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About Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1874)
010 SERIES—VOL. LHXI. NEW SERIES—VOL XXXVIII. TERMS. THE DAILY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL, the oldeat nrwpper In ttia 8-mth, in |#ubli*Led daily, - cep* M;>ndaj. Term* : Per year, $10; alx montba, $5; three montba, 42 SO. THE TRI-WEEKLY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL la pnbtubed ererj Tna*dy, Thursday and Satnr rtay. Term*: One yenr, $5; alx month*, \1 SO. THE WEEKLY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL In pub lished erery Wednesday. Terms : One jrenr, Cl six months, sl. SUBSCRIPTIONS in nil canes In advance, and no paper continued after the expiration of tbs time paid for. RATES OF IN DAILY.—AII tr-n --sloat advertisements will be charged at the rate of $1 per a ]nare for each Insertion for the Oral week. Adv -rtisemenU In the Tri-Weekly, two third* of the rates in the Daily: and in the Weekly, one-half the Dally atee. Marriage and Funeral Notices, SI each. Special Notices, fl per square for the first publication. Special rates will be made for advertisements running for a month or longer. REMITTANCES should be made by Port Office Money Orders or Express. If this cannot be done, protection against losses by mail may be secured by forwarding a dr,ft payable to the Proprietors of the Chkosici.e k Sxs-mixn, or by sending the money In a registered letter. ALL COMMUNICATIONS announcing candidates for office—from County Constable to Member of Congrats—will be charged for at the rate of twenty cents per ilne. All announcements must be paid for in advance. Address WALSH k WRIGHT, CHmomct.it k BxwTntat.. Angusts. O*. Cftroniclf ant) Sentinel. WEDNESDAY..DECEMBER 23,1874. MINOR TOPICS. When Rev. De Witt Talmsge gets through with his theatrical sensation he had better turn his attention to a Nevada Justice lately appeal ed to to issue a warrant for the arrest of three card m mte men who had swindled a traveler, but who refnsed to do so, saying that the offense came under the head of ‘'Dispensations of Providence,” and that he hadn't jurisdiction. Mr. John W. Garrett was unanimously re alected President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on Wednesday—his seventeenth year in that position. An offer of increased salary from the nominal $4,000 a year received by Mr. Garrett, while the salaries of other railroad Presidents of important lines range from $lO.- 000 to $40,000 a year, was declined. The Baltimore Sun’s Washington correspond ent says a Radical Congressman went to Speaker Blaine on Wednesday and asked him when tho proposed caucus of Republican mem bers of the House was to be hold. The Speaker replied that he bad heard nothing positive on the Hubjeot, and remarked further that he saw no necessity for the holding of any caucus un less it was to act as a coroner's Jury. California is able to produce her own dain ties for Christmas. A journal of that State •ays: “In about two weeks from this time the first of the new orop of oranges will be in market. Any citizen who chooses can hare on his Christmas tabie oranges of the best quality produced in this State, figs, dried and green, raisins as good as Malagas, and the grapes of which they are made, prunes, bananas, citrons, soft shell almonds, sugar cane, and more than twenty varieties of wine made in this State, some kinds of which are destined to be fa mous .” Another orematiou ceremony has been suc cessfully performed in Dresden, in tho same oven in which the body of the wife of Sir Charles Dilke waß lately oousnmed. No cler gyman could be found to perform the burial ceremony, and a brief and impressive speech was delivered by a layman. The cremation was perfectly snccessfful, with nothing to of fend the senses. The impregnable logic of the arguments of the sremationists is strength ening the movement in favor of this mode of disposing of the dead. The man who was alarmed by Juan Visalia, lu Han Francisco, tho other day, is subject to nervous fits now. Juan, who is a barber, was plying his vocation upon the customer men tioned, when the man being shaved noticed that the barber appeared hunting for some par ticular spot on the neok. When asked his ob- Jeot, the barber responded that he was looking for the jugular vein, as he didn’t want to make a deeper gash than was necessary to produae death! Juan Visalia, ths barber, is now in a lunatio asylum, and the man he shaved, as al ready remarked, has nervous spells. The dispute as to the author of ‘ All Quiet Along the PotomacTo-uight,"has gotten into ■ the pres i again. Professor James Wood Da- ( vidson, known by bis lives of Southern writ ers, is the one to revive the controversy, in de nying the authorship of Mrs. Ethel Lynn Beers, which makes the lady very irate. Now 1 let ns have a few more. “Beautiful Snow” i has not been iij the arena for some time, and the topic is seasonable. “Nothing to Wear,” although by no means as suited to the weath er, nevertheless is always ready to be contro verted. William Allen Butler wears the laurels 1 so far; but Miss Peck is, we presume still sup- 1 ported by her friends. Carl Vogt's old case has cropped out again, and in a singular manner. He committed a murder m Brussels and escaped to the United ! Htates. He was arrested hero, but could not be returned becauso there was no extradition 1 treaty between this country and Belgium. He was released. Now they have rearrested him ; on the same ohargo, there having been an ex- . tradition treaty established with a retroactive clause having special reference to this case. Now, as the Constitution providos that there Bhall l>e uo ex post facto laws, and moreover that a person once acquitted shall not be put in peril of life a second time for the same of fense, Vogt are they going to do about it ? The boy Pomeroy, who delighted to murder children, is now on trial in Boston for the death of his last victim, the child Horace H. Miller. Pomeroy, who is naturally called the “ Boy Fiend ” by the Boston papers, has confessed to two murders. The evidence was all against him, and the only thing to be determined is i his responsibility for his acts. Thus far the , defense is lamentably weak. The case of Pomeroy is one of the moat singular on record. His intellect is of a low order, it is true, but there are plenty of boys uo wiser than he who 1 are not compelled apparently by irresistible : impulse to crimes of the most terrible oharac- , ter—the torture of children and their murder. , And this boy is not yet 14 years old. Among tho documents sent to Congress ac companying the President’s message were let ters from General Cushing on gpsDish affairs. Iu one of them, written from Madrid in July last, he says -that, according to the latest offl- ' cial estimates, the number of troops sent from i the Peninsula to Cuba from tho year 1859 down to the present day is 89,500, of which number 96,412 have succumbed in the field or from dis ease, leaving only a nominal force of say 46,000, many of whom must be invalids for the pres ent servioe of the Government. He also notes that a large number of muskets purchased by the last Captain-Geueral for use iu Cuba hare been withdrawn and ordered home for use in the Peninsula. By this time, therefore, the Spanish force in Cuba must be weak both in men and anus. Oh dear! It was'nt a pretty, cheerful thing to do. The young ladies of Cleveland, Ohio, have a society called “The Oarey," with a Mother Oarey to preside, we suppose, over the ; lovely little chickens, who indulge themselves j in mueio, reading, recitations, tableaux and j debates. The last matter discussed was, “Ac- j sniped. That cremation is the best means of j disposing of the dead.” Miss Powell was for I burning, Miaa Hansom for burial. Miss Pow- j ell said: “I read, the other day, that among t the Oriental nations they press the ashes of the cremated individual into lockets, which ; they present to each of the mourning friends.” j Miss Hansom said: “She was content to leave the mortal part of life in the keeping of our common mother, through whose tender al chemy it may some day come back to be velvet bloom in the violet or balm breath in the roee leaves that drop above the grass-grown mound.” We are sorry to say that the ques tion upon the resolution does not appear to have been put. The locket argument must have gone a great way with the lady listeners, and we incline to the opinion that the resolu tion was carried. Those who read that romantic episode In English life, the Tichbome trial, may recollect the name of Mrs. Jury. She has recently been arrested for stealing various unconsidered odds and ends, and was sent to jail at Macclesfield. The manner of her getting out of durance vile is a warning to ait prison officials against spring locks. On Sunday night, about 6:30 o'clock, the lock-up keeper entered the oell with her supper. While he was remarking upon some of the internal arrangements of her prison house, Jury, who had shown great tact and ability during her incarceration, embraced the opportunity of escaping from the cell. She aloscd the cell door, which fastens with a spring lock, and left her jailer inside. The screams of the lock-up keeper attracted the at tention of the constable about the station, but not until the prisoner had had a good start.