Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m. grist, proprietor. | Jnbepeitbenf Jfamifjr Ifclospapcr: Jror % promotion of % political, Social, Hgritnllnral anb Commercial Interests of % Soutlj. jterms-12.50 a year, in advance. VOL. 31. YOEKVILLE, sT C., TIITJRSDAY, JTJLY 1885. Ifte ^totg ?eUrr. i SYLVESTER'S WIFE. I. After tiffin on the second day of the summer assizes for Griqualand West, the languid interest which had hitherto been taken in the proceedings suddenly developed into something nearly akin to excitement. The jury had just returned a verdict of culpable homicide against a dozen out of some fifty Shangaans who stood huddled together, helpless and frightened, in the dock charged with participation in a fatal tribal affray at the Lone Star Diamond Mining Company's compound; the Judge had duly sentenced the gaping unfortunates, and the jailers were endeavoring to sort them out from among their unconvicted but probably no less guilty comrades, when the Crown Prosecutor, a fresh-colored young Englishman, with no small idea of his own importance, turned in his seat at the barrister's table, and whispered to the official who sat behind him to put forward Dirk Sylvester. The official arose and repeated the name aloud; a hum of expectancy ran through the little crowd of spectators, and passed on to the loungers outside, who eagerly crowded into the corrugated iron temple of justice; gen tlemen of the long rooeantl memuers in Hie press hurried over from "The Yellow Bar," just opposite, and the stalwart Zulu, attired in canvas marked with the broad black arrow, paused in his monotonous jerking of the punkah cord in order to catch a glimpse of "Baas" Sylvester, as he stepped into the dock. The prisoner was a tall, handsome colonial, with dark gleaming eyes, black beard, and a skin the paleness of which had been ripened into swarthiness by the fierce African sun. He was erect and fearless; he threw a glance of defiance at his enemies ; he nodded with a smile to his friends, and then, as the door of a private entrance to the body of the court opened, and a figure draped in purest white, with bright golden hair rippling in rich profusion over the shapely shoulders, glided in softly and quietly like a sunbeam from the free world outside, he leaned over the rail which interposed between him and liberty, and hoarsely whispered her name?the dearest name on earth to him. It was Sylvester's wife. She responded quickly with a look more eloquent than words; and then the prisoner drew himself up to his full height, folded his arms, listeneel intently as the clerk of the court, an old friend with whom he had spent many a roystering evening in his bachelor days, droned through the indictment, and in a clear voice replied to the charge of wilful murder, "Not guilty." The Crown Protector, in slow and measured tones, began to sketch the history of the crime; the Judge lounged back in his chair and leisurely sought for the clean pages in his record book; the counsel fbr the defence pushed back his wig from his perspiring brow, and hunted out a reference in an almost forgotten work on the Roman Dutch law; the spectators hushed their murmuring; the punkah swayed regularly to and fro overhead; and Sylvester's wife, sitting there in the well of the stifling court, with her sweet blue eyes riveted on the n?;artr>ar onH hor ln\-nriant. lnfks rising and pilOUUVl) iliiv* ??? g falling with the artificial breeze, looked to me even more beautiful than two years ago, when she nightly ravished the hearts of susceptible diggers in the make-shift . theatre in the Dutoitspan Road. * In those memorable bygone days she was Mademoiselle Marie La Cour, and the star of a traveling theatrical company, which, like most other "combinations of talent," visiting the Diamond Fields, never, as a whole, got any further. The proprietor madq so much money in a short season that he left to assume the lesseship of a big Australian house, and Marie's father took over the management of the sheep thus bereft of their shepherd. How divinely she danced and sang; how she brought tears into the eyes of great rough fellows, or made them shake the rafters with their sonorous laughter; how she fluttered the hearts of the bank magnates and the Jew diamond merchants, and how she caused the "treasury" to overflow with fatness?are not all these things written in the tablets of the memory of every dweller on the Fields? In the zenith of her fame she married Dirk Sylvester, and if ever a man deserved his bride he did, for his passion wore him almost to a shadow, and his dark eyes gleamed dangerously if a rival presumed as much as to speak fr\ her; and before Dirk came upon the scene there were rivals in plenty; but though Marie sipped the champagne they proffered, and even accepted their diamonds, she laughed openly at all of them. Dirk was proprietor of one of the richest "1" * ? Vniir T? iioV* on/1 Ko m A*y?onf i U1&.I1U9 tils mi; C? xvuoti, aiiu mvs iuvui^iiu i he and Marie met the host of more or less ' hopeful suitors saw their chances were over. : She seemed to have fallen in love with him | quite as much as he had with her, and would ; have married him long before she did but that her father besought her to continue on the stage a little longer for his benefit. At length the old gentleman drank himself: into the Carnarvon Hospital, and only came I out then~e to occupy one of the graves | which are always yawning, ready dug in ; the Kimberley Cemetery, for victims to ; fever and alcohol; and then Marie La Cour < became to us all and our world "Sylvester's wife." They took a little villa at the extremity i of Dutoitspan Road; a neat veranda-sur- | rounded residence, screened from the dust! and heat by tall blue gums, and half cov-1 ered with creepers and tropical flowers, i After that we saw little of the once so wellknown Marie La Cour. Occasionally at long intervals they would invite a few bachelor friends?myself included?to witness their bliss, and on such evenings the j gre.it bullfrogs which invaded the gardens i of "The Oasis," as their place was rightly ' named, would hush their vile croaking as Sylvester's wife trilled forth some gay chan-! sonette to the accompaniment of the Broad-1 wood which Dirk specially imported for! her from Europe; or sometimes the happy | pair would ride over to a picnic on tne banks of the meandering Modder River, and Mrs. Sylvester would design to astonish us with the feats of marksmanship which she could accomplish with the pretty revolver?ivory handled and chased with goldDirk had given her. One night as 1 strolled into the Albert Saloon for a game of billiards, I found a knot of diggers gathered around a new arrival?a handsome little Frenchman, who had come to the Fields to