Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' 4K samxlwmmeit6n jproprietors. An Independent Journal: For the Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the South. {lewis m. grist, pubiuher. VOL. 2. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, M.A.Y 22, 1856. NO. 21. . Sclrrtfb ijJoftn). LITTLE CHARLIE. BY T. B. ALDRICH. O sunshine, making golden spots Upon the carpet at my feet? The shadows of the coming flowers ! The phantoms of forget-me-nots And roses red and sweet! ' How can you seem so full of joy, And we so sad at heart and sore ?? Angel of death! again thy wings Are folded at our door! We can but learn through length of days For something lost,' we fancied ours ; We'll miss thee, darling, when the Spring Has touched the world to flowers ! For thou wast like that dainty month Which strews the violets at its feet; Thy life was slips of golden sun And silver tear-drops braided sweet! For thou wast light and thou wast shade, And thine were sweet, capricious ways: Now lost in purple langours; now No bird in ripe red summer days Was half as wild as thou! 0 little Presence! everywhere We find some touching trace of thee? A pencil mark upon the wall That naughty hands made thoughtlessly ; And broken toys around the house? Where he left them they have lain Waiting for little busy hands That will not come again. Will never come again I Within the shrouded room below He lies^a-cold?and yet we kuow It is not Charlie there! It is not Charlie, cold and white; It is the robe that, in his flight, He gently cast aside ! Our darling hath not died! 0 rare pale lips! 0 clouded eyes! 0 violet eyes grown dim! Ah well! this lock of hair Is all of him! Is all of him that we can keep Fnr lnvintr kisses, and the themer!it Of him and death may teach us more Thau all our life has taught! I God, walking over starry spheres, Did clasp his tiny haud, And led hiin, through a fall of tears, Into the Mystic Land Angel of death, wc question not : Who asks of Heaven, Why does it rain ? Angel, we bless thee: for thy kiss Hath hushed the lips of pain ! No Wherefore t or to what good end? Shall out of doubt and anguish creep Into our thought. We bow our heads: lie yiveth his beloved sleep! IniMraus ^ton. ! ? From the German of Ferdinand Stolle. COURTSHIP UNDER DIFFICULTIES. | [concluded.] I began to lose all patience with this ab- j surd old counsellor, who took his daughters' j mad freaks for so many proofs of skill and j irioilnm T hallAVO tlllt if dlAV ll<lll f>|lt Hll! I n I.-UUIU. A VI?MW it IUVJ i??Vi VMV UiJ I head off he would have maintained them to be perfectly justified by the precarious state of my health. I examined myself to see if there were anything about me that could possibly afford Dieffenbach a pretext for another operation. Commencing with my head, I travelled down to my feet, aud rejoiced to 1 find that, with the exception of my tortured I mouth and punctured arm, everything was in a perfectly natural and healthy state.? j There was nothing to justify any further practice of surgery upon my unfortunate per-1 son. I resolved to be extremely on my j guard, aud to lock the room door whenever j I was alone. The day was near its close when we returned to the house, where we found the supper-table spread. The young ladies were all absent. Heaven only knew in which direction. Nimrod was out shooting, Dieffcn-1 bach amputating, and Oken collecting spi-1 ders. I must confess to a greater wish to j see Oken than Minnie, perhaps, would alto-1 gcther have approved. At any rate, with ; her [ should not be in bodily danger. She j would hardly attempt to impale me on a cork- j ing-pin, like a beetle or a butterfly. I was! very glad her two sisters did not make their appearance. To me their presence would have embittered the meal. We waited a while, expecting their arrival, aud the counsellor, who could not but remark or suppose j that the impression made upon me by the j occurrences of the morning was not particu- j larly favorable filled up the interval with j praises of his daughters, the excellence of i their hearts, and pointing out how much better it was that they should have been suf-! fered to grow up half wild in the country than they should have been exposed, without j the guidance and protection of a mother, to the corrupt atmosphere and dangerous refinements of the tnwn When unnn this theme, Frager was inexhaustible. I never saw a man so much in love with his own f children. At last he declared he would wait no longer for the girls, and we began supper. We had been at table about a quarter of an hour, when the door opened, and Oken, long expected, came at last. Very different was the impression she made upon me to that produced by her sisters. She was quite as pretty, but gentle, amiable in couuteuance and manner. She did not run past me, like Nimrod and Pieffenbach, as if I had been a part of the furniture, but bowed her head gracefully and courteously, apologised for her tardy arrival, and added that had she known I was at Wiescuthal, the most interesting researches in natural history should not have witheld her from returning home to welcome