Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HOYT & 00., Proprietors. ANDERSON C. EL, S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1875. VOLUME X.?NO. 41. JEx-Qov. Perry's Reminiscences of Public Men,. Benjamin Faneail Dankin. Chancellor Dunkin, who has just departed this life, "full of years and full of honors," "was one of the last high functionaries of the old regime in South Carolina. Though a New Englander by family, and a Philadelphian by -birth, he was a true Carolinian in feeling and ?character, ever loyal to the State, and possess? ing all the honor, pride and dignity of the old school of South Carolina gentlemen. His an? cestry, as his Christian name would indicate, "were amongst the first families of Massachu? setts. He graduated at Harvard College, and soon after came to Charleston to pursue his profession, where he volunteered his services ^n the war of 1812, and was appointed the Ad? jutant of a regiment which was stationed at ^Georgetown, fie married a South Carolina jady, and purchased a large plantation near ^Georgetown, His rise at the Bar was rapid iand most successful, which was at that time <one of the -ablest in the United States, number? ing amongst its members, Judge Cheves, Lewis ?Seating Simons, General Hayne, Col. Dray ton, -Judge Richardson, James L. Petigru and ?Judge Huger. I had the pleasure of making the acquaint? ance of Chancellor Dunkin in 1827. He was then a leading member of the Legislature, and I was. a constant. spectator of its proceedings, Just after my admission to the Bar. I noticed that in all their discussions in the House of ?Representatives, the Chancellor seldom spoke till towards the "close of the debate, and he then generally carried the House with him. ?His manner of speaking was fine, with ail the animation, earnestness and fire of a Southern man. He was logical in his argument, and always spoke to the true points of the question tinder discussion. At the Bar his manner was the same, and he always argued his cases with great ability and learning. I was a member of the Legislature when he was elected Chancellor to fill the vacancy caus? ed by the resignation of Chancellor DeSaus sare. At that time there was no Chancellor, or Law Judge, residing in Charleston. I thought it was due the city, and important to the interests of the people that they should have a resident Judge in the city. As soon as Chancellor DeSaussure's resignation was read by the Speaker, I went to Colonel Memminger and expressed my willingness to vote for him as Chancellor. He said to me that he did not wish the honor, but thought that Chancellor Dunkin did desire it I told him that I would support Mr. Dunkin with great pleasure. This conversation was repeated to the Chancellor, who met me in the evening, and said he was much gratified at it. Judge Wardlaw was run? ning against him, and if I had consulted my own interest, I should certainly have supported him, for he was in full practice at Greenville at the time, and our relations were most friend? ly and cordial. Chancellor Dunkin proved himself the mod? el of a Chancellor. He had been a candidate for a seat on the Saw Bench, and was beaten by Judge Butler. I always thought it was fortunate for Chancellor Dunkin that he be? came a Chancellor instead of a Law Judge. He was afterwards elected Chief Justice of ?South Carolina, and continued in this high office till the reconstruction and downfall of the State. He then resumed his practice at the Bar, after being deprived of his office and the loss of his property. I was on terms of great intimacy with Chan? cellor Dunkin for nearly the half of a century, from the time of our first acquaintance up to his death. And I admired him as a Judge, and esteemed him as a man throughout the whole of this period. I remember consulting him, when I was a very young man, in regard to an affair of honor in which I was then en? gaged, and had bis entire approval of the course I intended to pursue. Judge Earle had re? quested me to consult with h;m, and get his judgment in regard to the matter. Chancellor Dunkin, on the Bench and off the Bench, was the representative of two very different persons. In the one position, he was gravity, and dignity personified, punctilious in <the enforcement of every propriety on the part of the Bar and officers of Court. In social in? tercourse he was always pleasant, affable and cordial. He had the tact of drawing from all whom he met in conversation a great deal of news, without communicating much in return. He was a very kind-hearted gentleman. When be first came to Greenville to hold Court, he enquired of me the circumstances of a lady re? siding here, and finding that she was straitened in her means of living, he gave me annually lor many years a small sum of money to pur? chase necessaries.for her, but with the injunc? tion that I should not communicate to the lady herself or any one else, who her benefactor was. Chancellor Dunkin was a very pious and de? vout member of the Episcopal Church, and strict in the observance of ail'his religious du? ties. I once met him in the Court of Appeals, axA he inquired of me how he should get to Spartanburg Court. I suggested to him that he had better come to Greenville, and I would carry him down on Sunday in my barouch. He raised up his head and said, "I will not do it, sir; and. if you will ask Mrs. Perry, I am sure she will tell you I am right in refusing jour