look after some ! claims in which a Parisian firm had invest- j ed. He was laughing conceitedly, and | stroking his carefully waxed imperial with j a self-satisfied air, when Dirk came in, and was immediately hailed by a man who was { no friend of his?the manager of some ground which was always tumbling into Dirk's claims and smashing his gear. I did not hear exactly what he said, but my attention was suddenly arrested by seeing Dirk make a bound at the Frenchman, and seize him by the throat, while his eyes j fairly blazed with passion. The French-j man tried to elude his grasp, and in a moment Dirk had dashed him to the tloor and was standing over him, raging with fury. "You miserable liar and scoundrel", he cried, "if ever I hear of your mentioning my wife's name again, Fll kill you!" Then he strode out of the saloon. A silence fell on the company standing round the fallen Frenchman, and as he staggered to his feet and sunk away into a side room, where the rattle of the dice went on all day long and far into the night, no one found so much as a word to throw after him. I met Dirk on several occasions after this ; curious episode, but, as if by mutual con-1 sent, we avoided the subject. One night, j however, when the moon was sailing ma-! jestically overhead and lighting up the! dusty road between "the Pan" and Kim-] berley with a flood of lambent light, I was riding slowly into camp when I heard the rapid pattering of a horse behind me, and turning in the saddle confronted Dirk. lie was agitated and angry and without a word of greeting plunged into the subject upper most in his mind. "Do you know, old fellow," he said, "I've just been told by a digger at Hallis' that that rascally little Frenchman has been repeating his lies about being intimate with my wife in Paris before she came out here. Not only that, but he says he has a miniature of her which she gave him set in gold. The unmitigated liar!" If-I find time I shall canter over to his cabin the other side of the mine to-night, and if he can't produce that souvenir it will be hard for him. If he does, it won't be in his possession long!" "Don't do anything rash, Dirk," I said. "Remember, ther is another to think of besides yourself." "That's what it is that bothers me, old fellow," he replied ; and then, reining in his horse, and jogging along by my side, he told me his trouble. It appeared his wife denied any intimacy with toe Frenchman, but stated that her lather tnea to iorce ms attentions on her in the old days when he was a half-starved-ballet-master, and she a struggling aspirant at a Paris theatre. The miniature was a new feature in the story, and Dirk fimly believed it to be a myth, but was bent on finding out whether it was or not. After a while he grew calmer, and paid more attention to my entreaties to him to proceed with caution-. On parting, he shook me by the hand, and his last words, shouted to me as he galloped off at the turning for "The Oasis," were? "I shan't trouble the little Frenchman tonight, but let him keep out of my way!" The next morning the body of Jules Lacroix was found lying on the floor of his cabin, with an ugly hole in his left temple. In one hand he grasped tightly part of a miniature. There was the fresh spoor of a horse not far from the door, and the bullet found in the brain fitted Dirk's revolver to a nicety. It was not long before Dirk was in custody, and the case looked black against him. His threat to shoot the Frenchman was well remembered ; his excited demeanor in Hallis's bar at the Pan, when the news of the Frenchman's reiterated assertion of a former intimacy of his wife was brought to him, was commented upon, and the circumstantial evidence was strong. As for Dirk himself, he utterly denied going near the French man's cabin on the night of the murder, and he accounted for the fact that he did not reach home for nearly an hour after leaving me, by saying that, feeling hot and excited, he went for a scamper over the veldt, and the beauty of the moonlit night caused him to stay out longer than he intended. He pressed me to tell all I knew about the matter, and I reluctantly did so, making the most of his expressed determination on leaving me not to visit the Frenchman that evening. The trial dragged on until late in the night, and at 12 o'clock the jury came into the court with a verdict of "Guilty." I shall never forget the look of mute agony on his wife's face as Dirk stood up to be sentenced to death, or the calm, proud way in which he heard his doom. II. "Mark my words, boys, Sylvester's wife will get him reprieved." The speaker was lounging at the counter of the "Yellow Bar," in the Transvaal Iioad, and his words evoked a murmur of sympathy. Ever since the conviction efforts had been made in all directions to prevent the dread sentence of the law being carried out, and Sylvester's wife had become the heroine of the camp. There were few who did not believe that he shot the Frenchman; but why should he die for an offence which was light compared with some which lay quite easily on the consciences of not a few of the inhabitants of Kimberly? As the hum of approval subsided, some one directed our attention to a lady walking rapidly in the direction of the jail. We recognized her at once, and respectfully saluted as she drew near. She stopped for a moment and spoke to the foremost man, who, as she hurried on, turned and gave a great shout. "Hurrah !" he cried, "Dirk's reprieved ! The little lady had just had a telegram from Cape Town. Three cheers for Sylvester's wife!" I doubt if the attention was pleasing, but the kindly jailer tola me tnatsnesmueu ior the first time since Dirk's conviction as that cheer reached her ears, just as she stepped into the prison yard. * * * * * * * Three weeks afterward I had occasion to call on the governor of the jail, and as we sat in his cool little room, discussing his Mar tell and smoking his Boer tobacco, he looked up suddenly with a troubled air, and said, "By-t he-bye, do you know that Dirk Sylvester goes to Cape Town with the next lot of I. D. B.'s (Illicit Diamond Buyers) ?" 