Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HOYT & CO., Proprietors. VOLUME VII.?NO. 50. i???a?raiii i - A Powerful Argument and Strong Indictment of the Radical State GoYernmen t. "We have before referred, says the Columbia South Carolinian, to the proceedings instituted 3n the Supreme Court of this State by Super? intendent Stoibrand against Treasurer Parker, with the view of compelling the latter to pay to the former certain sums of money due the State Penitentiary. We have now before us. in pamphlet form, a copy of the petition ana motion for mandamus, together with the argu? ment of James D. Tradewell, attorney for re lator. We desire to invite public attention to this matter. Mr. Tradewelrs legal argument is able, and exhibits clearly the grounds upon which he asks the interposition of the Supreme Court in behalf of the special interests he represents, as well as the general interests in? volved, in calling the State Treasurer to ac? count. In the course of his argument, Mr. Tradewell is led to arraign the Treasurer, and to comment strongly upon the condition of the State, as affected hy the corrupt management of its finances. Not long since, upon a public occasion Mr. Tradewell announced his adhe? rence to the dominant party in this State. His strictures, therefore, upon the Treasurer, his candid admissions of the ruinous state of our public affairs, and his earnest demand for re? form should have weight with the Radical 5arty of the State, although Mr. Tradewell oes but confirm what the opposition have long since charged against a corrupt and corrupting State regime. No stronger attacks have been made upon the corrupt features of the present ?regime than those embodied in Mr. Tradewell's argument. And although the Attorney Gene? ral, Chamberlain, presented himself as Mr. Parker's representative, and sought to interpose his official shield between the Treasurer and outraged justice, yet must it be borne in mind that he, too, in his capacity as citizen, is upon trecord as bearing witness to a corrupt state of affairs in South Carolina that disgraces civili? sation and calls for prompt reform. We have said that we desire to draw public attention to the argument of Mr. Tradewell, and to the quasi political points which he makes with great earnestness, and with his usual energy of language. Addressing him? self to the Supreme Court whose authority he invokes in behalf of the rights and property of the people, Mr. Tradewell passes in review the actual condition of oar financial and other public affairs, and thus proceeds: "I therefore invoke your aid with all the earnestness of patriotic alarm for the safety of 'the Commonwealth, with the burning desire to do something, however humble, towards the deeply healing of wounded honor of the State, the punishment of those who have dishonored Iber, and the re-establishment ot the broken fortunes of her people. Nor do I believe that uiy invocation will be barren invocation, for to raoy mind, hopeful of every good here, and ut? terly despairing of any gooa elsewhere in the State Government, it is too clear for doubt that both, the duty to act and the power to act effi? ciently, now pertain to this Court in this pro? ceeding against the State Treasurer. There is a providence in this appeal in the alarming juncture of our governmental affairs to this Supreme Court. With the exception of the ? Judiciary, the State Government or South Car? olina is a mass of disgraceful ruins. With violent, head-long plunges, the Executive and legislative departments are seeking the deep? est deep of anarchy and public dishonor, mark? ing their downward progress with a reckless contempt of private and public morals, the like of which the civilized world has never heretofore beheld. ''Whatever Mr. Parker may be in the public estimation, or in his own conscience, is not the question which this proceeding brings to the consideration of the Court. No! No 1 "The subject of inquiry reaches to the height and depth of a fundamental department of our State Government?the Treasury Department, the financial or money department upon the intelligent and honest management of which the whole governmental machinery depends. Stab it, and you pierce the vitals of you r whole governmental polity, and endanger its entire administration. There can be no doubt, there? fore, concerning the magnitude of the investi? gation which tois proceeding is intended to lnaugu rater "If the annual appropriations by the Gene? ral Assembly have been extravagant, the amounts collected from the people by the same authority, and poured into the State Treasury annually, in order to meet them and uphold the credit of the State Government have been absolutely enormous. In addition to the tax levies, about eleven millions of dollars, accord? ing to the report of this Treasury officer, have been added to the public debt of the State in less than four years, by the issuance of State bonds. "Over eight millions of this amount, accord? ing to this same officer's report, have been added to that debt since the 31st day of Octo? ber, 1870, when the public debt was less than eight millions. Confining myself, however, to the official report of the State Treasurer of the 31s t Octo? ber, 1871. six millions of bonds were issued between the 31st October, 1870, and 31st Octo? ber, 1871. But your enormous tax