Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. - w-.rfDEVOTED TO LITERARY, COMMERCIAL, AGRICULTURAL, GENERAL AND LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. ' volume i.. Lancaster; c. h? south Carolina, Wednesday morning, September k, ua number 32. THE LANCASTER LEDGER IS PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING. It. H. BAILEV, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. TERMS: Two Dollars per year, if paid in advance; Two Dollars and Fifty Cents, if paid in six months; or Three I)ollars, if payment is delayed until the end of the year. These terms will be rigidly adhered to. Advertisements will he conspicuously inserted at icventv-five cents per square of twelve lines, for the first insertion, and thirty-seven and a half cents for each subsequent insertion. A single insertion Ono Dollar. Nothing will be counted less than a square. Advertisers are requested to state, in writing on their advertisements, the number of times they wish them inserted ; or they will be continued in the paper until ordered out, and charged accordingly. The Law of newspapers. 1. All subscribers who do not give express Notice to the contrary, are considered as wishing to continue their subcri|>tions. 2. If subscribers order tbc discontinuance of their papers, the publishers may continue to send them until arrearages are paid. 3. If subscribers neglect or refuse taking their papers from the offices to which they are sent, they nre held responsible till their bills arc settled, and their papers i ordered to bo discontinued. 4. The Courts have decided that refusing to take a newspaper or periodical from the office, or removing and leaving it uncalled for, is prima facie evidence of INTENTIONAL rnAUD. ALL KIND8 OF JOB POTTING EXECUTED WITH NEATNESS AND DESPATCH At this Office. $p|prtfli Citlrs. THE LOST SON; OR Disappointment and Bevenge. FROM THE DIARY OF A LAW CLERK. A small puinphlet was printed at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1808, which purports to be "A Full and Complete Summary of the Extraordinary Matters, brought to light concerning the Bridgnian Family and Richard Green, of Lavenham, with many interesting Particulars never before . Published." lly this slight brochure? which appears to have had a local circulation onlv. and that a verv confined one? I have corrected and enlarged ray own version of the following dark page in the domestic annals of this country. One Epliraim Bridgman, who died in 1783, had for many years farmed a large quantity of land in the neighborhood of Lavenham, or Lanham (the name is spelt both ways) a small market-town about twelve miles south of Bury St. Edmunds. He was also land-agent as welt as tenant to a noble lord possessing much property thereabout, and appears to have la-en a very fast man for those times, ns,although , he Lept up appearances to the last, his only child and heir, Mark Bridgman, found, on looking closely into his deceased father's affairs, that were everybody paid, he himself would be left little better than a pauper. Still, if the noble landlord could be induced to givo a very long dny for the heavy balance due to him,?not only for arrears of rent, but moneys received on bis lordship's account,? Mark, who was a prudent, energetic young man, nothing doubted of pulling through without much '"difficulty,?the farm being low-rented and the agency lucrative, i- v This desirable object, however, proved V exceedingly difficult of attainment, and after a protracted and fruitless negotiation, by letter. with Messrs. Winstanley, of i Lincolo's-Ian-Field's, London, his lordship's solicitors, the young farmer determined, as a last resource, on a journey to town, in the vague hope that 011 n personal interview he should find tliose gentlemen not quite such square, fcml, rigid persons aa their written communications indicated. them to bis. Delusive hope!? They were precisely as stiff, formal, accurate, and unvarying as their letters.? "Tbo exact balanco due to bis lordship," Mid Winstanley, senior, "is, ah previously stated, ?2,103. 14s. 0,1., which sunt ee? cured by warrantof attorney, mvttbe paid M follows: one half in eight, and the remaining moiety in sixteen months from the present time." Mark Uridgmnn was im *> despair, taking into acoouflt other Habilitiea that would he falling due, compliance with such terms was, he felt, merely deferring the evil day, and he wna silently and moodily revolving in his mind whether it might not be U tter to give up the * game a* <>uce rather than engage in a prolonged, And almost inevitably disastrous struggle, when another person entered the office and entered into conversation with the solicitor. At first, the young muii did not appear to hoed,?perhaps d it not hear what was said,?hut after a whih one of the clerks noticed that his atten tion was suddenly an I keenly aroused and