. ,yj.r ^* : 'r :" '* - ' " die Catttur? Journal. *v = >* "' ^ . ' - ** . VOLUMES!. ~ CAMDEN, SOUTH-CAROLINA, AUGUST 16,1&50. NUMBER 6fc THE CAMDEN JOURNAL. published by THO. J. WARREN & C. A. PRICE, editors and proprietors. THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL is^ftoKKshed at Three Dollar* and Fifty Cent*, if paid in advance, or Four Dollars if payment is delayed for three months. THE WEEKLY JOURNAL r.l? published at Two Dalian and Fifty Cent*, if paid in advance, or Three Dollars if payment is delayed for three months. Any person procuring five responsible subscribers shall be entitled to the sixth copy (of the edition subscribed far) gratis for one year. ADVERTISEMENTS will be inserted at the following .rates: For one square (14 lines or less) in the semi-weekly, ' - * ? t ? u (fie dollar for the lint, and iweniy-nve txu? Tljen.fiat your hopes abote, In "Heaven where all is-one-bright day v - -.v. 'js: Camden, S. XI. Ella. CITY LIFE. A pretty, rainbow sort of lite enough; Filled up with vanities and gay caprice; Such life is tike the garden at Versailles, Where all is.artificial; arid the stream Is held in marble basins, ot sent up Amid th?"ttjetted air in waterfalls Fantastic, sparkling; afcd the element, The .n^hty element, a moment's toy; And, like all toyrf ephemeral Thk WAsxKDFLowBKs,~On'thevelvet bank of a rivnlet sat a rosy child. Her lap was filled with flowers; and a garland of rose-buds were twined around her neck. Her lace was radiant as the sunshine that fell upon it; and her voice was as clear as that of die bird that warbled at her side. The little stream went ripling on, with every gash of its music the child lifted a flower in- its dimpled hand, and with a i merry laugh; threw it upon its surface. In her t glee she forgot thaifcer treuBares were growing | less, and with tho stfHt motions of childhood, [ she flung diem upon the sparking tide, until every bud arid blossom had disappeared. Then seeing her loss she; spraqg upon her feet, and bursting into" tears* called aloud to the stream: uBring back my flowers!" But the stream danced along regardless of-her tears; and as it bore the'Jflpoming >urden away, her words !? ? ina tanntlnfr m>lio slonff its reedv margin. And/ long After amidst, the wailing of the breeze and the fitful burst of childish gritf was heard the-fruitless cry.. '"Bring back my I flowers ?"-?verymaiden.who art idly wasting the precious moments so bountifully bestow-1 ed npon thee, see, in the thoughtless impulsive child an emblem of thyself?each moment is a perfumed flower. Let its fragments be dispensed in blessings on all around thee, and ascend as sweet incense to its beneficent Giver. Else when thoo-hast carelessly flung them from thee, and seest them receding on the swift water of time, tfaoo wilt cry in tones more sorrowful than tlioso of the child, "Bring back my flowers!" And the only answer will be an echo from the lia>)narv nast "Rrinff hflftk mv flowprsf" ? o ^ Naval Reform.?-1One hundred and sixty sailors of the U. S. frigate Raritan have signed the teetotal pledge^ at Norfolk. That is the proper way tocommence naval reform. Let there he no drinking and there will be a little necessity for floggingr A humane, intelligent officer well knows this, and will act accordingly hy inducing the men to take the pledge. A Gurat Stork op Gold akd Silver.? The Boston Sub-Treasury, on Wednesday, I3Ist nit, contained a little over two million and a half of dollars in gold and silver, (2,568,227,) the greatest amount it ever contained since the commencement of the system of collecting dafjes In specie, __ 3. Sclcrtcb Sale. From the Southern Literary Gazette. THE MAROON. A LEGEND OF THE CARRIBEES. ' BY W. GILMORE SIMMS, ESQ., Author of " The Yeraasaee," etc. XVII. -The moment in which the fndian damsel lay thus prostrate and at the mercy of one who seemed about to complete the rites in which she had been engaged, by the sacrifice of the innocent creature in her grasp, was a mompnt of the most cruel humiliation to the imbecile Spaniard, His sensibilities were violently excitpd. Everv svmualhv of his hpart was awakened. His better 'nature?his human training?his Christian teaching?such as it was possible for hiin to acquire in tbat day of constant war and rapine?were all active in urging him to adventure his own life, in saving her who seemed about to perish before him. She too, so young, so resigned, and?not the least consideration? so really beautiful. Rut the necessary nerve was wanting to the "Maroon." He who dared not the