I
samnllwmmelton An Independent Journal: For the Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the South. {lewis m. grist, puwwwr.
VOL. 2 YOBKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JUSTE 12, 1856. NO. 24.
(Ojo tcc fHdvi).
THE CHILD OF EARTH.
BY MBS. NORTON.
Fainter her slow step falls from day to day ;
Death's hand is heavy on her dark'ning brow ;
Yet doth she fondly cling to earth, and say,
" I am content to die ; but oh, not now!?
Not while the blossoms of a joyous spring
Make the warm air such luxury to breathe?
Not while the birds such lays of gladness sing?
Not while bright flowers around my footsteps
wreathe.
Spare me, Great God ! lift up my drooping brow;
I cm content to die?but oh! not now."
The spring has ripened into summer time ;
The season's viewless boundary is past!
The glorious sun has reached his burning prime:
Oh ! must this glimpse of beauty be the last 9
"Let me not perish, while o'er land and sea,
With silent steps, the Lord of Light moves on;
A AP A MiAnntaln knn
YYU'IC IrUC IUU1IUU1 I'l IUC uiuumaiu WW
Greets my dull ear with music in its tone!
Pale sickness dims my eye an<* clouds my brow ;
I am content to die?but oh, not now!"
Summer is gone: and autumn's soberer hues
Tint the ripe fruits and gild the waving corn;
The huntsman swift the flying game pursues,
Shouts the hallo! and winds his eager torn.
"Spare me awhile, to wander forth and gaze
On the broad meadows and the quiet stream;
To watch in silence while the evening rays
Slant through the fading trees with ruddy gleam.
Cooler the breezes play around my brow;
I am content to die?but oh, not now !"
The bleak wind whistles; snow showers far and near,
Drift without echo to the whit'ning ground;
Autumn hath passed away, and cold, and drear,
Winter stalks on with frozen mantle bound.
Yet still that prayer ascends: "Oh! laughingly
Our little brothers round the warm hearth crowd;
Our home fire blazes broad, and bright, and high,
And the roof rings with voices light and loud.
Spare me awhile! raise up my drooping brow ;
I am content to die?but oh, not mrw !"
The spring is come again?the joyful spring!
Again the banks with clustering flowers are
spread;
The wild bird dips upon its wanton wing:
The child of earth is numbered with the dead!
" The never more the sunshine shall awake,
Beaming, all redly, through the lattice pane;
The steps of friends thy slumbers may not break,
Nor fond, familiar voice arouse again.
Death's silent shadow veils thy darkened browWhy
didst thou linger!?thou art happier now !"
Jldftt JHkcllaitj).
THE LAUGHING HEKO.
It was the morning of the 17th of March,
1836, Aurora, mother of dews and mistress
.of golden clouds, came, as she almost ever
comes to the living scenery of the plains of
Goliad?a thing of beauty, queen of the sky
on a throne of burning amber, robed in the
crimson of fire, with a diadem of purple,
and streamers of painted pink. Oh 1 it was
a glorious dawn for the poet to sing of earth,
or the saint to pray to heaven; but poet's
song or saint's prayer made the matins of the
place and the hour. Alas! no; it was a
fery different sort of music.
A hundred hoarse drums roared the loud
reveille that awoke four hundred Texan prisoners
and their guard?four times their
number of Mexican soldiers?the elite of the
Chief Butcher's grand army.
The prisoners were immediately summoned
to parade before the post, in the main
-i. 1 :n ? J
street 01 tue village, auu every eye ?parn.ieu
with joy, and every tongue uttered the involuntary
exclamation of confidence and
hope?
"Thanks, Santa Anna! He is going to
execute the treaty ! We shall be shipped
back to the United States! We shall see
our friends once more !"
Such were the feelings which the American
volunteers, and the few Texans among
them greeted the order to form into line.
The line was formed and then broke into
two columns, when every instrument of music
in the Mexican host sounded a merry step
over the prairie towards the west.
Five minutes afterwards, a singular dialogue
occurred between the two leaders of
the front columns of the prisoners :
"What makes you walk so lame, Col.
Neil? Are you wounded?" asked a tall,
handsome man, with blue eyes, and bravery
flashing forth iu all their beams.
"Col. Fannin, I walk lame to keep from
being wounded, do you comprehend ?" replied
the other with a laugh as no words
might describe?it was so luxurious, like
L the roar of the bieakers of a sea of humor,
* it was, in short, a laugh of the inmost
heart.
"I do not comprehend you, for I am no
artist in riddles," rejoined Fannin, smiling
himself at the ludicrous gaiety of his companion,
so strangely ill-timed.