that he eagerly devoured every w on that passed between the new corner ant Mr. vViiistanley. At length tho lawyer as if to terminate the interview, said, ai he replaced a newspaper?The J'ubli< Adeerliaer?an underlined notice in w hicl hail f rined the subject of his coliloquy with the stranger, upon a side table, bj which sat Mark Bridgman. "You desiri us, then, Mr. Evans, to continue this ad vertisement for some time longer!" Mr Evans replied,"Certainly, six months long er, if necessary." He then bade the law yen* "good dav," and left, the office. W..II .!? VI_ > v.if ?! !?? \?vr ^uu Pny, mr. AJriUU inant" asked Mr. Winstanley, a* soon hi the door had closed. "Are y?u read* to accept his Lordship's very lenient pro posali" "Yes," was the quick reply. "Lot tin document be prepared nt once, and I wil execute it before I leave." This was done and Mark Bridgman hurried otf, evident ly, it was afterwards remembered, in i high state of flurry and excitement. II< had also, they found, taken the newspa ja r with him,? by inadvertance, the soli citor supernal, of course. Within a week of this time, the goo< foikof Lavenhain,?especially its woman kind,?were thrown into a ferment of won der, indignation, and bewilderment!? Rachel Mcrtioti, the oipliun dres>tnakint girl, who had been engaged to, and alum to marry Richard Green, the farrier an hiacksmiih,? and that a match far be | yond what she had any right t<> expect for all Iter pretty face and pert airs, wai positively being courted by Rridgmau young, handsome, rich, Mark ltridgmai of Red Lodge (the embarrassed state o the gentleman-farmer's affairs was entirely unsuspected in Laveiiham;) ay, and h\ way of marriage, too.?openly,?respect fully,?deferentially,?as if Ac, not Rachc Merlon, were the favoretl ami honourec party! -What on earth, everybody hsked was the world coming tol?a questiot most difficult of solution; hut all douhi with respect to tlie bona fide nature o! Mark Bridgman's intentions towards tin fortunate dressmaker, was soon at an end ho and Rachel being duly pronounce* uii Iiivil m nun iv ia-viiiiir Mruw I that Mark Bridgtnan had cumo into fx* session of ?IV,000 in right of hi* wife who was entitled to that sum by the wil of her mother'* maiden "inter, Mary Kd wanla, of Bath. The bride appear* no to have had the slightest suspicion tha her husband had been influenced by anj other motive than her personal charms it marrying her?a pleasant illusion which to do him justice, his unvarying tendernen tow am* her through lite, connrmea am atrcngthened; but other*, un blinded bj vanity, naturally aurmiaed the truth.? Richard Green, especially, aa fully belicv ed thai lie had been deliberately, and wit I malic* prepense, tricked out of ?12,00< aa of the girl herself, and Urn conviction then* can be no doubt, greatly in ere am and inflamed hie rage againat Mark Bridg man,?to much to that it became at laa | the tole thought and purpoee ot hit life ? v, I % i 1 j JU'. man and wife at the parish chun-h withii little more than a fortnight of the com inencemetit of his strange and hasty woo ing! All Lavenham agreed that Rachc Merton had shamefully jilted |>oor (ireen and yet it may be doubted if there ?er< many of them that, similarly tempted would not have done the same. A prer ty orphan, hitherto barely earning a sub sistence by her needle, and aland to t'rov herself away upon a coarse, repulsive per son, but one degree higher than herself ji the social scale?entreated by the hand soinest young man about Lavenbatn ti be his wife, and the mistress of Red Lodgt with nol>ody knows how many servant? dejiendanls, laborers!?the otter was irre sistible! It was also quite natural ilia the jilted blacksmith shou/d fiercely resen ?;is he did?his sweetheart's faithles conduct; and the assault which his augr excitement induced him to commit u|ku his successful rival a few days previous t< the wedding, was far too severely punish cd, cvery-body admitted, by the chastise ment inflicted by Mark Hriduman unoi his comparatively weak and jiowerlesa as sailant. Tlie morning after the return of tin newly-married couple to lied Lodge fmu a brief wedding-trip, a newspaper whiel the bridegroom had recently ordered !