Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

lewis m. grist, proprietor. J Ijnbeptitbjiit Jfamilg fittfosjjajitr: Jfbr fjtt ^promotion of fjjt |poIrtita!, j$oriaI, ^jriralteral anb Contntfrtial Jfnttwsts of (|t Saiifjj. j TERMS--$2.50 a year, IN adyance. VOL. 33. YOEKVILLE, S. O.. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1887. NO. 39. ?> J>to*g. ; ALL THE WORLD AT ff AB. BY WALTER BESANT. J CHAPTER IV. ] THE KING'S CLEMENCY. 1 It was late in the evening when we got 1 to Dorchester. The prison gates?above < them hung, as a warning to evil doers, a 1 set of rusty fetters and handcuffs?closed 1 upon all that I called dear, and I was left l outside. ( The young man, John Beer, the same whose appetite for brandy had done us so much mischief, found me a lodging with respectable people, and I waited in trouble of soul for the morning. At 9, after waiting outside for two long hours, I obtained admission to the prison. I went in trembling, and expected to see the prisoners jangling their chains in despair. I looked for sighs and prayers, for the tears of repentance and the groans of remorse. I found nothing of the kind. The courtyard was half full of men who were all laughing, talking, drinking and singing. My own party were not in the courtyard. Dan Gulliver and his sons were no common criminals. Tliey had obtained, on payment of certain fees, the use of a ward all to themselves, where I found them. It was a large and cheerful room, but disfigured by the odious bars over the windows. Dan was pacing backward and forward; Job and Jephthah were sitting side by side in one corner, their hands folded in silence and resignation; Will was at the table writing. "We must be very clear and precise about this statement, Dan," he was saying. "There must bo no possible misunderstanding. They must be made to see that this is no cock and bull story, got up by us to help us out cf our scrape." Dan nodded reflectively. "Now this is what I have written Pleasance, you are come to see us in our i temporary home. Limited the accommo 1 datiou, hut we must make the best of it. < Sit down, child, while we finish our business. Now Dan: 1 41''This is the statement of me, Daniel s Gulliver, of Rousdon farm, parish of 1 Rousdon, near the town of Lyme Regis. i 44 4On Wednesday evening, Oct. 21, in J this year 1808, I was on board my toat, 4 the Dancing Polly, off the coast of France, 1 homeward bound. I was running a cargo y of brandy, in the landing of which I was ( caught and arrested by the revenue offl- 1 cere, and am now, with my two sons and 5 a young man who was staying in my y house, committed for trial for that offense. ? 44 4We took in our cargo at Barfleur, on ? Wednesday morning. We started, the wind being then light, but afterward a freshening, and southeast by south?a fa- c vorable wind for us, but bad for the ships 1 we met later on in the channel. 1 44 'Ten miles, or thereabouts, duo north 1 from Point Barfleur they were?three * men o' war, eight frigates and small craft. ^ They were beating up channel, apparently J west by north, though the wind was dead * against them, and they was flying French J colors. * 44 'On the Dancing Polly we was about t half a mile to starboard of the enemy's ? fleet. One of the ships hailed us to haul 1 down and lay to; but we held on, seeing 1 the breeze was freshening and all in our I favor. I 44 4At 3 o'clock or so we made Rous- c don bay, intending to send on news of the ? enemy's fleet as soon as we oeuld. Un- " fortunately we were caught by the officers and arrested. So I have lost no time in t putting on paper the observations we made as to the whereabouts of the enemy, r 44' I am in the hope that this intelligence tl may prove of use to his majesty's govern- I ment, ana tnat tne diligence i nave usea c in forwarding it immediately may be taken into account against the fact of my having broken the law in my venture to the French coast."' ? "I don't think, Dan," said Will, after carefully reading the whole, "that we can do much more good to the document. There is the information, fresh and valuable and trustworthy. Nelson would like it if the officials do not; but they would not dare to shelve it. And now, Dan, you must sign." Dan Gulliver, after making the careful preparations for writing common to peopie of that time unaccustomed to sign their names, perpetrated a form which he meant to stand for Daniel Gulliver, while Job and Jephthah looked on in silent admiration. Anything their father*did was great and beautiful. For that parental respect I honor their memory. That done, "Now, Pleasance," said Will, who had taken the entire command of the business, "please go into the town, ascertain who is the best lawyer in the town?the gentlefolk's lawyer. Go, call at his office, and bring him here without a moment's delay." "Tell him not to fear about money, for there is plenty under the hearthstone," said Dan. It was not difficult to And the best lawyer in Dorchester. Everybody sent me to Mr. Copas. I found him an elderly gentleman who wore a large wig and looked like a dignitary of the church. "This sort of case does not lie in the ordinary course of my practice," he said; "I recommend you to go to Mr. Ferret, ? whose clients chieflv consist of" "I think, sir," I said, "that whqn you I know who one of the smugglers is you will not refuse to act for us. Pray, pray c come unci see him! And, oh! if it is the money you are thinking of, Dan says r there is plenty of money under the hearthstone." 8 Mr. Copas smiled. c "It had better be in the bank, child, i Well, I will go with you. But I do not I promise anything." s We found Will alone in the ward, still busy with paper and pen. He was graver 1 than usual, as was only natural, but when his eyes met mine he smiled in his ' quiet and sympathetic way. 5 "Now,fnygood fellow,"said Mr. Copas, in a patroniziug and friendly tone, "tell 1 me what you have to say, but do not I waste time, and tell the truth." 1 "What I have to say is, Mr. Copas," said Will, "that I am a gentleman who ? has got into a scrape with three most < worthy smugglers." J "A gentleman? Well, you do not look like a sailor. But go on." "My name is Campion. I am the only < son of the late Sir Godfrey Campion, and the chief partner in the firm of" i "Good heavens! And you a smuggler?" "Well, not exactly. But I went for a venture with Dan Gulliver, and we were all caught. That is the story." "But you?you, my dear sir?the in- i fluence of your family must be brought to i bear. Your case must be separated." i Hi-re Will interoosed. "I cannot separate my case from the t poor fellows with me," he said. ''I can- c not have any family interest employed, f because, above all, my mother must not know of this?this disgrace. I shall stand I my trial with the others. Fortunately" s ?he took up the papers which he had written and Dan had signed?"I have something here which ought to procure us an absolute pardon. It is secret intelligence for the admiralty. "We sighted the j French fleet on our way back, and we can report on the enemy's