"You discover that I am lame in each leg,"
said Colonel Neil, glancing down at the members
indicated, and mimicking the movements
of a confirmed cripple, as he laughed
louder than ever. "And yet, he added, in
a whisper, T have neither the rheumatism
in my knees, nor corns on my toes, but I
have two big revolvers in my boots !"
"That is a violation of the treaty by which
we agree to deliver up our arms," Col. Fan
nin mournfully suggested.
"You will see, however, that I will need
them before the sun is an hour high," replied
Neil. "Ah 1" Fannin, you do not
know the treachery of these base Mexicans."
At the instant the suu rose in the sky of
extraordinary brilliancy, and a million flowercups
flung their ordors abroad over the green
prairie, as an offering to the lord of light,
when the mandate to "halt" was given by
cne-of Santa Anna's Aids, and the two columns
of prisoners were broken up and scattered
over the plain, in small hollow squares,
encircled on every side by Mexican infantry
and troops of horses, with loaded muskets
and drawn swords. And then came a momentary
pause, awful in its stillness, and
disturbed only by an occasional shriek of
terror, as the most timid among the captives
realized the impending storm of fire and extinction
of life's last hope.
And then the infernal work of wholesale
murder was began, and a scene ensued such
as scarcely might be matched in the annals
of hell itself! The roar of musketry burst
in successive peals like appalling claps of
thunder, but could not utterly drown the
prayers of the living, the screams of the
wounded, and more terrible groans of the
dying!
Col. Fannin fell among the first victims,
but not so the giant Neil. With the order
of the Mexican officer, to his men to fire,
our hero stooped almost to the earth, so that
the volley passed entirely over him. He
waited not for a second; thrusting a hand
I into a leg of each boot, he rose with a eouple
of six-shooters, the deadly revolvers, and
commenced discharging them with the quick
rapidity of lightning into the thickest ranks
of his foes.
Panic stricken with surprise and fear, the
Mexicans recoiled and opened a passage,
through which Neil bounded with the spring
of a panther and fled away as if wings were
tied to his heels, while half a dozen horsemen
gave chase. For a while it seemed
i i .A i _t.ii it. riii l
aouDtiui wneiner uie giuui vujuuui nuuiu
not distance even these, so much had the
perils of the occasion increased the natural
elasticity of his mighty muscles. But presently
a charger fleeter than the rest might
be discerned gaining on his human rival and
approached so near that the dragoon raised
his sabre for a covptlc gracr. Neil became
conscious of his danger, and hastily slackened
his speed, till the hot stream of smoke
from the horse's nostrils appeared to mingle
with his very hair, and then wheeling suddenly,
he fired another round from a revolver,
and the rider tumbled from his saddle.
The victim then renewed his flight.
A mad yell of grief and rage broke from
the remaining troopers as they witnessed the
fate of their comrade, and its effect was immediately
evident in the augmented caution
of their pursuit?for thcygalloped afterwards
in one body, thereby greatly retarding their
progress, so that Neil reached the river before
them. He paused not a moment, but
plunged headlong down the steep bank into
the current, and struck for the other shore, j
The dragoons discharged their side-arms ineffectually,
and gave over the chase !
In a few minutes Neil, landed and as soon
as he felt satisfied that lie was really saved
burst into an insuppressible convulsion of
laughter, and exclaimed : ?'It will kill me !
just to see how astonished the yellow devils
looked when I hauled my revolvers out of my
boots!"
Such was Col. John Neil?possessing a
fund of humor that no misfortune could ever
exhaust, and a flow of animal spirits which
would have enabled him to dance on the
graves of all his dearest friends, or to have
sung Yankee Poodle at his own execution!
SOCIAL & PHYSICAL TRAINING.
livery day brings more clearly home to '
thinking minds a conviction of the necessity
of important changes in the nurture and education
of youth. That we are fostering intellectual
development atthc expense of physical
health is becoming, with each succeeding
generation, but too painfully apparent.
At the age of sixteen, our precocious boys
have reached a premature manhood; and at
twelve our girls begin their career of flirtation.
Cigars and walking canes arc cxchan- i
ged by the former for athletic exercises; i
while the latter reject catisthenics for silk
dresses and confectionery, and dumb bells
for diminutive beaus. Our merchants, absorbed
in business cares, find no time to encourage
those exercises which invigorate the
youthful frame.- Fine houses and gay dresses
are the principal attraction of American
mothers, and, irom the torce ot example,
necessarily become a passion with their daughters.
Wealth has become the touchstone of
respectability, and, iu the pursuit of it, all
that makes life delightful is ruthlessly sacrificed.
The immense consumption of drugs
and nostrums throughout the United States
proves conclusively the trial condition of the
general health. The life wc lead has given
rise to a heap of diseases which were almost
unknown to our progenitors.
