The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, December 13, 1853, Image 1
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VOLUME 14 CAMDEN, SOUTH-CAROLINA TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 13, 1853. NUMBER 50^1
- I ^fM.oTnTTKviii.p Va ?The I A Dark Picture of Ufe? fl
PUBLISHED WEEKLY UY
THOMAS J. WARREN.
TER3S.
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^3,
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illhiffilanrfliis.
^ Froui Ota Laurcigrille lkrald.
Shall wc have a Penitentiary.
by c. c. p.
In concluding an article some weeks since
entitled "The Skeleton on the Ilearth," wc
announced our wish that South Carolina should
establish a Penitentiary. And now we pro
pose briefly to show a reasou " ior uie iaiui in
us;" as the session of tlie Legislature is approacliing.
We are not vain enough to believe
that the mere act of writing the present sheet
will procure the passage of such a measure by
the law making power of South Carolina, nor
even influence a single member of that body
to regard it with favor who has not already so
regarded it; but it is our conviction that a
Penitentiary in this State is needed, and we
give a few of the reasons why we think so,
suffering them to go for what they ar? worth,
more or less.
There are many States in the Union having
?iuh institutions: and although we do not hold
the doctrine that simply because other States
do so and so, ours should do likewise, yet as
none of those once having one lias ever abolish
ed it as useless, we hold that the system must
be working well where it has obtained. Our
neighbors have tried it, and by their actions
pw>nounced it good, let us try it and see. A1
though we are ever disposed to show the bright
side of our Carolina, yet no one will deny that
if a Penitentiary is useful and is needed in any
State, we might not venture to try what one
will do for us.
Few, we judge, will deny that the present
criminal code is inefficient. It is emphatically
ttprlr nr nn/I,iii/i with it. If a mstii is arraiirned
for a criminal offence, and escapes the gallows,
he escapes all that might be called punishment.
This is often naught but justice ; but in perhaps
as many cases, justice suffers for want of
some other form of punishment, more mild,
than could be inflicted upon him who was not
wholly wprthy of death, but yet meriting punishment.
We were a witness of the arraignment
and trial of a man, some years since, in
one of the upper Distiicts of this State, for the
murder of another. With what, little knowledge
of law " e thought we possessed, and our
sense of justice, we thought the evidence adduced
against him clear!}' established his title
1 e I O .. .1 1., ,1. .
to a yard or nvo 01 uemp. ou uiuujjui tinJudge,
and so tlie lawyers, and so every body.
It was almost known before the jury returned,
thai he could not possibly escape death or lhe
penalty of manslaughter one. Hut, behold!
the jury, after being so palpably convinced that
the prisoner did, in the light of day and face of
irreproachable witnesses, strike the blow that
.sent headlong into eternity a human soul?after
being so plainly charged by the Judge that if
it was not murdfir, it was not surely less than '
manslaughter?behold! they come out, pronounce
''Not guilty," and the guilty wretch iturned
loose l ight in the face of the friends and
brethren of the murdered man! Here, then,
was a case which needed a Penitentiary. The
jury, perhaps thought that he was not worthy
of death, and having no fortune to exhaust, and
not wishing to take from his family the proceeds
of his labor by confinement in jail, he was no
fettered. If not hung, he ought to have been
locked up in a work shop and made to labor
the balance of his days. I do not know that
he would have been convicted even if there '
had been such a punishment provided, but many
who go entirely unwhipped of justice in such
cases, would be, no doubt. First a Penitentiary
should be provided, and then the degree
of crime fitting one for a room in it should be
marked by the law.
We are no advocate of the abolition of capi j
til punishment. When a man in the exercise
of his reason, takes the life of a fellow creature,
save in defence of his own life or the life of
others equally dear to him, we say he deserves,
and ought to receive, death at the hands of the
Jaw. No other punishment will satisfy outraged
justice. There are other crimes, too,
which we regard equally as worthy of death.
It is useless to name them. But for other
classes of crime there should be corresponding
penalties. When a man proves himself to lie
a thief, he surely ought to be chastised for his
conduct. When lie fails to discharge any of
the duties of a citizen, when he is able to do so,
.1..., i 1 t.i i.^ Wl
il is? ri^ui iii.it iic siiwuiu ut iviiiiii'ivw j
neglect. If he fails to provide for the lives
and comforts of those he has sworn to protect,
surely his country should call him to account.