— The next difficulty that presented itself was how to get without the precincts of the lock up. For some time there have been improve ments going on, and Mrs. Jury managed 'to escape through a hole in a temporary door, her bonnet being found among the debris. When she escaped she was dressed in a black or grey woolen costume. All her letters referring to the Tichbome trill were of eouree left in the bands of the polios. Unhappily, however, the prisoner must have fallen upon evil tunes, tor she was rssaptmred. THE BXTKAVAGANCE OF WOMEN. Jast about this time, when money is tight, trade dull and times bard, people are assigning various reasons for the financial evils with which the country is afflicted. Many and various causes are given as combining to produce paralysis of trade and industry. Bnt in all of them one element of evil figures, viz : The extravagance of the women. If the women of to-day would bnt consent to live as their grandmothers lived ; if they were as simple in their tastes and as in dustrious in their habits; if when not able to afford an article they wonld go without it; if they would insist upon fathers and husbands living within their means; if they were willing to regulate their expenditures by their in come ; if they would eschew bills and indebtedness what a difference it wonld make, how many families wonld live easily aDd comfortably which now find it so difficult to keep up ap pearances ! All of ns know bow much truth there is in these and similar ob servations. We all know that the coun try is going to the bad, and we know too how much the women have to do with the progress which we are making in that direction. The men of course have had something to do with bringing about the present condition of affairs. That is to say they have over-traded, over-speculated; have attempted to make money too rapidly. They have put their money into all sorts of schemes. They have embarked their meaos and their honor in every species of wild cat enter prise. They h.ve sought fortunes in railroads which commenced nowhere and ended at the same place. In geld mines where the only gold found was in the pockets of the credulous capitalists. In ‘ ‘great works of internal improvement” which benefitted only the contractors. In banks whose only dividends went into the pockets of defaulting cashiers. But has not this over-trading been caused, this mania for speculation been encour aged, this greed of gain stimulated by the extravagance of the women? Un doubtedly, yes ! It is to supply them money with which to gratify their extravagant whims and costly notions that the men sacrifice health and good name in perilous ventures upon which all the rules of business and the dictates of commercial honesty forbade them to enter. Tlioso who are successful are ruined by their success. Like the win nings of a gambler the money soon dis appears—easy got and easy gone.— The profits of their hazardous schemes are soon consumed by the extravagance of their wives and families ; the second venture becomes a necessity and its results furnish a veri fication of the old adage concerning the pitcher which goes too often to the well. If they fail at first min only comes the sooner and tho man is thrown helpless and friendless upon his own resources, with money gone, prospects blighted, and habits of honest industry destroyed. And all this trouble, this wretchedness is chargeable to a great extent upon the women ? Certainly. Do not the wisest men of the country tell ns so ? Do not the lecturers, the preachers and the great moral educators who conduct tho daily press tell us that the principal source of our individual and national woes is the selfishness and extravagance of the wo men—those drones of the social hive who work not themselves, and yet con sume the fruits of the laborers’ industry? It seems to us that the charge carries with it conviction npon its face, and that to accuse is sufficient to convict. The average male has only to appeal to his individual experience to satisfy him self as to the cause of his financial em barrassments and perplexities. The guilty women can not escape for denial only adds to tho enormity of their, of fense. It is well known that men—that is as a general rale—have no extravagant habits or costly tastes. Here and there one is found who spends money upon himself but usually all their earnings and borrowings go to satisfy the femi nine passion for high-priced finery. It is well known that in the affairs of life the men toil that the women may live at ease; that the men are like the slaves in a Brazilian diamond mine who receive only the merest pittance for their labors and accumulate wealth which they are not allowed to enjoy. If, indeed, there should be some incredulous reader of this article—some doubting Thomas— let him turn to some married man of his acquaintance and investigate, as closely as neighbors can investigate, his domestic affairs, and our word for it be will be incredulous no longer. There, for instance, are Mr. and Mrs. John Smith —a family of the highest respectability, and well known to onr citizens. Smith, let ns say, is engaged in a business which ought to pay him a fair profit upon his money and his la bor, and give him a snug something at the end of the year after all his expenses have been paid. Yet everybody is aware , that Smith is saving no money; that in stead of laying np a nest egg for a rainy day ho is actually going in debt and even now is said to have more paper afloat than he can conveniently meet. His family is not large, his establish ment is comfortable but not handsome, and his household expenses cannot be very heavy. What then becomes of his money ? Why, of course, his wife spends it. It is true she does not go out much, for her husband is usually detained at his office by business in the evenings and is unable to accompany her; she is not usually seen in any very handsome or costly apparel, and, indeed, there have been hints, of old dresses done over and sent to the dye-pot, which we shall not here repeat But then where can the money go unless she spends it npon herself ? Smith cannot spend it, for everybody knows that he is a perfect slave to business, and that he is con fined as closely to'his office as any galley slave to the oar. There are those, may be, who laugh at such stories and pro nounced them stuff. Who declare that Smith is one of the jolliest fellows about town, denying himself no pleasnre which the place affords or which money can purchase. Who say that lie smokes the most expensive cigars and drinks liqnor, the character of which is fully guaranteed by the price. That he is a liberal and free-hearted fellow after dark, and thinks nothing of paying fifty dollars in order that he may treat five or six kindred spirits to a game supper with the usual and perfectly necessary accompaniments. That the pace at which he is going will soon bring him to the end of his rope, and that he must make an assignment or do worse. Bnt then nobody believes these things, and we all know what mischief the extravagance 6f women occasions. Evidently Mrs. Smith spends all the money which the labor of her drndge accumulates. Then again, there are the Trnn spottes. Tennspotte is another man who is morally certain that unless the wo men will consent to retrench there is no hope for the country save in national bankruptcy. ‘‘By Jove, sir, ”he says, ‘ ‘how can the country prosper when women pay a hundred dollars for a silk dress, and fifty dollars for a bonnet ?” Mrs. Tennspottk’s appearance does not indi cate the payment of snch sums for her costumes, bnt then everybody knows that snch prices are common, and that the nonproducers are eating np the wealth of the producers. Malignant gossip says that Tennspotte is fonder of cards than a business man ought to be and that he is spending a good deal j of money in an effort to master the mysteries of draw poker, but certainly 1 it is not that which produces snch vio lent stricture of thepnrse. If he loses a few hundred dollars at night by get ting into a bad streak of lnck and not properly estimating the valne of two pair when brought into competition with threes or flushes he has only had a little manly sport, and can any one