The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, December 18, 1873, Image 1
'it-N:A '.'?.<-? ' *3 1 ?
HOYT &? CO., Proprietors,
I^BRSON C. H., sToTTiuRSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 18, 1873.
VOLUME IX.?NO. 24.
"From the Leisure Hour.
Breams and dreaming.
j Eariy in the present century a Wiltshire
fanner had a dream soon after midnight, thrice
repeated, to the effect that there was something
wronggoingoninacertain fieldofhis; and after
dreaming this the third time, so strong was
his impression of its being r. reality that he
arose/ and taking his gun he set out for the
spot. 11t was Summer time, and an hour or
two before dawn. On reaching the field, he
saw, in a remote part of it, a faint glimmering
light, toward which he directed his steps. On
approaching he found a man in the act of dig?
ging what appeared to be intended for a grave,
the light being at the bottom. "What are you
doing- here ?" demanded the farmer. But with?
out replying' the fellow bounded off at the top
.of his-speeq, leaving behind him his jacket, in
a pocket of which was found a murderous
weapon' in the shape of a knife. The farmer
did not pursue, but retraced his steps; and on
?approaching the house met one of his servant
girls carrying a bundle. He inquired whither
she was going at that unseasonable hour. But
baring' formed her plan she seemed bent on
carrying it out, and she showed a disposition
to avoid him. This, however, he would not
permit, and insisted upon an explanation. It
appeard that the wretched man who had just
been surprised in the act of preparing for his
wicked design, had promised to marry the girl;
and the arrangement was that she should clan?
destinely leave her place and meet him at a
specified hour and spot in the field in question,
bring with her the money she had saved while
in -service. It need hardly be said that, after
being apprised by her master of what he had
witnessed, the poor girl was only too glad and
thankful1 to -return' .with him, thus doubtless
escaping, through the interposition of a merci?
ful Providence, an untimely and violent death.
In June, 1852, Mr. Robert Aikenhead, farm?
er in Deustrath of Am hall, in the Mearns,
about five miles north of Brechin and seven
from-?Mogtrose, went; to a market called Tar
renty Fair, where he 'had aiargesum of money
to receive. His eldest son, Robert, a boy be?
tween 7 and 8 years old, was sent to take care
of the cattle, and happened to lie down upon a
grassy bank, and before sunset was fast asleep.
Although the boy had never "been far from
home, he was immediately carried in his im?
agination to Tarrenty market, where he dream?
ed that his father, after receiving the money,
set out on his return home, and was followed
all:>the way by two ill-looking fellows, who,
when he had got to the western dykes of In
glismauldy (the seat of the then Lord of Hal
kerton,-now Earl of Kintore,) and a little more
tharf a mile from home, attacked and attempted
rob him ; whereupon the boy thought he
can to his assistance; and when he came within
a gunshot of the place called' out to some peo?
ple who? were just goiug to bed, who put the
robbers to flight. He immediately awoke in a
fright, and without waiting to consider whether
it was a vision or a reality, ran as fast as he
could to the place he had dreamed of, and no
sooner reached it than he saw his father in the
very spot and situation he had seen in his
dream, defending himself with a stick against
the assassins." He therefore immediately real?
ized his own part of the visionary scene, by
roaring out "Murder I" at the top of his voice,
which soon brought out the people, who, run?
ning up to Mr. Aikenhead's assistance, found
him victor over one of the villians whom he
had ~ previously knocked down with a stone
after they .had pulled him off his horse, but
almost overpowered by the other, who repeat?
edly attempted to stab him with a sword,
against which he had no other defense than his
stick and his hamds, which were considerably
mangled by grasping the blade. Upon sight of
the country people, the villian who had the
sword ran on, but the other, not being able,
was apprehended and lodged in jail. Mean?
time there was a hue and cry after young
Robert, whose mother missing him, and finding
the cattle among the corn, was in the utmost
anxiety, concluding he had fallen into some
water or peat moss. But her joy and surprise
were equally great when her husband returned
with., the boy and told how wonderfully both
his money and his life had been saved by his
son's dream.
In the "Life and Letters of the Rev. R. H.
Barham," author of the "Ingoldsby Legends,"
the following narrative occurs, as related to
Mr. Barham by a friend who was told it by
the dreamer himself: A Mr. Phillips, secretary
to Mr. Abbot, Speaker of the House of Com?
mons,-stated to my friend Mr. Wood, that
about the year 1805 he woke one night in some
perturbation, having dreamed that he had
been sentenced to be hanged, when the agony
of his situation roused him at the very moment
they were in the act of pinioning his arms in
the press yard.
" .Heartily pleased at finding it but a dream,
he turned and fell asleep again, when precisely
the same scene was repeated, with the addition
that he now reached the foot of the gallows,
and was preparing to mount before he awoke.