< las regularly supplied, was placed ii|M>ntlu table. lie himself was busy with break last; and his w ife, after a w hile, opened it and ran her eye carelessly over its columns Suddenly an exclamation of extreme sur p-ise escaped her, followed by ? "Goodness gracious, oiy dear Mark, d< look here!" Mark did look, and read an advertise ment aloud to the effect that, "If Haehe Edwards, formerly of Hath, who, in 1702 married John Merlon, bandmaster of tin 29th Regiment of Infantry, i.nd after wards kept a school in Manchester, or am lineal descendant of hers, would apply t< Messrs. NVinstanley, solicitors, Lincoln's Inn-Fields, they would hear of something greatly to their advantage." "Why, dear Mark," said the prettj bride, as her husband ceased rcadiud, "mi mother's maiden name was Rachel Ed wards, and I am, as you know, her on It surviving child!" "God bless me, to be sure! I reinem ber now hearing your father speak of it What can this great advantage lx?, 1 wonder! I tell you what we'll do, love,' the husband added, "you will like to set London, I know. We'll start by eoacl to night, and I'il call upon these lawyers and find out what it all means." This projxisition was, of course, gladh acceded to. They were gouenlx^iita fort litrltf aiwI fKois ? I as to liow he might safely and effectually i avenge himself of the man who was - daunting it so bravely in ihc world, whilst , he?poor duped and despised cast-away I ?was falling lower and lower in the 1 world every day ho lived. This was the , natural consequence of his increasing dis* solute and idle habits. It was not long t Itefore an execution for rent swept away i his scanty stock in trade, and he thence , forth Itecame h ragged vagabond hanger; on about the place,?seldom at work, and t as often as possible drunk; during which * fits of intemperance his constant theme was the bitter hatred he nourished towards - Bridgmnn, and his determination, even if - he swung for it, of being ono day signally avenged. Marke Bridgmnn was often - warned to he on his guard against the b venomous malignity of Green; hut this * counsel he seems to have spurned, or - treated with contempt. Whilst the vengeful blacksmith was l' thus falling into utter vagabondism, all I was sunshine at Bed Lodge. Mark Br'ulg'? man really loved his pretty and gentle, if * vain-minded wife,?n love deepened by ' gratitude, that through her means he had L' been saved from insolvency and ruin; and barely a t\\ elve month of wedded life had " passed, when the birth of a son completed their happiness. This child, (for near' ly three years it did not appear likely " there would he any other) soon came to * ho the idol of its parents,?of i's father, the pamphlet Itcforc me states even more ' than of its in ther. It was very singular1 ly marked, with two strawberries, exceed" ttigly distinct, on its left arm, and one, less ? vivul, on its right. There are two fairs held annually at Lavciiham, and one of * these?when little Mark was lietweeli i three an l four years old?Mr. Bridgmnn ' came in from lied Iswlge to attend, nc' compatiicd by his wife, sou, and a woman servant of the name of Sarah ilollins.? Towards evening, Mrs. Bridgmnn went out shopping, escorted by Ii.t husband, ' leave having; previously been given Ilollins ' to lake the child through the pleasure? < that is thu booth and show part of the 1 lair,?but with strict orders not to be ub 1 sent more than an hour from the inn ' w here her master and mistress were put* ? ting up. In little more than the specilied ? time thu woman returned, hut without the ' child; she had suddenly missed him, about 1 half an hour lad!ire, while looking on at some street-tumbling and had vainly ' sought him through the town since. ' The woman's tidings excited great n? larm; Mr. Rridgmnn himself instantly bur5 ried off, and hired messengers were, one ? after another, dispatched by the mother in * quest of the inisaing child. As hour nfter hour flow by without result, extravaf gant rewards, w hich set hundreds of per* sons in motion, writ1 ottered by the dis1 traded parents, hut all to no purpose.? * Day dawned, and as yet not a gleam of u intelligence had been obtained of the lost one. '* At length some one suggested that in quiry should bo made after Richard Green. 1 This was promptly carried into effect, and ' it was ascertained that he had not l>oeii s home during the night. Further investi' gation left no room to doubt that he had suddenly quitted I.avenham; and thus a * new ami unearthly light was thrown "pon the hoy's disappearance. It was conjectured that the blacksmith must have gone 1 to Loudon; and Mr. Rridgmau immediately set off thither, ami placed himself in communication with the authorities of ' Row Street. Every possible exertion was 1 used during several weeks to discover the 1 child, or Green, without success, and the * bereaved father returned to his home, a harnessed, spirit-broken man. During his absence his wife had been prematurely ' ...tt.lm.wl .. * ?... -JA i -- ? - -""1 " ? " ' ot God seemed, after h while, to partially j till the lulling void in a mothers heart; hut the sadness and gloom which had sct> tied upon tlie mind of her husband was not perceptibly liglitt-lied thereby. "It* I j knew Mark was dead," he once remarked I to the reetoi of Lavcnham, by whom he ' was often visited, "I should resign myself to his loss, and soon shake off this heavy grief. But that, my dear sir, which weighs ' me down?is, in fact, slowly but surely killing me?is a terrible conviction and presentiment that Green, in