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- - - , V 3? , 1 ' ' - ' ' ? -.j^. ^ -J. 'L, -J jno. l. miller & co? proprietors. | Aii Independent Journal: For the Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the South. Juwn it mm, tarn*. I VOL 3. YOEKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1857. NO. IX I ----- -- - ?r (Lljoicc poilri). THE BELL SONG. r For full five hundred years I've swung . In my old gray turret high, Aud many a different theme I've sung, }' As tlm time went stealing I>y: tl I've pealed the chant of a wedding morn : j( 'Ere night I have sadly toll'd, To say that the bride was coming love-lorn. To sleep in the church yard mould! I n Ding, dong, tny careless song: j Mcrrv and sad. but neither long ! . - I e For full five hundred years I've swung k In my uncient turret high. j j And many a different theme I've sung. As the time went stealing by: ' u I've swelled the joy of a country's pride, i ] For a victory far-off won? j p, Then changed to grief for the brave that died, j 'Ere tny mirth had well begun ! I n Ding, dong, my careless song: j p ^ Merry or sad, l?ut neither long. i j] Forfnll five hundred year? I've swung j a In my breezy turret high, j ti k And many a different theme I've sung, j r f As the time went stealing by : i , I have chimed the dirge of a nation's grief, " On the death of a dear-loved King? fi Then merrily rung for the next young chief: L, As told, I can weep or sing! Ding, dong, my careless song: Merry or sad, but neither long. fl i For full five hundred ycni* I've swung, In my crumbling turret high ; 'Tis time my own death-song was sung, c And with truth, before I die! I never could love the themes they give My tyranized tongue tq tell? 8 One moment for cradle, the next for grnve: f.] They've worn out the old church bell! Ding, dong, my changeful song: Farewell now, and farewell long. n _ [ < n fjattitl Jlflairs. i a c From the Charleston Courier. j [} UFE IN WASHINGTON. I Q L The morning of the 4th of March opened a V with a bright sunshine, so bright that the , air felt almost like summer. Everything seemed to smile a welcome to the venerable 0 man who was on this day to take the high c place he is to fill among us. The sun made a bright path for him?in ? the broad wavy public grounds, the fresh ^ turf diffused its tribute of welcome?little winged people wet their gay wings, and sang # with bursts of gladness?brooks frolicked and jostled their tiny drops together, and leaped and sparkled a gay welcome?sprout- c ing leaves seemed to deepen their delicate r emerald tint, and rustle and kiss each other a ' lovingly for joy;?even the violets shook off ? their winter slumbers, and opened thcirbright 11 eyes to greet him. Every ripple, every murmuring breeze, and sweet feathered thing, seemed to rejoice in the coming event. Our city also exhibited signs of joyful pre- k paration. No one seemed to betake himself F to his customary employment. In the public ' bnildinofs was not heard the accustomed hum ^ I 11 B and bustle of business. The closed doors, ^ the silence around, attested the absence of |1 the employees. The streets were early filled j j; ' with government clerks, standing in groups, talking merrily to each oilier on what ap- c pcared to be a subject of joyous import. The juvenile population seemed also astir at an s uuusual hour. At almost every turn might j v t bo seen fresh nursery maids, and playful j j1 ^ children, dancing, and prattling, and clapping their tiny hands, as if in expectation of ^ some coining event of joyful excitement.? Servants uud runners at the hotels wore an c unusual air, walking to and fro, or sitting | with limbs carelessly crossed, as if detained i ' out of doors in expectation of some coming i1 circumstances. It was like the commence- i e ment of some holyday, when indolence pre-; a cedes enjoyment. By nine o'clock all Wash- j t ingtou was alive. Trains of cars poured j k rapidly in, filled with strangers from differ-' r ent cities. Crowds suddeuly, aud as if by i a . magic, appeared emerging from every cor- j c ner, and l'enusylvauia Avenue was soon fill-: >' Bp ed with well dressed pedestrians, on the look- I " out for the procession. From the "White j * House" to the Capitol, windows, balconies I * nnd Tnnfs were thronged v;ith animated thons- I 0 ands. At private windows stood lovely wo- j' men with wreaths aud boquets of flowers, a while above the thronged streets?from the s public buildings?from the turrets of the j' Capitol, floated flags,.as for a victory. Wash-! iDgton opened thus her arms to receive the | < man wha>e clcctiou had been a triumph over j < I Northern fanaticism. . j J About 12 o'clock the discharge of cannon ! announced the "move" of the procession.? J Aristocratic equipages with diplomats aud J' officers in unform, or beautiful women on i( their way to the "east-wing," in advance of 1 the cavalcade, passed rapidly along. Detach- J ments of the police were active in regulat- ' ing the movement.