Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, July 24, 1884, Image 1
lewis m. grist, proprietor, j An litkjpbcnf Jamil]) Itetosppcr: Jfor % ^proinofioix of % ^oli&al, Social Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of t|e Soutj). |terms--$2.50 a tear, in advance.
VOL. 30. YORKYILLE, S. O., THURSDAY, JTTLY 24, 1884. IsTO. 3Q.
Idler.
HIS AWFUi. MISTAKE.
Dr. Wilfred Atkinson and Dr. Frederick
Read sat in a pleasant room in a city hotel,
chatting confidentially.
Both were young, somewhere between
twenty-five and thirty, and both were enthusiastic
students of the noble profession of
medicine.
They had become intimate at college, and
a strong friendship existed that had known
no jar or break.
It was Fred Read who said:
"You will accept this offer?"
"Accept it ?" cried his friend. "I should
think so. It is what I want most in the
world. You see, I have always been more
interested in the study of insanity than in
any other form of disease, and to be resident
physician in an asylum, where I have only
made weekly visits, gives me opportunity
for study that I could never have elsewhere."
"Yes; I know all that, but it will be very
confining. I think I prefer general practice,
after all. But you may expect to see me
"ftan Hftiv T shn.ll miss vou. old fellow !"
Viwtl* ^ J
And then the talk drifted into other channels,
until Dr. Atkinson discovered that it
v was time for his train to L , where his
new home and field of duty lay.
"You will come over often," he urged, in
parting from his friend; "and if I am busy
or away, make yourself at home. The
grounds are large, and very pleasant, and if
you meet any of the patients, be sure those
who are allowed to roam about inside the
walls are harmless. Some of them are absolutely
sane on every point but one; touch
that, and off they go. But the eyes tell the
story."
"Yes, it is hard to hide it there."
"And contradiction brings out the truth.
As long as the delusions are humored they
are generally amiable enough, but once cross
them?whew!"
MI shall come over often and hear the results
of your experience. My enormous
practice takes about three hours a day."
In pursuance of this promise, Dr. Read
took tne train about once a week, and spent
an hour or two with his friend, finding him
generally busy, as his duties included a general
superintendence of the asylum, and details
that were quite independent of professional
work.
But Fred, as he became more familiar
with the place, began to share his friend's
interest in the study of mental disorders,
and would often spend hours roaming
through the wards and grounds, with only
a few words to Dr. Atkinson.
It was when June was young, and the air
soft and pleasant, that Dr. Read, strolling
about in the prettiest part of the grounds,
saw a lady in a summer house, whose face
attracted him at once.
It was a very pale face, and the large dark
eyes were languid, while the slender figure
seemed weak, as if from recent illness.
But.it was, too, a beautiful young face,
. shaded by waving brown hair, and with
purely oval outline and regular features.
"A new patient," was Fred's mental exclamation.
"What a lovely face!"
Then he sauntered over to the summerhouse
and spoke to the lady.
To his consternation, sne starciea, gave a
3 quick gasping sob, and fainted.
It was not a very long insensibility, and
under Fred's prompt treatment, the large
eyes opened, and she whispered:
"Oh, I am so sorry to trouble you! But I
have been very ill, and you startled me."
"I was very much to blame," he said penitently,
"and I hope you will pardon me.
Are you well enough now for me to ruu up
to the house for a glass of wine?"
"I am well enough, but I do not need it;"
and she sat up again, and took up a piece of
needle-work that had dropped from her
hands. Her fingers still trembled, and a
pretty flush came a moment iuto her pale
face as she said:
"Are you one of the physicians here?"
' "Only by courtesy," he replied. "I have
the run of the place; but Dr. Atkinson is
the physician. Old Dr. Hare is the head
doctor, but he does very little."
"Yes, I know! It is a lovely place, is it
not ? Out here, I mean! Inside," and she
shuddered, "the sounds are often dreadful.
But the doctor at home thought a change of
air would be good for me, and so mamma
sent me here."
"Change of air!" thought Fred. "Poor
little thing! Quite unconscious of her infirmity."
And he chatted away with her, discussing
the weather, the beauty of the grounds,
the songs of the birds in the trees around
them, and so gradually drifting to books, to
comparisons of opinion and criticism. And
all through a delightful hour Fred vainly
tried to discover the one point upon which
the new patient was insane.
Whatever it was, it evaded him, and he
looked as vainly for any wandering or vacancy
in the soft brown eyes that met his
own, full of intelligence.
They were still conversing when one of
the nurses came down the path leading to
the summer house.
"Miss Bessie," she said, "Dr. Atkinson
sent me to say you had better lie down now
for an hour or two, and he has sent some
medicine to your room. Let me help you ?"
Dr. Read, being a physician, made no attempt
to detain the fair patient, noting with
siucere sympathy how weak she was, and
how wearily she leaned upon the nurse's
strong arm.
He did not fbel inclined to have any jesting
about his interest, such as his friend
was wont to indulge in when ladies were
the subject, so he said nothing of his experience,
and joined Dr. Atkinson in his
"rounds" without hinting at any desire to
see one especial patient?a desire not gratified,
for there were only familiar faces in
the wards.
But the summer-house was soon found to
be Miss Bessie's resort. It was in a secluded
part of the grounds, shaded by a thick
clump of trees, and provided with a rustic
table and comfortable chairs. Here the
young girl made a cosy nest for herself, and
the place looked homelike with her workbasket,
her books, knitting, or sketch-book,
her cushions and footstool.