me. I was delighted to find her so pleasing a contrast to her sisters, and, but for thoughts of Minnie, I should at once have admitted myself vanquished by her charms. She was tastefully dressed?her hair just a little blown about by the evening breeze.? In her haud she carried a covered basket, ajtiiph she nlaeed linen n ehnir liesirle tier when she sat down. The conversation turned on natural history. Out of complaisance, and to win her good opinion, I feigned a lively interest in the science, about which I had never in the least troubled my head.? We were a most harmonious trio. Counsellor Frager was in the seventh heaven. It was clear to the worthy man that Ernestine and I were born for each other. For my part, I forgot the disasters of the morning, and basked in the smiles of the lovely naturalist, who by this time was deep in the , latest discoveries respecting amphibia. Concerning these I neither knew nor cared anything, but I preteuded profound attention, and gazed with delight on the lovely mouth j that spoke so learnedly. It was quite a i little lecture on reptiles. Presently Krnes1 tine opened the basket beside her, and the next moment an extraordinary object writhed and danced within a few inches of my face. Its appearance was so sudden that I I did not at the. instant recognise its nature, i but when I did, I thought I should have fal[ len from my chair with terror. A living and : very lively snake stretched out towards me I its horrible head and forked tongue. C "Here you have a most beautiful speci, men of the ." She wound up the sen. tence with some Latin name of a snake.? [ I was almost beside myself. From my inj fancy upwards I had held serpeuts of every kind in extraordinary respect. Oken deI tected my discomposure. "What!" she ex; claimed, laughing scornfully, "you would , pass for a naturalist, and are afraid of a ! snake ? Impossible 1" i Aud the accursed head, with its quivering tungue aud bright headlike eyes, drew : uearer aud nearer, Oken seeming to enjoy ; my manifest uneasiness. "For Heaven's sake !"' levied "takeaway that horrible creature." "I see nothing horrible in it," quietly replied Ernestine. "Observe how gracefully ; its body undulates." And again the reptile ! writhed itself just before my nose. I jumped up and retreated : Ernestine followed me, i snake in haud. "I have never been able to understand," began the idiotic counsellor, in a doctoral tone, "whence arose the peculiar aversion with which men regard all kinds of reptiles. "The deuce you have not 1" cried I, still retreating from Oken and her odious pet. "The aversion is not very difficult to account for. For my part, I abhor the creatures." "Pshaw!" said Ernestine, angrily; "you are but a counterfeit naturalist." And thereupon she slapped me across the face with the snake. I could not restrain a cry of horror and disgust. Then she returned to her seat, and put the vermin into its basket. In my estimation the counsellor's third daughter had now fallen into the same category with her sisters. Frag-;r, who saw that I was unable to conquer my innate horror of snakes, had ordered his daughter to discontinue her unseemly jest; but the poor old gentleman's authority was evidently at a discount that day, and Okcn, with diabolical ; malignity, had continued to torture me un-1 til the perspiration rolled off my forehead. "Now may Old Nick fly away with all three of you," said T to myself, as I passed my handkerchieif, across my damp brow.? "You have seen the last of me at Wiesenthal. At daybreak I pack up my traps and leave this place of torment, worse than a cell of the inquisition, or a dungeon in Front de Ikeuf's Castle. A nice place to come a-woo ing!?snakes, bullets, and tootn-urawing.? pleasant welcome for a suitor 1" The evcuing wore wearily away. Miss Oken, having ascertained that I was no naturalist, adopted her sisters' system, and treated me with profound contempt; in fact, she hardly seemed aware of my presence.? For my part, the sympathy with which she had at first inspired me had completely vanished. Frager was quite put out by the change in his daughter's demeanor, and of course cast the blame of it on me. "I should never have thought," he said, "that you would be so alarmed by a little harmless snake." "Who could have supposed it!" cried j Ernestine, applauding her father's words.? | "We are different sort of people here." "It is impossible to change one's nature," I replied. "Nature!" repeated Ernestine; "what do j you know about nature? For Heaven's sake hold your tongue." This was really too rude. I was on the point of makiug a sharp reply, when I saw Oken extend her hand towards the reptile's cage. I kept silence and prepared for flight. Never have I passed two more irksome ; hours than those that elapsed before bedtime came. The counsellor proposed a cigar. I j ! caught at the idea. With a glowing Havana iu my mouth, I felt as if I should be safer from the assaults of that cobra de capello, or whatever else it was, that Oken kept beside her, like a greyhound in leash, ready to let slip upon her game. I vowed to myself to smoke the beast to death if possible. Again