The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, September 19, 1840, Image 1
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THE CAMDEN JOURNAL.
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[HEW SERIES.] VOL. I. CAMDEV, SOUTH C1ROLIIVA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1840. - v NO48.
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P ETRY.
FOR TIIE JOURNAL.
PROM THE NOTES OF A TRAVELLER.
On the disk of a sun dial, erected over the chapel
door of a convent, in Southern Italy, is this exquisitely
chaste and beautiful inscription, " Horas non
nuraero nisi soronas." My imagination at once caught
the inspiration of tho classic thought. Life is only
valuable for its happiness. True Philosophy consists
in the discernment of what is good?in the enjoyment
of the sunbright events of life?-in reflecting then as
it were upon the circle of influence?and wisely suf.
faring the unavoidable ills of timo to pass by unhecd.
ed under their own shadows. What an enviable
view of the monastic life! Undisturbed by the cares
of the world, the iioly Brotherhood needed no monitor
to worn them of the hours rapidly but calmly
passing away. Emblematic of the blessed eternity
from which it was derived, time is the portion of life
which should be regarded only for the reflection made
upon it from the day spring on high. The following
lines contain a loose paraphrase of the sentiment.
nORAS NOil XUS1ERO NISI SERENAS.
1
Count not the fleeting hours
^ That transient sunbeams give,
Thro' stormy clouds above liim
For erring man to live.
2
Count not the passing life time
When charging seasons roll,
O'er dying things around him
The death sleep of the soul.
3
Hours, days, and years, that dimly
In troubled cycles flew,
Are like the tidos of ocean,
By icebergs frozen thro'.
4
When clouds of time are scowling,
As o'er the stormy sea,
They need a ray of sun-light,
To show as how they flee.
5
These shadows e'er they leave us,
And vanish into night,
Can only show their foot prints
By ray8 of solar light.
6
Butoount the hours that calmly.
On heaven's dial shine,
That when timo's prospects fail thee
Eternity be thine. P."
VOX THE JOURNAL v
THE PINE TREE.
I came to the place with a pilgrims devotion,
When the days of my childhood and youth paos'd
away.
And I saw the blest spot with a fearful emotion,
All covered with ruins of time and decay.
The last rays of light o'er the streamlet had faded,
The birds were all bush'd 'noath the moons silver
beam,
? "nnKw otto ftinnM Innor mrvofl f Yint I
The old scathed pine tree that grew by the stream.
The time beaten pine tree?the moss covered pine tree,
The old ragged pine tree that grew by the stream. t
When I thought of the past, how like a wild vision,
Were the days I Aad spent near that tree in its
bloom,
With friends that I loved, and with pleasures Elysian,
That the dark wing of time has swept into the
tomb! . .
These?these are all past in the dim retrospection
Of times and of seasons one cannot redeem,
But mem'rv delights to bring a now recolloction,
Oi the old icatned pine tree that grow by tho stream,
The time beatou piac tree?the moss covered pine tree,
The old ragged pine tree that grow by the stream.
And still I most love thoe, thou moss covered pine
tree,
With thy wjld naked limbs which the winter blasts
ware,
Till the cold hand of fate shall in mercy consign me,
To moulder like thee in the shade of the grave.
Abd whilst to the v.-.lo of oblivion descending,
A moon.beam of hope o'orthe pilgrim shall gleam,
'Twill be as that emblem of life never ending,
On the old scathod pine tree that stands by the
stream,
The timo beaten pine tree, the moss covered pine tree,
The old ragged pine tree, that stands by the sUcam,
ISLA,
FOR THE JOURNAL.
IN ECLLESIA CUPIDINI.
In horto cireumvolitans,
Melissa labrum mire,
Am oris gaudet dormitans,
Sub flasculs ferive.
Abreptus somno et genas,
Florutn rare abetersit,
Multasque fundene lachrymas,
Iracuncboe pepercit.
In sabbato, et anima,
aEger corde hoc mane,
Peterct in ecclesia,
Negotium inane.
Sed salute pro corporis,
Juvenie tam solita,
Plena esse torporis
Feruntur Loecco fompla.
Et illic fas ingeracret,
Amori ut fremitu
Maria ni curaveret
Lavaro in sospitu.
Tunc calor sunt ot sanitas
Poero advolanti,?
Sed more consoquitur nefas
Juanni id cononti. TYRO.
Miscellaneous.
From, the Southern Ladies Book.
ADDRESS,
Py the President of the Georgia Female College, to
the^Graduating Class, Delivered on the 16th July,
1840. Published by request of the Board of
Trustees.
Young Ladies :?
I rise to perform the last duty connected
with my official relation to you. We
have all looked to this hour with anxiety
and hope. The work of instruction is done;
its cares, its toil, its longings, are with the
past. To-day our connection is dissolved
?the fellowship of mind is over, and the
feelings which have commingled abouttne
altars of learning must now be gathered
up and girt with fortitude for the parting
scene, and life's after changes.
You, perhaps, have been wont to contemplate
this period in your history with
gaiety of spirits, and thought to feel a high
breathed joy in the freedom of your future
days. The time to come, radient with
blessing, robed in the beautiful imaginings
of your inexperienced minds, stretches before
you a land of dreams, whose rosy
hour's dance to the heart's merry bound,
but leave no blight nor trace of their harmless
revel. No ghostly herald of coming
disaster dims with his sepulchral shadow
the sunlit path on which your thoughts
have travelled. IVo dolorous voice DreaKs
on fancy's ear?quelling your bosom's tumultous
delight with its melancholy tones.
