Newspaper Page Text
TIE anil if HE Tifnu.
VOLUME 11.
fdrrtrii
TRUE PHILOSOPHY.
L<*t tU'se that will, ropine at fate,
And dro<*p their heads with sorrow ;
Ilauih when cares upon me wait —
I know they’ll leave t<-moirow,
My purse is light, but what of thatT
My heart is light to match it;
And if I tear my only coar,
I laugh the while I patch it.
I’ve seen some elves, who call themselves,
My friends in summer weather,
Blown far away on sorrow’s day,
As winds would blow a feather.
I never grieve to see them go,
The flatterers who would heed ’em ?
For w hat’s the use of having friends,
If false when most you need ’em.
I've seen some rich in wordly gear,
Eternally repining,
Their hearts a prey to every fear—
With gladness never shining.
I would not change my lightsome heart,
For all their gold and sorrow ;
For that’s a tiling that all their wealth
Can neither buy nor borrow.
And still as sorrows come to me,
(As sorrows sometimes w ill come,)
I find the way to make them flee,
Is bidding them right welcome.
They cannot biook a cheerful look—
They're used to sobs and sighing;
And he that meets them with a smile
Is sure to set them flying.
SONG OF THE EDITOR.
Dr.DICXTED TO HIS DELINQUENT PATRONS.
Ain —“ Then You'll Remember Me.”
When other hills and other duns
Their tales of woe shall tell,
Os notes in bank, without the “funds,”
And Cotton hard to sell;
There may, perhaps, in such a scene
Some recollection be
Os hills that longer due have been,
And you’ll remember me !
When “hard up” customers shall wring
Your heart with hopes in vain,
And deem it but a trifling thing
To tell you “ call again ; ”
When “ calling ’’ proves a useless task,
Without the “ lawyer’s fee,”
In such a moment I but ask
Thai you'll remember me !
IMtsrdlniuj.
INTEGRITY.
1 CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF A MERCHANT.
‘Bv the by, James, have you ad
vised Messrs. Lawrence and Par
kinson of our error in the last chest
of indigo we had from them ?’ said
Mr. Watson, a much respected mer
chant in Glasgow, to his principal
clerk.
‘No sir,’ replied the young man
smiling, and looking very clever and
knowing; ‘the mistake being their
own and in our favor, I thought it
as well to let them find it out them
selves. They wouldn’t have put vs
right, under similar circumstances.’
‘But, James, if they never find
it out what then?’ inquired Mr
W at son.
‘ Why then sir,’ said the former,
again looking particularly knowing,
4 we shall be gainers by the sum of
between Lawrence and Parkinson’s
invoice, and the actual weight of
indigo.*
* What, James!’ exclaimed Mr.
Watson, with a gravity approaching
to sternness ; ‘and do you imagine
1 would pocket £7 10s.. or any oth
sum so gained—that I would take
a dvaotage of an oversight on the
part of those with whom 1 deal, to
fob them V
‘ They would not hesitate to do
to us sir,’ replied the young man
blushing, and a good deal discou
nted by a consciousness that he
‘' v as advocating an unjust cause.
4 1 do not believe they would,
said Mr. Watson. ‘I have
( lealt with Messrs. Lawrence and
Parkin son for many years, and have
ever found them honorable and up
right in their transactions. At any
rate, what they would do under the
circumstances can be no rule to me.
1 know what 1 ought to do, and that
shall be done. Take a sheet of pa
per, James, and write as I shall dic
tate. But pray, first tell me what
is the amount of error in the weight
the indigo ?’
‘Twenty pounds, sir,’ replied the
J°ung man.
4 They have invoiced to us, 108
Pounds instead of 128.*
‘ So,’ said Mr. Watson, who was
How engaged with his pencil in cal
culating ; * twenty pounds at7s. 6d.
is £7 10s.—Now then, James, write.
JJctnitfit tfl literature, Jkittut anti slrt, tjjr .?aus aL Crnijirronrr, (Diiii /ellDtasliiji, jllnsatinj anil (Central Hiitrlligrnrr.
Date. Gentlemen—l have your fa
vor of the 24th instant with invoice
of chest of indigo. Amount, .£4O
10s. On re-weighing the chest, I
find you have committed art error
against 3’onrselves of 20 lbs.; the
chest weighing 12S pounds, as in
voiced. Say — twenty pounds at 7s
Gd, is X 7 10s., which mtikes the
whole amount .£4B instead of
<£4o 10s., and the former surn I now
remit you, which please acknowl
edge at convenience. I remain,&c.’