levies and your enormous loans on bonds and millions got by the hypothecation of those bonds, have been inadequate to the support of your State Government. These frightful sums, forced out of the toils of a ruined people, all have passed into the State Treasury and have passed out of the State Treasury, leaving your Colleges and Schools, your Asylums for the insane and the deaf and dumb, your Judiciary and Peniten? tiary, your Public Officers of every grade, to perish and decay, because there is no money in the Treasury to answer to their legal and fixed demands. "The whole fabric of government at this minute is tottering to its fall for the want of pecuniary sustenance, which, although libe? rally provided, has never reached it, and when I lift my feeble voice in this hall of justice and law in behalf of our State Prison, for the sup? port and continued construction of which large appropriations have been made, but which the State Treasurer refuses to pay, al? though lawfully demanded, I appeal to the Supreme Court in behalf of my poor, and suffering, and dishonored State ?universally, and implore you to aid this Relator in setting on foot the most searching inquiry concerning the causes of this horrible and disgraceful con? dition of the public Treasury, and this utter dishonor and decay of the public finances. That is the grand and patriotic purpose of this Relator. "If he can protect against absolute disorgan? ization and ruin the State Penitentiary, of which be is the chief officer, he will have won the high honor of a successful reformer of startling and fatal abuses in the administration of the State Government, and for his courage and patriotic daring in the face of friends, of party and power have secured the everlasting gratitude of all good and virtuous men through? out the land. "The Relator comes before this Court with h?8 application for this mandatory writ against Mr. Parker, State Treasurer, fairly and square? ly upon the ground of a great public necessity. The construction of the Penitentiary building has been suspended; three hundred unfortu? nate convicts within your Penitentiary walls are without bread; the necessary guard has been dismissed and the whole corps of officers and employees has been disbanded. Disorders, riots and insurrections are imminent; the lives aud property of our citizens are in jeop? ardy and wholly unprotected, exposed to the lawless outbreaks of a self-released, famishing and naked horde of criminals, goaded to des? peration by neglect and suffering, and only restrained from the last extremity of violence by the mingled courage, tact and kindness and private means of the Superintendent, the Re? lator. "This state of things, may it please your Honors, in relation to that essential, and indis? pensable penal institution is a great crime against public humanity, the pubbc safety, the public honor and official respectability and morals, a great crime against Republican re? construction, a great crime against the law of the land, and should be punished; and if there be a mode of punishment within the reach of this Court, as before high Heaven I know there is, I cry aloud to-day for your help for the people in the enforcement of it. The Re? ktor, therefore, asks the Court in the form of this writ and in the prompt and unawed execu? tion of it in the case shown upon the facts stated in his petition, and the tremendous facts recorded for all time in the history of our day of a State Government bankrupted in less than four years, which has handled millions of rev? enue and more millions of loans, without a single public improvement inaugurated, much less completed, to stretch out its great arm of power and bring to a speedy accounting that officer of the State, Treasurer Parker, from whose baleful star dishonor and disaster have been shed upon us. There is not a sane man in South Carolina to-day, of even tolerable observation, who is not impressed with the conviction that this reconstructed State Gov? ernment will perish within the next two years, unless great reforms are at once achieved in the financial department of its administration. "May it please your Honors, the Govern? ment at Washington will be compelled to de? molish it. The great Republican party in its just pride and its love of free institutions, go? ing again into power, as it will, will seize the rotton and miscreant monster and cast it away in its unutterable shame as unworthy of its {>ro tec ting care and support. It will not much onger tolerate a State Government which is daily dishonoring its illustrious achievements, and seriously endangering its further triumphs. This is not politics, but alarming apprehen? sion, founded on facts whose force this Court must feel and respect in the adjustment of the judicial question of granting or refusing the inquiry which the Relator asks you to start. Will your Honors stop short of that investiga? tion ? Will your Honors be content and com? mand your own people, the Government at Washington, the great American people and the people of civilized governments every? where to be content with this miserable abor? tion of a return and answer to the most grave and vital application of the Relator ? Con? tent?satisfied with this thing, saturated with a moral death-sweat and reeking with moral putridity, in so great an affair as the cause and purpose of