Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i' v; " - - - ^ - - l-v ^:V V^. : -.. >; '. ' ' . 1 '????? . THE CAROLINA SPARTAN. BY cavis & trimmier. Dnrotci) to Southern iiigljts, politics, Sericulture, unlr iHisccllami. $2 peb ANHUM. :* -t' t . ,r VOL. XIV, SPARTANBURG, S. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1857. No 9. THE CAROLINA SPARTAN. BY CAVIS &~TRIMMIER. T- 0. P. VERNON, Associate Editor. Priee Two Dollars per milium in advance or I* .50 at tile end of the yeni. If not paid until j . after tlie year expires $3.00. Payment will be considered in advance if made within three months. No subscription taken for less than nix months. Money may be remitted through postmasters at our risk. Advertisements inserted at the usual rates, and eenfrnots made on reasonable terms. The Ssartam oircuMteslargely over this and ?djo min2 districts, and offers an admirable medium to our friends to reach customers. Job work of all kinds promptly executed. Blanks. Law and Equity, continually on hand br prin'sd to order. fl i BAT TAF A CD A DT A AI uailuliiaa 0rAiLin.11. Kr>irn Blackvvuo.l's MitgitZ'iie. Kecent Confession of an Opinm-Eater. Thero is no necessity for telling the reader how I caino into (lie company with which ho will Mud 1110 associated in the entiling narhilive; and there aro several reasons why ho need not be informed on that point. In tho first place, he has no right to inquire; for I hold, and always have held, and maintained, both in argument and practice, that a man is responsible only to himself for the company lie chooses to keep. 2dly, Supposing he had the right to ask (which, as already stated, I deny.) still it would be inconvenient for me to tell hitn. 3dly, Supposing lie had the right, and I were willing to acknowledge it, it would nevertheless be useless to the pur pose of the story I am about to narrate, and therefore a crime against art. 4llilv, He cause any consistency mid completeness which the narrative might gain by tho r. la- , tion of the circumstances antecedent to the ' position,at once intensely lion ible and highly amusing, whither tliev conducted i??\ are sufficiently attained by the mention of tho fact that, while enjoying with the full appreciation of a refined and extremely sensitive nature the appliances of luxtitv and wealth, I have never shrunk fiom studying ; tho aspect of humanity in tho Ueinbrutidl- ' like chiaroscura of vice and crime. In search of the harmonies which slumber 1 in the soul of man. I have sounded the 1 bass siring of society. Leaving tlio splendours and decencies of llic upper region of j our social atmosphere, I have voluntarily descended into the depths tilled with foetid and noxious exhalations, and 1 have eve* returned to the light of common day with an intensified sot.ne of the unfathomable mysteries and the unutterable melodies bidden in the piofoutidest abysses of our nature. Some of my readers will probably remember that particular epoch in the l?i-to- [ ry of crime when murder became the hand- i maid of medical and surgical science, whose ; requirements, at that lime greatly extended ! by the ardor of discovery, were bv no j means satisfied either l>y the legal ntturtngs of the bodies of criminals, or the more n<l venturous, though less legitimate, oonlnhu lions of surreptitious exhumation. The impulse communicated to that branch of study which deals with llio mysteries of our physical nature, by llio great anatomists and physicians who stand in conspicuous array on the line which separates dusky empiri cisn. from luiniuotts science, had awakened cravings tn the minds of our students which could no longer he stilled by such eleemosynary and desultory aid. To satisfy the-e cravings, a race of miscreants arose, \\hos<> peculiar province in the Held of assa>*ination may be denominated enlightened Thuggistn. Hut their atrocities, though j ? serving a more practical purpose than those of the Thug, had their origin in a far le s elevated motive. There i> ton much reason to believe that a mercenary desire to obtain the price of the body predominated, in most instances, over the wish to advance the interests of science; while even the better of these influence* is still far infeiior to the re ligious lorvor which prompted the lightening of the Oriental noose, lie that as it mar, u whs hi 4% nine wuuri 1110 iiurriu;e iia?n? 11 Hit gained the utmost ex tot A and organization it was destined to attain, before the revealmenl of its iniquities had caused that outburst of popular execration which exlin- ; guished it utterly, instantaneously, and for ever, as with the blast of a hurricane, that the incidents occurred to which I am about to draw the reader's attention. The scene, then, is a squalid and ditiffV chamber in the topmost ll.il of one of the many-storied and ancient dwellings which still give individuality to the Old Town of Edinburgh. The sole furniture of the apai lment was a battured'and time defaced table, stained with grea*o and liquor, having a bench of similar character on each side. In a bottle on the table was stuck a long candle of the commonest descripdon, whose flaring and drooping wick shed a dull light on the faces of the company. How I catno lo be in audi u scene, and among such peraona as I am about to de*cril>e, is, as I have already intimated, no buxines* of the reader's. Suffice it that I was there, the occupant of one of the benches, while opposite me sal three individuals, two men and a woman. Long nosed Bill, the central