On the third day after the occur
rence, Mr. Watson entered his coun
ting house with ;m open letter in his
hand, which he threw down before
his clerk, with an air of honest ex
ultation, saying, ‘there, James, read
that. There’s a letter worth a thou
sand pounds of indigo; at least 1
so value it;’ and his honest counte
nance beamed with rectitude.
James read—-Dear sir, we have
to acknowledge with thanks, the re
ceipt of your favor of the 20th ult.,
with remittance of <£4B for chest
indigo, shipped for von per Isabel
of Liverpool. We note your cor
rection of error in weight of said
chest, and beg to express a deep
sense of obligation for your honora
ble conduct in that matter, although
it is but what we should have expec
ted from the scrupulous integrity
which has marked all your dealings
with us. We deem it but right to
add, that the error would never
have been known to us had you not
pointed it out. We are, &c.’
While Mr. Watson’s clerk was
reading the letter, a gentleman, a
merchant in that city, with whom
Mr. Watson was slightly acquain
ted, entered the counting house and
requested a moment’s private con
versaiion with the latter. They re
tired into an adjoining room. *Mr.
Watson,’said the visitor,whose name
was 13retnner, ‘finding that 1 can
do no good here, I intend shortly
proceeding to South America—to
which 1 have been invited by a
friend, who has gone there before
me. With this view, lam now con
verting every thing l have into mo
ney to carry out myself and family,
together with some small matter in
the shape of an adventure. To ac
complish this object, I am obliged
to make large sacrifices in the dis
posal of n\yeffects. Most ruinous!
But 1 cannot help myself, as 1 am
without any other resource —any
other means of raising money. —
Now sir, my purpose in calling on
vou is to say that l have a quantity
of rosin to dispose of, which as 1
must sell at a loss, you may have a
bargain if you should incline to be
come the purchaser, and l shall be
greatly obliged to you besides.’
4 1 will call at your warehouse in
an hour hence, and take a look at
the article, Mr. Brernner,’ said Mr.
Watson, but without adding more.
Punctual to his appointment Mr.
Watson called at the time specified
examined the rosin, and being sat
isfied with the quality, inquired the
price.
* I must of course, sacrifice,’ re
plied Mr. Bremner to this inquiry.
‘ l cannot expect you should, under
the circumstances,give me any thing
like full value for the article. Let
us sav then 3s. 6d. per cwt.’
4 Send the rosin over to my ware
house, Mr. Bremner,’ said Mr. Wat
son, ‘and call on ine to-morrow fore
noon at eleven o’clock precisely,
fir settlement;’ and without a word
of fur her remark, he left thepretn
ises.
Ou the following forenoon, at the
hour appointed, Bremner called for
payment of his rosin, when on coun
ting over the sum handed him by
Mr. Watson, he found it to exceed
by <£9 odd, the amount of his ac
count.
* You have made a mistake, Mr.
Watson, said Mr. Bremner. Here
is £9 ss. moie than 1 have a right
to.*
4 No mistake at all, sir,’ replied
Mr. Watson. 1 have been looking
at the price current, and find that
such rosin as that you sold me is ss.
6d. per cwt., and it is at that rate 1
propose to pay you. 1 cannot take
advantage of your circumstances,
Mr. Bremner, to take your property
below its fair value. 1 could not do
so to an\ man. 1 have ever reck
oned it a species of dishonesty, ex
ceeding almost all others in mean
ness and heartlessness, to take ad
vantage of a man’s necessities, to
SAVANNAH, GA.. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1850.
rob him by giving him less than they
are worth.’
‘ But, sir,’ said Bremner, with
honorable feelings, ‘1 offered you
the rosin at 3s. Gd. It was a bar
gain.*
• I deny ihat, my good sir,’ re
plied Mr. Watson, smiling. ‘There
always are, you know, two to a bar
gain. Now, although you said 3s.
Gd , I did not. I said nothing at all
on the subject. So put up your mo
ney, my friend, and say nothing
more about it.*
Overcome by such an unusual in
stance of combined jus*ice and gen
erosity, Bremner’s heart filled; a
tear started in his eye; he seized
Mr. Watson’s hand pressed it.—
He could not speak for some sec
onds. At lengih he uttered a half
audable ‘God bless you,’ shook the
hand he held warmly, and rushed
out of the counting house.