this petition? God forbid! God forbid 1 I fervently ejaculate. "May it please your Honors, it is true that you do not sit in the great hall of William Rufus, in which acclamations at the inaugura? tion of Kings and Queens for ten centuries have resounded. Nor are you encompassed with the g\>rgi30us pageantry which signalized the trial of the great British despoiler of Eas? tern Princes and Princesses. It is true that this modern ravager of a Southern province of our great Republic may not be reached by my humble powers, as Verres and Hastings were consumed by the immortal invective of the Roman Cicero or the British Sheridan and Fox and Burke. "But, nevertheless, this hall, with its modest drapery, is the temple of justice and the law, and the seats your Honors fill are their throne equally with the ancient Westminster, where the virtuous Lord Somers received his merited Crown of Innocence, and the corrupt Lord Bacon his just sentence of eternal shame, I therefore invoke to-day British justice admin? istered according to British law, re-ennobled because Americanized and administered by American Judges, on this occasion and oppor? tunity of doing a great good for the State, and of winning for yourselves a just and great re? nown. React the office of Ithuriel: "Search through this Garden, leave unsearched no nook," and with your judicial spear touch the intru? sive toad which squats at the door of your Treasury. And if it be he whom the? "Almighty Power Hurled headlong, flaming from the ethereal sky," up he will start into his own likeness, "for no falsehood can endure touch of heavenly tem? per." Do what the law, truth and justice call upon you to do, and you have the power and opportunity to do, and the present generation of our people will pay the tribute of their gratitude to your lofty judicial virtue, and pos? terity will name your names with ever-increas? ing applause." _ _ _ About Marriage Rings.?Giving rings in marriage ceremonies is supposed to indicate the eternity of the union, seeing that a circle is endless. The Jewish bridegroom puts the ring on the forefinger of the bride's rignthand, and this is the rule in the Greek Cburch also. In the Roman and Anglican, the ring is placed on the fourth finger of the woman's left hand, the origin of which has been much disputed. Sir Thomas Browne appropriates a chapter to this inquiry, observing: "An opinion there is, which magnifies the fourth finger of the left hand presuming therein a cardinal relation, that particular vessel, a nerve, vein or artery, is conferred thereunto from the heart and, therefore, that hath especially honor to bear our rings." Sir Thomas theu refers to this Eractice as common not only in Christian, but eathen nuptial contracts. Pliny states in the portraits of the gods, the rings were worn on the finger next to the thumb; that the Romans wore them on the middle finger, as the ancient Gauls and Britons, and some upon the fore fingers, as is deduciblc from Julius Pollux, who names that ring Corlonas. Since, therefore, the practice differs in various countries, we can scarcely refer it to any natural cause which would alike affect all. Sir Thomas next exam? ines the anatomical details of nerve, vein and artery; adding that inspection does not "con? firm a particular vessel in his finger," and that "propagations being communicated unto both hauds, we have no greater reason to wear our rings on the left than on the right." The La ram Manual, as old as 1805, says: "The ring should be so placed, because in this medicine fiuger is a certain vein which goes directly to the heart." Among the Jews, there sometimes was an exchange of rings, the bride first giving a plain ring of silver, aud receiving back a ring of gold. The difference of metal was understood to symbolize an acknowledgment of inequality ' on the part of the woman. Ex-Qov. Perry's Reminiscences of Public Men. Thomas J. Withers. Judge Withers was a man of distinguished talent and ability. His intellect was keen and bright as a Damascus blade, and he wielded it on all occasions, in public and in private, most effectually. Every word that fell from his lips in conversation, on the Be' ii, or in public speaking, had a telling effect. No one was left in doubt as to his meaning wLen he discussed any question. He had moral courage in a high degree, and cared not whom he pleased or of? fended. He was very sarcastic and bitter :in his denunciations of men and measures. No one ever possessed less of the demagogue than Judge Withers. No one ever more conscien? tiously did what he thought was right, regard? less of consequences. He was in bad health all his life, and some what misanthropic. He never courted popularity, and scorned the base means which others resorted to for this purpose. The high public offices which he filled were confered on him for his talents, ability and honesty, and not on account of any personal popularity which he possessed. There was a spice of malice in his composition which de? lighted in wreaking itself on unworthy men and measures. He was as open as the day, and if he disliked any one,, he showed it in a man? ner not to be mistaken. Frankness was his characteristic. Judge Withers was. born in York District. He told me his parents were "poor, obscure and honest." In early boyhood, he displayed great promise, and became the protege of