"The doctor said I must be in the open
air as much as possible," she told Fred one
day, "and as no one seems to care much for
this summer-house, I have appropriated it.
Sometimes I have visitors," and her face
saddened, "the poor patients here, you
know, but they do not Jike the quiet, and
soon leave me to myself."
She never classed herself with her companions,
Fred noticed, often speaking pityingly
of those more heavily afflicted. But
this phase of mental delusion was very
common.
But Fred had not, when July closed,
found out the delusion of the sweet little
girl he called "Miss Bessie." She had
gained perfect health in the two months of
quiet and open air; but while her eyes had
lost their weary expression, they never
started or wandered,-out were always steadily
tranquil, or lighted only by the animation
natural to interesting conversation.
In these two months Fred had scarcely
seen I)r. Atkinson. His superior in office,
Dr. Hare, had gone away for a summer
vacation, and a new wing was being added
to the building. With the entire care of the
house and the patients, the direction of the
workmen, the work of selecting furniture,
carpets and other necessaries for the new
building, the resident physician had scarcely
a moment to call his own, and Fred frequently
did not see him at all during his
visit.
It was in July that Dr. Read suddenly
woke to the appalling conviction that he
was deeply in love with the inmate of a
lunatic asylum.
He had deluded himself with the thought
that it was pity, professional interest, even
curiosity, that drew him again and again
to the summer-house, where he was sure to
meet a warm if shy welcome, and where
the hours flew by in utter content.
But so simple a matter as the reading of
a poem had opened his eyes to the truth.
It had become quite a common thing for
him tor'ead scraps of newspaper intelligence,
little bits from one of the books on the table,
or a selection from a favorite work he
brought with him, while Bessie sewed or
knitted and listened to him.
And on this particular July day he had
read a little love-poem nestled in the corner
of a newspaper. It was not a wonderful
production of genius, but it was pretty
and tender.
Looking up, Fred saw a pair of blushing
cheeks, downcast eyes, trembling fingers,
and his heart stood still.
He read th*? truth in a flash, lie loved
the lovely girl oefore him, and she?alas!
she returned his love.
His first feeling was one of keen selfreproach.
What if he had added to the
mental infirmity that had caused this beautiful
young creature to be sent to an asylum?
Would she forget him,or?dreadful possibility
! would tne whole reason give way
ii lie ucoci icu nei
He scarely knew how he reached home ;
but once there he sat down and looked the
situation squarely in the face.
His own share- of the affliction he put
aside for the present.
He was a man, and ho could bear his trouble
manfully. That he loved, where his
love must die, was, in a great measure, his
own fault and folly ; but that he had won a
Euro sweet heart, only to wound it, caused
im bitter pain and regret.
Long meditation brought him to one resolution
: He must see Dr. Atkinson make a
clear confession and have his opinion of the
danger to be anticipated.
"He knows where the weakness I have
to discover lies," Fred thought, "and he
can tell me whether it is safest to break off
mv visits suddenly or gradually."
It was not an easy matter to catch Dr. Atkinson,
or, having caught him, to secure
his attention, out something in Fred's troubled
face aroused his friend's anxiety, and
he turned his back for the time upon his
manifold duties and shut himselt in his private
office with Fred.
At first he listened gra vely enough, but as
Fred proceeded his face became more and
more amused, until, to the consternation of
the penitent speaker, he threw himself back
in his chair, and broke into a roar of laughter.
"Oh," Fred said, "it is funny is it ? I do
not see it in that light. Even if this poor
girl is insane "
"Stop !" interrupted his friend ; "don't
get angry, my dear fellow. You really love
er, you say?"
But Fred was too angry to answer.
"And she loves you?at least, you think
so?and you want to know if it is a curable
case, and?Well, I will not torment you any
more. Your charmer, Fred, is not a patient,
nor, as far as I know, a lunatic."
Fred gave a long sigh, but only looked his
eager questions. 1
"She is my sister, Bessie Atkinson, who
has had a long winter of illness from typhoid
fever, and is paying me a visit. I
thought she was quite safe from intrusion
in that summer-house, as the attendants
have orders to keep the patients away from
there, and I did not think of you. But since
you have been prowling around so long,
perhaps you had better come now and be
introduced in form."
"One moment, Will. I have been a pupEy,
it seems, in taking her love for granted;
ut if I have won it?"
"I am her eldest brother, and her father
died years ago. I am quite sure that what
11 approve, my mother will sanction, and
you must know nothing could please me
better than to know Bessie has a lover I esteem
so highly as I do you !"
"And you will not tell her?will you, my
awful mistake ?"
"I can't promise. I'll try to keep the secret,
but," and the doctor roared again,
"The idea of Bess as a raging lunatic! Well,
there, I won't tell her, at all events, until
you have told her something far more interesting."
And he kept his word so loyally that Bessie
Atkinson had been Be^ie Read more
than a year before she knew that her husband
had ever considered heran interesting
patient iu a lunatic asylum.
mmmmmammmmmmmmM
THE ABSENT-MINDED.
A gentleman, while in church, intending
to scratch his head, in a mental absence
reached over into the next pew and scratched
the head of an old maid. He discovered
his mistake when she sued him for a breach
of promise of marriage.
Another gentleman had a bad memory,
i A friend, knowing this, lent him the same
j book seven times over; and being asked afI
terward how he liked it, replied:
"I think it an admirable production; but
j the author sometimes repeats the same
1 things."
The author of the ".Spiritual Treasury,"
I while engaged in that work, was called upon
j by a gentleman 011 business. Instead of taj
king his name and address, as desired, and
I as he thought he had done, he wrote the
j chapter and verse on which he had been
! meditating; and when he came afterward
to look at the paper, in order to wait upon
the gentleman, he found nothing upon it
but "Acts the second, verse the eighth."
