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TIMES &BENTINEL
COLUMBUS.GEORGIA.
SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 17, 1858.
The Modified Usury Law. —The modified
usury law, as passed by the last Legislature,
went into effect on the first of the present month.
By this law money can be borrowed and loaned,
according to the terms agreed upon between the
parties. There is no restriction with regard to the
rate. This is as it should be. There are times
and seasons when money may be very valuable to
an individual for a few days, and when he may
feel justified in giving £an unusually high rate of
interest. There may be other periods, as at pres
ent, when rates are unusually low. But in a mat
ter of this kind there should be no legal restriction.
And lienee the policy and propriety of the new
law. It cannot but exercise a beneficial influence
and afford facilities which have not heretofore ex
isted.—Phil. Enquirer.
A move certainly in the right direction and we hope it
will be seconded by our own legislature. It has ever been
oui opinion that usury laws were both unjust and impo
litic. They work injustice to the lender, injury to the
borrower, and are an interference with the laws of trade,
the free and unrestricted operation of which is necessary
to the largest production and highest interests of commerce
They are unjust to the lender because they violate his
right of prop erty. They make a discrimination
his capital by limiting the profit which he may make Irom
its use. A man has the same right to the current, market
value of his money that another has to the market value
of his shoes, hats or any other article of tiaffic. Both are
legitimate species of property and, in the view of the po
litical economist, it is about as sensible to fix the value o
the one as the other- It would certainly be more conso
nant to justice to determine the value oiboth, than to say
that the one shall be allowed to make only seven per cent
while the other may make a hundred. An unaccountable.
and,;toJour mind, unreasoning prejudice, exists and
has always existed against the money lender A man
has money of which he makes a loan to a merchant under
the promiso of twelve per cent, interest. This, the mer
chant invests in merchandize, and sells the same at a nett
profit of twenty-four per cent. The latter is called a
clever, honest, humane fellow, while the former is brand
ed as a miser and extortioner; yet it would puzzle ingenui
ty itself to discriminate between the humanity and morality
of the two transactions. Neither, we presume, in making
their respective operations had any object of general brnev.
olence to subserve. Both were controlled and actuated by
motives of self-interest. Both pocketed the same profit.—
If these profits, in each instance, were exhorbitant, or ex
acted under circumstances of oppression, they were com
mon violators of the 6amelaw, and were doubtless im
pelled by the same principle—avarice. Both might have
been.right or both wrong.
Usury laws are an injury to the borrower, because they
do not accomplish the purpose for which they are design
ed. It is notorious that the legal rate of interest is not re
garded in contracts for loaning or borrowing money.—
Whenever the borrower can afford to pay the interest de
manded. he will.payjt, unless he can do better When the
average of profit in other branches of business is greatly
above the established rate ol interest it cannot be expect
ed that money lenders will be content to receive the legal
pittance. The consequence will be that all that class of
men who, from honor, conscience or whatever motive, are
not disposed to violate the law of the State, will retire from
the business and leave it in the hands of the more unscrir
pulous. The demand for money continuing, while the
supply is thus reduced, the price or interest,as a matter of
course, will rise. The value, thus artificially stimulated,
is lurther increased by the risk to which the lender is ex
posed. Should he attempt to enforce the usurious obliga
tion of the borrower, he would encounter the hazard” of
a plea of usury, by which he the whole of the
interest. For this risk by the lender,the borrower must pay
an additional premium. In theory, therefore, as well as
in their practical operation, usury laws, while they cannot
control, increase the price of money. It is possible that
without a law on the subject, a man might demand, and
by accident get, fifty percent, for his jmoney, just as it i 3
possible fora hatter to get ten dollars for a hat which is
worth five; but this he might do, nay has done, with the
law discharging its threats and thunders in his face, and
we insist that the contingency is much raoto likely to
happen under the last than under the first hypothesis. Un
disturbed by legislative intermeddling, competition will
keep the price of money generally on a par with the aver
age per cent.. of profit in all branches of industry. Cer
t ain, undefined causes may lilt it above, as they may sink
it below, this level, but they are causes which legislation
cannot reach.
