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Dcotci> to literature. Science, ant> 3.d, tljc Sons of temperance, ©ii jTellou)sl)ip, ittasonrn, anh (General intelligence. VOLUME I GSlflSAt SAStI, “THE”WIFE’S REWARD. BY . “Oh ! woman ! evrr seek, \ victory like this : with heavenly warmth, Q n U the icy purpose, anrl preserve f roin error’s path, Mie heart that thou dost fold Close in tliy own pure love.” The clock had struck twelve! Not a sound was heard indie (lark street, save the heavy tread of watchman, as he passed and repassed the front nf a handsome building, from which shone . I]f , o nlv light that glimmered through the almost j-'trvptian darkness of that murky night. In the ~ al f r om which that light come, sat aladv, who, not beautiful, possessed ihe delicate com n|eXjon, expressive eye, and sweet month, which ivo’jhl redeem her face from the charge of home j; nes? , even in the opinion of the most critical Serose as if under some strong excitement, and commenced walking rapidly up and down the chamber. “Who could have believed,” murmured she, “thatbefore two short years should have passed, that I should be thus left alone in solitude, to pass liourafter hour in wearying anxious solitude. And in mv happy, thoughtless, girlish days, when.l have laughed so merrily at seeing Charles’ excite ment o’er a game of whist, I never thought for a moment of any danger coming to me through pieces of paste board, or the agony of soul they would cause me. But I must not spend mv time watching his downward course, weeping will not save him, would to God it would : and were they drops of blood from mv own heart, mostfree lv would I shed them. But what to do ! He once listened kindly to my admonitions, and now ! one word frmn me causes such a tempest of anger, that I tremble before him.” She stopped, as if a thought had come into her mind, and then resum ing her walk, said, “Yes, I will do that if I possi blv can accomplish it.” At this moment her husband’s well known step fell on her expectant ear, and springing to the door she opened it quickly for his admittance.— Without one kind word, he passed her, and seat ing himself sullenly and silently near the fire, covered his face with his hands. Approaching him, and placing her hand with loving kindness on his, she said, —“Dearest Charles, are von ill. vour hand Dels so hot and fevered ; what must I do for you ? ” “How is it possible for you still to core for, and be kind to me? I, who have caused all vour un happiness ; Maria, vou will, you must, hate me, when I tell vou all. Every dollar of your for tune has been staked and lost! And yet, bad as that is the worst must yet be told. Maria, vou cannot love a dishonest man, and vet I, your hus band, yes lam one. I forged a heavy draft on the firm of mv late father, and that inn is gone! ! Blame me, upbraid me, I can bear it better than your kind and loving words.” “I do not blame you, Charles, for what use would it be to do so? No! I must think what we can do to pay the draft before it is presented, so as to save vou from dis grace. I will entreat, I will pray, uncle Harris to ffuetnme unconditionally mv ten thousand dol ors still left in his hands bv mv father’s will; surely, surelv, he will do it, to save his brother’s child from misery and disgrace! ” “He will not, Maria ; and by withholding it he “ill do rightly. Let me pay the penalty of my crime. When once in prison, you will be free. aru l no longer be annoyed either with my crimes or my presence.” ‘‘ffi! Charles, talk not so. To-morrow we W f)J act ’g° now to bed. To-morrow you and l “’ill agree to act differently for the future.” al l >t persuaded him to retire. But she could nat seep. Hour after hour passed, and wearied Z nnrefreshed she stole from her bed at day it of’ \ s^ tnut f°r her uncle’s, know ing his hab if j ear y risi ng, and that she must be there early le ex P ec ted to see him ere he left for his busi ness. door Wa lk brought her to her uncle’s t u ‘ . , L ° has not left for his counting house,” ° n . ,S^e ri servant replied who opened the ,)r n°r. She walked into the parlour, and corn ° a C? ? nie ’ w rih a hearty, hut rather rough wel -1 e J to the trembling and distressed wife. to^ l \ S0 ’ child > you’re come. Well! lam glad C O^V VOII always thought you would have to *Uht\ to y° ur( >id uncle, and not stay forever dith. T g °° and f( ! r nothing scamp, Charles Mere seJg.L rik of Ids love for yon ! yes, great love, I) J o ln( ; ss entirely say I. Well! let by-gones be an/ ‘**• Come pull off your bonnet and shawl, Me hA OUr place at the head of the table, old t fa Dl r <lS Jrou Srit up breakfast, and put on an ex see J! e i nuw stands grinning with delight to }ou back again.” SAVANNAH, GA.. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1849. “ Excuse me, dear nncle, 1 can’t stay long enough to eat with you this morning, I have come on pressing business, and if vou will send Jake out a moment, I will try not to detain vou long.” “Well! Jake, you can go till I call. Now for your trouble, for I’ll be bound it’s something of the kind : but let me warn you, it must be nothing you will ask in favor of Charles, fori despise him more than a rat does poison.” “ But, dearest uncle, listen to me this once, I must speak to you about Charles. He has done wrong, oh ! very, very wrong. 1 seek not to hide his fault, nay crime, frmn you, and yet uncle, I beg you for mv sake, for my father’s, to save us from disgrace and ruin. Oh ! uncle have pity and listen to me, only this once.” %/ II umph! the old tale I’ll be hound. Forged or stolen and want money to pav it back. Ah ! yes, Mr. Charles Meredith, [ understand, but vou can’t come it over me so. You want the few thousands left in my hands, in order to gamble it away to night. Ah ! yes, but just tell my fine gentleman if you please, that he shall not have them ! ” and with a quick stride he paced up and down. “ Don’t be so angrv, but listen tome dear uncle.” “ Ancr/ ’ angry ! I w as ne\ er angry in my whole life. ’Tis energy, only energy of character you see. I always was energetic, and always sympa thized with it. You 1d( emed so, but find myself mistaken, you are meek spirited : and I verily be lieve that did that hang-dog Charles whip you every day, you would cling around his neck and kiss him for it.” And the old uncle in his excess of erlfergy struck the floor until the cups on the wai te r ji n g led nga in. Poor Maria had recourse to her tears, for she found her entreaties useless. He continued walk ing up and down slower and more slow, till he fi nally slopped before the sofa on which she sat vain ly endeavoring to hide and repress her tears, whilst now and then a convulsive sob would break forth. This was too much for uncle Harris’s af fectionate but. rough heart. He seated himself by her, and kindly taking her hand, said : “Not to save Charles’ life would I do anything, but for you I will. Drv your eves, and tell me what you wish.” “ Dear uncle, I wish vou to give me my money to save Charles from prison. Delias been guilty of forgery, and I came this morning to get you to pay this note before presentation. The amount is four thousand, will you save his name and him self from disgrace for my sake ? ” “I suppose I must say yes: and when all is gone, then probably you will come back to your old uncle again : and now, as it is all settled, come kiss me and eat some breakfast, whilst I order the 0 carriage, for you cannot walk in the street.” With smiles of hope did the poor wife seat her self at the well filled table, and partake of the re freshment which was now absolutely necessary. She longed to be at home to throw herself into her husband’s arms and tell him he was saved ; and she, with new happiness in her heart thought, surely his gratitude to me will prevent a recur rence of his dissipated habits, such were her thoughts as she rode home. What bad news a waited her. She was met by her old nurse: “ Oh ! miss Maria ! master is so ill, and wants vou so.” J Maria found it ns the nurse said, her husband was very ill, and the Doctor, who was immediate ly sent for, pronounced him dangerous. Day by day, %n:l night after nighi, did she watch by him and lend on his hours of sickness and pain. Af ter many weeks of severe illness, he slowly con valesed. What was the wife’s joy to hear him speak so kindly, so tenderly to her? Oh! you who have felt as she did, can enter into her feel ings. She informed him how she had succeeded with her uncle. “Thanks, ten thousand thanks, my beloved, for your exertions-; and if God gives me strength J will try and be worthy of vou. Now and hence forth do I forswear cards, dice, and the intoxicat ing wine cup, and devote myself entirely to my profession. Now will 1 redeem my name and character in your eyes, till under the weight of renown and good deeds, my crime be for ever buried from your sight. I have a dim recollec tion of your suggesting some plan or other; tell me my guardian angel, for so y 7 ou have proved, and lain willing to follow where you may lead.” “Dear Charles, 1 wish you to leave the city.— To leave the companions who have tempted, the haunts of vice which have misled you, and in some quiet village in the far west make for your self a name, much easier than building on the ruins of your ch trader as a lawyer and a man of business. Pardon me, speaking to you as I do. I will speak to our kind uncle, 1 know he will . help.” Maria readily obtained his acquiescence: and uncle Harris seeing the sunshine peeping from the dark clouds most readily set about making enqui ries for a suitable location. Some months afterwards, Maria found herself settled plainly, but comfortably, in the quiet but thriving village ofß , in Ohio: where Charles soon became known and respected from his intro ductory letters, and own honorable exertions.