offer." He was very abstemious in all things. On several occasions, in riding the circuit, when we stopped on the road-side to take a lunch, I have invited him to take a drink of brandy, and he invariably refused, saying the weather was too hot to drink spirits. He came with me once in my carriage from ?Pickens Court to.Greenville, when I happened to have a bottle of claret and some sugar with me. The weather was ex* remeiy hot, the roads very dusty, and we were both a good deal fa? tigued. Coming to a nice spring on the road? side in a shady place, I proposed that we should stop and take a snack. He readily consented. We mixed the claret and sugar with water, and finished the bottle before we started. After resting an hour or two in the shade, enjoying our lunch and claret, the Chancellor got up and said with great gravity: "I domot know, Mr. Perry, that I am a better man than I was when we first came to this spring, but I feel a great deal better." He was very reticent in his views and expres? sions and averse to making himself prominent in any way. I served with him twenty years in the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina College, and the members had frequently very warm discussions, in which most of the Judges took a part. ButJ do not now remember that Chancellor Dunkln ever participated in our debates, more than two or three times in that long period. He was very punctual in his at? tendance on the meetings of the Board, as he was most particular in the discharge of all his publie? duties. Whilst I was editing the South? ern Patriot, during a great political excitement in South Carolina, I was in the habit of pub? lishing and commenting on the views and ex? pressions of public men, whom I met in social intercourse. The Chancellor was aware of this infirmity on my part, and whenever he said any? thing very pointed or marked, he would turn to me and say, "don't put that in your paper, Mr. Perry." I have said that Chancellor Dunkin was a graduate of Harvard and a New Englander. I nave likewise stated that he was ever loyal to the State of his adoption and home. But be was not like some Northern men, who professed to be more Southern in their views, than the Jeopie of the South themselves. President ohnson once made a remark, which I heartily endorsed. Speaking of some Northern man, who had come South, and was a great "fire eater," he said, "damn a yankee who professes to be more of a Southern man than I am." Chancellor Dunkin, in his love and devotion to South Carolina, never undertook to deny the instincts of his heart, and the instincts of every honorable man's heart, for the home of his birth and youth. Whilst on the Western Cir? cuit, Be received a letter from Mr. Edward Everett, his class mate in the Harvard Univer? sity, urging him in very warm terms to attend the celebration of (I think) the fiftieth anni? versary of their graduation. He showed me the letter, and he seemed delighted with it. All the associations of his youth and college life seemed to be revived in his memory and heart He was fond of a good joke and seemed to enjoy it much, but I seldom saw him indulge in a hearty laugh at any thing. The St&te Reports, embodying his decisions I for thirty years, are an enduring monument of his fame and ability as a Judge. The judicial j opinions of no Judge in South Carolina were written with more marked ability, or in better taste. His style was admirable, and his judg? ment was always sustained by authorities and learning. In person, Chancellor Dunkin was a fine looking gentleman, rather over the ordinary height, and remarkably erect in old age. His manners were dignified and refined. On the Bench, although punctilious, he was courteous and civil to the Bar and every one. He never for a moment indulged in any petty tyranny, or coarse rudeness. He was a gentleman by birth, education, association and nature ; and he never forgot the respect due from one gen? tleman to another, under any circumstances. He always exercised great patience in listening to the argument of a case, no matter how dull and heavy it might be. No one dared to talk to him, off the Bench, abouL the cases in Court ? I have said his decrees were always well written and sustained by the citation of author? ities, as well as logical reasoning. I be? lieve I remember only one exception. I filed a bill in the Court at Anderson, to set aside a marriage as fraudulent, null and void. In a fit of delirium tremens, an old bachelor of con? siderable property, sent off for a woman in the neighborhood and married her. He gave as a reason that his clock had told him that if he did not marry her forthwith, be?would die that evening. He remained all night a madman and never went to bed. The woman went off, and cauie back the next day, when his fit had Eassed over, and he refused to let her enter his ouse. There had never been any intimacy between them. I made an elaborate argument in the case, and cited a good many cases. Gen. Thompson and Judge Reed, also argued the case with me, and Judge Whitner and Gov. Orr were on the other ?ide. We all expected a long and learned decree. The Chancellor took all the papers with him, and after keeping them two or three months, sent his decree in the following words: "In this case, the bill is dismissed, B. F. Dunkin." Very short, clear and explicit, but surely neither elaborate, logi? cal or learned in its conclusion, or reasoning! If there had