blame him for saying next month when Mrs. 8. asks for money for herself and the children, “ that by Geo bob we cannot stand such extrava gance, and there must be more economy practised or we will land in the work house.” Does any reasonable person donbt that the extravagance of the wife is bankrupting that family ? A hundred such instances might be adduced, but what use is there in prov ing a proposition which is so per fectly self-evident? Does it not come within the experience of every man that the chief peril of the country is in the luxurious tastes and costly habits of the women ? Let ns, brothers, continue onr warfare npon feminine extravagance. Let ns declaim against it from the pulpit and in the press as the great danger of the age. Let ns show how much they spend npon their persons and their pleasures and charge them with the rain which is so surely approaching. Let us declare that the men are working hard and living hard, that the women are squandering all the money and commit ting all the extravagances. A WISE MEASURE. We are gratified to know that the in dications are good for the speedy passage by Congress of a bill introduced by Mr. Beck, of Kentucky, to prevent the hir ing of Congressmen as attorneys in claims and suits against the Government. It was taken up in the House the other day and passed without opposition, though there were many members affect ed by its provisions who would have been glad to kill a measure which will deprive them of so large a portion of their incomes, had they not been afraid of the wrath of constituents. For the same reason it will hardly encounter opposition in the Senate should it find an active friend in that body. The law is wise and salutary, and such legisla tion is greatly needed. One of the na tional scandals has been the employ ment of Congressmen in cases against the Government, and where they were evidently not paid for professional ser vices, but simply for the influence which their position was supposed to command. The absence of such a law has made bribery easy and notorious, and the salary of some members constitutes the smallest portion of their official emolu ments. The thanks of the country are due Mr. Beck for putting a stop to this scandalous practice. COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. The Savannah Advertiser publishes some figures from the recent report made by the managers of the Central Railroad, whioh show a heavy decrease in shipments of commercial fertilizers by that company. During the season of 1872-’73 over forty-seven thousand tons were shipped by the company. For the past season the shipments only reached twenty-six thousand tons, a de crease of nearly fifty per cent. The reports of other Geoegia and Southern railways show a proportionate decrease. There is very convincing proof that the plant ers have determined to cut off one prin cipal source of their expenditures, and that they seem disposed to go back to the old system of using home-made manures as far as possible. While the lavish purchase of guano and other commercial fertilizers tends to embarrass the planter and for that reason should be abandoned, there is danger in going to the other extreme and ceasing to pur chase altogether. We think experience has fully proven that great benefit is de rived from the judicious application of the best brands of commercial manures and that planting can not be profitably conducted without their assistance.— Their strength and adaptability to the soil, their smallness of bulk and porta bility, the ease with which they can be employed upon the farm, render them of great value in the changed condition of the Southern planting and labor sys tems. Extravagance in their nse was wrong and doubtless did much mischief, but their moderate use cannot well be abandoned. Such a reaction would do more harm than the original evil. The planters have had an experience of eight or nine years with these manures and by this time shonld thoroughly under stand their application and what par ticular kind is best suited to the charac ter of their laDd. They can use them judiciously and economically and reap handsome returns from the money which they invest in their purchase. We think we hazard nothing in asserting that it pays a great deal better to cultivate ten acres of land thoroughly and well than to imperfectly cultivate a hundred acres. There has been one formal entry for the gubernatorial race, which will take place in 1876. The Atlanta Herald an nounces editorialy and authoritatively that General A. H. Colquitt will be a candidate before the Democratic Nomi nating Convention. The General is popular with the soldiers, the farmers and the grangers and will be a formida ble candidate if his early entry does not injure his prospects. It is said that Colonel Hardeman will also be in the field, and that Governor Shith has no objection to a third term. Hon. Jno. H. James came out some time ago and the friends of the irrepressible Huff will probably insist npon his running. We will certainly have a lively contest. A great many people wonder how members of Congress grow rich so ra pidly on a salary of $5,000 a year. An incident occurred in the Honse of Rep resentatives the other day which will throw some light on the subject. Mr. Beck introduced a bill to punish mem bers of the Senate and House who en gage as counsel in snits against the Government. It was opposed by Gen. Butler, bnt was passed. What But ler's interest in snch matters has been may be judged from the official record of 4he Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the Farragut prize cases. This shows that he profited to the extent of $87,221 by the bill for paying them. This item solves the mystery. General N. P, Banks recently made a speech in Boston on the “Fnture and Reconstruction of the South, ” He took the position that carpet-bag rale had been the root of all evil in the South, and thought that perhaps some legisla tion would be had on the subject of in terference in political matters by Federal officials. Gen. Banks spoke to a large audience, and his remarks were loudly applauded. The people of Missouri have voted by a small majority in favor of holding a Convention for the purpose of remodel ing their Constitution. How long will Georgia continue to be a laggard in the good work ? , AUGUSTA, GA, WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 23, 1874. UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE ENFORCEMENT ACTS. There seems to be good reason for be lieving that it will not be necessary for tha Democratic Congress which meets next December to repeal the Enforce ment Acts, in order to get rid of these ob noxious statutes. There is a prospect that the courts of the country will pro claim it a nullity before the new Con gress assembles, and this will be much the most satisfactory way of undoing the work of a malignant and unscrupu lous political faction. The Nashville Union and American says that the dis agreement of the Judges holding the United States Circuit Conrt at Richmond, in the Petersburg election case, brings before the Supreme Court of the United States a question substantially the same as that involved in the case from Grant Parish, Louisiana, already before the same tribunal. The fifteenth amend ment to the Constitution of the Uni ted States, declares that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States,, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It is a restric tion npon’State legislation. But the Enforcement Acts go much further. They declare who may vote ; they im pose penalties not only npon State offi cers but upon private persons for ob structing the exercise of the suffrage ; they assume the right of Congress to define and punish ordinary crimes of violence against the colored people; they even make it a penal offense to prevent “any citizen” (whether belonging to the race which the amendments were intend ed to protect or not) “from voting at any election. ” Justice Bradley of the Supreme Court, in the Louisiana oase, declared that in these particulars, or at least in some of them, the acts were plainly unconstitutional. “ There can be no constitntional legislation of Con gress,” said he, “for directly enforcing the privileges and immunities of eitizens of the United States by origi nal proceedings in the courts of the United States, where the only constitu tional guarranty of such privileges and immunities is that no State shall pass any law to abridge them, where the State has passed no laws adverse to them, but on the contrary has passed laws to sustain and enforce them.” In the Petersburg case District Judge Hughes arrived at an opinion against the constitutionality of parts of the En forcement Acts by a different process of reasoning from Judge