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About Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1866)
Cljrnuirlf k ImtiiiH. AUGUSTA. GA.^ UKDYKfcOAI HORintt, MAY SO. .Hr. Datlj’ Trial. At last w* have the assurance from Washing ton that the distinguished State prisoner, Hon. Jefferson Davis, late President of the Confederate States, will be afforded a speedy trial. Ue and bis friends have been anxious ever since his arrest that a jury of his peers should be empannelled to decide what degree of guilt, if any, attaches for the part taken by him in the recent abortive attempt to estab lish an independent Government. The only count in the indictment of Mr. Davis is for Treason in levying war upon the United States. The Government has abandoned tbs infamous charge of complicity with the assassins of Mr. Lincoln uud the alleged barbarities at Ander sonville, and will go to the jury upon the single charge of Treason. Recent advices from Washington inform us that the bill providing for a special term of the United .States Court for the State of Vir ginia, to be held in Richmond in June next, has passed both Houses of Congress, and only awaits the signature of the President to be come a law. We understand that the Presi dent will sign the bill, and then the only fur* ther difficulty in the way of a trial will be the possible continued refasal of Chief Justice Chase to bold the Court, Our readers will re member that for some months past President Johnson has been anxious for the trial of Mr. Davis and has in bis message to Congress as serted that the only or main reason why the trial has not long since taken place was on account of the refasal of the Chief Justice to hold the Court. Mr. Chase, it seems has been, and isstill so very sensitive on the subject of hie authority as the great bead of the Judiciary Department of the Govern ment, that he would not oonsent to degrade the Court by sitting in a State where martial law prevailed. This every one knows is anew Imru scruple of the grave Chief Justice, and only assumed by him to avoid the sitting In a case where the only point in issue has long since been openly held aDd proclaimed by him as a valid constitutional right, to be exer cised whenever and wherever a sovereign State shall decide for itself the degree of na tional usurpation which will justify resistance. This has been the life long theory of the Chief Justice, and leaves him in the case of a trial in tho unfortunate dilemma of being com- pelled to eat his own oft repeated words or be* tray his party. We are not surprised that he should resort to all sorts of expedients to avoid this dire ne cosaity. The President seems, however, deter mined to deprive the Chief Juctice of any fur ther pretext for the failure to do his duty. We are informed that if Mr. Chase still enter tains conscientious scruples against holding the Court on account ol the pretended existence of martial law that auother proclamation will be issued by the President expressly annulling martial law and fully restoring the Btate of Vir ginia to the sway of thecivil law. This done the Chief Justice will he oompelled to either hold the Court, or adopt some other subterfuge to avoid it. If ho adopts the latter course, which would not surprise us much, tho point under which he will seek to relieve himself from the responsibility of the trial will be that which has been urged with bo much pertinacity by Huruaer, Wilson, and Stevens, that Mr. Davis should be tried by a military commission. But if tho District Attorney is faithful to the trust he holds, the matter must necessarily be, by tho strict rule of practice, brought before the Court, a true bill having already been returned by the Grand Jury. In that event it is difficult to peroeivo how the Chief Justice will be able to prevent a trial except by the exercise of the most arbitrary and unlawful power, in refusing to proceed with the legitimate business of the Court. Mr. Davis and his friends have no fears as to the result, if a fair trial ts afforded. His coun sel expect to justify every act alleged against h>m by tho written and deliberate opinions of tho Chief Justice himself, as well as by the judgment of the fathers of tho Constitution, buckod by the almost unbroken deci sions and opinions of the great statesmen and jurists, who from the foundation of tho Government framed and administered the laws. We do not believe that in the long catalogue of illustrious names which have adorned our history aud given character and position to tiie government, a single instauce can be cited against tho position held by Mr. Davis’ counsel, exoept perhaps, Hamilton and the elder Adams. It is the consciousness that tho history of the Government, and the opinions of the lathers are alike against the right which is claimed of punishing the citizen for the acts of tho Sovereign, whioh causes the Centralists to tear the result of a fair trial. We, in common with the whole people of the South, aud, as we believe with a majority of the North, desire that the illustrious prisoner may have a speedy hearing. Long confinement, anxiety of mind, and separation from family and friends, have already serious ly impaired, if they have not wholly destroyed iiis constitution. It would be a crime upon humanity, and a blot upon our race to deprive him any louger of th(*opportunity to be heardi upon the grave charge alleged against him. There is not a household in this broad land, from which daily aud nightly prayers do not ascend to the throuoof Grace, from pious hearts, in behalf of the patriot ohristian— now pining in louley confinement in the gloomy recesses of the damp and unheal thy casemates of Fortress Monroe. May the good God grant him a speedy trial and safe deliverance ! Immense Mineral Wealth of Nevada. Nevada has produced within tha last five years sixty million dollars of silver, and it is estimated that the amount of bullion that is uuw being taken out reaches the enormous suui ot three tons of solid silver per day. An extraot from Harpers’ Magazine in June, from the pen J. Roes Brown, in speakiug of the iniues upon Lander Hill, says that of tha ore that is now boiug worked, the lowest grade seldom tails short ot $l5O to the ton, while from S3OO to SSOO is a common yield, and that the actual development of the mines is a sufficient guarantee of the richness, depth and permanence of the ledges. He concludes by saying, “alter three months 'of hard experi ence during which I hardly passed a day with out exploring oue or more of the miues upon Lauder Hill, 1 am thoroughly conviced that this is the richest of our mineral regions.” Lotai.tt is Martlaxd. - A Baltimore cor respondent of the National Intelligencer save" ••it is a singular fact, worthy the attention of true Union men, that those who have origina ted this movement—the leaders of this disor ganisation of the Union party of Maryland, and false guies who are striving to engineer it upon the negro suffrage platform—are. for the most past, men who were originally open mouthed advocates of secession, and who sneaked into the ranks of the Union party Only after it was made manifest that Maryland would not be dragged into the rebellion.” He proceeds to prove this declaration by extracts from the speeches of Judge Bond, Stockett Mathews, and by extracts from the writing of Fulton of the Baltimore American now allay in this "loyal'' movement. Governor Pierpent has appointed Alexander Kivere. Esq., of Albemarle, to fill the vacancy upon the bench of the Virginia Supreme Oourt of Appeals, occasioned by the death of Judge Lueae P. Thompson, of Staunton. ilßtiunaU Luzßttt—“.