been any wisdom, or decency in the Legislature, after reconstruction, Chief Justice Dunkin, so eminent for his learning and ability, would have been retained in his high office. But he was thrown aside to make room, as all the other Judges were, for those who were willing to barter principles for office. It is to be hoped that this will not continue longer than the next session of the Legislature, and that learning and respectability will then be preferred to ignorance, low breeding and vulgar tyranny. A Hint to the Grangers. The following paragraph is copied from the Patron's Helper, published in Iowa, and devo? ted exclusively to grange interests: A word of caution is due with regard to these co-operative enterprises. Store keeping is a trade as much as farming; grian selling is a trade; cattle and hog selling is a trade; insu? rance is a trade. No man can master either of them in a day cr a year. It may happen that the active managers of these enterprises are well informed ana well prepared for their du? ties, and then success is likely to follow; but it may happen, again, that inefficient or incom? petent men get into those places, and then fail? ure is pretty sure to follow. And, worse than the other, it may happen that an acute swin? dler will work himself into one of these posi? tions of trust, and then disaster and disgrace are certain. Let the directory look sharply to the character and qualifications of their busi? ness agent; let them see-that he is honest; let them see that he is of sound judgment and well adapted to the work in hand; let them see that he has the needed experience and energy; and then let them pay him liberally and not ham? per him with petty restrictions. Quite as important as securing the best prac? tical management for grauge enterprises, says the New York World, it is to engage in no en? terprises that cannot be defended on other grounds than those of absolute necessity. There have been successes in keeping grange stores, but when one dollar has been saved through their agency ten have been saved by purchasing through an agent, and twenty by cultivating amicable and just relations with lo? cal business firms. There is not in the United States one country merchant who, on being as? sured of the customs of all farmers of biB vicin? ity, will not, for cash, give them rates which will represent first cost, plus the lowest and un? avoidable charges for rent, interest, handling, freight, tare and tret, depreciation, etc. This attained, it is undesirable to go further and risk a great deal to win, possibly, a very little. There is this to be said against grange enter? prises: Their failure or partial success will inevitably be magnified to the disadvantage of the order generally by its enemies, who are on the alert always, and never so well satisfied as when they see Patrons engaging in enterprises of doubtful utility or problematic profit. This is what every Patron should cherish at heart? the reflection that he is a member of the order, and that unjust but by no means ineffectual criticism will lay to the account of the order the imperfections of its members. ? A negro woman was relating her expe? rience to a gaping congregation of color, and among other things, she said she had been in heaven. One of the ladies of color asked her : "Sister, did you see any black folks up in heaven ?" "Oh, get out! you s'pose I go in de kitchen when I was dar ?" ? Mrs. Julia Ward Howe declares that "there is nothing so beneficially educating to a young man as the companionship of sisters," but neglects to explain whether she means his own sisters or another feller's. ? Why is a doctor better taken care of than his patients ? Because, when he goes to bed, somebody is sure to rap him up. Gov. Chamberlain at the Lexington Centen? nial. Gov. Chamberlain was present at the Lex? ington Centennial, and to the toast "The State of South Carolina," responded as follows: To stand upon the spot where our fathers gave the last test of their devotion to civil freedom, is a high and sacred privilege. If our hearts respond to the highest influences which human example and endeavor can af? ford ; if personal gratitude for blessings se? cured ; if honor for self-forgetting, single-eyed fidelity to duty ; if a sense of the far-reaching, lim'itless consequences which are sometimes wrapped up in the actions of a few men ; if any or all of these considerations have power to affect us, this place and this day must call up the tenderest and proudest emotions. Such emotions are too strong and deep to be ex? pressed in words. The full inspiration of this occasion must be felt in the heart. The lips cannot utter it. I confess, therefore, that I am loth to attempt to add to the tribute of words which this occasion has already called forth. The outward scenes which were presented here 100 years ago; the sequence of causes and events which led up to that supreme hour which witnessed the opening in blood of this great chapter of American history ; something, too, of the physical and moral liueaments* of the actors in those scenes; the vast results al? ready attained, and the boundless future still j waiting?these have been presented before us with all the power which eloquence and poetry can lend. What remains except that ire should fill our hearts with the lessons and sentiments and principles which this day has taught us, and again take our places in the ranks of that great