For these two last characters, then, the thief
and the vagrant, we believe the Penitentiary to
be the wisest provision that can be made Ibr
their disposition. It is said the great object of
punishment should be the reformation of the
offender. This we regard as fallacy. It would
be an object, in our opinion, promising very i
little hope of attainments. Talk of reforming 1
a rogue! ?'The idea is preposterous. You may,
^perhaps, if cowardice is coupled with his thievish
propensity, so intimidate him that he will
try to keep his hands off* for a while; but who
will say that if all laws in reference to such
crime were annulled, and the cause of his fear
removed, that he would be an honest man ?
who would he willing to trust him. We cannot,
then say that the object of punishment;
would be his leform. Would to Clod it might !
prove his abandonment, not only of the actual '
commission of crime, but of the desire to indulge
in unrighteousness! Put such is rarely, i
if ever, the case.
Put what, then, is the object of punishment? I
We answer it should be to remove from society 1
tliose who are its drones and its pests And
as it would be inhuman to take life for every
kind of offence, some other means is requisite
to remove the perpetrators and protect society.
The jails have been instituted for this purpose,
and what good do they ? They answer very
well as a safe retainer for rascals till the law
cm apply and disf ose of them ; but as a means
of reform they are a failure. Do any ever go
in scoundrels and come out gentlemen? vagrants
and return models of industry? rogues,
and issue forth again honest men? We think
not.?The reformation of a man full grown in
years, who has so far degraded himself as to
merit a lodgement in jail, would he no less
than a miracle. Society is to l:e relieved of
their presence in the first place, and then it be
comes us to see that they are forced to oe useful
in some way. There is no land of exile to
which we can send them where they may be
compelled to labor for themselves, and it Is
foolish to confine them here and allow them to
live in total idleness at the public expense.
Send them to a Penitentiary, and let it be seen
to they have plenty of work, and that they perform
it. If they have families. let a portion of
their public service be allowed them. A good
plan would he to estimate the cost of rearing
the institution, the annual expense of keeping
it up, and if the labor of such convicts as have
none who may look to them for assistance,
will not suffice to pay those outlays then let it
be done by taking a part of that of other convicts.
But we doubt not that in most Penitentiaries,
the labor of the former class more than
pays all attending expense. But even if the
services of all would not sulfice, what of it?
Docs the State of South Carolina ever receive
a dime from a criminal or a vagrant for her
fostering care of him in a jail f 1 hen wnynot
rather provide a common jail for the whole
where they may he forced to work, even though
their labor should fail to enrich the treasury ?
Work is generally, too, the hardest punishment
that can be inflated upon a rascal, for an industrious
man is rarely arraigned for. those crimes
which call for a milder form of punishment than
the gallows.
The most plausible objection that we know
of to a Penitentiary is, that it makes mechanics
of rascals, and sends thein forth to compete
with that honorable class who voluntarily have
chosen that vocation. This is not at all a formidable
one, however. There are scoundrels
in every profession, and if a mechanic is honest,
industrious and competent, he need never
fear injury or disgrace from one who has learned
his business under State direction. Andj
besides, there are not very many who choose
to pursue their trades after they leave the pen
i>--. :* -i I.J ?: 4..
Herniary. x?ui 11 une miuiiiu cuiiuuue ux uj?ply
himself vigorously to his business after his
release, it is evidence of his disposition to reform.
and we niav hope he will yet be useful
from choice. Could we not, then, tolerate his
presence as a member of the same vocation.
Our remarks have been lengthened unduly.
We have not space to discuss the subject fully, i
nor indeed have v\e the necessary information;
we should know the annual expenses of jails,
and those of a Penitentiary. Neither have we
room to examine fully the objections which
might be interposed against the establishment |
ol Mich an institution. We have only ventured
to not ire one, which is, we think, the most reasonable
of any that can be urged. Claiming
to have interests, in every respect, common
with the mechanic, because we arc one oiir>elf,
we would not advocate any thing that
threatened to degrade our noble calling ; rather
would we raise our arm to protect its dignity
and honor. But we do not regard a
Penitentiary as in any way dangerous to either.