— How happy were now the letters which Maria most joyfully penned to her uncle. How gladly and proudly now, did she speak of her husband, her home, and of her bright eyed boy 7, who had been sent as a blessing unto her: and whom in gratitude and affection she had named Harris. Uncle Harris now paid them a visit to see his niece, and that visit entirely blotted out his preju dice against Charles. When lie first came in sight of his vine-clad home, uncle Harris was heard to exclaim, almost poetically for him, “ Why, the half lias not been told me.” What beaming happy faces met the old man as he stepped out of his buggy and was cordially welcomed by the now noble looking Charles Mer edith, and the brightly smiling Maria, who ran to meet him with her babe. Yes, so happy w 7 as he during his visit, that lie came wisely to the con clusion that here he would live, and here die. In pursuance of this resolution, the old man sold out liis interest in the firm, vested his large capital in bank stock, and settled down quietly and merrily to spend the remainder of his days on earth with his sole relative, and darling niece, Maria. Charles Meredith, afterwards Judge Meredith, grew wealthy and prosperous, the happy husband, arid father of a goodly family 7 of noble sons, and fair daughters : and Maria, when she looked a round on them, and let her eyes rest on his affec tionate face, when reminded by him, as he often did, of his crime and her exertions, would press bis hand and say, “ Look around, and behold my reward, the greatest and purest a wife can claim.” CLOCK PEDDLING. We have all read more or less of the inimita ble sketches purporting to be of Yankee charac ter, written by Judge Haliburton of Nova Sco tia, under the tide of “ Slam Slick.” His honor had evidently cut his eye teeth and aimed to im part Ins cuteness to his countrymen ; but our good neighbors of the provinces have not shaken all the hay seed out of their hair, as the follow ing story r , recounted to us by a gentleman of Nova Scotia a few 7 day r s since, w r ill show. Nova Scotia and New 7 Brunswick, said our in formant, used to be a fine field for the enterpri sing Yankee pedlars, before the advent of Sam Slick —particularly of clock pedlars, but the rev elation of that shrewd desciple of “ soft sawder and human natur ” broke up the market entirely, and clocks became rather scarce articles in those parts, till about two years ago, w hen a couple of knowing wights in Connecticut ventured to try their luck in the hive, in that quarter again. They 7 were at first looked upon suspiciously, but their appearance w 7 as in their favor certainly—they wore the habiliments of native born citizens, and demeaned themselves with the unsophisticated candor, honesty and frankness, observable in ma ny of the interior bred Nova Scotians. Then, their clocks w 7 ere not the four-and-sixpenny af fairs, ground out by the cart load per day in steam-driving, labor-saving Yankeedom. The round price of thirty, thirty-five and forty dollars apiece, was asked for them —and to “ cap the cli max,” on opening them the labels showed that they were of real provincial manufacture—made by Messrs. Old & Nephew, Anapolis. This w 7 as enough—patronize home manufac tures w 7 as the w 7 ord—the conceit took, the clocks were the article of all time-pieces known in the provinces. Money was scarce, it was true, blit this was not an insurmountable bar, as the venders, although apparently by 7 no means over anxious to crowd the market, w ere so well satisfied of the superior qualities of their clocks, that they were willing to leave them with responsible persons on trial for a year, with a warrant to receive them back, if they did not prove satisfactory —meanwhile taking a negotiable note payable with interest in one year for each one so left. * The clock merchants, w r e may further add, had none of the over-persuading rhetoric of the Yan kee pedlar ; their words were few, but delivered with such an appearance of simple candor that none could doubt.. They had nothing to say against other time pieces, not even Connecticut clocks, but they knew what their own were, and hence were wil ling to sell them on time —to deal like responsible people with responsible people. The works w r ere made under their own eyes, the brass being of such refined quality that no verdigris would accumulate upon them in the dampest places — then each instrument had a fan wheel inside constant ly in motion to fan away the dust , and w 7 as other wise so adjusted that it would not require clean ing for a long period, if ever, &c. Here was the triumph of native manufacture in