army which on ail days and on all fields must still carry forward the unending warfare of freedom against oppression, of justice against wrong, of human progress against all efforts to circumscribe the thoughts or fetter the actions of men except by the eternal laws of truth itself? I come, first of all, as a devout pilgrim at this shrine of freedom. I come to refresh my? self for coming duties by calling up in vivid recollection the images of that night of alarm, that morning of blood, the undaunted coorage, the pure simplicity, the high and resolute dar? ing, which will forever embalm the name of Lexington among the most princeless memories and inspirations of human history. But I come, also, in another character and for another pur? pose. I come to bring to this past of patriot? ism the greetings of the descendants of a colo? ny which, from the hour when Samuel Adams, speaking in the name of the town of Boston to its representatives, bade them, "Use your endeavors that the weight of Che otber North American colonies may be added to that of this province, that by united application all may happily obtain redress," till the long struggle was crowned with final success, never faltered in her devotion to the cause on whose first battle-field we now stand. On the 30th of May, 1764, Virginia, under the impulse of Patrick Henry's eloquence, de? clared that "the people of Virginia are not. bound to yield obedience to any laws designed to impose taxation upon them other than the laws of their own General Assembly." On the Gth of June, 1764, the Legislature of Massa? chusetts, on the advice of James Otis, sugges? ted the calling of an American Congress, to be composed of delegates from each of the thir? teen colonies. On the 25th of June, 1764, the suggestion of Massachusetts was debated in the Assembly of South Carolina by the then youth? ful and eloquent John Rutledge, and adopted under the leadership of the intrepid and saga? cious Christopher Gadsden. Thus Virginia sounded the alarm ; Massachusetts proposed the Union ; South Carolina responded with the pledge of her utmost support. From 1764 to 1774, throughout the whole of the first epoch of the American revolution, while events were hastening forward toward the final struggle of arms, South Carolina re? sponded with earnest and unhesitating fidelity to the call of Massachusetts. The aggressions of Great Britain were hardly felt by her. Her commercial relations were almost wholly with England, but her proud and unconquerable spirit drew her to the side of her sister colonies. "Don't pay for an ounce of the damned tea," was the message of Christopher Gadsden to the people of Boston on the 14th of June, 1774. When the Port Act fell with all its rigor on Boston, South Carolina was the first to testify her sympathy by a substautial contribution of rice for the support of the poor of that town. And when the call arose for another Congress, the planters of South Carolina agaiu responded with Gadsden, Lynch, John Butledge, Edward Rutledge and Middleton as her representatives. When, in October of the same year, Congress resolved that if the grievances of the colonists were not redressed before the September fol? lowing, no merchandise should be exported to Great Britain, Christopher Gadsden, against the protest of his colleagues, declared himself ready to adopt this measure, though it brought ruin on his State. I came, fellow-citizens, to remind you on this great day, of this early, unbroken friendship between Massachusetts and South Carolina, throughout the whole revolutionary period. Differing, however widely in lineage, in habits, in institutions, they were still bound together by a common love for civil freedom. Together they watched the beginnings of tyranny, to ?etner they planned resistance, together they eclared their independence from Great Britain, together, with their lives and fortunes, they maintained that declaration through the long war, together they devised the fabric of govern? ment under which the republiclsas grown to its present proportions, together tiley have labored to build up the strength, the prosperity and the glory of America. Those precious memories of the past are secure. To-day at least, we may recrfll them. At Lexington, surely, South Car? olina may still claim a place to do honor to the common cause of American liberty and inde Eendence. I know that I am commissioned ere to-day to say for South Carolina that she joins with equal gratitude and reverence with all her sisters of the early days in honoring the nineteenth of April, 177C ; that she claims her share in the glory of the struggle begun .at Lexington; that as of old she bade Massachu? setts cheer in the struggle, so now she uuites with ber in these patriotic services. It is not for me, it is not for any one, on this occasion, to speak of later events in which these t?vo ancient allies stood face to face as enemies. Who that has an American heart does not re? joice that back of all this recent struggle there lies the gracions heritage of those common la1 bors, dangers and sacrifices in founding this common government? Who that looks with a just eye even on that recent ttruggledoes not now see, on either side, the same high elements of character, the courage, the devotion to duty, the morai lineaments of the Adamses and Han? cocks, tbe Gadsdens and Rut ledges, of a hun? dred years ago? Who that has faith in the destinies of America