course. Now, Mr. Copas, can you find me a trusty messen- E ger? You can? Then let him ride as hard as horses can carry him. Let him ride j without stopping; let him get to London i before midnight. He must be armed with f a letter from you and one from the mayor." ] "I am the mayor." ; "Good! The letter must simply give j the date of our capture, and state that the < document is signed by a man well known i in Lyme, perfectly trustworthy, although now in jail on a charge of smuggling." j Mr. Copas hastened away with the ; papers. i "They ought to let us go at on<*e, without a trial/' said Will, the sanguine. "Sit down and look cheerful, Pleasance dear. Why, we can make love as well in a prison ward as under Pinhay cliff. Let , me kiss the tears from your pretty eyes, my peerless woodland nymph!" i We hail a fortnight to wait ior the as sizes. No answer came from the admi ralty; nor any sign that we .were all to tx acquitted without a trial. Meantime Mr. Copas engaged the best counsel 01 the circuit?no less a man than the grea Sergt. Jamblin, king's counsel?for on defense. As for Joshua Meech, he di< lot once come to see us?an act of prulence which, while Dan commended it, vas surprising to him. To be sure, as Dan said, it was only by chance that he wasn't caught with the rest. And whet [. told him of the single step I had heard jefore the revenue men came down the lill, he surmised that it was Joshua, and livined the secret of the empty hold. SVTio but Joshua could have cleared oul he cargo in so expeditious and crafty a nanner? Who but Joshua knew the jaches Jn the cliff? Who but Joshua vould have been so thoughtful of the inlerests of the firm? The court on the day of the trial was orvAntofnra winHnflllt UUl n A bit oytvwiwitij >eople from Lyme and Bridport whc tnew Dan Gulliver. I listened with disnay to their talk, for it was nothing bui speculation as to what the punishment vould be. I came with Mr. Copas, who" provided ne with a seat below the dock, so that 1 ;ould shake hands with the prisoners. Presently our man, our advocate, the jreat Sergt. Jamblin, K. C., afterward Sir Peter Jamblin, one of his majesty's udges, came into court. He was fob owed by a clerk bearing a blue bag ful] )f papers. I noticed that he nodded bu1 lid not shake hands with Mr. Copas. Yel le shook hands with every member of the jar in the court. I believe that in those lays it was not considered right for a barrister to shake hands with an attorney. Presently he left the table and came o me. "I have heard of you, Miss Noel," he mid. "Pray let me shake hands wit! rou. Mr. Copas has told me the whole listory. I am only sorry that your galant attempt to warn Dan Gulliver did lot succeed. I am not sure, but I am in jreat hopes that we shall get them off alogether?one and all, you know; they vere in the same boat. But if we cannot hen I may tell you that a little bird has vhispered good news in my ear. A lord, ligh placed, has interested himself in the nse. Courage, my dear young lady." This was very kind of the sergeant. He vas not, to look at, a man from whom inch things were to be expected; for he lad a harsh and strident voice, full projectng lips and staring eyes. Also, he had rery red cheeks, and a way of pushing >ack his wig which showed that he was ilready quite bald. But when years aftervard 1 heard people talk of the harsh and (verbearing way of Judge Jamblin, I re nembered that he had once taken pity on i poor girl in grevious trouble, and said vords of comfort to her. Then there was a blare of trumpets, ind presently the whole court rose to greet the judge. Now I firmly believe that if we had had iny other judge in all England to try the ase, or if this particular judge had not >een attacked the day before with gout in lis great toe, so signal was the service endered by Dan to the government that re should have all got off with a free parIon. But the day was unlucky. Our udge, never the most kindly of men, was n a bad temper that morning. His face ras pale, austere and gloomy. His eyes lad a fishy stare in them, which was due 0 his thinking more of his great toe than if the arguments going on before him. le was very old; he had been a judge nany years; he had sentenced so many >eople to death, to transportation, to imirisonment that he had got to regard rime as a sort of disease, and himself as 1 doctor who administered a remedy or leclared the case hopeless. He seated himself, and the preliminaries legan. The jury were all Dorchester men; no nan of Lyme would have brought a verlict against Dau. As for the prisoners, )an came first Ho leaned over the bars if the dock to kiss me when he took his ilacc. Nobody could have looked more nnocent than he with his steadfast eyes, lis gray locks and his calm face. Job and rephthah, who followed, stood staring traight before them as if the court had lothlng whatever to do with them; as il t were not there at all, in fact. Will ame last. He passed his hand over the lock to press mine, and smiled in his old vay; but he was flushed and his lip rembled as he stood before them all, a gentleman in the guise of a common jailor, about to be tried for breaking the aws of his country. Then the counsel for the prosecution ose and opened the case. He began by mvJnrr that, the inrv had before them a ;ang of notorious and hitherto unpunished smugglers?men who lived by defying ;hc laws of the land. He congratulated ;he court on being able at last to bring ;hese men to justice. He should prove? md here set forth the whole facts, during vhich Sergt. Jamblin'leaned back and wcasionally whispered to one of the Junior sounsel with n depreciatory smile. When the counsel for the prosecution lad finished he called his witnesses. Lieut. Pollard was the first. From in'ormation received, he stationed himself vith a company of sixteen men in RousIon bay at midnight on Thursday, Oct. to. About 4 o'clock in the morning he Dancing Polly rounded the point ind stood in for the creek. At the monent of landing he effected the arrest. This was all substantially that he had o say. Then the sergeant rose, and he befan to tear him to pieces. "Where did you get your information, Jeut. Pollard?" "That, with his lordship's permission, 1 lecline to state." The court ruled that the question need lot be asked. "I was only anxious, my lord," said t.ht ergeant smiling sweetly, "for the witness' wn sake to prove that a British officer is MAAMnLlA i\? r\t fVinoo /loo. liuapuuiu UL ciupjLi'jjAjg wuj ui vuvoc uwo licable persons who live by betraying the ins or follies of their fellow men." Here the gallant officer reddened and ooked uncomfortable. "We will go on," said the sergeant. 