I was to be balked. "Bless me, papa !" cried the naturalist, "vou forget that my net cannot bear smoke. ('an you ?" she said, raising, to my iniiiiite j alarm, the lid of the snake-inhabited hamI per. "True, my dear," placidly replied her father, "I did not think of it;" and, turning to me, "Excuse, me, my dear friend," I he added, "but the little animal really can; not endure tobacco." It is bad enough to be henpecked, but to | be chiekpecked, to be the slave of three ; daughters, and they possessed of the devil, apj peared to me the lowest depth of human dej gradation. So, because a wretched viper ob! jected to the fragrant vapour of a cigar, I | was to be deprived of my after-supper smoke. | For a moment my impulse was to kick the I counsellor, jump upon the basket, and bolt from the house; but calmer thoughts succeeded, and I sat resigned, merely secretly | wishing that Okcn and the snake were sit; ting tete-a-tete in a Libyan desert or a Louis; iana swamp, and that I was a hundred lea! cues from Wicsenthal. 1 had suffered so I much all day that my moral energy was com! pletely gone. I was overwhelmed by the rapid succession of unpleasant events. I started at every noise, expecting to see Nimrod or Dieffenbach, or both of them, enter the room and penetrate some fresh assault upon me. Nimrod would of course begin snuffing the candles with pistol-balls; and Diefl'cnbaeh, as soon as she observed my slate of nervous excitement, would insist upon blisters and mustard-plasters, and perhaps upon a little more phlebotomy. Hitherto I had had but one sister at a time to deal with. Uut if they formed a triple alliance, and set upon me in concert, T was lost, without hope of rescue. Fortunately neither of the elder sisters made their appearance, and at last the youngest, to my great relief, took up her basket and departed. No sooner was she gone than Frager, according to his custom, tried to remove the disagreeable impression she had made upon me. One got accustomed in time, he said to her strange tastes, and stranger pets, and when once she was married she would give up her researches in natural history, and settle down into an excellent wife. I wa9 quite sick of the simple old creature's infatuation and apologies and begged to be allowed to go to bed. " At last," said 1 te myself, on finding myself alone in my room, "I shall have a little repose after the heat and burthen of the day, after all my dangers and adventures." So tired was I that I immediately undressed, blow out the lights, and sought my bed.? Pulling back the clothes, I stepped in, and much more hastily jumped out again. T had come up in some hard substance which moved bo.tweeu the sheets. If I was not greatly | mistaken, it was a live tortoise. Whilst I J deliberated whether I should cry murder, sleep on the sofa, or dress and leave the j house, something bit my great toe with such violence that I actually yelled with agony, j A gigantic crawfish clung to my foot. I kick; ed about in so desperate a manner that I at I hist shrink the erontnre off. and T hoard it fro I .v.?. ?>' ~"7 ~ n | with :i crack against the wall. I fled to the i sofa. A horrible thought assailed inc.? What if Frager, through absence of mind, ! had ushered me into Oken's museum and j menagerie. This appeared to me the more probable that on all sides I heard strange sounds, as if numerous ceatures were crawling, trotting, singing and humming around j me. Something flew up to me with a buzz and a bounce, and caught in my hair. I ; clutched at it, and shuddered as I found in j my grasp a beetle as big as a sparrow. T I dashed it furiously from me, and had the sati isfaction of hearing it smash against some j hard substance. Scarcely was I rid of the | beetle when I was bitten sharply in the calf of the leg. I put down my hand, but the j creature had done his work and gone, leaving a severe smarting and irritation. I know not whether it was he or one of his friends who the next instant made an onslaught upou my | ankle. T began to hunt about for the match- i box, that I might at least see my enemies. II sought in vain, and was quite unable to ; conjecture the nature of the monsters that, 1 } during my search, pinched, bit, and stung, aud assailed me in every conceivable manner. Once or twice I trod with my bare foot on hideous reptiles, whose cold slimy touch made j me leap into the air. My capers would j doubtless have diverted any who saw them, | but to me it was no laughing matter. Xo martyr of ancient times or victim of the I vclim-yrulit ever suffered more than I did iu that chamber of horrors. The monsters that congregate on the bottom of the sea can j hardly surpass in variety the inmates of that | room. The darkness and my excited imagination further embellished them. Presently I heard a hiss. "A snake, by all that's horrible !" said I to mvself. "about to coil round and devour me." And I set up such an infernal clamor, shouting and cursing, like Ajax when wounded, that I must have been audible half a mile round the house. To add to the turmoil, in my eagerness to escape from something which I heard coming after me with