Prominent among these are dyspepsia, and
the various nervous, disorders incidental to
gestric derangement.
There arc very few among us who are
blessed with that joyous elasticity of spirits
which is the result of perfect health, and
the cause of this condition of general invalidism
lies in the fact that we have neglected,
in our own persons, and in the education of
our children, to promote a due observance of
those sports and recreations which are coiumou
to other countries; but which, among
us, have come to he regarded as indecorous,
and, above all?unfashionable. What is the
consequence ? As a people we are assuming
a peculiar type?a gaunt, bony, sharp-featured
race, impulsive iu temperament, quick
in apprehension, and reckless in carryiug out
the projects we conceive. Discursive readi
ers, rather than deep thiukers, and shallow
| reasoned rather than profound logicians.?
j Ingenious in invention, and expert at rnani|
pulation, we tax our faculties to the utmost
in the study of improvement hearing upon
material progress, while we leave uncultivaI
ted a taste for the beautiful, and fail to en
courage those pleasant diversions which inj
vigorate the body and give buoyancy to the
| ruind
The old Greeks had their chariot and foot
! races; their boxiue and wrestling matches;
j quoits and other games ; which they sedu;
1 msly fostered, as combing amusement with
the best means of obtaining bodily strength
and activity The happy consequences of
these physical recreations were so apparent,
that the older physicians judiciously recommended
the practice of them "as a means of
counteracting the bad effects of increasing
j luxury and indolence."
The principle upon which gymnastic exercises
act is evident. "Their immediate effect,"
says a modern writer, "iS'an increase
both in the size and power of the parts exercised,
in consequence of an admirable law
which obtains in living bodies, that?within
certain limits?in proportion to the exertion
which it is required to make?a part increases
not only in strength and fitness, but also
in size. Nor does the beneficial iuflueuce
stop here. If the exertion be not carried
so far as to produce excessive fatigue, all other
parts of the body sympathize with the improving
condition of that which is chiefly exerted
; the circulation, being excited from
time to time by the exercise, acquires new
vigor, and blood being thrown with unusual
force into all parts of the system, all the
functions are carried on with increasing activity.
Improvement in the general health
is soon manifested; and the mind?if at the
same time judiciously cultivated?acquires
strength, and is rendered more capable of
prolonging exertion."
Now, since it is known that the relations
existing between mind and body are so intimate
that any abnormal use of the one reacts
prejudiciously upon the other, it becomes
apparent to all who reflect upon the subject,
that we of the United States, by abjuring
those physical exercises which are essential
to health, weaken our own powers of endurance
and enervate alike the physical structure
and the intellectual powers. The reac
4V\**/tAc> Vvinr* 4 Vine nnnilT n ^;ii. I
uwiiuij luiwco kiiuo buibvvivu^ vu4 MW??
ty to resist prevailing diseases is naturally
lessened, and we either fall victims to maladies
from which, under other circumstances,
we should wholly escape ; or recovering imperfectly
from their attacks, linger on the
remainder of our days confirmer and hopeless
invalids.
In an excellent volume recently written
upon this subject by Miss lleccher, she makes
the startling but truthful declaration, that
"there is a general decay of constitution among
the whole people of the United States;"
and that "in all sections of our country a vigorous
and perfectly healthy woman is an exception
to the ordinary experience." "Statistics,"
she adds, "have been obtained which
make it probable that, of the wives and daughters
of this nation, not three out of ten can
be classed as healthy women." Admit this,
aud her impressive deduction follows, as a
matter of course : "And as the health of
these mothers decides the constitution of
their children, the prospects of the next
generation are still gloomy, both as it respects
J sons and daughters."
.But if we refuse to betake ourselves to the
! remedy, bow can they be otherwise ! The
recipe is pleasant enough, but it is not the
less certain of proving a specific. Less mental
exertion?more physical recreation?these
are what, are required of us.
We must revive the old childish sports;
we must encourage the old manly exercises;
indulge occasionally in country rambles; ride
more, and walk more, in the free air and ainid
sylvan or suburban scenes. Play at
cricket; skip the rope; trundle the hoop;
hunt, fish, or engage in any innocent diverj
sion that shall tinge the sallow cheeks with
; the flush of healthy ruddiness, strengthen
the flaccid muscles, and ncclerate languid
current of the blood.?Baltimore Patriot.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
As this country is now attracting attention,
in view both of Walker's movements, and the
differences between this Government and that
of Great Britain, we have thought that the
following information respecting it, which is
extracted from Squier's work, might be interesting
:
"Central America, in respect of geographical
position, almost realizes the ancient idea
of the centre of the world. Not only does
it connect the two grand divisions of the American
continent, the Northern and the
Southern Hemispheres, but its ports open to
Europe and Africa on the East, and to Polynesia,
Asia and Australia on the West." *
" Nor are the topographical characteristics
of Central America less remarkable than its
; geographical features. In its physical aspect
j and configuration of surface, it has been very
j justly observed that it is an epitome of all
! other countries and climates of the globe.?