Lightning Express !! I Through from La-
Grange to Columbus in Fourteen Hours I!
Nearly Five Miles to the Hour?
We learn from about fifty worn out passengers who
crawled down from LaGrange the other day that they made
by railroad between that place and this, the above unpre
cedented speed. We learn, also, that such is the time ap
pointed by the new schedule.
A good pert yoke of steers, leaving at the same time and
coming the nearest route can beat the train. We believe
we’ll go up. Cowench! Cowench !
Latest from the Cable Fleet,
Boston, July 16.— A vessel has arrived here from Liv
erpool which spoke the steamship Niagara on the 27th
June. Two unsuccessful attempts had been made to lay
the cable. At the last effort forty miles had been laid.
Cyrus W. Field was in good spirits, and thought the
enterprise would be successful, although the weather was
very unfavorable.
Ballooning Across the Atlantic.— A Mr. J. Steinel,
of Harrisburgh, Pa., who appears to be anxious to figure in
the category of Sam Patch geniuses, has projected an im
mense balloon for voyaging across the Atlantic. The
trip across, he calculates, can be made in seventy five
hours. The machine is a very complicated affair—one
balloon within another, and a float in the water connected
with the main one by a cord.
Florida Rail Road Company. —The Madison, (Flor
ida,) Messenger learns, through a private letter from
Fernandina, that the Florida Rail Road Company has
transferred its entire interest in the road to a company in
New York, consisting of George Law, Vanderbilt and
others—all millionaires; and that they are about to estab’
lish an Atlantic and Gulf line ot steamers, constructed with
all modern improvements, and will have the whole under
their own control.
It is expected that the work on the road will progress
lapidly, and that the whole will be in full operation by the
Ist of April next.
New Canadian Tariff. —At a meeting of the Associa.
tion for the promotion of Canadian industry, held in To
ronto last week, and which was attended by twenty mem
bers of Parliament, beside many others, resolutions were
passed,“urging the necessity of equalising our tariff with
that of the United States, with a view to preparing us for
free trade in manufactures with that country, and also re
commending that the Government should be empowered to
raise the duty on cotton goods, after due notice, when
ever there was a certainty that their so doing would secure
the establishment of cotton manufactures in Canada.”
t another column will be found a detailed state
ment of“ Col. Steptoe’s defeat.”
New York, July 16— Mrs. Blount agrees to return
home to Mobile, with her daughter. She has lost faith in ,
Riviere.
Van Cooter, W. TANARUS., June 4, 1858.
Editors Columbus Times 6f Sentinel.
Enclosed I send you a copy of a letter from an officer
whose courage and coolness are undoubted, therefore the ut
most reliance can be placed upon his statements.
Reports of a painful character have reached us here,
from sources which seem to admit of no doubt, viz: that
the command went out from Walla-Walla, with only 40
rounds of ammunition,and the Dragoons without sabres,
being armed as mounted rifles. This meagre supply o
ammunition accounts for its early exhaustion, and the
want of sabres, for the daring of the Indians, the fearless
ness with which they fought—the defeat of our troops.
Captain Steptoe is undoubtedly a gallant and brave offi
cer, (witness the fields of Mexico) and did all that could
be done. Under the circumstances, it was a well fought
battle, and well conducted retreat. The only matter oj
surprise is, that the Indians did not pursue and cut them
oft entirely—and can be accounted for only upon the
ground that their loss was very great, and their victory
really a defeat.
Friendly Indians bring in the report that Spollat-Kan,the
principal war chief of the Sporkans, was killed early in
the fight, and ’ hence his people fought desperately to
avenge his death. They ackowledge to 40 or 50 woun
ded, the killed cannot be ascertained. This may be con
sidered the opening of the Ball. Another Indian war on
our hands—perhaps a Tecumseh comederation west of the
Rocky Mountains.
BALDWIN.
Tlie Fight with the Indians near the Fe
lons e River.