does not see in this oarly friendship, aye, and even in this later conflict, the potency aud promise of that coming Union, under whose protection liberty shall forever walk hand in hand with justice, wherein the North and the South, re-united in spirit and in aims, shall again respond to every call of patriotic duty in the old tones of Samuel Ad? ams and Christopher Gadsden, of James Otis and John Rutledge ? That spirit still lives, fel? low-citizens, in South Carolina. If in later days she has erred, forgive her, for even then she dared and suffered with a courage and pa? tience not unworthy in its strength of the days when Gadsden and Rutledge illustrated her civic wisdom, and Sumter and Marion her mar? tial prowess. "Magnanimity," says Mr. Burke, "is not seldom the truest wisdom ; and a great empire and little minds go ill together." Fellow-citizens, I offer you to-day the fra? ternal, patriotic greetings of South Carolina? of all her people. She marches again to-day to the music of that Union which a hundred years ago her wisdom helped^ to devise and her blood to cement. There, in that hallowed Union, endeared and sanctified by so many blessed memories and radiant with so many proud hopes and promises, there, there she "must live or bear no life." Oh, welcome her anew to-day to the old fellowship 1 The mon? uments of marble and brass which we raise here to-day will crumble. Let us, therefore, build in the hearts of all the people that im? perishable monument, "an indestructible Un? ion of indestructible States." Commenting on this speech, the New York Tribune says: Among the speeches made at the Lexington Centennial banquet, yesterday, that of Gover? nor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, was espe? cially noteworthy for the eloquence of its ut? terances, as well as for the apparent sincerity and earnestness with which the fraternal patri? otic greetings of the new South Carolina were offered to Massachusetts and all the sister States. GovernorChamberlan's administration has thus far favorably disappointed his oppo? nents, and the decisive stand which he has taken in favor of all reform movements in the State has so favorably impressed all the older citizens and the better class of voters, that he may be considered in every sense a representa? tive of the true sentiment of the people, and we do not doubt that his eloquent address ex? pressed the real feelings of his people toward the Union. A Dying City. ! Senator Morton is reported as saying to the reporter of a Western newpaper that New Or? leans is a dead city; that it has lost its oppor? tunity; that St. Louis, Galveston and even Chicago have reached out and robbed it of its former trade privileges, and that no amount of good government can restore it. We have had many stories of this kind from the "Crescent City," and we confess that nothing since the war has distressed us more than the blight that seems to have fallen upon New Orleans. It is one of the most interesting of our cities. It has a continental quality that none of the oth? ers possess. Its roots extend into other soils than the Cavalier or the Puritan. New Or? leans, French in its origin, and at one time I under the control of the Spaniard, has always ; shown the influence of France and Spain. j There is something of Paris in the sprightli I ness and taste of the people ; in the chivalry, which does not even now disdain the duello ; in the merriment, which makes Sunday a feast day and not a day of fasting; in the Carnival and Mardi Gras. Every street in the old city j recalls the glory of the Bourbon or the ambi [ tion of the Bonaparte. Before the war it was a prodigal, luxurious metropolis. The planters I looked upon a winter visit to New Orleans as a recompense for a hard season's work in the \ cotton field and sugar house. The Mississippi poured its treasures into its lap. It was the interpot of Mexico and Cuba and Texas. There was no city to challenge its dominion but Mo | bile, for Galveston was a little seacoast town that was scarcely known in the family of cities. Alone, therefore, far distant from the other ! ruling cities, mistress of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi, New Orleans rapidly strode i along, and before the war had perhaps as much wealth for her population as any city in the ! Republic. Even now New Orleans is ninth in the list of cities, if we may take the figures of the census of 1870. It then reported 191,000 pop? ulation and 33,656 dwellings?something more than San Francisen and less than Cincinnati. The latest authority as to its commerce, Edward King, in his valuable and interesting work on "The Great South," shows still many signs of prosperity. The last reported cotton crop, 1872-73, was a hundred thousand bales larger than the year before the war. The total value of the imports in New Orleans for the same year was more than one hundred millions, and the exports over six hundred millions. More than one-third of the cotton passed through New Orleans. This is a source of enormous wealth alone. It is hard to think that a city should be dead, or in any apprehensions of death, that sends out from its ports more than six hundred millions of dollars a year. There are, of course, many reasons that af? fect the growth of a seaboard town. The rail? roads have diverted much of the Mississippi trade. The sugar crop in Louisiana has fallen away. The Western produce, that in past times