High mountain ranges, isolated volcanic
' peaks, elevated table-lands, deep valleys,
broad and fertile plains, and extensive alluvions,
we here found grouped together, relieved
by large and beautiful lakes and majestic
rivers ; the whole teeming with animal
and vegetable life, and possessing every variety
of climate, from torrid heats to the cool
i , r : >>
I auu urauiug lumperuuiru ui uicruai spring.
# ? # * jfC *
"The area of Central America may lie calculated,
iu round numbers, at 155,000 square
miles?very nearly equal to that of the New
England and the Middle States combined.
The population may be estimated at not far
from 2,000,000, of which Guatemala has
850,000; San Salvador 391,000; Honduras
350,000 ; Nicaragua 300,000 ; and Costa
Rica 125,000." * * * *
"At the period of the (Central America)
! discovery; it was fouud in'thc occupation of
! two families of men, presenting in respect to
i each other the strongest points of contrast.
! Upon the high plateaus of the interior of the
j country, and upon the Pacific declivity of
j the continent, where the rains are com paraI
tively light, the country open, and the cli,
mate relatively cool and salubrious, were
| found great and populous nations, far advan'
ced in civilization, aud maintaining a sys|
tematized religious and civil organization.
"Upon the Atlantic declivity, on the othi
c-r hand, among dense forests nourished by
| coustant rains into rank vigor, on low coasts,
! where marshes and lagoons, sweltering under
J a fierce sun, generated deadly miasmatic
: damps, were found savage tribes of men,
! without fixed abodes, living upon the natu- |
' ra) fruits of the earth, and the precarious'
! supplies of fishing and the chase, without !
i religion, and with scarcely a semblance of J
| social or political establishments." *
| "The natural relations of Central America,
1 as indicated by the physical fac' j already
' pointed out, are clearly with the Pacific and !
! the States which now exist or may spring iu- i
j to existence upon that coast. To California i
| and the greater part of Mexico, as also to |
| some of the States of South America, it must
.
( come, sooner or later, to sustain a position
corresponding with that which the West Indies
have held towards the United States
i and Europe, with the important addition of
being an established route of travel, aucl
, perhaps ultimately of commerce, between the
Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Its destiny
is plainly written in the outlines of its
coast, and is printed on its surface, not less
than demonstrated by its geographical position."
* * * *
The following table probably exhibits very
nearly the exact proportions in Central America,
so far as may be deduced from existing
data and from personal observation :
Whites 100,000
Mixed 800,000
Negroes 10,000
Indians 1,109,000
Total..... '. 2,019,000
* * * * * *
"It appears that thc<,uly hope of Central
jimeriuu cuiiaisia iu uveiuug iuc uuiutuvui
decline of its white population, and increasing
that element in the composition of its
people. If not brought about by a judicious
encouragement of emigration, or an intellectual
system of civilization, the geographical
position and resources of the country indicate
that the end will be attained by those
more violent means, which among men, as
in the material world, often anticipate the
slower operations of natural laws. To avert
the temporary yet often severe shocks which
they occasion, by providing for the necessities
of the future, is the true mission, arid
should be the highest aim of the patriot aud
statesman. Central America will be fortunate
if she shall be found to number among
her sons men adequate to the comprehension
and control of the circumstances under which
.ihe is placed, and which arc every day becoming
more complicated aud exigent.
JSnch are some ot' the facts presented, and
some of the views held by Mr. Squier, a man
who had a good opportunity of gaining information
on the subject of Central America,
inasmuch as he was formerly Charge d'Affaires
to that country.
lie believes that the only hope of its advancement
and prosperity lies in the infusion
of the white element in the population, and
supports his opinion by very plausible facts
and reasoniugs.
SINGULAR DISEASE.
The following, dated April 7th, is addressed
from La Ferte Mace to the Liberte of
Caen :
"In a small village, near La Ferte Mace,
there lives a young girl of the age of twenty-two,
who has been for five years afflicted
with a disease equally siugular and cruel, and
which may excite much disbelief, although
not without precedent in the annals of medicine.
"This young girl is continually in a kind
of lethargic state, and awakes from this deep
slumber but once a day, for a few moments,
towards three o'clock in the afternoon.