'What did this villainous informer tell ou?" "That the notorious smuggler, Dan Guliver, world attempt a run over from the Trench coast on that particular night, aden with brandy." "Ah! Remember, Lieut. Pollard, you ire on oath. Every word that you say is >n oath. Pray, why 'notorious smuggler?' " The witness laughed. "Everyl>ody knows that he is a hotoriras smuggler." "I care nothing about everyDody knowng; do you know?" "Of course I know." "How do you know?" "By general report." "So, if general report proclaimed you o nurderer, a thief, or anything else, you nust of necessity be that kind of crimital?" The witness was silent. Of course he :ould not be expected to state that he had >ften partaken of the Gulliver brandy, ind had, indeed, purchased it. "Has the elder prisoner, or any of the >risoners, indeed, ever been convicted ol imuggling?" "No." "Have you ever seen them smuggling?" "Never before." "Do you, then, stiTl persist in that cxiression, 'notorious smuggler?'" The witness hesitated. "I suppose I must withdraw it," h( laid. "He withdraws it, gentlemen of th< jury. Remark, if you please, that th< ivitness lias never, he says, known of anj smuggling on the part of the prisoners Let the injurious presumption raised ii four minds by my learned brother's open ing speech, and perhaps confirmed by th< careless, baseless expressions of a preju :liced witness, bo immediately dismissed We have to do with one charge, and oni alone. Now, sir, your best attention, i j*ou please. You say you caught this mai smuggling, do you?" "I do." "What was he smuggling?" "Brandy." "How do you know?" i "One of my men opened a keg." "And purloined, being in the revenue service, spirit which he supposed to b smuggled. Has the man Deen Drought to justice?" a "He has not." , "Were there other kegs?" i "I did not see." t "When your men returned for their r prize, what did they find?" 1 "Nothing. The craft had been cleared in their absence." ! The next witness was the man, James Skirling by name, who had Opened the keg. He gave his evidence in as few words as possible, and was then in turn submitted to cross examination. "I understand you," said the sergeant, in slow and awful tones, "to inform the court that you took advantage of the darkness and confusion to broach a keg, actually to broach a keg and fill a bottle?" "I did." "You stole that liquor, in fact; you placed it in this bottle?" He held up?the fatal flask. The man grinned. "Fou stole that liquor/" "Don't laugh at me, sir; don't dare to laugh at the court. Many a poor fellow is lying in Newgate at this moment, and will bo hanged by the neck, for no worse | an offense. Worse? Far, far lighter. They stole, being common rogues. You ( betrayed a trust; l>eing reputedly an honest officer. Far, far lighter. Tell the s court, again, sir. Did you or did you not steal the brandy?" He stammered in confused accents that ' he did. "You took the bottle with you, I sup, pose, on purpose to steal it if you got a ' chance?" ; "I did." "There is a pretty rogue for you I" cried the sergeant, throwing himself back and sticking his thumbs into his waistcoat pockets. "Here is a villain in grain I He deliberately plans a robbery, deliberately executes it, and in open court boasts of it! My lord, I must ask for the prosecution 1 of this rogue. In the interests of the country such a rogue must be hanged. His punishment would be beneficial to the 1 public morals. I am not sure that I 1 ought not to ask for the prosecution of his superior officer?if not as particeps 1 criminis, then as conniving at and stifling ' the crime." He turned again to the terrified witness, whose legs trembled beneath him, while his cheeks were of a ghastly pallor. "You took one keg and you opened it; you found brandy in it; you stole some of 1 that brandy. Pray, were there other kegs?" "There were; I saw them by the light J of my dark lantern." "Good. Did you open those kegs!" "No." "Were those kegs ever examined?" "No; they were all cleared out while we were marching the prisoner away." "You havo no knowledge what they 1 contained?" "Brandy, of course," said the man, ? picking up his courage a little. "You will swear, without knowing the facts, that they contained brandy?" ' "How could" i "Answer my question. Can you swear that they contained brandy?" "No." 1 "They may have contained butter. We all know the excellence of French butter. L Will you swear that they did not contain ! butter?" i "No." i One or two other witnesses were examined, who all swore to the same facts. 1 Ouo thing was clear, that had it not been for that unlucky little bottle of brandy, the prosecution would have broken down 1 completely. Three witnesses for character were called. The principal evidence was the Rev. Benjamin Burden, rector of Rousdon. The poor old rector, a veritable peasant priest, stood in the witness box clad in his tattered cassock and his battered old ; wig, yet bearing upon mm the dignity or his sacred calling. The sergeant handled I him with much softness and delicacy. He made liira inform the court that he was the rector of Rousdon, that its population was fourteen, his stipend was thirty-eight i pounds and his church was a barn. This melancholy condition of things moved the jury in his favor and dissipated the bad ! effect which might otherwise have been produced upon a fat and well fed jury, clad in strong broadcloth, by his rags and ; his evident poverty. ; The counsel went on to elicit from the rector that Dan Gulliver was his church warden, and that with his two sons he 1 kept the church in such repair as made . divine service possible. The clergyman added, quite simply and with dignity, that Dan Gulliver was a worthy and religous man who lived the life of a true Christian. The sergeant emphasized these replies one after the other, each with a wave of [ his hand toward the jury, as much as to say: "You hear this, gentlemen; you will i remember the evidence of this holy min1 ister of religion." i The evidence of the good old man, however, lost ifs whole weight when the i counsel for the prosectition asked him one or two questions in a different direction. 1 He said: "I fear, Mr. Burden, that the lamentable exiguity of your income must shut you i out from the enjoyment of many of our choicest blessings?port wine, for instance?" i The rector shook his head sadly. "I believe that I remember the taste of port," he said, "but I cannot be sure?it i is so long since I saw any." i "Brandy cannot altogether replace port, can it?" asked the barrister. "It cannot," said the rector. "Yet I dare say you get brandy, at least sometimes?" "I do," said the rector. "As a present, now? from a parishioner?" "I have it given to me," said the rector, "by my churchwarden, Dan Gulliver." "I will not nsl: you," said the counsel, i "whence you imagine this brandy to bo i derived. I prefer to think that you ask i 110 questions uim imv u nu auaptiuiiij. *? would lie too much to believe tlint adivino i of your age and position should countei nance the practice of smuggling." i Then followed other witnesses and more fencing. ! Presently the counsel for the crown ! made his speech. It was very short. "Here," he said, "was a man, with his two sons, and a stranger, probably a hired 1 hand. The man was well known to be smuggler?so well known that he was afraid Lyme Regis was, to a man, in alliance with him to defeat the ends of justice, and shielded him steadily in his runs s to and from the const of France. He