We are under a thousand obligations to some of
our friends for the following imormation in refer
ence to the recent fight with the Indians near the
Pelouse river, on the 19th inst. We give the private
letter of an officer who was engaged in the fight
and dated the 23d inst:
On the 6th inst., Col. Steptoe with C. E and H
companies Ist Dragoons, and twenty-five men of
9th Infantry, with two mountain howitzers, left
Fort Walla-Walla for Colville. The officers of
the command were Col. Steptoe, Capts. Winder
and Taylor, Lieuts. Wheeler, Fleming, Gaston and
Gregg. After marching eight days we reached
the Pelouse river, and were about passing into the
Spokan country when we were informed by Indians
that the Spokans would resist our entrance into
their country. The Spokans have always been
regarded as friendly to the whites, and when we
left Walla Walla, no one thought of having an
encounter with them, or any other Indians on the
march.
On Sunday morning, the 16th, on leaving camp,
we were told that the Spokans had assembled and
were ready to fight us. Not believing this, our
march was continued until about eleven o’clock
when we found ourselves in the presence of six
hundred warriors in war costume. The command
was halted for the purpose of having a talk, in
which the Spokans announced that they had heard
we had gone out for the purpose of whipping
them out, and if that was the case, they were ready
to fight us, and that we should not cross the Spo
kan river. The Indians were well mounted, prin
cipally armed with rifles, and were extended along
our flank at the distance of one hundred yards.—
After some talk, the Colonel told us we would
have to fight, and we immediately put ourselves
into position to move for better ground, determined
that the Spokans should fire the first gun. After
marching a mile we reached a sheet of water—it
was decided to encamp and hold another talk with
the Indians. Nothing resulted from this except
the most insulting demonstrations on their part
We dared not to dismount, and were kept in the
saddle three hours, until the setting of the sun
dispersed the Indians.
On Monday morning we left camp to return to
Pelouse, marching in the following order, H com
pany in advance, C in the centre, with the packs,
and Ein rear. At 8 o’clock the Indians appeared
in great numbers about the rear of the column,
and just as the advance was crossing a-small stream
they began firing. In twenty minutes the fir
ing became continuous. Seeing that we must
fight, and that the action must become general, I
was ordered to move forward and occupy a hill
that the Indians were making for and upon which
they would have a close fire upon the head of the
column. After a close race I gained the hill in
advance, on seeing which, the indians moved
around and took possession of one commanding
that which I occupied, leaving a'few men to defend
the first hill, and deploying my men, I charged the
second and drove them off.
At this time the action was general; the three
companies, numbering in all about 110 men, were
warmly engaged with five hundred Indians. The
companies were separated from each other nearly
a thousand yards, and fought entirely by making
short charges. At 11 o’clock I k was reinforced by
the howitzers, and the two companies began to
move towards the position 1 held, the Indians
pressing closely upon them. As E company was
approaching, a large body of Indians got between
it and my company, so that having it between
two fires, they could wipe it out at once. Gaston
seeing this, moved quickly towards me, having the
Indians in his front, and when near enough, and
I saw he was about to charge, I charged with H
company. The result was, that our companies
met, having the Indians in a right angle, in which
angle we left 12 dead Indians.
After getting together, we kept up the fight for
halt an hour, and again started to reach water
moving half- a-mile under a constant and raking
fire, under which our comrades, Taylor and Gas
ton, fell. We finally reached a hill near the
water, and occupied the summit, and the Indians
having now completely surrounded it, we dis
mounted and picketed our horses close together
on the centre of the fiat-inclined summit, and
posted our men around the crest, making them lie
flat on the ground, as the Indians were so close
and so daring as to attempt to charge the hill, but,
although out numbering us eight to one, they could
not succeed.
Towards evening, our ammunition began to give
out, and our men, suffering so much from thirst
and fatigue, required all our attention to keep
them up. To move /rom one point to another,
we had to crawl on our hands and knees, amid the
howling of the indians, the groans of the dying, and
the whistling of balls and arrows.