"Sometimes, though at rare intervals, this
condition lasts two, three, and even eight
days, during which she shows no other sign
of life than a slight degree of breathing almost
imperceptible.
"But what will appear most extraordinary,
(and this fact will meet with many disbelievers,)
is, that for the past year she has not
4^1./-vis* s\P P.\r\A CtTfln O /IvAtt f\f
Ul ii'JIi (i piliLlUlC UI lUUU^ IIU1 W|bU u utujj V*
water.
"Still her emboupoint is remarkable; her
face is full, fresh, ami rosy; she appears to
enjoy excellent health, and feels no pain, no
want, but the desire to sleep.
"Nevertheless, she experiences, at the moment
of waking, nervous contractions of so
violent a character, that oftentimes several
persous cannot keep her in her bed, from
which she escapes to roll on the floor. At
this critical moment she tears to pieces all
that falls under her hand; bedding and
clothes are not spared; she bites convulsively
everything within her reach, and would
devour her hands, were the precaution not
takeu (o envelope them suitably.
"This frightful crisis continues from two
to five minutes; the patient then becomes
gradually calm, rubs her heavy eyelids, looks
toward the clock for the time, examines with
a smile her astounded visitors, nnd begins to
speak in a distinct manner.
"But every minute water must be given";
with this she wets her lips and throat, but
immediately expels it.
"In the meanwhile she answers all questions,
enters into the details of her disease,
and appears pleased with the interest manifested.
"During this time, she has all her presence
of mind; all her memory, and her
natural liveliness betrays itself by a number
of Ion mots, and by an open and joyous
laugh, which is in striking contrast with her
uufortunate situation.
"These moments of lucidity are, however,
of short duration, and never extend beyond
fifteen minutes; a sort of hiccup is heard,
her chest heaves, her limbs become agitated
and her eye-brows contracted j the eyes close,
and her teeth press against each other as
though they would crush; all is then over;
she relapses into a profound insensibility,
which will last at least until the next day at
the same hour.
? . i? -i-.'-U : i-.-il 1
"During ner sieep, wuivu ia penecu^ ^nu,
her color is less vivid, and her pulse more
feeble. In this state she has the appearance
of a dead person, and she can be placed in
any position without betraying the slightest
motion. Speak in a loud voice, exclaim even
at her ears, she hears nothing. Pricking
has been tried, which she has not felt, and
she is firmly convinced, a conviction shared
by many, that she is literally dead for twenty-four
hours at the end of which she resuscitates,
to die anew.
"Real death is, therefore, to her but an
empty name, for she often desires it both ardently
and sincerely, saying: "When shall
I sleep no more to awake ?" Still she preserves
sentiments of the most religious character,
she often manifests the desire of confessing
herself, and, knowing that it is impossible
for her to receive the Communion,
I she often repeats with an air of visible disappointment
: "I shall be this year as the
impious, I shall not receive my Easter Communion."
" Such are the effects of this incredible
disease, which it is the province of science
only to explain, and which daily attracts to
this house a crowd of the curious, who can
only witness the facts without bringing the
slightest relief."
MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTH
CAROLINA.
There is no portion of the recent speech
of Charles Sumner, to which the recent castigation
of that individual by Mr. Broolrs
has given so wide a notoriety, that seems to
us quite so impudeut and absurd as his attempt
to disparage the fair fame of South
Carolina. ''Were the whole history of South
Carolina blotted out of existence," said the
slanderer, "from its very beginning down to
the day of the last election of the Senator
(Mr. Butler) to his present seat on this floor,
civilization might lose?I do not say how
little?but surely less than it has already
gained by the example of Kansas in its valiant
struggle against oppression and in the
development ofa new science of emigration."
Ridiculous as such a sentiment might seem
on the lips of any man, it couics "with especially
bad grace from the Representative ofa
State that has fallen so far below its ancient
Revolutionary fame, and sunk so deeply beneath
the level of contempt as the Massachusetts
of 185^. We need not go back to
the early da}-s of the Republic and institute
a comparison between the two commonwealths
theo, to show that South Carolina did even
more than Massachusetts in the crises of national
existence for the cause of American
liberty. A careful reading of the record
will convince any one that the balance of
merit and distinction was in favor of the
Southern State, for though the Revolution
opened in Massachusetts, and was kept up
there for a considerable time, the forces
which were gathered to oppose the troops of
the Crown were largely swelled by reinforcements
from the South, and among these
there were mauy gallant South Carolinians.
And when the seat of war was transferred
from New England to the soil of Carolina
itself, which, during the last three years of
the struggle, wa3 the Flanders, the crimsoned
battle field of the combatants, not a dozen
Massachsetts men were there to participate
in the peril and the glory of the campaign.