which all could readily believe, unless they doubted the evidence of their own senses—the dust wheel in plain sight working away with ad mirable industry—the lacquered brass bright as newly minted sovereigns ; everything as stated, nothin” exa^erated. O O In short, the clocks which cost but two dollars a piece in Connecticut, were sold in immense numbers at the prices already named ; or, in other words, the people who got them were sold by the Annapolis label and by the warrant, giving them permission to return the article within a year if not proving satisfactory ; the reader hear ing in mind that vVherever this warrant was given a negotiable note, payable in one year with inter est was taken by the sellers. Some, probably, with less regard to principle than their own convenience, took the clocks with the design of returning them as unsatisfactoi v whether or no, supposing that the conditions of the sale would enable them to retain them a year without cost. But now comes the after part of the story. —- The notes were made over to other hands by Old & Nephew, and neither member of that firm were seen in those parts after the country was fully supplied ; but during the past summer a col lector has been on a tour through the provinces with them. He found that the clock-holders gen erally had discovered how dearly they were to pay for the whistle, and that one and all were ready to return the instruments for their notes.— But no, the notes were bona fide evidence of in debtedness not to be invalidated by their warrants ; and paid they must be if the promisers had prop erty enough to meet them. The law was ap pealed to in many cases, but the law of course sustained the validity of the notes, and the besn of the matter is, that many of these c iscs, the dust whee , lacquered brass, and all, came for trial before Judge Haliburton, the renowned au thor of sam Slick, himself, and he had to decide against the clock holder, thus receiving further in sight into the mysteries of “soft sawder and hu man natur.” As to the warrants, they would hold good against the drawers if the drawers could be found and if, on legal investigation, the clocks did prove in accordance with their terms. The whole transaction awakened, of course, a bitter feeling against the note collector, and one morning he discovered that, as a manifestation of this ill will, his horses had been shaved to their skins, mane, tail, and all; but the round profits of the speculation reconciled him and his partners, Messrs. Old & Nephew to the transaction. This account, we believe is substantially true ; but we have as good reason to believe that our neighbors of the provinces who carry on a brisk trade with our citv by means of the line of steam ers, and by coasters, have discovered that all tra ders on this side the line are not clock pedlers. Portland Transcrijtt, A LARGE AQUEDUCT. The crowning glory of Marseiles is to be found in the stupendous hydraulic work, which she has just completed, surpassing in extent the aqueducts of the Roman empire and all similar works of modern days. It is not however an aqueduct hut a small canal ; and its magnitude is derived from its great length, the vast volume of water it holds, and the difficulties encountered and over come in the course of its construction. It is 51 miles in length and takes its water from the river Durance at a place called Pcrtuis. The whole tract of country through which it passes is moun tainous, but not much of it broken by ridges and ravines. It passes through three chains of moun tains in its course, making in all a distance of 10 miles of tunneling through rock. It is carried across the river Arc in the form of an aqueduct on three rows of arches, and is continued in the same form over the ravine through which that small stream runs, in all at a distance of 2G2 feet above the river. It is calculated that eleven tons [of water per second pass through this canal ; and it reaches the city at an elevation of 400 feet -------- J above the level of the sea, which is about the same as 400 feet above the pavement of the streets, which are hut a few feet above the tide less water of the Mediteranean. A triple object was to he gained in the con-truction of this work ; water in abundance for the city, a water power for certain branches of manufacturers ; and the means ofirrigating the purlieus and region around the city, where it that the value of land will he enhanced three fold from copious ir rigation. As tothe first object, that of watering the city, it has been abundantly attained ; for large streams of surplus water daily course along the sides of many streets. The power that can he spared for manufacturing is equal to that of 6,000 horses, and yet leaves a sufficient quantity for the third object, that of watering an extensive NUMBER 47.