At a wedding, not long since, one of the
guests, who sometimes was a little absentminded,
observed, gravely:
"I have often remarked that there have
been more women than men married this
year." !
Robert Simpson, the Scottish mathematician,
was noted for his absent-mindedness.
He used to sit at his open window on the
| ground-floor, deep in geometry, and when
accosted by a beggar, would arouse himself,
1 hear a few words of the story, make his doI
nation and resume his study. Some wags,
! one day, stopped a mendicant on his way to
j the window, with:
"Now, do as we tell you, and you will get
! something from that gentleman, and a shil|
ling from us besides. He will ask who you
i are, and you will say, Robert Simson, son of
j John Simpson, of Kirktonhill."
The man did as he was told; Simson gave
i him a coin, and dropped off. He soon
! roused himself, and said:
"Robert Simson, son of John Simson, of
Kirktonhill! Why, that is myself! That
i man must be an impostor!"
Doctor Campbell, the author of the "Sur:
vey of Great Britain," was so absent-mind:
ed that, looking into a pamphlet at a bookseller's
he liked it so well that he purchased
! it, and it was not until he had read it half
: through that he discovered it to be his own
! composition.
Adam Smith, the distinguished philoso|
pher, was remarkable for absence of mind,
j As an anecdote of this peculiarity, it is re!
lated of him that, having, one Sunday
1 morning, walked into his garden at Kirki
alady dressed in little more than his night!
wnivn ho prarluallv fell into a reverie, from
which he did not awaken till he found him|
self in the streets of Dunfermline, a town at
least twelve miles off.
He had, in reality, trudged along the
I king's highway all that distance in the pur!
suit of a certain train of ideas, and he was
i only eventually stopped in his progress by
I the bells of Dunfermline, which happened
i at the time to be ringing the people to
! church.
His appearance in a,crowded church, on a
Scotch Sunday morning, without clothes, is
I left to the imagination of the reader.
A strangely absent-minded person one
day had a party coming to dinner, and just
before their arrival he went up-sfcairs to
change his dress. He forgot all about them,
thought it was bed-time, and got into bed.
A servant, who entered his room to tell him
his guests were waiting for him, found him
fast asleep.
Ibe fkfiou's Cbditc.
! THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEES.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
SKETCH OE THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
Stephen Grover Cleveland's political career
disproves a preconceived idea that
new men have no chance in National politics.
When the last Presidential election
was held this man was a plain citizen of
Buffalo, New York, unknown, either as a
professional man or a politician one hundred
miles from that city. But a rapid
course of events brought him rapidly to the
front, and each advancement proved that
i he had the ability and character to adapt
himself to all the requirements of his new
surroundings. His career, like that of the
eminent statesman 01 wnora it may ue siuu
he is the "residuary legatee," the illustrious
Samuel J. Tilden, proves that men of strong
sense, who have always maintained an intelligent
and active interest in politics,
may safely be entrusted with great responsibilities
without previous experience in
holdingoffice, if they are thoroughly grounded
in honesty.
The obvious result of making politics and
public office purely business enterprises is
that the public derives the advantage of all
the business experience and common sense
of the person so engaged. Thus something
of surprise is expressed when men of Governor
Cleveland's stamp spring up with apparent
spontaneity and prove successful in
politics. They are taken up without effort
on their own part. Many times they are
forced to positions of honor and responsibility
by events over which they have slight
control. Public or party exigencies, the opportunity
to make a striking record, the
manifestation of a strong reserve power,
enable them to seize and use the occasion
for their own and the public benefit. This
is the secret of Governor Cleveland's rapid
rise over the heads of men grown gray in
party and public service.
Governor Cleveland's family was of New
England origin, from the neighborhood of
Haddam, Connecticut, and for many generations
have not failed, after the old-time
.New England style, to produce a Congregational
minister. The Governor's father was
graduated from Yale College in 1824, removing
soon after to Baltimore, where he
married and entered the Presbyterian ministry.
He removed soon after to Caldwell,
Essex county, New Jersey, where he labored
for several years. Here the son, Grover
Cleveland, was born, March 18,1837.
lie lias only tne most snauowy recollections
of it, for when he was three years of
age his father, with a large family and a
small salary, moved to Fayetteville, in the
State of New York, in search of an increased
income and a larger field of work.
Fayetteville was their the most straggling
of country villages?about five miles from
Poinpey 'Hill, where Governor Seymour
j? was born. Here the boy Grover Cleveland,
I first went to school, in the good old fashioned
way and presumably distinguished himself,
after the manner of all viilage boys, in doing
all the things that he ought not to do. One
j thing appears to be indisputable. He, at
| the age of fourteen, had outgrown the caI
pacity of the village school and expressed a
I most emphatic desire to be sent to an acadeJ
my. To this his lather as emphatically objected.
Academies, in those days, cost
money. Besides, the elder Cleveland wan ted
the lad to become self-supporting by the
quickest possible road. The quickest possible
road in Fayetteville was the country
store, where the pastor with a large family
had considerable personal influence. Fifty
dollars was to be paid the boy the first year,
and if he proved trustworthy he was to
receive $100 the second year.
There is a tradition comes from Fayetteville,
not at all ill-defined, that young Cleveland
in two years proved himself so trustworthy
that his employers used all their eloquence
to get him to stay on indefinitely.