single stroke, though prompted by the woman he professed to love, when it would have saved her from shame and himself from the bitter exile which he now endured, was not likely to exhibit any rashness?any ordina ry courage?though with such a spectacle ol death of death before him. Happily for humanity, his apprension* were all idle. The meditated sacrifice in which the pri< ilens was about to officiate, contemplated not the life but the long flowing locks of the damsel. These were severed with a stroke, and bung up in the chamber from an arrow, the shaft of which was made to penetrate a crevice in the rock. Then the maiden rose, and taking the bunch of arrows which she had brought, she snapt them in twain before the altar which the matron continued to supply, with aromatic gums and fuel. Some further ceremonies were performed; there was a solemn imposition of hands, while the virgin knelt be. fore the priestess, and the lips of the latter were glued to the forehead of the girl. A brief diaIAmio in ouMtiorl n nrl murinneinff Innnc nnsio/l between them, and then the voices of both rose in a wild, *ad chaunt, the burden of which was CAtighl up by the voices of the females without. One embrace followed the subsidence of the strain, and the matron and the virgin partpd : the former hurrying from the cavern, and,the latter sinking down, in an agoby of feif'r and grief, before the fitful blaze upon the altar. Lopez de Levya drew a long breath. He began to grow courageous. The voice* of tho women without were dying away in (hedistance. Could they have retired to the Itoat. and could they he returning lo the mutant shore from whu-ce tbev mine, leaving the maid alone as he himself hud been left. Her evident sorrow and apprehension declared this to be the case. But it was evident that no such feeling moved her abandonment as bad occasioned hi*. The pr?/0 s of a deep and tender interest had been shown her to the last. He had heard the sighs, the moans, the inurtntirs, of the officiating mat. ron. He had witnessed her fond caresses of the damsel. He had heard with quivering sensibilities the wild sad chaunt of the attending women, whose song still feebly fell upon his senses from without. The scene which he had witnessed was a re. Itgtous ceremony. But what did it contein. plate? Was the maiden thus left to herself, and to hirn, destined for a sacrifice; lop-rish at la?t, before the altars of some strange and sav. age divinity? Il might be so; but certainly no such purpose was designed at present, for he did not tail to perceive that an ample supply of fitod was left with her, sufficient for a month s consumption. Or, was she destined, herself, to become a priestess, officiating, like the matron, who had left herein the same and oiher myste. rious rites, hereafter? This was the more pro. hable conjecture. At least such was the thought l:_L -r. :j i ..I ?" iu wiiiuii, gurra rttpiu menial nirvpy ui pruuabilities, our Miroon arrived.- Perhaps a liitle | more deliberation might have rendered it doubt, lul, whether the innumerable signs which the walla of the chamber presented, of repeated ceremonials like the present, were not proofs that the proceeding could not regard any such ap propria! ion of the neophyte. It was a ceremonial evidently common to the tribe or nation. It was one through which, at a certain period, each viigin had to pass. It was indeed, a dedicatory, but it was an invocatory service also. We may, in this place, briefly declare the object of the ceremonial. Among the Caribbeans, as among the Aborigines of the new world in most quarters, both sexes were dedicated, separately, and by different rites, to fortune. The period in life when they were to emerge from the salutary re. straints ofthe parent, and to be left to the assertion of their own wits and the exercise of l.t..... i.i.lll i? . -i ! l:_l men wnu imciiiijeiivi;, wot mat cuuten in wriicn to solicit for them the protection of the gods, who should confer upon them some especial spiritual guide nnd guardian. To propit.ate the gods for this favor?to move them into indul* gent dispensation?to secure a friendly and favorable protection, and to inspire the young with wisdom, courage and faithfulness, were the objects of the ceremonial. In the case of males, tbey were thus consecrated when ahlo to commence the labours of the chase. They were subjected to sevr -e r ordeals than the other sex, since the leading desire, with them, was the proper endowment with hardihood and cour* age. Long abstinence from food, exposure to cold, and