We were kept in this position until eight o’clock
P. M., when, as night came came on, it became ap
parent that on the morrow we must “go under,”
and that no one of us would escape. It was plain
that nearly destitute of ammunition, we were
completely surrounded by six or eight hundred
Indians, and the most of these on points which
we must pass to get away. Therefore, it was de
termined to run the gauntlet, so that, if possible,
some might escape. Abandoning everything, we
mounted and left the hill at nine o’clock, and after
a ride of ninety miles, mostly at a gallop, and with
out a rest, we reached Snake river at Red Wolf
crossing, the next evening, and were met by our
friends, the Nez Perces. We had two officers,
five men, and three friendly Indians killed, and ten
men wounded; Sergeant Ball, of H. Company,
missing. The Sergeant distinguished himself very
much during the action, and we all hope he will
yet come in.
Capt. Taylor was shot through the neck, and
Lieut. Gaston through the body; they both fell
fighting gallantly. The companies fought brave
ly like true men. We brought our horses back
in good condition, except about thirty, which were
shot during the fight. The Indians made no cap
tures. Before the battle was over, the Indians
pieked up nine of their dead; how many of them
were killed is not known, but I can count fifteen;
they acknowledge having forty wounded.
It will take a thousand men to go into the Spo
kan country. —Oregon Times.
New Parties and Platforms.
There is a strong disposition manifested in many
quarters of the confederacy to get up new parties
—to construct new platforms —and to fuse with any
faction, or all factions, and to enter into incongru
ous, temporary alliances, and to make antipodal
elements operate in harmonious conjunction, so
that the old fogy fathers of the various delectable
schemes, and their immediate adherent*, may be
enabled to obtain possession of the Government af
ter the next Presidential election.
No tlong since, a large number of the citizens of
Delaware met in the town of Dover, and adopted
a national “People’s Party” platform. We pub
lished it in full, and commented upon it as we
deemed proper. Asa whole, we did not like it
at all, and so expressed ourselves. It looked, or
rather squinted, North all the time, and did not
vouchsafe a favorable glance in a Southern direc
tion. Its second plank was “Devotion to the union
of the States,” without qualification or reserva
tion. This we can’t stand and won’t stand ; for it
binds the minority section irretrievably to the ma
jority section, and constrains “devotion” to plun
der, oppression and misrule, according to the meas
ure the majority may see fit to impose. The third
plank proposed an additional tariff for protective
purposes, which would amount to an increased be
stowal of bonuses upon Northern industry, which
would have to be paid principally by the agricul
turists of the South, as has been the case from the
formation of the Government. We, and the South
ern people generally, we think, are now opposed
to tariffs of all kinds, and in favor of the repeal of
revenue laws, the abolition of custom-houses, and
a resort to direct taxation to support the General
Government. The Government could be carried
on, we verily believe, at thirty-three and a third per
cent, less cost, if direct taxation was the order of
the day. The tax payers, released from the delu
sions of indiscretion, and knowing exactly what
they had to pay from their own pockets directly,
would very speedily put a stop to the squandering
of millions upon millions of their money, which
has been extremely fashionable in Congress for
many years past. The remainder of the Delaware
platform is not pertinent to our present position ,
and therefore we will forbear further mention of
the sagely antiquated, delectably selfish, and fear
fully feeble manifesto. It is clearly out of the pow
er of the mighty State of Delaware to “save the
Union,” if it can’t save itself without Delaware’s
redoubtable assistance, or for Delaware to obtain
further taxes upon the productive industry of the
South for the exclusive benefit of the North.
A week or two ago, a large mass meeting was
held in Philadelphia to devise ways and means to
effect an enormuus increase of the tariffat the next
session of Congress. All the evils flowing from
the late commercial and financial disasters were
attributed to the lowness of the tariff, and no reme
dy existed, at least in the minds of the speakers,
calculated to prevent similar evils in future, except
in raising the tariff to a high protective—almost to
a prohibitory standard. These genllemen forgot
to say that the South passed through the ordeal
comparatively unscathed; that her people were
solvent and prosperous; that the storm which raged
at the North would not even have obscured her
horizon but for her disastrous commercial and
financial connections with Northern bankruptcy
and insolvency ; and that Northern extravagance,
over trading, wild speculations, and natural, inhe
rent poverty, alone superinduced the crisis. The
South sustained the North as long as she was able,
and as soon as her support was withdrawn, the
imposing, bloated bubble bursted, and a most mor
tifying exposure was the result. We don’t think
these Philadelphia gentlemen, whose city displayed
the rottenest bank system in the country, are like
ly to obtain further governmental favors. If they
retain what they now enjoy, they may esteem
themselves fortunate.