The removal of the elder Cleveland to Clinton,
however, gave Grover the long-wishedfor
opportunity to attend a high school, and
he nursued his studies industriouslv until
the family moved upon the Black River,
fifteen miles north of Utiea. The elder
Cleveland preached but three Sundays in
this place, when he suddenly died. This
event produced the usual break-up of the
family, and we next hear of young Grover
setting.out for New York City to accept, at
a small salary, the position of under teacher
in an asylum for the blind. He stayed there
two years, and it has been found possible to
discover the same indellible record of hard
work, faithfully performed and well reI
membered by those who were cognizant of
, it, and who are still alive. From tending
; country store to teaching the blind is a long
! way on the road of self-discipline. But to
i teach he did not believe was his mission,
i and consequently at the expiration of two
i years he abandoned it and literally started
out to seek his fortune?only reversing the
usual order, and instead of going to a great
city, he left it. Ilis first idea was to goto
Cleveland, but his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a
| noted stock breeder, lived at Buffalo, and he
! went straight to him for ad vice and guidance.
The uncle did not speak enthusiastically,
i "What is ic you want to do, my boy ?" he
j asked.
I "Well, sir, I want to study law."
"Goodgracious," remarked theold gentleman.
"Do you indeed ? What ever put
that into your head? How much money
have you got ?"
To tell the truth he hadn't got any.
"See here," said the uncle, after a long
consultation, "I want somebody to get up
my herd-book this year. You come and
stay with me and help me and I'll give you
$50 for the year's work and you can look
round."
Here it is that we find the American boy
now annotating short horns out at Black
Rock, quite two miles from Buffalo. But he
kept his eye out for a chance to enter a law
office while he was editing the stock book,
and one day he walked boldly into the
rooms of Messrs. Rogers, Bowen it Rogers,
and told what he wanted. There were a
number of young men in the place already.
; But young Cleveland's persistency won,
and he was finally permitted to come as an
office boy and have the use of the law library.
For this he received the nominal sum
of $3 or $4 a week, out of which he had to
pay his board and washing. The walk to
and from his uncle's was a long and at that
: time a rugged one. The first winter was a
memorably severe one, and his shoes wrere
broken, and he had no overcoat. But he
never intermitted a day. It began to be
noticed that he was the most punctual and
regular of the lads in the office. Often at
night he was compelled to stand by the
warm chimney in the loft where he slept
and dry his feet after tramping the two
miles through the snow.
Thic imr?\7nn + fiil nnn'nit r>f f JrnvOP
land's life, so devoid of adventure and barren
of romance, was the period at which all
the forces of his later life were gestating.
The privations and miseries of a penniless
novitiate gave way slowly before his determined
assiduity and pluck. He tells in his
; own way with a beaming, reminiscent
i humor of the first honor that came to him
I when his uncle, in getting out the second
| volume of his "Breed Book," announced to
I him that the intended toackowledgein it his
valuable assistance. But these privations
I and miseries, it may readily be seen by the
I temperament of the man, were only so
many stimuli. Ilis was not the hypersensitive
nature that winced and wore under
physical discomforts.
CROVER CLEVELAND.
"See here," said his uncle to him one bit-;
ter December night when the lad had walked
out to Black Rock through the sleet and
snow : "This is pretty cold weather for you
to be traveling without an overcoat."
"Oh," saysthe young man, "I'm going to
buy one when I earn tne money."
"Why, i'ook at your feet; they must be |
oonninr* O^i ) 7 |
Vll .
"Oh, that's nothing. I'm getting some j
coppying to do now and I'll have a pair of
boots by and by."
In those days boys had to demonstrate
what was in them before they received j
many favors.
"You just go right over there to the tail-1
or's and get the stoutest overcoat he's got.
D'ye hear." j
Very likely Grover had begun to demonstrate
what was in him, but whether to the
mind of the uncle it was a capacity for compiling
herd books or the capacity to contain
Blackstone cannot now be learned.
Four years in the office of Rogers, Bowen
& Rogers as a student equipped him
with sufficient elementary knowledge and
experience to become managing clerk at the
end of that time. And so four years more
pass. In 1863 the question of who should be
appoi nted Assistant District Attorney for the
county of Erie was warmly discussed by
the young lawyers in Messrs. Rogers and
Bowen's offices. There were several that
were both elligible and anxious, but it does
not appear that young Cleveland advanced
his own claims. Indeed, it is a fact that
after the matter had been pretty well canvassed
they all agreed that he was the person
that ought to have it, and they urged
him to accept it. This simple incident
speaks volumes for the already developed
character of the young man. He was appointed
and from that moment his public
record began. During the three years that
he was in the District Attorney's office
the great bulk of its duties fell upon his
shoulders, and then it was that his enormous
vital strength and tireless industry
made themselves felt. So well and faithfully
had he conducted the affairs of the county,
that at the end of three years, which
brings our narrative up to I860, he was nominated
by the Democrats for the District Attorneyship.
In the canvass that followed,
he was beaten by the Republican candidate,
Lyman K. Bass.
rr: ~? 1 QCICi urhon 1m
J.11S 11UA b VtMllUlU >ViW III AUWc/J H iivu nv
made a successful race for sheriff of Erie
county, the duties of which office he discharged
with customary faithfulness. The
interim from 18G5 to his election to the office
of sheriff was devoted to the practice of the
law.
When his term of office as sheriff ended,
he turned his attention to the practice of
his profession. lie took an interest, but no
part in politics until 1881, when his neighbors,
casting about for a strong and available
man to nominate for Mayor, pitched
upon him. Buffalo was not a great city,'but
in the matter of municipal corruption and
combinations it could have given points to
others with many times its number of people.