order fully to ' i work out his devilish vengeance, will stu11 diotisly pervert the nature of the child? f lead him into evil, abandoned courses? ami that I shall one day see liitn?but I will not tell you my dreams," he added, after stopping abruptly, and painfully J shuddering, as if some frightful spectre " | passed la-fore his eyes. "They are, 1 trust, J ! mere fancies; and yet?but let us change , the subject." Tliis morbidly dejected state of mind , was aggravated by tho morose, grasping disposition?so entirely different from what Mr. Itridgman bad fondly prophesied of Mark?manifested in greater strength with every succeeding year by his son Andrew, j ?a strangely unlovable and glooniy-tcmpered boy, as if the anxiety and trouble of the time during which he had been j hurried into the world had been impressed upon bis temperament and character. t It may be, that he felt irritated at, and t j-alous of, liis father's ceaseless repinings f for the loss of his eldest son, who, if re, covered, would certainly monopolize tho lis.uV .l.urn nf (tin nn? l?r?u fumilu Mn. perty?but not one whit too large in his j ?Andrew Bridgman's?opinion, for hiraself alone. The yonng man had not very long to - wait for it. He had iust passed his tweni tieth year, when his father died at the enr) ly age of forty-seven. The last wander, ing thoughts of the dying parent reverted 1 to the lost child. "Hither, Mark," he <- faintly murmured, as the hushed roournt ers round his bed watched with mute awe i, the last fluttering of departing life; "hither, % a * hold me tightly by the hflfed, or you may I loeo yourself in this dark, dark wood,"? j These were his last wor& Oh the will i being opened, it wan fouBAhat the whole j of his estate, real and penftnal, had been bequeathed to his non Andrew, charged only with au annuity oi ?6#0 to his mother, during life. Jul, tflfruhl Mark be found, the property waa to ke his, similarly charged with respect to l|n?. Bridgmnn, and ?100 yearly to hia bvbther Andrew, also for life, in addition. \ Oil the evening of the t?>th day after his father's funeral, young lfr. Bridgmau sat up till a late hour, examining various papers and accounts conoftted with his inheritance, and after retiring to bed, the exciting nature of his rectfct occupation hindered him from sleeping Whilst thus 1 vinrr outolrn l.Io ooLl. 1 'j m"rs " ? 10 vjuivik uar il MJUIH1 ( as of some one breaking into the house t through one of the lower casements. He i rose cautiously, went out on the landing, s and soon satisfied himself that his suspic- c ion was a correct one. The object of the s : burglars was, he surmised, the plate in the t | house, of which there was an unusually large quantity, both his father antf grand- ] father having expended much money in ( that article of luxury. Andrew ltridg- t man was anything but a timid person,'? ) indeed, considering that six men altogeth- | er slept in the house, there was but little ^ cause for fear,?and he softly returned to ( his bed-room, unlocked a mahogany case, r took out, loaded and primed two pistols, t and next roused the gardener and groom, ) whom he bade noiselessly follow him.? , The burglars?three in number, as it ( proved?h.-.d already reached and opened | the plate-closet. One of them was stand- | ing within it, and the others just without. J "Halloo! rascals," shouted Andrew ?. Bridgman from the top of a flight of stairs, 1 "what are you doing there?" < The startled and terrified thieves glaue- t ed hurriedly npind, and the two outer- ( most fled instantly along the passage, put- j sued by the two servants, one of whom i had armed himself with a sharp-pointed i kitchen knife Tin. ?? ?" ? f-? ?..V Vilivt W no IIUI Ml IUI- J tun ate. He had not regained the thres- s hold of the closet when Andrew Bridg- i man tired. The bullet crashed through I the wretched man's brain, and he fell for- i ward, stone-dead, upon his face. The two < others escaped?one of them .after a sc- i vere struggle with the knife-armed groom. | It waa some time l>efore the uproar in ' the now thoroughly-alarmed household had subsided; hut at length the scream- ' ing females were paeitied, and those who had got up, persuaded to go to bed again, i The corpse of the slain burglar was re- i moved loan out-house, and Andrew Bridg- *j man returned to his bed-room. Presently there was a tap at the door. It was Sarah Hollies. "I am come to tell you < something," said the now aged woman, with a significant look. "The person you i have shot is the Richard Green you have ; so often heard of." ! The young man, Ilollins afterwards said, ] seemed much startled by this news, and I his countenance Hushed and paled in quick ' succession. "Are you quite sure this is ] true?" ho at last said. "Quite; though he's | so altered that, except Missus, I don't I | know nnyl>ody else in the house that is i I likely to