University of South Carolina Libraries
Tl?? buiuiiiij^s Wees occupied hy CotifederaVe hospitals, whare some three hundred invalids and convalescents found harborage. Thc yel? low lhig would have proved but little protec? tion tor them. Out tor the efforts of these gen? tlemen, aud, perhaps, because of other const derations. They held forth no promise, of pluuder, were remote from those parts of the ' city where the tim pt arion s were most numer? ous, aud the professors of colleges are not usually hoarders, or even gentlemen of gold and aifVer vessels. These generally occupied the dwellings of tile College; they escaped with ...some petty losses. Professor John LeConte was made a prisoner and carried off ; but why he was selected thus, is not very apparent. After a few days in durance, he wa? suffered to . depart, and left the army on its march. In A conversation with the Rev. Mr. Porter regard? ing the safety ol the College library, General Sherman indulged in a sneer; "1 would rather,'1 said he, "give you books than destroy them. 1 am sure your people need them very much.' To this Mr- Porter made no reply, suffering the eloquent General to rave for awhile, upon a favorite text with him, the glories uf his lau and ihe*perpetuation of the Union, which ht solemnly pledged himself io maintain ,against all the fates. . Thal his own people did ii?t value books, ii any proper degree, may b*c shown by their in variable treatment of libraries. These wen almost universally destroyed, tumbled into tin weather, the streets, gutter?, hacked and hew: ?nd trampled, even wheir the collections wen of the rarest value and in immense number? Libraries of ten thousand volumes-books sud aa cannot again be procured-were sacrifice* ? in the hope of procuring a few hundred dollar worth of plunder, lt will suffice to illustr?t the numerous losses of this sort in Columbia to report the fate of the fine collections of Di R. W. Gibbes. This gentleman, a man of let tera and science, u virtuose! busied all his life ii the accumulation of worker of art and literature and rare objects of interest to the ama' eur an Student, has been long known to the America world, North and South, in thc character of savant Pefehaps no other person in South Care lina has tsRu-o distinguished Himself by hi scientific writings, and hy the indefatigabl research which idustmled them, by the acci mutation of proofs from the natural work A friendly correspondent gives u?> a monrnti narrative of the disasters to his house, h: home, his manuscripts and his various an valuable collections, from which we condell. the following particulars: "Besides the fini mansion of Dr. Gibbes an ita usual contents of furniture, Ilia rei estate on Main street, eke, his scientific collei tiona and paintings were of immense valu occasioning more regret than cou id arise"froi ' any loss of mere property. His gallery coi tamed upwards of two hundred painting*, anion Which were two pictures by Washington Al etea, of inestimable value; several by >ully-ar luman, and "mauy admirable landscapes by Charles Fraser. ' Tlie earliest and )atc.-t. works I of DeYeaux constituted treasures of infinite1 value, which the /uture would have rejoiced to study; ami many originals and copies. I?y ihi ropean hands, wen? highly-prized from their' ! intrinsic excellenoe and..interesting associations -each having its own history. There was an j original portrait of Garrick, by Pine, und one j of the "Seven Ages" of Shakspeare, pam ted fdr Alderman Boydelli there were portmits of .Washington Allston. Gen. Z: Taylor, Col. ^Tade Hampton-all friends pf the proprietor, and (Tom the hands of the best artists. Thc family .portraits lu the collection were also numerous ;-some ancient, all vuluable; and several ad mirable busts graced bis drawing room. Iiis , portfolios container collections of the be>t en , gravings. from the most famous pictures of the old musters and by the most excellent en I gravers of the age. These were mostly a* be ; quest from the venerable C. Fraser, wi* was ; ono of those who bi;.?t knew what a good en : graving or picturX- sliould be, nud who hud nil ! his life, been engaged in accumulating the most ! valuable illustrations of thc progress of art. ! 2Cor was the library of Dr. G. less rich in stores I of b-tters and science, ort and medicine. His ? historical collect iou was particularly rich, espe '. cially iu American and Sooth Carolina history. I Ilia cabinet of Southern fossil* and. memorials, I along tfitfi those brought from ?he remotest i regions, was equally Select un . extensive. Ii [contained wo less than ten tho'Aand specimens. ; The collection of shark's teeth was prououueed I by Agassiz to be the finest in the world. Iiis collections of historical documents, original correspondence of the Revolution, especially that of South Caroliua, wus exceedingly larg? and valuable. From these he bad compiled and edited three volumes, and had there arrested thc publication, iu carder to transfer his materiel to the Historical. Society of South Carolina. Ail are now lost, bb, aleo, was hit collection' of autographs-the letters of ?miuent correspondents in every department of letters. I science and art. Maay relics of our aborigines, others from the pyramids and tombs of Egypt, of Herculaneum, Pompeii aud Mexico, with-nu merous memorials from.the Revolutionary and recent battle-fields of our country, shared thc same fate-are gone down to the same abyss o ruin. The records of the Surgeon General*! Department of the State, from its organization, nd longer exist. The dwelling which contaraet these inestimable treasures was deliberately fired by men, for whose excuse no whiskey in fluence could be pleaded. Tney were quite ai sober as in a doused other cases where they sped with the toretrfof the incendiary, lt wa: lire I in the <->wneT's presence, and when In exposttftated with them, he was lnughed t< scorn A friend who sought to extinguish tht tire kindled in his very parlor, was seized bi the collar and hurled aside, with tbs ejaenla tion, *'I.et thc d-d house, burn." [rosTixinsn ix ova NKXTV] ' Saturday Morning, April 1, 1865. Foraging Sherman. "If," fays .Sherman to Hampton-"if the civil authorities will supply my requisitions, I will forbid all foraging." Cool, this, ami won? derfully .logical, in the cane of one whose chief performances have been found in destroy ing all the forage and provisions in the country, and every possible public and private means of transportation-wagons, vehicles of all sorta and railways. In his insolent flippancy^-Alus ravager shows himself a fool. "I must collect directly from the people." His collections and methods of making them are characteristic enough. But foraging and destroying are surely different things. "I have :io doubt this ia the occasion ot much mubeltao'tor on the part of my men." Misbehavior! the innocent lambkins! What an epithet applied to Sher? man's lambs! A pistol ata woman's bosom demanding her money, is merely a play fal piece of levity. To hang a citizen up-an ol3 man of three score-to extort from him a con? fession of the place where hie* money is hidden, ia a misbehavior, or a thoughtless impulse; and to lire the dwelling over the heads of-mother? and sucking babes, i- certainly a sort of, horse play .which muy be said to amount to an-in discretion! These misbehaviors; levities, horse playa and indiscretions, Sherman "cannot per mit au enemy to judge and punish." Oh! no Y ou must grin and bear it, lest you suffer worse Tux OATUI I?I?: OATH!-Much virtuous swear ing is said?to be going ou m Charleston sinei tile Yankee? have concluded to aduuuistei th oath; aud men who claimed to have tired tin first gun at Fort Sumter, have rushed headlout to take the fiist oath to Lincoln. So eager i the competition among these loyalists, th st ni man's corns, are safe in the struggle. Their con sciences are in no danger, being of that mora caoutchnc which accommodates itself to au' grasp. \,_ ^ JOHNSTON'S Aap Y.-According to the Carali mun, Johnston's army has thc inside track o Sherman, and is in a position to command th first move on the political chess board. Sher man hus effected a junction with Schofield near Goldaboro, but they are reported to b< entrenching there-a tacit aekuo wWgsa?at o temporary inability to keep the-fi^id.