It was ring-ridden. Its revenues were
stolen or wasted and no Mayor had been
found for many years who had at once the
ability and the boldness necessary to attack
these abuses.
But G rover Cleveland, elevated to this
position by a majority of 5,000, entered
cheerfully and earnestly upon his work. He
had not sought the position. lie had not
been an active political worker in the accepted
sense of that word. lie knew nothing
about the manipulation of caucuses
and conventions. He was connected with
no halls or other organizations for extorting
public plunder from the officers chosen by
the popular voice, and his political experience
had been confined to a single term in
the comparatively unimportant office of
sheriff of the county eleven years before.
But he succeeded where other men had
faltered or failed. And what was the secret
of th is success? Itwassimply duetothe
fact that the day he became Mayor of Buffalo
in name he also became Mayor in fact. He
did not enter upon its duties to register the
edicts of a party caucus or to obey the orders
of party bosses, lie looked upon the office of
Mayor as a business agency of the people or
his city. He attacked corrupt combinations
in a manner which soon convinced the
trading members of a City Council that he
understood each item of a bill and that he
had determined to reject all corrupt or unnecessary
expenditures and administer the
city business as faithfully as if it were his
own. He used the veto power with intelligent
persistence. Schemes conferring special
privileges or making unwise, extravagant
or sentimental appropriations or for
unnecessarily increasing offices, were relentlessly
slaughtered. The people of Buffalo,
accustomed to the waste and profligacy incident
to municipal government, discovered
that they had at last found a man who looked
upon office as something more than a mere
play-spell or an opportunity to reward his
friends, and they noised his fame abroad.
They made such a showing and so successfully
convinced the Democrats of the
state of their earnestness and the worth
of their man that Mr. Cleveland was nominated
for Governor over well-known and
active competitors. His reputation, merely
local as it had been, was still found quite
large enough to spread out over a State.
The campaign was remarable even for New
York, with its astonishing and kaleidiscopic
changes in politics. Many of the leading
Republicans of the State ranged themselves
on the side of Cleveland's candidacy. The
independent element of all parties came to
his support; factions in his own party disappeared,
and the resulting majority of one
hundred and ninety-two thousand, the larg"
'* ? ? ' <"? i-wliAfr* fr\r* riA\mt?nnv ill
UVUl <V UIIIU1UCUV 1UI vjiw ? 4.w* .
any State in the Union, carried Mr. Cleveland
into the Governorship. Thustheplain,
plodding1 citizen of Buffalo, whose capacity
was neither generally known nor suspected
outside the limits of his community, became
one of the leading men of the country
in less than a year after he had emerged
from his hiding-place.
As Governor he has carried out the simple
business policy he had inaugurated and adhered
to as Mayor. His first message
was rather halting. It was evident that he
scarcely felt sure of his ground. The interests
of the State of New York were large and
extensive and as he had never been called
upon to make a special study of them the
easy and nonchalant dogmatism so common
to Gubernatorial messages was lacking.
But when it came to action he made no
serious misstep. He watched the course of
the Legislature closely and pruned its work
mercilessly. He exercised the veto power
with a wise discretion and was especially intelligent
and watchful in all legislation relating
to municipal affairs. Before the session
was half over he had secured the ill
THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
; will of the New York city managers in his
own party, but had won in return the support
of the independent and reform element,
regardless of political opinion. Every
detail of government has been closely
studied and watched. His nominations
have been quite uniformly creditable, because
he has consulted the efficiency of public
service, not the whims or demands of insignificant
politicians. He has dealt openly
I and above board.
Because Governor Cleveland took no ac
tive part in politics until recently, the conclusion
must not be jumped at that he came
into office a mere tyro. He was little accustomed
to making speeches and writing letters
on public questions, but when he began
it was with some purpose. Appreciation of
the business side of office and politics has
been a marked feature of his utterances. In
his inaugural address as Mayor of Buffalo
he took strong and decided grounds in favor
of retrenchment and reform in the expenditure
of the city's finances, and his remarkable
utterances on this occasion and the fidelity
with which he kept his pledges and discharged
his public duties first attracted to
him the admiration of the entire people of
his State and laid the foundation for his
election to the office of Governor, the duties
of which he is now discharging to the satisfaction
of all parties.
Governor Cleveland's rank at the bar is a
high one. He is careful aud methodical as a
business man, which united to his faculty of
going to the bottom of all questions, gives
him tlrc principal elements essential to success
in his profession. He presents his case
well and closely, whether the argument is
made before a court or a jury, but does not
indulge in any exhibition of pyrotechnics.
His vocabulary is ample but not overwhelming
or exhaustive, as is so often the case
with professional legal talkers. He is a
hard worker, and a large, reliable and commanding
practice is his reward.
Governor Cleveland is a large man, somewhat
above the medium height, with a
strong though not a particularly striking
face. He has dark, penetrating eyes and
heavy eyebrows. His movements are deliberate
and dignified, but devoid of the i
heaviness which sometimes accompanies
men of his type. He is not a rich man, in
spite of his frugal bachelor habits. He does
much free legal work for poor clients and
has a way of assisting them, which, though
most creditable to his conscience, does not
put money in his purse. He is also a liberal
benefactor of all the charities of Buffalo,
a city peculiarly active in this work.