Generals Lincoln and Green constituted the
entire New England force that ever crossed
the Carolina boundary, and the battles of
Guilford Court House and King's Mountain,
of Eutaw and Camden and the Cowpens were
fought by Southern troops alone. But without
goiDg into the history of the past, in
what aspects have Massachusetts and South
Carolina presented themselves to us in our
j own day ? Who has forgotten the recreancy
of the former in the late war with Mexico,
when the gallant Lincoln, a man worthy of
the highest memories of Bunker Hill, drummed
through the whole State, from Cape
Cod to Berkshire, without obtaining a corporal's
guard of Yankee volunteers to fight
the battles of his country. Lowell, the Abolitionist
poet, even had the shameless effronI
tery to boast in doggerel rhyme that the
boys of Massachusetts were not quite so green
as to be caught by the call or patriotism.?
Addressing himself to Lincoln's fifer, he
said :
"Toot away, you fifer fellow,
Let'em see how spry you be;
Guess you'll tcot till you are yellow
'Fore you get holder me."
Afr T.nnroll'a nntrm+i/? foolinir rrnQ aq lnrr
j *'** ^vnvil M |/MViiVb*V 4VW**Ug nuu MM iW II
! as his verses in a different sense, and so it
was with the whole population of his State.
Daniel Webster sent a son to the field and
Lincoln went too, and both of them fell on
the slippery slopes of Buena Yista, brave fellows
! and there spilt all the blood that
Massachusetts could spare in such an emergency.
How different was it with South
Carolina. Thirteen hundred of her youth
marched at the first call, under the lead ol
the heroic Butler, honored name, of whom
not nnre than one-fourth ever returned.?
The Colouel fell at the head of his regiment,
pierced with many wounds, and his followers
were shot down around him on every hand.
And this devotion to couutry was shown in
a war which South Carolina disapproved and
Mr. Calhoun had declared unrighteous!
We might pursue the parallel so disgraceful
to Massachusetts still farther and poini
to the social condition of the two States?
Massachusetts torn by the wildest fanaticism,
with infidelity, commuuism, spiritualism running
riot and rampant throughout her bor
dcrs; her people crazy, her legislators demoralized?South
Carolina, on the othei
hand, quiet, peaceful, conservative, no mobs
disgracing her cities, no isms affecting the
sober sense of her citizans?but it is useless
As we regard the two sovereignties, however,
now so much irritated against each other we
cannot help thinking that, if they were tc
fight out the Brooks and Sumner difficulty,
lund to hand, without extraneous assistance;
we should soon see the moral superiority oi
Carolina strikingly demonstrated. The de
scendants of the Huguenots would thrash
the degenerate sons of the Puritans out ol
the couutry.?Petersburg Express.
PREMATURE MATRIMONY.
Marriage is a Divine and beautiful arrange
ment. It was designed by Providence noi
solely as the means of keeping upjjopulatioD
or as a mere social and economical conveni
euce, but as the blending of two spirits intc
one?the masculine representing wisdom,
and the feminine affection. When then
is a true spiritual affinity between the two.
then the design is accomplished.
Premature marriages are among che great
est evils of the times; and it would not be ?
bad idea iD these.days of reforms, if an anti
marrying-in-a-hurry Society were instituted
Xow-a-days, people leap into the magic life
circle with no more consideration than the]
would partake of a dinner?little thinking
that, when once iD, they are there until thcii
end comes. There is little, sometimes, o
mutual analysis of disposition and compari
son of taste and affections. They seem t<
fancy that, if there are any discrepancies
the fatal Gordian knot, which can be seldon
cut aud never untied, will hormonize all.
The numbers who have felt this truth?
i the numbers still feeling it to their heart's
core?are incalculable. They recognize it
as the great mistake of their lives. The
chain is not to them a silk one, but a cable
of iron, that tightens around them more and
more, crushing out all hope and energy,
substituting hate for love, and eating out
with its rust, the very inner life of the soul.
Boys and girls now marry to a greater extent
than ever before, instead of waiting till
they become full grown and matured men
and women. The young dandy, as soon as
he gets out of short jackets, and finds a little
furze gathered on his upper lip?and the
young miss, as soon as she emerges from the
nursery and abbreviated frocks?think they
are qualified to assume the most solemn responsibilities
of life. And so if "Pa" and
"Ma" won't consent, they post. off to some
Gretna Green, and there take obligations
that, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred,
thev will never cease bitterlv to renent.