Judge William Smith, who was, at that time, United States Senator. He was well educated, and graduated in the South Carolina College with high distinction. Immediately after his grad? uation, he took charge of the Columbia Teles? cope, and edited that paper with great ability, for two or three years. In the meantime he read law, and was admitted to the Bar. He was a fierce Nullifier, and when Governor Mil? ler was brought out by the Nullification party, in opposition to his old patron, Judge Smith, he resigned the editorialship of the Telescope. He would not abandon his political principles, and he could not enter the canvass against his old friend and patron. He therefore, actuated by the most honorable motives, stepped aside, and took no part in the contest. Governor Miller was, at that time, the only man in South Carolina, who could have beaten Judge Smith. He did beat him a few votes, which gave en? couragement and success to the Nullification party in South Carolina. Judge Withers commenced the practice of law at Camden, and soon acquired a lucrative practice and a high reputation as a lawyer. He was soon elected Solicitor of his circuit over Chancellor Dargan, who was the opposing candidate. The duties of this office he dis? charged with great ability and impartiality. His health became bad, and he resigned the office, after he had filled it for many years, and was several times re-elected. He continued, however, in his profession till he was elected Circuit Law Judge of the State. He first took his seat on the Bench at Spartanburg, and de? livered a most admirable charge to the grand jury. When court adjourned for dinner, I complimented him on his self-possession in taking his scat for the first time on the Bench. He said to me, "I was utterly confused and embarrassed, but the beauty of it was, I let no one see it." As a Judge, he was always clear, able and learned. On the circuit he despatched busi? ness with great promptness, and his opinions in the Court of Appeals will compare well with those of any other Judge. He acquired considerable reputation as a writer whilst edit? ing a paper, and it increased through life. There was great force and point in his style as well as beauty of composition. His speeches at the Bar were always logical and lucid, some? times fiercely denunciatory. He was a very high-toned and honorable man, and no one was more apt than himself, to denounce and expose all meanness and dishonorable conduct. He seemed to take great pleasure in doing so, where he might sometimes have passed it over without notice. He was by nature very pas? sionate, and his health made him irritable and peevish. This sometimes occurred on the Bench, and made him appear wanting in prop? er courtesy. In the trial of a case at Anderson for retail? ing without license, the Hon. J. P. Reed was defending, and Judge Whitner, then Solicitor, was prosecuting. The Town Council had re? fused to grant any license to retail spirits to any one. This measure became very unpopu? lar, and defendant set it at defiance, hoping that he could appeal to popular prejudice, ana be acquitted. The Solicitor, in order to prove the retailing, put the defendant's counsel on the stand, who stated that he did, on some oc? casions, call for a drink, and paid defendant for it. In the argument of the case, the defen? dant's counsel declaimed forcibly and at great length on the injustice of the indictment, un? der the circumstances, and argued an acquittal as a rebuke to such petty tyranny, &c. In charging the Jury his Honor said: "There is only one question, gentlemen, for your consid j eration in this case, and that is, whether the defendant's counsel who proved the retailing is to be believed on his oath ? If you think him I worthy of credit, you will lind a verdict of guilty, otherwise your verdict will be not guilty. Give the record to the jury, Mr. Sheriff." The Judge told me of a piece of malice and passion on his part, which I did not think al? together well founded. He was going from Camden to Sumter court in an old sulky. It was late in the evening and raining very hard, the weather, too, was quite chilly, and he thought he would stop for the night at the next house. He drove up, find the gentleman who was pacing back and forth in a long piazza, took no notice of him till he asked if he could get to stay all night with him. The gentle? man replied promptly, that he did not keep a public house, and continued his promenade. This cold, inhospitable reception nettled the Judge, and he said to the gentleman : "I did not mistake your residence, sir, for a hotel, but I thought your kindness and humanity would prompt you to give shelter in such weather as this, to a wet and suffering fellow creature like myself. If there had been a public house any where on the road, I should not have called on you." By this time the gentleman ascertained who he was, and very politely asked him to light, and said he would be happy to have the pleasure of his company for the night. "No," said the Judge, "I will drive in the night through the rain to Sumter Court House, be? fore I will take shelter with such a man as you are," and he drove off. "Thin fellow," said the Judge, "was a wealthy man, and a shining light in the Presbyterian Church. He after? wards became a candidate for the Legislature, and I took great pleasure in telling