frequent stratagems by which to nlarm them anrf try their courage were resorted to by those having charge of their initiate. The maidens were more gently treated. Isolation rather than exposure, was the influence employ, ed upon their courage. Food was provided them, but of a 6ort rather to enflaine the fancies than the blood. This was to be chastened rather than exhilarated. Roots of rare efficacy the virtues of which they knew,?herbs which assailed the brain and the nervous Rystem, were silently mingled with the food which was left for their sustenance ; and the very fumes of the arroinantic woods and gums with which they were appointed to feed their daily and nightly fires possessed a partially intoxicating effect upon those who continued to inhale thpm. It was while under such influences that the vision of the youth were to be observed with heed.? The images that were most frequent in their dreams?the scenes which they witnessed?the voices that they hpard.? the luws which were declared?these were to he the oracles by which their whole succeeding lives were to be rtJgnlated. By these the young warrior was to be guided in the chase or in the conflict, and the young woman, in keeping of the household, the training of her young and the exercise of her sympathies and tastes. The favourite, or lead, ing prospect, or object, in I heir visions, was to become their guiding spirit forever after. It was customary in many tribes?perhaps in most ?to adopt this object as their mark or sign ;? and this was the lotcm, inscribed upon the arm or breast,?not dissimilar to those of knight hood in the middle ages, drawn from favorite objects of sight, or (he events most conspicuous in their lives?with this difference, that, in Europe the totem was inscribed upon the shield, the surcoat or the pennon,?among the savages of the new world, upon the naked person. VtTfff Night came on in the vaulted chamber of the lovely isle, occupied only by the Indian damsel and the "Maroon." Without, all was silent, except, now and then, the bark of the marmozet as he bounded among the cocoanut trees above. Several hours bad elapsed since the sounds of the wild chauntof the women had tailed upon his ears, yet our Spaniard maintained his place of hiding with religious quietude. Meanwhile, the girl led the fires upon her altar. I She sat upon a rude swelling of the rocky floor, her hands folded in her lap, and the ends of her shortened hair resting upon her shoulders.? Her form was rather between the 44 Maroon" and the fire,~ the blaze of which, as she height, ened it by occasional supplies of fuel, made marvellously distinct in his eyes the exquisite outline ot her delicate but well marked profile. And thus she sat, and such was her only office for several hours more. It must have been full midnight, when our Spaniard, who had not sleftt an instant, discov. ed that sleep had seized the Indian damsel.? Her form subsided into an attitude favourable to rest. She sunk upon one side, her head rest* ing upon a sudden elevation of the floor, which conducted to the niche which seemed to have been employed as a couch on previous occasions, and where, foi the last two nights, Lopez liinv self had taken his rest. Her breathing was soft and regular. It denoted a calm and per* feet sleep. He was encouraged and gradually withdrew from his place of concealment. His steps were cuutiously taken. He drew nigh to the sleeper?surveyed her with a keen and pleasant interest; then, farther to he sure, he stole forth into the ante.chamber of the vault, HUM tilUII'Mnil, 111 llllini II | 11^ (I T|?linill watch all the while, lie emerged from the cavern, and stood upon the beach. The waters of the sea had gone down. The gray sandii were quite uncovered for a Ions stretch, the spot heing wholly bare upon which the Indian bark had anchored during the afternoon. The moon was high in heaven, and at her full. No cloud obscured or sullied the blue serenity of the skies. The scene was eminently and wholly spiritual. There was nothing human visible in lite surrounding aspects of ocean, sky and land. Satisfied of this, our Maroon returned, with rather hurried footsteps, to the cavern. He stole back cautiousl), however, so as not to disturb the damsel. She still slept, her position being totally unchanged. Hut the fire had grown taint upon her altars. He fed it with a handful of the fuel that lay contiguous, lie knelt beside her, and in the reviving blaze, he examined closely the innocent features, which he had thought so very sweet and beautiful in