was caught, so to speak, red handed." } It was impossible to resist the convic5 tion that the rest of the kegs which comr posed the cargo contained, like the one which hud been opened, brandy. Of l course it was open to any one to maintain the improbable. His learned brother 3 might ask them to believe that these four men had crossed the chuunel and landed on an enemy's coast, in quest of potatoes, 3 cabbages, fruit, butter, or any other marf ketable article. The undisputed facte I were, that here was a man with a fast sailing craft and a fishing boat?what was the object of tho former? That his most intimate friends admitted that they received brandy as a present from him. "Where did he procure that brandy? That he was notoriously a smuggler by profesQ sion. As regarded the evidence of the e man Skirling, tho actual fact could not be disputed, Although the act itself showed a low tone of morality, which all would regret to find existing in so respectable a body as the revenue service. No doubt the gallant officer who had effected the arrest with so much promptitude and courage, although with a little indiscretion, would take cognizance of the offense in his military capacity. Finally he asked the jury to give a verdict for the prosecution, and so strike terror into the hearts of other evil doers and deflers of the law. When our counsel's turn came he mode a most eloquent and indignant speech. According to him, Dan Gulliver, the much maligned, wa3 an admirable specimen of a class which formed, he said, tho backbone of our country; he was a yeoman, farming the few acres which formed his paternal estato, and living frugally with his sons and an adopted daughter in a cottage upon his own land. For fishing purposes ho had two boats, one of them, called the Dancing Polly, being a remarkably fast sailer. On this particular night he had been along the coast picking up, no doubt, a cargo of butter and eggs, or it mieht bo fish, and such harmless matters, and proposing to return to Rousdon bay, a little creek or Inlet of the sea Immediately below his farm. Here he protested against the assumption that the expedition had been across the channel. "How can you prove it? How came the suspicion to arise? "Was it likely that in so small a vessel, at that stormy period of the year, four men would venture on a voyage so dangerous? What is more common than a trading voyage along the coast? What more reasonable to suppose than that a small farmer with a taste for sailing and boating should carry on such a trade? Ac least, gentlemen. till the contrary is proved, you have no right to suppose that the object of keeping the Dancing Polly was a criminal one." Daniel Gulliver, he went on to say, was accompanied by the two boys and a stranger. No secrecy was observed about the expedition, and some idle or malignant person, one of those creeping things which infest every society of men, thought it worth while to communicate the proposed voyage to Lieut. Pollard, that gallant officer whose discretion was not equal to his zeal, and whoso eagerness to protect his majesty's revenue led him to overlook the fact that you must not arrest a man on suspicion and charge him with smuggling, unless you can prove it. "For, gentlemen," he said, "what actual proof have we? This"?he held up the half empty pint bottle of brandy?"this is the mighty proof! A small half pint of spirit, which smells to me, gentlemen"?ho took out fho cork and smelled it cautiously? "which smells to me, I confess, of rum, rather than of brandy?Is all the proof, absolutely the only proof, that we have. In the dead of a dark night, a man, whose object is theft, hurriedly steals this spirit from the hold of the vessel, and swears that he saw other kegs, the contents r* wrv rvl n nn U1 )V uiuii aiv uuikuunxi. xuo jiixuvu is most retired and secluded. They carry off their prisoners, the officer never once thinking of examining the boat. When they ccnd back for that purpose there is nothing at all in the boat. Mind, gentlemen, no one had been there. Yet the boat was in ballast. That is a very remarkable circumstance. That is a very suspicious circumstance. That is a circumstance which in my mind renders entirely valueless the evidence of the man? the chief witness?whose' only value was that it seemed to afford a basis for assumption of guilt. Remember, gentlemen, again, that the only proof of guilt is a half pint of rum, or some such spirit, in a bottle?a half pint?about enough to amuse a gentleman between a bottle of port and bedtime; and on that half pint you are asked to convict this honest, religious and God fearing yeoman, with his two innocent boys, and a young man of whom no harm whatever is known, and therefore none should be suspected." When all this was done the judge summed up. It was most unfortunate for us that his gout rendered liim ill tempered and sour. He went through the evidence bit by bit, pointed out how simple it was, how clearly an act of smuggling was proved, and showed them that they ought to consider not the amount smuggled but the intention. As for the prisoners, the judge sa'd he hud no doubt about their being all habitual criminals. As for the rest of the cargo, the judge said he had no doubt whatever that it was composed of French brandy. The jury were dismissed; they were away for five minutes only: they came back with a unanimous verdict: "Guilty, but recommended to mercy on the ground of the elder prisoner's otherwise good character and the youth of the others." "Prisoners at the bar," said the judge, "you have heard the verdict of the jury. With that verdict I entirely agree. Have you anything further to sayf" Dan cleared his throat and spoke. "Only that your lordship was quite right," he said. "There was brundy in them kegs. That is all." There wus a general laugh, and even thb judge smiled austerely. "I am glad that you admit your guilt. You are recommended to mercy. Under other circumstances I should have inflicted the full penalty of seven years' penal servitude. But I am instructed from another and higher quarter that you, Daniel Gulliver, have conferred a service which may he of importance to the country. In return for this, you and your party will experience the king's clemencj'. I am also anxious to take into account the good character which you have received from your rector and others. If I could believe that this run of yours was a solitary venture I would have inflicted a nominal sentence upon you. But it was not. You know that you have been systematically eugaged in breaking?he law. You have brought up your sons in your own footsteps. The laws of England must not he broken with impunity. The sentence of the court, therefore, is, that you and your two sons, and the fourth prisoner, William Campion, do serve his majesty on board the royal fleet for the space of three years. During that time you will not be debarred from receiving such pay, rewards, prize money und promotions as may be considered your just due. The Dancing Polly is, of course, the prize of Capt. Pollard." Dan looked at Will, not at his two sons, us if to see what he thought of it. Will put up his linger as if enjoining silence. "We thank your lordship," Dan said. "God save the king!" Ho stooped over the dock to kiss me. "Remember the hearthstone, my pretty," he whispered, "and keep up your heart and wait for us in patience. We shall come homo again. The Lord bless thee!" But it was Will who held me tightest. "Bo patient, dear," he whispered, "patient and true. Goodby!" Then they removed the prisoners, and Mr. Copas took me out of the court. Next day he sent me in a carriage back to Lyme. It was in tho evening that I arrived. Joshua Meech was in the street. He was dressed in black, and had evidently just come out of his meeting house, so that he was playing his third part. "Disnensations!" he groaned, holding up both his hands. "Oh, Pleasance, let us kiss the rod I Three years aboard the royal fleet! What a sentence for a young gentleman! Ropes-ends and cat-o'-ninetails, with salt junk! 