1 expressed my surprise, as I knew the governor had the selecting of the prisoners to be transferred to the breakwater at Cape Town, and had heard that he had an idea of making Dirk a clerk in the Kiinberley Prison office. There was but little chance of his ever being a free mrfn again, but it was something that he should serve his weary yeurs at Kimberley, among friends who could visit him, and be close to his faithful wife. I mentioned this, and the governor, | stepping l.o a little cupboard, turned the key and took out a little blue packet. *1 have had to forbid Mrs. Sylvester's visit," he said, "and when I tell you the reason I think you will agree that I am right in sending Dirk to Cape Town. You see, he seemed to expect, when the reprieve came he would be set at liberty; and so did she, but, as you know the death sentence has only been commuted to one of imprisonment for life; and how on earth they managed to persuade the Governor to do that I can't tell. Well since that has been made plain to Dirk, he has been a changed man. lie talks hopelessly of his future?and God knows, poor fellow, it's dark enough!?he seems to be pining for freedom, he says the convict's dress clings to him like cerecloth, and the other day, just after his wife had visited him I saw such a queer look in his his eyes that I quietly turned over his things. At the bottom of the basket of 'eomfortsV she had brought him I found this." He opened the packet and poured out before my eyes a whitish powder. "Well?" I said interrogatively. "Poison !" he briefly replied, as he swept the powder back into the packet. "And now," he added, "don't think me hard if I send Dirk to Cape Town." ******** There was an unusual stir in Limberley; the streets were crowded with men and women whose faces bespoke every kind of emotion, from despairing rage to rejoicing malice; while hither and thither among the throng in the market square rode officials in the dark blue uniform of Cape Civil Service. At length there was a cloud of whirling dust on the Transvaal ltoad; the crowd swayed and parted, and at a hand galop two heavily laden mule wagons passed through the surging ranks and halted for the escort to close round. A woful freight those wagons bore, a load of human misery; a company of wretched convicts into whose soul the iron of captivity had already entered ; a consignment of battled, trapped, and forsaken seekers after illicit wealth. Youth and age were there, and the galling fetters bound all together in the links of common despair. Chained as they were, like wild beasts, some stood up, and in agonized voice called upon friend, wife, and child, who answerd not; while others, crouching piteously in the corner of the rude conveyance, bowed their heads between their trembling hands and sought to keep out the light of the sun which had become hateful to them. Suddenly I caught sight of Dirk Sylvester. He was sitting on the side of the foremost wagon, his arms folded across his chest, and a look of eager expectation on his finely moulded face, thin and pale with confinement and suffering. I called to him, but he heard not; his gaze seemed fixed on some far-away object, and a smile played on his wan lips. I hurried on in advance of the cavalcade toward "The Oasis," which I knew it must pass on its way to the open veldt. I remembered that the governor of the jail had told me the night before that he had allowed a last interview before the fearful journey to Cape Town between man and wife, and that they spoke some words in French, which he did not understand, but which seemed to have a wonderful effect on Dirk. As I neared the gates of "The Oasis," over which the blue gums cast their shade, and where the trailing nowers were in ineir autumnal beauty, I saw Sylvester's wife standing motionless. She was attired in the plain white dress she wore on the day of the trial, and also when she crowned Dirk's hopes and rendered him the envy of the bachelors of the Fields by becoming his own. Her golden hair floated unheeded 011 the lazy breath from the distant palm ; her eyes were turned upward to the deep blue sky above, and her lips seemed to be moving as if in silent, prayer. There was no need to tell her of the approach of the convict party; their coming was heralded by the wild refrain of a dismal song chanted by the prisoners; and adown the startled air came the sound of creaking wheels, the cracking of whips, the shouting of orders, and the responsive curses of the mob. I was unwilling to obtrude myself on her notice, and therefore I did not speak to her, but merely took up a position close by the gate. Nearer and nearer came the rolling wagons; and the crowd rushed on through the eddying dust, till suddenly they caught a glimpse of the lonely watcher in the gateway. There was not a man there who did not know that the slight, pale woman standing with her hands clasped convulsively together, and her whole gaze concentrated as it were in one long gaze, was Sylvester's wife. Even the officials knew his history; they knew he was no midnight purchaser of stolen gems, but only a passionate, helpless man; and, as if by instinct, the melancholy procession slowed and paused before what was once the home of a pure and happy love. Dirk was standing now; the smile 011 his lips lit up his whole countenance; he looked like the careless happy Dirk of former days; the lines of care and deep dull agony seemed to soften and disappear from his face. He made a motion with his left hand.to his breast; with his right he pointed to the awful blue of the cloudless heaven, and then?a thin stream of flame leaped from the midst of the creepers, a sharp report rang out upon the morning air. a puff of smoke curled upward from the gateway, and Dirk Sylvester, with that strange, glad smile upon his lips, fell heavily forward, shot right through the heart by his wife! * * * 9 * * She never lived to take the trial, indeed she was unconscious from the time when by one supreme act she broke the fetters which were wearing Dirk Sylvester's spirit down into the dust and ashes of a misery too keen for his endurance, till within a few minutes of her death. Then a new light shone in her fast closing eyes; she stretched out her arms as if to embrace a viewless form, and with the words, "Dirk! Dirk! Free forever, dear! Free, Dirk, free!" trembling on her lips, her soul went forth rejoicing on the mystic journey to the dark hereafter. Soon after she had been laid to rest by the side of her husband in the cemetery, white with many a memorial stone to ruined hopes, lives wrecked and shattered, and affections sundered by the cruel hand of Death, a Kafir, sentenced to the extreme penalty of the law for an atrocious murder, confessed that he, and he alone, was the true cause of the Frenchman's tragic end. He had watched, through the half-drawn blind, the miserable man toying with a golden chain to which a miniature was attached, and hiscu( pidity fired by the sight, crept on him una' wares and tried to wrest it from him. A struggle ensued ; the Kafir snatched a revolver from the Frenchman's hand and shot him ; then, fearing discovery, fled with only the miniature in his possession. The size of the bullet and the spoor were coincidences only ; but there is one mystery which will never 'be cleared up. Was the miniature that of Sylvester's wife??Belgruvia. MARQUIS OF SALISBURY. The Marquis of Salisbury, The Right