Similar movements, platforms, programmes and
schemes are getting numerous, and will continue
to increase in number until the spring of 1859.
When we see one that even professes ordinary
justice to the South, we will let our readers know.
But what have appeared, and what are likely toap
pear, judging the future by the past are calculated
to delude the Southern people for the purpose of
burdening them with more taxation hereafter, or
to consolidate, directly or indirectly, the power of
the Black Republicans.
The last movement is a “Crittenden Amend
ment” movement, evidently got up by Rip Van
Winkle Old Line Whigs, discarded National Dem
i ocrats, repudiated and disappointed Americans,
displaced Black Republicans, and the debris of all
parties and factions which have been scattered
loosely around since the last tumultuous commo
tion of the political waters. The originators of this
notable scheme seek to reconcile these repelling
and discordant elements—are trying to make oil
and vinegar mingle—and if they can do so, of which
they are confident, think they can defeat the Dem
ocratic party at the next general election. What
unmitigated nonsense! None but those who have
outlived their time would speculate upon such an
absurdity. A sugar kettle would float with as much
safety during the fiercest storm that ever swept
over the Gulf of Mexico, as such a party survive
the fierce gales of a Presidential canvass. It would
fall to pieces, go down and disappear, before even
violent winds commenced blowing from the four
quarters of the political compass. And, should the
miracle occur, and they succeed in overwhelming
the Demociatic party, it would be in turn over
whelmed by the Black Republican party.
We publish, elsewhere, a full programme of this
redoubtable movement, which has been kept secret
heretofore, but which, we know not how, has been
divulged. It is evidently the fruit of a considerable
amount of Congressional caucussing; and, when
perused attentively, the reasons for the ami-South
ern votes of Messrs. Criltenden and Bell, on the
original bill for the admission of Kansas, are pretty
well explained. Both, recent events have made
quite apparent, were animated with Presidential as
pirations aspirations, and those aspirations swal
lowed up the duty, high, holy and sacred, they
owed their immediate section, and induced them
to act and vote with the Abolitionists. We think
both are destined to suffer the keenest pangs dis
appointment can inflict; nor will those pangs be
mitigated by the consciousness that they forgot
their obligations to the South and consorted with
( her direst enemies, and helped to defeat the only
vital principle involved in the determination of the
Kansas controversy, in which their constituents had
the remotest concern, in obedience to the prompt
ings of selfish ambition.
It will be seen that the proposed new party is to
be called the “Crittenden Amendment” party;
and that the programme is signed by Mr. N. Sar
gent, an antiquated politician of Washington City*
who probably, like most of his associates, has not
learned anything or forgot anything within the last
quarter of a century. It will be recollected that
Mr. Crittenden introduced an amendment to the
original bill for the admission of Kansas under the
Leeompton Constitution, and by his vote and
speeches helped to defeat the bill and the South at
the same time. His amendment, although re
rejected, was called the “Crittenden amendment”
hence the euphonious name of the new party.—
We are of opinion that both name and party aer
destined to a very brief existence.— New Orleans
Crescent,
The Franking Privilege.
The Mississippian publishes some statistics
showing who used the franking privilege in the
lastU. S. Senate. Members from the slave States
used one hundred and twenty nine thousand
850 franking envelopes, and members from the
free States used 681,780. Douglas, of Illinois,
used 198,000: Bright, of Indiana, 100,000, and Se
ward, of New York, 68,000. Hunter, of Virginia,
used 2,900; Mason, 2,700; Brown, of Mississippi,
10,000; Green, of Missouri, 14,000 ; Reid, ol North
Carolina, 200, and Biggs, of the same State, only
iOO.
State Fairs.
The following State fairs are to bo held during
the year,
Ala. at Montgomery, NovemberlS to 22.
California, at Marysville, August 23 to 28.
Connecticut, at Hartford, October 12 tols.
Illinois, at Centralia, September 14 to 18.