The crowd, the fatal tree, the hangman, the
cord, all were represented to him with a fright?
ful distinctness, and the impression was so
vivid that he got out of bed and walked about
the room for some minutes before he could
reconcile himself to the idea of seeking rest
on his pillow again. He was a long while
before he. could close his eyes, but toward
morning-he fell into a perturbed slumber, in
which precisely the same tragedy was acted
over again; he was led up to the scaffold,
placed upon the top, the rope was fitted to his
neck by the executioner, whose features he
distinctly recognized as those of the man he
had seen in his former visions; the cap was
drawn over his face, and he felt the trap giving
way beneath his feet, when he once more awoke
with a loud scream that was heard by a person
sleeping in the next room. .
Going to rest again* was now out of the
question, and Mr. Phillips describes himself
as rising and dressing, though it was then
hardly daybreak, in a state of the greatest
Possible excitement. Indeed, so strong a hold
ad this dream, so singularly repeated, taken
upon his imagination, that he found it almost
impossible to shake off the unpleasant feeling
to which it gave rise, and had nearly resolved
to send an excuse to a gentleman with whom
he had engaged to breakfast, when the reflec?
tion that he must bv so doing defer the settle?
ment of important business, aud all on account
of a dream, struck him as so very pusillani?
mous a transaction that he determined to keep
his appointment. He might however, as well
have stayed away, for his thoughts were so
abstracted from the matter they met to discuss,
and his manner was altogether so distrait, that
his friend could not fail to remark it, and
speedily closed the business by an abrupt in?
quiry if he was not unwell.
The hesitation and confusion exhibited in
his answer drew forth other questions, and the
matter terminated in Mr. Phillips fairly con?
fessing to his old acquaintance the unpleas?
ant impression made upon his mind, and its
origin.
The. latter, who possessed good nature as
well as good sense, did not attempt to use any
unwarrantable raillery, but endeavored to di?
vert his attention to other subjects, and, their
meal being ended, proposed a walk. To this
Mr. Phillips willingly acceded, and having
strolled through the park they at length reach?
ed the house of the latter, where they went in.
Several letters had arrived by that morning's
post, and were lying on the table, which were
soon opened and read. The last which Mr.
Phillips took up was addresed to him by an old
friend. It commenced:
"Dear Phillips : You will laugh at me for
my pains, but I cannot help feeling uneasy
about you; do pray write and let me know
how you are going on. It is exceedingly
absurd, but I really canuot shake off the recol?
lection of an unpleasant dream I had last
night, in which I thought I saw you hanged."
The letter fell from the reader's hand : all
his scarcely-recovered* equanimity vanished ;
nor was it till some weeks had elapsed that,
he had quite recovered his former serenity of
mind.
It is unfortunate for the lovers of the mar?
velous that five-and-twenty years have now
elapsed, and Mr. Phillips has not yet come
under the hands of "Jack Ketch." I suppose
we must take it "exceptio probat regulam."
Not less remarkable than the above was a
case mentioned by Dr. Abercrombie, of a most
respectable clergyman in a country parish
in Scotland, who made a collection in his
church for an object of public benevolence in
which he felt deeply interested. The amount
of the collection, which was received in ladles
carried through the church, fell greatly short
of his expectations, and during the evening of
the day he frequently alluded to the fact with
expressions of much disappointment. In the
following night he dreamed that three one
Eound notes had been left in one of the ladles,
aving been so compressed that they had stuck
in the corner when the ladle was emptied.
He was so impressed with the vision, that at an
early hour he went to the church, found the
ladle he had seen in his dream, and drew from
one of the corners of it the three one-pound
notes.
The same writer tells of another clergyman
who had gone to Edinburg from a short dis?
tance in the country, and was sleepiug at an
inn, when he dreamed of seeing a fire and one
of his children in the midst of it. He woke
with the impression, and instantly returned
home. When he arrived within sight of his
house he found that it was on fire, and reached
the spot just in time to assist in saving one of
his children, who, in the alarm and confusion
resulting from tho fire, had been left in a state
of danger.
A lady dreamed that an aged female relative
had been murdered by a colored servant, and
the dream occurred more than once. She was
then so impressed by it that she went to the
house to whom it related, accompanied by a
gentleman, whom she prevailed upon to watch
id an adjoining room the next night. About
3 o'clock in the morning the gentleman hear?
ing footsteps on the stairs left his place of con?
cealment and met the servant carrying up a
quantity of coals. Being questioned as to
where he was going, he replied in a confused
and hurried manner that he was going to mend
his mistress's fire, which at 3 o'clock in the
morning in the middle of Summer was im?
possible, and on further investigation a strong
knife was found concealed beneath the cojfls.