Bradley, and declared “that any law of Congress is unconstitutional which makes the pre venting of a voter from voting in a State election penal on any other account than that of ‘race, color or previous condition of servitude. ’ ” These casos will probably be decided at the present term of the Supreme Court of the United States. RAILROAD EARNINGS. It will be some consolation to stock holders in Georgia Railroads who are minus their usual and sorely needed dividends, to know that railroads gener ally are not paying anything at present. If these corporations can; thrive any where they should prosper in New Eng land, where the oountry is thickly set tled and both the freight and passenger business unusually heavy. Yet in Massa chusetts—the richest and most flourish ing of the New England States—the railroad men tell the same tale as their brethren do in the North and the South. A statement prepared by the Boston Ad vertiser shows that the last railroad year in Massachusetts has not been so satis factory as its predecessors. The roads have been forced to increase their capi tal stock and their debt. They have earned less in gross, and their operating expenses have not diminished. Eighteen roads, reported in the annual tables both last year and this, have in creased their capital stock by $753,000. Seventeen roads have increased their gross debt from $38,168,169 to $46,892,275, being an increase of more than twenty-two per cent.; and the total debt of the twenty-one roads re ported this year amounts to $48,851,207. The net income of the Boston roads has declined from $5,438,731 to $4,827,248. Their expenses have increased from $16,- 818,991 to $16,872,730, and their gross receipts have fallen from $22,257,732 to $21,699,978. One of the causes of the falling off in railway earnings is the prostration of business throughout the country. Railroads can not make money when every one else is losing. When the country flourishes railroads flourish, when the people suffer railways suffer also. In addition to this they have had to encounter, in the South and West es pecially, the sharp competition of new and rival lines, built not npon individu al capital, but with money borrowed upon public endorsements. It is not at all surprising, in view of the difficulties whioh have attended their management, that they have failed to earn dividends. We publish in. another colnmn of the Chronicle and Sentinel this morning an editorial article from the New York Journal of Commerce on the subject of usury and usury laws. We do this be cause it is a reply to the opinions ad vanced by General Toombs which were published in this paper. Onr own posi tion on this question has been frequent ly and positively stated. We do not care to .engage aDy farther in its discussion. The people are in a condition at present which makes them disposed to favor any change suggested, and we do not regard the re-enactment of the usury law as at all improbable. But while such a law may be put npon the statute book it can never be enforced. It will be 'a dead letter here just as it was before repeal, and just as it is in every State where the Legislature attempts to regulate the prioe of money. People will continue to pay the rate of interest established by the laws of trade, in spite of legislation. The people who live in the Bank of England, at the other end of the Geor gia Railroad, have snch a perfect and safe system of doing business that “yon never hear of any failures there.” We uev,er hear of anybody paying taxes there either if one may jndge from the official advertisements of delinquents. Perhaps, however, it is by the employ ment of snch economy that the finan cial Gibralter keeps off the ragged edge of bankruptcy. Maybe the safe and simple system in vogue there is “take in all yon can and pay nothing out.” A little “wild speculation” in Atlanta tax executions might prove more disastrous than the purchase of cotton futures. Noblesse oblige. Count Arnim says h# cannot be guilty of the things alleged against him because he comes of an old and noble family, and Bis blood wonld not allow him to do a dishonorable act Bismarck is too sagacious a man not to know what this kind of talk amounts to. Crime has not been and is by no means confined to the commonalty. The peerage has fnmished a large proportion of the murderers, forgers, thieves, liars and adulterers. Count Arnim must depend npon something besides his nobility for acquittal. * The Secretary of the Bowling Associa tion of the American colleges has issued a circular postponing indefinitely the meeting of delegates called to-day at Hartford. LEE. Personal Bkmixiscznces. Anecdotes and Lettbes of Gen. Eobeet E. Lee. By Rev. J. William Jones. D. D., formerly Chaplain Army Northern Virginia and of Washington College, Virginia. 1874. New York : D. Ap pleton A Cos. Angus tx: Riohakds’ book ■tore. Since the great calamity of Gen. Lee’s death several memoirs and biographies of him have appeared. While all of these books have been necessarily im parfect sketches they have all fonnd wide circulation, so eager has been the desire of the public to read everything concern ing the life and achievements of the great Virginian. After a while, when sonrees of information now closed will be open, when witnesses now dumb will have spoken, when the country shall be in a condition to judge calmly and im partially, a Life of Lee, worthy the name, will be written. Who the fntnre biographer is to be we cannot undertake to determine; but the hour will bring the man. In the meantime the books of which we have spoken, however incom plete, however glaring their defects, have their use and their valne and we shonld welcome their publication. The information which of them, to a greater or less extension tain will be found valuable hereafter, and, added to that whioh will be furnished in the future, will greatly lighten the labors and facilitate the purpose of him who is to paint a true portrait of the Confed erate chieftain. The book before us will prove a most important contribution to the accomplishment of this work. It does not pretend to be a biography, or a sketch of the military career of Lee. As its name imports, it is made up of per sonal reminiscences, anecdotes and let • ters. The writer enjoyed excep tional advantages for preparing such a work. Ha was the chaplain of Washington College, of which General Lee was President, and was thrown into daily and intimate intercourse with him. He was selected to prepare the volume by tha faculty of the college and was furnished by Mrs. Lee with many im portant papers belonging to her hus band. The work has been carefully per formed and its results will everywhere be read with interest. He has divided his subject into many parts—too many perhaps. One of them treats of Lee’s military career and is made up wholly of selected matter—extracts from speech es and English and American books and newspapers with most of which the general reader is familiar, though they are well worth preservation in a more enduring form. The anecdotes are numerous, most of them new and all of them interesting. The most valuable portions of the volume, however, are those which contain extracts from Lee’s correspondence. Our only regret is that there are not more of them and we hope to soon see the day when the whole con tents of his letter books will be given to the public. There is a dignity and grace, a kindness of heart and courtesy, mani fest in those published which will give the world a still higher idea of the lovableness of his character and the nobility of his soul. They contain, too, accounts of many transactions of which the world was ignorant before. For in stance, his letter to General Lonsstkeet, written at the time the latter became, or was preparing to become, the ally of the oppressors of the South and the enemies of constitutional government. It will be remembered that after the surrender General Lee was sincerely anxious that the South should have peace and quiet, in order that she might repair the frightful ravages of four years’ savage warfare. He, therefore, earnestly deprecated anything like bit terness of speech towards the North or opposition to the policy which President Johnson thought proper to pursue. But he never for a moment approved the infa mies known as the reconstruction acts nor contemplated their sauction by the Southern people. Soon after the termi nation of the great struggle, when asked to attend the “Gettysburg Identifica tion” meeting, he wrote : “I think it wisest not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the exam ple of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, and to commit to oblivion the feelings it en- 1 gendered.” When a certain distinguished orator delivered an address at Washington Col