per- ! son of the three, possessed a remarkably villainous physiognomy, which, the index as it was to mental features equally singular I and truculent, rendered him a highly inter- j e-sting subject of philosophical contemplation. His nose was, as Ins name indicated, very long, and overhung so as almost to conceal a month so small, thin, and compressed. as to appear lo hnvo been made with a knife after tho rest of his countenance was designed; while on each aisle of tho main feature, sparkled an eye, deep set, small, gray, Had inexorable. His head, phrenologically speaking, was not had, bo- ' ing of sufKcient height, though tho forehead was concealed by straight black locks; the countenance, widest at tho forehead and | narrowing almost to a point nt the chin, was of a pale clay-color; and the solo ex- J preesioa was ono of troculent vigilance and resolution. On Williama' right whs set a more commonplace miscreant, wl coarseness of appearance and conversal betokened atrocity unredeemed by ref nieiit, and whoso name of Squabby which his companions addressed him) not without a certain philological fitn One of these external indications of cha ter, which garments ofl.-n convey, appea in the contrast afforded by the diessof tli men; for while Bill's shabby, scanty, i close buttoned black coat, rattier exnggi teJ the unfavorable impression made his thin angular form ami cadaverous co tenance. and seemed to show that lie < pised those little ameliorations in eostu which are within reach of the hnmbl Squabby's gaudy waistcoat, and gorge jewelry of glass am] copper, showed all inclination, without the power to be w in these latter days is denominated swell." 'l'be word dandy, which, at time I speak of, was the genciic term all who cultivated ostentatiously, w w hatever degree of success, the art of ? tuine, fails to convey the idea of exnbera and floridily ex| ressed in the newer up| lation. Squabby, theieforc, was a vttlj swell. Their female companion?faded, thou still young?possessed, nevertheless, a f whose expression frequently drew niy gf This wa* owing not so much to her beat; which could never have been of a stiik clmracter, as to the likeness sho bore t young girl with whom I had some ye before been curiously, intimately, and m romantically connected. Ah, (Jathurii even now, when I summon from the d past thy angel face, with the mild impl ing look I last behold there?implorino speedy return, where fate was even tl writing, with iron pen, the stern dec that for mo to thee there should he no turn?even now, as those eves so besee ingly beam on mo through the distance many lustres, my heart owns that there sympathies over which time has no cunt That likeness, faint a> it was, perhaps a I ge'.her fanciful, awoke feelings which, they arose, brought with them a crowd memories?and hence the charm whicl lace, to others, net bans, commonnlaco I ' i i ' i for me, though there wan nothing in manner, appealanco, or conversation of i \oung woman wliicli distinguished Iter if any way very superior to the scene ? the society in which lite reader finds Ik i it must not be imagined that wo I no other occupation in this dreary and lighted apartment than that of looking each other. Another bottle, besides t which officiated as candlestick, stood on table; or I should rather say, paced rot it, lot it seldom halted much longer tl was necessary for the filling of the cracl glass w hich stood l?efore each of us. < liquor was port, a choice made at my s ge-lion, and Long-nosed Hill had comcii with a hearty cordiality which his npp< ancodid not certainly promise, but the i live of which I afterwards divined, hid sent the girl out for a doze > bolt and though almost abstaining himself, i restraining al?o the manifest incliualioi Squabby for the generous liquor, he pi eu u on me vmiii a Hospitality Mint seen incapable of being repressed or chilled. Meanwhile the conversation did not f Squabby, finding in ine an interested i altciilivo auditor, talked much mid Ion hut nilh a ceilain coarseness which wo have ili-pu-led tnc had not his loqmn peipetilallv started subjects which the sa eions William treated with a mn*t< terseness, such as I have seldom he equalled. Hut the ureal charm of his c versalion was iis mystery. The ninner adventures in which he appeared to h heen engaged had neither beginning end. Ol secret expeditions, of hairbrea escapes, of rapid flights, there were suftiei to set tip a modern iiovellisl for several sons ? bill the spring and motive of all tl wire wanting. Why these expeditions w planned, what pursuers he had escaped fr and wliv flight was necessary, were qi tions which 1 had to call in my iniag tion and invention to respond to, ami l to string on theories of my own the bro links of his narrative. Koually mysterii though more boisterous, was the coin of Squabby, who frequently made j ing allusions to their peculiar vocal which, though to me utterly devoid meaning, caused a cynical .smile to across I lie a>iute physiognomy ol his fii while the woman responded with a low musical laugh generally smothered in the corner of her shawl. This mvsl veiling tlie snl.jocl of their conversat without cocceahng its main outlines, Jen it the interest which awakened and hat cuiiosity has always excited in my in from my ear lie-il days. My part was not, h ever, merely that ?