a sort of clappcring noise, I upset the table. Several large boxes which stood upon it were opened by the fall, and I immediately perceived a great increase of animation around me. I continued to storm like a lunatic. It was all one to me whether anybody in the house slept or not. The awful row I kept up at last roused the counsellor, who made his appearance in his dressing-gown, candle in hand. He at once saw the cause of the disturbance. "Hang the girl!" he cried; "she will soon fill the whole house with her zoological collection." T put myself in mind of pictures I had I seen of Adam on the sixth day of the creation, surrounded by all manner of beasts and creeping things. Frager led the way to another room, which as yet was not invaded by Oken's vermin. "You have nothing to fear here," said my host; anil added, true to bis system of making the best of everything, "you will sleep all the better for your little misfortunes." "Heaven grant it!" sighed I, and thought that I should have slept quite well enough without them. After searching the whole room, under the bed, in the drawers and closets, and satisfying myself that 110 specimens of natural history, either alive or deifd, were there, T again got between the sheets?this time without encountering a tortoise, but not the less determined to fly Wiesenthal at cock-crow. With this wholesome resolve 1 stretched myself out and went to sleep, as T presume the tortoise did in the bed originally destined for me. Scarce had Aurora, with her rosy fingers, Tinged the hill-tops and bathed the plain in dew, when I was afoot and packing. Whilst thus occupied, T reflected that, under all the circumstances, French leave was decidedly the best leave for me to take. Otherwise, I should have a regular fight with Frager, who would never let me depart. When I halted for the night, I would write him a letter, telliug him that, with the best will in the world, I had been unable longer to eudure the eccentricities of his charming daughters. I would put it to him as gently as possible, so as not to hurt his feelings; and I felt sure that when he reflected on all I had gone through under his roof, he would not feel surprised at my abrupt departure. Nor could my uncle blame me, when I told him of my tribulations, and related the conduct of the three mad women. Whilst pondering all these things, [ com pleted my packing. I made sure Lhat no body would be stirring in the house at thai early hour, and at any rate the ladies woulc be deep in their feather-beds. I was delib crating whether I should bravely shouldei my portmanteau or leave it to be sent aftci me, when the door burst open, and to 1113 immense consternation, in strode Nimrod, j brace of duelling pistols in her hand. "Merciful Heavens!" said I to myseli "torture begins again. It must be ownec that these amiable demons go to work early.' Without salution or ceremony Niuiroi strode up to me. "Your couduct last night," she said "your ill-treatment of my sister's property and barbarity of several of her pets, arc ar iusult to the family and demand atonement I have taken the business into my hands.? ?.:n 1 >> ?i c win cAuiiau^i* auuui. "Are you out of your mind ?" cried I impatiently. "You will soon see that," replied Louisa coldly and decidedly. "Answer me. Is i you who broke the claw of that rare speci men of the lobster tribe ? Ts it you whe threw the horned beetle with such violence against the wall that the poor creature isslil unable to walk or fly ? And arc you the de liuquent who upset the cases in which colo nies of spiders, earwigs, and ceulipcdes hat long led a tranquil and happy life ? Do yoi confess all these offences?" My politeness was gone. I had come tc consider Nitnrod as a man, and should a; soon have thought of putting on white kit gloves to saddle a horse, as of using toward.1 her that subdued tone and those guardet expressions one unusually adopts with the gentler sex. "May the devil fly away with the whole brood !" cried J, perfectly exasperated at be.'ingcalled to account for my defence against the menagerie. "Follow me, sir," said Louisa ; "such cx pressions as these oau be washed out out} with blood. Come, sir!" "Nonsense!". I replied; "I do not fight duels with young ladies." "Ila!" cried Ninirod, stepping up close ..... ?iii. a i IU HIUj iY IL11 1U1>UU JJIMU1 UIIU till UUVVI1U1U' some sparkle in her eye ; "Nonsense, did you say ? Afraid, I suppose, llut it won'! do. Follow nie, sir." "I tell you again that I will not. JIou can I answer to God and my conscience foi having levelled a pistol at you ?" "Need not to level it without you choose Fire in the air. T am the aggiieved party and will fire at you." "A thousand thanks." "For the last time I ask if you will fol low me? If not, I declare you the greatest coward that ever trod the earth and called himself a man." "As you please." "Yes, but that is not all. You shall car ryaway a mark that will remind you, youi life long, of your conduct this day. "A mark," said I to myself; "what doc? the assassin mean ? She is capable of an) crime." And I confess I felt uneasy. Lou isa came nearer and nearer, her pistol