\e*s»aper Diet.»» Our leader of the Bih inst., based upon an “item” clipped from our contemporary, The Augusta Constitutionalist, of the 4th inst., called forth the following letter from the Editor of the Cincinnati Gazette: Cincinnati, May 17, IfeGG. Editor Chronicle & Ifentinel : Sm 1 fiad in a late number of your paper the following item : COWARDLY UTTRRANCES. The Cincinnati Gazette (do not forget the name of the paper) informs its readers in a re cent i j3, ie that “the calamities of the South furnish cause for unmixed joy and unbounded entbusia=m. ’’ , o such article or sentiment appeared in the Gazette. No such sentiment could appear in it. Yours, verv respectfully, Richard Smith, Editor Gazette. The Gazette of the 15th inst., with leaa aert* mony than we Ciuld have anticipated, makes a queer disclaimer in a review of our article, which omits all reference to the fact that the Chronicle had in previous articles, endorsed and commended the efforts of many good men at the Nortb, without regard to party—Repub lican or Democrats, who were working earn estly for the restoration of harmony and the re-establishment of peace. The sentiment was savagely ferocious, although the Gazette can see no difference in the present “Unionism of tho Southern press, which is conditioned on the everthrow of the popular majority who pre served the Government against rebellion, and the former determination that the South wonid secede if it could not control the Government.” We submit that our condemnation is exceeding* ingly moderate, when measured by the fiend ish malignity exhibited in the paragraph which he disclaims. We are unwilling to assist in the dissemination of errors. We are still more unwilling to aid in doing a wiong to any person whatsoever, particularly when the character of an individ ual is debased, and humanity degraded. We give, therefore, the editor the benefit of both his private denial and his public disclaimer. But we cannot forbear the opportunity which the editor offers to examine somewhat iuto the matter of newspaper diet of those beyond our colonial confine*. We will not indulge in criti cism or attempt reply, but submit a very lew specimens “o( the policy of magnanimity and mercy” observed in ‘‘fooling the spirit of ven geance” wh ch they illustrate. The Gazette charges that the “Chronicle” “fires the Southern Heart.” Ashes do not af ford fuel—and we would especially commend fact that lire seldom burns twice in the same place. But to our selection of specimens, from current exchanges of the Radical type : MA UNANIMITY !• “But if the opportunity of a foreign war should present itself to them, their pretended loyalty would be put to a dangerous test.’’ “The result of this struggle was the overthrow of slavery by tne military power of the North. Millions worth of human property was thereby lost to the slave barons.’’ “There is indeed, but little loyalty to be ex pected from the present generation of the South, which has the impress of slavery upon its character.’ 4 “So it was a strewing of garlands hit-or miss. The graves of national dead were beflowered lest some of the Confederate dead should remain unhanored. The liowers were placed hythe ten der hearted females with the following mental formula : “If this is the grave of a Lincoln hireling—a hated yankee, I spit upon it ; but lest it be the grave of a Confederate, I place these flowers upon it, which are to be taken with that understanding.” MERCY. “The President found himself an absolute ruler over what were recently eleven States, which bad voluntarily forfeited their rights and been conquered in rebellion.” As Governor (not President) Johnson in 1864 insisted upon it that open traitors must take hindmost seats in the march of reconstruction, and make room for loyal men in the foremost place?, then we confi dently intrust the further development to the laws of natiiaal economical necessity, promis ing in the meantime, we prevent violent out break of the southern mob spirit, and protect loyal people, be they white or black, against the vindictiveness of a Southern rabble. Let us look at the present acts of the Presi dent toward the rebel South. 1. All the rebel armies, whoso hands are red with the blood of patriots, were paroled, and this parole, which has no possible effect or meaning beyond acts of war—the President continues to excuse them from tho liabilities to the civil law ! This is the first act. 2. Five thousand pardons are issued—mixed up of ail sorts of rebels and criminals, from the robber guerrilla up to the rebel Congress. 3. Nobody is hanged for slarving our priss oners but the Swiss Wirz, who acted under the orders of Winder and Davis. 4 Tlhe local laws, courts, usages, &c. of the rebel States are restored ; everything legal in those communities goes on as if they had never done a wrong. 5. The State Governments are all restored, as if there had never been such thing as seces sion, or war, or murder, or robbery, or treason. There they are, Governors and Legislatures, doing what they piease. They have even honored us by electing Senators aud Represen tatives to Congress, and we- have little doubt they will condescend to govern us, if the com* pensation is large enough. FIRE ! “What would become of our national debt, the pensions of the soldiers, and ot their widows and orphans, if, through the sudden admission of unrepentant tebels, tho Demo cratic party united to them should obtain a majority in Congress?’’ “There is uot, between these two extremes, oue leader in the lale rebellion who is not to day the assailant of the representatives of the people, comprising more than three to one of the present Congress of the United States.” “So insolent and defiant are these men in the assured immunity from danger, that they are absolutely waiting to be called upon again to take arms against those who defeated them on the field'of battle.” “The loyal element iu the Southern States (white and black) Is utterly ignored by the President and bis party. Every part of his policy is intended to humiliate them and ele vate their oppresso'B.” “If the opposition to the report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction was confined only to the Copperheads of the North, it would be beneath contempt. But when these are re inforced by the contrivers of the rebellion and their followers, the struggle assumes vtry dif ferent, if not formidable proportions.’’ “horrible stories of southern crime. “A letter just received by Senator Wilson, from Texas, says murders are of daily occur rence in the country, though they soldom ap pear in newspapers. Avery intelligent negro by the name of Avery, who had written about the true state of things irom Middle Georgia, was found dead in a well, with a bag of stones tied to his neck. A few weeks since, two negroes were arrested for some trifling offense, and tied together. Two white men rode np; one tired and killed one of the negroes, and then ripped open his abdomen, and his bowels protmdiug, hitched them to the ramrod of his gnn, aud pulled them out from the body ot the dying negro. We talk of savage barbarity, but where will auything be found to surpass th's this ?” . frops iu lennessre. A correspondent of the Nashville Gazette, writing from Mossy Creek, East Tennessee says : “ In this and adjourning counties the pros* peet for corn crops is good, large crops having been planted evetwhere. and looking very promising, a« the season now bids fair to be very tavorable. The wheat crop dees not look so promising as the corn, for a great deal of it has been frozen out. Provisions here are rather scrace at present, and some predict that before harvest those who have not a full j supply on baud will suffer for provisions. Some ! fear* have been entertained that the late ! frosts had killed the fruit ; this, though, is a 1 mistake, as it now appears the ftosis did not i injure it in the least. j The Robertsou (Tenn.) Register savs the wheat will be short in that county. Coni and oats are promising. There will be a full crop j of Tobacco planted. ! The Bristol (Tenn.) News of the ISth inst., says . "The growing wheat does uot promise well in this section, the severe cold spell of ! February having materially injured it. Old ; farmers inform us that a larger area of ground j has been planted in corn this season than us ual-larger than ever before.” .Hattnanituoui ! The following corre-pondeuce which we clip j from that sterling paper, the Macon Ga. Jour nal is Messenger, shows the indifference of i some of tho Government officials to the de ! mandsof justice and humanity, in a stronger light than we have heretofore seen. A poor Catholic Priest involves himself per sonally, for the payineut of money, which he expended for the relief aaci support of Feder al prisoners at Andersonville Georgia, when our own Government, owing to the blockade of our ports and the diffi.uUy of inland trans portion, was unable to supply these prisoners of war with the necessary supplies of food, clothing, and medicines, and now, when worn down by watching and mining those prisoners, and his health destroyed by a too close appli cation to their wants and comforts, he seeks, by the advice of his physicians, relief for his shattered constitution by travel and change of air, and finds himsyif without the means ne cessary to defray the expenses of the trip, he calls upon the Secretary of War of the best Government on the earth, and asks to be re funded the (to him) small amount which he had advanced, to these poor unfortunates, he i3 insultingly turned off with the cool dliection that hia account must be sworn to and the different vouchers verified. We had thought that the sacred character of the priesthood itself would have been a suffi cient guarantee that the demand was just. But when that good man shows by proof incon