Epidemic Disease.
Asiatic Cholera, in a very malignant form, i
has made its appearance in New Orleans. We ,
have, as yet, no careful statement of its fir>t t
appearance and progress; hut we have, at the
opposite point of New Yoik, the probable so*!
lution of the question. For a month past, !
nearly every immigrant ship that has arrived j
there, has appeared a floating hospital, with a j
fearful record of deaths by the way. One of
these ships arriving last week, had lost one '
hundred of her passengers, and sent twentv-four '
to the quarantine hospital. The last of those ;
travelling pest-nouses, me Marathon, which
arrived on Tuesday, had sixty-four deaths out j
of ninety one cases. The disease did not show |
itsell till the ship had been thirteen days at
sea, and eighteen days from her dock. She is
described as in a horrible condition of filth, and
destitute of every comfort. This, doubtless,
aggravated the mortality, but eannot be considered
as causing the disease. Other ships, 1
among the most comfortable and best provi- '
ded, and not crowded with passengers, have '
suffered in the same way. They in fact start j
with the disease on board.
It is to be presumed that the Cholera in New
Orleans originated also from immigrant ves- j
sels, and that fated city is a second time in
one year paying a fearful penalty for deficient
health regulations.
Looking at. this matter in the mere light of,
commercial expediency, we would ask whether
it is most for the profit of a great mart of trade j
to submit to the restrictions of an efficient'
quarantine and a system ofsanitary regulations,
or to be left open to the incessant invasion of
malignant disease, to decimate its population,
to break up business, and present a harrier
of death between it and its distant customers?
We do not suppose there can he two
answers to these questions. The prevalence of
fatal epidemics in cities not only temporarily
break up trade, but they permanently injure it.
The loss of money is incalculable, and in the
comfort of life it is equally beyond estimate.
Merchants, of all other classes, have the most
. _i .1 ?r .t i.i- i 1.1.
ell blUKU III HIV I'l VbVI *ttllUJI Ul IIIL I'liUliO IlLilllII)
since they gain most by the steady growth
and prosperity of cities. To the merchants of
Charleston, then, we appeal, to aid and support
the city government in any measures lie.
ces*ary to shield us from the innovation of
foreign epidemics. What these measures shall
he, we do not attempt to designate ; but we
believe tin; history of the past season, and the
existing facts to which we have referred, have
impressed Council with the importance of adding
to the elliciency of our sanitary regulations.
The tide of foreign emigration sets in
this direction, and henceforth will be an ever
increasing one. It may depend upon the meas
ures now to be adopted, whether it shall bear
to our shores industry, wealth and growth, or
squalid and pestilent disease, self destroying,
and carrying desolation far beyond itself. All
citizens are interested in making the right
choice between these alterna'ives. It is in fact
the choice between life and death.
Charleston Mercury.
Free Trade.?The Syracuse N. Y. Daily
Standard contains an article on the subject of
free trade, which we subjoin :
'Th i farmers of this county are now realizing
the benefits of a liberal commercial policy in
the increased prices of their staple productions.
? < ' ?'A .u~ I
J tie auonuon or uie 'corn laws, <mu me ?iuuj?tioii
of a specific and low rate of duty by Great
Britain, give us the advantage over any o her
nation in the markets of that country. It was
assei ted by the advocates of protection, that
under the operation of existing laws, our exports
of breadstuff* to Great Britain would bear
no proportion to the receipts from the continent
of Europe; but this prediction has been
falsified by the facts. Already our exports of
these articles to that country exceed in value
the amount she receives from any State across
the British channel. Under a continuance of
this policy, they must continue to increase
until the time shall come when our commerce
with Great Britain in the necessaries of life will
exceed the valui of her continental traffic in
those articles.
' The prices of the agricultural products in
the English market have advanced at least fifty
r4,?? rlnrinrt tl?o nnct vnni? fI*hf> inprpftcp
I'V". VV..L w.v. j-.... ...
here has been the same; for our market is governed
entirely by the Liverpool quotations.
Under the old corn-law system, when the price
was low the duties were high and vice versa.