A lady in Edinburgh had sent her watch to
be repaired; a long time elapsed without her
being able to recover it, and after many excu?
ses she began to suspect that something was
wrong. She now dreamed thai: the watchma?
ker's boy by whom the watch was sent had
dropped it in the street, and injured it in such
a manner that it could not be repaired. She
then went to the master, and without any allu?
sion to her dream put the question to him
directly, when he confessed that it was true.
The Road to Knin.
Some one, it matters not who, said that
Eome was net built in a day. This may be
regarded as a sort of proverbial expression, de?
noting that no great thing is accomplished in
a short time. Some men apparently accom?
plished a great deal. There are not a few
authors who have written books enough to fill
a moderate sized book-cast. These men, or at
least most of them, think, when they contem?
plate all that they have done and all that they
have not done, that they have only gathered a
a few grains of sand.
To effect anything great and good, takes a
long time. It takes a whole life to build up a
good name. We must commence with our
childhood, and struggle, with untiring perse
verence, until our faces are furrowed with
wrinkles and our heads covered with gray
hairs. To become skilled in any art or avo?
cation of life, requires years of study, observa?
tion and practice. No man is good in any?
thing by intuition. The road to the accom?
plishment of anything, great or good, is long,
meandering and difficult. An individual may
be born rich and heir to a crown ; but no one
is born a good mechanic, farmer, mathemati?
cian or lawyer. To be good in any of these
things takes a long time. The road that leads
to true greatness is a long one, and often hard
to find.
Such is not the case with regard to the road
that leads to ruin. It is short, and so plain
that the veriest fool experiences no sort of
difficulty in finding it. Often, in the short
period of a few years, individuals spend for?
tunes which it took three or four generations
to accumulate. The hard earnings of several
individuals, for many years, is often spent or
squandered by one individual in as many
days. Property passes out of the hands of
some individuals, like snow from the bank of
a ditch. Kather we should have said, it flies
from them as the morning mist flies before the
rising sun.
Fast and easy as some men may make way
with their property, still faster and easier do
others squander everything of good character
which they possess, and rush to ruin. If it is
hard to accomplish anything that is good, it is
exceedingly easy to affect our ruin for time
and eternity. The ways which we may ruin
ourselves are infinite. We may contract habits
in youth which will cling to us during life and j
keep us poor; cover us with shame and infamy
all our days, and bring us down, unhonored
and hated, to an untimely grave. A large
amount of the human family, in one way or
another, commit suicide. They shorten their
days and make those days full of misery.
With a speed which is so rapid that it cannot
be checked, they rush headlong to ruin. Some
rhetorician said that it was but a step from the ,
sublime to the ridiculous; from honor to
shame is less than a step. The line of demar- j
cation is invisible with the natural eye. His
tory affords numberless examples of individu
ab who commenced life with bright prospects; |
but who, in a moment, as it were, terminated
them in ruin.
Never should the young forgot that it takes I
a long time and a continual struggle to ac- i
complish even a little good ; but ruin may be j
effected in a moment without an effort. To do j
good is rowing against winds and waves; but
neither winds nor waves arc contrary to those
who would rush to destruction.? Yorkville En-1
quirtr,
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
Comments of the Press on the Great Georgian.
From the Cat/iolic 3firror.
Leaning on the arm of his private secretary,
and further supporting himself by the aid of a
1 crutch, Mr. Alexander H. Stephens entered the
I 43d Congress on last Monday morning, and
j took his seat near the Speaker's desk. He was
j soon surrounded by a bevy of members, irre?
spective of party. There is something in
greatness which attracts homage, whether it
appears under the form of a "steam-engine in
breeches," as Sydney Smith called Webster, or
a "skeleton in armor," as Voltaire called Mar?
shal Saxe when he beheld the great Captain on
his way to win Fontenoy. This great Georgia
lawyer, who won his spurs at Nim Prius forty
' years ago; then entered politics and spiked all
the big guns of his native State on the hust?
ings aud in the Legislature; then went to
Congress (thirty years ago) with a fame some?
thing like that which Patrick Henry won from
the Virginia Burgesses, and there rose at once
to a rank only less than that of the veterans
Webfter and Calhoun ; and where for sixteen
years he was in the habit of emptying the
Senate Chamber, as well as all the great draw?
ing-rooms and parlors of Washington, and
gathering their inmates along with the whole
diplomatic body into the House whenever he
arose to speak; who next was named for Presi?
dent of the United States by the Douglas wing
of the Democracy in 1860, and would have
been nominated and elected but for the party
split; then thought of for a seat in his Cabinet
by Mr. Lincoln, and next made Vice-President
of the Southern Confederacy; this famous man
is once more back in Congress. He has not
been idle during his retirement, but has written
a profound book, the Constitutional History of
the War between the States. The Saturday
Review, the highest critical authority in Eng?
land, has pronounced this work the greatest
legal, philosophical, and constitutional argu?
ment ever written by any American from the
foundation of the Government to our own day.