testible and irrefragable that these funds, bor rowed by him from a benevolent friend, were applied to the reliet and comfort of • ichile Union soldiers at a time when their own gov ernment, by its course in regard to exchanges, had left itself powerless to afford them succor or protection, we are at a loss to conceive any reason why this sacred obligation ot Gov ernment should be evaded or refused. Millions of dollars are being squandered by a reckless majority in Congress for tho support and education of hordes of black people who are physically able to support themselves, while a few hundreds are withheld from this man of God justly due to him for expenses incurred in providing for unfortunate white soldiers. Thus we go: * Washington Dep't, ) Adjutant General’s Office, V Washingtjn, Oct 19, 1865. ) Rev. Peter Whelan, Washington, D. C.: but—.l have the honor to inform you that the Secretary of War requires that your account for money expended for the relief of prisoners at Andersonville, Ga., be sworn to oetore be ing paid—as there.is no other evidence of the correctness of the amount nor any statement of the account. You are requested to make an k a<count in form and attest it. I am, Sir. very respectfully, Your obedient servant, E. D. TONBEND. Assistant Adjutant General. Macon, Georgia, May 21, 1866. E. I). Townsend, Ass't •Adft General, Wash - ington, I). C.: Sir—l received the above disnatch about the end of last February. I wot' ilavo ans wered it sooner, but illness prevented me. I propose to answer you through tho press, and lay the matter before the public. About a year ago I wrote to the Secretary of War, the Hou. Mr. Stanton, soliciting him to refund me four hundred dollars and enable me to pay Mr. Henry Horne, of Macon, Geo da, who then stood in great need of the money I borrowed of him for the use and benefit of Federal prisoners at Andetsonville, Georgia. 1 was then, as now, under the impression that, as a public fact, he must have known my connection, as a Catholic Priest, with the Federal prisoners at Andersonville. In my letter to the Hon. Mr. Stanton it was stated that I borrowed of Mr. Henry Horne, of Macon, Georgia, sixteen thousand dollars in Confed erate money to aid the Federal prisoners at Andersonville, many of whom, under God, owe to me the preservation of their lives. For this snin i paesed my note to Mr. Horne for four hundred dollars, payable in gold. It was borrowed for the special benefit of the sick and dying at Andeisonvilie. A good God has en abled me to pay Mr. Horne, but not through the generosity of the Hon. Mr. Stanton Secreta ry of Wai. On the 9th of last March I was taken down with a severe attack ot conje3tion ot the lungs, contracted at Andereonvilte. Being partially relieved, my physiciaus advised a change of climate to regain health and strength. Having no funds to go North, my friends in Savannah furnished tbeih ; but pre;erring justice and bonestv to health and strength, I bought gold, and thus was enabled through my friends to pay Mr. Horne. Sir, I write in truth and jus tice when I state that the Catholic Priests were the true friends of prisoners of war, North and South. The Federal prisoners at Macon and Andersonville were attended only by Catholic Priests. Father Hamilton attended chiefly the Federal officers confined at Macon. ; he being stationed thore with his congregation. I at. tended Andersonville aided, tor several weeks by Father Kirby, of Augusta, Georgia, Father Clavreii, of Savannah, and a Jesuit Priest, of, Springhili College, near Mobile. I gave the prisoners my time aud labor during the months of June, July, August and September ol 1864. I gave them all the money I had of my own, besides the flour bought with the money bor rowed of Mr, Horne. My duties as a Catholic Priest brought me daily, for some months, in close contact with the sick and dying when I had to inhale effluvium for hours on hours, and be covered, as with a coat, with vermin. I seek no remuneration. It was only justice to Mr. Horne, as I was not able to pay him when I wrote, that couid induce me to solicit Mr. Stanton to refund the four hundred dol ’lars. No amount of salary could induce me to stay at Andersonville for one week, and attend the sick and dying. No sir, not all the gold and paper money in the Treasury at Washington My motive was not money, it was to allay mis ery, and gain souls to God. I am satisfied that I am much, much farther above Mr. Stan ton in kindness ot heart, than he is above me in office of State. Your despatch indicates that sworn vouchers and bills of the purchased flour are required before tho money given iu aid of the prisoners can be refunded. All I say, let Mr. Stanton keep it. I have not the health, nor strength, cor money to run over Georgia to hunt Up vouchers and bills of purchase. It might do very well to require such of a money hunting army chaplain, a commissary man or quarter master. lam none ol these, but th3 Catholic Priest who gave his time, labor, money, and health for the good of the Federal prisoners at Audersonville, without hope of earthly remu neration. If Mr. Stanton possessed one par tical of gratitude, he would have refunded the lour hundred dollars when solicited, and in consideration of my services to the prisoners. So the world goes! Some worthless spy or detective is honored and rewarded, whilst the Catholic Priest, the true benefactor of the prisoners, is ignored, aud perhaps cast off as if he were a noted swiudier. Did I solicit the President or Gen. Grant, I have no doubt but that either of them would have refunded. Fool like, 1 knocked at the wrong door when I solicited Mr. Stanton. Did 1 appeal to the surviving prisoners at Ander seuville, or to the Federal officers who werd prisoners at Macon, I would have gotien ten times the sum of four hundred dollars. Had men in authority the pity and mercy that I bad and have for prisoners of war, their I parole and exchange would have gone on and not stopped, and as a consequence, the many ; thousands of them who fell the victims of prison life, and are now sleeping the sleep ol 1 death in their graves, North and South, would be living and enjoying the pleasing society of their family and friends. Theyare dead, upon whom is their blood ? I have the honor to be. sir, Yours respeatfuliy in Christ, Peter Whelan, Catholic Priest of Savannah, Ga. Tbe Jewels of Atlanta Lodge. “ Cousin Norma,” writing from St. Louis to ; the Memphis Appeal, says : When the Federal army occupied Atlanta, some of the soldiers, ont of cu.-idity or curi osity, robbed the Masonic Lodges of their | jewels, etc A number of these were dis covered in Boston, Mass . by Mr. L. L Barrel, ! importer of liquors. 23 South Lievee. St. Louis, ! Mo. After some considerable difficulty r.na expense, fie succeeded in purchasing ail he ! could find, and he has them now in his posses' ; sion, subject to the order of the rroper aulhori j ties of the lodges in Atlanta. This conduct is worthy of most honorable mention, and I write this item, hoping it may meet the atten tion of those who are especially interested, and also that it may cause the return of many other jewels and material to the different asylums where they belong. The Freediuen’s Bureau. The following article, which we clip from the New Yotk Journal of Commerce, shows that there are some persons at the North who have not become entirely deranged from the Hoo great pressure of “negro on the brain.” If reason could have her sway, the Northern mind would soon come to the conclusion ar rived at by the Journal of Commerce. The best thing that can be done for the African race now in the South, is to withdraw at once the Freedmen’s Bureau, and leave to the people ot the Southern States the duty of carv ing for and protecting the negroes. As long as the machinery of this Bureau is retained here there will be not only conflicts between the races, but the white race will feel that, as the General Government undertakes to inter fere with, and in some measure control tbe ! r conduct towards the blacks, they are, therefore, iu some measure, absolved lrom what would otherwise be regarded as a solemn duty—the support, maintenance and protection of the negro, and especially the old, decrepid and in* firm. We w’*h to be understood. We do not com plain of the manner in which the officers of the Bureau have pet formed their duties in this State. Our objection is to the system. If it is to be continued, we know of none whom we would sooner entrust with its management than Gen Tiltson and his present assistants. The Journal of Commerce says : “Whatever be the estimate placed on the philanthropic motives of those who prefess the highest interest in the negro race in this coun try, there is no possibility of disputing the melancholy facts which have resulted from their efforts. Tho worst sufferers of 'he ?