the before imperfect light. The nearer Mirtrey did not lesson her lovliuess in his sight. Her closed eyes, and her slightly parted lips, were studies for the sculptor, they were so delicate in their structure yet so admirably defined. The features might have been thought Castil. ian. The forehead was high but narrow, the nose good, and the neck moderately large and smooth, rising into the gentle swell of a bosom which hnd not yet learned to heave with other than happy childish emotions. One of her hands, the fingers of which were long atid taper, had stolen to her bieast, the partial drapery of which it seemed to gra*p. The other lay at her side, the fingprs closing upon a handful A f illtnnrlo/l Cm tins C rn TblU U||A olnnt wi wwii iiiiGiiuru uii IIJTT inn# i mil inr nirpi* The "Maroon" stooped and pressed his lips closely upon hers. She sighed deeply, hut moved not. Again he repeated the kiss, and her eyes opened upon him. They closed involuntarily. Again they opened, and now with a wild, appealingexpressiou. Fie had slightly retreated, as he found her about to waken. He had regained his toel. He stood somewhat apart, the altar being in some degree between them. We have spoken of the personal appearance of Lopez de Levya,as being pleasing to the eye of woman. At this moment it looked manly as well as pleasing; and, In the doubtful light of the cavern, with his form erect, his features half shaded by the gloom, his knife at his girdle, and a rich red scarf about his waist, ho might have served for the model of one of those brigands, a compound of Orson and Adonis, whom we see 60 commonly in Italian pictures. The impression was not unfavorable upon the eyes of the Indian damsel. But her senses had evidently mingled the aspect before her with ihe object in her dream?the purpose of her ' watch and ordeal?the beneficent creature vouchsafed by her savage god#, from whose gui dance her future destiny was to be shaped and governed. The instincts of the Spaniard were sufficiently acute to see the impression that be had made, and to conjectura, in some measure, its origin. He was well aware that the first impression of the European upon the Aborlgines was that of a superior being. The devout appealing eyes of the damsel?her hands cross, ed upon her breast?satisfied our Maroon tb'aT she held him to be so. He advanced a single step, he smiled on her kindly, he raised one hand upward to heaven, while he placed the other on his heart. She followed all his move, ments with others like them. Her hand was lifted to heaven, and carried to her breast. She too smiled?the smile of innocent hope, that might have brought with it warmer assurances. He spoke, sweetly and tenderly, but the words were lost upon incapable but not unheeding senses. She shook her head with a mournful, ness-of look that told him, plain as words could speak, how sorrowful she was that she knew not what he said. But he smiled encouraging, ly, and resorted once more to signs to assure her of his affection. These she understood. The language of the heart is a very univer. sal one. Charity and sympathy may speak and be understood, though they have not a word in common with the hearer, from the centre to the pole. She answered bis signs. She pointed to the fires before her. She threw a fresh sup. ply of fuel upon the blaze, then rising to her knees, knelt before him, and crossed her hands upon her bosom. He stooped, and took her in his arms. Shu would have receded,but he held her tenderly in his grasp, and once more pressed his lips upon hers* She sunk submissive in his embrace. She spoke, but a single sentence, but one of its words smote his ear like a familiar accent. He had picked up a few of the i^anrmean phrases irorn apaniaras who had been among this people. The girl had designated him as "the good White Spirit." The word "Spirit" had become a frequent one in the intercourse of the Jesuit missionaries with the heathen. God, and love, and heaven, good, bad, the sky, the sea, the boat, Castile, white and red man?these, and several other words had, from I ho communion of the Spaniards with the tribes of the Caribbean Sea, grown to be a tolerably common property with the two races. Lopez rapidly ran over in the ears of the girl, ( all of this description which he found it easy to remember on the instant. Some of these she repeated after him with ready acquiescence.? Again she described him as the good white spirit?her good white spirit?and he now under stood her. Ho did not disabuse * er. He feared to forfeit her reverence, i;. seeking