>f a listener or a gue* ! hesitated not to exchange sentiments : experiences with these humble friends, * granted me the sumo attention which I my turn gave to tliein; and T remember garding it as a sinking proof that no quence, if genuine, is beyond the nppre lion of the rudest minds, when oh one casion, I having deltveied a magnifh quotation in a mummer (as I flatter unto do full justice to its sonorous flow, having told tliein the words were llion the great Burke, they hoard his name \ startled interest, and wore silent for s< moments after. However, 1 now conjee there might be other reasons for the a^ lion caused by tliat glorious name. I bad diank probably about two bo! of wine to my own share, Squabby no as much, and the abstemious Bill perl about a bottle, when I thought I percei a diminution in the cordiality of this In entertainer. 1 am naturally extremely sitive in ruoIi mutter*?indeed so morh alive to tho faintest indications of fui hospitality, as sometimes to con-eivo sn cions regarding tho sincerity of my come, which 1 am subsequently sa'.iare groundless. However, in the pre instance, there could he no doubt Long nosed Bill not only ceased to hiin?tilf, but listened to mo with man impatience, and sometimes exchanged g ited j cos with his two companions, while thos lose i ho cast on mo bore rather the chnrael* lion 1 of animosity than cordiality. Under the* ine- , circumstances I comidered it <lue to inysel (by \ as well as to my hosts, to rise and bid thei was good-night. This sudden move of miti ess. produced nn instantaneous chatigo in tL rac- j manner of Long-nosed Bill, who pressed in ired 1 to stay with more than his former hospital lese ty, while nt the wink from him, Sipiabb ami : placed himself between mo and the doo era j and, with boisterous but good humored rt by proach on my breach of good-fellowship, r< tin- | fused to let me pass. All this, howevo los- , would have bad small effect in inducing m me ; to remain after the change in Bill's mar est, i tiers towards me; bill just then the woma otis ; also joined her entreaties to his. In sodoin the she used a tone and gesture which at one hat arrested me. They were such as recalle "a vividly the tone and gesture which a youn the girl had unconsciously assumed some yeai for before when I was parting from hot in ar ith gor. Alt, KmiIv! potent indeed was tli ;os- charm of thy pleading over my often do nee and recusant spirit. Hard indeed wotil >el- i it have been to turn from those eves?t gar repel that offered embrace. Years lin passed, Emily, since I bad seen llieo?man igh ' feelings and many memories bad crowdd ace ! in between?but the voice and look of ze. { stranger recalling thine, showed that eve ity, | the faint and distant echo of thy powerfti iug ! spell could still enchain me. I need scarce 0 a ! ly say I resumed my seat. ars I Long nosed Bill now bocamo mor ost l agreeable and hospitable even than at firsi i?! j relating passages in bis career still mor Iiin . marvellous, and passing the wine with in or- ) creased rapidity, insisting at each round c 1 a the trot tie on tilling rnv glass himself, am ten | calling out pleasantly, "No heeltaps," befor ico doing so. For a lime this amused nic; an re i I was also interested in watching a litll eh- j hv-play carried on by Fill's companion: of I The woman was no doubt united to him i are bonds more or less hallowed, and Bill, wit rol. | the watchful prudence which his countt I to i nance betokened, seemed perpetually o , as ' his guard to prevent tho slightest familiar of I tv between her and Squabby. Nothwitl i a | standing all his vigilance, I observed, how lad ' ever, that, whenever his attention was <1 i: the ; traded by the friendly office of lilling m his 1 glass, or whenever lie giew so interested i as any of his narratives as to relax his watel ind fulness for a moment, tho woman,stealthil r. passing her hand behind him, clasped tin lad of Squabby extended to meet it. To a ph ill- iosophor and student of human nature tin at slight incident was amply sufficient to r< hat veal a (alo of passion ? a talo which the i saddened me to read. I saw in uong-uose ind I Bill an instance of the insufficiency of th tan most astute ami poweiful intellect to re cod train tho erratic propensities of the feiual hir heart. Here was this gicat man, who ha tig lavished perchance his whole heait, stake iled his whole faith, on the woman beside bin ar ! while she, like the base Judiean, throw in no- ' this pearl away richer than all her triln Ho bestowed in secret her love upon one coi I us; spicuously Bib's inferior in every respee ... i ' .1*..., i - i "... ... ... inn u.xiujn tu.ii un |)L'(m#ii?ii t* y\ v i of rather leu revolting. Miseiable mi->taki ess- accursed error! yet one to which lite I'ein tied nine nature is peculiarly liable. The n ineinbratice of such an error, of which I w: l:i??. myself the victim, is still as a d igger t ni,l my heart. For thee, Augusta! for thee in ||v. | nights were nights of sleeplessness?in aid ' 'lays, days of reVerio; to thee 1 gave lli ^llv | thoughts of my philosophic soul. An how ?lid?t thon? icqiiiio me! With in ,,|v | doubting faith ami untiling constancy? N arj| On the night of that ever memorable b i ;on | ?a ball which still haunts my rcmeti UU9 | biance as if peopled with spec-tie-* and th ave inons?theio tlitted before thine iucon>tai nor *'.vo tli:*t gaudy tiguie, rich indeed i d;h scarlet and embroidery and clanking spur ient ^>ul pour, beyond all measuro of poveitv, i ,0H that pliilosophic rcfinenient which const iese lutes true wealth. From that moment .'ere | forgotten, and since then ti pcrinaliet um shadow lias settled on