lege, General Lee said to the reporter who took notes for publication, and who : is the author of the “Reminiscences; ” 1 “It was in the main very fine; but, if ■ you propose publishing any report of it, ; £ would suggest that you leave out all the bitter expressions against the North ; and the United States Government. They will do us no good under our pres ent circumstances, and I think all such ; expressions undignified and unbecom ing.” In a letter to Governor Letcher he says : “The questions which for years were in dispute between the State and Gene- , ral Government, and which unhappily were not decided' by the dictates of reason, but referred to the decision of war, having been decided against us, it is the part of wisdom to acquiesoe in the result and of candor to recognize tho fact.” He advised all of his friends against 1 emigration, and declared that he thought it the duty of every man to remain at home, cease opposition to the Govern- 1 ment, accept the situation, go to work, and “do all the good he could.” It was a knowledge of these sentiments ! which perhaps led General Longstreet —who had been his personal friend and trusted Lieutenant—to suppose that he conld be induced to follow him into the Republican camp in 1867. From the tenor of the letter published below it is evident that Longstrbet had requested , him to write for publication a letter ad vising the Southern whites to accept the Sherman-Shellabaroer bill—the first of the reconstruction acts. The follow ing is the reply which he received : Lexington, Va., October 29, 1867. Oen. J. Longstreet, New Orleans, La.: My Dear General— * * * As I could not write such a letter as you de- ■ sired, and as you stated you would leave , New Orleans in a week from the time yon wrote, I determined to delay my re ply till my return. * * I have avoid- 1 ed all discussion of political questions ■ since the cessation of hostilities, and have, in my own conduct, and in my recommendations to others, endeavored to conform to existing circumstances. I consider this the part of wisdom as well as of duty; but, while I think we should act nnder the law and according to the law imposed npon us, I cannot think ths course pursued by the dominant : political party the best for the interests , of the country, and, therefore, cannot say so, or give it my approval. This is the reason why I conld not comply with the request in your letter. I am of the opinion that all who can shonld vote for the most intelligent, honest and con scientious men eligible to office, irre spective of former political opinions, who will endeavor to make the new constitu tions and the laws passed nnder them as beneficial as possible to the true inter ests, prosperity and liberty of all classes and conditions of the people. There are many other interesting let ters on political and other topics in the volume, but want of space prevents their republication in this article. The book is a volume of five hundred pages, printed on fine paper and very handsomely bound in green and gold. It contains six exquisitely executed steel engravings—portraits of General Lbs, taken at different periods of his life, of General Jackson and of Mrs. Lxb—and a number of wood cuts. It is published to aid in the completion of Yalbntinb’s monument now in process of construction. The object shonld command itself to every Southern man and woman, and the book itself should find a place in every Southern home. The “Reminiscences” can be purchased 1 in this city at Richards’ Book Store, where an extensive and complete assort ment of books can be fonnd. Messrs. , Richards have a .large;'stock of every thing pertaining to their line of busi ness, and will give customers prompt and courteous attention. We commend them to the patronage of our readers. THE DEATH OF AN “ ORGAN.’* The telegraph brings intelligence of the death of the Republic. The event . was not unexpected—at least not to those who have had occasion to study recently the vital statistics of “organs.” The Republic was nothing if not an or gan. It was conceived an organ, bora an organ, and lived an organ—if a sick ly existence of two months may be called life. The papers in New York whioh professed belief in the principles of the Republican party fell into disgrace be cause they refused to blindly approve everything done by their friends and to as blindly censure every act of their op ponents. The Times, especially, was a piper of wealth and large circulation, wielding great power and exer cising an extensive influence with in the ranks- of its party. But the Times was not subservient enough. It exercised the right of opposing men and measures, even though the men were Republicans and the measures party measures. It even had the boldness to criticise the acts of the Administration and .of its head, the President. The Times refused to be controlled to the support of that whioh its conductors thought unwise or unjust, and the Ad ministration determined to establish a more tractable journal. In pursuance of this determination the Republic was founded upon the eve of the recent campaign. There was from the first no doubt, there could be no doubt, as to the character of the new pappr. It gloried in its prostitution, and wore the collar of the Administration as a mark of honor instead of regarding it as a badge of infamy. It was the perfect realization of an organ. It ground whatever tune was dictated by its masters. It praised the Prosi- dent and his friends in every thing they did; it abused their opponents bitterly and- unceasingly. It had no will, no spirit, no soul. It saw that measures were wrong and impolitic, and were doing great injury to the party to which it professed allegiance, yet it defended them as if they had been the confession of faith because they received the ap proval of the Administration. The elec tions came and it was discovered that if it had any power at all it was only po tent for evil. The people everywhere pronounced against the third term which it favored, against the warfare upon the South which it urged and defended. It was also discovered that the Republic was a success as an organ, but a failure as a newspaper. An organ is a handy thing for a knot of politicians to have, but it is such an expensive luxury that few men are able to afford its possession. Accord ingly, the money having given out, the organ has ceased grinding, the music has stopped and the Republic is as dead as the deadest of all things dead—a door nail. It died game, however, and gave the tunes to the end which it had been taught to play. One of the favor ites of the Administration was the pa thetic ballad of the “bloody shirt,” com posed for campaign purposes by At torney-General Williams. This was played by the Republic vigorously and unceasingly from the hour of its birth to the day of its death and with as many variations as Miss Wirt gave to “Sich a Gittin up Stairs,” The bloody shirt was shaken and waved in every possible and imaginable manner—in season and out of season, day in and day out. Even after the people had declined to listen any longer to the music, and had declared that they no longer believed in bloody shirts, the organ continued to flaunt—feebly it may be—the sanguinary garment which had lost even the power of protecting a watermelon patoh in the capacity of a scare-orow. Here is the last stave of the doleful ditty as taken from the edi torial columns of the organ : The Democracy of Mississippi want to establish the whipping post, after the manner of sinful little Delaware. The grand jury of Lowndes county recom mend it, and so do the Democratic news papers. The Meridian Mercury wishes laws enacted “to put up the whipping post, the pillory and stocks,” and be lieves in “tieing up by thumbs” as modes of punishment. There was little necessity for whipping posts in the South during the war, as overseers and slave owners could whale the negroes to their hearts’ content whenever they chose to do so. But now this barbar ous custom has been put an end to by the freedom of the black race, and the whites will not rest content until they can secure for the former some legiti mate mode of torture. They amused themselves in Vicksburg by murdering in cold blood, last week, something less than a hundred poor negroes, but this is a pastime they dare not indulge in many days at a time, becaure it doesn’t take a week to dispatch United States guardians of the peace down there. Mis sissippi, Georgia, Texas and Alabama Democrats are building a platform for their party to stand on, and it is based on a few words full of meaning : Peon aße—a new system of slavery ; the whip ping post and political death to all who oppose their accursed views—these are, in substance, the planks to be used in its construction. Alas ! and alas! We