Consequently, it made little difference to us
what the price of an article was in the English
market. Such a principle in force, our staples
were at all times shut out of that market; and
it is only since the abolition of those unjust
restrictions that this trade in breadstuff's lias
grown up and become important to the country."
-? ?
As one among numerous public charitable
institutions, in which Charleston has reason to
feel an honorable pride, we propose to give a
brief, sketch of "THE SAILOR'S HOME,"
and the excellent objects for which it was in
stitutcd.
The "House" is situated near the lower end
of Market-street, a convenient distance from
our wharves and shipping. It is designed exclusively
for acco.nmodation of seamen. The
building is large ana substantial, nua is well
located lor its peculiar objects.
The regulations of the "Home" are very rig.
id and wholesome. All gambling,card-playing
indecent language, cursing, swearing, and use
of intoxicating liquors, are expressly'prohibited
and strict enforcement of order and decorum at
all times closely attended to. Morning and
evening devotions are regularly observed. The
house in closed at 11 o'clock in the evening,
after which boarders only are admitted, and that
only by consent of the Superintendent. A readimr
rimm well snnolipd wit h M 511^1711106 flllfl
",Mo " It o x" "
newspapers, is also attached to the house. It
is the duty of the Board of Trustees to visit
the Hume at ieast once in each week, and
suggest any iinprovementsor corrections necessary
to he made for increased comfort of the
inmates. Two runners of good character are
engaged, to visit vessels enterings our port, and
induce sailors to avail themselves of the benefit
of the establishment. The reports of the successive
Superintendents coincide in expressing
confidence in the ultimate success of this great
project and bearing testimony to the steadily
increasing popularity and usefulness of this
institution. While its inmates are brought un
der strong religious influences, their comfortable
condition contributes largely to the happiness
of their families and the saving of their
hard wages. As many as f)00 seamen have
been reported as boarding at the house during
one year, many of whom signed the pledge of
total abstinence, gave up their drinking habits,
and deposited considerable sums of money with
tho ti i -i 11*. m for cm rifr Priiir tit litis np
v..? ........... .... w...^ ..~~r...a. ...... I ?
riod, these unfortunate men had never been
able to save a single dollar.
An Institution such as this may well claim
some title to the sympathies of all classes of
our citizens, (for all are more or else interested
ih the improvement of the character of seamen,)
and rank among the most worthy objects of
our fostering care. An effort is about to be
made by the Trustees, to raise by subscription
a sum sufficient to pay oft" the balance of the
debt incurred for the purpose of this building,
and to carry into execution a number of contemplated
improvements, for the health and
cornfoitsof its inmates. They have already, we
are giatified to learn, succeeded in obtaining
several liberal donations for this object. > We
take pleasure in commending their benevolent
enterprise to the kind consideration of our readers,
and wishing them God speed in so generous
a labor of love.? Char. Eve. News.
Grant Thorburn lias published a pamphlet
giving a history of his courtship and marriage,
which the N. Y. Express describes as a farrago
of senility, maudlin sentiment, miserable joking,
and misstated fact. In it is the follow ing
ing letter:
OAiK ior.1
nr.*** iukiv, niAX, uv/in iuaw.
Dear Maria: The difHcu I ties are removed.?
God willing, 1 will be in thy house on Friday,
the 10th, tell thee all-about it on Saturday and
marry thee on Sunday, and do as the Lord may
direct on Monday. Thy true Scotchman.
Ghant.
The whole matter was arranged as he had
suggested, he reached her dwelling at 10 P. M.,
on Friday, told her all about it on Saturday,
was married and paid the minister at 9 P. M.
on Sunday, which closed the concern.
"My partner," he continues, "is a comely
matron of forty, (thus meeting inc half way,)
was five years married, two years a widow,
no family, two inches taller and five pounds
heavier than I."
In New-Orleans, on Saturday, William Patton,
merchant, shot Turnbull, toba?co inspector,
dead.?The cause assigned?family troubles.
'JL'IIC JLSUUK OI LHV siaiv.
We present beiow tlie report of the President
and Directors of the Dank of the. State, which
was submitted to the legislature yesterday. It
presents a most gratifying exhibit of the prosperity
of that important institution, and of the ability
and faithfulness with which its affairs have
been managed.