- of the crowd of pedes- JJ triaus in waiting, whom it was difficult to j ^ keep within due bonds. At length the mus- j ic became audible in the distance, increasing j? WU until vehement shouts and cheers aunouneed , j f that it was near at hand. As soon as the i cheers of people, louder almost than the j salvos of artillery which signalized the first 11 movements of the procession were heard, all j < strained their eyes "at the advancing pa- !: gcant." The nodding mass of gorgeous uni- < forms, with their glitter, was most imposing, ; when viewed advancing from a distance, 1 .v .i i?j. i witn me ueaus oi me cneenng muiiuuue m tervening. The neck of every gazer stretch- 1 ed from balcony and window, as the tramp ' of horses' feet became plainly audible. i < First came the six Marshals in rich badges i t of orange-colored silk. Then came the "Fly- ! < ing Artillery," from Forte McIIcnry, drawn ! t by some sixty horses. At a little interval 1 from these followed whole squares of milita- ] ry, their arms polished like mirrors; their 1 march regular, and their mcin erect, look- !' ? in"1 neither to the right nor to the left. The '' cheerful looks of these gallant bands appear- ' ed to sympathise with the occasion ; while < r their mein betrayed that discipline, that liar- ' raony of order like men who had taken an 1 apprenticeship of arms. Following these, rawn by two spendid greys, caracoling, so . s to exhibit, if such a thing, were possible, i are as well as pride of their burden, eatne ? n open carriage. The horses were of the i arest. breed, their beautiful limbs seeming ! a disdain the grouud and court the air, and j et at the slight touch of the driver, when , lie procession closed, they paused motion- j ;ss, as if suddenly transformed into stone.? is this vehicle passed on, the sound of the j lusic was drowned by cheers that seemed > shake our city to its centre. Superb flnwrs fell in and around this equipage, handerchiefs and banners waved from every win-! ow, and amidst flashing" uniforms and ex- I ' S | lting music?such as might have hailed an , uuperor?the President elect of a nation of reemen passed along. It was impossible j ot to discern in the acclamations of the peo- j lc an enthusiasm, ardent and genuine, of j tie description that does not come at a emi, | nd which it would be impossible to emm- , ?rfcit. The prancing of the horses, the inging of the hoofs upon the stones, the j azzle of the uniforms, and the tossing to and j ro of the standards, presented one of the j ayest and most brilliant spectacles. Nothing j ould exceed the bustle, the animation, the i ow and flush of life, as the multitude swept j Within au hour, the vast miscellaneous j rowd were at the capitol gates, marshalled j a long lines on cither side?leaving abroad j pace in the centre?awaiting the order of j heir leader to enter. The music struck up j louder and gladder strain as the appointed j larshals made way with difficulty for the | lore distinguished to enter within the gates rst. The rush and press to obtain aaniitince, was such that scarcely were these admitted, ere the crowd poured headlong in, nd took their way to the East Front of the lapitol, which was to be the scene of the aauguration ; here a platform was erected i ver the steps of the East wing. On this, j ut high enough to be in sight of all the j oncourse, was placed a table, on which clear | nd prominent was a copy of the Holy Bible. Ground this were the high officers of the I ountry,aud seated around were all the markj c ? I U pursuiuij^cd UI UUI Uiljf tuu juuiiViOj ou- | retaiies, foreign legations from the lofty j ank of full minister to the inferior grade of ttache. The nodding of plumes?the gliter of jewels?presented a scene that none ould behold without a sparkling eye and a welling heart. The space below the platform had been rowded for several hours previous to its arival, by such persons as were not entitled to ppointed and special seats. As the crowd oiircd in, stream after stream, a murmur of inpatient expectation began to agitate the luman mass. There was a struggle to gain ccess to the oue particular spot round which he crowd was wedged thick and dense.? lome pressed confusedly on each other, yet (reserved a wonderful good humor. "While hey were pushing?scrambling?the hubtub suddenly ceased, as a commanding fig-1 tre, with slow and majestic steps, came to j he front of the platform. Ilis whole ap- j tea ranee was on a noble scale; he seemed bruicd for prominence; and to his conspieu- ; us positiou was as well proportioned us a ; edur tree to Mount Lebanon,?a "grand . eigneur"'?to the Manor born. His head J ras bared, and as he looked steadfastly ; round, the high and thoughtful repose nfi lis majestic countenance, its deep and sol- j mn gravity, hushed the impatient crowd.? | 'here was a second of intense (juiet, then ! beer after cheer rent rhe air. Never was there a more striking subject j rviinfpr irnniiiQ tlum flip SPPtlO Ovhih- , k" r ? >r~ I tel. The tall, erect figure of the President i lcct, dressed with his habitual precision in | suit of black, towering above the crowding j hroug of his applauding countrymen. Above j lis head, the sweeping arches of the capitol j ose, grand and high; the dome looming j gainst the deep, blue sky : the bright sun I astiug the whole edifice into the strongest | elief of light and shade, while far in the j iack ground rose that marble anthill, des-1 ined, we fear, like the Cathedral of Cologne, [ lie Church of St. Genevieve, and the Palace j i the Louvre, to be immortal in incomplete- j icss. Pirn in the distance rose the spires J nd roofs of our city, while below, bathed in j unlight, and canopied by the limpid sky, ! ay the capitol grounds in all their beauty. 