/ar have been the negroes of the South. Terrible, indeed, has thus tar been the effect of emanci pation upon them. However severe the iot of slavery, it was never so hard, so bitter, so fata! in its effects on mind and body, on health aud life, as freedom has proved under its at tending circumstances. This is not an argu ment for a return to slavery, but it is an appeal to those who have the interests of humanity at heart to do something better than they have done yet for the race which the Providence of God has thus brought into a position of dependence never before tried. For freedom is cot independence, and to the black race never will be independence, unless new light be thrown cm the future. The facts are no louger doubted, however they have been covered up and concealed. The misery of the freed negroes has been beyond descrip tion, It is a Temarkabla truth, illustrating the peculiar characteristics of the race, at least in their present condition, that the mortality of the negro regiments, organized during the war, far surpassed anythin!? known ia mili tary history. Reports are on silo in the War Department, showing that in some regiments more than half the negro soldiers died of disease within a few months after enlistment, and this too where they had better care and quarters than white soldiers alongside of them. This mortality was not owing to contagious or infectious disease, but to the lack of physical stamina in the poor fellows, and their inability to stand the new order of life. The hosts of negroes who have perished from exposure and starvation number doubtless hundreds of thousands. Nor has this sorrowful state of things ceased to be visi ble among them. There is probably nowhere on the face of the eartli to-day an equal popu lation in any one country among whom there is so much suffering as among the freedmen in America. What is the remedy ? Let philanthropy answer. The Frecameu’s Bureau, tor ait bene ficial purposes, is a failure. Geu. Howard is entitled to the highest credit lor his good in tentions in its management. He does tho best that he can. He commits a serious error, however, in denying, by sweeping phrases, the statements ot Generals Steedman and Ful lerton. The evidence of their truthfulness is too abundant, and it would show more caution, and more of a desire to learn the truth, if Gen eral Howard should, instead it denying, Bet himself to work at once to rectify the wrongs as well as may be. But he cannot do it, nor. is it probably,within human power to organ ize at Washington a bureau which properly looks after the interest of the freedmon scatter ed over the immense territories of the South. This statement may seem broad and discourag ing. So it is. Bat it is reasonable. The very principle ot our government, which is agains’i centralized power at Washington, is against such a bureau ; and the reasons- are much the same. The interests of any dependant popula tion are best taken care of by local govern ment. It would be a very foolish thing to supposeffhat the poor laws oi our State could be improved by condensing them into a United States statute, and giving to a bureau at Washington the management of affairs for the thousands of paupers in the various counties and villages ot the land. It would be the height of absurdity to attempt to organize a bureau at Washington to supersede the laws ot New York in relation to the Indians now in this State. in fact, if the subject were divested of all political partisanship, it would be at once manifest to the entire body of intelligent men that tne interests of the negroes in (he South ought to be remanded to the States in which they are found. The idea that these States will oppress them and prosecute them is with out foundation, and needs no refutation The interest of the South is to mako its laboring population as valuable as possible, and to this end every Southern man knows well that the negro must be taken care of, nursed, provided with that which he cannot get for himself, and treated in every way kindly and gently. Let us endeavor to dismiss Horn our minds the hideous stories of the past, which were de rived from exceptional cases, and remember that the great mass of Southern slaves were .kiudly treated and that the free colored* men are likely to be kiudly treated hereafter. Let us also bear in mind that one great economi cal fact of-the old labor system, What is needed for the laborer is production of the same practical result with freedom substituted for slavery. That practicil result may be sta ted in one^sentence —namely, tffat the laborer •shall be paid for his labor at least a support from birth to death, medicine in sickness, care and attention in old age, with absolute insur ance against starvation. Fix the mark of payment as much higher than this as men pleaSß ; they will do well for the present to be content with reaching this point. The prob 16m involves the introduction of poor-laws and public support instead oi the old system by which the owner was compelled to give it Every dollar of the millions now expended on the Freedmen’s Bureau is an expense which was formerly borne,*and o»ght again, and as soon as possible, to be borne by the Southern employers of labor. Heretofore the South has paid for its labor full, even though simple and plain, food and clothing for the laborers and their iamilies. They have no longer the right *o force the labor, but if they have it at all they must pay for it, and they are wise enough down there to proceed at once in organizing the new labor system so as to make the vol untary labor as productive as possible, it be ing a lesson better understood there than even here or in England laborer who is well taken care of in person and in family, is by far the best laborer, and producss the best re subs of labor. Until the government and the people of the United States abandon the idea of regulating the affairs of the freedmen by national laws, with Washington appointees to administer them, the negro will continue to suffer, glaive and perish. The state ot war, undoubtedly imposed on the government a heavy response bility, and the Freedmen’s Bureau may j>ossi« bly have been a necessity of the times through which we have been passing. But its mission is rapidly approaching an end. It can do lit tle more good, and it is doing a vast amount of evil to the race it is intended to protect. Giving to its supporters and friends ail credit and philanthropy and the best of motives and desires, it is nevertheless plai-i that- it is now likely to become an engine of vast harm to the negro as well as to the best interests of both South and North. The negro tace mu3t bo taken care of, as a dependent race, unable to take care of themselves, and if there is any thing in our principles of government, this care can best be administered by local law, suited to the special circumstances of each State and county inhabited by freedmen. If this be error, let philanthropy devise some thing-to take the place of the present terrible system which is destroying the negro race. American Ships Destroyed by Rebel Priva teers. New York,' May 24.—From reports prepar ed by the Chamber of Commerce it "appears that the number of vessels captured by Con federate privateers was 283 their tonnage be ing 132,307. . The estimated value of the ves sels and cargoes was $2-5,546,000. &,me of these were bonded and released, leaving §25,- as the value of property actuaily*des troyed. The May Term of the Troup Super inr Court began on Monday the 21st instant. Judge Hiram Warner presiding. JDTUAGS F.iOB THE CtPliAt. [SPECIAL CORRESPONiiENCS OF THS CHRONICLE AND BZNTINEL.] Washington, Monday May 21. The greater part of the inevitable politcal froth and buncombe incident to the discussion of the question of Reconstruction Having now spent itself, and it being settled beyond ail question that the South will not be admitted to representation within the present year, much of the attention of Congress, during the rt> mainder of the session, will be devoted to tho consideration of the three great mdlsures in which all the material interest, of the country are involved. I refer, of coarse, to the finance bill, the tax. bili and the tariff. THE TAX BILL * Is now in course of revision in the House of Representatives, its multitunous provision be ing taken up, section by section, and discussed, altered, amended, rejected or adopted, as the case may be. As the bill covers something like 175 printed pages, this process of considering all its sections in detail is, of course, a very tedious one, and it is not likeiy that the