Report of the President and Directors of the
Bank of the State of South Carolina.
To the Honorable the Sena te and House of Representatives
of the State of South "Carolina.
The President and Directors of the Bank of
the State of South Carolina respectfully
REPORT:
That from the 30th September, 1S52, to 1st October,
1853, the nett income of
tiie Bank has amounted to the
sutn of ?359,075.90
From which we reserved for the purpose
of meeting doubtful and bad
debts, the sum of 29,075.90
Leaving the profits of the year ?330,000.00
From theseprufits-thore
have been applied to
the payment of the
interest on the State
Bonds, payable in
London ?52,093.56
And to the payment of
interest on 6 per
cents, 183S 48,868.44
A n/1 * Knrn Iiqj Knon
transferred to the
Sinking Fund 229,037.00
330,000.00
Herewith are submitted the usual statements
exhibiting the condition of the Bank at the
close of the last fiscal year.
Our attention lias been constantly directed to
the purchase of the outstanding debt of the
Stale, but we liavo been able to procure but a
limited amount during the year.
We have obtained ?0,679 11 of the 5 per
cents, of 1838, at their parvalue, and ?7,441 53
of the 3 per cents, at the cost of ?4,068 16.
The income of the Bank, during the past
year, has been larger than usual, but the increase
in the number of Banking Institutions, both in
Charleston and the interior of the State, must
prevent the anticipation of realizing as equal a
rate of profit for the future.
U. M. 1-uj.taiA^, rresiaent.
Gex. Foote.? The Vicksburg Sentinel, referring
to the defeat of Gen Foote in the late
election, who had combined with the Whigs,
comforts him in the following manner:
We are surprised to learn that our Governor
takes the defeat of the late coalition very much
to heart. If our information be correct, our
classical friend must have read theTusculan Disputations,
and " My Novel," to very little purpose.
For our part, we cannot sec why he should
not be as merry as a cricket, or a free toad in a?
rainy day. Now that the Union party has bursted,
his Excellency ought to feel as happy as the
itJfln did when the Nahant bank failed, lie ran
home in mortal terror to see if he had any of its
paper, and was tickled to death when he found
that he had no money on that bank nor any
other. We hope the Governor will cheer up.
This thing of dying of a broken heart should
be left to fair maidens disappointed in love, and
voivhiut v?>11 nor nr.niflompn who write woful bal
J n fi> ? ;
lads to their mistress* eye brows, and sigh like a
furnace. There is a great deal of good sense
in what that strong minded woman, Mis. Macbeth,
once said, and wc commend it to the Governor's
consideration :
" Things without remedy
Should be without regard; what's doue, is done.'
? ?
Tiib Gaming Tahlb.?Judge Forsyth lately
occupied a prominent position in the State
of New York. He possessed a large property,
which he lost by gambling, and endeavored to
redeem by forgery. lie recently fled to Eng.
land, after involving his friends to a large
amount for endorsements. Commenting upon
his infatuation, the Albany Express contains
some excellent remarks, from which we extract
what follows:
" By a strange perversion of human nature,
the gambler's debts are debts of honor. They
cannot lie collected in a court of law, and
therefore the gambler feels himself honorably
1 ? T J1 .
bound to pay them, w e nave no uouuc juoge
Forsyth paid all these at the expense of his integrity
as a man and his reputation for life!
Verily, this is a world of inconsistencies. The
celebrated Fox is said to have refused the payment
of a small and just debt, because he owed
a debt of honor, and had not money enough
to pay them both. Injustice and forgery, and
breach of trust, are all committed under the
infatuation of a reckless and gambling honor.
The frenzy of the game rises over the mir.d
with the spirit of insanity, binding reason, and
judgment, and conscience, to the very wheel of
fortune. Let no man think himself safe at a
game of hazard ; he does not play for money
alone , but be hazards the possession of a sound
mind."
New AnouTiox Missionary' from England.?We
see it stated that the Evangelicul
Alliance in England?an abolition concern?is
preparing to send out a special agent to this
country, for the purpose ofspreading abolition
sentiments, and aiding and assisting in the anti-slavery
agaition. This mission, it seems, is
undertaken in secret concurrence with the same
high personages who gave such a flattering re?