1 Ground breathlessly reposed the uiouuun nts >f his country's greatness. Stately group* >f sculpture looked mutely down from their jedcstals. Before him grandly rose the itatue of Washington, in all its marble maesty?the uplifted arm seeming unconsciousy to point, with greater significance, above, ireenough's noble group, with its stony figires, rose one above the other, like some slumbering monster, while the rugged and laughty brow of the God of War, and the till form of the Goddess of Peace, looked rom their niches upon the imposing scene. An inexplicable sensation of solemnity and rraodcur seemed to elevate the speaker, as lis eye rested upon the sea of human faces jefbre him. Although but a short distance from where :ie stood, we could only hear the faint sound )f his voice as he commenced his inaugural uldress; we could only perceive in the sub.lucd, yet moving sea of human beings tiiat pread around, tiie eltect created upon an who drank in the stream of his thoughts.? At length a cheer, more earnest, more proonged than the first?betokened the close of lis speech. The Chief .Justice in his robes )f State approached with the Bible, and in i solemn and commanding voice the Presilent, in the presence of the breathless thousinds, solemuly pledged himself to support he Constitution and protect the rights of the people. The upraised eye?the uplifted hand?the quiet dignity of the whole form lushed as it were in a solemn sympathy with the act. After a minutes pause the crowd broke iu all directions, and poured down the ivenue in various knots and groups, each testifying the strong impression made upon the multitude by the address. In the evening there was a tine display of lire works though we fear we can not convey ! on paper any adequate idea of I hoir iriagical ! splendor, or sparkling, flashing beauty, asi .seen from the witfibtws of <>ur private resi , donees. The more public streets were throng- i cd with a dense mass, swarming round and 1 round like ants upon an ant-hill?or when I one looked at the whole mass rather than its j individual particles, like some great cauldron , slowly boiling up to the brim and subsiding j again. From different portions of Pcnnsyl-! vania Avenue, with hissing sounds and bursts ; of light almost blinding, fiery serpents sprang ! into the pure atmosphere, with the grace and i lightness of winged arrows, mocking the stars with their transient brilliancy, and then j falling back in clusters of slurry showers ? ! An assembly general of all the "i'tiut/ntui" I in the world ou the "milky vay'' suddenly j fallen from the sky, arc the only things we j cau compare this magical and fairy-like dis-, play to. They succeeded each other, too, j with wonderful rapidity and precision. Their ; color varied iu ascending, and sometimes j the motion was changed, and they seemed to chase each other with dazzling brightness and raniditv. Now it was a star, whirling round and round like a crown of living diamonds; then showos of illuminated flowers, came flickering before our eves. It was like the effect produced by a sud-1 deu burst of music. We will not enter into u matter of fact explanation of these beautiful illusions, for we dislike the spirit that pleases itself by tracing effects to causes, where the only result of the research must j be the utter annihilation of all romance, and j the extinction of all wonder. In our life we j never could endure to know the machineries ! of objects that are to us the wonders of the j earth. We turn away from explanations! and demonstrations: these murderers of all i I poetry and romance, with our fingers in our j ears. No, let us be a child still. Let a steamboat be still to us a sort of monster-fish, that I moves of its own accord, its paddle fins; let j a railway train be still to us a dragon, which j issues from the tunnelled bowels of the earth, [ snorting smoke and fire from the nostrails of I its huge metalic head ; let silks and paper, j and all the rest of the magical manufactories; of the day be still to us the products of mag-1 ienrt. And now, dear readers, of the "Courier," i we must part. Our voice may never again I reach you in your distant homes. We have j gone into stifling mob3, in overheated rooms, | where we have been elbowed, suffocated, and ; wearied that we might present you with pic- j turcs of "fashionable life," as it exists in j the metropolis of the nation. But there is another phase of /(/*? here j that we have not presented to you. There J is a holy "domestic life"?there are quiet homes and cosy parlors?"homes" where abide the deepest springs of social life? ' /tomrji" where gentle memories steal upon us with the shadows of the twilight, and forever tapestry the walls?quiet firesides, that tlin wliivl nf miv lifo lipr<? rnnnnt nnernao.h upon?a phase of life utterly unknown to the temporary dwellers at our hotels. If we have contributed one moment of happiness to your winter hours?if we have relieved a passing hour of solitude or disoom- j fort?shortened a dreary evening, or made ' a rainy day more endurable?we are repaid. We speak not here of the greater happiness in the evidence