J __ _____ _ y k
Marriage should never be the result of
fancy. The ball room and the evening party
rarely devclope real character. Under the
exhilarating influence of the dance, the glare
of the lights, and the merry squib and joke,
the dissolute young man may appear amiabie,
and the slatternly scold loveable. Matches
made at such places, or under similar circumstances,
are not of the class that originate in
1 heaven. They are more generally conceived
in the opposite place, and bring forth only
iniquity. The true way to learn each other
is to do it at home, in the parlor, in the
kitchen, and on occasions that test the temper.
We see the result of these unions in
the almost daily divorces that are taking
place, in the running away of husbands,
leaving their wives and children to starve,
and in the elopement of wives. Not only
this, but we witness it in broken spirited
men, made old in the prime of life, struggling
on for mere food and clothing and
shelter, and in women cross, dirty, sluttish
and wrinkled.
It would be quite impossible for us to depict
faithfully the multitude of phiaical and
moral evils that result from these sinful marriages?for
sinful they are. They ruin the
body, corrupt the morals, and stultify the
mind. And the result does not stop with
husband and wife. There are the children.
They partake of the feebleness and the vices
of the parents, both physical and moral, and
go out into the buBy world stunted and gnarled.
God pity them!
We would not be understood as speaking
against the institution of marriage. It is
holy, beautiful and beneficent. But let every
one take his mate or none. Let not the
brave eagle pair with the stupid owl, nor the
gentle dove with the can-ion crow. Like
should have like. It is a glorious sight to
see two old people who have weathered
the storms and basked in the sunshine of life
together, go hand in hand, lovingly and
truthfully, down the gentle declivity of time,
with no angers, nor jealousies, nor hatreds
garnered up against each other, and looking
with hope and joy to the everlasting youth
of heaven, where they shall be one forever.
That is the true marriage?for it is the marriage
of spirit with spirit. Their love is woven
into a woof of gold, that neither time, nor
death, nor eternity can severe.? The Eclectic.
'THE OLD WOMAN."
It was thus, a few days since, we heard a
stripling of sixteen years designate the mother
who bore him. By coarse husbands we
have heard wives so called occasionally,
though in the latter case the phrase is more
often used endearingly. At all times, as
commonly spoken, it jars upou the ear and
shocks the sense. An "old woman" is an
object of reverence above and beyond almost,
all phazes of humanity. Her age should be
her surest passport to courteous consideration.
The aged mother of a grown up family needs
no other certificate of worth. She is a monument
of excellence, approved and warrant,
ed. She has fought faithfully the "good
fight," and comes off conquerer. Upon her
! venerable face she bears the marks of the
I conflict in all its furrowed lines. The most
grievous of the ills of life have been hers;
trials untold and unknown only to God and
. herself she has borne incessantly; and in her
old age?her duty done, patiently awaiting
her appointed time?she stands more truly
| beautiful than in youth, more honorable and
deserving than he who has slain his thousands,
and stood triumphant upon the proudp
est field of victory.
. Young man, speak kindly to your mother,
, and eveu courteously?tenderly of her! But
a little time aud you shall see her no more
forever! Her eye is dim, her form is bent,
I and her shadow falls graveward! Others
, may love you when she has passed away?
kind hearted sisters, or she whom of all the
world you may choose for a parner?she may
p love you warmly, passionately?children may
love you fondly; but never again, never
L while time is yours, shall the love of woman
p be to you as that of your old, trembling,
weakened mother has been.
In agony she bore you through puling,
helpless infancy her throbbing breast was
. your safe protection and support?in wayt
ward, tetchy boyhood she bore patiently
, with your thoughtless rudness, and safely
. through a legion of ills and maladies. Her
) hand it was that bathed your burning brow
} or moistened the parched lips; her eye that
> lighted up the darkness of wasting nightly
, vigils, watching always in your fitful sleep,
sleepless by your side as none but her could
. watch. Oh! speak not her name lightly,
i for you cannot live for so many years as
. would suffice to thank her fully. Through
. reckless and impatient youth she is your
- counsellor and solace. To a bright manhood
j she guides your improvident steps, nor even
r then forsakes or forgets. Speak gently, then,
r and reverntly of your mother; and when you,
f too, shall be old, it shall in some degree
- lighten the remorse which shall be yours for
) other sins, to know that never wantonly have
, you outraged the respect due to "old women."
1 '
?&* Ceremony is necessary as the out
work and defence of manners.
EXCITING NEWS FROM KANSAS.
St. Louis, June 2.
We have the following from Leavenworth
City, under date of May 28 :
An exciting extra of the Westport News,
headed "War ! War!" reaehed this city this
forenoon, and threw the pro-slavery men
here into great eztitement. They held a
private meeting and appointed a Committee
of Vigilance to attack Leavenworth, and let
no free State men pass, and they are determined
to make lawless arrests of all obnoxious
parties. A company of men, armed with
muskets and bayonets, (United States arms)
have been parading all the afternoon, making
arrests. They took prisoner a clerk
V? VUC UUlUlUi blvv Vi vvu^l ?. CO J UUUI^U VWUway,
and two witnesses that had been subpoenaed,
Messrs. Parrot, and Miles Moore.?