- o . i i j |
ception to Mrs. fttowe, ac ouimicrianu nouse;
and of course, it receives also the coiicurrcncu
or the principal members of the British government
and the British aristocracy. We trust that
the American people will keep this fact in their
minds on the arrival ol the new agaitor on our
shore, and treat him accordingly.?JV. V. Herald.
'
'Why don't you take a seat within the bar ?
asked one gentleman of another, in the courtroom
the other day. 'My mother always told
me to keep out of bad company,' replied the other.
An Irishman who bad blistered his fingers
by endeavoring to draw on a pair of new boots,
exclaimed?,By St. Patrick! 1 believe I'll never
get thim on until I wear thim a day or two.' i
iiAUUC^lClAl IX I VUAUUV4 4UW..MWW, , ... - ..
irritatiou among the students of the University,
growing out of the recent sc e at Wyman's
Exhibition in Charlottesville, is not yet allayed,
as will he seen by the following letter:
Charlottesville, Nov. 23d 1853.?La*t night
some sixty Sons of Temperance, including Professor
Minor, Rev. Messrs August'and liroaddus,
Lt. Powell of London, and quite a number, of
the University Division, as invited guests, assembled
at the Delaware House (midway between
the town and the University) to partake ol a
social supper, when the building was suirounded
by a number of students from, the University,
variously estimated at from fifty to seventy-five,
who demanded that cue of the number in. the"
house should be given up to their revenge. The
person so demanded was an officer in the Town
Hall on Friday night, when those students who
occasioned the disturbance at Wvman's were arrested.
The demand was not complied with.
Profescor Minor addressed the crowd, beseeching
them to disperse, saying that they could not
get at the officer unless over the dead bodies of
forty peaceable citizens, himself among the number.
Other persons spoke and several of the
crowd left, but others remained clamorous for
the officer. In the meantime information had
bec.i sent to the town, the bells were rung, and
in a short tunc some seventy armcu men repaired
to the Deleware House; but ere they reached
it, the clamorous crowd without had dispersed.
A result which under the circumstances, was
more quiet and bloodless thau at one time was
anticipated.
A Nkw I dm a.?The Methodists are talking
about the propriety of forming a Fire lnsurauce
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
to have its principal office located in Cincinnatti,
or some important city. There are some
$10,000,000 worth ol Churches and parsonages
belonging to this denomination in the United
States.
Happiness.?Happiness is to be attained
in the accustomed chair by the fireside, more
than in the honorary occupation of civic office ;
in a wife's love, infinitely more than in the favour
of all human else; in children's innocent
and joyous prattle,^more than in hearing of
flattery; in the reciprocation of little and frequent
kindnesses between friend and friend,
more than in some occasional and dearly
bought indulgcncies ; in the virtue of contentment,
more than in the anxious achievements
of wealth, distinction, and grandeur; in change
in heart, more than in change in circumstances;
in full, firin trust in Providence, more than
ill hoping fortune's favour; in a growing taste
for beauties of nature, more than in the feesimple
inheritance of whole acres of land ; in
the observance of neatness and regularity,
household virtues, rather than in the means of I
ostentatious, and therefore rare displayin a j
handmaiden's cheerfulness, mote than in the i
improved tones of politics; and in the friendship
of our next door neighbor, more than in
the condescending notice of my Lord Duke.
Happiness, then, must be sought for in simplicity,
and uot in costliness ; in the perpetual-1
ly recurring, more than intlie abiding peace :
rather in temporary rapiure ; in next after the j
well of living water which springeth up into !
everlasting life, in no source else so sedulous J
as in those fountains which are fed by the nev
er failing love of relatives and friends.
? ?
T.rn/tnmi vm TA \f ? W Wilt' 1Q ? tKut
IJli'l'ff'i A.^ I IV iUAil. II III Id u maw ??V I
rainbow and cloud coine over us with a beauty
that is not of earth, and then pass away and
leave us to muse on their faded loveliness?