When it is remembered that the Saturday Re?
view never had any sympathy with the South
or its politics, it must be conceded that its
criticism on Mr. Stephens is high .praise. Let
us see what this companion of our "great men
gone" is going to do for the 43d Congress.
From the Seaport Appeal,
If the American people should ever be so
fortunate as to place lion. Alexander H. Ste?
phens in the Presidential chair, it would be
like "throwing oil on the troubled waters,"
There is no such a statesman in America. If
such a desirable event should transpire, theu
President John Quincy Adams, who was in
Congress with Mr. Stephens in his early career,
will have proven a prophet. It is related of
Mr. Adams that, while in his seat in Congress,
he did a large amount of writing, aud seemed
to pay very little attention to what was going
on, unless something extraordinary attracted
his attention. Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, at
that time, had every appearance of a country
youth, and was making one of his first efforts.
Mr. Adams was seen to look up to Mr. Ste?
phens repeatedly, and finally said: "That
toning man is destined to some great end." He
then contined writing. Mr. Stephens proceed?
ed with a logic and eloquence peculiar to him?
self, when Mr. Adams looked up and said:
"That young man is destined to some great
end. He will be President of the United
States."
Wc repeat, again, there is no such man in
America, and whether he gets to be President
or not, we predict that he will have a powerful
influence in the affairs of the natioik, and we
shall ever feel proud of the little support that
we have already given him, in obedience to the
dictates of duty to our country.
From the Courier-Journal Correspondoncc.
The election of Speaker was known to be a
foregone thing, so that I think the especial in?
terest of the day was to see Alex. Stephens
take the oath. From the seat I occupied I
commanded a view of all the faces, aud, al?
though I never recollect to have seen Mr. Ste?
phens before, I soon recognized him from his
age, infirmity and crutches. He occupied a
front seat, near the Speaker's chair, and wore
both hat and gloves most of the time. The
eld man must have noted some changes in his
thirteen years of absence. Had he looked be?
hind him he would have seen in the last row of
seats some of these colored men, whose muster
roll his friend Tcombs expected to call on Bun?
ker Hill, occupying a position of honor equal
to his own. He smileoLwhen one voice voted
for him as Speaker. Those who know him fif?
teen years ago thinks he looks about the same
as he did then. All the new members from
loyal States were sworn in squads and took
the iron-clad oath. I observed that some held
up both hands in swearing and others only
one, and wondered if one hand indicated only
a half swear. When the Prodigal's turn came
a gentleman stepped forward to assist Mr. Ste?
phens in rising. He accepted the offered arm
on one side, and with*the crutch on the other,
tottered to the front of the Speaker's chair. I
thought he would, like Moses of old, need an
Aaron to hold up his hands, but he did not.
* * * * * #
He is the most prominent man on the floor
to-day. Men of every political faith flock
around him and treat him with distinguished
consideration. This is the honor that men in?
stinctively pay to transcendent iutellect.
From Correspondence of Atlanta Herald.
The Earl of ltoseberry, who is a member of
the Household of Lords, received an introduc?
tion to the "Liberty Hall" statesman at the
hands of Mr. Cox, of New York. Speaker
Blaine descended from his chair and was in?
troduced to both ; then up came Ben Butler, of
Massachusetts, when all four engaged in a
spirited conversation. Every glass in the gal?
lery was turned upon the intellectual grou.>, and
many of the ladies were as enthusiastic over
the honored son of Georgia, as if he was some
fiery Adonis, in whose years yet ran the hot
blood of romance and youth. Mr. Stephens
called upon the President again to-day, for the
purpose of introducing Mr. Lamar, of Missis?
sippi, when Gen. Grant very kindly came
down on the first floor to receive them. The
intenlc cordiale (to use a political phrase) be?
tween the two distinguished personages seems
to be mutual aud worthy of note.
From Correspondence of Brooklyn Argus.
Chief of them was Alexander H. Stephens.