about his inhospitable conduct, which damaged his elec? tion considerably, and he was defeated." Judge Withers was, for a number of years, a member of the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina College. He told me, that a young brother of his was represented to him as b'?Dg very talented, and no determined to educate him. He gave him money, and sent him to the South Carolina College. The young man thought he needed a great deal more clothing, &c, than he had money to purchase. There? fore, he opened accounts with sundry mer? chants in Columbia, who all sent their bills in due time to the Judge for payment. His brother had given him no notice of his indebt? edness, and the Judge was shocked at the amount of these various bills. He immediately sat down and drew up a bill for the board of trustees to request the Legislature to pass, mak? ing it indictable and punishable with a fine and imprisonment for any merchant to sell goods to a student of the College, on a credit. This bill provided further, that if any lawyer Bhould sue on or attempt to collect any such accounts, he was also to be imprisoned, and, perhaps, stricken from the roll. When submit? ted to the board of trustees, the extraordinary features of this bill excited some mirth, and the Judge could get no one to second his mo? tion for sending it to the Legislature. The Judge was so much disgusted with the recep? tion his bill met in the board of trustees, that he swore he would never attend another meet? ing of the board, and never did to my remem? brance. J^dge Withers married the sister-in-law of Governor Miller, a Miss Boykin, who owned a valuable plantation in Kershaw District, and a large number of slaves. His treatment to his slaves, and management of the plantation, was so kind, indulgent and humane, that it dis? pleased some of his neighbors, who said it was a bad example in the neighborhood, and de? moralized the slaves on the other plantations. This determined the Judge, as he told me him? self, to sell out and invest the proceeds in bank stocks and bonds and mortgages. With all his temper and instability, Judge Withers was a very kind-hearted gentleman, and most indul fent and affectionate in all relations of life. Iis house servants did pretty much as they pleased, and he did not pretend to watch over them. On one occasion, he told me, that his carriage-driver, in whom he placed great con? fidence, was caught in a theft, and he thought it was a good opportunity of having a general confession of all his roguery and rascality. He asked the fellow if he had not been stealing his corn and fodder, and selling it. The boy declared that so far from having done so, he did, on one or two occasions, when the Judge was short of fodder, steal a few bundles of one of the neighbors to feed his horses withl Judge Withers was a man of great wit and humor, and most scathing sarcasm. He told me an amusing incident between him and the pastor of his church. The Rev. gentleman ap {ilied to him to receive into his house, a young ady for twelve months or so, whom he repre? sented as amiable, accomplished and pious, re? ally a most lovely and charming person. The Judge said to me, the idea, of making a stran? ger a member of his family, was what he could not think of for a moment. He hesitated what to say, and at last, the idea suggested it? self of turning the application into a joke. He replied very seriously: "Ahl I see what you are after, you want to make mischief be? tween me and my wife." The clergyman was so much shocked at his interrrvtation, that he simply bowed and passed on to seek quarters for ois protege elsewhere. j Judge Withers was a gentleman of ordinary height, delicately slender, with Grecian face and features in character with his mind, sharp and keen. He was a great talker and talked well. Grant's Letter of Acceptance* The following is a copy of the official letter notifying President Grant of his nomination,1 which was handed to him by the president of i the Philadelphia Convention: Washington, June 10. j To the President: Sir?In pursuance to our instructions, we the undersigned president and vice presidents of the National Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia on the 5th and 6th inst., have the honor to inform you of your nomination for re-election to the office of President of the United States. As it is impossible to give an adequate idea of the enthusiasm which pre? vailed, or the unanimity which hailed you as the choice of the people, we can only add that you received the entire vote of every State and Territory. Regarding your re-election as necessary to the peace and continued prosperity of the country, we ask your acceptance of the nomi? nation. Thomas Settle, President of the Nat. Rep. Convention. [Signed also by the vice presidents of the Convention.] president grant's reply. Executive Mansion, ) Washington, D. C, June 10,1872. j Hon. Thomas Settle, President National Repub? lican Convention; Paul Strabach, Elisha Bax? ter, C. A. Sargeant, and others, Vice Presi? dents : Gentlemen : Your letter of this date advis? ing me of the action of the convention held in Philadelphia, Pa., on the 5th and 6th of this month, and of my unanimous nomination for the Presidency by it, is received. I accept the nomination, and through you return my heartfelt thanks to your constituents for