'Tis the chastisement of Providence." "Do not come near me, Joshua!" I said, liercely, thinking of his last visit to me. "For three years I shall see 110 one." "Grievous, grievous dispensations!" I10 replied, holding up both hands and shaking his head. But there was the joy of revenge in his eyes. He was glad that my Will was out of the way for three years. [TO UK CONTINUKI).] 4??" The countenance that reflects most of Christ, and shine most with him love and grace, is most fitted to attract the gaze of a careless, giddy world, and win their restless souls from the fascinations of creaturelove and creature-beauty. Alerted foettg. THE SLEEPING CHILD. My baby slept?bow calm his rest ' As o'er bis handsome face a sny lo Like that of angel flitted, while He lay so still upon my breast. My ba]by slept?bis baby head Lay all unkiss'd 'neath pall and | shroud? I did not weep or cry aloud? I only wished I too, were dead! My baby sleeps?a tiny mound, All covered by the little flowers, Wooes me in all waking hours Down In the quiet burying-ground. And when I sleep I seem to be With baby in another land? I take his little baby handHe smiles and sings sweet song to me. Sleep on, O baby, while I keep My vigils till this Day be past; Then shall I. too, lie down at last . And with my naby darling sleep. ?Eugene Field. SflpHtattwus grading. A HOW BEAUTY IS PROMOTED. The Egyptian Princesses were renowned for their beauty above all the women of the earth, from the earliest records down to Cleopatra's time. "As beautiful as a Princess of Egypt" was the superlative of comparison. No women in the world ever had such complexions or such skins, and there is nothing in the world to-day to compare with the skins of the mummies of women taken from the tombs. This distinction lasted for a period of three thousand years, and was commonly attributed to the "bath of Isis," which was preserved for them with such jealous care; but it was really more owing to inheritance and the climate, united to perfect health and phenomenal cleanliness, than to the lotion. There never was any secret about its components. It was made from lotus water and the adipocere of a rabbit. The trouble was to get the adipocere. The lotus water was made by distillation, as rose water is now made, and was in as common use among the Egyptian women as rose water is with the American. The adipocere was prepared in some way by which the saccharized oil was extracted, making it identical with our glycerine, by removing the waxy portion of the fatty matter. Liebig took the trouble to make the bath first with rabbit adipocere, and then with the refined product, its sweet oil, so that he obtained the identical "natn 01 isis." ne gave it to experiment with, and they found the former good and the latter excellent. He afterwards made it from our rose water and glycerine, and this was much better than either of the others. The proportions vary. To keep the skin soft, one third glycerine to two-thirds of rose water, and this was probably the proportions in the "bath of Isis," as its symbol was thus subdivided; but Liebig's experiments showed that half-and-half were about the proportions when bringing the skin into condition. Ten cents' worth lasts a month?five cents worth of the rose water of commerce (made from four drops of rose oil to an ounce of distilled water) and five cents worth of the ordinary glycerine; but by usiDg the genuine rose water, made by distillation, and the chemically pure glycerine, obtained by a second refining?which cannot be had at every druggist's? you will get a much better article than the "bath of Isis" ever was. This lotion is alluded to in the oldest book in the world, now in the National Library in Paris?I mean the one written by Prince Hotep, and taken from his coffin after it had lain beside him for over 5,800 years. The reason why our women have such bad skins is because they are not cleanly. The Egyptians were the healthiest ever known, and this was because they were the cleanest. Linen was never worn the second time without washing. The Princesses bathed in diluted lotus-water many ; times daily, and night and morning ! | used "bath of Isis;" they had a reg- j ular day each week for medical treat- j I ment,and, with all Egyptian women, j devoted three days in each month to | j medicines to keep clean the inside j ! as well as the outside of their bodies; i so that had there been no "bath of j Isis" they would not have failed "to ! have beautiful complexions." This "bath" merely gave their skin the j satin touch and velvet softness, j I Their perfect health did the rest. No "bath" ever made will bleach the i I yellow face of aperson suffering from j ! jaundice or remove the pimples that ; come from constitutional weakness j and the breaking up of cellular tissue. ! LIVING IN A WHIRL. To-day we live in a whirl. We | cultivate civilization at the expense of mental health. It is one grand ! rush from the rising of the sun to the j going down of the same; a scramble for riches, for fame, for place, for i bare existence itself. We rush to j catch trains and ferry-boats, and having caught them rush to get out. j We walk?when we do walk?in a j ! Hurry, taiK in a nurry, ininK in a hurry, are taken ill in a hurry, and , die with scarcely time to say our : prayers. That this abnormal condi- j tion of unrest pervades all classes ' of workers, particularly brain-workers, is an admitted fact. We have, as a people, got into a way of rushj ing things which it seems difficult to i avoid. Competition has kept pace ! i with high pressure desires, and now ! a man must keep pace with the times, ! or sink out of sight. Instances are : thick as leaves in autumn of persons i in the prime of life breaking down j under the strain of overwork and | overworry. The streets are filled j with men who carry about with i them spots on their brains?the victims of speculation, overwork or ex- ! treme business cares. They niay be i found at the bar, in the pulpit, at the j editorial table, in the banking-house, , the office, the studio and the study, j English advices