Governor Cleveland's strength as a candidate
is due to his strong conservatism, his
unsullied character, his sympathy with
straightforward business methods in politics,
his exceptional standing with the independent,
reform element the country over
and in his ability to inspire people with
the belief that he may be trusted to do nothing
for purely partisan purposes. Few men
unite in themselves so many considerations
of fitness and expediency. If elected he
mav hn trustor! to avnose iobs. torn out and
keep out thieves and give the country a
manly, conservative administration.
THOMAS A. HENDRICKS,
THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR VICEPRESIDENT.
In nominating Thomas A. Hendricks, of
Indiana, for the Vice-Presidency, the Democratic
party has done its best to insure the
electoral vote of his StAte, which went Republican
four years ago, and has renewed
public interest in "the old ticket" of 1876.
There, are, besides, strong reasons in Mr.
Hendricks' record why his party should do
him honor.
lie was born in Ohio on the 7th of September
1819. He was graduated from South
Hanover College in that State in 1840, when
he removed to Chambersburg, Penn., and
began the study of law. Three years later
he was admitted to the bar and began the
practice of his profession in Indiana. His
career opened auspiciously and in a few
years he became a lawyer of excellent standing.
In 1848 he was elected to the State
Legislature, and in 1850 was a delegate to
the State Constitutional Convention. The
next year he was elected to the House of
Representatives, and in 1853 his term expired.
He was appointed Commissioner
of the General Land Office by President
Pierce, and from this on he has been one
of the most important political characters
in Indiana. In 1860 he ran for Governor
against Henry S. Lane, and was defeated.
He was ck'cted to the Lnited States Senate ;
in 1803 for the long term. Here he won con- j
siderable distinction as a debater and served j
with marked ability in the Committees
on Claims, Public Jiuildings and Grounds,
the Judiciary, Public Lands and Naval j
Affairs. After leaving the Senate in 1809, j
he practiced law in Indianapolis until 1872. i
He was then made the candidate for Gover-1
nor of the State, and was elected by a ma-j
jority of 1,148.
His name was presented to the Democratic
National Convention in 1808 as candidate .
for the presidency, and he would no doubt i
have received the nomination but for the
Ohio delegates, who, by persistently voting
for Horatio Seymour, finally caused a stampede
in his favor. The friends of Mr. Hendricks
have always insisted that the nomi- j
nation would have ensured a Democratic
victory. Again, in 1872, he was proposed
as a candidate in the Democratic National
Convention, and but for the unexpected fusions
of that time, he would probably have '
been the nominee of his party. lie was j
nominated for Vice-President in 187(1, and i
since that memorable contest his profession- j
al duties have engrossed the greater part of
his attention, varied with European travel,
of which his interesting accounts have ap- j
pearedin newspapers. Mr. Hendricks is a
skillful public speakerand a learned lawyer,'
and his services as a statesman give him an j
honorable position among public men.
He was married near Cincinnati on the
'2">th of Sentember. 184o. to Miss F.Iiza C.
Morgan, by whom lie had one son, born in
1848, but who lived to be only three years of
age. This was the only child, and its death
greatly affected the father, lie was nurtured
in the Presbyterian faith, and was a
member of that communion until the organization
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
in Indianapolis, in the year 18G2, when he
became a member of that parish and was
elected Senior Warden.
Few men have greater personal popularity
than Mr. Hendricks. Ileis genial, kindly,
always true to his friends, and without
being a professional mixer or a demagogue,
possesses those qualities which give men a
strong hold 011 the people. lie is the leader
of the bar in his State and one of the most
engaging stump-speakers in the country.
LETTER FROM BELFAST:
THE PAN-PRESBYTERIAN COUNCIL.
Pecullarities of different Nationalities Composing
the Council, and the Peculiar Methods of Conducting
its Business?Irish Methodism as Contrasted
with American Orthodoxy?A Visit to the Giant's
Causeway?Cities and Towns?A Distinction without
a Difference?Prom Belfast to Bangor?An
Historical Spot of Interest to Americans.
I'oyespomleiire of the Yorkville EiU|iiira\
Belfast, Ireland, July 2.?It is not possible
for any one to give within any reasonable
space, even a synopsis of the proceedings
of the Pan-Presbyterian Council. The
sessions of the Council are two?the morning
session, from 10 A. M., to 4 30 P. M.; the
evening session, from 7 P. M. to 11 P. M.
The mornine- session is devoted mainlv to
the rending of papers, while the discussion ]
of these papers is reserved for the evening
session. Only a few individuals participate
in these discussions. The Scotch delegates
have, perhaps, the greatest fondness for
making speeches. Generally, they are intensely
dull. They all, as a rule, speak
very low, hum and haw, as if they did not
know what to say, and at the same time
nod, turn around and bow, as if they
thought every body was listening to them
or ought to listen. Besides this, their dialect
is simply awful. Some of the Scotch
delegates are men of world-wide reputation,
and some of them are men of profound and
extensve learning; but as a rule they are
miserably poor speakers.
The Irish delegates are generally men of
as great learning as the Scotch, and they
are far better speakers. It is evident that
the Scotch-Irish are superior, in nearly every
thing, to the Scotch. In the American delegates
there is more fire, more push, more
aggressiveness, than in either the Scotch or
Irish. Only a few of the American delegates
say anything. Those who do speak,
always deliver themselves with ease and
power.
The Moderator of the Council is changed
at each sitting. This is, perhaps, the best
arrangement, on the whole, that could be
adopted; but it is defective, in that the
Moderator is not permitted to learn bv ex
perieuce. With the Scotch and Irish Presbyterians
it is regarded as a very great
honor to be chosen the Moderator of an ecclesiastical
meeting. In America, until recently,
not much importance was attached
to the position. It is an admitted fact that
the American delegates make, by far, the
best presiding officers. This, no doubt, is
accounted for by the fact that public meetings
in which all classes of society participate,
are of more frequent occurrence in
America than in any country in the world.