It w-as about fifteen years after
the period when the little incident
just recorded had taken place—inci
dents, we may add, of frequent oc
currence in ilie life of the worihy
person whose humble history forms
the subject of this paper —that he
entered his counting house one day
with an air of despondency in his
look and manner, that was quite
unusual with him, for he was natu
rally of a remarkably cheerful tem
per, and which at once gave his
confidential clerk—the same of
whom we have formerly spoken,
and who was still in the service—
notice that Mr. Watson had heard
some unpleasant intelligence of so me
kinder other; and it was so. Throw
ing down a letter which he bad got
that morning at the Post Office.—
’There, Mr. Wood,’ lie said, ‘there’s
the result of my unfortunate specu
lation in those unlucky consign
ments to Hobart Town. The mar
ket there, is overstocked bv large
and unexpected arrivals of goods
of the same description with those
I sent out, and the consequence is,
they are selling below prime cost.
It is ruin—utter ruin.’ And Mr.
Watson leaning his elbows on the
desk, covered his face with his
hands, and in this attitude gave wa v
to the painful thoughts to which the
bad news of the morning were hut
too well calculated to give rise. In
the mean time, Mr. Wood proceed
ed to ihe perusal of the letter
which had been laid before him,
and found it to be from Mr. Wat
son’s agents at Hobart town, iiiti
mating that they could not dispose
of his consignment but at a great
loss, as the market had been sud
denly and unexp* ctedly overstocked
bv shipments from Britain. They
added, that had Mr. Watson’s con
signment arrived but eight days
sooner, he would have cleared sev
eral thousand pounds by the specu
lation.
‘Very unfortunate,’ said Mr.
Wood, throwing down the letter.
‘Yes, very unfortunate, * repeated
Mr. Watson, raising himself up from
the desk as bespoke, ‘However, I
shall be able still, thank God, to
pay .all my debts, although there
wiil be litiie left behind. Nobody
but myself will suffer by my unfor
tunate speculation. The satisfac
tion still remains with me of think
ing that 1 have not, as many others
have been gambling with other peo
ple’s property.’
In saying this, however, the wor
thy man had not reckoned on the
possibility, or rather perhaps, like
lihood of any furher mi .-fortune of
a serious nature. He had not
dreamed of the possibility °f the
hank of stopping payment ;
vet it did stop payment, and that
within eight clays after Mr. Watson
had received ihe letter above spoken
of from his Hobart Town agents,
and by this additional misfortune
he was loser to the amounted £SOOO.
In these unhappy and most unex
pected circumstances, Mr. Watson
found it necessary to call a meet
ing of his creditors. Letters were
accordingly written to them alland a
day and place of meeting appointed.
The largest of Mr. Watson’s
creditors was a South American
house, Messrs. Damson, Rippant &
Cos., who were the onerous holders
of his acceptances to the amount of
.£3500, the parties to whom the ac
ceptances had been originally
granted having become bankrupts
and fled from the country. Being
wholly unknown to, and never bav-
ing had any transactions with the
firm above named Mr. Watson
looked for no indulgence at their
hands. On the contrary, seeing the
largeness of the sum heowed them,
and the character, (as it had eventu
ally turned out) of the original
drawers, he thought he had reason
to fear that they would be disposed
to treat him harshly, and that they
would he very difficult in the mat
ter of settlement. By and by the
day of meeting arrived, and Mr.
Watson resolved on attending per
sonally in order to afford whatever
explanation might be dem nultnl.
The creditors had all met when he
entered the room, and the way m
which he was received was remark
able, and, it may be added, very un
usual in the circumstances. In
stead of the cold and stern looks,
and constrained civility, which, in
the common case, await the bank
rupt on such occasions, Mr. Watson
was received with smiling counte
nances, hands w-re extended to
wards him from numerous points
around the table at which the per
sons composing the meeting were
seated, and many encouraging
greetings and gracious invitations
from individuals to seat himself be
side them, marked the high opinion
which was entertained of his
character by those assembled on
the present occasion. The hour of
the worthy man’s misfortune was,
in short, the hour of his triumph.
Most of those present at this meet
ing were known more or less inti
mately to each other—but there
was one amongst them whom no
body seemed to know, and who had
that sort of air about him that marks
the entire stranger. This person
was observed to look at Mr. Watson
with much earnestness and much
apparent interest. But he said
nothing, and did not seem disposed
to interfere in any way with the
proceedings.
Having exhibited the state of his
affairs to the meeting,and made an
offer of composition, Mr. Watson
said that those present would see
from the statement submitted, and
which he trusted he need not say
was a faithful one, that he could
not possibly offer more than the
sum proposed with any reasonable
prospect of its being realized. They
would observe, he said, the pay
ment of this eomposilion included
ihe necessity of his parting with
ihe last remnant of his property.