this mark of their confidence and support. If elected in November and protected by a kind Providence in health and strength to ferform the duties of the high trust conferred, promise the same zeal and devotion to the good of the whole people for the future of my official life as shown in the past Past experi? ence may guide me in avoiding mistakes inevi? table with novices in all professions and in all occupations. When relieved from the responsibilities of my present trust, by the election of a successor, whether it be at the end of this term or next, I hope to leave to him as Executive a country at peace within its own borders, at peace with outside nations, with a credit at nome and abroad, and without embarrassing questions to threaten its future prosperity. With the expression of a desire to see a speedy healing of all bitterness of feeling be? tween sections, parties, or races of citizens, and the time when the title of citizen carries with it all the protection and privileges to the hum? blest that it docs to the most exalted. I subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient servant, TJ. S. Grant. Tomatto Beer.?Gather the fruit once a week, stem, wash and mash it; strain through a coarse linen bag, and to every gallon of the juice add a pound of good brown sugar. Let it stand nine days, and then pour it off from the pulp, which will settle in the bottom of the jar. Bottle it closely, and the longer you keep it the better it will be. When you want to use it, take a pitcher that will hold a gallon, fill it nearly full of sweetened water, adda half tum? bler of the beer and a few drops of the essence of lemon, and you will have a delightful bever? age, costing almost nothing. ? If a spoonful of yeast will raise fifty cents worth of flour, how much will it take to raise funds enough to buy another barrel with ? Do Laboriris; Men hare Time to Study? "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy," is a true; saying, if not a modei of litera? ry excellence. Its meaning is, tbat mind and heart, as well as muscle, need exercise. Man is a complex being. Body, mind and soul need to be mutually and harmoniously developed, or the human machinery becomes out of balance, and speedily shakes itself to pieces. A certain class of social philosophers have taken it upon themselves to assert that the laboring classes in this country, albeit they who perforce cultivate muscle enough, do not and can not, for want of time, cultivate soul and mind as they ought. A distinguished essayist, hailing from Boston, the American Athens, has taken up the pen to urge that the laboring classes play too much and study too little?that the nature of the case hardly admits of much effort at mental improvement. So many hours' labor and such hearty meals to get through it all are required, that any attempt at intellectual improvement on the part of the working-class is, in our Bos? ton philosopher's opinion, necessarily as the gait of the ox to that of a trotting horse. We have a word to say on this subject, and we shall begin by agreeing with our essayist, that workingmen, especially young working men, study too little; but we dissent totally from the statement, that there is anything in the nature of their labor to prevent them, as a class, from successful study, if they could be induced to undertake it systematically. It is asserted that they eat too heartily?that they must eat too heartily to be fleet-minded. We admit, because our experience, as well as physiological science, proves it, that a hearty meal can not be followed immediately by vig? orous mental application. The attempt to do it must inevitably work ill to body and mind. But we also know, from theory and practice, that the last meal of the day should be, espe? cially to the laboring man, a light one. Tnis meal precedes the nours of leisure generally possessed by laboring men?the hours which are too generally spent in smoking, theatre going, billiard-playing, drinking in many sad cases, or, what is scarcely better, a season of mental and physical inanity by the fireside, slowly but surely degrading all the faculties. Now, let it be distinctly understood that we do not object to harmless amusement per se. If workingmen will not study, they had better play than sit and mope. We believe in the duty of recreation. But we also believe that study itself is recreation to a man whose mus? cles have been in active play for ten hours of the day, and the best kind: of recreation, too, when the last meal has been, as it should be, a light one. Then the body rests while the mind is fresh and vigorous^ and two or three hours of profitable and most interesting intellectual en? joyment can be had at far less expense than the pipe, the billiards or the theatre demands. Let us now look for a moment at the ques? tion of time. Suppose a laborer to work ten hours, and to devote two hours per day to meals and going to and from work. There remain twelve hours out of the twenty-four. Allow nine of this for sleep?an hour more than ne? cessary for most persons?but say nine hours ; three of leisure remain. But suppose one of the three to be spent with the family, there are still two hours of the time for quiet study.? Now exclude Sundays from the calculation, and allow one secular evening for amusement sole? ly, there remain ten hours per week for study ?an