Indiana, at Indianapolis, October 4 to 9.
lowa, at Oscaloosa, September 28 to Oct. 1
Kentucky, at Louisville, September 27 to Oct 1.
Missouri, at St. Louis, September 6 to 16-
New Hampshire, at Dover, October 6 to 8.
New Jersey, at Trenton, September 15 to 17.
New York, at Syracuse, October 5 to 8.
Ohio, at Sandusky, September 14 to 17.
Rhode Island, at Providence, September 15 to 18.
Vermont, at Burlington, September 14 to 17.
Wisconsin, at Madison, October 4 to 7.
United States, at Richmond, Viriginia, Oct. 25 to
30, and Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, September 28
to October I.
A Tale,of Terror.
The following rather marvelous story is told by
one of the Vienna journals :—As a farmer of Or
sinovi, near that city, wras a few nights ago re
turning home from market, he stopped at the road
side public house, and imprudently showed the
innkeeper, a large sum which he had received.
In the night the armed with a poig
nard, stole ‘ into the farmer’s chamber, and pre
pared to stab him; but farmer, who from the
man’s manner at supper, conceived suspicions of
foul play, had thrown himself, fully dressed, on the
the bed without going to sleep, and being a pow
erfull man, he wrested the poignard from the
other, and useing it against him, laid him dead at
his feet. A few moments after, he heard stone*
thrown at the window, aud a voice which he re
cognized as that of the innkeeper’s son, said:—
“The grave is ready !” This proved to him that
the father and son had planned his murder, and to
avoid detection, had intended burying the dead
body at once. He thereupon wrapped the dead
body in a sheet, and let it down from the window;
he then ran to the gendarmerie and stated what
had occured.—Three gendarmerie immediately
accompanied him to the house, and found the
young man busily engaged in shoveling earth into
the grave. “Whatare you burying?” said they,
“Only a horse, which has just died!” ‘You
are mistaken,’ answered one of them, jumping into
the grave and raising the corpse. ‘Look!’ and he
held up a lantern to the face of the deceased.—
‘Good God !’ cried the young man, thunderstruck,
‘it is my father!’ He was then arrested, and at
once confessed all.
One of Sut Lovengood’s Yarns.
You have often heard, but perhaps never ven
tured to publish, a good yarn on Dr. Thompson,
of Atlanta, a generous, good man, and a tip-top
landlord and wit; but he certainly caught it once:
A traveller called very late for breakfast, the meal
was hurriedly prepared. Thompson, feeling that
the “feed” was not quite up to the mark, made
all sorts of apologies all round the eater , who work
ed on in silence, never raising his head beyond the
affinative influence of his fork, or by any act ac
knowledging even the presence of mine host.—
This sulky demeanor rather “flea’d” the doctor,
who, changing the range of his battery, stuck his
thumbs in his vest arm-holes, expanded his chest
by robbing the room of half its air, and said : “Now,
Mister, dod durn me if I haint made all theapo'o
gy necessary, an more too, considering the break
fast and who gets it, and now I tell you, 1 have
seen dirtier, worse cooked, worse tasted, worse
looking, aad ah-lofa sight smaller breakfast than
this is several times.” The weary, hungry one,
meekly laid down his tools, swallowed the bite in
transitu, placed the palms of his hands together,
and modestly locking up at the vexed and fuming
landlord, shot him dead with the following words:
“Is—what—you—say—true ?” “Yes, sir,” came
with a vindictive promptness.” “Well, then, I’ll
be d —d, hoss, if you haint out traveled me.”—
There was posted in the front door a small nigger,
especially to tell the wayfaring man “dat he didn’t
owe nuffin dar, surtin sure.” After he was fairly
under way, Thompson was observed creening from
the attic window, taking a prolonged rear view of
the sieed and his rider with a four foot telescope.
It has been intimated that the doctor hesitated
many seconds between the choice of the glass and
a double-barreled shot gun.