Rouse will dispose of the bill before the close of this week, if ro soon. Mr. Morrill, ot Vermont’ the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, upon whose shoulders devolved the lion’s share of the work in framing the bill, remarked a day or two ago that the tendency of all the amendments thus far adopted by the House was to cut down the revenue to be de - rived from the internal tax ; and ho seemed to be apprehensive that unless this tendency was soon checked, the bill would be, to a large degree, shorn of the features which render it the main prop of the national credit. I can not now recall any of the important amend ments made up to this time, that would be of special interest to your readers, except the cotton tax, of which I have already given you the full details, and the amendment ia relation to gas companies, by which it is provided, that the companies must in future pay their own tax, and not shift it upon the shoulders of con sumers by adding it to the gas bills. This will be good news to everybody that uses gas. THE FINANCE BILL For funding the public debt and reducing the rate of interest on the same, of which I have al ready sketched the leading features in a previ ous letter, has been reported by the Commit tee on Finance to the Senate, and is now before that body for consideration. If adopted, it will save the Government $20,000,000 per annum. There is little doubt that, sooner or later, tne debt will be consolidated, as pro posed, in five per cent, thirty year bonds ; and parties have already offered to take large amounts of these bonds as soon as issued. Tho main objection which has thus lar been urged against the project is that it exempts the bonds from any taxation, either by tho Gov ernment, or by the States, or by cities. At present there is no Government tax upon United States bonds, except the income tax, which is not objected to. But it has been thought that Congress would, by popular clamor, be induced to render the bonds taxable by States, and the bill is so framed as to pro vide against it. This is tho chief sticking point. It will undoubtedly be popular to tax the United States bonds ; but, on the other band, if they should be rendered exempt from all direct taxation of any kind, it would have a wonderful effect in invigorating our public credit and would impart to our natilonal securi ties as strength and solidity scarcely inferior to that which distinguishes Iho “consols” of Great Britain. Our able "and long-headed Secretary of the Treasury is ardently in favor of the bill, and the friends of the Andminis tration generally trust that it will pass. THE MODIFICATIONS LIKELY TO BE MADE IN THE TARIFF may be summed up very briefly. The advo cates of “protection’’ are stronger now‘in Congress, both numerically and in point of ability and influence, than ever before. There is but little doubt that they will carry the day and enact a tariff framed spec tally in accord ance with the views of th 6 manufacturing in terests in this country. New England 3till ieads the Northwest by the nose ; and though t he leading representatives from, the latter sec tion occasionally squirm and w rithe under the constant inflictions of unequal legislation, they are too well trained in the practice of submit ting to dictation from “ down Es.st ” to with stand the denunciations of Stevens, Kelley, Bontwell and Banks. So we may make up our minds to expect a still highe# tariff. As for the people of the South, they are all consum ers of imported goods and nobody will give' himself much concern about their interests.. Even if their representatives could ba heard upon the floors ot Congress,little heed would be paid to their remo astraces. As it is, the South must suffer in silence, as best it may, and patiently bide tb.e hour of its deliverance. NE«KO SUFFRAGE FOR THE TERRITORIES. Your readers will doubtless .be eager to note every phase and development of Congressional sentiment on the subject of negro suffrage. Let it not escape them that the House of Rep resentatives ha< passed a bill to amend the organic acts of the several Territories, and that one of the provisions of the bill provides : That within the Territories aforesaid, there shall be no denial of the elective franchise to citizens of the United States, because of race or color, and all persons shall be equal before the law. And all acts, or parts of acts, either of Congress, or of the legislative assemblies of the Territories aforesaid, inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby declared mill and void.” This delectable measure was carried by a strict party vote, Thad. Stevens having been successful in whipping in all the stragglers of his party to its support. The Democrats made as good a fight over it as they could, but were utterly powerless to prevent its passage. TJIE FKEEDME.n’S BUREAU AGENTS IN TROUBLE. The good effects of the thorough ventilation of the affairs of the Freedmen’s Bureau by Gens. Steedman and Fullerton are already ap parent. The President on Saturday last di rected Gen. Howard to cause the arrest of every officer of the Bureau in North Carolina who is engaged or peculiarly interested in the cultivation of plantations, and Brig. Gen. W. E. Strong has been sent to execute the order. The President has also instructed Judge Ad vocate Gen. Holt to make out charges and specifications against these officers with a view to their trial by Court Martial. There is a good prospect, I am glad to say, of a thorough reform of the abuses so rife in the administra tion of the Bureau. MgRE MENTION. Snubbing the South is the order of the day. Speaker Colfax, the other day, in laying be fore the House of Representatives a letter from Gov. Patton, of Alabama, in regard to the direct land tax, styled it “a communica tion from one R. M. Patton, signing himself Governor of Alabama, without the seal of the State.” The Senate has passed a bill prohibiting the admission to West Point of any cadet who has served in Confederate army. Leufza, the artist, is here, for the purpose of painting a picture of the Great Grant. The following is the latest batch of pardons issued : Thos. G. Clemson, South Carolina; H. H. Allen and J. D. Rother, of Alabama; L. L. Thomasson. Georgia, and David Murphy, of Nortn Carolina. Ail under the fust and thir teenth exceptions of the mnesty Proclama tion. Butternut. The Firs Wrdnrsday Night.—The huge alarm of fire last night, which caused so much excitement with the firemen and the machines, resulted from the burning of a “chicken coop’ on the plantation of Mr. Jonathan Aliller, be low the city. Loss—“destruction of chicken coop and ten or twelve ducks,” roasted as bad as Dead Duck. Forney.— Constitutionalist 25th, [From the London Daily Heics, April. 30] THE ATLANTIC CABLE. Progress of the Hanufactare—Coiling the Wire hi the Bold of the Great Eastern— Interesting Experiments—Picking-up. Ap paratus. Ihe slender Birmingham wire, which we recently traced from its arrival from the gutta perchr. work* in the City road, through the various processes of manufacture, until it left Mordea wharf, Greenwich, a complete sub marine cable, is now being coiled at the rate of two miles an hour iu the vast tanks of tire Great Eastern. The Amethyst hulk, which we saw receiving its precious freight the other day, is now moored alongside the great ship off Sheerne«B, while the Iris is being laden in her turn at Greenwich, and will supply the Ame thyst’s place directly the latter is emptied. Thus, manufacture and stowage go on concur rently, and at the moment one part of the great wire is receiviug its elementary coating of Chattertofl’s compouud, or perhaps being spun at Birmingham, other portions are. laid down iuthe great ship ready for the final and momentous 'paying out. Standing on the deck. 01 the Great Eastern, a few yards from its stern, you see the cable slowly pass up the ship’s side, and over a series of wheels and pulleys, ail ingeniously constructed and care fully watched, and follow it under its covered way until it disappears into the large wooden but erected for its reception. This hut is the size of a modern barn, and is the deck-cover ing of the aft tank. Entering by its door way, you look into a yawniug, dimly-lighted circular gulf, the bottom of which seems to be composed of light oak, symmetrically turned The uniformity of tho slightly corrugated circles within elides —the mathematical exac titude with which each appears to fit into, and be part 01, its neighbor—the set ming solidity and unity of tho great whole—all speak of the lathe; and it is only when the eye has becoma, as it were, acclimatized to the pale glimmer of the swinging lamps below, that the silent white figures squatted at regular