Warren Wilkes, of South Carolina, headed
the party. A. Moore one of the murderers
of Brown, helped to make the arrests. Messrs.
Moore and Parrot were arrested while
conversing with Mr. Sherman. Sherman
asked if it was by legal process they had taken
one of the clerks of the commission.?
Mr. Wilkes said it was not?that he had no
legal authority, but that he would arrest the
men down on his list. Many others have
been taken. The town is excited, and the
Commission fear they must leave. Alarming
extras are sent from Westport to the border
towns. A fight is expected towards Pattowatomie.
The last difficulty arose at Pattowatomie
Creek. Some pro-slavery men tried
to drive a free State man from his claim, but
he refusing to go, they took him and were about
to hang him, when his neighbors came
to the rescue and shot some of the pro-slavery
party. A civil war is inevitable.
Mr. Parrott, a prominent lawyer of Kansas,
has just arrived from Leavenworth. He
informs us that on Wednesday last he was
arrested by a party of twenty men, bearing
United States muskets, tinder the command
of Col Wilkes, of Sojith Carolina, and taken
before the Vigilance Committee. Leavenworth
was surrounded by picket guards,
gnd no one suffered to enter or leave the
town. Col. Wilkes had a list of the principal
citizens whom he intended to arrest. He
had already made three arrests. It was stated
that the whole Territory would be placed
under military surveilance
The Republican publishes an extra of the
Kansas Herald of the 28th ult., which confirms
the report previously telegraphed of the
murder of eight pro-slavery men on the Pattowatomie
Creek by a party of free State men.
The victims were most horribly mutilated.
In some instances after their throats had been
cut, their legs and arms had been chopped
off and their eyes gouged out. All the proslavery
families at Hickory Point were driven
off at the point of the bayonet, and their
horses and provisions stolen by the free State
men.
It is estimated that the loss sustained by
the citizens of Lawrence by the recent attack
will amount to a hundred thousand dollars.
A letter to the Democrat, dated Topeka,
25th, says: The United States District Court
has adjourned till the second Monday in September.
Judge Lecompte refused to admit
Messrs. Robinson, Smith, Dietzler, Brown
and Jenkins to bail, and they will be held
prisoners by the Marshal.
Gen. Pomeroy has gone to Washington.
He is a delegate to the Republican Convention
which is to assemble at Philadelphia.
The Philosophy or Rain.?To understand
the philosophy of this beautiful and
often sublime phenomenon, so often witness
ed since the creation of the world, and so
essential to the very existence of plants and
animals, a few facts derived from observation
and a long train of experiments mu9t be remembered.
1 Were the atmosphere everywhere at
all times of a uniform temperature, we
should never have rain, or hail, or snow.?
The water absorbed by it in evaporation
from the sea and the earth's surface, would
descend in an imperceptible vapor, or cease
to be absorbed by the air when it was fully
saturated.
2. The absorbing power of the atmosphere,
and consequently its capacity to retain
humidity, is proportionately greater in
warm than in cold air.
The air near the surface of the earth is
warmer than it is in the region of the clouds.
The higher we ascend from the earth the
colder do we find the atmosphere. Hence
the perpetual snow on very high mountains
in the hotest climate.
Now, when from continued evaporation
the air is highly saturated with vapor,
though it be invisible and the sky cloudless,
if its temperature is suddenly reduced, by
cold currents descending from a higher to a
lower latitude, its capacity to retain moisture
is diminished, clouds are formed and
the result is rain. It condenses, it cools,
and, like, a sponge filled with water and
compressed, pours out the water its dimin
iehed capacity cannot hold. How singular,
yet how simple the philosophy of rain.?
What but Omniscience could have devised
such an admirable arrangement for watering
the earth.
It strikes us that there is a "world of
wisdom" in the following quotation?brief
as it is: "Every school boy knows that a
kite would not fly unless it had a string tying
it down. It is just so in life. The
man who is tied down by half a dozen blooming
responsibilities, and their mother, "will
make a higher and stronger flight than the
bachelor who, having nothing to keep him
steady, is always floundering in the mud. If
you want to ascend in the world, tie yourself
to somebody."
A lady of fashion stepped into a shop
not long since, and asked the keeper if he
had any matrimonial baskets, she being
too polite to say cradles.
I?" "You are proud of your country but
my country is proud of me," said Anacharsis,
the Soythian.