Hon. Robert Arthur Talbot (iascoigne Cecil, eldest surviving son of the second Marquis of Salisbury, born at Hatfield, in 1830, was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls' College. His lordship, who is Deputy-Lieutenant for Middlesex, represented Stamford in the House of Commons, as a Conservative, from August, 18">3, until 1808, when he succeeded to the marquisate on the death of his father. While \ in the Lower House he was known as Lord ; Robert Cecil, until the decease of his elder | brother, when he assumed the courtesy title I of Viscount Cranborne. His lordship takes ! an active part in all public measures which I affect the interests of the established Church, and in the leading Church of England institutions. The Marquis is understood to be an extensive contributor to the Quarterly Iterietr and to other periodicals. In Lord Derby's third administration, he was, in July, I860, appointed Secretary of State for India, which post he resigned on account of a difference of opinion respecting the Reform Bill, March 1867. On November 12, 18611, he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in succession to the late Earl of Derby. As an orator the Marquis of Salisbury is especially brilliant, and has that magnetism which characterizes our own Mr. Blaine. He has not, however, that reputation as a debator that marks Beaconsfield or Gladstone. He istheleader of the Tory forces and cherishes a vigorous foreign policy, and entertains the idea that the true strength of England lies in extend- ( ing her already large possessions. In con- j sequence of the fall of the Gladstone admin- j istration, June 9,1885, the Marquis of Salisbury is the successor of Gladstone. BSsj1" "Wise, cultivated, genial conversation is the best flower of civilization, and tbe best result which life has to offer us?a cup, for gods, which has no repentance." jjtaT A miser grows rich by seeming poor; an extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich. Miscellaneous Reading. THE SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE.' TWO WIDELY DIVERGENT VIEWS AS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INSTITUTION. A Speech hp Rev. Ellison Capers and a Reply by Rev. A. Coke Smith. From the News and Courier. Columbia, ^Tune 1.?Nearly all of the students of the South Carolina College were gathered in the College chapel at 8 o'clock this evening to hear an address by the Kev. Ellison Capers, a member of the board of visitors. Various members of the boards of trustees and of visitors occupied the platform. When Senator Hampton and Governor Thompson came in together they received a very hearty round of applause. The professors remained without. President McBryde addressed the students, saying that this joint meeting of the board of visitors was trie happy thought of the honored chairman of the board, Sen a tor Hampton, whom he had the pleasure of introducing. Senator Hampton was warmly applauded ak he advanced to the desk and said: "After our examination here the other day of the condition of the college, and I need not say it was a very thorough and exhaustive one, the board of visitors were so surprised and gratified at the exhibit made by the College and its students, that they felt it due to you and the public to let the facts which they ascertained become known. They asked, therefore, the Rev. Dr. Capers to remain over and state to you the result of their examination. I know that they will endorse thoroughly what he will have to say to you. For myself I will say that as long as I have been connected with it and earnest as have been my hopes for its success, I believe that it has never been in better condition than it is now. [Applause.] And I must in justice say that very much of the credit of this is due to you, for the president and all 'the professors, and Mayor Rhett endorse the statement and say that never has a better set of young men been within the walls of the institution." Reminding them of what depended upon their conduct and effort, and expressing the hope that each one when he left the College would work earnestly and zealously for the success of his alma mater, Senator Hampton introduced Rev. Dr. Capers, of Greenville. Dr. Capers said that he spoke to give the students the unanimous, sincere and very hearty commendation of the board of visitors. * They had come prepared to do their duty in looking closely into the condition of the college, and had had an earnest, burning interest in its welfare. It, therefore, gave him the heartiest pleasure to assure the students that the evidence they had just heard from one whose words were so justly revered in South Carolina, was the honest, hearty opinion of the board of visitors. They had invited the professors and tutors to come before them and discuss freely all matters affecting the College. The compliance had " ? -15 i1-.! r 1 rru^.. J Deen iun ana in periecurank ness. ? ney imu communed together. He could not express the pleasure felt by the board upon learning that the great body of Carolina's sons in this institution were devoted to their studies and admirable in their conduct. The evidence given showed that as the students passed from lower to higher classes they became more studious, proving the fact that their College life induced studious habits. At the request of the board a committee of students elected by their classmates, had also conferred with them, and the testimony of this committee was that the professors were doing their full duty, and that in selecting such instructors the board of trustees had done an excellent thing. The board had unanimously concluded that the professors in this College would compare favorably with the professors of any institution in our land. [Applause.] Being anxious to hear how the students were behaving in Columbia, the board had applied to the chief of police for information, and had found that he had no fault to find with any of them. The board were delighted to find by an examination of the claas books that 95 per cent, of the students had, during the last year, been absolutely regular in their attendance and in their studies. Of the nhsentees renorted for the last year only one-fifth of one per cent, were marked "unexcused." "I call this," said Dr. Capers, "a splendid record. Ought not this to be enough to satisfy the friends of the College ?" Allow me to assure you that they are satisfied. But unhappily there are among the people of this State some who are your enemies. The opposition to the College is formulated on these two hypotheses: First, that the College is not in advance of our denominational colleges in its curriculum of studies and the advantages it offers, and is, therefore, not entitled to the support of the State. Second, that it