we have before us, that our inmost thoughts have found their echo in far away hearts, kindling pleasant emotions, and warming generous aspirations. >1. J. W. ? ? MR. BUCHANAN'S CABINET. The Baltimore Sun of Saturday has the i following sketches of the gentleman named, which is tolerably impartial: "t < in i'ii/ IjiU'IH ( WjW, >>f MicJii'i/mi ?General Casss was born at Kxeter, New Hampshire. I lis ancestors were amongst the first settlers in that part of j the country, and his father bore a commission iti the revolutionary anyy. and was present at the battles of Bunker liill, Saratoga, Princeton, Trenton, Monmouth and Germantown. He was afterwards a Major in Wayne's army, and died near Zanesville, Ohio, iu j 18-10. His son, Lewis Cass, was educated ! at the academy of Kxeter, and studied law I at Marietta, Ohio, uudcr the late Governor' Meigs. Ho was admitted fothebarin l*d2, | and in 1S(.M?, more tl.au fifty years ago. was j elected a member of the Ohio, Legislature. 1 In 1*12 he volunteered ins .-ervices in the i ( force wiiieh Was called out to join the army j i under Hen. Hull, and marched to Bay ton, j where he was elected colonel of the third ' regiment of Ohio volunteers, lie was the' ; first man, with his detachment, to invade ; Canada. He subsequently, being promoted j to a brigadier general, joined Gen. Harrison, and crossing Lake Krie with him after Per-; j ry's victory, was present in the pursuit of! ; Proctor, and participated in the triumphs of j i the Moravian towns. The North western . i; campaign being happily terminated, Gen. J, I Pass was left in command of Michigan and ! ! the upper provinces of Canada. His head- j i (juarters were at Detroit, and he thus became j the military guardian of a people over whom : I lie was soon after (October ( , 1*1 8,) called to preside as civil Governor. In 1815, afI tor the termination of the war, General Cass 1 moved his family to Detroit, j During the time that lie was governor of the Territory of Michigan, lie negotiated no j less than twenty-one treaties with the Indians. In the expeditions necessitated by I them he encountered more perils and had occasion for the display of more firmness and intrepidity than any man ever engaged in this service. In 1882, Gen. Cass was called to the administration of the War Derailment bv Gen. Jacksi u. In 1835 or i [ / 1*3G, in consequence of ill health, he rei tired from this position, much to the regret ! of (Jen. Jackson, who tendered him the ; mission to Franco, where he added to his fame in defeating the quintuple treaty through which Fngland desired to search the vessels of all nations traversing the ocean. In 1S45, after his return from France, he was elected to the Uuited States Senate from Michigan, and in 1848 nominated tor the , presidency, but defeated. He was one of, the leading friends of the corn promise of i ]8i\0. and subsequently ably supported the Kansas-Nebraska measure. On the 4th inst. | his term expired in the 1 nitcd States Sen ate, and he was succeeded by a republican, j Although seventy years of age. Hen. ('ass is apparently younger than most tnen at six- | ty, and there is no doubt, from his intellectual and bodily vigor, that his administration of the State Department will fully sustain j his high previous reputation. Srcrrlnry of thr Treasury?//on. Iloic- I rV Col,I,, tf Crnryin.?The Secretary of i tho Treasury was born at Cherry Hill, Georgia. in ]*~>5. He is the son of Col. John I A. Cobb, who, when quite a hoy, removed | from Greenville, North Carolina, with his' father, llis mother, Sarah It. Cobb, was \ i the daughter of the late Thomas Roots, of j < Fredericksburg, Virginia. Jn the year: 18:14, when only nineteen, Mr. Cobb grad- i uatcd at Franklin College, Georgia, and in ! the following year he married Mary Ann, i i daughter of the late Col. Zachariah Lamar, j i of Millcdgeville, Georgia, by whom lie has i had six sons, three of whom arc dead, the 11 two youngest dyiugat Washington city da- i ring the first session of the thirtieth Congress. It may not be uninteresting to mention that his uncle, Howell Cobb, after whom ' he was named, represented a district of j; Georgia in the Congress of the United States j during the last war with Great Britain, and ! his cousin, Thomas Cobb, was not many 1 years since a United States Senator from the . same State. In I >*80 Mr. Cobb was admit- j ted to the bar, and at once gave such evi-! deuce of talents, character and attainments j ?rarely possessed by one of his age?that | in the ensuing year he was elected by the | Georgia Legislature solicitor general of the I western circuit. Having early in life ob- j tained political fame asa Jackson or "Union" j Democrat, in 1842 Mr. Cobb was elected on 1 a general ticket to the Congress of the Uni-. ted States, it being his first service in any | legislative body. Since that time he has ' been frequently re-elected. He has served j fur one term as (Jovernor of his native State, ! and as Speaker of the I. nitcd States House ' of Representatives, and in every position has ; been noted for his industry and ability. Secretary of War?Hon. John B?rl- j anon J'Voyft, of Virginia.?The Secretary ! or war tins long Dcen a prominent politician ; in the Western part of Virginia, ami is a i State Rights Democrat of the