raised, her countenance threatening. Tn her eye there was something deadly and alarming, I began to retreat. As I drew back, she advanced, taking step for step with me, hei pistol aimed at my head, her finger, as il seemed to me, actually pressing the trigger, I could bear it no longer. "Fiend 1" I exclaimed, "for Heaven's sake leave mo in peace. I nm about to quit this inhospitable house." "You are going away ?" cried Louisa, in a strangely joyful tone, and sinking the muzzle of her pistol. "I heartily wish I had never come," was my answer; "nor would I hut for my uncle's desire." ".Speak the truth!" said Louisa, resuming her threatening tone. "It was notvour un cle's desire alone, but views of your own, that brought you to Wiesenthal. You wished to marry me or one of my sisters." "flood Heavens !" I exclaimed, "marry you? T should as soon think of marrying a Miuuie rifle. Never dreamed of such s thiug, 1 assure you. Besides, I am engaged to be married already." "What!" cried Louisa perfectly overjoyed Aud she threw the pistol away, and berseli almost into my arms. "What! you arc en gaged to be married ? Why did you noi say so before ?" "I was not asked the question," replied I, quite aback by the sudden embrace and change of mood. "You would have saved yourself a deal o unpleasantness, poor fellow !" contiuuec Louisa. "I would not have shot at you, noi would Ernestine have tormented you will her-snake, nor Emily have let your blood nor drawn your tooth." "I should have been well pleased to liav< been spared the lust operation," said T. "You would have fuiind us all very amia ble, good tempered girls." "I have no doubt of it, since you say so !.?? T ..^...11.. ,1,-. ?/ , uiiilnvclntiil " ] UUL L UV UKJXt uwxiviwvMuu "I will explain," saiil (lie transformed Nimrod, who each moment became gentlei and more charming. "It is a secret; bui we, too, are engaged to be married." "All three'!"' "All three. Notwithstanding our rathei masculine tastes, we are women nt heart." "I am glad to hear it." "Arc you? And surprised, too, appa rently. Well nevermind; you will learn t( know us better. But our father, kind anc indulgent though he be, is a great deal to( practical in love matters. He thinks to( much about what he calls "good matches,' and unfortunately the men of our choice dc not come under that head. One is a lieu tenant with nothing but his pay, the other ? clergyman without a living, the third an ar tist whose pictures nobody buys." "May I venture to inquire which of the three the beautiful Louisa has honoured wit! her preference ?" "The clergyman." "The clergyman !" I repeated, perfect* ly astonished. t "You think me rather too wild to bo a 1 parson's wife ?" "Well," I replied, as her sharp-shooting r exploits recurred to my mind, "A preacher r of peace and a daring sportswoman?" "Love levels everything," returned Loui isa, with enchanting frankness. "And do j you think I cannot be gentle when I please?" j f "I think that to you nothing is impossi- ^ i u? >> I . u,v' . i "When it is to please him?nothing!" t 1 she answered, with a touch of the old Nim- "4 rod energy. The next instant the woman , resumed the ascendant. She east down her , eyes, aud blushed divinely at the eoufession 1 that had escaped her. Then, recovering . herself: "Not a word, I entreat, to my - father of what I have told you. He would never forgive us. We pray to Heaven day , and night to improve the circumstances of the men of our choice, for whose sake we , have already driven more than one wooer t from Wiesenthal. When a danger of that kind approaches we form our plans, and if ) one of us does not succeed in repelling it, ; another surely does. Confess whether, even I if you had not already given away your heart, -! you would have sought one of us as a wifeaf tor yesterday's adventures?" 1 i "Not if you had had provinces for your i dowry," was my uncivil but honest reply. "Many thanks," said Louisa, laughing.? )' "An excellent proof of ellieacyof our mea> surcs." I now had to tell my new friend a I i bout my love affairs, and how it was that I t i found myself nearly in the same position as I herself, since my uncle had no idea of my s ) attachment to Minnie, the poor widow's r daughter. To make a long story short, I c > was introduced over again to Dieffcnbach, f t who no longer menaced my masticators, or [ L flourished a lancet, and to-Oken, now unoc- j companied by her viper, and I found the ; . three sisters as amiable as I the day before D r had thought them detestable. I was obli- s god to promise to remain a few days longer t t at Wiesenthal. To confirm our alliance, ( prove my forgiveness, and heap coals of fire J > upon the heads of my tormentors, I volun- a . tecrcd to undertake the delicate task of in- t I terceding with the counsellor, and declared \ t that I would not leave the house until he t bad given bis consent to his daughter's mar- \ r riage with the men they preferred. ITpon j p receiving this promise, the sisters were near ? killing me with kindness and caresses. It r . was no small tiling I had pledged myself to ( ! perform, but, thus, encouraged, T felt my- j self