In America the people govern and control
every thing.
There are some practices in the Council,
which, to a man born and bred in the Southern
States, is distasteful even to disgust.
Those who address the Council are required
! to do so from the platform on which are
! seated the Moderator, clerks, and chairman
of the business committee. This platform
is reached by a flight of steps in tne rear.
So soon as the speaker presents himself on
the platform he is cheered most loudly, and
if the speaker is some man ofnotethecheering
is prolonged for a considerable time.
If the speaker is so fortunate as to say
something that is endorsed, he is cheered
again. The cheering' is done by clapping
the hands, by beating the floor with the end
of an umbrella, walking-stick, or anything
that will make a noise. The whole thing is
ill-timed and out-of-place. To any individual
who has even moderate respect for God's
house, boisterous cheering appears irreverant.
Some of the delegates have a custom
which is absolutely disgusting. It is this:
When a speaker is not distinctly heard,
which by the way is the rule, those delegates
who are from the British Isles make
a loud hissing noise by blowing the breath
out of their mouths. The noise sounds exactly
like that of a goose when warning intruders
to keep away from her goslings.
When I first heard it I thought some persons
were hissing the speaker, but discovering
that the speaker was not disconcerted
by it, but rather encouraged, I concluded
that they were possibly taking snuff. The
custom, habit or practice or whatever it is,
cnnmc \\& r?r*nfinorl flm Qr>rv+/?V? onrl fiMch
lAIkJ ivy IL/Vy VViilllll/U IV HIV UV.VIV1I (11JU -Jl 1 A OA A
delegates.
On Wednesday a deputation from the
Wesleyan Conference, now in session in Belfast,
was received by the Pan-Presbyterian
Council. Several speeches were made by
members of the deputation, and a reply to
all of them by the Moderator of the Council,
Rev. Dr. Hays, of America. All the speeches
were good, especially the reply by the
Moderator.
Irish Methodism is very different from
American Methodism. Irish soil is not so
well adapted to its growth. The Wesleyan
delegates to the Pan-Presbyterian Council
lauded and extolled the works of Boston and
Erskine to a greater extent that I ever heard
them lauded and extolled by members of the
Associate Reformed Synod of the South.
In fact, one would have concluded, from
their speeches, that they were not only
good Presbyterians, but good Seceders. In
fact, 1 am convinced that the Wesleyan
Church of Ireland adheres more closely to
the consensus of the Reformed Churches
than do several of the so called Presbyterian
Churches of Scotland.
The subject which produced the longest
and the most earnest and the most exciting
discussion was 011 the admission of the Cumberland
Presbyterians as members of the
Council. After a debate of several hours,
the report was amended so as to virtually
disapprove of what the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church has done in eliminating
Calvinism from their Confession of Faith.
The report of the committee was amended
so as to read "that the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church be admitted without approving
of the proposed revision." The vote
stood for the amendment 112, and 74 for the
original motion, which was to admit the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church without
pronouncing any judgment upon the new
Confession of Faith.
On Saturday, June the 28th, the Council,
as a whole, visited Tonduf and the Giant's
Causeway. They were accompanied by
several hundred friends. Theday was spent
very pleasantly, and to most of us it was a
day full of wonders. The Giant's Causeway
is one of the most wonderful sights to
be seen on the globe. Some time, when I
have more time, I may attempt a description
of it, but at present it must be passed
over with a simple mention. The only accident
of the day was the throwing of Itev.
Dr. Wm. Irvin.of New York, from an Irish
jaunting car. By the fall both bones of one
leg were broken.' Otherwise he was not seriously
hurt.
On Sabbath all the Presbyterian pulpits
in the town, and in the adjacent country,
were tilled by members of the Council. To
your readers it may appear strange that a
place containing two hundred and twentyrive
thousand inhabitants is called a town ;
but such is certainly the case. The distinction
between a town and a city in the British
Isles is not founded 011 the number of
inhabitants, but on the fact of its having or
not having a cathedral. Every place which
has a cathedral, no matter how few the
number of inhabitants, is called a city, and
every place not having a cathedral, no
matter how great the number of inhabitants,
is called a town.
On Tuesday a boat-ride from Belfast to
Bangor was given the Council by Mr.
Samuel Wilson, of Belfast. Bangor is'about
ten miles in a north-eastern direction from
Belfast, and is noted as the scene of the la
bors of Rev. Robert Blair. Just across the
Lough of Belfast from Bangor, is Carrickfergus.
It was in this place that on the 10th
of June, 1G42, the first Presbytery was organized
in Ireland, and it was here that
the Prince of Orange landed. These two
events make C'arrickfergus famous among
the towns of Ireland. There is a fact connected
with it which makes it a place of
importance to the people of the United
States. It was from C'arrickfergus that the
parents of Andrew Jackson emigrated to
South Carolina. This makes the place one
of interest to every man who loves the stairs
and stripes. Xo man ever lived who more
appropriately might be regarded as an exponent
of American liberty than Andrew
Jackson.