intervals, and moving noiselessly around, are seen to be cablemen, and the apparent wood carving to be the cable. The external distinction be tween last year’s electric rope and this is now seen to be very marked; the absence of the tarry coating, and the clean, substantial look of the manilla strand, giving an impro sion of mingled strength and ductility, which is aus picious in itself. It may be repeated that this year’s galvanization of the outer protecting wires afiords all the security against corrosion given by the final coat of tar formerly applied, while in the event of an unlucky bit ol wire defying precaution and finding its way into the tank, the chauces of sticking in the rope are sensibly diminished, through the latter be ing repelientiy yielding instead of ghitinously adhesive. Very gradually and regularly are the ciicles within circles increased. No word is spoken as the rope slowly passes tho officer on guard at what we may call the top story of the tank, and is received by two of the white figures below. These march slowly round, handling tho -gracefully descending coil as tenderly as if it were alive, and UDder the close and constant inspection of the officer on guard ■ below pass it to other white figures, who, with equal tenderness, fit it into and steady it in its appointed place. Thus ring aftor ring is formed, each layer beginning with the large oilier circle of the tank itself, and ending with the. centre irame work of wood, which is its bull’s eye, and serves to “shore-up” and keep all steady. Every man entering the tank is searched before going in, puts on the nailless gutta percha shoes provided by the Company, aud goes through his work* of cable-stowing under the constant and watchful-supervision of tried aud experienced officers. Besides these presentations, tests both of in sulation and continuity are being carelessly put by the electricians. Nor are these confined to this year’s venture. The old cable on board is for this purpose connected with the new, and messages wero transmitted on Saturday through a total distance of 1,506 nautical miles. There were then 485 of these miles in the after tank, 757 in the main tank, and 267 in the fore tank; and to make the test more searching and com - plete, communication has lately been estab lished between all these and the shore, An end from each tank if brought into the testing chantber on deck, is there jointed together, so as to make for electrical purposes one cable, while another end is passed over the ship’s side, laid in the mud und oozy bottom of the unsavory Shcerness waters, in which the Great Eastern rides, and landed on the stony, slip pery bank hedging ia tho shore. The portion thus running from ship to land has been re - cently added for the sole purpose of proving Mr. Willoughby r-'mith’s improvements In the process of testing; and to do this L has not even been thought necessary to use the com pleted cable This particular succursal leaves the ship without any other protection than its gutta-percha covering, and runs to lend, and into She cowherd’s cottage, where a room has been borrowed, a mere string of slender pi ping, like a stick of slender chocolate. Yet, unfair as it seems to work this bit of core, without the jute, galvanized iron, and Manilla strands, wb’ch are its proper protectors, the experiments tried have been eminently satis factory. On Saturday, messages were sent from ship to shore, and from shore to ship, with never-failing regularity; aud, more inter esting still, upon artificial faults being created, the iif«-like indicator betrayed thorn instantly and unerringly. This was tried several times, and in different ways; for, through the ends of the different lengths passing up - to and bemg joined in the testing-chamber, it is easy to create a fault, now at a distance of a few bun dled miles, now at a distance of as many yards from the operator, in all cases the exquisitely delicate apparatus made instant and decided protest, and tho result *of tho experi ments proved that, as in the forthcom ing expedition insularity and continuity will be tested concurrently anti constantly, in stead of at intervals, as heretofore, messages may and probably will pass to and from Valen. tia and the Great Eastern during the whole voyage, so thiit those on shore will be as fully informed of the condition of the cablo as those on board. It is estimated that in the event of a fault arising in the nejv cable, it will he dis covered instantly, and be localized, and tho process of paying out reversed to that of pick ing up, within a very few minutes of its oc currence. It w hid be difficult to speak too highly of the advance in the science of cablo- these facts imply; aud it is impossible to inquits into the plans of this year’s expedition without being impressed with the care taken, not merely to guard against disaster, but to prevent disaster affecting result. The whole machinery for both paying out and picking up has Been repeatedly tested; the latter is entirely refitted with two high pressure boilers, and will now be of from five to seven and a half times the strength of the breaking weight.— Whereas, too, the extreme breaking strain in paying out is ten tons, the large wheels em ployed will bear seven times aud the smaller ones nine times that strain. The mishaps of Ijist year were, it is useful to remember, at tributable to the possibility of picking up a cable from the bottom of the Atlantic never having been contemplated. Neither ropes nor gear were provided for such a contingency, and those pressed into the service gave way when put to a strain they were never made to bear. Now, proficiency in picking up at great depths is recognizad as a necessity in submarine tele graphy, and every provision has been made to make such picking up easy and safe on board the Great Eastern. Last year it could only be done from the fore part of the shin; this year matters will be so arranged that the oablemay be brought in as well as paid out at the stern; and the saving of time and complications is obvioUs. The whole of this machinery—ropes, wheels and gear—has been manufactured, as before, by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, under the immediate superintendance of Mr. Glass, his Managing Director, and of Mr. Canning, its Engineer-in- Chief, aud the responsible head of the cable layers, mechanics and Engineers, employed in the expedition. Passing from ihe Atlantic cable to the grand vessel which is to carry it, it is gratifying to know that her keel and hull have been thor oughly and carefully cleaused, and tnat the divers reports show them to be iu good sail ing order. Considerable time and ingenuity have been expended on the construction of huge brushes and scrapers to effect ibis,Tor the immense mass of shellfish, weeds and dirt which have accumulated and hardened at the bottom of the great ship made her cleansing no easy matter. A strong implement something like an agricultural harrow, has been con structed, and by aid of this and other brushes constantly applied, so much impedimenta has been removed that an addition of two knots an hour to her speed is counted on. This, it is hoped, will give a power of nine knots, when fully laden ; higher than is needed for cable laying, and calculated to iusure the fullest speed necessary, even against a head wind and an averse sea. The directors of the Telegraph Construction Company have chartered the Medway, a ship of 1,813 tons, to accompany the Great Eastern’ on her voyage out. The Medway will carry some hundreds of miles of the cable of last year, and in the event of the expedition being suc cessful, will redischarge this into the then empty tanks of the Great Eastern, at New foundland. The Medway will then start to locate the spot where the broken end lies, to fix buoys, or it may be to commence the pick ing up. Captain Anderson, to avoid taking the Great Eastern to Nore this year, will go direct to Beerhaven.from Sheerueas. and will there supply himself with coal for the voyage. The length of rime to be occupied in an expedi tion during which the double process of laying 00-.vn one cable and picking up another is to t>e gone through, is necessarily estimated at a much higaer rate than tho one ot last year, and some seventy days are spoken °* 8S period the Great Eastern will be away. Assuming her to leave Sheerness from the 20th June to the 3d July, next; three days will take her to Beerhaven, where she will stay nine days to take iu coal. Allowing five days for writing for favorable weather, tor Splicing with the here end, and fifteen days for the pa-avge to Trinity B.ty, we may look for messages from America about the beginning of August next. The Great Eastern will