equal to any difficulty. We held a [ i council of war, arid that same day the siege j - began. I worked hard in the trenches, was j L repeatedly under fire, and had to repel scv- ^ I oral smart sorties. On the first day I made a little progress, but encouraged by the ii.i- r ploring looks aud honied words of the female a - besieging army, I persisted, and held my H r ground. Fragcr proved an obstinate old c fortress. Fond though he was of his daugh- t ; ters, and generally indulgent and easy going, q r in some tilings be was as stubborn as a I . mule. However, on the evening of the see- (j , ond day I bad opened a breach, and on the a third I headed the storming party. There- } , upon the enemy hung out the white flag, and 1; ! asked for a day's truce. This was granted, t but a strict blockade was maintained.? s ; The truce expired, the storming party again e , advanced, capitulation ensued, and general ft rejoicing celebrated out triumph. t 1 The betrothal of the three sisters was t; now officially' announced, and the customary a festival was to take place in a fortnight. I v 1 was to be there, and to bring Minnie with s me. For, as a good deed rarely goes unre- o warded, Fragcr, my conquered foe, under- i ' took to intercede with my uncle and obtain b ! his consent. And so, after another happy r day at Wicscnthal, I departed, a tooth the t ! poorer than on my arrival, but radiant with t victory and rich in hope. u 1 Tt was long since I had seen my worthy * uncle laugh so heartily as at the narration of f my adventures with the counsellors daugh- a ters. It put him in such a good humor that ^ 1 wheu Fragcr, true to his promise, made his I 1 appearance, a day or two later, he had much f less difficulty than I expected in obtaining 1 his consent to my union with Minnie. A * ' fortnight afterwards, a happy party was as- f sembled at Wiesenthal; T made the acquain- \ tance of the parson, the dragoon and the c ^ painter, and was obliged to admit that Nim- \ rod, Dicffeubach, and Okeu had shown good c ' taste ai.d judgment in their choice. My e 1 days adventures at Wiesenthal were again * brought upon the tapis, and were a source ' f of never-ending mirth. The three young I men who, indirectly, were the cause of my * f misfortunes, cordially consoled with me.? * ? ? - . < / < 1 But Picffenbach, the operator declared ( and v > let this he t lie moral of my tale) that the c loss of the tooth was but a just punishment 4 i for iroing to look at other women when I was * 1 T already a plighted and accepted lover; a sen- 1 . timent in which her sister and Minnie (es- a pccially the latter) most cordially concurred. e ; JBefore a year was out, there were four * weddings at Wiesenthal. Since then, two I more years have elapsed, bringing on their F r wings various changes, most of them for the 0 t better. Although I did not. marry exactly 0 as my uncle wished, he did not the less make me his partner. Nimrod, engrossed r r with gentler cares, is no longer a sporting F character; much to the satisfaction of her ? husband, who has a pleasant country living, j! Dieffenbach has long since retired from mcdj ical practice, and the dragoon, now a capI tain, is quartered a fcwjmiles from Wiesenj thai. Oken pets a baby instead of a snake. a j The painter has thrown away his unprofitai ble palette, has taken to agriculture, and F , lives with his father-in-law, whose estate he 1 manages. Such are the satisfactory results t of my "Courtship under Difficulties." c A Warning.?A man by the name of ; Walker was recently convicted, at Memphis J i (Tenn.) of stealing a newspaper, which had ? been left at the door of a subscriber. He was sentenced to penitentiary for ten days. Select Utiscellani). From the Edgefield Informer. THE SOUTHERN PARTIES. The present crisis in federal affairs is one )f unprecedented moment to the South and ler institutions. The recent struggle in the ilouse of Representatives for Speaker, and lie triumph of the black republicans of the tforth,and the still more violent struggle now ;oing on in Kansas between the opposing sections, have precipitated upon the country ,he dire issue which the wisdom of years labored to prevent. By a systematic course of Legislation, and regular rules of pleading, he issue is made up, and before the tribunal >f justice, God, and the Constitution, stand irrayed for the mighty contest, pro-slavery ind abolition It is unnecessary now to trace, he progress of this war of fanaticism, on the me hand, or the vain efforts at resistance on i .1 r. : 1. 