my soul, lies- This train of thought naturally made n ilia [ melancholy; and my spirits were fuitln litis , depressed by a cause which I will no ken state. At this period I had resolved gradi mis, ally to wean myself from my opium, am luct atler terrible struggles and enormous stifle est- ing*, bad succeeded in limiting myself to ion, pint and a half of laudanum pet diet of Now, or. this particular day I had take flit only a pint, for the following reason: tl end druggist wills whom I generally dealt, li.i and sent me a hatch of lit dozen, in which m the 1 experienced palate at once delected adult icry ration. I had thereforo returned it, retail ion, ing only a bottle for the day's con-umptio t to W illi this bottle in my hand I had g<o lied down to the kitchen to speak to my coo iin 1 maid, when a family of beggars made the ow appearance at lliu door, c >u>isting of *er, father, mother, and two clithlieu. II und plaintive tones in which lliey enlieati vin> charity went to my heart. \e guj#! s;i in I, lieu; aie people hungry, cold, in.>eral>l id- ; craving a morsel uf food, wliilo I hold in ti t'lo liaml litis bottle, the key of the sovcnl cia heaven. Am I justified in withholding tl oc- celestial panacea! Shall I not say, drii lent hiuI be happy! In compliance with lh ielf) natural impulse, I at once gave each one and them a g'a-s laudanum, which tin a of drank in solemn silence and went awa villi What became of litem 1 cannot say; l? >mo as 1 never heard of any family being poiso litre oil about thai time, 1 conclude they we ;ita all continued opium eaters. However, tl: liberality on my part roluced my dose f Ltlos that day to about a pint, and 1 was nu aily beginning to feel tho effects of this uniisu :aps abstinence; the cliiuf of which ejects w ivod of course depression of spiiits?gradual itler iny head sank on my bosom. I ceased sen- re-pond to Bill's call of "No heeltaps;*' tl idly liquor I craved was not tho growth ling Oporto. It was then that Bill, seeing u ispi- condition, but ascribing it to a wrong can wel nsud ibis remarkable expression: "II ?fied pretty near done?let's finish him;" ai sent the woman gv'ng to a cupboard return that witb a bottle, which Bill uncorked, and ft talk ing iny glass from it, pressed tne to diin ifest^ Half absently I complied; but tho niome ;lan-1 I put my lips to it I started with )ov. Cou le Hill, then, read my heart??could he pry 1 n into my soul? Why, hero was the very j >6 potion for which 1 had been ihiisting as j f, never Arab thirsted in the desert, and now < n (here I sipjred again) ? it was no mirage, ie but the divine nectar itself. Tossing oil", 10 my glass, I at once resumed my wonted ie cheerfulness. 11 i- 1 noticed that, instead of talking as before, : I y Hill and the woman now intently watched J 1 r, mo, (Squabby was by this lime very neatly ' 3- blind drunk); and my intellect regaining its 3- usual vigorous clearness, 1 at once perceiv ( r, | ed that Hill, witb what design I knew not, 0 I intended to "hocuss" me. The absurdity 1 1 of an attempt to render me insensible with | n laudanum presented itsell so vididly to my g mind, llint 1 had much diflienliy in pro- [ 1 e venting myself trom exploding in laughter. 1 <| However, 1 managed to preserve my gravi 1 t g ' tv, and entering into the humor of the ' s tiling, at once resolved to drink against mv t i- entertainer?Laudanum versus Port?ami I o 1 thus astonish his dchile faculties, n* Jack i >1 : did the Giant's in tlie matter of the hasty- 1 d pudding, only that, instead of merely pie- | o tending hy a mean subterfuge to consume t d my share, a* Jack did, 1 would drink gla-s t v for glass. \Y hat a triumph of opium eat- < J : ing! How would the gieat (J->leridge scowl I a in envious bitterness ol spirit, when he n '< learned that i had achieved a feat which I 11 he well knew he never could hope to bur- ; t i- | pa?s! i \ Now then for it! Hill diinks, and offers < e to till my glass. I till it myself, quatl it oil', I t, 1 and continue to converse clieeilully. hill | o drinks again ? I imitate him ? Ihil stares j I i- and looks astounded, but nevertheless con I >f tinues to diink: so do i. We each stick ' d to our own bottles, the liquor iti which J e ] grows rapidly lower. Hill gets confuse I, i il | and is no longer master of his utterance -1 1 e become calmer and calmer, and flow on in ' i. i a rapt strain of eloquence, which immeasu i n rably delights myself. Presently, however, i h ' my attention is arrested by a change in ' ; j Mill's aspect; ho lias fixed oil mo a gaze of < ii ' unulteiahle malignity. He mutters to tlie < i woman in a th ck husky whisper, that ' lie < i- ain't a goin' to stand this much longer." In > a moment I became alive to the situation I i- was in. 1 was in the presence of nil ex a-, v perated ruffian, who saw in me one who n j put him to considerable expense in wine (to 1 i say nothing <>f the laudanum,) and who not 1 v only obstinately refused to part with his i u faculties, but was rapidly reducing his host i to a state of intoxication. Affair* became is presently more serious, when S?jnabl?y, at s- ' terly unable to sit upright any longer. Midit ilenly disappeared uinl- r the table ?when d | Mill impatiently started up, glaring fiercely e ! on me. I instantly summoned my ener > | u'es lo meet the dilHcu*. . and, liil!o_f for . ?! ward with my head on the table, allelic! <i j to snore heavily. I heard Mill remaik that d I "'twas nil riht at last, but lie believed that I, | 'ere cove was the devil;" when the woman, | g taking up the can.lie, opened the door of l-, an inner apartment, an I entered, followed i- i uy i>111 wiiii iiuct'iiuin t. 1 It inny easily he imagined t!.:it I mm |s ; lifted uj> my head, ami watched (belli with ' | intense interest. The room they entered 1 wa* small, and its only furnit ure were a hod iiml a sack. ! lie bed ? ?? peculiar, c?