school of strict j: construction. Ho has filled the office of' Governor of the State, and during the last i' election was a Democratic Presidential c1 jj tor. Governor Floyd's public service has , been exclusively confined to the State, and j his appointment to the Cabinet, is his first introduction to the Cabinet councils. Although, owing to the fact of his being Gov- | ernor of Virginia, Mr. Floyd could take no i part in the discussions on the compromise measures of 1850, yet he was known to be j an ardent opponent of them, whilst ho did ' not concur in the views of the politicians in ! South Carolina, who advocated secession as I a necessary consequence of thera. During i1 every Providential campaign since 1830, Mr. Floyd has been an active supporter of the j Democratic candidates. Personally, Gov.:1 Floyd is exceedingly popular in his State, j lie is a fluent speaker on the stump, posses- j ses considerable talent aud versatility, and from his experience in various public offices will no doubt be found fully competent for the duties of his new position. Governor Floyd is between 45 and 50 years of age, and is in the undiminished enjoyment of. physical health. Secret<n i/ </ th<- AW//?/sitae Tokci/* of \ (Vnnrctiriit.?The new Secretary of the j Navy is well known as the late Tuned States. Senator from Connecticut, and as a sound ' national man. He was for a short period ; Attorney General of the United States, un- j der President Polk, having succeeded Mr. Clifford, when he was sent as commissioner to Mexico. Personally, he is exceedingly popular and accomplished. He is over 50 years of age. Secretary of the. Interior?lion. Jacob Thompson, <f Mississippi.?The Secretary of the Interior has been a member of the ; House of Representatives foi Mississippi du- j" rinir several Congresses. He is an able spea- j kcr on the floor and quite an industrious J member in reference to every measure of! practical importance before the House, j He is a free trader, a State Bights Southern : Democrat, but by no means a secessionist, j Mr. Thompson was one of the candidates for Congress on the State ticket in Mississip-! pi in the contest between the compromise : and anti-compromise parties of 1>*50, which ! immediately succeeded that agitation. On j that Mr. Thompson was defeated, and has never since been a candidate for public po- i sition. lie is a man of some eloquence, , good practical abilities, and is between forty i 'and forty-five years of age. Postmaster (itneral-?Aaron 1 'enable IJromi, of Tennessee.?The Postmaster General was born in Brunswick county, Virginia, in the year 1705. Ilis father was an old i revolutionary soldier, having enlisted at a ! very early age in the continental army, lie j participated tn the battle of Trenton, and en- j countered the hardships of the encampn^M at Valley Forge. Governor Brown was eel- j ilrvif-nrt 5n MV.rfti Pnrnlinn. flud . ftiatfill Jit' Chapel Hill, in 1814, in the sniue' class; with Senator Manguui and ex-Gov. Manly, of that State. lie sat iu the Tennessee Legislature until 18i>9, when he was elected to Congress, and held that position until 1745, when he declined a re-election, and ran a successful race for Governor against E. II. Foster, a man of great popularity. Since 1847, Gov. Frown has held no public office, but was a Presidential Elector in 1848 and 1852. He was also chairman of the committee on resolutions in the Baltimore Convention of 1852, and he had the honor to report the platform then and there adopted. He is a fine stump orator, and a State Rights man of the strict constructionist school. In character, he i said to resemble Mr. Ma.sou, who wa.s Sec rotary of the Navy under Mr. Polk. II combines suavity of manner with unblem ished character, great industry and talent Paring the last campaign he labored vcr; zealously for the success of the Ttemocratii nominees. It was to Gov. Brown, when i member of Congress, some twelve or thir teen years ago, that Gen Jackson addresse< his celebrated letter in favor of the onnexa tion of Texas. Gov. Brown is in his P>2< year, but owing to his active and tempernti habits, is generally taken to be ten year younger. Affonui/ General?Jeremiah S. Mack 0/ Prnuxt/Iranin.-r-Tlic Attorney General ship bos fallen into able hands. Judgi lilaek is considered to bp among one of th< most accomplished and able jurists in I'enn sylvnnia. He was formerly one of the His trict Judges of that State, but on the lav requiring all judges to be elected by thi people going into effect, he was chosen on< of the State Supreme Court Judges. He 1 in the prime of life, not over years o age, and universally esteemed for the purit; of his public and private character. Select falling. THE WIFE. She who sleeps upon my heart . Was the first to win it ; She who dreams upon my breast Ever reigns within it. She who kisses oft my lips, Wakes their warmest blessing, She who rests within my arms Teels their closest pressing. Other days than these shall come Days that may be dreary? Other hours shall greet us yet . w Hours that may be weary: Still this heart shall be thy throne, Still this breast shall be thy pillow; Still these lips shall meet thin" oft As billow meeteth billow. Sleep, then, on my happy heart, Since thy love has won it? Dream, then, on my loyal breast. None