inform us that I ! William Black, the novelist, who is j still a young man, has already worn ' his nervous system out, and that i Sullivan, the brilliant composer, is a j mental and physical wreck. Such de- ! plorable conditions could undoubted- | ly have been avoided had these two men been content to grow old slowly and gracefully, and to acquire fame and fortune in a moderate and sensi- | ble way. Life is worth living if a man will only make it so. There is a time to work and a time to play, i It is the true philosopher who underi f*-v rv> i\ lr n fLu Koof r\ f Knf h nittuuo liuw IV Hioav vuv WV/QU ui wuviit : The most colossal fortune that was ever aiijassed, the proudest name ' ever acquired, are not worth the i sacrifice of health and happiness. The humble shepherd on the hillside, j with his dog, "his clean hearth- j stone, his thirfty wife's smile," the j man who knows no physical pain, ! no mental unrest, is a happier being by far than the Rothschild who cannot sleep, or the Carlyle whose life is one long sorrow. Ambition is all as a stimulant; where it becomes a craze it is a poison. Each human brain is only capable of accomplishing so much ; it should make a point of studying just how much that is. Every man should strive to be, as < far as lies in his power, a philosopher. Philosophy might teach him that happiness at the heart is the truest mental hygiene, and that such happiness can only he obtained by doing the duty that lies nearest, by looking upon ambition as a means to an end, by the pursuit and enjoyment of refined pleasures, by cultivating domestic peace, ' y curbing the temper and by perfo.ming kindly acts.? New York Hour. HEROIC LIVES AT HOME. The heroism of private life, the slow unchronicled martyrdoms of the heart, who shall remember? Greater than nightly dragon slayers of old is the man who overcomes an unholy passion, sets his foot upon it and stands serene and strong in virtue. Grander than Zenobia is the woman who struggles with the love that would wrong another or degrade her own soul, and conquers. The young man, ardent and tender, who turns from the degr love of woman, and buries deep in Hfs heart the sweet In" ' stincts of paternity, to devote himself to the care and support of aged parents or an unfortunate sister, and whose life is a long sacrifice, in inanly cheerfulness and majestic spirit, is the hero of the rarest type. The young women who resolutely stays with her father and mother in the oid home, while* brothers and sisters go forth to happy homes of their own, who cheerfully lays on the altar of filial duty that costliest of human sacrifices, the joy of loving and being loved?she is a heroine. I have known many such. The husband who goes home from every day routine and the perplexing cares of business with the cheerful smile and loving word for his invalid wife; who brings not against her the grievous sin of long sickness, and reproaches her not for the cost and discomfort thereof; who sees in her languid eyes something dearer than girlish laughter, in the sad face and faded cheeks that blossom into smiles and even blushes at his coming, something lovelier than the old time spring roses?he is a hero. I nil UK .1 HUUW UUtJ "JUUJ. The wife who bears her part in the burden of life?even though it be the larger part?bravely, cheerfully, never dreaming that she isa horoine, much less a martyr; who bears with the faults of a husband, not altogether congenial, with loving patience and a large charity, with noble decision hiding them from the world; who makes confidants and asks no confidence; who refrains from brooding over shortcoming in sympathy and from seeking perilous "affinities" ; who does not build high tragedy sorrows on the inevitable, nor feel an earthquake in every family jar: who sees her husband united with herself indisollubly and eternally in their children?she, the wife in very truth, in the inward as in the outward, is a heroine, though of rather an unfashionable type.?Grace Greenwood. "HOLD YOUR GROUND P After nightfall Stonewall Jackson rode off with his staff to reconnoiter in front of the line he had gained. It was his idea to stretch completely around in the rear of Hooker and cut him off from the river. The night was dark and Jackson soon came upon the Union lines. Their infantry drove him back, and as he returned in the darkness his own soldiers began firing at their commander, of course mistaking his party for the enemy. Jackson was shot in the hand and wrist and in the upper arm at the same time. His horse turned and the General lost his hold of the bridle rein ; his cap was brushed from his head by the branches; he reeled and was caught, in the arms of an officer. After a moment he was assisted to dismount, his wound was examined and a litter was brought. Just then the Union artillery opened again, and a murderous fire came down upon the party through the woods and darkness. One of the litter bearers stumbled and fell, and the others were frightened; they laid the litter down on the ground, the furious storm of shot and shell sweeping over them like hail. Jackson attempted to rise, but his aide-decamp held him down till the tempest of fire was lulled. Then the wounded General was helped to rise, and walked a few steps in the forest, but he became faint, and was laid again on the litter. Once he rolled to the ground, wnen an assistant was snot, and the litter fell. Just then General Pender, one of his subordinates, passed. He stopped and said: "I hope you are not seriously hurt, General. I fear I will have to retire my troops, they are so much broken." But Jackson looked up at once and exclaimed: "You must hold your ground, General Pender; you must hold your, ground, sir!" This was was the last order he ever gave. He was borne some distance to the nearest house and examined by the surgeon ; and after midnight his left arm was amputated at the shoulder. When Lee was told that his most trusted lieutenant had been wounded, he was greatly distressed, for the relation between them were almost tender. "Jackson has lost his left arm." said Lee, "but I have lost my right arm."