General P. M. B. Young and General Waddcll,
of North Carolina, supported the brilliant, in?
tense, magnificent tactician of other days to
his feet. He then took their arms and dis?
pensed with the significent cruthes that had
been stacked in front of his desk, lie stood
right at the beginning of the middle aisle of
the House. By felicitously dramatic accident
or happy design, all the rest of the many ex
Confederates ranged in a semi-circle on cither
side of their former Vice-President. Then the
modified oath was taken by them with uplifted
hands, and assented to with an unanimous and
quietly-elegant how. There were many mag?
nificent-looking men in the company ; 1 doubt
that any one observed them ; the pale, sutler
ing, distinguished little man in the middle was
the cynocure of all eyes. He was dressed in
exquisite black, as if in mourning for his coun?
try. In sitting, he had wore his hat to protect
him from the draught. In standing, he dis?
pensed with it, and disclosed an abnormally
large head, pierced with intensely black and
deep eyes and covered with a short, disordered
growth of iron gray hair. When he responded
to his name the strong soul in him was mani?
fest, for his clear,Psharp, penetrating voice, the
echo of that soul, was heard distinctly all over
the house. The ethereal part of the man is as
strong as ever. The physical is a wreck. It
was a historical scene.
From the State Capitol.
Correspondence of t/ie Charleston Neics and touritr.
Columbia, S. OL, Dec. 9.
The crisis of the session of the General As?
sembly is near at hand. A concurrent resolu?
tion was adopted in the House to-day to take a
recess from the 13th of the present month to
the 13th of January, 1874. It will doubtless
be concurred in by the Senate without any
material amendment. It means, of course,
that the tax bill and the mode of adjustment
of the public debt shall have been fixed upon
before the time mentioned, and as they act
upon those two measures must the General
Assembly be adjudged as wise and economical,
or a failure. The latter will doubtless be the
verdict of every intelligent observer, for as time
rolls on the disposition to pile on the taxes, and
to complicate the matter of settling the debt
still further by the introduction of all sorts of
questionable and illegal claims, appears to in?
crease. At first, sixteen mills, which is the
rate of levy as fixed by the House in the bill
to raise supplies, was regarded as enormous,
and as bearing dangerously hard upon the peo?
ple, as it unquestionably does, for it is two
mills more than was ever levied even during
the reigu of the unlaraented predecessor of his
Excellency who now is. Now, the talk is that
ey?n sixteen mills will not satisfy the avari?
cious cravings of our delectable rulers, and
that they must have a mill or two more. If
they continue to respond to the frequent and
loud calls of the Credit Mobilier Printing Com?
pany, that insatiate monster which actually
devoured far more of the taxes last year than
did the public schools, and to make wild ap?
propriations for the benefit of other favored
claimants, sixteen mills may probably not be
enough to meet all expenses, and in the same
way thirty mills or any other given rate might
also fail to realize a sufficiency of the needful.
But two wrongs will never make a right, and
this reform administration of the Radical par?
ty will never be able to justify their uncon?
scionable burden upon the people, upon the
ground that it is necessary in order to meet
their imprudent and dishonest appropriations.
Tinkering at the debt, the fever for which, so
high about a month ago, suddenly abated en?
tirely, is beginning again to engage the atten?
tion of our mighty rulers. This time the Sen?
ate is to try its hand at adjusting the finances.
Senator Jervey leads off in a brilliant bill in?
troduced by him to-day, which is called "a bill
to adjust the debt of the State." It does not
differ from the bills of a similar character which
have been introduced in the House, and ex?
plained in my correspondence at the time of
their introduction, except in the rate of dis?
count, and being more omnibus in its nature.
The same enumeration of the bonds and stocks
is made; a tax of blank number of mills is
declared to be levied to pay the interest and
provide a sinking fund ; it is made a felony,
punishable with heavy fine and imprisonment,
to embezzle or divert the money raised for in?
terest and the sinking fund, &c.; the coupons
and interest, orders are made receivable for
the taxes to be provided for in the bill, &c.,
just as the former bills provide. The original
features are that the old bonds and the new
bonds, outside of the fraudulent conversion
bonds, are to be exchanged at the rate of sixty
six and two-thirds cents of their face value.
The fraudulent Conversion Bonds at twenty
five cents of their face value, and the pay cer?
tificates, bills payable, Blue Ridge Scrip, and
other evidences of indebtedness at fifty cents.
The bill, I am informed, is not the omnibus
bill proper. This latter, it is said, is being
doctored up by Honest John, who is here in
busy consultation, commonly called lobbying,
with the members about something. In the
Senate to-day nothing much was done. In the
House, the sergcant-at-arms reported the num?
ber of extra attaches, and the "cat in the meal
tub" was disclosed at last. He reports that
there have been employed outside of the regu?
lar list, which was fixed by resolution last
winter at thirty-three, extra attaches to the
number of eighty, being four committee clerks,
fifty-one laborers and twenty-five pages. This
makes in all one hundred and thirteeu attaches,
some thirteen less than the entire number of
members elected and more than the ordinary
number of members present. This is retrench?
ment and reform with a vengeance.
How io Drive.