4i,?. ? lie inner* 11 ia cuuugu iu AiiutY unit iuu u, il is upon us, and that we must choose the ilternativc, resistance or political annihilaion. The North has already marshalled ler forces, and all her factions, creeds and jarties, with the exception of a small Sparan band of patriots, are swallowed up in he wild fury of Abolition fanaticism. Her Democracy, her Whiggery, her Know Nothngism, her Republicanism, and her facions of whatever name, shade or color, have 'used and merged into the black fetid whirljool of isms that are prostituting the coustiutionand menacing the rights of the South. Patriots have fought in vain for the Contitution and the Union in their primal puity; in vain have they appealed to that saired instrument and the "glorious Union" or the preservation of the blessings they lave bestowed upon the human family; and n vain they have invoked national patriotsm from the sweeping torrent of the infuriited demon of the North; and at last they ee the holiness of their cause impaled with he blackness of night, their chart of liberty lismantled of its fair proportions, and the Jnion in the convulsions of dissolution. We ire no disunionists per *e, nor do we believe he time has yet come for such a calamity; >ut the time has come for the South to act, o act in defence of the constitution, the Jnion and her rights. But she is divided u her own household, and how can she act? She cannot hope for success by a party novement; neither can opposing factions lounsel together with safety without first wiring out past differences, and harmonizing >ygonc feuds. Here then the vital question iresents itself to the two contending parties n the South. Will they, for the sake of the iouth and her institutions, the Constitution nd the T'nion, lay aside their former quarels, and, sacrificing their feuds upon the ltar of patriotism, meet upon a common bais, and join hands, hearts and souls, in a lommon cause? or will they persist, in disracted counsels, to war against each other in mere abstractions, and factious nonseuse. 't is a grave question, and upon its solution lepends the political equality, of the South, nd the destiny of her peculiar institution. ;Ve should not under estimate our enemy; le is formidable in the extreme; in point of reasure and numerical strength he is our uperior; and it is idle to say be is not our qual in prowess and accumen, and with all, le is a unit in action. How important is it hen that we should be united; without uniy, harmony and concert of action we can ccoraplish nothing but our own destruction; rith it the evil may be averted, and the Contitution may triumph. We know not how thers may feel disposed to act in the premies, but for ourself, though our judgment eads into the doctrine that "Americans shall ule America," we would willingly forego hese questions of time, or sacrifice them alogethcr for the purpose of uniting the South toonc nf rlrvmntf ir? ulamgttt ipuu bliC itJOUV/ Vi uvuivuviv Uiwf v? n a Southern convention the democratic arty would doubtless carry the majority, nd while patriotism would call upon the American party to fuse with the dominant arty, there could be no necessity for a surender of the great principles of Americansm. In fact unless the democratic pary, proper, has ceased to exist, and intend thereof has sprung up Know Nothingsm as a party, we can see no reason why a lemocrat may not hold the American docrine; we were born and raised a Carolina leuiocrat of the deepest dye, nor have we iver knowingly for a moment departed from he faith; and yet we hold these views to be he true American doctrine: First, that 'Americans shall rule America"; Second, hat the term of naturalization be extended o twenty-one years; that no man should be sleeted or appointed to any office in the gift if the American people, who acknowledges he slightest obligation of allegiance either einporal or spiritual to any foreign power, irince or potentate, paramount to his allegi,nce either temporal or spiritual to any forign power, prince or potentate, paramount o his allegiance to the Constitution of the Jnited States, and fourth, that we should rohibit the introduction of paupers upon ur shores from the prisons and alms-houses f Europe. We add this to our democratic aith and find harmony and consistency. Alcady we see a disposition manifested on the art of the leading members of the Ameri ? ? ? 1 ? J * oil nlrtM mi pillljf QUUIU IU Uimg UUUUli UIOUUIUU J iut a few days ago the entire delegation in Jongress, with the exception of two, cast heir votes for Wm. Aiken, of South Caroina, for the Speakership, and this was upon n issue between slavery and Abolitionism, n the Georgia Legislature, Judge Cone, a irominent Know Nothing, has taken a simlar step, and the whole party South are realy to do honor to Mr. Pierce for the views xpressed in his late message. These are udioations that the two elements may be :ombined for a common good, and that the irinciple of self preservation should overide every other consideration and unite the South for the last desperate struggle. He who promises runs into debt. THE WHITE SLAVE TBADE. A horrible system of stealing men and women from their homes in China, and conveying them to the West Indies, Peru, &c., has grown up of late, in lieu of the African slave trade; and as might be expected like the old slave trade, it is carried on chiefly by English and American vessels,?the latter hailing in all case9, so far as we are aware, from the non-slave States, and a large portion of them from New England and New York. Very likely some of the same men are engaged in this nefarious business, who are loud in denouncing the Southern man for not turning a large part Qf his family out of doors, or sending them to