>iimm ing of two thick mattresses, without heil ? clothe-, ami a cotn|dica'ion i>l ropes, pull, is, V mill weight*. 1'icsentlv Kill ami the w y ; man, ouch seizing a rope. began pul ing. IL* ami tin- tipper mattress slowly rose. lleav 'I en ami canh! what a thought flashed aciuss 1 ' my iniml! I hail heard of siicli things (kj " I fare?the unhappy being, stupefied t?y opi ' mil, was placed between two mattresses, am] smothered s<? as to produce the appeal mice Li" , of natural death, at d his body sold to the 'I surgeon*! The s<ick was irresistible evidence I' ?it must he so! I was in the company of H. body -natchcrs, and was about to he lit i;k ? Eli! ! ! 1 l'ho tin ill of horror which now naturally ' passed through my heart did not pievetit iiio from seeing the case in all its philosophic bearings. Mv natuial impulse was, >f ie course, self preservation; but still, as a phil L?r osopliur, I was bound to consider a so the iv interests of the public. I hail every reason ii to believe ill ?l my organs and functions had il, become so vitiated by the tise ol opium, as r to insure, l<> hi in who should lay bare, with a scientific knife and anxious imjniiy, this ii. earthly tabernacle, the disclosure < ! the hi most teinaikable phenomena. 11 id I then, le as a citizen, the tight to withhold tlo- pel id tshahle fiame, which would inevitably be IV dissolved in a few years, aild perhaps undei e- far less imput in', conditions, (r'oi I might n- leave oil opium, mi I. thus lestormg mi ii. body to a iic.thhv condition, lender it Coin in p natively valueless,) when I might, l?y >nh I: milting to the f,11e dcnoticd !'<>r leinaui ir 'or no---., in < * !?n? of wine, a monument of a *?j?iitni-* ;?tiii<rf This was ono view of the 10 ca>e; but pie-eudy, nidi t]: ?' i-h-ur view o! -I tilings watch tloi pi :ieli-?c 1 metaphv*iciuti id inevitable ao jiiife*, I perceived ail objection, o, 1 roii)fiulioio.| (bat idv b mIv would proba i v My?uayooriaiiily.be m?I?I to some surgeon [li totally nnaotpi lintf I willi my person ami io habits, and who would thwetoie bo whollv ik incompetent to oxpi on tho reina?kabl? apis pcarances which dissection would reveal; of and the theories broached to account for ay tlieiu, lieinlj thus based on mere siippod y. lion, mijflil iirohablv perplex sr.once instead ut of ativoicing it. Tin* view of the case, con n- pled with a dcsiie to live my appointed re lime, decided ine, and I to"k my measures lis accordingly. or j All this time I liave left Bill ami tho wo >w man standing hy tlio fatal bed, where Death al Hit often took his repose, with tin? ropes in Hi ilieir hands. Fastening lliom so as to allow ly the upper mat truss to remain uphlied. tliev to turned towards me; toil l?ef??ro they did so, lie and while i was still It'll in almost coin of plele obscurity, I liiletl from my bottle ot iy latidaninn both their glasses, Tito perplcri <f( ly of the woman, ami the drunken aslonisliii's ment of Hill, when, oil roluriiiug for the >ul supposed insensible victim, they found me ud 8m.led upright and cheerfully auivvying II thorn, have probably never been equalled ik. except in that remarkable passage of the ntl literature of my childhood, when Mother ill] Hubbard, having gone to tho undertaker's to buy h colIin for her dog, (whom she had every reason to suppose dead,) returns, and finds tlie presumed corpse in a state of cachinnalion or laughter. They were so astonished that, when I desired them to be sealed, they mechanically complied, and, addressing them in a little speech, 1 proposed the health of the ladv as a convivial toast, and, tossing off my glass, invited them to pledge me. Totally bewildered llicy Inl so, and sal for a time staring at me, while 1 watched them with calm certainty. Well did I know the train of symptom* by which they who dare to trespass, without due initiation and necphytism, on llio impel nil domain* of opium, approach insviisj. liilily. Gradually their muscles relaxed ? ihoir heads sank?their inspirations lengtht'lied and deepened ? till they sank side by -id on the Moor, not in the divine dream <>f llie qua I i lied practitioner, but in the dull stagnation of the presumptuous quack. Having now the field to myself, and inv mind being relieved from the sudden strain, I allowed myself to lapse into one of tho-0 peculiar ami refreshing trances which opi mn commands. The vision I beheld was in* doubt suggested by the events of the L'veniug. Mi-thought that I actually helivid by body laid upon llio hateful bed which, uplifted by countless myriads of ..?.i r i ic:n- .".? i -I"" .-wi.iw Trough I lit* ;?i *. while I. seeming to have a lepatato existence bron the hoily. (a species >1 duality I have often observe 1 in these [ranees.) m its compelled to follow amlobseivc. After floating apparently for centuries through immeasurable regions of space, the hiui was laid in a vast hall surrounded by 'kclclons. who .shouted from their tle.shlcss jaws, in full chorus, as my body was borne in, "Kooiti for the Opium eater!'' and all the echoes answered, "liooin for die Opiutn-ea lei!"'