was floated down to New Orleans in rude flatboats, now seeks New York and Baltimore. Texas has been growing since the war into im? perial prominence, and naturally seeks a port at Galveston. The railroad has shown its su? premacy over the river. In the olden times the river was the line of military defence, the channel of trade. But now the railroad has usurped that function. We defend our rail? roads in war and depend upon them as the arteries of commercial life in peace. There? fore the growth of the great railway systems of the West and partly of the South have injured New Orleans. The Federal government, by the subsidies it granted to the Pacific Railways and other lines in the Northwest, has thrown its influence against the South and largely against New Orleans. So far as the account of the General Government with the South is concerned, it has not only taken millions from the Southern States in the process of war, but given millions to the Western States in the way of railway endowments. Is it any wonder, then, that with all these causes in operation, an indulgent government strengthening the West and neglecting, nay, trampling the South, there should De signs of paralysis in the great metropolis of the Southwest ? Senator Morton is an eminent statesman of the Republican party. He has been the apos? tle of repression and revenge. He has cham? pioned every infamy or usurpation in the South that called itself a government. Therefore, when he pronounces New Orleans a dead city he speaks his own condemnation and that of his party. Dying New Orleans represents the ignorance, the cupidity, the folly and the crimes of Mr. Morton's party. But wo are confident that he has passed too harsh a judg? ment. New Orleans may suffer a temporary depression, a cyneope from war and "recon? struction," but there are elements of strength and glory about the old town which even the war and republicanism canuot destroy.?New York Herald. ? A Milwaukee lady who paid ^50 to have a wart removed from her nose, now wauts to know what's become of the nose. The Spelling Mania. The human mind craves excitement, change and variety. If it cannot have healthy agita? tion, morbid exhilaration will be entertained with an avidity almost frenzied, and sometimes ridiculous. When these waves of disturbance flow over a whole continent, like epizooty or yellow fever, there is very little hope of stop Eing their onset by any known agency. They ave to exhaust their hidden forces, before re? action can take place. It is within the memo? ry of living men how fortunes were to have been made by planting mulberry trees and raising silk-worms; and how few are the per? sons who escaped the "chicken fever." The writer of this blushingly confesses that his days and nights were filled with mingled hopes and fears on the fowl question. The books he read on the subject of Brahma Pootras would fill a library. The torture he experienced in the morning when the roosters aid not crow was enough to condone a multitude of sins, The wretchedness he inflicted upon hens and pullets, by experiments for their welfare, passes utterance. The death of a promising chick was a signal for general mourning, and when the predacious freedmen despoiled the roost, "chaos and old night" had come again. Living .in the country at the time, while engaged du? ring the week in the city, it was exasperation to leave the beloved feathered tribes; it was rapture to behold them once more. When we gaze backward and think of that season of mania, which ruffled'so many others besides ourselves, it is a theme for wonder, shame and boisterous laughter. Every man has his day jof exquisite tomfoolery, like the measles ; and when he gets bravely over it, the satisfaction remains of witnessing the curious performances of others, just as the knowing ones of the "Knights of Malta" had their recompense in assisting at the initiation of fresh victims to an ungovernable furore. Just now there is a spelling mania. How it arose no one can tell. Some people say the publishers of dictionaries and primers, finding the book trade dull, hit upon this ingenious device to conquer the stagnation of their sales. Be this as it may, the orthographical craze is I on the grand rounds and can only stop its march from frozen Maine when it shall have beeu drowned in the tepid Gulf or the Peaceful Sea. The people of Augusta are not easily or quickly caught by these revolutionary proceed? ings; but they have been inocula:ed at last. When a man first wakes in the morning, his little girl or boy has some villainous word for his investigation, and woe to him if he should go to pieces upon it! It is a sad thing to fall . iu the estimation of your progeny, but there is a "slice of the day of Judgment" in the re? mark of a babe and suckling that "papa isn't as smart as he pretends to be, and had better go back to school." And then the wife of rcur bosom, morning paper in hand, instead of sending your coffee cup promptly, piles you with jaw-breakers which you have coolly, and deliberately determined to ignore. Without the stimulus of the matutinal beverage, you slip up on a word, and then have to endure the disparaging comment that "a man who aspires to teach others had better teach himself." Abashed, cowed down, furious, the unhappy mortal rushes from his home; dares not walk to his office for fear of meeting some fanatic on the street corners; and bundles desperately into a street