But he gave it up not only without
hesitation, but with the utmost
readiness. With one exception,
all present at once acceded to Mr.
Watson’s proposal of composition
—most of them without even look
ing at his statements, so high was
ihe opinion enteitained of his integ
rity.
It was not without emotion that
Mr. Watson arose to thank the gen
tlemen around him for their ready
acquiescence to the terms he had off
ered them. Having expressed his
gratitude in such broken phrases as
his agitated leeling would permit,
Mr. Watson proceeded to say that
he deemed it but proper to state
that he had still to obtain ‘.he sanc
tion of his largest creditors, the
Messrs. Damson, Rippant & Cos.,
aid if that firm refused their con
sent, which he thought bv no means
improbable, a sequestration would
necessarily be taken out, ‘and the
result of this proceeding, gentle
men,’ he said/will he utter ruin to
me, and serious to you.’
At this moment the unknown
gentleman rose from his seat, and
looking towards Mr. Watson with a
smiling countenance, said—‘Sir,
allow me to assure you that you
have nothing to fear from the house
of Messrs. Damson, Rippant & Cos.,
Os that house 1 am a partner, and !
am here as its representative —a
circumstance with which there is
connected a little history which
I beg lo relate. Mr. Watson, gen
tlemen,’ he said, now addressing
the meeting generally, ‘may have
forgotten, but there are o’hers who
have not, that, about fifteen years
ago, a gentleman, a merchant of
this city, came to him, and under
the pressure of peculiar and urgent
circumstances offered him a quan
tity of goods at a price considerably
below their value. Mr. Watson
bought the goods, genilemen ; but
mark the issue. Instead of taking
these goods at the low rate at
vvhich the seller’s necessities had
compelled him to otter them, as
many who call themselves respect
able, and imagine themselves hem
orable, would readily have done,
he handed him over their full mark
et value. The person,’ Mr. Watson
now looking towards the latter, ‘to
whom you acted thus honorably,
was, vou know, a Mr. Bremner.
Well, sir, Mr. Bremner is now the
principal partner in our house. He
usually resides at Valparaiso but
happened to he in London when
your letter announcing your misfor
tuurs i rtiuhcd us. ILvving u lively
recollection of the incident I have
just related, and entertained the
highest opinion of the integrity
of vnur character as expressed lo
me in the letter, Mr. Bremner itn
mediately wrote to me—l chancing
lo be here at the time —to at end this
meeting, and to offer you not only
any indulgence you may require
regarding tfie bills now pending in
our possession, but any further assis
tance whicti your circumstances
may demand. As to accepting
vour offer of composition, that we
do at once.’
Overpowered bv this unexpected
testimony to his integrity, anti the
personal kindness it included, it was
some seconds before Mr. Watson
could make a replv. Nor when he
was able to do so,did he say much,
for he was no speech maker. He
However, did say enough to con
vince all who heard him, that if he
could not speak elegantly, he could
yet feel deeply, perhaps the better
gift of the two.
Having obtained the consent of
all his creditors to his offer of com
position, and having paid the latter.
Mr. Watson, in a very short time,
found himself in possession of a full
and free discharge from all of his
debts. Three weeks afterwards,
he received the following letter
from his agents at Hobart Town; —
‘Sir, we are happy to inform you
that in consequence of destruction
bv fire of a large store here in
which was an immense quantity of
goods est lie same description with
vours, and which are all consumed,
we have sold your consignment at
tin advance on in voice price of near
ly 200 per cent. We hav e but time
(ship b< ing about to sail.) to advise
vou of this, but shall, within a week
or ten days, remit 3’our proceeds
with account sales.’ By this unex
pected occurence, namely, ihe des
truction of the store, Mr. Watson
was a gainer of .£7OOO. On receiv
ing his remittances he called his
creditors individually, and h iving
made known to each how strangely
his fortunes had been bettered, paid
him down the full amount of the
debt for which he had ranked on his
estate when insol vent.
A DECISION AS WA3 A DECISION.
When we were last in Mont
gomery, Ned Han rick was telling
us of his peregrinations in times
past, and among other “incidents of
travel,” amused us with the follow
ing :
He was travelling through Geor
gia, (from North Carolina,) to this
State, once in a little one home cart
of that queer construction which is
supposed to he peculiar to the ‘old
North.’ His axle-tree was simply
a skinned pine suppling, ironless
and only lubiicated by its native
turpentine. “Suddenly, all at
wanst,” one day,oneot his wheels
struck a stump, when by reason of
the almost incredible flexibility and
elasticity of the axle aforesaid—not
to speak of the absence of the tails
mantic “Horse-shoe” —the whole
concern flew violently out of the
road and into the fence corner,
where it fell upon and killed an un
fornatc sheep. Someone was near
by and saw the accident; and noti
fied a “Jestes of the Pease.” Ned
was arrested to answer the charge
of having unlawfully slain the poor
sheep. The Magistrate kept our
friend in durance until he had read
through “ Princess Digest,” entire,
when he delivered a decree in this
wise; “Gentlemen, I’ve read all
the laas of Georgy, and can’t find
nothin’ what to do with a Soith.