amount of time that would, with ordinary intelligence, answer to master the rudiments of the French or German language in a single year, thus opening a new ana rich field of amusement and culture. Ten years of such a course would give a man the mastery of the French and German tongues, a fair knowledge of mathematics pure and applied, an outline of the physical sciences, and skill as a draftsman. Let any mechanic at the age of twenty con? sider how much advantage the above acquire? ments would be to him at the age of thirty, should he obtain them, and then go to work and get them. One Method of Reform.?The Greenville Mountaineer says: It requires a two-thirds vote of both branches of our State Legislature to pass any bill making an appropriation of ic mouey. Our main hope for a reform n our State Government, and the relief of our people from oppressive taxation and reckless expenditures, is, that a better class of men will be elected next Fall to the General Assembly, from those portions of the State uuder Radical control. This is acknowledged by the leaders of that party to be a necessity of its existence, even in South Carolina. The House of Representatives is composed of 124 members and the Senate of 32, and whenever we can get one-third in either House of true men, no matter of what party, they will he able, in a great measure, to protect the rights of the tax-payers. In the present House of Representatives, there were twenty members who were elected as anti-Radicals, from the eight counties of Greenville, Pickens, Oconee, Spartanburg, An* derson, Lexington, Marion and Horry. These twenty members voted almost unanimously against every corrupt and extravagant measure which was passed during the last two sessions. The county of Chesterfield also elected Dem? ocratic members, who were unfairly unseated l by a partisan vote in the House; while in some other counties the anti-Radical ticket was de? feated by small majorities of less than 100 votes. From those facts arises the hope we have, that in one branch, at least, of our next Gen I eral Assembly may be found one-third of the I members who will steadily oppose extravagant ' and corrupt legislation. The infamous Blue I Ridge Bill, which was passed at the last ses? sion, is a case in point. This bill required a two-thirds vote to pass it. In the House, every Democrat present, and four Republicans, voted against it. In the Senate, the vote was twenty two to six. A change of two votes in the Sen? ate would have saved the tax-payers of this tax-ridden State $1,800,000, or $450,000 a year for the next four years, which Is to be paid to a "ring" of speculators and lobyists. The bill provides for an annual tax of three mills on the dollar of all the taxable property of the State during the next four years to meet this appropriation ; and we commence footing the bill at our next tax paying. HOW to Quit Tobacco.?Hearth and Home says the best thing to hold in the mouth is a mouth full of cold water, renewed every few minutes. It will take away the craving for tobacco quicker than anything else and is wholly unobjectionable. A pine stick is the best of anything to chew, but the objection to that, and to anything that is chewed, is that it over exercises aod weakens the salivary gland*. In quitting the use of tobacco, quit at once and not attempt to leave off gradually. ? The people of Wyoming don't know whether to call their female judge, a Justicess of the Peace, or a Justice of the Peacess. This can be decided after it is seen whether she makes peace or pieces. ? Dolly Varden neckties for gentlemen have appeared. Well, a Dolly Varden around one's neck isn't so baa after all. "Too Much Preaching"?Too Much Praying, Editors Clironicle & Sentinel: In your issue of Sunday appeared an extract from an ex? change, which, with some limitation, I believe will be endorsed by a large majority of church? goers in this country. I allude to the article entitled "Too Much Preaching." Now, whilst I do not go so far as to raise an objection to two sermons on the Sabbath day, I most heartily agree with the writer of the extract referred to that in very many cases the sermons are too long. It is freely admitted that there are oc? casionally to be met with men of rare intellec? tual and oratorical powers, who, in their finest efforts, will hold a congregation enchained by their eloquence for an hour or more; but even preachers possessed of such unusual endow? ments should be very careful not to presume too often upon their powers of entertaining and edifying an audience throughout such lengthy discourses. It is well known that all public speakers vary in the vigor and force with which they present their subjects, at different times; and it is a fact quite as well established that a congrega? tion, as a mass, will not uniformly hear with the same pleasure sermons of equal merit.? The philosophy of this it is not my intention now to inquire into. It is sufficient for our present purpose to state the facts, and let others I discuss the reasons. In the opinion of the writer (in which he confidently believes that nine-tenths of those who are in the habit of attending our churches will sustain him), no preacher can safely rely upon the unwearying attention of the masses of his bearers, from Sabbath to Sabbath, if he makes a practice of speaking over thirty-five or forty