shall hear such strains no more. The harp, or more correctly lyre, is broken, its cords un strung and the melancholy musician has gathered up his piteous songs and re tired from business. The suspension of the Republic is but another evidence of the failure of organ ship. A journal which is conducted in that capacity cannot succeed. A paper may be Bepublican in its principles or Democratic, and it may support its party vigorously and effectively, and be come wealthy and prosperous and a pow er in the land, but it cannot be the blind slave of a clique of partisans with out forfeiting the respect and confidence of the public, and bringing upon itself ruin speedy and inevitable. The singular detection and punish ment of the kidnappers of Charlie Ross is one of the most curious of* the ro mances of crime. They were hnnted from one end of the Continent to the other, and their pursuers were stimu lated by the offer of immense rewards. Yet both of the guilty parties were killed not a great distance from the scene of their crime by on elderly gen tlemen who had the resolution and steadiness of hand to bring down a cou ple of burglars who were forcing an en trance into his premises. General Grant declares that in case of 1 ‘ further trouble ” in Louisiana “there will be somebody hurt.” This brutal declaration is in keeping with his conduct towards that unhappy State. He should know that 11 somebody has been hurt ” already in that unhappy pro vince—that her people have been de prived of life and liberty and despoiled of property by men acting under hin orders and by the usurpation which he set up and sustained. What more an he do ? Can he imprison a State or murder a whole people ? The annual meeting of the stockhold ers of the Central Railroad took plaee yesterday in Savannah. ly ORTHEKN IMMIGRANTS. Recently Judge John P. Kino, Presi dent of tho Georgia Railroad, has re ceived a number of letters from North ern men making inquiries about the condition of Georgia, the prioe of land, the feeling of the people towards North ern settlers, etc., with a view to settling here npon the reoeipt of satisfactory replies. Judge Kin* has handed us one of these, as a fair sample of the others, with a request that we would give it a public answer. It is from W. H. Sibley, a lumber merchant of Muskegon, Michi gan. He says : “ Will you please allow me te make some inquiries in regard to business, climate and other matters in your State? My object in making these inquiries is that myself and many others are desirous of going South to make a permanent home on account of the long and extreme cold weather we have in this Northern climate. I should like to know if the business I am engaged in, that of lumbering, could be made profitable either to buy and sell again or to manufacture. Then, again, how would be the farming—could there be any good plantations leased, together with teams, implements, etc., to advan tage ? In faot if parties from the North shonld seek a home in the South, would they be treated as the white people of the South treat each other ? My object and that of my family would be to se cure the acquaintance and friendship of the intelligent white people. We should wish to enjoy the full confidence and esteem of the good and true men and women of the South, and unless we could do so would not wish to make any change. It is of the health of the cli mate, the general business of your city and county—especially of cotton raising or other branches of farming—that I de sire to be informed. There is a good deal of information called for by the writer. The inquiries concerning the price of lands, the leas ing of plantations and farming imple ments we are unable to answer with positiveness. We shall be pleased to have this information furnished us for publication by some of our planter readers. Our impression is that land can be obtained in Georgia in any quantity and at almost any price. The average price of good farming land is from eight to ten dollars per acre—ac cording to location—proximity to rail roads and the supply of labor. Leases, we think, can also be effeoted without difficulty and upon favorable terms. Our planters have not, as yet, fonnd much profit in - raising cotton because they had to start without capital, have gone in debt to raise heavy orops of cotton whioh they have generally been compelled to sell at lew prices, and because they have raised nothing but cotton, depending upon the North and West for their corn, baoon, hay, lard, butter, eggs and poul try. With a properly diversified system of agriculture there is no reason to doubt that the culture of cotton will pay and pay handsomely. Of the lumber busi ness we know but little. The finest lumber in the world, pine and live oak, is to be found in Georgia, and timber land is neither high nor searce. Our best timber country is traversed by railways, and the lumber is easily and cheaply gotten to the seaboard. Like any other business, wo suppose that it pays when well and carefully managed. The business of Augusta is as good, if not better, than that of any city of its size in the South. Its mercantile houses are sound and substantial, and most of them have been long established. It is one of the largest interior cotton markets and has a splendid surrounding country from which to draw its trade. It has unsurpassed facilities for manufacturing, and several cotton factories are in suc cessful operation in the city or vicinity. With regard to the treatment which Northern settlers, of the class Mr. Sjblet described, will receive we have to say that they will be welcomed and treated as friends. The stories of unkind or unoivil treatment of Northern by South ern people are the fabrications of a po litical party for political effeot. We are anxious for Northern immigration and have offered every inducement in our power to secure it. The bona fid* set tlers have no cause to complain of want of kindness or hospitality, and if they will but come among us they will soon discover for themselves the truth of our assertions. The carpet-bagger politi cians who come with no intention to work, whose pursuit is office holding, and whose business is spoliation; who live by exciting the enmity of the black race against the whites, are looked upon with suspicion and distrust. But no suoh feelings are entertained for the men who come to cast their fortunes with us. They will receive “just the same treatment as the Southern white people extend to each other.” TOOMBS ON USURY. Reply of the Journal of Commerce. Public attention is just now called to this subject on account of the extraordi nary ntterances concerning i£ by Gen. Toombs, of Georgia. A correspondent at Rome, in that State, has sent us what purports to be a copy of the General’s statement, with a request for further in formation. We propose briefly to ex amine the arguments by whioh General Toombs defends this relic of the barba rous ages. 1. He states distinctly that “it has been condemned by the great philoso pher, Jesus Christ.” This is the vSry re verse of the truth. The case cited by Mr. Toombs in proof of his assertion is the overthrow of the money changers in the court of the Jewish temple. The ac count is given in the 21st of Matthew, the 12th of Mark, and the 2d of John. The transaction had no reference to in terest upon money. The money chang ers in the temple were not lenders, but exchangers of money, ostensibly for the convenience of those who had offerings to make in the temple service. They cheated the people whose coins or bul lion they changed into such portions as were desired, and in this sense they were thieves; but it was their dishonesty and sacrilege in the choice of places, and not their business, that is con demned, for the same epithet is applied with especial emphasis to those who sold oxen, sheep and doves for sacrifice, and all “that sold and bought in the temple” were driven out with the same scourge of small cords which pursued the money changers. Their dishonesty made them especially offensive, but the trading character of their occupation, if they had -been ever so honest, would have defiled the sacred place. That this “Great Philosopher” did not regard the taking the usury as wrong, is clearly proved from the parable where he likened his own kingdom to an admin istration in which the master said to an unfaithful servant (Matthew 25:27), “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers (that is, bank —Luke 19:23), and then at my coming I should have received my own with usury." 