recognise him. Shall I tell her?" . "No, no, not on any account. It would i only recall unpleasant events, and that j quite uselessly. lie sure not to mention i your suspicion,?your belief, to a soul." i "Suspicion! belief!" echoed the woman. ] "It is a eertaintv. But, of course, as you < wish it, I shall hold my tongue.'1 So audacious an attempt created a con| siderahle stir in the locality, and four days after its occurrence a message was sent to i Bed Lodge from Bury St. Edmunds, that two men, supposed to be the escaped burg- < lars, were tl ert in custody, and requesting Mr. Bridginan's and the servants' attendance on the morrow, with a view to their identification. Andrew Bridgman, the gardener, and groom, of course, ol>eyed the summons, and the prisoners were I brought into the justice-room before them. One was a fellow of about forty, a brutal- i visaged fellow, low-browed, sinister- look- , ing rascal, with the additional ornament of a but partially-closed hare-lip. He was unhesitatingly sworn to by both men.? Tho other, upon whom, from the instant he entered, Andrew Bridgman had gazed with eager, almost, it seemed, trembling curiosity, was a well-grown young man of, it might be, three or four and twenty, with a quick, mild, almost timid, unquiet, troubled, look, and features originally comely and pleasing thero could be no doubt, but now smirched and blotted into 111 mvor oy excess, and evil habile, lie gave the name of "Robert Willinros." Andrew Bridgman, recalled to himself by the magistrate'* voice, haatily aaid, "that he did not recognise this prisoner as one of the burglars. Indeed," he abided, with a swift but meaning look at the two servants, "I am pretty sure ho was not i one of them." The gr?>om and gardener, 1 influenced no doubt by their master's i manner, also appeared doubtful as to whether Robert Williams was one of the housebreakers. "But if he l>e," hesitated the proom, hardly knowing whether he I did n^ht or wrong, "there must bo some smartish wounds on his arms, fori hit him there sharply with a knife several times." The downcast head of tbo youthful burglar was suddenly raises! at these words, I :.! _-.i~i.r_ - ?J s_-i I no imiiU) ijuniKi^, wijrii>t h mi nilftU passed over his palid features, "Not me, not me,?look, my arm-sleeves have no holes?no * "You mav have ol>tninod another jacket," interruptedkhs magistrate. "We must see your arms." An expression of hopeless despair settled upon the prisoner's face; he again hung down his head in shame, and allowed the constables to quietly atrip off bis jaoket. Andrew Hridgmnn, who had $one some distance, returned whilst this ftiisgoing on, and watched for what might text disclose itselfe with tenfold ctiriosity tnd eagerness. "There arc stabs enough tere, sure enough," exclaimed a constable, 1 is he turned up his shirt-sleeve on the i irisoner's left arm. There were, indeed; 1 utd in addition to them, natural marks of l 'wo strawberries were distinctly visible, i The countenance of Andrew Bridgmatt I jrew ashy pale, as his straining eyes glar- i h] upon the prisoner's naked arm. The ' text moment he wrenched himself away, < ?s with an effort, from the sight, and i daggered to an open window?sick, diz :y, fainting?it was at the time believed, roin the closeness of the atmosphere in i lie crowded room. Was it not rather I hat he Irul recognized his long-lost broth:r?the true heart to the hulk of his dc~ ? eased father's trealth, against whom ho night have thought an indictment would i earecly lie for feloniously entering his >wn house! lie said nothing, however, ' uul the two prisoners were fully commit- t ed for tril. I Mr. 1 Yinco went down "special" to ' 3ury, at the next assize, to defend a gen- } lemnn accused of a grave offence, but ' he grand jury having ignored the bill, ' le would probably have returned at once, 1 lad not an attorney brought him a brief, ' ery heavily marked, in defence of "Rob>rt Williams." "Strangely enough, too," 1 cmarked the attorney, as he was about o go away, "the funds for the defence 1 lave been supplied by Mr. Andrew liridg- ' nan, whose house the prisoner is accused ' >f having burglariously entered. But this 1 s confidential, as he is very solicitous that ' lis oddly-generous action should not be ' mown." There was, however, no valid ' lefence. The ill-favoured accomplice, why, ' ' know not, had been admitted king's 1 ivideucc by the counsel for the crown, and ' here was no resisting the accumulated 1 vidence. The prisoner was found guilty, ' ind sentenced to be hanged. "1 never ' ntended," he said, after the verdict was 1 eturned, and there was a tone of dejected latience in his voice that affected one that a respite or reprieve had como for one or more of the prisoners, and hundred* of eyes were instantly turned toward* the scaffold, only to seo that if so it had arrived too late. The carriage stopped