but thou hast done it : And when age our bloom shall change, With its wintry weather, May we in the self same grave Sleep and dream together. From the Augusta Constitutionalist. READING WRITTEN SERMONS. There are in the United States, perhaps sixty-nvc tnousana places or worsnip ueiong 1042; to our different denominations; of Kvau gclical Christians. To minister to the con grcgations who frequent these churches, ii holy things, there are nearly fifty thousar.c clergymen?a majority of them men of learn ing, of piety, and of zeal, who have volun tarily consecrated their lives to their calling and, by careful and elaborate preparation have fitted themselves for its duties. Thcsi fifty thousand ministers, thus devoted ant thus prepared, have the privilege to addresi millions of hearers, every Sabbath during the year?to make direct personal appeals ti them, and to present, an e.r statemon of the claims of the religion of the Bible No class of public speakers have equal fa cilities afforded them, or speak under circum stauces so favorable to the attainment o their objects. The*law protects them b; recognizing the Sabbath as a civil as well a a divine institution, and hy enacting penal ties against secular employments upon tha day, and against the interruption of religiou observances. Public opinion aids them b; giving its tremendous and overwhelming sanction, to the propriety and importance o the duties in which they are engaged and o the results which they seek to accomplish A vast systcm'of agencies, organized by thi Churches in subordination to the Pulpit, fo the diffusion of, religious truth aids them and they have the additional and importan advantage of addressing audiences, prcdis nosed by a thousand influences of education association, prejudice and policy, to givi them a respectful hearing, and receive with out argument or question, the message o glad tidings which they bring. What i great power ought the Pulpit to be, in evan gelizing the world ; and yet how inadequat are the results it accomplishes, when we con sider the tiiuc, the talent, the learning am the zeal which it employs, and the circuin stances under which its ministrations are per formed. These remarks are suggested by an article in the February number of the Southeri Jjitcrary Messenger, entitled "The Ineffi ciency of the Pulpit." It is an able am caustic paper, presenting with great strengtl and truthfulness, many objections to thi modes in which all the Evangelical Church es of this country employ the instrumental! ty of preaching, and giving reasons for thi fact apparent to every reflecting man, tha the Pulpit does not make the impressioi which it ought upon the public mind. Thi following extract from that article present one of the principal causes, operating agains the efficiency of the Pulpit and the progres of our Churches. The reference in this ex tract is to the Presbyterian and Episcopa Churches particularly, but its point shouh be felt wherever written sermons are rent from the desk: Oue of the chief obstacles in these church es to a more rapid and marked success, lies *r?/\ Vtnlinrra tn ih o rlinmnto* cf iliel* iivflnrli TTC UCJ IWVVrJ iu mv WI?W. WV?Vf vy ViVVVf v?v.v i'/iy. Eleven thousand Presbyterian an< Episcopal sermons are delivered every week and /<oie are they delivered ? Accustomet as we arc to good speaking in this country let any one saunter, some Sunday, into (fo: example) a Presbyterian church. Afte hearing the choir sing a hymn or two, anc one very short, and one enormously low prayer, the preacher commences the mail service of the occasion. He is boxed up ii a pulpit. He would think it sacrilege if hi omitted to take a text, and accordingly i text he takes?applying naturally, or in thi way of a conceit, to his subject. With thi; placarded thus in imagination above him and which, according to his taste, he recur to constantly as a sort of refrain?he launch s i es out into his discourse, which will be sen ' sible, or decorous, or fanciful, or vapid; but e' always formal. The sermon is written out. - j The speaker has come there with a discourse . i in his pocket, and its apothegems and itsapy j peals he gives over to his auditors, whenever c i he cai) lay his finger on them. On their x | part, the congregation come to hear a ser-1 mon ; yes, they come to hear a sermon; a 1 j certain amount is to be dispensed, and a gen-1 eral assent to be returned, and the church 1 breaks up, and all go home. The sermon is 2 criticised; the sentiments may be applauded; s and it is considered very good advice; and there the matter ends. . i Not one heart has been touched?not one . I emotion awakeued?not one resolution adoptr> ed. Not a human being, it may be, but, in 2 a general way, has assented to, or admired - the sermon; not one who, especially, and - with a personal application, has grappled j with its thoughts in his heart. 