There is a point of prime importance in
driving any horse, but especially a young one ;
it is the way you handle the reins. Most driv?
ers overdrive." They attempt too much ; and,
in so doing, distract or hamper the horse.?
Now and then you find a horse with sueh a
vicious gait that his speed is got from him by
the most artificial processes, but such horses
are fortunately rare, and hence the style of
management required cannot become general.
The true way is to let the horse drive himself,
the driver doiug little but directing him, and
giving him that confidence which a horse alone
gets himself when he feels that a guide and a
friend is back of him. The most vicious and
inexcusable style of driving is that which so
many drivers adopt, viz., wrapping the lines
around either hand, and pulling the horse back
ward with all their might and main, so that
the horse, iu point of fact, pulls the weight
back of him with his mouth, and not with his
breast and shoulders. This they do under the
impression that such a dead pull is needed in
order to "steady" the horse. This method of j
driving I regard as radically and superlatively
wrong. It would tax the ingenuity of a bun- j
dred tools to invent a worse one. The fact is, j
with rare exceptions there should never be any j
pull put upon the horse at all. A steady pres- j
sure is allowable, probably advisable; but any- j
dring beyond this has no justification in nature
or reason ; for nature suggests the utmost pos-:
sible freedom of action of head, body, and
limbs in order that the animal may attain the
highest rate of speed ; and reason certainly
forbids the supposition that by the bits and not
the breast collar, the horse is to draw the
weight attached to it. In speeding my horses
I very seldom grasp the lines with both hands 1
when the road is straight and free from obstruc?
tions. The lines are rarely steadily taut, but
held in easy pliancy, and used chiefly to shift
the bit in the animals mouth, and by this mo?
tion communicate courage and confidence to
him. I find that by this method my horses
break less and go much faster than when driv?
en by men who put the old-fashioned steady
pull upon them.?From Mr. Murray's Book on
the "Perfect Horn?."
KcminiscGiice of Sargent S. Prentiss.
A correspondent of the Union Times fur?
nishes the annexed reminiscence of the great
Mississippi lawyer and orator :
Between thirty and forty years ago, a time
when this government had reached the zenith
, of its greatness?alas 1 alas I in little more than
I ten years, it has sunk down to the Nadir, or
lowest point in the political hemisphere; when
the intellectual conflicts in the national legisla?
ture, and at the hustings, between the leading
men of the two great political parties into
which the country was then divided?namely,
Whigs and Democrats?might be aptly denom?
inated the wars of the giants ; then it was, that
one of the most remarkable and highly gifted
men this country has ever produced, burst like
a meteor upon the political arena?Sargent S.
Prentiss.
By his cotemporarics, including such men
as Webster, Clay, Everett, Wright, Benton,
Choate, and others, he was, ura voce, pronoun?
ced the most eloquent mam this country has yet
produced. But it was not upon his oratorical
gifts alone that his fame was made to rest, for
although but a youth, he was scarcely less dis?
tinguished for the extent and accuracy of his
juridical and classical attainments than for his
unrivalled powers of eloquence.
During an exciting political contest, Mr.
Prentiss delivered a speech in Fanuel Hall,
that celebrated arena of intellectual gladiator
ship, which was pronounced by the illuminati
of the hub, as one of the fairest specimens of
eloquence ever listened to in that hall, even
surpassing the best efforts of their greatest
orator, Fisher Ames.
Notwithstanding the large Democratic ma?
jority at that time in the State of Mississippi,
the Whig party determined to run Prentiss
and another as their candidates for Congress.
McNutt, by birth a Virginian, and a man of
eminent ability> but unfortunately of intem?
perate habits, was the Democratic nominee for
Governor. Of all the candidates McNutt was
the only one who ventured to meet Prentiss on
the stump ; but it was only once that he ven?
tured to encounter so formidable an antagonist.
That memorable occasion is thus described by
one who was present:
Upon the only meeting between Prentiss and
MclSutt, the latter in his speech urged, as a
reason for the rejection or defeat of the former,
his dissipated habits ; admitted his great abili?
ties, his masterly genius, pronounced him the
first man of his age, intellectually, but deplored
his habits which were rendering him useless,
with all his genius, learning and eloquence.