Summer Friends. —Like leaves touched by a
frost, the “Republican” friends of Douglas fall from
his support. Even his unfortunate bid for strength
from that quarter, by taking exceptions to the
Dred Scott decision, is not heeded or listened
to. The Tribune, in an elaborate review of the
Senator’s late Speech at Chicago, closes as fol
lows :
We deeply regret that Mr. Douglas has seen fit
to plant himself on the quicksands of “Squatter
Sovereignty,” after they had been robbed of even
the semblance of secure footing by the Dred Scott
decision. On that ground, he cannot fail to be beat
en, unless his opponents shall be so unwise as to
degrade the contest from the high ground of prin
ciple into the mire of personality. His avowed
principle can hardly fail to be refuted and explo
ded.
Alas ! for those who leave the house of their
friends —they find no roof to give them shelter !
N. Y. Daily Neics.
A Grain of Truth. —The London News says :
With the sole exception of this country there is
not one great empire within its boundaries in which
the people have the management of their own af-
so highly civilized —the cradle ofart,
science and literature—is, with this exception, and
that of the small States of Belgium, Holland, Den
mark, Sardinia, Switzerland, and other still pettier
powers, or municipalities, which exist upon the suf
ferance of their rapacious neighbors, enslaved by
military autocrats and tyrants.”
Who is the Author of “Home Sweet Home?”
—A Question for the Curious. —We think we have
something new for all who are curious about, or
interested in, literary and musical matters. John
Howard Payne has always been supposed to be
the author of that beautiful and world wide known
song, “Sweet Home,” and no little credit has been
awarded him for this admirable production. But
we are informed by a gentleman residing in Bos
ton, and one whose authority for any statement
would be considered unquestionable, that Mr.
Payne was not the author of the words in ques
tion, but that thev were composed by Washington
Irving !
He states he has seen the original manuscript in
Irving’s handwriting, and that the fact of the au
thorship has long been known to Mr. Irving’s inti
mate friends. This is a very extraordinary statement
and we confess our surprise at it; we should as
soon doubted that Sir Henry Bishop composed the
charmingly appropriate music to which the words
of “Sweet Home” are adapted and have always
been sung, as questioned the right of Payne to the
authorship of the song. There should be no un
certainty about such a matter as this, and we
should like to be assured of the truth in regard to
the authorship of “Sweet Home.” Who has any
information to impart on this subject ?—Boston
Atlas.
“Good Night.” “Good Night, Papa !”
These are the words whose music has not left
our ears since the gloaming, and now it is mid
night. “Good night, darling / God bless you ;
vou will have pleasant dreams, though I toss in
fever haunted by the demons of care that harass
me through the day. Good night!” The clock
on the mantel struck twelve, and no sound was
heard in the house save the regular breathiug ol
those little lungs in the next room, heard through
the door ajar. We dropped our pen, folded our
arms, and sat gazing on the lazy fire, while the
whole panorama of a life passed before us, with its
many “good nights.” It is a great thing to be rich,
but it is a rich thing to have a good memory—pro
vided that memory bears no unpleasant fruit, bit
ter to the taste ; and our memory carries us back
to many a pleasant scene—to the little arm chair
by the fireside; to the trundle bed at the loot ot
the bed ; to the lawn in fror.t of the house, and the
orchard behind it; to the butter-cups, and the new
clover, and the chickens and the swallows, and the
birds’ nests, and the strawberries, and the many
things that attract the wondering eyes of child
hood, to sny nothing of the mysteries of the starry
skies, and the weird gloom of the moaming forest.
But, then, there were the “good nights,” and the
little prayer, and the downy bed, on which slumber
fell as lightly as a snow fiake, only warmer, and
such dreams as only visit perfect innocence!—
The house hold “Good night /” Somebody, in
whose brain its rich music still lingers, has written
his:
“Good night?” A loud clear voice from the
stairs said that it was Tommy. “Dood night!
murmurs a little something from the trundle bed—
a little something that we call Jenny, that filled a
large place in the centre of two pretty little hearts.
“Good night!” lisps a little fellow in a plaid rillle
dress, who was named Willie about six years
ago.
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake”—
and the small bundle in the trundle-bed has drop
ped ff to sleep, but the broken prayer may go up
sooner than many long petitions that set out a great
while before it.