Why is it that the stars which bold their festival
around their midnight throne, are set above
the grasp of our limited faculties, forever mocking
us with unapproachable glory ? And why
is it that bright forms of human beauty are
presented to our view and taken from us, leaving
the thousand streams of affection to flow j
back in Alpine torrents upon our heart,? We
are born for a higher destiny than that of earth.
There is a realm where the rainbow never
fades, where^ the stars will set out before
us like islands that slumber on the ocean, and
where the beautilu! being that now passes before
us like the Meteor, will stay in our presence
forever.
No Rain in Pkru.?It never rains in Peru.
The vapors, as they ascend from the sea, are
scattered to the summit of the Cordilleras,
? . i n.i.
where they are eoiiaenseu inio snowers. out
on the line of coast which lies between the sea
and the base of these stupendous mountains,
the rain never falls. All agriculture is the re
suit of artificial irrigation, liut the frequent
and full streams Mowing from the Cordilleras
make this comparatively easy.? Cor. Jouriiul
of Com.
A Reckless Young Man.?Edgar Ney,
grandson of Marshal Ney, aid-Je camp and
first hunts.nan of the Emperor of France, is in
prison for debt. Immediately on his accession
to the high offices to which his Majesty appoin
ted him, he commenced a career of extravagance
which very soon brought the sheriffs
down upon him, and, as he could not pay, he
was in immediate danger of prison. The Emperor
released him from bis awkward predicament.
In a few months he was again in a similar
position, and his family was obliged to ex
tricate him, though the sums requiring liquidation
were really enormous. The foolish fellow
put his neck a third time into the noose, and as
his friends and his sovereign refused to interfere
any further, he is now, and has been for
some weeks, at the Debtor's Prison, at Clichy.
The bill proposing tin issue of Ponds of the
State of Tennessee to the Rabun Gap Rail
Road Company, to the amount of $400,000,
has passed the Tennessee Senate by a vo^e of
13 to 0, in such shape as has been desired by
friends of the Road.
A barber pole pantalooncd youth recently
went on a visit to his grandmother in the country,
and astonished her very much by wearing
such'patched trowers away from home.'
A Toast.?'Newspaper Borrowers'?May
theirs lie a life of single blessedness ; may their
path bo carpeted with crosseyed snakes, and
iheimights he haunted w jth knocked kneed torn
cats.
Poverty in Rome, it is. said, is the spouaa fl
of Content, and the mother of Love; how that H
may have been, we know not, but this we,de B
know, that poverty, as we have seen it in New B
York, is wedded to despair, and its ofDprinjjr _B
is vengeance. It is a shape that sicken* tileB
very heart with disgust, and chiils tlie very ,a|
blood with horror. Do you think this stroitgyijB
language ] Do you intimate that \ nu have B
been liere a score of years, and have uever^^|
been disgusted or horrified with anything
the sort? ' Do you say that you ha\e never
spied it from your window, or inct it in
street? 'J'alk not of this, doubter, till -yotfjB
have sought out its real habitation, and y?U^^|
your?elf have crossed its real tlneshhold. H^B
is to be seen in its real aspect at home and nd B|
where else; and if ) ou have not looked for it rjB
there, your doubts are foolishness. v*1 jB
We sat down for the purpose of detailiug^^B
some of our own personal observations of B
household wretchedness in the Fourth andr-jH
Sixth Wards of our city?hut our taste re- JB
volts and our pen shrinks from the narration; dfl
We could tell of one room, twelve feet by fl
twelve, in which were five resident families, B
cnmpriMiig twenty persons of both sexes
ullages, with only two beds, yitliotft partition B
or screen, or chair or table, and -.ail dependent,;^?
for their support upon the sale of chips?grean^JB
ed from the streets?at fourjcentsa basket^ o?cB
another, still smaller and still more destitute I
inhabited by a mail, a woman, two-girls and
boy, who were supported by permitting the^
room to be used as a rendezvous by the abao-v
doned women of the street ; of another, an
tie room seven feet by five,.containing searefe- *t
ly an article of furniture but a bed, on. wbieb;'
lay a fine looking man in a raging*fever, Mritk'.'