at the gate of the building. A lady, dressed in deep mourning, wss hastily assisted out by a young man with her similiarly attired, and they both disappeared within the jaile. After some parleying,I ascertained flint I had sufficient inflnenc In obtain .irangeiy, "i never intended to commit violence against any one in the house, and >ut that my uncle?lie that was shot? .aid repeatedly that he knew a secret concerning Mr. Dridgman (hodidn't know, I am sure, that he was dead) which would prevent us from being prosecuted if we sere caught, I should not havo been persuaded to go with him. It was my first jffencc?in?in house breaking, I mean." I had, and indeed ha -e, some relatives in Mildenhall, in the same county, whom at the termination of the ltuvy assize, 1 got leave to visit for a few days. Whilst there, it came to my knowledge that Mr. Andrew Bridginan, whom I had seen in court, was moving heaven and earth to procure a commutation of the convict's sentence to transportation for life. His zealous efforts wosc unsuccessful; and the Saturday County Journal announced that Robert Williams, the burglar, would suffer death with four others 011 the following Tuesday morning. I reached Bury on the Monday evening, with the intention of proceeding by the London night coach, but there was no place vacant. The next morning I could only have ridden outside, and in, besides being intensely cold, t was snowing furiously, I determined on tost polling my departure till the evening, slid secured an inside place fur that purpose. I greatly abhor spectacles of the kind, and yet, from mere idleness and curiosity, 1 suffered myself to he drawn into the human stream flowing towards "Hang Fair." and once jammed in with the crowd in front of the place of execution, egress was, I found, impossible. After waiting a considerable time, the death-bell suddenly tolled, and the terrible procession appeared,?five human beings about to he suffocated by human hands, for offences against property!?the dreadful and deliberate sacrifice preluded and accompanied by sonorous sentences from the Gospal of mercy and compassion! Hardly daring to look up, I saw little of what passed 011 the scaffold, yet one quickly withdrawn glance, showed me the sufferer in whom 1 took most interest, lie was white as if already collined, and the unquiet glare of his eyes was^I uoticcd, teribly anxious ! I did not again look up? I could not; and the surging murmur of tho crowd, as it swayed to and for, tho near whisperings of the ribald tongues; and the measured, mocking tones of tho minister, promising eternal life through tho mercy of the most high God, to wretches whom the justice of inun denied a few more days or years of mortal existence? were becoming momently more and more expressive, when a dull, heavy sound boomed through the air; the crowd swayed violently from side to side, and the simultaneous expiration of many pent-up breaths testified that all was over, aud the relief experienced l>y the coarsest natures of the consummation of a deed too frightful for humanity to contemplate. It was some time before the mass of spectators, began to thoroughly seperate, and they were still standing in largo clusters,spite of the bitter, falling weather, when n carriage, furiously driven, with the body of a female, who was screaming vehemently and waving, a white handkerchief, projected half out of ono of tho windows, was seen approaching by the London ltoad. Tho thought appeared to striko every one admission, and a few moments afterward" ! I found myself in the pass-room. The ' young man?Mr. Andrew liridgiuan,? !< was there, and the ladv, who had fallen fainting upon one of the benches, was his < mother. The attendants were administering restoratives to her, without effect,' till an inner door opened, and the undersheriff, by whom she was personally known, entered; when she started up and interrogated, with the innto agony of her wet, yet gleaming eye.", the dismayed and distressed official. "Let me entreat you, my dear madam, "he faltered, "to retire. This is a most painful?fright " "No?no, the truth!" shrieked the infortunato lady, wildly clasping here lands. "I shall bear that best!" < "Then [ grieve to say," replied tho unler sheriff, "that the marks you describe i ?two on the left, and one on the right s inn, are distinctly visible." 