?like the people answering the piie*l* in the service of a cit'.hei lial. Then (locked in, in endless procus-ion, all the mighty surgeons and physicians whom the woild ever saw, beaded by the divine E* ulapius in classic robes, and whose ample brows were crowned by a cliaplet. Galen billowed, and Hippocrates?aid Celsus and the wizard phvdeiati Cornelius Agtippa, arid Garth and Harvey and Hunter, with all their entemporaries, till A->tley Coo|?er headed the College ol Surgeons of our day. Then the doors were closed with a mighty sound ? silence was proclaimed by a liernld?and the whole procession, tiling past the bier, bowed to it as an armv to its warrior chief. Again the herald proclaimed silence, and the venerable Esculapiu*, standing forth before all, s iid, in purest Attic Greek, in sol emu tones, "Let us dissect the Opium ea lei!'' and all answered, "Let us dissect him." Then the shadow of the great father of phi sic, approaching Willi reverence the bier, laid open the temple of the brain, when to! theie straight way i?stied lot til such a swarm ol ideas that the vast hall could not contain tItem. I'pwaid tliev floated, bright conceptions, melodious utterance*, iinperislia11 : ii . i mo images, uiiuwerai'io ui> rugn i*. ami thronged tin- atmosphere from pavement to root; while -lill from that small skull flow eil tin* n !??. !?. I i 11 st i fa in, lik>' the mighty ntiil fertilizing Xilo from it* fountain source. I'pvvard Mill 11 icy pressed, till their acuitnu laiion grew iiresistible - joi-t and rafter gave way with a crashing sound. (it walla* triumph of mind over matter.) and foiill tl-'.ite I ill" joyous liberated thought* to their U>it>Ir?- 1 sky. And ail the inultitude bowed d-'wn and ai'know I edged the might and majesty of genius. I know not how long the v i*iou occupied, but when I cea?ed to dream, the candle was low in the s >ckvl, or rather the bottle. Mv companions weio -till prostrate, and showed no sign of existence except their heavy stcr lorous breathing. They might, however, shortly recover, and I therefore resolved ! goat once, while they weie still iii?en-ihli to nit movements. Hastily finishing tinland mum which remained in the bottle, 1 took up the candle tnd proceeded down stall s. 1 think I had got down about ten stories when, taking tlio wrong tiiiii at the foot of tiro -tail-, 1 opened the door of a room which I found full of lumber ami straw. A1 tinned to leave it, the candle fell front the bottle among tbestraw, which was instant Iy in a ti une. It I had rai-ed an alarm the question of .')OIO I h ip/MM'/ to Ik there might have a i-eii, which I have already said it did not suit me to answer; And ;f I -laved to attempt to extinguish the tl mi"* I might fail to escape, lor the lire spread rapidly. II is iIy quitting the scene. I ran down to the level of the street, and shpt si lently away in the darkness. As ilie wind, using by degree*, liisl -ports with the dead leave , then t iiih-s ,al the casements, till tile and roof t-eo g' down before the liuriicane, so arose tin il . iij of i jio;. I'irst a vvnichinaii sh-'titc ? a chance |' issenger joined him; ilm*. who 11v* 1 on llu" basements and grotin ll > !> next issued forth, xinl tin* elioru surged iiiiI swelled into a mighty < 1 iptsnp I .aiteiing thro -gh tin* stieeis c otto 11??. fir? engines oil llieir eriaild of salvation; be*n|. tlieiil riltl tko liremeii. (iallulil Pli<?n;x luave Sin:!?well done both luigide*! I'm this night votir efforts shall be in v:ii11! Fo se(?, iho ll lines leap buih at cierv winiln# Higher thev climb, story after slorv, will rapid ?te|?. I'liey lit k the walls ? thei sw allow the rafters ?ami ever -till their pro gie*s is tipwar.l, like luiglil th eights jh>inI ing lieavonw.irtl; while the bu-e inoitar am stones an-1 cla\, falling in ward like h>w ma terial natures trying to stnoilier the light o genius, taisrt for a in un-'lit a dtlst, wlrel vanishes, leaving the (lames hiighter that before. Still upwaid! nil now thev hav reached the cbatnher where I p?smd '.In night. Ibtl, iiiv pip peed deslrover, whet art thou? where too is thv partner, she win sleeps in thy bosom? shall she ever ngaii rijwse there? Ha, Sotl ibby, not all th gihes and jewcllety can avail thee now! S-? lite foe has encompassed them?seo. th I shadows, hurry ing frantically on the ceiling show that (he lloor is in a blaze! And not I they rush to the window. Ivven at tliisdii lance 1 recognise Hill by the length of hi I notfe- he team the woman from the windot and looks down. Shall lie leap? No! sixteen stories is a height to appal the bravest. Destruction in front, destruction in reai! to ; be toasted or smashed!?dreadful the alternative, William?vain the hope of escape! And now the problem, which he : dare r.ot solve for himself, is solved for him. j The woman from behind casts her arms ! about his neck with frantic gesture, and ! both fall back into tlie room. Higher rush | the rejoicing and victorious llame.s, niching their cre-ts and crackling joyously, till the walls crumble and sink, burying 11 tbeir ruins the ashes of the Body-sniUcheis. Denih ot the Jli^h Priest of Japan. The Daiii, or High Priest of Japan, in- j habits a splendid palace in tlie city of Mia j ko, on the Bland of Nipoti. His court is 1 composed of 20,000 priests, who ate intrusted with the charge of the 4,000 tern ' pie* of this immense city. His costume is a long tunic, over which he wears a large) ied dress; ,t white transpaieiit veil, orna ineuted with golden fringe, is worn upon his head; falling about half way down