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24 were crowded, for men of God preached about Kossuth and uttered his name in their prayers. llis deeds were rehearsed around every fire side, and his speeches crowded the columns of every morning newspaper. A distant city was laid in ashes, and a Western-lake shore strewn with wrecks, and the news was flashed in our eyes by the lightning, but we skip ped the Telegraph column, and read what Kossuth said. An astounding Revolu tion burst out in France, and *hook the old world to its centre, but we let the earthquake march on over devoted Europe, and we turned again to the words of Kossuth. Even the trial of the age, whose proceedings at any other time would have thrown the nation into a fierce excitement, as the scroll of prosti tution was slowdy but mercilessly unroll ed by the hand of justice, has scarcely disturbed the shallow waters of fashiona ble society. Brooke, the great actor, was greeted with little enthusiasm, and old play-goers scarcely knew he had made his debut. The Swan of Erin sailed aw r ay into calmer waters, and the Nightingale of Sweden ceased to sing. The Countess of Lansfeldt who braves everything, did not venture an appearance while Kossuth was here; and even the fire annihilator refused to perform. In a w'ord, his prog ress since he emerged from his Asiatic prison, has been like the march of a vic torious general. Every castle surrender ed before it was summoned—every wall ed town swung open its gates before he appeared.” PENMANSHIP. **The following observations on this subject, we find in the Yankee Blade, and we shall be very much gratified if some of our correspond ents w T ill take the hint. It is quite time for the foolish notion that a man (or woman) of genius generally writes illegibly, to be exploded. There is no more truth in it than there would be in the idea that they talk unintelligibly. “The idea seems to prevail among young writers for the press that a crab bed hand is one of the sure indications of genius ; consequently a large part of the MSS. submitted to our inspection are il legible to a degree that neither the gods nor men ought to permit. It is true that a man in earnest will hardly stop while composing to bestow any grace upon his hand-writing; but no degree of zeal or fervour ought to excuse him from express ing his thoughts in a plain, legible hand. It is a hard task for the editor and com positor to become familiar with the ab breviations, clipping of final letters, and other peculiarities of the best penmen even ; and when these ordinary difficul ties are increased by a confused jumbling of letters together, as though blown into a heap by some wrathful explosion,—by a running style, so called, in which every SOUTHERN LITERARY GAZETTE. letter save the longer class is either an n ora w, —and by the whizzing off of a long word, after forming its first letters, with a horizontal snake line and a final ram’s horn, —when these and other idiosyncra sies occur, who shall wonder if the editor rise up and swear a trifle, just to keep his indignation below the boiling point ? The teachers of a running hand, that mischievous invention of modern times, have spoiled the legibility of writing wherever their influence has extended. It seems to be their mission to blend all the smaller letters into an indistinguishable mass of “ pot hooks and trammels.” Thus in this style, if a word occurs looking as much like the following example as it is possible to make it with unequivocal type —thus, ‘ counspomlunu,’ you are to interpret it by aid of the context, and it may mean ‘correspondence,’ or some thing else, according to circumstances. If the writer should be treating of French politics, you may chance to meet a word which looks like this, —‘Guunlm.’ Ran sack the proper names you chance to re member, and you will finally settle upon ‘ Girardin,’ as the most probable interpre tation of the hieroglyphics.” LOLA MONTES. **The Editor of Harper's Magazine thus dis courses in his “ Easy Chair,” concerning the re ception of the Bavarian Countess in New-York, and the tone of the public feeling towards her in that city : “ Poor Lola Montes, shadowed under the folds of the Hungarian banner, has hardly pointed the talk of an hour. We can not learn that any triumphal arch graced the entry of the Spanish Aspasia, or that her coming is celebrated in any more signal way, than by the uncorking of a few extra bottles of Bavarian beer. That many will see her if she dances, there can hardly be a doubt; but that many will boast the seeing her, is far more doubtful. We can wink at occa sional lewdness at home, but when Eu rope sends us the queen of its lewdness to worship, we forswear the issue, and like Agamemnon at the sacrifice of Iphi genia—hide our faces in our mantles.” Mrs. Partington and Ghosts.— “Do you believe in ghosts, Mrs. Partington ?” was asked of the old lady, somewhat tim idly. “To be sure I do,” replied she, “much as I believe that bright fulminary there will rise in the yeast to-morrow morn ing, if we live and nothing happens. Two apprehensions have sartainly appeared in our family. Why, I saw my dear Paul, a fortnight before he died, with my own es > j es f & s plain as I see you now, and though it turned out afterwards to be a rose-bush with a night-cap on it, I shall always think, to the day of my desola- tion, that it was a forerunner sent to me ’Tother one came in the night when w e were asleep, and carried away three can dles and a pint of spirits, that we kept in the house for an embarkation. Believe in ghosts, indeed! I guess I do, and he must be a dreadful styptic as doesn’t.” RANDOM READINGS. —Congealed vapour is snow—but an awful noise in the night is a sno-er. —The man who is attentive to the la dies is a beau—but when they don’t like him he is a bo -er. —Since Time, says Goethe, is not a person we can overtake when he is past let us honour him with mirth and cheer fulness of heart while he is passing. —When it was told to the Rev. Syd ney Smith that it was intended to pave St. Paul’s churchyard with blocks, his an swer was, that he thought there would be no difficulty in the matter, if the .Dean and tlce Chapter would put their heads to gether. —“ I had rather not take a horn with you,” said the loafer to the bull; but he insisted upon treating him to two, and the loafer got quite high. —None have less praise than those who hunt most after it. —Query, whether a certain animal does not have to paw some before he gets up the gum tree ? —ldleness is the burial of a living man. —O. W. Holmes, in one of his poems, says: “ And I never heard a hearty laugh from out a villain’s throat.” —“What kind of a key did Kossuth use to escape from an Austrian prision? A Tur ‘key. 11 —“ They pass best over the world,” said Queen Elizabeth, “ who trip over it quickly ; for it is but a bog —if w T e stop we sink.” —“This is a net gain,” as the spider said when he caught the fly. —How many fine hats serve as a cov er for worthless heads, and how many plaited shirt bosoms cover a hollow ca vern where a heart should be lodged. —Finn, the witty comedian, was carv ing a goose at supper, when John Ever ett called out to the carver at the other end of the table, “ what sort of a fowl is that brother ofyour’s, Finn V* “It is most as great a goose,” responded the wit, “as 1 Everett!” —An honest old lady in the country, when told of her husband’s death, ex claimed, “ Well, I do declare, our trou bles never come alone ! It ain't a week since I lost my best hen, and now Mr. Hopper has gone too, poor man!” —Bustle is not industry, any inore than impudence is courage. [Jan. 10,