2 IIow poor, to such a listener, such a speechb making as this !?after listening to the fervid s appeals in the forum, where every sentence " ' - ' 1 - 1- x. t sinves lowaras a uiars?or 10 me vurieu, y easy, familiar, elocation of the stump ! Perhaps our adventurer has found his way i into an Episcopal church. Thei^ is a deathlike propriety. All is still as the grave. It is a "dim religious" edifice. There is stained glass, and lofty groined arches ? : People step about as if the ground was haunted. A genteel, grave sexton moves mysteriously from pew to pew. There are solemn texts staring out from the walls. The great emblem of Christianity is there broadly prominent, and now ingeniously evolved.? Fashionable ladies and gentlemen?no one knows how?gradually fill the church. A solemn form comes silently forward in a stately robe, and, amid multitudinous folds, dramatically kneels in prayer. A strain of dream-like music breathes through the spacious aisles. And presently, "The Lord is in his Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him," from a clear, chaste voice, initiates the pageant. The different parts of the service are then more or less devoutly gone through?one of the most splendid and imposing rituals that the imagination has ever conceived, and one the most calculated to touch and impress the imaginative heart- A hymn is then read from the chancel, and sung in the gallery ; and j then twenty-five minutes are devoted to the reading of a perfectly unexceptionable and , elegant production. And that is the trumpet-call eNt uttered - "in the wilderness"?and which was thun dered at Cesaraea before Felix and Drusilla 1 touching that "righteousness, temperance 1 and judguieut to come !" This is the dainty method by which the - tremendous import of the gospel?like ar, row root to the dying?is communicated to , the mawkish stomachs of the higher sociei ty. ^ , 1 How often is a true, manly, straightfori ward address heard in such a pulpit ? I Such are no highly colored pictures of ) the preaching we hear in Presbyterian and t Episcopal churches. Of minor points we . will not just now speak. We commenced - by speaking of the sennov. Here, as we - have said, lies, we believe, one of the great f and main obstacles to the success of these f churches. It is in the mode of preparation, s and delivery, of these sermons, that is to be - found in a great measure, we think, the source t of that barrenness of results which characs terizes this preaching. The Sunday address p is prepared in the closet as a paper to be * read, or as a discourse to be declaimed from f a manuscript, and the mind becomes directf ed rather at a certain abstract theme, than . on the audience itself as a body of living e men to be incited to real action. r The great question to be decided is, wheth, er written xcrirwns are effective ? Wc ast sumc, for such is the case, that the organi zations in question do write their sermons. , We know the vast difference of opinion that e exists on this subject. We know how many - of the most highly intelligent advocate it a f priori But our convictions are not at all a the less implicitly established ; we are, al most without a wavering of opinion, decie sively fixed in our conclusion, that MS. ser - uions arc the bane of these churches?and J hang up on their ministries like a pestilen tial vapour, when it behooves that they - should be breathing the free and open air.? It is like the dry and sickly temperature of 6 a close and heated room, when what iswanted is the pure and life-fraught warmth of i- the light from Heaven. 3 We assent fully to these conclusions of the ti writer in the Messenger. A sermon written e out in the closet, and read from the desk, - may be entertaining and instructive, and dis play learning, piety and feeling, but it oane not accomplish the results of effective public t speaking. It cannot have the appropriatea ness, the directness, the spontaneousness of e feeling and of expression, if we may use s the term, of extemporary speaking, andcant not, therefore, have the eloquence, upon s which the effect of public speaking depends. But, this is not a question for argument.? 1 The statistics of the churches in which the 3 custom of reading sermons most generally 3 prevails, show that their additions per annum are in the proportion of one or two only - to each minister! Without argument, it is , clear that auy mode of preaching which is - so inefficient?so barren of results?ought 3 to be abandoned. J __ J,#l> ~ I Names of the days of the week.? , Is it not strange that Christians should r have been found in the universal use of r names of pagan deities?as the following in1 teresting items of history show : j In the museum of Berlin, remarks a wrii ter in a Newark coteroporary, in the hall dei voted to northern antiquitiel, they have the g representation of the idols from which the i names of the days of our week are derived, u From the idol of the Sun comes Sunday.? s This idol is represented with his face like f the sun, holding a burning wheel, both hands 8 on his breast, signifying his course around - the world. The idol of the Moon, from which comes Monday, is inhabited in a short coat, like a man, but holding the Moon in his hands. Tnisco, from whence cometh Tuesday, was one of the most ancient and popular gods of the Germans, and is reptesen ted in his garments of skin, according to their peculiar manner of clothing. The third day of the week, dedicated to his worship?Wooden?from whence Wednesday. His image was prayed to for victory. Tbor, from whence Thursday, is seated on a bed with twelve stars overhead, holding a hammer in his right hand. Friga, from whence we have Friday, represented