is the rival of its sister institutions in South Carolina and injurious to them. As to the first charge a careful comparison has been made of the catalogues of sixteen colleges in the South, including all the State institutions and the denominational colleges of South Carolina, and it has been found that the standards of admission and graduation in our College are as high as those in the very best Southern college. From this comparison only Johns Hopkins University is excepted. That is sui generis and commands special funds. This is a hroad assertion, but it is the simple fact. Your standards are just as high as the best of them. As high as the universities of Virginia, or North Carolina, of Georgia, or of Alabama. As to the range of studies our university offers thirty-four subjects of study and investigation, and this is a greater number than is offered by any other Southern college except the University of Arkansas. As to thoroughness we have forty-six classes for recitation. Only one other Southern institution has as many, and that is the University of Georgia, and our list does not include the sub collegiate or the professional classes, and this work is done by eight professors and four tutors, at a cost of $25,000, of which only $17,500 is paid by the State. Think of it! Could $17,500 be applied to a nobler purpose, a better use, a more substantial result? The education of the hearts and minds of two hundred young South Carolinians! "What are the facts? These: Since the rehabilitation of the South Carolina College the attendance on the denominational col leges nas increased, i gee mis iuci jrum your president, who bases it on a careful examination of the catalogues of these colleges. I can speak myself for Furman University which has in five or six years almost doubled its attendance, and the same may be said for the college at Due-West. The efforts of the friends of the denominational colleges have since the reopening of this institution positively doubled on account of this good rivalry which I have admitted. Jt is false to assume that all the youth of South Carolina would be sent to denominational colleges if these classic halls were barred against them. Some of my friends believe this assumption, but the past history of the State proves it to be perfectly false. Before the opening of our Col-1 lege two hundred young South Carolinians were attending the colleges of other States and of Europe. One of the most careful and painstaking members of your board has ascertained this by investigation. These two hundred men and ?150,000 a year are saved to South Carolina by the reopening of this L'oilege. "Lastly we hold that it is a vast benefit to South Carolina to gather her youth here from all sections, from all denominations, under the icgis of the State, that from the mountains to the seabord, you from the middle country, you from the eastern border and you from the western border, are brought here as brothers of the Palmetto State to drink in that spirit which has made your State what it is, and to learn all that you owe to South Carolina. This was the inspiring thought of its origin. Let it be the controlling thought of its perpetuation. If there is anything I deprecate it is the miserable spirit of sectionalism which we sometimes see in this State. We have, I think, more to fear from this spirit than from anything else, this feeling that one section is to be considered above any other section. It breeds unrest and bitterness and it is opposed to all the results which we hope to see produced in the minds, the hearts and lives of our citizens "We will make a brief comparrison between this College as it now stands and that which graduated these distinguished gentlemen who sit behind me. The old College, our pride and glory, had sixty-four hours of recitation a week against our one hundred and thirty-one and a half. It had thirty classes against our forty-six. It had twenty-two subjects of study versus our thirty-four. The board of trustees have had an eye to progress. If science has advanced so has our College advanced. If literature has progressed so has our College progressed. I have proved, I think, that the Uitt-i/vlUADiu 5nn^Artn Kin mat ii^vpumcaia in uuicuauig* "As to the second, a good many good and true men in this State who love their churches and colleges, belieye that this South Carolina College is injurious to her younger sisters, but I am sorry to say that there are people in this State who make the charge flippantly, without care for its truth, or who press it in their demagoguery. There is nothing so potent, so sure to conquer in South Carolina as truth. When it is earnestly, affectionately, sincerely put forward it will always triumph in this State. Here is one man who avows himself a friend of the denominational colleges, who appreciates the principles upon which they are founded, who hails their good work and honors many of their instructors whom he knows, but this University can never be brought into an injurious rivalry with any one of these institutions. There is a rivalry which is good for us all. It excites to effort. It urges us to higher achievements. It elevates and diffuses a nobler spirit. It absolutely creates a demand for education. Such a rivalry may be engendered by the reopening of this old institution but no other. "Fellow-citizens of every name! FellowChristians of every faith ! Let us maintain one platform in South Carolina, where all may meet as the son and its mother, as the child and its God, animated by one sentiment: Do your duty, men and brothers, to this dear old State. [Great applause.] "There is one rather personal matter which I would refer to before I leave you. It concerns one of your number and it has given me more pleasure than anything I have heard. I am sure it will gratify every friend of the College. It does you honor and your State honor. If it ever becomes known it /1a tv?A??A ir\ otnn fVto mnnfha nnrl pflfapp the charges of the enemies of the College than any other thing could. One of your number told me that the man who received as much, if not the most, respect and consideration and affection from his fellowstudents, was one who came here so poor that he had no money to pay his way or buy his books, but was animated by a high and noble purpose. Your students esteemed him because he was a man, and he has clitnbed up to the highest places not only in his class, but in the respect and honor of his fellow-students. You have more than the praise of man. You have the smile of God and the angels. I could not have been told a fact about you that could give me more Eleasure than that a man is respected here ecause he is a man, and that the more earnest and studious he is the more he is loved by his fellows. Nothing, I