1 a piercing scream, broken by tlic words, i 'My son!?oh God!?my son!" burst from s he wretched mother's lips, and she fell i lieavily, and tvithout senso or motion, i ipon the stone floor. Whilst the under- i sheriff and others raised and ministered to 1 !ier, I glanced at Mr. Andrew Bridgman. < lie was as white as the lime-washed wall i Against which he stood, and the tire that i burned in his dark eyes was kindled?it was plain to me?by remorse and horror, 1 not by grief alone. I The cause of the sudden appearance ot < the mother and son at the closing scene t jf this sad drama was afterwards thus ; explained:?Andrew Bridgman, from the , moment that all hope of procuring a com- < mutation ol the sentence of the so-called i liobert Williams had ceased, became t jxccedingly nervous and agitated, and his < liscomposure seemed to but augment as i the time yet to elapse before the execution _>f the sentence passed away. At length, i unable to endure tire goadingsof a tortur- t id conscience, lie suddenly burst into the j room where his mother sat at breakfast, 1 on the verj morning his brother was to ^ die, with an open letter in his hand, by < which ho pretended to have just heaid < that Koliert Williams was the long lost | Mark Bridgman! The sequel has been i already told. I The conviction rapidly spread that i Andrew Bridmnan had been from the i ?.-o# ....... .I--. .1-- .1 .1 1 1-_ mniunaiv uihi in*: \?muilUi UUimiU WH8 ] his own brother, and he found it necessary to leave the country. lie turned his i inheritance into money, and einbar'ced ( for Charleston, America, in the Cleopatra, i from Liverpool. When oil" the Scilly Islands, tlie Cleopatra was chased by a i French privateer. She escaped; but one of the few Bhots fired at her from the frivateer was fatal to the life of Andrew Iridgman. lie was almost litterally cut in two, and expired instaneously. Some friends to whom I have related this story, deem his death an accident; others, a judgement: I incline, I must confess, to the last opinion. The wealth with which he embarked wjis restored to Mrs. Rridgman, who soon afterwards removed to London, where she lived many years,? sad ones, no doubt, but mitigated and rendered endurable by the soothing balm of a clear conscience. At her decease, I not many years ago, the whole of her i property was found to be bequeathed to i various charitable institutions of the metropolis. The Georgia Penitentiary. The Milledgeville Recorder, furnishes the following information with regard to this institution : " Near eight months have passed since ' it was placed under the direction of its present otlieers, and everything appears to indicate a degree of industry and energy on the part of the principle keeper Mai. Zachry, highly creditable to himself and his assistants. It will be remembered from the report to the last Legislature, that the institution was out of materials to work, besides being greatly in debt.? The Legislature made appropriations to pay this indebtedness, but made 110 allowance for future operations. llow the institution lift* iinnrnvml in niirlu nmnili. ... ~.fe..w so wonderfully as it has done, wc are at a loss to conjecture, for the change for the belter seems almost incredible. But to particulars. "A new and superior engine of twenty horso power has just been erected and put into operation. To give the necessary supply of water, a new and capacious , well has been dug. The shoe shop has ] been considerably enlarged, and a new brick car shop 120 feet by 00 is in course ot erection. They liavo already finished ten new freight cars for the State lioad and the timber for fifteen more is now dressed and ready to be put up. Besides, what have already been sold, they have on hvnd, six thousand pairs of negro shoes, thirty Jersey and two horse wagons fifty or sixty setts dcublo and single harness, and a quantity of common furniture. The vats are full of hides with sufficient bark on hand to finish them.' There are at present one hundred and five convicts* one a female. There were in the institution at the commencement of tho vcar, only 02, ami two of them were pardoned l?y tho legislature, and three subsequently by the Governor?two of whom were females. There has been but one escape, and that one recovered." Sinoular Accident.?A passenger in one of tho New York omnibusses, a day or two since, in order to have no delay in settling his fare, put the sixpence intended for that purpose, into his mouth. Tho coin unfortunately slipped in the windpipe, whore it lodged, causing immediate loss of voice and danger of suffocation. After much suffering on the nart of the patient, it was extracted by cutting into the windpipe. ' ' #' The Minister's Faults. We are prone to look 011 the dark side >f things ; and this in more ways than one. I have not time now to explain the pliilosopliy of this ; 1 would barely suggest that it may be because wo seo things in tho shadow of our hearts. It is because of this disposition to look on the dark side of things, that wo aro prone to speak of the faults of others rather than of their virtues. When gldotilily disposed, wo always regard things inoro diseourngingly than they really are ; so when we speak of tho faults of others, wo make them worse than they really are. In both cases we fail to do justice, simply because we thrust the one side too tnuch out of sight. 