Prentiss, in reply, said :
"My fellow citizens, you have heard the
charge against my morals, sagely, and I had
almost said, soberly, made by the gentleman,
the Democratic nominee for the chief execu?
tive office of this State. Had I said this, it
would have been what the lawyers term a mis?
nomer. It would be impossible for him to do
or say anything soberly, for he has been drunk
ten years; not yesterday, or last week, in a
::*rolic, or socially, with good fellows, his friends,
at the genial and generous board, but at home,
;ind by himself and demijohn; not upon the
rich wines of the Khine or the Rhone, the
Saone or the Gaudelquiver; not with high
spirited or high-witted men, whose souls, when
mellowed with glorious wine, leap from their
lips sublimated in words swollen with wit, or
thought brilliant and dazzling as the blood of
the grape inspiring them. No; but by him?
self; selfish and apart from witty men, or en?
nobling spirits, in the secret seclusion of a
dirty little back room, and on corn whiskey;
these only communing in affectionate brother?
hood, the son of Virginia and the spirits of
old Kentucky! Why, fellow-citizens, as the
Governor of the Si ate, he refused to sign the
gallon law until he had tested, by experiment,
that a gallon would do him all day!
"Now I will admit, fellow citizens, that some?
times, when in the enjoyment of social com?
munion with gentlemen, I am made merry with
these, and the rich wines of glorius France.?
I It is then I enjoy the romance of life. Imagi?
nation, stimulated with the juice of the grape,
gave to the world the songs of the aacient
Poets.
"The immv/nal verse of wandering old Ho?
mer, the blind son of Scioss, Isle, was the in?
spiration of Samian wine; and good old Noah,
too, would have sung some good and merry
song, from the inspiration of the juice of the
vine he planted, but having to wait so long his
thirst, like the Democratic nominee's here, be?
came so great t?at he was tempted to drink too
deeply, and got too drunk to sing; and this, I
fancy, is the true reason why this distinguish :d
gentleman never sings.
"Perhaps there is no music in his soul. The
glug-glug-glug of his jug, as he tilts and pours
from its reluctant mouth the corn juice so loved
of his soul, is all the music dear to his ear, un?
less it be the same glug-glug-glug as it disap?
pears down his capacious throat. Now, fellow
citizens, during this ardent campaign, which
has been so fatiguing, I have only been drunk
once. Over in Simpson County I was compel?
led t:o sleep in the same bed with this distin?
guished nominee?this delight of the Democ?
racy?this wonderful exponent of the princi?
ples and practice of the unwashed Democracy
?and in the morning I found myself drunk
on corn whiskey. I had lain too close to this
soaked mass of Democracy, and was drunk
from absorption."
It is said that, before Prentiss closed his re?
ply, McNutt left the ground rather hastily, and
never again made his appearance on the hust?
ings during the balance of the canvass.
A Rose that Lived Eighteen Years in*
a Child's Coffin.?Mr. B. F. Remington, of
this city, who was present when some bodies
were disinterred at Claysville, Harrison county, |
for reinterment in Battle Grove Cemetery, Cyn- j
thiana, informs us that a metallic case, in which
had been placed the body of a two year old
child, a daughter of Dr. Curran, was opened.
The body was found to be remarkably well pre?
served, and the features wearing almost the
same expression they did when the child
breathed its last, with the exception of the
sinking of one eye, a slight flattening of the
nose and shrinkage of the upper lip. A rose- i
bud had been placed on the breast of the child
when buried, and when the case was opened it
was found that the bud had expanded into a j
beautiful full-blown rose, and was lying upon
the breast of the sweet little child, who had j
been an angel for more than eighteen years. It
was a beautiful sight, and was accepted as a
good omen by those who looked upon it, and
truly felt that "of such is the kingdom of
heaven."?Paris Kcntuckian.
? An agriculturist of Buckland, Mass., is
proud of having raised any vegetation at all
on his farm this year, considering that it was
covered with snow up to the 20th of Juue, and :
a?*ain covered with snow, up to bis ankles, on
t?e 30th of October.
_ This is a bad year for Ben Butler. He
owned stock in the New York Standard, and
has to fork over $13,000 to the creditors of that I
concern. He has also lost a large portion of
?200,000 he had invested iu railroad operations j
in Texas.
Don't Forget the Old Folks.
j . Let me say a few words to children who have
I gone out from their old homes, but who have
parents still. There is always a liabillity,
when sons and daughters have gone away from
the home of their childhood, and have formed
homes of their own, gradually to lose sight of
ojd attachments and cease to pay those atten?
tions to their parent* which were so easy and
natural in the olden time. New associations,
nesv thoughts, new cares, all come in, filling
the mind and heart, and, if special pains be
not taken they crowd out the old loves. This
oaght never to be. You should remember that
the change is with you and not with those left
behind. You have everything new, everything
that is attractive at present and bright in the
future ; their hearts cling to the past they kave
most in memory. When you went away you
know you knew not, and never will know till
you experience it, what it cost to give you up,
nor what a vacancy you left behind. They
have not, if you have, any new loves to take
the place of the old. Do not, then, heartlessly
deprive them of what you can still give of at?
tention and love.