am sure, more truly represents the spirit of the men who in the past have made the name of South Carolina a pride and glory all over the i land." [Great applause.] Senator Hampton dismissed the audience in a few words. l)r. Capers' address is the strongest argument the College has ever had made for it, and it won the nigh praise it so thoroughly deserved. The facts he gave will be a revelation to the young people. The board of which he is a member carefully canvassed the work of the College and attended the senior examinations which were continued through the week. From the Greenville Mountaineer. It is fair to Mr. Capers to state, that in a recent article to the Daily News, he corrects the reporter of his address in two important particulars, and explains that the address was not written and delivered from manuscript, but pronounced extemporaneously from brief notes. He did not review the reporter's manuscript, or know anything of the character of the report until he saw it in print. We give below the correction made by Mr. Capers: "My statement in reference to Furman University was, that I had known the institution since my residence in Greenville for the past eighteen years; and that my judgment was, that at no time during this period had it been in so prosperous a condition as now, the number of its students being almost doubled." * * * "If I am mistaken in my judgment I will cheerfully amend my statement." * * * "Referring to the absence of our young men from the State before the opening of the College, I am made to say, in effect, that they had all returned to South Carolina, and thus two hundred young men and ?150,000 were saved to the State. "I said that about two hundred of our youth had gone abroad to seek larger oportunities of instruction than the State afforded ; that they were now coming back to their State?a large per cent, had already returned?that I looked forward to the time when we could proudly boast that the sons of Carolina were taught in her own schools and colleges! This I held to be a great gain in every way, and an end worthy of our labors. * The dollars and cents argument I never used at all." After explaining how it came to be reported as said by him, Mr. Capers continues : "I did not charge opposition to free tuition as einnity to the College; but exnlninpd that, the onnosition of which Isnoke was honest and sincere, and maintained by men good and true in all parts of our State. I claimed for it a respectful consideration and a fair examination. This I endeavored to give it." MR. SMITH'S REPLY TO MR. CAPERS'ADDRESS. The speech of the lie v. Ellison Capers before the students of the South Carolina College was intended for the South Carolina public. The purpose was to glorify the University and to vindicate the wisdom of its re-opening, by showing what an excellent institution it is. A Reporter for the JYetcs and Courier was present by invitation, and the speech as reported appeared next morning, under conspicuous head lines, announcing that the college is now "surpassing in efficiency its palmiest days." Senator Hampton was present also and stood sponsor for the speech of Mr. Capers. In introducing him, Senator Hampton declared that the College had "never been in better condition than now." Mr. Capers had been induced to remain and address thestudents, to give expression to the satisfaction felt by the board of trustees at the condition of affairs as they found them. Many of Mr. Capers' friends doubtless regarded this speech as one of his "off-hand" efforts, which was to be admired more for the beauty of his rhetoric than the accuracy of his statements, and, therefore, was not to be too literally construed ; but in the News and Courier of Saturday last, (June G) the Columbia correspondent assures us that the address was arranged for on Saturday before its delivery on Monday night. Mr. Capers had, therefore, full time to prepare himself thoroughly, and his statements must be held to a strict account. Had Mr. Capers confined himself to an account of the work the College is doing without instituting comparisons with other institutions no account would have been taken of it. Rut when he fails to do this and lauds the State University in such unmeasured terms and declares it to be so superior to the church colleges in the State, when he attempts to meet objections by avoiding the real issues involved and flings at objectors the charge of flippancy and demagogy, he exposes himself to the public as a special pleader whose dependence is | upon his rhetoric rather than his facts. The board, it seems, adopted a novel way of getting the information they desired as to the efficiency of the College. They first inquired of the faculty as to the conduct of the students and then of the students as to [ the conduct of the faculty. They seem to have been mutually satisfied with one another. After this statement Mr. Capers said: "I call this a splendid record. Ought not this to be enough to satisfy the friends of tneuoiiege r aiiow rae 10 assure yuu mm i they are satisfied. But unhappily there are j among the people of this State some who ! are your enemies. The opposition to the i College is formulated on these two hypotheses : First, that the College is not in advance of our denominational colleges in its curriculum of studies and the advantages it offers, and is therefore not entitled to the support of the State. Second, that it is the rival of its sister institutions in South Carolina and injurious to them. As to the first charge a careful comparison has been made of the catalogues of sixteen colleges in the South, including all the State institutions and the denominational colleges of South Carolina, and it has been found that the standards of admission and graduation in our College are as high as those in the very best Southern college. From this comparison only Johns Hopkins University is excepted. That is sui generis and commands special funds. This is a broad assertion, but it is the simple fact. Your standards are just as high as the best of them. As high as the universities of Virginia, of North Carolina, of Georgia, or of Alabama." If Mr. Capers meant to declare that the actual requirements for admission and graduation in the South Carolina College are as high as those in such institutions as the University of Virginia, he has either been imposed upon himself or he is attempting to impose upon others. No one who knows Mr. Capers can suppose for a moment that he meant to deceive any one. He has, therefore, been led astray by a comparison of catalogues, and not a comparison of work or actual facts. As well try to compare the speed of-two horses by comparing their size and color. From Saturday morning till Monday night ought to have been