2. The General continues his argu ment against permitting free trade in money, on the ground that it “is not an article of commerce. ” But the old Jew ish law made no such distinction. Since General Toombs seems to believe so strongly in the Scripture authority (al though he has so sadly misquoted and applied it), we would refer him to the whole case plainly stated in Deuterono uny 23d, 19 20: "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother ; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury. Unto s stranger thou mayest lend upon usury.” Most superficial thinkers who have not examined the subject suppose that usury in the Scriptures means the same as in human statutes, that is, the taking, for the loan of money, a sum in excess of a certain established rate. But this is not the meaning or scope of the Mosaic pro hibition. Usury there meant the de manding or receiving any reward or pay ment whatever for the loan of any money or other commodity to a brother. The hire of a horse, or ox, or of food to a brother Israelite, is as sternly prohib ited as*the hire of money. Usury did not mean an exeessive rate ef hare, but any rate. The man who took one penny for twenty years’ interest of a thousand talents, violated the law as truly as if he asked 'feent per cent” per annum. And if he took a penny for the hire of a team, or the loan of food, or anything whatever that can by any possi bility be lent, he violated the law. This was done to promote liberality and brotherly kindness, and to restrain the national cupidity. That it was not be cause the payment for the use of money, or the hire of other property, is in itself wrong, or even uncommendable, is seen from the positive legislation in regard to strangers: ‘‘Unto a stranqer thou mayest lend upon ususy.” There is elsewhere a strong injunction of kind ness to strangers .under a threat of the sorest vengeance, so that the loan of money to a stranger upon usury was not an aot of unkindness, as judged by the most sacred of statutes. 3. The distinguished Georgian closed his plea by an averment that the usury law continued in existence in England until about 1866, when it was abolished; that after that “things went on from bad to worse,” and Parliament has re stored it.! This will be news, we think, on both sides of the water. The usury laws were repealed, in substance, early in the reign of Queen Victoria (about 1840), all obligations over £lO and hav ing not more than twelve months to ran being exempted from their operation, and twenty years ago they were abolish ed altogether as related to ordinary money transactions. 4. Asa last plea, General Toombs adds that “ the whole theory of free money is unsound, and is a gross op pression, against the tyranny of which the people ought to be protected.” This assertion is entirely unsupported, is in the face of all logic, and is opposed to the plainest diotates of common sense. It is also contradicted by all human ex perience. What has been the invaria ble effect of usury laws where they have been kept on the statute book ? What tyranny have they resisted? What poor man have they ever protected? There cannot be cited an instance of their enforcement in our time anywhere, except as a cover to the most shameless roguery, or at any rate as an evasion of an equitable obligation. They are a dead letter all over tbe world, except as an instrument of injustice in the hand of the dishonest or fraudulent debtor. The laws themselves tyrannize over bor rowers, who are made to pay more for the use of money because of these op pressive restrictions ; but Gen. Toombs cannot lay his hand on a case where, as they now exist, they have been cited in favor of the people ! If enforced iu this State they would convict and shut up in prison as a criminal every man who ac commodated his poorer neighbor in a season of pressure, and who thereby saved him from insolvency. They vio late the plainest principles of equity and fair dealing, and authorize injustice and villainy. They are not enforced, or their necessary operation would give them a blaoker character than any we could paint. They have no defender but those twin champions of ancient wrongs, ignorance and prejudice. THE CHARLESTON FIRE. Destruction of the Compress—Origin of the Fire—Three Thousand Bales Destroyed—Loss Two Hundred Thou sand Dollars—The Sufferers. (dliarleston News and Courier.] The most destructive fire known in Charleston since the close of the war oocurred yesterday afternoon. About quarter past two o’clock, the new Cham pion Cotton Press, at the corner of Church and Cumberland streets, was discovered to be on fire. The alarm in stantly filled the streets with orowds of firemen and anxious spectators, but the intense heat and fury of the flames, with which the whole building was in a very few moments enveloped, kept the throng from a near approach to the burning press. It is definitely known that the fire broke out in a bale of cotton which had been hurriedly thrown from a dray with others and as hurriedly borne to the second story on an elevator. As soon as it was discovered that there was fire in the bale the young man who as cended on the elevator with the burning bale endeavored to whip the fire out with his hat, and failing, gave the alarm. Mr. B. F. McCabe, the superintendent of the press, immediately called for water and ordered the cessation of the press machinery. In a few minutes all hands were working like Trojans, carry ing water from the neighboring wells, but these efforts proved unavailing, and the flames rapidly gained headway, and with remarkable suddenness swept over the second story, igniting the cot ton which was stored there. The em ployees of the press did their best to save the cotton, but the heat became so great that little could be done. By this time the district fire engines were on the spot and at work. At first, drawing water from distant wells, they could not accomplish much, because of their weak streams. Soon, however, they got infor mation of the immense supply of water in the huge reservoir on the premises of thejgas company, and as fast as they could they repaired thither, and ere many minutes several bold streams were pouring upon the burning mass. Great excitement now prevailed, be cause of the apprehension that the boiler might burst and occasion loss of life. But brave and thoughtful men had fore seen this danger, and at the imminent risk of their lives had guarded against it. Messrs. B. F. McCabe and George Stocker, an employee of the press, and Mr. Michael Kelly, of the firm of Miller, Kelly & Hughes, as soon as they saw that the press could not be saved, rushed to the safety valve and clung to it, one after another, until each in suc cession, blinded with smoke and ex hausted by the heat, had to seek fresh air. Their work, however, had been well done, and the boiler was safe. The excitement now quieted down, and the crowd, which had rapidly drawn off from the vicinity of the press where the boiler stood, closed around it once more. The threatening aspect of the conflagration at this time made it pru dent to summon the entire Fire Depart ment, and all the engines speedily got to work. The flames now had complete mastery of the press, and large volumes of smoke ascended to the skies, and here and there dropped burning flakes on house-tops and into the lots and streets. The heat grew terrific, and soon-the buildings on the south side of Cumber land street, caught fire, and the blaze which came from them and from the press united and arched the street.— The union of the two fires made a terrific grand spectacle, which was viewed by thousands. The oc cupants of the houses on the south side of Cumberland street were much excited in trying to save their effects,' some of which they succeeded in carry ing to safe places in the streets and to St. Philip’s Church yard. The Cotton Press and Patent Hydraulic Press ma chinery built by Messrs. John F. Taylor k Cos. cost $50,000, and were utterly wrecked, and nearly three thousand bales of cotton, with the exception of about one hundred and twenty-five bales, which were rolled away from the building, were burned. The burnt cot toh lies in a heap in the press, all scat tered, blackened and wet, and what yes terday forenoon was an extensive and busy establishment is now a mass of ruins. It is difficult to tell exactly how much cotton was in the press at the time of the fire. The books are believed to have been Raved, but last night were not accessible for examination. Accord ing to the best calculation that can be made there were about 3,000 bales in the press buildings and yards, nearly the whole of which is lost. Among the firms who had cotton in the press were the following: Arthur Barnwell & Cos., 300 bales, fully insured; Henry Card, 1,000 bales, fully insured; Wm. Fatman, 800 bales, fully insured; A. B. Mulligan, 79 bales, fully insured; C. N. Hubert, 60 bales, fully insured; C. O. Witte, 130 bales, fully insured; Street Brothers & Cos., 492 bales, as follows: By ship James Duncan, 238 bales; Norwegian bark Idun, 3 bales; American bark National Eagle, 16 bales, and British bark J. B. Duffus, 235 bales. The cotton for the Duffus and Idun is insured in Havre, and the rest in American companies. Lesesne & Wells also had cotton in the press. Taking the quantity of cotton destroyed as 3,000 bales, the loss on the cotton at $65 a bale will amount to $195,000. (By Telegraph.) Charleston, December 16.