Visit your parents. If you live in the same
j place, let your steps be, perhaps, daily, a famil?
iar one in the old home ; if you are miles, yea,
many miles away, make it your business to visit
them. In this matter do not regard time nor
expense; the one is well spent and the other
will be fully, yea, a hundred-fold repaid.?
When some day the word reaches you, flashed
over the telegraph, that father or mother has
gone, you will not think them much, those
hours of travel, which last bore you to their
side.
Write to your parents. I have known father
and mother wait with sick hearts through
weary mouths, longing that some word might
reach them from an absent son. They have
watched the mails till in despair they have
ceased to expect any more, and while they may
not have the grief of a great bereavement,
they have what is almost as bad, the bitter
conciousness that they are not in mind enough
even to call out a few poor lines from one
whose infancy and early years they watched
with sleepless love. Sons are very often guilty
of this crime?I cannot call it less?from sheer
neglect or indolence. While an hour, per?
haps a few moments, would suffice to write a
letter which would, give unspeakable satis?
faction, they let months and even years slip
away in utter indifference to all the pain they
were causing. Oh, how full is a many a
mother'; heart of sorrow and foreboding,
when just a few words from an absent son
would fill it with joy and praise I Such in?
difference and neglect is shameful and wicked.
One need not wonder that sons that are guilty
of it are not prosperous; that they wait in
vain for those turns of fortune which will send
them home, as they dream, to surprise the old
neighborhood with their wealth. Their
thoughtlessness has been productive only of
disaster.
Keep up your intercourse with father or
mother; do not deem' it sufficient to write
when something important is to be told; do
not say, "No news is good news." If it be
but a few lines, write them ; write if it be only
to say "I am well;" if it be only to send a
salutation that says they are "dear," or the
farewell that tells you are "affectionate" still.
The little messeagers shall be like caskets of
jewels, and the tears that fall fondly over them
will be treasures for you. Say with a warni
hearted son:
"The hills may tower, the wares may rise,
And roll between my home and me!
Yet shall my queuchless memories
Turn with undying love to thee,"
In the passing of human life there frequent?
ly comes a time when mutual duties of child
and parents are reversed. Advancing years
bring childhood to one and the care of the child?
hood to the other. To the aged father and mo?
ther the days of labor aie over; the work of life
has been done. Now attentive kindness be?
comes the duty of those who once received it
all themselves, while those are dependent upon
it who once gave it all. Now tue parent is
the child, and the child is the parent. The
watchfulluess aud care of many years is to be
repeated over again ; only that the giver then
is the receiver now. To a true-hearted child
here is a return of love which it is good to
make. There is a deep satisfaction in being
able to repay by words and looks the lavished
love of by-gone times.
A Home of One's Own.
(The following are the opening paragraphs
in a new book, "The Home Guide," now in
press, and soon to be issued by the Beverly
Publishing Company, of Chicago. The work
is a compendium of useful and practical infor?
mation, and will, no doubt, meet with a very
large sale.)
"Human existence implies the necessity of
food, raiment and shelter. A habitation is
scarcely less important to life than the ques?
tion 'what shall ye eat and wherewithal shall
ye be clothed ?' Happiness, in civilized
countries, largely depends upon the comforts
and conveniences with which a home may be
invested.
"Every man in this country, especially if
he has a family, should possess a home of his
own; and generally this may be secured in a
few years by jndustry, frugality and prudence.
In large towns and cities, the money expended
for rent by persons engaged in ordinary avoca?
tions will," in a few years, purchase a modest
home. To be dependent upon landlords year
after year for a habitation is often inconvenient
and unpleasant, besides being very poor econ?
omy. There are many vexations and annoy?
ances, which few renters escape, attending their
experiences as tenants of other people's houses
and tenements, while the burdens of taxation
for municipal purposes fall mainly upon the
tenants ; as landlords charge the taxation im?
posed for public improvements on them to the
rent-roll, and it therefore comes out of the
pockets of the tenants.
"In a house of his own, one feels not only
that he is less dependent than when occupy?
ing a tenement belonging to another, but there
is an incentive to improve and beautify a home I
to make it attractive and thus add to its value?
a. motire not often present when a man lives in
a rented tenement.
"From every point of view it is advisable for
a man of family, when he has found a perma?
nent place of residence, to determine to pro?
vide a home for those dependent upon him.
Whether in a town or the country, this is ad?
visable, and the reasons for it are so obvious
that it is scarcely necessary to refer to them."
? Out West, where women are running for
office, the newspapers whose candidates have
been elected no longer place defiant roasters
at the heads of their columns. A modest hen
broods over the glad tidings of election. Egg
zactly.
? A fellow called to see a man in town the
other day who was engaged in taking his first
bath since the financial panic set in. The
man's wife told the fellow he could'nt see him,
as he was engaged in making a transfer of real
et-tate.