sufficient time for the absurdity of such a position to have appeared to even so ardent a friend of the South Carolina College as Mr. Capers. I commend to Mr. Capers and those who think with him the following quotation from a paper on Southern Colleges and Schools of Dr. Charles F.Smith, of vanuer- : bilt University, published in the Atlantic Monthly for October, 1884. The whole of that wholesomely truthful article might be 1 read to profit by our people. Dr. Smith says: "A professor in a small Southwestern College once gravely informed me that the course in Latin in his college was higher than that in the University of Virginia ] and proved it by his catalogue." That is the proof Mr. Capers offers for his "broad assertion," and the conclusion is as good in the one case as the other. It would appear from what is here stated that the South Carolina College is far in advance of the denominational colleges of the State, for not one of them claims to have a "standard just as high as the University of Virginia." Now what is the fact as to the comparative standard of these colleges? A student from Wofford, Erskine, Furman or Newberry who brings from the faculty of either of these colleges a certificate of good standing in any class can enter the same class in the South Carolina College without examination. But hear again : "As to the range of studies our university offers thirty-four subjects of study and investigation, ana tnis is a greater numuer i than is offered by any other Southern college except the University of Arkansas. As to thoroughness we have forty-six classes for recitation. Only one other Southern institution has as many, and that is the University of Georgia, and our list does not include the sub-collegiate of professional classes, and this work is done by eight professors and four tutors, at a cost of $25,000, of which only $17,500 is paid by the State. Think of it! Could $17,500 be applied to a nobler purpose, a better use, a more substantial result? The education of the hearts and minds of two hundred young South Carolinians. ***** The old college, our pride and glory, had sixtyfour hours of recitation a week against our one hundred and thirty-one and a half. It had thirty classes against our forty-six. It had twenty-two subjects of study versus our thirty-four. The board of trustess have had an eye to progress. If science has advanced so has your College advanced. If literature has progressed so has your College progressed. I have proved, I think, that tne first hypothesis is untenable." Now, this is extensive work. How intensive is it? Eight professors and four tutors for "one hundred and thirty-one and a half hours for recitation a week, forty-six classes and thirty-four subjects of study." Surely "the board of trustees have an eye to progress." Is there an educator in South Carolina who knows anything of how college work ought to be done to whom this statement in praise of the college does not appear ridiculous? I make no doubt i there were members of the faculty (if they were present) who were laughing in their sleeves while these facts were being brought < forward. In speaking of the second ground of opposition to the State College Mr. Capers says: "As to the second, a good many good and true men in this State who love their church1 ? ' ?11 j CI / \ n f K ( 1or_ ' es anu cuueges, uenuvc uiai ujuijuuui i olina College is injurious to her younger j sisters, but I am sorry to say that there are ! people in this State who make the charge ] flippantly, without care for its truth, or who < press it in their demagogy. There is noth- < ingso potent, so sure to conquer in South Carolina as truth. When it is earnestly, af- : fectionately, sincerely put forward it will < always triumph in this State. There is a ] rivalry which is good for us all. It excites | to effort. It urges to higher achievements. 1 It elevates and diffuses a nobler spirit. It 1 absolutely creates a demand for education, i Such a rivalry may be engendered by the 1 j reopening of this old institution, but no i other. J ] "What are the facts? These: Since the: rehabilitation of the South Carolina Col-'s lege the attendance on the denominational' colleges has increased. ' I get this fact from j ' your president who bases it on a careful ex- 1 aminationof the catalogues of these colleges. | 1 can speak myself for Furman University, |. which has in five or six years almost doub- J' led its attendance, and the same may be ] said for the colleges at Due West. The ef- : forts of the friends of the denominational j colleges have since the reopening of this in- ( sifitotioii nositivelv doubled on account of :c this good rivalry which I liave admitted." j * This is very good rhetoric, but what of "the facts?" Prof. Cook, of Furman Uni- ! versity, in an article in the Greenville News, j1 shows that Mr. Capers is wholly mistaken in what he says about that institution. I)r. J1 Grier, in a private letter to me, says: "Our ; J numbers have been larger during the pros-11 ent year than for many years past. I do not I see how this fact is to any extent due to the , University with its present offer of freetui- ] tion." Wofford has increased her attend- j! ance but little, and her increase has been in spite of the unfair competition of the State College and not because of its so-called i "good rivalry." j There is not one of Mr. Capers' boasted facts that will bear examination for a mo- 1 ment. His speech was not intended for a : 1 calm showing of solid work or a logical an- j1 swer to serious, sober and sensible objection 1 to the State's present policy as to the College,!' but was meant to "boom" the College into popular favor. It was overdone. To thoughtful people it appears more like a bur- < lesque than sober earnest. j; But Mr. Capers, intentionally or uninten-; i tionally, avoids the real issues in this ques-1 tion which is now engaging so much of public attention. lie truly says that "there is h lothingso potent, so sure to conquer in South Carolina as truth." But has lie given us ;he truth? Xo doubt he thought so, but ;hat is not the question. With what grace ;an Mr. Capers charge flippancy upon others tvhen we find his speech a mass of misstatements and an ad captandum array of mere issertions? Thepeople are looking into this matter, and they are going to the bottom of t. They do not propose to take too many ;hings for granted because they are spoken >xcathedra, and they will not be blinded by :he pyrotechnics of oratory and "facts" gathered from catalogues. What friends of denominationl colleges lave maintained?certainly with becoming modesty, however it may be classed as lemagogy and flippancy?is that it is unjust md unwise for the State to offer free tuition In the South Carolina College