1 r r.i._ ii wi uiu luuu-s 01 outers is an injury to them in general, it must be tnoro 10 in particular, when those whoso faults ive magnify are those who occupy influential positions in society. Hence wo aippose, that speaking of the faults of minsters must be attended with peculiar svil. If an impression is made on any 11 ind to prejcdicc him against a minister, lis influence over that mind is, to a great jxlcnt, lost. Thus a single remark may lo irreparable injury to some soul. This s a solemn consideration. There are sometimes church members Lo be found, who habitually speak of tho aults of their own pastor. We do not, of :ourse, deny that all pastors have faulta 5 hey have this treasure in earthen vessels, md arc men of like passions with others, ind? as such have their failings. We are inly insisting that it is not prudent, and s not just, and not christian to speak of liese things; at least not without great are, and only when it is not absolutely equired, in justice to others. The evil becomes still greater when pa* cuts allow themselves to speak of tho aults and weaknesses of their pastor in the iresencc of their children. Such remarks lave an eflfcet upon the hearts and minds if children, the importance of which is selloin considered as it should lie. The children of a family ought to he taught to re* ('are the pastor with the greatest love and reverence; but how can they do this when lliey hear his weaknesses, which they never suspected, bandied about by their owii parents I Who does not sec that soon tlid minister will lose his influence over them? Parents sometime wonder and eomnlain :hat tlieir children are not attached to tho Church. Would it not bo well to pause find inquire how far the habit which wo tiro reproving, lies at the bottom of this silent alienation ? Must we not believe that it lies much in the power of parents to attach their children to the Church! If the children hear only good from their parents in regard to him, their attachment to the Church is secured. We ask parents who read this, to givo the matter a few moments serious consideration ; and we hope, that if they believe these remarks to be just, they will be led to benefit by them.? German Jiejonned Messenger. Desi'Ise Not The Day of Small Things. ?A single act of disobedience involved the world in universal sin. A single deception practised on the old man whose eyes were dim, changed the line of blessing through countless generations. The selling of the sliephcrd-boy saved a people from famine, and placed his famine, among the mighty in the land. Paul was brought before Ca;sar to make his defence, and thus the gospel was preached in the imperial. Luther, through sutlering and poverty, entered the Umiversity to study law, but found in its libcrary a Bible, and gleaned from its pages the thought of that glorious Itet'ormatiou. Franklin with a kite drew the lightning ,from the clouds; Morse bound its wings, and made it a messenger to do his bidding. A piece of cork attached to a loadstone suggested the idea of a mariner's compass, the pilot of thousands and tens of thousands over the trackless deep. Lorentius, of Harlem, cutting rude letters on the bark of a tree, gaf'e rise to the press, whoso influence is more powerful than armies. But we need not multiply facts. Tho proudest form, the gayest step, the strongest arm, were once a feeble childs. Tho most profound learning commenced with A, 11, C- The loftiest intellect once strove to understand the simplest laws in nature. Despise not then thy fellow-man, for in every soul that wears tho imago of its Maker, there is a hidden irerm of power tlmt may wield the destinies of nations. Rejoice then, Christianai with the first gleam of good and truth; for it breaks from the Sun of Righteousness, whose noontide glory shall wrap the cartli in its blaze.?American Messenger. A Sisteu's Love.?There is no purer feeling kindled upon the altar of human affections, than a sister's pure, u neon tarn in ated love for her brother. It is unlike all other affection: so disconnected with selfish sensuality; so feminine in its development; *<> dignified, and yet, withal so fond, so devoted. Nothing can altar it; nothing can suppress it. The world may revolve, and its revolutions effect changes in the fortunes, in tbo character, and in the disposition of her brother; yet if ho wauts, whose hand will so readily stretch out as that of his sister; and if his character is maligned, whoso voice will so readily swell in his advocncy. Next to a mother's unquenchable love a sister's is preeminent. It rest* so exclusively on the tie of consanguinity for its sustenance; it is *o wholly divostod of passion, and springs from such a deep recess in the hnman bosom that when a sister once fondly and deeolv renrards her brother that aftWiinn is blended with her existence, and ike lamp that nouriehei it expire* only with that existence. wm I _# A