. The ocean yacht race is, tor the moment, the leading sensation, owing to the ar rival of the Cambria (British) yesterday afternoon off Bandy Hook, beating the American yacht, the Dauntless. - It is said that this result demonstrates the advant ages of the northern over the southern route, westward across the Atlantic in Summer. Os course, our British-born resi dents have been very jolly over the result, which was announced by displaying the colors of the victor from the City Hall, and firing guns in the Park. The newsboys complain somewhat of this interference with their pursuits, The tremendous shock of arms which is approaching on the Rhine, will doubtless take place as soon as this letter reaches you. The feeling In business circles continues to largely favor the Prussians. The French, and the friends of the French, find it advis able to keep very quiet. And yet, there is very little significance to this fact. I re member well that ip January, 18(51, all “ down town ” strongly favored the “ Crit tenden compromise,” and a hot Radical was “ hustled ” on ’Change one day for denounc- - ing that scheme for accommodating the troubles which had arisen between the North and the South. Let Louis Napoleon gain one great victory and we shall see another illustration of the truth of the adage that “ nothing Is so successful as success.” A strong effort is being made bv the more thoughtful men of the Democratic party .to improve the Democratic side of the next House of Representatives. There is need of more vlgorus blood there. The great interests involved demand this. The devil ish malevolence of the Radicals has shut out mast of the Southern men of ability and experience, and Tammany Hall will be appealed to to supply the deficiency. Mr. Brooks and Mr. Cox are the only real strong men from this quarter, and they do not agree, for the reason that Mr. Brooks is ribt really a Democrat, but an old Webster Whig, and entertains a. my exalted view of the rights and he regards inversely the duUes of property. Cox is more an adroit party leader than a great statesman. Mr. Fernando Wood has knowledge and experience, but Is not the sort of man to have influence in ft legisla tive body. Os the other three from this city, Messrs. Calkin, Fox, and Morrissey, it can only be said that they are conscien tious, faithful Democrats. The war in Europe has produced an ex citement in onr cotton market. Outsiders come rushing in to make a “ turn." But, forgetting that prices had already serious ly declined; that stocks on that side of the Atlantic arc at this season small at all points-, and forgetting that the advance in gold would do something towards making good the decline abroad, these outsiders went on and sold low middling for July delivery down to 18t£. But when they came to make their deliveries and close up their contracts, they “ saw another sight,” visions of a “ corner ” appeared unto them, and it was a dream that was not all a dream; the ambitions outsiders have got their” turn” by paying 19)£@20 for cotton to deliver on contracts at 18>£918J£. The old story and the old result—you can’t win nnless you bet, then yon are apt to lose: “ He who sells what isn’t his’n Must bny it in or go to prison.”- Breadstnffs advanced largely on the war news, bat have declined almost as rapidly in this and the Western markets. Stocks continue enormous. The intense heat is doing much damage, and an abundant har vest is about to add to onr supplies. South ern people need not be worried for the pres ent, lest food shall be too high. The Mercantile Library, according to the annual report, now contains 115,831 books, of which 13,000 have been added during the year which has just expired. The total circulation has been 234,130 vol umes, of which, in one day, 1,833 were given ont. Besides this large circulation, there are 1,000 readers who visit the read ing room dally. Daring the same time, at the Astor Li brary, 1,573 books have been added to the collection, which now comprises 139,106 volumes, and there have been 77,044 vol umes taken from the shelves for the use of readers. The whole number of those who have profited by the library Is 33,634, or 115 readers a day. The endowment o< the library being now $751,000, ol which the income la expended annually in different ways, It fallows that the actual expendi ture Is $1 61 tor every one bencfltted by tills library, while the cost of each bene ficiary of the Mercantile la centa. The (inference between the praollcil utility of these two libraries le very great, the Astor Lliirtry helug lu truth available only to men or leisure, and tu Boat part learning, j who can afford, in this maelsfrom' iJfWW. ness excitement, to spend tranquil morning and afternoon hours in the pursuits of lite rature, the library closing at 5 o'clock, the time when bnslness Is well nigh over, and no books being allowed to be taken away, the institntion is vlrtnal’y sealed to the many. During the evenings, on the other hand, the Mercantile Library Is more crowded than at any other time by clerks and business men, who, In thousands of instances, deprived of all domestic sources of pleasure, and* living alone In the midst of crowds, endeavor to fill up their hours of leisure by reading; this, however, bring in the majority of cases of a light and amus ing nature. ' During the day the ladies flock In numbers. . A considerable diver sity also exists in the character of the books which are read in the two libraries, as at the Astor there is but a small proportion consulted which come under the head of novels, while at the Mercantile aboflt half the circulation is of this class. The most notable purchases of single publications in the past year, at the Mer cantile, were those of Miss Alcott’s “ Little Women” and “Old Fashioned Girl” of which 250 