which cannot 4/\ aim I nof inno 1 JUt YYOI'K. UtJlilllltllt 117 wic uciiuiuuiuuuuui colleges which have done and are still doing more for the higher education in the State than the State College itself; and is, iherefore, as much entitled to the protection 3f the State as that institution is. This is certainly tenable ground; so tenable indeed that Mr. Slmonton suffered severe defeat when he attacked it against the defence of Dr. Grier, Dr. Furman, Bishop McTyeire md others who have spoken strongly and manfully on this subject. Why did Mr. Papers pass them by in silence? Why? Who cannot see? The catalogues served iiis purpose better. If the friends of the South Carolina College are wise they will listen to reasonable demands made for tui:ion charges in that institution and disarm :he opposition which will close its doors if "ully roused. I wish to call attention to some of the igures given by Mr. Capers in his speech. It I mistake not, though brought in to praise, they remain to vex the much-lauded South Carolina College. The annual appropriation made by the State to the College is *17,500, which added to that secured from the United States makes $25,000 for the tuition only of 200 young men. That is, the tuition of one of these young men costs the State $87.50, and the United States $37.50, makiner a total of $125 ner annum. Educa tion at the South Carolina College is more expensive than at Erskine, Woft'ord, Newberry, or Furman. As to who pays this tuition let us follow Mr. Capers a little further and we will see. He says: "Before the opening of our College 200 young South Carolinians were attending the colleges of other States and of Europe. One of the most careful and painstaking members of your board has ascertained this by investigation. These 200 young men and ?150,000 a year are saved to South Carolina by the reopening of this College." Let us take this statement as correct. Then what becomes of the boast that free tuition in the South Carolina College has made that institution the people's college? the poor man's college ? If these two hundred young men would be away in "other States or Europe," if the South Carolina College were not open, and each one spending an average of ?750 per annum there cannot be many poor boys among them. Surely, if these young men could afford to spend ?150,000 in "other States or Europe" they might afford to pay ?17,500 tuition fees in theirnwn State, and in an institution equal to the University of Virginia, and let that amount go to the public schools which for want of funds are able now to run only three months in the year. These public schools are the only ones within the reach of the masses of our people who pay the taxes. Take the report of the State superintendent of education and see what pay the teachers in our public schools get; or go to these schools themselves and see as to their efficiency. It is about time somebody were talking for these. Fortunately they have no catalogues, and we will have to judge them by real facts. It is right hard for some of us to see how these $150,000 are saved to South Carolina, as Mr. Capers asserts. It seems to some of us that if what Mr. Capers says is true, the State is paying $17,500 to save $150,000 to the parents of these young men, who, but for tne reopening of the South Carolina College, would be spending that amount in other States or in Europe. A. Coke Smith. Columbia, S. C., June 8,1885. He Still Preaches.?Two or three months ago a Detroit lawyer was in the northern counties on business, and one night while he was staying at a farm-house two or three of the neighbors dropped in and one of them explained: "You see, we heard you was a lawyer, and perhaps you wouldn't mind giving us a little advice. We want to get rid of our preacher." "What ails him ?" "Well, he's good and kind and a true Christian, but he's no preacher. Fact is he's too slow for the times." "Have you thrown out any hints?" "Lot of 'em, but he still sticks." "How much of a salary does he get?" "Well, about ?200 per year." "lteduce it to ?50." The advice was declared to be spund, and in the course of three days the minister was notified that his salary would be reduced to the figures named. When Sunday came he read the notice from the- pulpit, and added: "My dear friends, this step was rendered necessary by the continued hard times. I cheerfully accept the reduction, and in case it is found necessary to make a further reduction of.?25 don't hesitate on my account. I am here to serve the Lord, and I can do it on one meal a day!" - ? Conversation.?"The power to converse well is a very great charm," says Ruskin. "You think anybody can talk? How mistaken you are! Anybody can chatter. Anybody can exchatig idle gossip. Anybody can recapitulate the troubles of the kitchen, the cost of the last new dress, and the probable doings of the neighbors. But to talk wisely, instructively, freshly and delightfully is an immense accomplishment. It implies exertion, observation, study of books and people, and receptivity of impression." Plato banished the musicians from his feasts that the charms of conversation might have no interference, but in our later fashions many prefer music rather than the gossip of the hour which often degenerates into trivialties, wearisome and commonplace. As a mirror reflects the face, so conversation reveals the mind, and I)r. Johnson said he could tell just how much a man knew if he could hear him talk for a vhile.?The Current. Obscure Men Happiest in Wedlock. N"o woman will love a man better for being enowned or prominent. Though he be the irst among men, she will be prouder, not onder; as is often the case, she will not jven be proud. But give her love, apprenation. kindness, and there is no sacrifice >he would not make for his content and comfort. The man who loves her well is her lero and king. No less a hero to her, :hough he is not to any other; no less a cing, though his only kingdom is her heart tnd home. It is a man's own fault if he is inhappy with his wife, in nine cases out of ;en. It is a very exceptionable woman who ivill not be all she can to an attentive husjand, and a very exceptionable one who vill not be very disagreeeable if she finds lerself willfully neglected.?Alabama Bapint. War and the Wheat Market.?One Ling is particularly noticeable this season. When war rumors are rife the wheat prospect is fair. When the white robed angel of peace spreads its wings over the continent the Hessian fly conies to the front. Just at present the wheat market is very fly.?Chicago Tribune. Stir Resolve to edge in a little reading svery day, if it is but a simple sentence; if /ou gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year. S&- Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.