?St. Nicholas. A MANICURE'S CHAT CONCERNING HANDS. "I have given the human hand a study of a lifetime," said a successful manicure, "and I have no hesitation in saying that there is nothing whatever in palmistry. The hand reader depends on luck and a knowledge of character, and really has no more basis for his opinion than the fortune a -i? r\c it*ner ur iaucnuisc iipaici. v./i tuuiac, he can tell the hand of a laborer from that of the clubman, but the distinguishing features are the result of work and have nothing whatever to do with the hand itself. A person's hand changes on account of the use it is put to, and not because the person himself changes. The shape of the hand depends upon the general contour of the body, and is not influenced by personal traits. "Most of my time is devoted to patients who have suddenly found themselves elevated to a higher walk of life. Nearly all ray patients are women. Some have been shop : girls, whose pretty faces have aided them to find husbands among the ; wealthy, and others have been ser- ! vants, who have married into their 1 employers'families. In cases of this kind women are very anxious to remove all traces of their past life, and 1 as gross hands are harder to conceal 1 than neglected education, they look upon the trained manicure as their best friend. It is surprising how readily the hand can be changed in < size, shape and color. An ugly or deformed hand can never be made i beautiful, but as there are so few re- < ally well formed hands, the most homely can be made presentable by a strict course of treatment. To : reduce fat and give to the fingers that beautiful tapering appearance nothing is so efficient as regular ex- I ercise on a piano. Many persons practice on those dumb pianos who nave no intention of ever becoming musical. The next step is to remove the callous and discolored skin. Then the nails are cut, scraped and restored to their natural color. If the ends of the fingers have been bitten we cover them with specially prepared caps, which make the fingers grow long and almond shaped at the tips. I had photographs made of the same hand before and after treatment. Out of curiosity I took them to a hand reader. He went into raptures over the pictures, and said it was seldom he was called upon to read the characters of two such entirely different persons."?New York Evening Sun. THE ALPHABET. Suppose that some old nation of Asia, after having for ages drawn an ox when they wished to recall an ox, began at last to draw the picture of an ox also whenever it was needful to write about plowing. Then instead of an oxitwdfird convey an idea relating to an ox, and would be what is called a symbol. After awhile some one would say to himself: What is the use of drawing all of the ox when the head alone, which everyone will know from its shape and its horns,gives us the same thought. Now suppose the oxhead gradually gets to mean the sound of ox in all words of the language wherein that syllable occurs, as in the name of the river Ox-us. Then the oxhead would appear in words having nothing whatever to do with cattle or plowing. Then it is called a piece of sound-writing, because it does not recall a certain given thing, but a sound. Sound writing is thus an improved kind of picture-writing. You all know sound-writing, and have probably composed sentences in it, but you know it under another name. Hardly a magazine for young people is printed in which you will not find rebuses. Well, many rebusesare nothing but sound-writings. And many, many thousand years ago our ancestors had no other kind of writing. And the next step onward from sound-writing was syllable-writing. Remember that people who had reached that stage thought of a sign or symbol as representing one syllable at the least. Suppose the oxhead was called aleph. It would soon be found more convenient to employ it in all words where there was the sound or syllable of al. And this was the process with as many other letters as there were in such early writing. We will call this the syllabary stage, because signs stood for syllables, and so distinguished it from the alphabet that came later. 7ni i. - -1 . \A Aiie iie.\iauvuutB vvuuiu uc iu ia&c the little picture for the sound walone, and thus begin to use a real alphabet. THE TRAGEDY OF THE CRATER. In the September Century are several accounts by participants and eye witnesses of the Petersburg light and the Tragedy ol the Crater. From Major W. H. Powell's paper we quote as follows: "Just as I arrived in the rear of the First Division the mine was sprung. It was a magnificent spectacle, and as the mass of earth went up into the air, carrying with it men, guns, carriages, and timber, and spread out like an immense cloud as it reached its altitude, so close were the Union lines that the mass appeared as if it would descend immediately upon the troops waiting to make the charge. This caused them to break and scatter to the rear, and about ten minutes was consummated in reforming for the attack. Not much was lost by this delay, however, as it took nearly that time for the cloud of dust to pass off. The order was then give for the advance. As no part of the Union line of breatworks had been removed (which would have been an arduous as well as hazardous undertaking,) the troops clambered over them as best they could. This in itself broke the ranks,, and they did not stop to reform, but pushed ahead towards the crater, about one hundred and thirty yards distant, the debris from the explosion having covered up the abatis and the chevaux de-frise in front of the enemy's works. "Little did those men anticipate what they would see upon arriving there; an enormous hole in the ground about thirty feet deep, 60 feet wide, and 170 feet long, filled with dust, great blocks of clay, guns, broken carriages, projecting timbers, and men buried in various wayssome up to their necks, others to their waists, and some with their feet and legs protruding from the earth. One of these near me was pulled out, and he proved to be a second lieutenant of the battery which had been blown up. The fresh air revived him and he was soon able to walk and talk. He was very grateful and said that he was asleep when the explosion took place, and only awoke to .find himself wriggling in the air; then a few seconds afterwards he felt himself descending, and soon lost consciousness. Gold Leaf.?The American Stationer says that from two to four million dollars worth of gold is used annually, in the shape of foil for gilding, lettering, edging of books, sign and ornamental painting, and dentistry; gilding taking the greatest share. A cubic inch can be beaten out so as to cover 3,500 square feet, and twenty double eagles could be drawn out into a wire that would girdle the globe. For foil, bars 8xlx* inches are cast and then rolled into "ribbons" as thick as a finger uail. These are then weighed into packages called "beatings" of 2} ounces each. One of these is divided into 180 pieces one inch square and built up into a "kutch," a layer of gold alternating with one of prepared paper 2| inches square. Then with an eighteen-pound hammer a kutch is beaten till the gold has spread out as wide and long as the paper. Next they are piled in "shoder" (which are made of pieces of square goldbeater's skin each four inches,) and beaten till the slips of gold spread as large as the slips of leather. The prepared paper is a peculiar kind of parchment made from calf-skin, and the goldbeaters's skin from the large intestines of the ox. These four inch "shoderleaves" are quartered into pieces of two inches square, and packed again into molds five inches souare and beaten till spread to near Iy the same size as the molds, which are made of the same stuff as the shoder. They are now ready to be sent to girls to be trimmed and put up into books holding twenty-five leaves each three and a half inches square. These books are sold siugly or in packs numbering twenty books. Magic of a Woman's Touch.? Why is a mother's