the hotly. His countenance remains always invisible. On lire 1st of July, 1856, the Dairi was taken ill. Immediately the chief priest, j with bis ghostly colleagues, '200 ptiesls of j the first rank, who are endowed with the : religious power of the empite, were summoned to the palace. By the next day the j invalid's situation became more ciilical, and on the 3d his death was pronounced to be inevitable and closu at band. '1 lie priests repaired at once to the temple, and informed the populace that the Dairi had entered . into a compact with the Seven Gods of Heaven, and was upon the eve of rejuvenating his mind in the embrace of Ted syo- j dai >iii, the principal of these deities, who the Japanese believe to have created the world. She has been at the head of affairs for about 25.000 years, and from her | spring all the royal families of Japan. To | her the inhabitants of the entire empire ad- | dress their invocations as the protectress of the land. At the conclusion of the first prayers, the priest* rleclnrud ill a I llie inhabitants could , immediately enter tlio palace and regale j their eyes with the sight of their highly- j venerated High I'rie*t. At once the crowd sli earned to the palace, where they beheld I)airi lying stretched upon .1 bed of slate, lie was dressed in a while tunic, and his features, covered with a very thin mask, were dimly perceptible through a veil spread over them. The piie?ts prayed loud ; ly, and wafted the sweet perfumes from ' their cen?ers around the dying man. At j 'J o'clock in the morning of the 5lh of July lie breathed his la-l. As the last breath j pas*e<! through his lips, tire chief priest, j laisiug his arms as a token of the depart- i ing life, assured the bystanders that the soul of the High Piiest had ascended to the abodes of the God*, but that it would shortly return and resume its earthly habitation. I'poii this announcement a solemn silence perva.led the audience. After the lapse of ten minutes the chief priest, surrounded by a crowd of his religious companion*, threw over the still warm Corpse of the iJ.riri a large white cloth, which he instantly withdrew, and in the place just before occupier I by the hotly there appeared another similarly attired, but alire ami -iiong, who, raming I im-elf from In- rt-eumbeiit position, went to an altar -landing near the bedside, and I res I owed upon the people present his bl?-?*ing. The crowd instantly broke out into exclamations of gladness and rejoicing. r>v a well concerted stratagem, the priest* had abstracted the body of the Dairi, sup |>l\'.tig it* place with his son, who inherits ltt?s r il lior's ?i(iilh.fi Tltn wluf A 1..S.1 liAin.f ' Initio around witli drapery, rendered i; ail lliti easier to perform llie trick without rtmu?j|)<r the -ii>picion? of the credulous in hahiiants. The corpse of the I)airi was carlied hi the iu<*ht time to the Ycie temple by the piiol*, where it was laid upon a pyre and burned to n-he?. Thin beiu<; done, the temple is clo-ed, and all persons are forbidden to enter it. A violation of this law i- j nui-hed by burning to death'. Tim Ycie temple, the handsomest one in the city, coiit tins several rows of earthen statues, of the deity Ien-syo-dai-sin. These -tatues are nb -lit one yard hi^h, are hollow, and have each a large opening in the back of the head. 1 he a-hes of each Dairi are preserved iu one of these statues, the same as in an tun. The inhabitants are not permitted to enter the poitiun of the temple where the?e figures stand. On the day after the death occurred, ceremonies of a very different character take place?the ihaugui alien irf the new High Priest, who, as the people suppose, has had his soul reHewed ill the residence .if the gee .t goda. On the 7th id Jnlv, (ho new Dairi, surrounded bv chosen priests, issued from his palace and paraded the different portions of the city of Miako. The people threw themselves to the earth, and addressed pravers to him as a g-?d. Upon this day all wot k was for bidden, all prisoners were set at liberty, an I all criminal processes 1 annulled. ! A Youno Lady 8i.andeuki).?At the H'cent Court nf Ci?mnmn Pleas for Gieeni Mil I ti-tnet, thoie w u a ease ?>f slander?a foul slander, on n voun innocent and he mi UMil school gul, _)u?l verging it;to woman J hood. Slio brought Iter action, hv lier father, in vindication of'her chaincler, and ' a Greenvilie jury awarded her the sum of i font tlion.'tml dollars. We hope 11?ih vor i ?In t will show the woil.l the c-iim i!o put mi character I ?y aG com ilie jury. Thedeleiulaiit was a in in of property, and he fled e the country, with his family, Uni the vora d ot shall ovo take hint. N >i one dollar a however, i> the plain tY <Ii~j? >*c 1 to tench; v hut her counsel have not tlio s una delicacy *. of feeling or repugnance to the touch ?>f tin; " defendant's money. Afer the payment ol r. eoiinsol fees, the teifininder can he approv piialel to vmions patriotic and charit.ihh <* purjHises, without offending ihe d? licaev ol any one. flic slanderer must bo pnn v l ishe-1. ? Cfrtmviflc Patriot. New Way of Detecting Counterfeits. Mr. J<>1?it S. Dye, of New York, has come before ilie public with a new plan for delecting counterfeit, spurious and altered notes, lie presents it in Dye's Wall street Hroker, and lie pledges himself to take every counterfeit, new or ol?J. at >ls full value, that is not thoroughly described in his publication so nearly as to be detected; and it is to make no difference whether the bill is now in existence or should come into existence months or a year hence. The plan of detection is set forth in English, German aud French. 