to awake a humbler emotion ; and as the master of her destiny, a celestial visitant, provided for her guidance, he proceeded to enforce her affections. He placed himself beside her?together they supplied the altar with fuel and incense, and when he kissed her lips, she crossed her arms upon her breast, and submitted with delighted reverence. It was the. be.ievolent spirit whose favor she implored, who then, in his most gracious aspect presented himself in compliance with her invocations. She had been taught to believe that he was difficult of approach, slow to be won, reluctant to appear; that it required earnest and long continued devotions, and a painful and protracted vigil. How fortunate was she among her sex, that, in her instance, he had departed from his wonted severity! that, instead of presenting himself, as he was reported frequently to have done, in harsh and ungenial aspects, in the shape of bird, or beast, or reptile, he had assumed his noblest attributes of form, and put on features nut only of the highest, but of the tenderest character. Verily, she was the favored among women ! The tones of the Spaniard's voice were to her sounds of the sweetest music from the Caribbean heaven.? His smile was that glance of the morning or of the evening, when the brightness is equally rare and benignant; and, when his hand rested upon her cheek or neck, she felt the thrill of an emotion through all her veins, such as she had been taught to believe was vouchsafed only to the favored few, the select of the Caribbean Elysium. Their eyes" took part in their constant intercourse, and never had Lopez looked or spoken with so successful eloque.nne.? Though she comprehended but few of his words, yet nothing was thrown away of all that fell ! L:.. I:.._ .i.? c... .i._ _ i mini m* ii|i?. as (ti tut; urni, in um pnuiai hour of creation, the speech which heaven bestowed upon its creatures was that of love, so love constitutes the basis of that ancient language which it is still so easy for the heart to comprehend. Assisted by this heart.manual, it was easy for Lopez to makn his Spanish and her Indian words subservient to their grndual ' use ; and ere they sunk exhausted into the mutual arms of sleep that night, they had commenc- 1 ed a course of study quite as rapid as the Robcrtsoniau method, by which a modern or ancient 1 iliil.iMt iiln V?rt ?*,.in *.,#! in eir liiuoitiio VJIHIUtl liU IIIUOIUIUU III O A The bridal hour ofthetwo exiles thus strangely brought together, promised to be as happy in | its progress, as the destiny in which it bud its ' origin was solemn and peculiar. With the dawn, the two awakened to neither repining nor repentance. Life had suddenly put on her loveliest aspects to both. 1 he Spaniard was no longer lonesome in his solitude, and the damsel was happy in the laith that she was favored ( among women, by the very Deity to whom her ; sex devotes the most dutiful and earnest solid, j tations. XIX. j The passion thus begun, and sanctioned, as 1 it would seem, by nn especial Providence, was ] neither slow to ripen nor of modified character. ' The rery isolation of their abode, separated ( from all the world beside, tended to compol their i affections lagerfy, and Into the same channel. But it was not long before tbe Indian damsel learned to comprehend the purely hitman char* acfer of her companion. Her very lovei produced (his discovery, since it could only exist in its natural intensity in tbe untutored mind, in (he comparative loss of its veneration.. Tbe' young Spaniard no longer repined at hi?desolate condition. The fate l.o which he resigned himself had received its consolations, and in the. first few days of his happiness, if he thought at all of bis late comrades, it was with something of fear and misgiving; lest they should come . and tear him away from nn abode in which bef was equally free nnd happy. The morning after their first meeting, fwf. stole from her side while she yet slept, and irptj^L tbe ante chamber of tbe cavern awakened.her with a soft sweet strain from his guitar.. It was the first time be bad touched tbe strings ' since tbe instrument bad been hung about bis i. i ou J r .l uccn in iinivivnrjt oun oiauru iitnii iuc iiiupsjr niche where she lay and lighting anew the fin) upon her altars, sank before it in the attitude of prayer. A delirious delight was visible upon her countenance as the music reached her ears* and when Lopez looked in upon ber, she bore the expression of one whose whole soul was lifted with a sense of the divine