The labors of the Pan-Presbyterian Council,
have, up to this period, been very
great, and good feeling and harmony prevailed
to a remarkable degree. It must be
admitted that there is great diversity of
sentiment in the Council. There is a party
which may be regarded as the lineal ecclesiastical
descendants of John Knox, John
Calvin and the other great leaders of the
first Reformation. There is another party
which may be regarded as the- antipodes of
these. Between these extremes all shades
of differences exist. It is very manifest
that some individuals in the council are
ready to ignore all creeds and confessions
and "unite the whole mass of professed
Christians in our organic body. This zeal
for union is a zeal which would mix poison
in our bread. It virtually declares that
truth is a matter of minor importance compared
with peace. This inverts the Bible
order. In the Bible truth is first and peace
second. No one can tell what great changes
may be brought about by the lloly Sprit in
a short time, but it is clear as day that a
marked change must take place before one
organic church can be organized out of material
forming the Pan-Presbyterian Council.
K. LATHAN.
INSTRUCTION IN JOURNALISM.
Cornell University, which is one of the
most richly endowed institutions in the
country, has undertaken to give instruction
of a special character for the fitting of youn?r
men for quite a number of professional and
other occupations of an intellectual character.
They include journalism, law, theology,
engineering, architecture, agriculture,
etc. The course which applies to journalism
is called that of "History and Political Science,"
and includes a basis of the Latin language,
careful instruction in the two great
languages and literatures of continental
Europe, moral philosophy, the philosophy
of history, political economy, and a study
of social and political questions. Without
doubt the instruction thus afforded would
equip a man for doing certain kinds of
journalistic work in a very scholarly and
accomplished manner.
Nevertheless, the young man about to enter
upon a course of preparation for a career
in journalism would do well to inquire what
the beginning is to be, and what kind of
position would be likely to fall to him with
all of this splendid equipment on his first
emergence from school. If he believes that
the world is waiting for him to come forth
and electrify it with his opinions upon
social, political and economic questions, his
disappointment will be of a very sore order
when he begins to look around for a vacancy.
He will be fortunate indeed if he secures
a position upon a paper like the Worcester
Spy, the Hartford Courant, or Springfield
Republican. We mention these papers
because they are representative in character
of the highest average attainment that
journalism has yet reached in this country,
since it can be said that they are not excelled
even by the great dailies of the metropolitan
cities. Here he would not be long
in learning that there was no market for
his investments in political economy and
social science. He would be much more
likely to find himself assigned to work of
which he hadnotgiven a moment's thought,
such as the reporting of a fire, a case in the
police court or a base ball match, and how
great would be his disgust to learn that he
would not be permitted to publish a lengthy
dissertation at the end of his reports upon
the moral, social or economic tendencies of
the case in hand. The order to "boil it
down" to a mere skeleton of fact would dissipate
all his dreams of impressing the
greatness of his acquirements and his
thoughts upon that community.
The two preferred sources from which the
experienced journalist and publisher draws
his corps of assistants are the college and
the printing office. We know quite a number
who still cling to the old-fashioned idea
that the bright, intelligent boy trained to
type-setting, with the advantage of such education
as the High School affords, makes
the best practical man of all work about the
editorial sanctum. He must, of course, be
gin low aown in me scaie 01 reporting, out
his work obtains credit in the eyes of his
employer, for he knows how to prepare his
"copy," even to the placing of every comma
in its right place, and he wastes no
space in superfluous words. He may not
be so learned in books as his college rival,
but he has learned that which the other
has yet to learn, by virtue of which fact he
is ready to begin his work at the ri?ht
place and in the right way, with a feeling
of pride over his advancement, instead of
humiliation at being required to accept work
for which he has a very contemptible opinion.
From the printers' "case" have been
raised some of the ablest writers .that the
American press can boast. They include
Franklin, Blair, Weed, Greeley, Raymond,
Forney, Hastings, Danielson and a long list
of less prominent, many of whom still wield
a powerful influence in moulding public
opinion.
It cannot be denied that, other things
being equal, the better educated a man is,
the more thoroughly is he equipped for
journalistic work. But a few years' experience
will teach him that the most valuable
qualification he can possess is that of exact
accuracy. It is not enough to be conscientiously
truthful in a general way, for this
permits a toleration of mistake. The
thoroughly equipped journalist permits no
mistake, especially in matters of fact. In
a long newspaper career the facts with
which he has to deal will be a thousand for
nvorv fin!ninn tlinf will lmvn iwniainri
to present. A few may look for the able
editorial discussion of some political or
social topic, but the masses turn from this
to the pages of local or general news, and
here it is that exactness is as essential as in
a mathematical demonstration. And the
habit of exactment finds no school for its
acquirement like the printing office, where
every word, every letter and every punctuation
mark must be considered and given
its right place.
Nothing is more important to remember,
by him who would succeed, that heavy
editorial writing has almost become one
of the lost arts, while the work of the
journalist becomes every day more and
more one of small details, which, thrown
together, make that great budget of facts,
the newspaper. Of course it is a great
privilege to be able to control and direct
public opinion, and the man who can do
this with his pen in short, crisp articles, is
an invaluable acquisition to any newspaper.
But even such a man will find himself better
equipped for his work if he reaches it by
the route that the itemizer has to travel.
And whether the aspirant comes from the
case or the college. Ins path upward must
be toilsome, step by step, sometimes consuming
half a lifetime before he reaches the
top round of the ladder. For it is a truth
that the field of journalism is not a wide
one, hardly wide enough to justify the formation
of manyschoolsof professional training.
Compare the number in this or any
other averaged sized community with the
multitude of lawyers, ministers, doctors,
teachers, clerks, accountants, etc., who are
earning comfortable incomes, and the opening
for aspiring young men will at once be
seen to be few. But the practical and conscientious
man will succeed in the highest
position, if he succeeds first in that apprenticeship
which the self-important collegian
usually despises.