car. But-it is out of the frying pan into the fire. POLYSYLLABICUS Polyglot, who "never was stumped yet on a word to spell, and can take the conceit out of any so-called scholar," is, spider-like, waiting for his prey. He fixes us with his stony stare, he devours us with his malignant grin, he makes hash of us with his carefully prepared knives and forks of conundrums. With a painful sense of discom? fiture, we quit that car at the first opportunity, and fly rather than walk to the Post Office. The fiends of the spelling book are gathered there in force, like the infernal host described by John Milton. Every diabolical one of them has a word ready for you, and a taunt at the end of each word like the sting in a hornet's tail. Plunging frantically through the crowd and landing in your office, you reach what is fondly hoped to be a refuge, an asylum, a snug harbor, a Sabbath, a cosy nook, an alter of protection, a calm amid the storm, an oasis in the desert. But it is nothing of the sort. It is a howling pandemonium. The book-keeper, with a Satanic leer, bids you good morning, and then proceeds to test your mental integri? ty with some seven-leagued monstrosity which some other disciple of Webster or Worcester had previously slaughtered him with. The clerk has a list of verbal pets as long as a grocery bill, and he flaunts them in your face very much as a matador waves his red flag in the eyes of a Spanish bull. Hew can a man per form his daily duties, while these human gnats, I gad-flies and mosquitoes buzz and bite him into a conditiou bordering on lunacy? No peace at home and no tranquillity abroad? what is life worth thus poisoned and blasted? If we were a Japanese, we should commit the "happy dispatch" and let out our hot troubles by disembowelment. If we were a Turk and believed that our mission in the other world was to live in Mohammed's Paradise, which is fenced round with black-eyed houries, who dare not trespass upon the thrilling repose of the masculine heaven, we should bid adieu to the intolerable persecutions of this mundane sphere and seek a shore beyond, to which no spelling demon shall ever enter, unless his sins be purged and burned away. But, being neith? er Japanese nor Turk, but a very ordinary bit of American and Christian clay, we have to remain here on this iron earth, bound to a wheel of fire or martyred on a gridiron which scorches but does not kill. Our only hope is that a reaction against the present craze will come with warm weather and cooling drinks. It it shall not come at that time, we care not what other woe betides, since nothing can ex? ceed the curse that now strides gigantically and with Juggernaut remorselessness over this usu? ally quiet and well-behaved, but now distracted and miserable town.?Augusta Constitutionalist. ? The fool-killer should be let loose at once among the young ladies of New York. It is reported, on the most undoubted authority, that a number of young women have formed a club for the purpose of glorifying the charms of a popular young actor, whose per? sonal beauty overbalances his moral character. They have called it after his name, and the condition of membership Is that each new ; comer shall give a dinner to the charmer, in? viting, of course, all of the old members. No | other man is allowed to be preseut. This is I bad enough, but the worst is yet to come. One j of the members, who might be called the most woo-begone idiot pf the lot, has fitted up a shrine in the sacred recesses of a closet where j she keeps candles miming continually around a photographic likeness of the adored one, and sits before it in admiration for hours at a time, j ? Here is something that should be more generally known. It is Raid that bed bugs will , live a year without air or food, if placed in a hermetically sealed bottle. Persons who de? sire to keep their bed bugs over the winter without feeding them, will do well to remem? ber this. The march of scientfic research is ever onward. ' The Southern Baptist Convention. On Thursday, the 6th of May next, the South? ern Baptist Convention assembles in this city, at the Citadel Square Baptist Church. The na? ture of this organization, its honorable history and important work, as well as the eminent character of many who will take part in its de? liberations, combine to render this an occasion of extraordinary interest for the entire commu? nity. We are informed that probably four hundred ministers and laymen in the Baptist denomination, South, will be in attendance as delegates, besides a large number of visitors", including some from Northern cities. The Convention embraces the States of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mis? souri, Tennessee and Kentucky, and a part of the Indian Territory. All of these, it is expect? ed, will be well represented. ' The Southern Baptist Convention owes its origin to the growth and oppressive spirit of Abolitionism. Thirty years ago the Baptists of the United States met for the last time in what was then their Triennial Convention. Their Board of Foreign Missions located at Boston had passed a resolution that no slaveholder should be eligible for the office and work of a foreign missionary. This compelled the Bap? tists of the South to organize separately, which they promptly did. They determined to pur? sue the same objects which had previously en? gaged their wisdom and zeal?principally for? eign missions, and missions