out medicine, drink, or suitable fowl, his toil-.1
worn wife engaged in cleaning the dirt front
the fl 'or, and his little child asleep on a bundle
of rags in the corner; of another. of the
same dimensions, in which we found, seated oo;
low boxes nround a candle placed on a?-keg;' i
a woman and her oldest daughter, (the"latter
a girl of fifteen, and, as we were told, a proa-r
titute, sewing on shirts, for the making of which
they were paid four cents a piece, and even-at
that price, out of which tbey had to support
two small children, they could not get ft sup-'j
ply of work ; of another, of about the same
size, occupied by a street rag picker and hir. <
fainily, tbe income of whose industry-was' [
iiDOui eignt collars a month; ot another, scarce- M
ly larger, into which we wete drawn by (ha 9
terrlftic screams of a drunken matt-beating his 1
wife, containing no article of furniture whitev-, I
er; of another wanned only by a tin Nil t*? ,1
lighted charcoal, placed in the centre of tbfc J
room, over which bent a blind man endeavor- 1
ing to warm himself; around him three or foor ^1
men and women quarrelling ; in one corner of; *
the floor a woman who had died the day; be-. *
fore of disease, and in another two or three- '
children sleeping on a pile of rags; (in regard
to this room, we may say (hat its occupants
were colored people, and from them but a few. j
days previous, had been taken and adopted by:.,
one of our benevolent citizens, a beautiful little
white girl, four or five years of age,: whose fit- *
ther was dead, arid whose mother was a (..Clackwell's
Island); of another, from which, not?
long since, twenty persons, sick with feverl
we're taken .to the hospital, and every individual
of them died.. .... -- I
Hut why extend this catalogue ! Or, whyattempt
to convey to the imagination by words.- ;
the hideous squalor and the deadly effluvia*
the dim undrafhed courts oozing with pollution
; the dark narrow stairways decayed with
age, reeking with filth, overrun with vermfa; \
the rotted floors, ceilings begrimed and cnmi
bling, oft times too low to permit you to stand
upright, and windows stuffed-with rags; or
why try to portray the guant shivering, forms,
and wiid ghastly faces in these black an4theet'
ling abodes, wherein from cellar to garret
All lifn /lino /Innfli lirna nnd nolnro
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, I
Abominable, unutterable. j
[K Y. Courier and Enquiref.
The Liquor Law in* England.?The fof- j
lowing letter was" lately rec ived in an3?ver to
ail inquiry addressed to Mr. Cobden, as to the" i
best mode of "opening the trade in spirits*':
Midhurst, Nov. 9, 1853.
Sir.?In reply to your inquiry, 1 venture ttf
suggest that the best way of dealing with thef
monopoly of spirits is to abstain from drinking 1
them, which, for upwards of twenty years, I
have done. Depend on it, they are slow
poison,even if taken moderately. What they,
are when taken in excess, the records of our
jails; lunatic asylums, and coroners' inquests,
will inform you ; and I am, sir, your most obe- ^
dicnt servant* Kiciiard Cobden. \
A iirir fPfAY T ruTtmrc TVin Vaih.Vai'L An.
ti-Sl i wry Society have projected a cum so of
thirteen Lectures, to be delivered at the Broadway
Tabernacle, on Tuesday evening in successive
weeks, beginning 13th inst, and ending
March 7th. Among the Lecturers are Miss
Lucy St??nc, Henry Ward Beecher, William
Llo\ d Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Horace Greeley,
Theodore Parker, Giddings, Palfrey, and
John P. Hale.
Gender and Cask of an Ego ?'The following
occurred in a school not a hundred miles
from Woodstock, Vt.
m i. - ntL .? . ...i ^ .1 . i j
leaoncr.? >? nai pan. 01 speeen is me wora
egg?
Noun, fir.
Teacher.?What is its gender ?
Boy.?Can't tell, sir.
Teacher.?Is it masculine, feminine or neuter?
Boy.?Can't say, sir, till it's hatched.
Teacher ?Well, then, my lad, can you tell
me the case ?
Hoy.?Oh, yes; the shell, sir.
'I am a great gun,' said a tipsy printer who
had been on a bender for a week.
'Yes/ said the foreman 'you're a great gun,
and half cocked, and you can consider yourself
discharged.'
'Well,' said the tvpo, then I had better go
ofl-.'