And so it was “good night” all around the home
stead ; and very sweet music it made, too, in the
twilight, and very pleasant melody it makes now
as we think of it, for it was not yesterday nor the
day before, but a long time ago—so long that
Tommy is Thomas Somebody, Esq., and has for
gotten that he ever was a boy, and wore what the
bravest and richest of us can never wear but once,
if we try—the first pair of boots.
And so it it was “good night” all around the
house; and the children had gone through the ivory
gate, always left a little ajar for them—through
into the land of dreams.
And then the lover’s “Good night,” and the par
ting kies! They are as prodigal of the hours as
the spendthrift of his coin, and the minutes depart
in golden showers, and fall in dying sparks at
their feel. “Good night.”— JV. Y. Atlas.
‘Wanted
A voung Man of Industry, Ability, Integrity, cfc.”
This meets one’s eye daily in the column of
“Wants.” and it is as true as the Pentateuch.—
Wanted? Of course they are—always wanted.
The market can never be overstocked ; they always
will be called for and never quoted “dull,” or “no
sale.” —Wanted for thinkers ; wanted for workers ;
in the mart, on the mam, in the field, and in the
forest.
Tools are lying idle for want of a young man ;
a pen is waiting to be wielded; a tree to be felled;
aplowtobe guided; a village to be founded; a
school to be instructed.
They talk about staples and great staples. Hon
est, industrious, able young men are the great sta
ple in this day of ours. Young man, you are wan
ted, but not lor a doctor. No, nor a lawyer. There
is enough of them for this generation, andj one or
two to spare. Don’t study a “profession,” unless
it be the profession of brick-laying or farming, or
some other of the manual professions. Don’t use
tape if you can help it, It is honorable and honest
and all that, but then, perhaps, you can do better.
Of [all things, don’t jrob the women. It is their
prerogative to handle silks and laces, tape and
thread. Put on your hat like a man, don an apron
and go out of doors. Get a good glow on your
cheek, the jewelry of toil on your brow, and a good
set of well-developed muscles. We would go if
we could, but then we were young, longer ago than
we like to think, and you know when one’s “old,
he can’t,”
Besides, if you become a doctor you’ll have to
wait. “Because you haven’t experience,” says an
old practitioner; “because you are too young,,’ say
all women. If you are a lawyer, and likely to rise
they’ll put a weight on your,~<z la Swiss, to keep
you under, or, if you make a good argument, some
old opponent, as gray as a rat, will kick it all over,
by some taunt or other, because you were not
born in the year “one.” And so it will go, until
you grow tired and soured, and wish you had been
a tinker, perhaps “an immortal” one, or anything
but what you are.
Bea farmer, and your troubles are over or rath
er they do not begin. Your own what you stand
on, “from the centre of the earth,” as they used
lo say “up to the sky,”yyou are as independent as
possible all day, and tired, not weary at night, for
there is a great difference between those two words
if one only stops to think of it. The more neigh
bors you have, and the,better farmers they are, the
more and the beiier for you.
There is one thing more, young man. You are
wanted. A young woman wants you. Don’t
forget her. No matter if you are poor. Don’t wait
to be rich. You need a companion while you live,
and not after you have done living. Effort is life
and cessation therefrom, a grand and gloomy “has
been.” So, do not vt ait nntil your time is all in
the yesterdays ;it you are fit to be married. Marry
while you are young, and struggle up together, lest
in the years to come, sornebody'shall advertise,,
“Young men wanted,” and none to be had.— B. F
Taylor.
For the Ladies. —The Paris coirespondent of
the Picaynne, after noticing some fashionable Rus
sian baths. which “ask only six weeks to eradicate
all disorders engendered by a winter’s dissipation,”
describes two artificial baths which are greatly used
in Paris, “especially by persons going into society.”
He says :
If any of your lady readers would try them an
hour or two before going into company, I think she
will scarcely them. I allude to the starch
baths and the bran baths. To prepare the former,
place two pounds and a half of starch in the bath
ing tub as soon as hot water is turned on ; to pre
pare the latter, place a large bag of bran, securely
in the bathing tub, and turn the boiling water on it
The cold water in both baths should be introduced
only after the bathing tub begins to fill. The bath
er should squeeze tfie bran frequently after he eft*
ters the bath.