the snows of Canada. The following extract of a letter which has been handed to us for publication, shows how the materials of the modern slave trade?the Chinese Coolies? are obtained. To fill out the picture we require a narrative of the horrors of the middle passage, which is often fatal to large numbers?and then to see the poor wretches getting out guano at the Chinchia Islands which soon destroys the remainder. We are credibly informed that a person who lay some days near those islands, saw eleven (we think it was) of the poor creatures jumping into the sea, preferring death by drowning, to the slow torture to which their employment subjected them. If a white man were as good as a negro in the estimation ' of the noisy pretended philanthropists of this day,?or rather if their humanity was not a sham,?they would utter some voice of remonstrance against the abominable system to which we have alluded, and which is carried on in part by their own neighbors and from their own ports. Extract of a letter dated: Swotow, (China,) Dec. 10, 1855. Wo linro now hont. nnr sails, and Mrnant " 1 ?r? to sail for Callao in a few days. We have now on board 700 Colies, and expect to take 200 more. I suppose,' if God preserves our lives, we will arrive in about 75 days. I will try to explain what our cargo consists of, viz : men?Chinamen, of course, who are called Chinamen Coolies. As you have been to Russia, you had a sample,?the same as serfs, or our Southern negroes; but poor things, they are torn from their parents and friends and sent on board our ship and many other ships of our own country, as well as English. They kidnap them and take them to the junk, as we call it, and stay there one or two weeks, till the captain thinks proper to take them on board our ship. They are bought for fifteen and twenty dollars per man, and when the captain is ready to go on board the junk, the male sings out, "Lay aft here," calling the boys by name, and they have to keep the boat away from the junk for fear of some of the Coolies' friends coming and taking them away. We have one Cooley who has run away from five different ships. The kidnappers bring out the Coolies the same as at the slave market at Mobile, for inspection. They are then made to go through several exercises, jumping, kicking, ?fcc., and then inspected by the doctor. After this they are given new clothes, * and then sent aboard the ship, and we have to keep sentry. We have twenty men armed on sentry, night and day. The Coolies have several times tried hard to rise; and if it had ' - a J. not been tor two or tnree uoones, wno xnaae it known, they would have taken the ship. We have plenty of amunition on board, and three guns which are lashed so as to bear on the slaves, if they should rise. A ship took some from here, and sold them for 250 dollars each. This ship expects to remain out here about two years. THBILLING SCENE. The El Nicaraguense publishes an interesting account of the pardon of two solders belonging to Gen. Walker's army, just on the eve of the fatal shot that was to send the unhappy men into eternity. It appears that at Rivas two soldiers, one a German and the other a Chilian, were caught asleep on their posts, as sentinels. A court martial was ordered next day, and on trial both culprits plead guilty. The court pronounced the penalty of death, prescribed in the articles of war, and the commander-in-chief approved the finding. Next day was fixed for the execution. The fatal day came, and as the hour of sun-down approached all the Americans in the city, together with large crowds of the natives, assembled on the Plaza. The officer of the day led out the prisoners between two rows of soldiers, and the solemn procession moved on to the mournful musio of the dead march. A spot was selected in front of on unfinished church, confessiou administered, the shootiDg party stationed, the bandages tied, the culprits placed with their backs against the wall, and everything made ready for the fatal word. An unusual stillness pervaded the crowd, and every one felt^ a ! growing sympathy for the unfortunate beings thus self-condemned. Both bore themselves - ? ? i .v m i_ _ with fortitude, particularly tue unman, wno was oue of the original eighty who first came into Granada with Gen. Walker. As the fatal minute came and a pardon was proclaimed from Gen. Walker, and instantly a thousand voices proclaimed the magic word. The Chilian was raised on the Jshoulders of the crowd and carried in front of the General's quarters, where a round of cheers was i given. The clemency of the General met a responsive chord in every heart. The Retort Courteous.?Voltaire and Piron were mortal enemities, and to their great embarrassment they met one day at the country house of a mutual friend. Piron got up early, went to Voltarie's door, and wrote upon it the word "rogue." At breakhtst time Voltaire advanced towardi Piron, and smilingly observed? "I thank you for showing your interest in my welfare, by leaving your card atjmy door this morning."' J&* What weapon does a young lady resemble whose lover pass her without notioing her? Ans.?A cut-lass.