minutes. Not only does the reputation "of the preacher suffer by long sermons, but r~any a man is de? terred from attending church a1 together by the fear of being subjected to them. How often do we hear young men, when asked to go to a certain church, reply: "I can't; Mr. Sreaches too long." If the preaching of the rospel to all men he of such vital importance as we believe, should not our ministers be ex? tremely cautious to avoid driving any from the House of God, where the sacred word is ex? pounded ? The writer believes that tried and faithful Christians are frequently surfeited? not with the Divine word itself, but (not to speak irreverently) with the number and tedi ousness of the courses served. If, then, full grown men in Christ are some times satiated with religious pabulum, how can the babes of the church be expected to partake so freely of it without nausea? But whilst the writer deprecates long sermons in general, and think they are hurtful to the very cause they are intended to promote, he would not conclude these remarks without de? voting just a few words to long prayers. What shall he said upon this subject, of course, does not apply to those petitions that are offered up from prayer-books, or other prescribed forms. With those we have nothing to do now. It is of the long, extemporaneous prayer we wish to speak at present We frequently hear in our churches petitions in which are incorporated the idea if not the words, "We are not heard for our much speak? ing ;" and yet that very prayer, perhaps, will be drawn out to such length as to weary even the most devout worshipper in the assembly. Now I would not compare those who are lea into this error with the Pharisee, whose "much speaking" was so severely censured by our Saviour; for I know that many earnest and sincere Christians fall into it almost uncon? sciously ; but I submit whether such verbose and wearying prayers are calculated to induce a spirit of devotion; or whether they are not, on the contrary, apt to produce a feeling of im? patience in the listener?especially if ne be a worldling ? Our Divine Master, when upon earth, gave his followers a petition which, if not intended itself to be used on all occasions, was certainly recommended as a model to be followed as closely as possible. And what human being can hope to frame a prayer so all-expressive and all-embracing as that which fell from the lips of Christ? And yet the Lord's Prayer is remarkably brief and simple. What a contrast in these respects to some of the petitions that go up to the Throne of Grace from many of the churches of the present day I Yes, even from the lips of good and holy men! A Revolution in Type-setting.?This ii the age of progress. A correspondent of one of our exchanges, writing from New York, gives the following description of a new invention: Eureka 1 Just as the great Morse, forty years ago, was developing his system of tele? graphy in secret and alone; just as Fulton created his steam engine in the solitude of an humble apartment, so have I to-day seen a man in New York who, for thirty years, has given his life to one grand idea, and at last exhibits the happy consummation of his labors?to wit, the setting of type by machinery. Old, wrin? kled and beut with thought; unable to speak a word of English ; poor in this world's posses* sions ; the inhabitant of an attic, and snaring bis room with the curious creature of his brain, there he sits at this moment in front of a row of piano keys, sending a type into its place at each touch, and reproducing the column of a newspaper at the rate of six thousand "ems" au hour, or in other words doing more than the average work of four compositors. To describe the machine in detail here, is impossible. Suf* fice it to say that it occupies not more space than an ordinary bureau, is operated by a treadle and is simple in construction. Attached to it is an apparatus for "justifying," aud ac? companying the whole is a machine for "dis* tributing." Each of these processes is per* formed rapidly and correctly. The beauty of the invention is its utility and economy?the estimated cost not more than four .hundred dollars?a sum that will enable well-to-do com? positors to own the apparatus, and thus save wear and leaf of both body and mind. None have yet been manufactured for sale, but the largest publisher in New York has given his order for forty as soon as a company is organ? ized for their introduction. It may be months or years before practical use is made of the lit? tle revolutionary entirety?but here it is, the successful solution of a problem that has wor? ried the minds of men for a century. ? The Milwaukie (Wisconsin) News has a letter from a traveling correspondent, who gives a glowing account of the Greeley strength in that State. He says : "I met a zealous Re? publican who had been at Beaver Dam for a few days and in response to my inquiry as to the feeling there, he said there were but three Grant men in the place. One was the Post? master, another the Assessor, and the third was a d-d fool." ? If it takes one hundred years for a hurd shell clam to hop one mile on one foot, avoir? dupois measure, how long will it tak* a loco? motive, going forty miles an hour, U reach its destination, apothecaries' weight. , - The best way to\^^^rgTU? fend off hydrophobia u^,.i?res von. violence at the dor w