— Further investigation shows that not exceeding 3,200 bales of cotton were burned in the fire yesterday. The entire loss of Liver pool and London and Globe Insurance Company will not exceed $25,000. Aaron Alpeoria Bradley is in favor of the colored people of Georgia emigrat ing to Florida. NUMBER 51. CORRESPONDENCE. Just before the Rev. M. J. Reilly left for Atlanta, a few days since, a hand some gold watch was presented to him by the Catholics of Augusta. The fol lowing is the correspondence in refer ence to the presentation: Augusta, Ga., December 8,1874. Rev. M. 1. Reilly: Rev. ani> Very Dear Sm—With ex treme regret we learn of your early de parture from among us, and we hasten to express the love and esteem entertain ed for you by the Catholics of Augusta. Asa souvenir of the pleasant relations that have always existed between us as priest and people, and in appreciation of your Christian virtues—your zeal and energy in every good work—we present to you this watch; and in doing so we need not assure you how feebly the act expresses the great reverence and affec tion we have for you, both as a man and a priest. We congratulate - the Oatholios of Atlanta upon their good fortune in having you for their pastor; and in parting with you we console ourselves with the hope that we will all one day meet where parting is no more, and to this end we solicit your blessing and your prayers. R. H. May, M. O’Donnell, A. Dorr, Wm. Mulherin, E. O’Donnell, C. Spaeth, P. Otis, Thos. Armstrong, Peter Kee nan, A. Mullarky, James Burk, John Gallaher, James A. Gray J. W. Turley, Committee. Atlanta, Ga., December 11, 1874. Messrs. R. IT. May, E. O'Donnell, Jas. A. Or ay and other “Catholics of Augusta Gentlemen —lt is but natural to re ciprocate kindness, to be grateful for favors; but your beautiful expression of kind feeling would require even more. With sentiments of the deepest grati tude, I thank you, representatives of the “Catholics of Augusta” for the hand eome, valuable watch, which you gen erously presented me on the eve of my departure from your midst. Handsome as it is, and as much as I appreciate it, it becomes almost insignificant when compared to the sentiments contained in your beautiful letter. Yes, dear Catholics, you congratulate Atlanta! In severing my connection with you, I have had to break a strong tie; I bave had to do violence to my personal feelingsjand accomplish anew act of obedience. With you did I min gle as a youth, amongst you did I per form the first act of my holy ministry as a young priest, in fact, as a priest, I was born and raised amongst you. Never a moment of sadness, never one of regret but a constant sunshine of gladness, of content, of happiness and encourage ment in the performance of duty. I was happy with you and with God’s grace, I shall be happy in the “Gate City” of our noble State. The prayers and good will of a faith ful, grateful people are an earnest of future good. As I have labored among you so shall I labor amongst my new, and to me now, dear flock, which God has entrusted to me. For all of you shall I ever invoke a blessing from the Throne of Grace ; and for myself the grace to realize your fond expectations. May God bless you. Gratefully, M. T. Reilly. Messrs. R. H. May, E. O’Donnell A. Dorr, C. Spaeth, A. Mullarky, J. W. Turley, M. O’Donnell, P. Otis, C. Gray, Jas. Burke, Wm. Mulherin, Thomas Armstrong, Jno. Gallaher, Peter Keenan, Jas. A. Gray. How Grant's Message was Heceieyed in Cuba. Havana, December 16.—The message of President Grant is generally discuss ed without excitement by the people who do not attach much importance to the allusions to Spain and Cuba. The authorities give no sign of their opinion, but the journals have lengthy editorials, which, while they are not considered to reflect the sentiments of the people in general, may suit the views of parties they respectively represent.,, Voze de Cuba says silence, observed on Spanish affairs by the German Emperor in his speech to the Keichstag is amply compensated for in President Grant’s message. It is a noticeable coincidence that while the United States aspires to supremacy in Europe, both are anxious to meddle with the internal affairs of Spain. Aside from the desire of these nations to have peace in Spain her affairs cannot interest them so much as ourselves, and we must view their efforts with suspicion. Russia im posed silence on Germany. We do not know who will make Grant silent. As for the insurrection her%, on the strength and duration of which the President lays stress, it is less powerful now than it was at the beginning, and its endu rance fails to give it any significance. We doubt if any power will interfere in Spanish affairs, at least in Cuba, but should they attempt intervention we are prepared to repel it. The Diaro, in an article moderate in tone, says there is nothing in the message to cause alarm to the most timid. The present condition of affairs is not to be compared with that of last year. There has been some excitement in the gold market over reports about the message to which we attribute the rise of an eight of one per cent, in premi um. Referring to the military situation the Diaro declares affairs have im proved in the Eastern Department,while they show no change since the Autumn of 1873 in the Central Department, owing to continuous rains and many thousands of sick in the army. As for rebels, only about a dozen of their original leaders remain. Others are dead or have left the Island. Their army numbers from fifty to sixty thou sand men, the larger majority of whom are negroes and Chinamen. The leaders, hold out for the sake of the power they enjoy, regarding it as compensation for their troubles. The negroes refuse to surrender because they mistakenly be lieve they will be reduced to their for mer condition of slavery if they give up. The Diaro concludes: “Foreign nations can, but will not interfere in the inter nal affairs of the island. If the dura tion of a war is good reason for inter vention, then foreign powers ought to have interfered in the United States to stop the war with the Indians, which has lasted muoh longer than ours, and is not yet ended. ” Charlie Ross’ Abductors. Philadelphia, December 15. The following dispatch was received in this city early this evening: New York, December 15. To Jones, Chief of Police, Philadelphia: The waiter identifies both the dead men positively. The other witness is sure of one of them. [Signed] Wm. S. Heins, Capt. Detective Police of Philadelphia. The witness mentioned is Peter Calla han, who is employed in the residence adjoining that of Mr. Ross. It will be remembered that he saw one of the kid- ' nappers in the neighborhood of the the house before the abduction. The wife of Mosher, the dead burglar, knows nothing about Charlie Ross. The members of the Prospect Avenue Presbyterian Church calls upon Glen denning to continue his pastoral rela tions with them. Cobb has been elected Mayor of Bos ton. The Democrats lose one Alderman and gain seven Councilman. Newberry port and Lowell elect Reform candidates over the regular Republican nominee. The average cost of the Macon police force for the past two years was a frac tion over $19,000, which is about SIO,OOO less than any previous year since the war. The Chief of Police has paid all expenses of the jail with fines collected, and still paid a handsome surplus into the city treasury. A correspondent of the Pittsburg Leader in a racy sketch of the more prominent members of the present Con gress, says : Stephens does not look quite so muoh like a ghost this session. Decidedly he is improved. He sits up right; calm, sweet-tempered, and pa tient, Eotwithstanding the tumor that is ever at its deadly work upon his thigh. A silk hat is upon his head this open ing day ; a purple cap will take its place to-morrow. A serious affray occurred in Monroe county one night last week. The particu lars are about as follows: The young people had a party at the residence of Mr. John Pritchett, and after it broke up a man by the name of Parker and an other named Mann, under the influence of pop-skull whisky, had a dispute in regard to who should play “gallant” to a young lady. It resulted in blows and wound up by Parker being completely disemboweled and Mann receiving a very ugly wound. Both parties are se riously hurt. So much for mean whisky.