copies were bought; and next on the list comes Miss Evans, there having been of her last publication “ Vashti,” 200 copies bought. Considerable purchases of books in foreign languages have been made during the last year, amounting to 931 volumes. The Astor Library is free to all who may come, no books, however being allowed to be taken away, but at the Mer cantile, a tipket is required, the cost of which per annnm Is to ordinary readers, $5, while a reduction of more than half this sum is made in favor of clerks. Willoughby. [For the Constitutionalist. Meeting of the Democracy of Jefferson County. In compliance with a previous not'ce, a considerable number of the Democracy of Jefferson county assembled at the Court House in Louisville, for the purpose of gjv ing expression to their views, and to ap point delegates to the convention of the Democratic party to be held In Atlanta on the 17th of August. _ . On motion of Gen. R. W. Carswell, Wm. S. Alexander, Esq., was appointed Chair man, and James C. King, Esq., Secretary of the meeting. The Chairman, in a few earnest remarks, stated the object of the meeting directly to be the appointment of delegates to repre sent the county in the convention of the Democracy soon to be held In Atlanta; also to organize the party In Jefferson, and to prepare to contribute all In onr power to secure the triumph of the party in the com ing election and the restoration of good government to onr State. On motion of Gen. R. W. Carswell, a committee of three, consisting of the move ant, Dr. E. H. M. Hunter and John G. Jordan, Esq., was appointed by the Chair man to nominate suitable persons to the meeting to be chosen as delegates to the Atlanta Convention. The committee, after conference and con sultation, reported through their Chair man, Dr. E. H. M. Hunter, the names of Hon. Herschel Y. Johnson, Gen. R. W. Carswell, WilHam S. Alexander and John W. Alexander, as suitable persons to repre sent the county in the Atlanta Convention, and, on motion of’ CoL J. G. Cain, the re port of the committee was unanimously adopted by the meeting. After a full and free conference among the citizens assembled on the Interests of the party in the county, anfl a unanimous determination on the part of all to do everything in their power to secure the -ftlumphant success of the party in the next election, and the complete overthrow of the miserable band of political harpies that have so long preyed on the vitals of onr mother State, the meeting, on motion of Dr. E. H. M. Hunter, adjourned sine die, with the relfnest that their proceedings be published in the Constitutionalist and Chronicle and Sentinel, ot Augusta. James C. King, Secretary. Louisville, Ga., August TANARUS, 1870. Republicanism or Monarchy ?—An enthusiastic German at a public meeting in New York the other night uttered the fer vent hope that King William might drive out Louis Napoleon, that William himself would be driven ont of Germary by her people, and that then Germany would be come a united republic. The orator did not pray for a similar fate for France, but leaves her in possession William of Prussia! When will this republican dream cease to vex crazy people? It bamboozles the minds of men in this country, and how much of republicanism have we? • If European nations can do cobetter than America they had better put an embargo on republicanism. Assuredly, however, the people of Europe want no snch thing. They prefer monarchy; and from the devil ish manifestations of the Republican theo ries at different periods of modern times, they may well dread their rale as the most horrible of all kinds of government yet devised. —Richmond Ditpateh. Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie. —A dis patch from London announces the death of Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie, the well known American authoress. She was a daughter of Samuel R. Ogden, of this city, and was born in Bordeaux, France, where her parents were temporarily residing. Be fore she had attained ber fifteenth year she was married to Mr. James Mowatt, and after his death became (in 1854) the wife of Mr. William F. Ritchie, of Richmond, Va. It was after the failure in business of her first husband that she first appeared before the public » a dramatic reader, and subse quently as an actress. She remained on the stage from 1845 till her marriage with Mr. Ritchie, achieving great success in America and England. Mr. Ritchie, her second hnsband, was the well known editor of the Richmond Enquirer. In 1856 she published her first work, “ Pelayo; or, the Career of Corodonga, in five cantos,” a poetical romance, which brought her much reputation. She subsequently wrote and published a large number of novels, poems and dramas, all of which gave evidence of the great ability possessed by the authoress. There is, in fact, no name better known in American literature than hers. For some years past Mrs. Ritchie had been residing in England, engaged in literary labors.— Many of her letters to the newspapers of this country attracted marked Attention for their admirable style.—W. T. Herald. Brunswick and Alabny Railroad W. W. Hrilbert, Esq., has been Assistant Superintendent of this road and will have the immediate superintendence of the em ployees in charge of the Transportation and Supervisor’s Department, yard and shops. The energetic General Superintendent, Col. E. Halbert, is poshing forward this import ant work with great vigor, and has now compfeted more than ninety miles, and has the telegraph line advancing pari pauu with the rplls. Four new and neat passenger cars for ths road arrived here last week, aud we hope soon to have dally poaseuger trains ruu uing.—Druntteiek Appeal. The will of ths late Edward Psdslford, of Savauuab, will require $7,500 worth of •Uuips-