again supply berself with yoal at Trinity Bay, and at once follow the Medway to the grappling ground ; this will take three days, and eight more are given for grappling, and five for returning to Trinity Bay and laying the remainder of the old cable. ' This done, the return of the Great Eastern to England will take twelve days more, ami bring 'her home about the second wrok iu September.' Iu each case a margin must bo given to the foregoing figures, but they are based oa present calcula tions, and may be taken as authentic. It will be seen that they assume success throughout, and it may be added that on an elaborate series of problems having been drawn up by au thority, as to what would be the effect of dif ferent calamities or casualties, should they arise, the responsible leaders of the coming eu terprise have answered every supposition satis, lactoriiy in writing. The issue time alone can solve ; but whatever may be its result, the more the preparations tor the Atlantic expe. dition ot ISOli are known the more they will be regarded as marvels of forethought, of pre caution, of skillful auaiysis of cause aud effect, nad of logical deductions patiently, laborious ly, and courageously woikeu out. From Brasil. The Houma Civic Guard (of Terrebonne parish), ot Uie 3d instant, publishes a long and interesting letter, addressed to Gen. R. L. Gib«-on, of that parish, by Mr. S. Swain, of Paragua, Brazil, October 4, 1865 We give a summary, as the letter is desultory; A regular line of steamers connects Paragua and Rio do Janeiro, passage $25, freights rea sonable. Mr. Swain’s plantation is on the As - river, one of the tributaries of the Bay of Pamague, the town of which uum-■ is ton miles from the head of the Bay. Mr. Swain was alone for tour mouths, aud was then joined by Dr. John H. Blue aud Judge JohuGuitiet and bis two brothers trom Charles ton county, Missouri, Since then thirty-five Southerners had settled there, and many more were expected from Missouri. The principal merchant ut Paragua i& Seuor Manuel Miro, a Brazilian, educated in England, whom Mr. S. speaks highly of. At Rio de Janeiro. H. N. Lane & Cos., W. Davis and Thomas Baldwin, American merchants, are recommended to American immigrants. A large class ship can sail from New Orleans direct to within tea miles of the settlement. The inhabitants are universally kind, polite and generous; the low tr classes ignorant, superstitious and degraded; the better classes are mostly educated iu Eu rope and are a superior people, but the fight ing material does not come up to tho Anglo- Saxon race. The better classes extended the hand of fel lowship to the new comers. The laborers did not know or care where they came from, or who they were ; but a:e well satisfied to work for jerked beef, black beans ahd bananas. Doctors and lawyers npt wauled. Slavery exists ; but free labor is pr-f erred. Cotton is an uncertain crop; Sugar and coffee are the safest, the former paying a man ot means best. The cost ot establishing a coffeo farm is small, but it takes six years to make a full crop. It pays in three years. There is no frost to check vegetation and open the bolls of cotton, which continue to blooia, grow and ripen all the" year round. Sugar is natural to the soil aud climate; growsYrom planting the tops ; seed costs nothing; is ripe in July, August and September; grows larger and is much sweeter than Louisiana cane, without any cultivation ac all. The cost of raising it is nothing as com pared to Louisiana cane culture The cane is all made into molasses. There is not a sugar toiler or a regular set of ketilesin the province. Corn ia produced as in Louisiana, but not as in Illinois. It is planted, however, at auy time ot" tho year, and three crops can be made, on tlio same laud, in a year. Mr. Swain says that all Southern plantation agricultuial implements are; of service, except steam boilers and machinery attached. The climate is healthy, uniform, a perpetual Spring; no dry seasons, no wet ones. The rain is plentiful, and fairly dmtributed through out the year The air ib pure, water good aud puro. Land is very cheap. Improved places can be had at from SI,OOO to $4,000. There is great variety of lands, with plenty of table lands that lesembie those on Bayou Teche, ex cept that they incline towards the rivers in stead of from them. Near the river mouths the lands are low and flat, subject to inunda tion. From ten to fifteen miles further up the lauds are high and rolling, and excellent On the hills the soil is a yellow loam ; on the table lands, a darker loam; in the bottoms still darker—all veiv fertile, easily worked, does not wash or bake into lumps, and is inexhaus tible. Mr. Swain saw land there that had been under cultivation two hundred years. Com parativeiy little land is in cultivation, the peo ple turning their attention almost exclusively to the timber, and to the cultivation of “matte, ’’ the native tea. Square lumber and plank are cut from the “caneiia,” the “peubu,’’ the “imbioura,” the “jackaronda,-’’ and the “giericska epa.” There is no cypress, or any thing like it near the Bay of Paraguay ; but forty miles from the coast, a belt of superior pine timber commences. • Plantations arc necessarily small, in propor tion to the number of hands employed, from the fact that the plow wa's unheard of before Mr. Swain came to the country. The Brazi lian farmer’s outfit is a hoe and the espada, a cross between a sword and a bowls knife. The country is not well settled ; there are people enough to do it, but they are indolent. Other wise, land would bo worth SIOO per acre, in stead of only ten cents. Near two hundred good sugar plantations could be made around the Bay of Paraguay, all within twenty miles ot ship anchorage. As many more farms for coffee or sugar can be opened on the highest mountains or tho lowest valleys. The natives prefer planting on the highest hills. A man worth $20,000 to $30,000 is consid ered rich. Money is worth twelve per cent per annum. There is plenty of refined society, and the professions are well represented,— “Nature has done her part to make this coun try a pleasant one to live in, and we Ameri cans are trying to do our part, and are san guine of success.” Banks in Sew fork. The following table shows the capital and par value of the sticks of the banks of New York city : • Banks, Capital. Shares. American Exchange $ 5,000,000- 100 Atlantic 300,000 100 Atlantic of Brooklyn... . 500,000 50 America 3,000,000 100 Broadway 1,000,000 25 Bull’s Head 200,000 25 Butchers’& Drovers’.... 800,000 . 20 Bank of the State 2,000,000 100 Bank of New York 3.000,000 100 Bank of Commsrce 10,000.000 100 Bank of North America. 1,000,000 100 Bank of Commonwealth.. 750,000 100 Bank of Republic 2,000,000 100 Chemical 300,000 100 Continental 2.000 000 100 Corn Exchange 1,000,0.00 100 Chatham 450,000 25 Citizens’ 400,000 25 City 1,000,000 100 East River ' 206,525 26 Fulton 600,000 30 Greenwich 200,000 25 Grocers’ 200,000 40 Hanover 1,000,000 100 Importers’ and Traders’. 1,500 000 100 Irving. 500,000. 50 Leather Manufacturers’. 600,000 50 Long Island, Brooklyn.. 400,000 50 Manufacturers’. 210,000 30 Manhattan Company 2,050,000 50 Manufacturers’ & Mer’ts. . 500,000 100 Marine 400,000 .30 Market..... 1,000,000 100 Mechanics’ 2,000,000 25 Mechanics’Bank’gAss’n. 500,000 12 50 Mechanics’ & Traders’.. 600,000 25 & Mercantile 1,000,000 100 Merchants 2,810,037 50 Merchants’Exchange... 1,255,000 50 Metropolitan 4,000,000 100 Nassau... 