among the desti? tute of this continent, including the Indians, and for this purpose they located a Board of Foreign Missions at Richmond, Va*., and a Board of Home and Indian missions at Marion, Alabama. Through these Boards a large corps of missionaries at home and abroad have been kept at work, and very happy fruits of their la? bor have been realized. Prosperous missions are maintained in China, Africa, Southern Eu? rope, among the Indians of the West, and in a multitude of places more or less destitute of religious privileges throughout the Southern States. This Convention of Baptists differs essential? ly from the great organizations of other denom? inations. It has no authority whatever. It is not an ecclesiastical court. Neither churches nor individuals, neither ministers nor unofficial members are controlled by its measures, any further than they may judge them good and expedient. Yet there is almost perfect una? nimity in the counsels and uniformity in the practice of the denomination?numbering in the Southern States nearly one million of com? municants.* Besides its missionary operations, the Con? vention has had much to do with systematizing and developing the Sunday-school work, and higher theological education. All of these subjects wdl engage the attention of the body at its ensuing session. The debates from day to day, the mass meetings at night, and the occa? sional sermons will afford the people of Charles? ton an opportunity, it is hoped, of hearing such men as Richard Fuller, J. L. M. Curry, John A. Broadus, J. L. Burrows, E. T. Winkler, T, G. Jones, the Williamses, the Furmans, the Cranes, and many others, whom not only our Baptist friends, but the world delights to hon? or for their piety, learning and eloquence.? Charleston News and Courier. Reunion of the* Hampton Legion?Artillery, Infantry, Cavalry. At a meeting of the Hampton Legion Sur? vivors, held in the City of Charleston, S. C, February 24th, 1875, Gen. James Conner pre? siding, it was unanimously Resolved, That a reunion of the Legion be held in the city of Columbia, S. O, on the fourteenth anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas, the 21st July next. The undersigned were then appointed a com? mittee to forward a circular to all surviving members of the Legion, and to make the other necessary arrangements for the reunion. The objects of the reunion will be: First. To collect the necessary records for compiling a complete history of that commaud and its off-shoots, from its organization in 1861 to the close of the war, in April, 1865; and with this view, officers and men are earnestly requested to prepare complete rolls of their companies, with full lists of the killed and wounded in all the engagements in which the Legion and its members took part, also, of those who died from disease; and to furnish copies of all official reports or other documents, concerning the Legion, that they may be able to obtain. Second. To take the initiative steps towards erecting a suitable monument to ?11 our dead. Third. To form an association for the pur? pose of carrying out the ends above indicated. Lieut. General Wade Hampton will preside. Gen. T. M. Logan will deliver an oration. Addresses may be expected from other promi? nent officers, who were members of the old command. JAMES CONNER, Chm'n. Fra>*k E. Taylor, Sec. Committee?T. G. Barker, Field and Staff; F. L. Parker, M. D., Field and Staff; James McElroy, Company A. Infantry; G\ T. Whil den, Company A. Infantry; T. S. Inglesby, Company A. Infantry; C. P. Poppenheim, Company A. Infantry ; S. E. Welch, Company H. Iufautry ; Jas. Simons, Bachman's Battery; Rudolph Siegling, Bachman's Battery ; E. L. Halsey, Hart's Battery; Louis Sherfesee, Hart's" Battery ; Jno. S. Fairly, Beaufort Dis? trict Troop; W. R. Bull, Beaufort District Troop ; Rev. 0. F. Gregory, Company H. In? fantry. Chicken Cholera.?A correspondent of a Virginia paper furnishes the following: This disease, now so prevalent throughout this section of country, suggests many anxious inquiries as to its cause and treatment. We tender onr information, not as mere hearsay, but from practical experiments made upon a number of affected fowls, from its incipiency to its termination, and in every instance have the same causes presented themselves. We found in the crop and intestines of every bird .examined several blades of grass, of a charac? teristic sporadic in its growth, with full evi? dence of congestion, abundant secretion of acrid mucus und an accumulation of offensive gases, particularly when the grass was present. And knowing that spring vegetation possesses laxative properties and very frequently drastic purgative effects, we concluded that a reasona? ble diagnosis had been reached and a clue to the real cause of chicken cholera had been de? termined. But presuming that we had mista? ken the real source of the disease, the treat? ment adopted has in a very great measure con? vinced us that our opinion must be correct, as nearly all of the subsequent cases rapidly re? covered by the following treatment: Prepared chalk and powdered charcoal equal parts, pow? dered gum camphor and assafcetida equal parts, and pure carbolic acid. Mix all together and give one teaspoonful morning and night to ten chickens, keeping them dry and warm and moderately well fed. We find this preparation to act as a thorough preventive and should be given about once or twice each week.