hand on the head of a sick child so soothing ? Because her love supplies electricity which is a curative force and a tonic. Animal electricity is an agency not so well understood as it should be by women, though they use it continually. It is erroneously confounded with the massage treatment, which is nothing more nor less than merely rubbing the entire body. Animal elec tricity is imparted by careful manipulation of the muscles, performed by gently stretching them with both hands. This produces an elasticity of action which causes them to rise, thereby increasing their power to act. Women whose fingers are supple and yet strong, can best impart electricity to their children. The treatment should be applied mainly with the fingers. When the nerves are prostrated they can be invigorated in the same way. They should be gently pressed in one direction and another, which tends to increase their vitality. The general circulation can be increased by lightly moving the hands over the surface of the blood vessels,not rubbing them briskly, but using enough force to quicken the circulation. Women can become thorough animal electricians if they will but devote themselves to a careful study of anatomy. The world is full of half invalid women, who should be restored to health by this natural method. Drugs will not help fham Knt animal ol<v>trli?itv nnnllpn VUVtUj UUW HUAIMMl VtWVkAV* k J under the right conditions will cure the individualism of the sex. Calhoun and Davis.?In an appreciative notice of a recent article written by Jefferson Davis on Mr. Calhoun, the Xew York World holds that there were so many points of similarity in their character that no one living is better fitted than Mr. Davis to do justice to the character of Calhoun. The IforWadds: "Both Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Davis filled the position of Secretary of War during their public careers, the former under President Monroe and the latter under President Pierce. The administration of both were marked by great practical improvement in the department. There was, indeed, much similarity in character in the two statesmen; both were remarkable for their sincerity, their strict integrity, their domestic virtues and their determination to pursue what they regarded as the right course, regardless of popular sentiment. "There are now but few statesmen of advanced years in this country capable of taking an active part in the political discussions of the day. We have here no counterparts, in Eoint of age, of Gladstone or John iright or Grevy or Bismark. But Jefferson Davis, in his eightieth year, still possesses a remarkable memory and a wonderful intellect. He is as vigorous and clear as in his prime of life. In this view his paper on Calhoun is a noteworthy production, and if. ia fa ha raorrattad that, hft did Tint extend it so as to embrace the personal reminiscences of the South Carolina statesman, which he omits for the sake of brevity." Our Little World.?Some physical results of the Java disturbance help us to understand how small the world is. Take a bowl of water, agitate the fluid in the center, and the undulations you excite propagate themselves in smooth-swelling concentric rings till they lap against the sides of the bowl. There they break, and slop up in m'mic tidal waves. This is an exact illustration of the oscillations of the sea reported from both hemispheres. The tidal irregularities, as might be expected, were most violent on the northwestern seaboard of Australia, which lies right opposite the scene of the Java disturbances. On that coast the sea retreated and advance a hundred yards. A day or two later oscillations appeared on the Atlantic seaboard of America. The particular undulation which, on the fifth day out, slopped up on the east coast of New Zealand must ha ve come by way of Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, and had nearly completed the circuit of the globe. Australia lies as a breakwater between us and Java by the direct route. It gives one a new conception of the littleness of what Henry Ward Beecher called "thefipenny-ha-penny world," when a man can stand on the Ocean Beach at Duendin and watch the ripples from a splash made in the Straits of Sunda.?Otago Times. Hold up Your Light.?During a voyage to India, I sat one dark evening in my cabin, feeling unwell. Suddenly the cry of "Man overboard !" made me spring to my feet. I heard a trampling overhead, but resolved not go on deck, lest I should interfere with the crew in their efforts to save the poor man. "What can I do?" I asked myself; and unhooking my lamp held it near the top of my cabin and close to my bull's eye window, that it's light might shine on the sea and as near the ship as possible. In half a minutes' time I heard the joyful cry, "It's all right, he's safe;" upon which I put my lamp in its place. The next day, however, I was told that my little lamp was the sole means of saving the man's life; it was only by the light which shone upon him that the knotted rope could be thrown so as reach him.?Rev. S. Compton. How Fatigue Operates.?After a study of some years, Prof. Mosso, of Turin, finds that when fatigue is carried beyond the moderate stage, at which it is decidely beneficial, it subjects the blood to a decomposing process through the infiltration into it of substances which act as poisons, and which, when injected into the circulation of healthy animals, induce uneasiness and all the signs of excessive exhaustion. When within the resisting power of the subject, fatigue has its pleasures and even joys, these being the expression of the organic consciousness that bodily loss of tissue is being balanced by reconstruction. Mosso's experiments were performed on Italian soldiers, and they proved, among other results, that the stature and power of the modern warrior are fully equal to those of the ancient Romans.? Arkansaw Traveler. Thomas Jefferson's Violin.? An untoward accident hastened the work on the new homestead. On February 1, 1770, the family house at Shadwell was -burned. Nearly all its contents were also destroyed, the principal loss in Jefferson's eyes being his papers and books, which latter he estimated at $1,000 cost value. """ ' 1 f- ' 1 1? i\oc oniy nis law uuuks, uui mo records and notes of cases he had prepared for court, everything in the shape of written, memoranda, except the "garden book," the preservation of which was long unknown, went up in flame. The servant who brought him the news in breathless haste had but one consoling item of information?"they had saved his fiddle." John G. Nicolay in the Century. The Middle Ages?"The Middles" is a name applied to the period between the fall of the Roman empire to the Fifth century and the invention of printing in the Fifteenth; or, as timed by some historians, from the invasion of France by Clovis in 486, to that of Naples by Charles VIII. it 1495. It comprised about ten centuries, and is often called "The Dark Ages." tSF Habits are soon assumed; but when we strive to strip them off", 'tis being flayed alive. - A