favour.. .Hemade the guitar the instrument for her educa*' tion. She had the sweetest voice, herself and for his music, gave him wild ballads of her own people, of which he could appreciate the music only. But their words were rapidly intercban* ged. The lessons were constant, and convey? ed through numerous media of which the teach*;,, er in civilized life, can have no notion. Life itself depends on their progress, and when ibis is the case, the tuition must he marvellously rapid?love as well as life,?their dally sport* their mutual progress?the exercise of thenr tastes ; their consultations upon sea, and sky, and grove, the passage of the wild bird, the bound ofthe marmozett?the gathering Wifruit; the song^ the dance, the sigh, the smile,?Hill these provoked their industry in acquisition. It was not long before they declared themselves in syllables that took the place ofsimpte sound*, not long before the teacher could listen witu delight to the childish prattler at his side, whose accounts would have seemed uncouth in the ear* of critics only, Day by day, teaching and taught, the horizon of their hopes and afFgetioiis sensibly expanded he fort their minds, and the damsel did not cease to be less innocent because she had learned t it only to understand her own emotions, but to comprehend the real nature of the companion from whom she bail learned the first great lesson ofthe woman heat. She was not less happy that, in loosing a fiod she had found a lover and a Lord I (To be continued.) ?res a..-? *'&nr#5 We copy the following as u curiosity of its kind, showing with what credulity mady of the people of the North swallow the most incredi^h^ statements in relation to the supposed defection^ of the South towards the Union. Stories of plots and conspiracies for its severance are a part of the machinery for operating On public opinion among those Northern masses who aro too prone to believe them, as a set ofT to fanatical sentiment among themselves. There were poor plotters who suffered their scheme so to transpire as to full within the cognizance of the British minister at the Mexican capital, to say nothing of the intrinsic absurdity of fornjing a Southern Confederacy, of which the city of Mexico, the Metropolis of a State thai excluded slavery from her borders, was to be the capital. Correspondence of the Philadelphia North AmericanWashington, Aug. 3, 1850. When it was suggested here, last winter, that ^ certain politicians of the South had deliberately planned the organization of a Southern confederacy, it was hooted at as a slander too vile to be countenanced, or an invention too weak to impose on public credulity. It was my conviction then that this imputation was conceived and spread abroad to excite prejudice against the South, or to promote that system of angry contention which demagogues have employed for personal advantage. 1 regret to say that these opinions have been entirely changed, and by evidence of the most complete and astounding character. What I am ubout to rebate is capable of official verification, if the proper means are takem I learn* iipou the mosttffrect and undoubted authority, that a gentleman, re nrrsentiid to occunv a nosition nf hitdi influence i - - - WJ ? f ?o and character in the South, visited Mexico ixt April last, incognito, and submitted a complete plan for the organization of a Southern confederacy, of which that city was proposed as the capital, as a means of inducing the co-operation of Mexico. ' tia* This project was submitted to tljjfc, Mexican Cabinet, by M. Lacunza, the Minister .of. Foreign Affairs, and was urged hy him at a meeting which immediately f^Upwt^d, when a dis'cussion of great interest and. excitement oocur- . red. The proper it iim.was declined, an restrained, by proper and prudential considerations affecting others, from exposing the manned and the influences by which the scheme was rejected in the Mexican- Cabinet; but ifbrought to fight they would reflect the highest credit on the parties concerned. The day may come when a fuli publicatiop may be attended with less danger. I have felt it due? to the country that this infamous purpose should bo understood, in order that the designs ot reckless demagogues, who are now preaching disunion, should be properly appreciated, and visited with that storm of execration whioh such ? trpqaon deserves. J have some reason to believe that the late President of the United States was apprized of this movement, and had exercised his usual sagacity in counteracting any unfortunate consequences. if