1.000,000 100 National 1,500,000 50 New York County 200,000 100 North RiveT 400 000 50 New York Dry Dock.... 200 000 30 Ocean 1,000,000 50 Oriental 300,000 25 Tbe Herald on the Financial “Situation.” The Herald asserts that the Government has lately lost from twenty to thirty millions of dollars to keep down the price of geld, but tbe effect was disastrous. Speculation is ram pant A Valuable Library. we steal an hour from the busy haunts of men and the stirring pursuits of com mer ml circles, to wander into the more seclud ed walks of literature, painting or music ; and one day last week we had the pleasure of visit ing one of the finest libraries ever collected by or regained in tl le possession ot a Southern gentlemanj and which was the property and the pride of the late Mr A. A. Smets. the man who could amid a ii the C!lres au j perplexities of mercantile toe, preserve the taste and incline, turn for books, and those selected from the classics ot every country alll ] time, is as much by hia example a public benefactor as he who rests upon the laurels of building railroads or opening manufactories. No bibliopole, nor even a simple lover of books can visit this choice library without ad miration. In our country, where so few enjoy the means of accumulating valuable books, and where so few whp have the means have the taste for literary treasures, it is rare to meet with vefy large or very rare collection-. But here is certainly one of the fiuest and most recherche private libraries in the country. It does not rest its claims upon the number of volumes which it contains, ot which there are, perhaps, ten or twelve thousand, but upon the choice selection of its authors and the great variety of the edi tions. It is composed of works in all branches of learning and the fine arts, embracing the ear lier and later poets, the more celebrated nov elists, the best historians and biographers, and every standard work in the realms of literature. The library contains the riches of learning, from the elaborate missal of the twelfth century to the recent files of modern magazines. The antiquarian delve in the black-letter tomo bear ing the imprint of Caxton, and the admirers of Dickens finds his author clad in his best typo graphical dress. The enthusiast in large paper copies, where “a rivulet of text meanders torough a meadow of margin,” can revel in his own peculiar delight, and the bibliopole who re joices in “only copies, “suppressed editions,” and works valuable only from some imperfec tion which gives them rarity, can herq find am ple room for the indulgence of his taste. Here can be seen one of the original editions of Ho garth, than whom, no greater pictorial satirist ever existed; and there, too, is one of the early subscription copies of Boydell’s Shakspeare, whose plates, worn by frequent impression, have reduced engravings to cartoons. He will find on the shelves a magnificent copy of Month fancon’s antiquities, bound in vellum, a work which Sir Walter Scott always had by him, and here, too, are the literary remains of tho Great Wizard of Scottish talc. The library is peculiarly rich in illuminated missalcs, several of which, both in rarity and workmanship; are almost priceless. The world owes a great debt to the monks of the middle ages; a debt seldom dreamed of, and still more seldom acknowledged. During that period of history well and truly known m “the dark ages,*’ it was only in the monastics that tho smouldering embers of literature ffere kept alive, and by the reverend fathers of that day, whose equal leisure and taste induced the task of pre serving such fragments of learning as were then extant. Neither time nor space permits us to go into an elaborate enumeration of the treasures which grace the shelves of this magnificent library. It is to be sold, and should, if possible, never leave tho State, but be purchased either by some weal thy gentlemen of literary tastes, or, far better, by sdme public institution, whose access to it would tend to foster a love for books—the pur est and most ennobling of all loves. We trust never to see or hear of its being dismembered and its contents going to enrich various collec tions. A well selected library is a harmonious whole, and can no more spare any of its parts without losing its completeness than the human body can be deprived of a limb. —Savannah Republican. In republishing the above, tile Millcdgcville Recorder, says : We have often visited the above named libra ry of Mr. Smets, and to the lover of literature no greater treat presented itself to the eye.— Mr. S. was peculiarly fond of old -and rare works, nor did he count the cost when he found a work he desired. We have known him to give as much as from SIOO to S3OO for a single book, and in Iris life time, he was often request ed by the literati of Paris and London to con sult his library as to authors and books that could not be found in those cities. The collection of such a varied and choicet selection of books was the work of forty years with Mr. S. It was not his intention to buy a library or accumulate such a collection, but his thirst for knowledge, and his inexhaustible and unsalable love of reading led him step by step to buy books that he saw mentioned in his read ing; and the more he read, the more he bought. Being a gentlhmen of wealth, ho had agents in London and Paris to purchase many of the old and rare works as they were sold from the libraries ot the nobility of Europe. The library should be seen to lie appreciated, the artistic skill of the prints, engravings and illustrations, running as far back as the twelfth century can alone give one an idea of what was done and is now doing in the way of printing, &o. The oldest book in the library, was writ ten by one-of the Gregories, Pope of Rome, and is something over a thousand years old. The library is for sale,, and we understand that sev eral gentlemen from the North are bidders for it. It is the wrish of the family of Mr. Smets, that as it must, be sold, that the State of Geor gia would purchase it. If not taken by the State or bid for by gome Southren institution, it will pass out of the State to adorn the shelves of some Northern gentleman or university. A catalogue is now being prepared, and if neces sary, will be published, if not, the library will be advertised and sold privately* What two Virginia Girls Did. Among the Btrangers in Philadelphia at this moment are two ladies from Martinsbarg, West Virginia, Yesterday they were purchasing a seed drill, a mowing machine; aDd other agri cultural implements, whose cost in the aggre gate was about eight hundred dollars. Their home was very close to the theatre of the late war. Belwoun the two contenditig armies Kheir houses and their barns were burned, their lorses and their cattle driven off, their only brother conscripted into the Confederate army and themselves loft utterly destitute and home less. Any one who, seeing a young lady 9uch as we saw yesterday, had been told that she had personally ploughed and planted many acres of land, would have laughed to scorn the party so informing him. Such, however, is literally the case. We leerned the facts from a gentleman residing in the vicinty. The smoking ruins of the farm upon which these young people re sided bad scarcely cooled when the neighbors clubbed together, built them a log house, and extemporized them a sort of barn Horses were loaned to them, and the girls with their own hands ploughed the ground aud seeded it with corn: The crop grew apace, and with their owu hands they harvested it. They sold it to good advantage. They had owned forty seven slaves. Some of these went into the Union army, others deserted the locality The giris were left alone to battle with the vicissi tudes of the war. Oar informan , whose respectability is be yond a question. Bays that these-iris produced by their work iu tho field more decided and productive results than were accomplished by the entire gang of slaves. They toiled for three years, aud now have a comfortable bouse and most substantial barns upon their pro perty, while improvements have been made upon it to an extent that makes it of consid erably more value than before the torch of conflicting armies reduced its buildings to ashes. One of the young ladies fias since mar ried, bnt the others still do duty* as their own “overseem, ’’ and they themselves purchased yesterday aud directed the shipment of the agricultural implements to which we have above referred. The wonder to the dealer was, that a lady delicately gloved, and attired as though she had never overstepped the bounds of the boudoir, should descant experimentaUy and intelligently upon the respective meritSrif the different reapiug machines, and upon the comparative value of the different patents for threshing out the cereals . These young ladies were educated in Phila delphia, and are well known to many of our bent people.— Phil. American. Abolishing Imprisonment for Debt in Eng land-A new lefotm is proposed iu England. The Bankruptcy bill now pending in Parlia ment provides for the abolition of imprison ment for debt. The London Times says : “This change, at first desired on the ground of humanity, may now be defended on tho simple principles of common sense. If it were cruel to put a man in prison to lie there for ever, it is absurd to put him there only for the purpose of taking him out again, and that at public expense. With imprisonment for debt falls, as we apprehend, almost the whole jurisdiction of insolvency as opposed to bank ruptcy. A vast amount of time and trouble hitherto expended in getting debtors who had no means of payment released from arrest, will be swept away, and persons will no longer ob tain credit on the strength of the chance that some compassionate relative will release them from imprisonment. It is impossible to speak too nigbly of this change, whether viewed with reference to the principles of political economy, of law, or of morality.”