Carliny cart that kills a Georgy sheep
— howsoever , thr stru nger m ust /*/y the
cost!* Thereupon, Ned forked over
seventy five cents, treated ihe Squire
and soon set bis trisky axle iu mo
tion agaim
nominations,
OR THE TWO TUMKOSF.S.
A little accident occurred the
oiher day which is lo constitute the
plot of the next new farce. A zeal
ous politician, who is always as
deep as the elbows in every well
fought contest, emend very warmly
in the support of a candidate for
the nomination, and in the course
of his labors called upon Tomkins,
who is always liberal, if not as ac
tive, in the support of “the party,”
lor a contribution in aid of the
cause. Tomkins assented forth
with, but not having anything ou*
of buulc at the moment, promised
to send it. 1 1 the course of a day
or two a gentleman called at the
residence of our political friend,
and in his absence left forty dollars,
saying it was from Mr. Tomkins.
The forty dollars was accordingly
scattered, with sundry other sums
contributed for the same ’patriotic
purpose, where it would do most
good for the cause of our “ common
country.” So far, so good. But
there was another Tomkins in town
to whom our politician had loaned,
a week or two previously, the exact
sum of forty dollars.
Meeting him a few days ago, the
subject of the loan came up, Tom
kins remarked —“ O, Claude, (not
Melnotte,) you got your forty dol
lars, ail right, I suppose?”
“ No, I didn’t.”
“ Why, l sent it to you.”
“ You did—when?”
“ Why. last Monday—l sent it to
your house.”
“ You don’t say so —then that was
your forty dollars, was it/”
“Certainly it was.”
And away went our friend Claude
to Tomkins the first.
“(), Tomkins, did von send me
forty dollars the other day ?”
14 Forty dollars ! no ; what for ?”
’ 44 Whv, you promised something
for the cause ?”
“(>, yes : well, I meant to have
sent you a five or a ten, but it es
caped rnv memory, and, as the
thing is over now, I’m that much in
pocket, ain’t I?”
“You are, that's a fact,” said
Claude, at the same time remark
ing to himself, as he walked away,
“and l’tn forty dollars out.”
A BASHFUL LOVER.
A Green Mountain Boy fell in
love with a very pretty iirl and de
termined to “court her.” To that
end he dressed himself in his “Sun
day-go-to-meetings,” went to her
| father’s house and found her alone.
“How d’ye do.” says Jonathan.
“ I'm nicely —take a cheer, Jona
than,” says the girl. Jonathan took
a chair and seated himself in the
farthest corner of the room, though
the beauty was a thing to be feared
• w
rather than loved.
“Aint you cold—hadn’t you bet
ter sit up to the tire,” says Sally,
supposing that he would of course,
if he was going to make love at all,
doit in a proper manner.
“No, l thankee, I’m comfortable,”
returns Jonathan.
“How is your marm,” said Sally.
“Well, she’s complainin’ a liule,”
said Jonathan. Here a pause often
minutes ensued, during which Jona
than amused himself by whittling a
stick.
“There’s nothin’ new up vour
way, is there,” said Sally, which
Jonathan might understand as ap
plying to his present situation or his
domicil.
“7/ rc —ah vis, you mean to hum ;
well no —thar is vis—our—spotted
koti’s got a calf,” said Jonathan.
Sally would undoubtedly have
laughed at this queer piece of in
formation, only that she was tor*
much vexed ut the bash fulness of
the speaker. At length after anoth
er protracted sdence, Sally got up
a very small edition of a scream,
and in a loud voice exclaimed—
“ Let me alone !”
••Why,” says Jonathan dropping
his knife and stick in astonishment,
why I aint touchin’ on ye.’
“Well, said Sally, in a voice that
might be indicative of fear, but
sounded very much like a request
—“Well, aint you going tn ?”
Jonathon thought a moment of
this equivocal reply, and then after
placing his knife in his pocket and
blowing his nose, he drew his chair
by the *ide of pretty Sally, gently
encircled her waist, and— the noit
wTek they ynere marrhi.
NUMBER 21.