with a drawn sword in his right hand, and a bow in bis left. He was the giver of peace and plenty. Seater, from whom is Saturday, has this appearance of perfect wretchedness; he is thin visaged, long-haired, with a long beard. Ho carries a pail of water in his right hand, f~J - > ? ? . * triumph, coofouud skepticism and melt, the hearts of its votaries into a confession, that the work is of God?no cunning devised fable of man, but the power of God unto salvation ! This working of grace is extraordinary, not only on account of the Divine unction which attends the word preached, but also, in the fact that no stranger, however well skilled in detecting denominational peculiar* ities, coming to the Church could toll who is Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist or Methodist. Think of a scene presented daily and nightly, to the eye of the observer. Members cfevery Church, headed and encouraged by the example of their respective Pastors, literally leading through crowds of weeping and kneeling penitents, pointing them to "the blood of the Lamb, which taketh away the sins of the world," and among them all, there is rejoicing?Loud shouts of holy triumph, over the conversion of a sinner. At this scene hardened skepticism stands abashed, cover its retreat from the displays of Divine power, with its own peculiar cry, of " Too miich excitement." We offer no apol ogy for this lengthy notice of the great work of God in Fincastle. It is of more importance to the county, the State, Heaven and Earth, time and eternity, than pages of politics, tale? and tragedies of blood. "Come and see." Beware of Office.?Some one, who has evidently seen not a little of the ways of the world, gives the following wholesome advice in relation to accepting public office. "We commend its considerate perusal to that large class of hungry expectants id every community that seem to do an immense business on very small intellectual capacity : "When a wild animal once tastes human flesh, nothing can ever after, says Buffon, dissuade him from human slaughter. When a politician once obtains a public office, no persuasion can ever induce him to go to work ?at anything but a nomination for another and another, during the term of his natural existence. If you want to spoil a good citirtn ?aam oaanwa Vtim a in f)lA illcu iui icu jcaioj ovuuic uiiu a wivu ?u VMv Custom House. He will never be socially a well man afterwerds. Send him to Congress and you ruin him for life. He may carry around placards and tickets at the polls, accept a subordinate situation in the police, or run errands for the door keeper of a political meeting house, but he will never have independence enough to emancipate himself from his morbid appetite for the "spoils," and go to work like au honest man and a Christian." J6T " Can you tell me where Mr. Smith lives, Mister?" "Smith,?Smith,?whatSmith?" There are a good many of that name in these parts; my name is smith." " Why, I don't know his tother namebut he's a sour, crabbed, and a cross sort of a fellow, and they oall him Crab Smith/' f( Oh! I suppose I'm the man 1" ' ;Av *-? i *' > ,V wherein are fruits and flowers. THE UNITY OF THE BIBLE. As in Beethoven's matchless music tlfore ruhs one idea, worked out through all the changes of measure and of key, now almost hidden, now breaking out in rich natural melody, whispered in the treble, murmured in the bass, dimly suggested in the prelude, but growing clearer and clearer as the work proceeds, winding gradually baok until it ends in the key in which it began, and do- . ses in triumphant harmony; so throughout the whole Bible, there runs one great idea ?man's ruin by sin, and his redemption by grace; in a word, Jesus Christ, the Saviour. This runs through the Old Testament, that prelude to the New, dimly promised at the fall and more clearly to Abraham; typified in the ceremonies of the law; all the events of sacred history paving the way for his coming; his descent proved in the genealogies of Ruth and Chronicles; spoken of as Sbiloh by Jacob, as the Star by Balaam, as the Prophet by Moses; the David of the Psalms; the Redeemer looked for by Job; the Beloved of the Song of Songs. We find id the sublime strains of tbe lofty Isaiah; in tne writings of the tender Jeremiah ; la the , mysteries of the contemplative Ezekiel; in the visions of the beloved Daniel; the great idea growing clearer and clearer as the time drew on. Then the full harmony broke out in the song of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good-will towards men." And Evangelists and Apostles taking up the theme, the strain closes in the same key in which it began; the devil, who troubles the first paradiec, forever excluded from the second; man restored to the favor of God; and Jefcus Christ the key-note of the whole. The Revival Still Progressing.? Under this caption, the Fincastle (Va.) Democrat of Thursday, has the following : A very extraordinary religious excitement pervades our town. Scarcely a family in the town or its suburbs fail, at this time to participate in the feast of pardoning love.? The royal proclamation of mercy to fallen man, has gone forth from Ambassadors of Christ, and is responded to by scores of weeping penitents crowding to the altar of mtivar vchnro HfPnPS and shnnts of holv