11.e diameter of nil genuine and spurious bills is minutely descried. Seven rules for detection are given, as follows! First. Examine the form and feature* of all human figures on the note. If the forms are graceful and features distinct, examine the drapery?see if the folds lay * natural; and the hair of the head should bo observed, and see if the fine strands can be seen. Second. Examine the lettering, the title of the bank, or the round handwriting on the face of the note. On the genuine bills the work is done with great skill and per-' fectness, and thcie lists never beeu a ccunteifeit but was defective in the lette-ing. Th rd. The imprint orengraver's names. Hy obseiving the great perfection of the different company names?in the evenness and shape of the fine letters, counterfeiters never get t*ie imprint perfect. This role alone, if strictly observed, will detect every counteifeit note in existence. Fourth. The shading in the back ground of the vignette, or overor around the letters foiining the name of the hank, on a good bill, is even ami perfect; on a counterfeit irregular and imperfect. Fifth. Examine well the figures on other parts of the note containing the denomination, also letters. Examine well the die work around the figures which stand for the denomination, to see if it is of the same character as that which forms the ornamental work surrounding it. Sixth. Never lake a bill that is deficient in any of the above j?oints, aiul if your impression is bad when you first see it, you I I 1 I r t t urn neucr ue careiui now you necome convinced, to change your mind?whether your opinion is not altered as you become confused in looking into the texture of the workmanship ol the bill. Seventh. Examine the natoeof the 8tnte, name of the bank, and name of the towrf where the bank is located. If it has been' altered from a bioken bank, the defects can be seen, as the alternation will show that it has been stamped on. Tiik New Use of Cottox Seed.?In ri | recent number of tbe New Orleans Creole, we find a very interesting description of anf i establishment in that city for the manufacture of oil from cotton seed. After describing the process, the Cieolosays: Cotton seed has heretofore been regarded a* useful only for the purpose of manure. It has added nothing to the value of Southern production; but ir is now shown to be little iufeiior in intrinsic value to the silky fibre in which it is enclosed. The establishment to which we allude produces five hundred barrels of oil per day, from the diy cotton seed. A novel and lieauliful piece of machinery hulls it with I the utmost precision and the greatest rapidity, leaving the oily meat free from eve~y j lorcign substance. Exposed to a considera* ' ble neat, and subjected to pressure, oil is 1 > I * I ? * produced, wiiicii, i>y ji new chemical process of clarification. becomes fit for every purpose for which oiive, lard, or sperm oif : is adapted. To day, it is used on the tables of mane of oar citizen as oiivo oil. Ii bum* in the solar and astral lamps in our parlors. It is u*ed on machinery as a lubricator, and answers every other purpose for which fine native nr foreign oil is needed. The establishment is self sustaining. The refuse hulls furnish the fuel to drive the engine-. N't a .-ingle slick of wood I wis been purchased since the machinery was first put in m.ition. As an experiment, a portion of the accumulation of tho waste has'b;en shipped to the North to be w..rked up into bookbinders* boards, for which purpose this material is believed to ho admirably adapted. Six months have not yet elapsed since the machinery was set m motion, ami now ' the oil is finding its way into the country ' in preference to lard OTsperinuil, ami is for >a!o in many establishments of this city. The sale is quite equal to the possibility of production. The effect of this favorable experiment with cotton seed upon our domestic economy is likely to be most favorable. For years the price of pork has steadily advanced We are burring trp so many hogs, m the shape of oil. that the juice of meat. unless n new source of oil had"T>een di.xofered, must have proved a seriout nueonve; mence. Let. however, tiio cotton seed, which now rots in millions of tons on our plantation*. he pressed into oil, and the South will he independent of Northern 6?h. ennen, and instead of heing consumers, will soon heco ::e e<|>ort?rs of oils that are super ioi to and cheaper than any other now u-ed. The cotton fields will prove richer mines of wealth than the most pioduclive gold hearing Stales of California, l'ork, no longer wasted for light, or manufacturer! into lahle oil, or into perfumery for the toilet, can again he furnished for live or ten dollars jar barrel. A Dutch paper in the interior of Pennsylvania expresses its opinion of President liuchnnan's inaugural in the following lurid and concise terms: "Undder I lent cites ver saim-lting wlier coht met din groseu InI aural f?K?n der Shames Buchanan, sell inh I sltaney, der huiumeliigh der D? inocrali-y I uichts cum aratis! Dei hlalil eiu pretzel! > at tile! Swatuacepe holmmd sv.ei ylas?ej f I iger fight av.iy, Secretary der Swell ser Cheescu f ?oii tier Washington mil Jack-on i shntfleh-'awlen. Der S.hmidtt ? Ni! Der f Vig1 Nd Dor S Iiw?iizenh< ver? Ni! Km hlate limhergei tint ktrougfogu! Km glassen hrer unit pretzel! Sooniitc! Y*hP