No cloud, not even as a " man's hand,"
gathers within the range of your eager
vision, menacing storm and flood. Hope,
the soul's winged bard, gay of plumage,
and sweet of song, as Eden's ganden bird,
pours forth its subduing melody and lulls
every fear to rest. The sWeet illusions of
imagination gild the prospect, and the heart
leaps up and bounds onward 10 reap uie
joys that seem already white unto the harvest.
Life's morning all cheery with sentiment
and song?redolent of beauty and
blessing, dawns brightly, giving promise
of a glorious day. You hail the signs, and
feel and hope and long to explore tne mysteries
that lie hid in the distance, unrevcaled
and mute.
I would not dissipate your cherished visions
with a cynic's breath, nor rudely
check the pulse of expectation in its blithsomc
play; but it is well to remind you
that life is not all poetry, nor earth a gala
scene wnere ever}7 eye ueaius weicuuie,
and every tongue sneaks praise. The
heart's unsheltered delicacy will meet many
a buffet; and the lavished sensibilities
repulsed and chilled, will oft seek the shelter
of theii home?and weary and sad,
will lay them down to weep. The defection
of friends, love's unrequited tenderness,
and the artificial, heartless pretensions
that win your confidence, and pierce you
at last with a thousand sorrows, must all
be looked for, met, endured and overcome.
You are expecting happiness where it cani
ko rrvnn/J ip itaii -o/aolr if in EVJKr'p hollo I
liui- tvuuu) 11 jvu owva ii. mil m. viij a nuuo
mid the pageantry and circumstance of
pleasure, with her tabret, feast and dance
?or in the gratifications of taste?the pursuits
of fashion?devotion to the world?
servitude to its ceremonies or in aught that
wades, or soars, or shines beneath the
stars.
The removal of scholastic restraints;
may grant you redemption from irksome
duties and an introduction to the liberties
of social life, but at the same time they give
place to sterner demands and more onerous
duties. Society has claims upon you,
nor can you disregard them without infraction
of moral right, and guilty direliction
of the hest interests nf vnnrselves and
friends. The solitude of parents, the training
of the Academy, the literature of the
College have all looked to higher ends than
the glitter of a name, or the empty reputation
of beaury and accomplishments.'
The principles which have been inculcated
were not lessons designed merely to task
your mental powers for successive days,
but for wisdom in action?guides in practice?symmetry
of character?means of
usefulness. High and holy ought ^o be
the objects of your ambition?enlarged
and vigorous your convictions of duty and
moral requirement?indefatigable and ear-"
nest your efforts for good?good, diffusive
as your acquaintance, and lofty as your j
rlpctinv i
^ VUVUIJ |
In my humble opinion, a grievous error i
has been incorporated into the organiza- !
tion of society, and is recognized as truth, i
and supported upon system. The ele- i
ments of moral power and social purity 1
have been iujudiciously distributed, and |
some of them denied and rejected togeth- s
er. "Woman's influence has been under- I
rated as to its nature and capabilities, fet- 1
tered and circumscribed as to its opera- 1
tions,and even when acknowledged has 1
been appropriated to ends, though worthy <
perhaps, yet far beneath the actual reach s
of her power. Woman's empire is the i
heart, the poets say, and they say truly;
but they have restricted their meaning to I
taste and sentiment and sensibility, and to
the bland virtues of domestic life, that may
exist in utter seperation from those principles
that lift man to his true dignity as a
moral being, and mould his character as
**-- - ? li?:?i. L:? i ?;?;i
tree iroui UJUIlUSii m ma puuiiu auu u?u
relations, as in his household affections.
The practical results, in a narrow range
altogether too confined for the power employed,
though sufficiently wide for a fair
experiment, give fair indications, nay, positive
proof, that with the same facilities and
encouragements more might and would
have been accomplished. Man's attention
to woman may be considered to a Targe
extent as the test of his civilization. But
the progress of society has been measured
rather by the refinement of manftcrs than
the elevation of principles. Fastidious
embellishments,dainty luxuries, effeminate
softness in contradistinction from the rough
independence of perhaps purer days?a
sickly, squeamish delicacy as opposed to
the plain simple-hearted honesty and candor
of earlier times ; these are the waymarks
by which we note our advancement.
This is civilization, the march of
mind, tne illumination 01 tnc world, cut
this is a mere change of manners, a glittering
mantle thrown over deformity, a painting
of the sepulchre. Why wreath a
corpse with garlands when the breath of
life is at your command ? Why plant
flowers upon a grave when there is a resurrection
power ready to expand over the
buried at your bidding ? Why put bands
of gold and silver upon the lion and fetter
him in his cage, that you may fondle without
fear of his ferocity, when under your
instruction he might become gentle as a
' '?j i c-i l:_ r r_ i r?
jamu, aiiu vis ubeiui m ms ireeuum : xcmale
influence has softened our rough nature
in its external developements, modified
our depravity, and made us polite
when we might have been clowns. This
is the sphere assigned t<v worn fin?in this
theatre she has received the plaudits of the
pit and the gallery. Shall sympathetic
imitation mould these coarse bodies?these
heavy muscles into graceful shapes and
rnjirtpniis attitudes, and con the charmer
do no more ? These are insignificant achievements?lever
power to move an infants
burden?a lapidary at work' upon
common pebbles when gems and jewels
are thick about him. Woman can do
more. It is her province, her > right, her
duty. Minds,morals, characterCome withrin
the range of her responsibilities, and
her action upon these ought to be cheered,
encouraged, upheld by public sentiment.
She should trace the lessons of wisdom
with a careful hand upon the infant mind
?nature's most impressible page. The
xmnla a n/t in nnmKinnfinn oKrvillrl Ko
iviigio oiugiu auu 111 wiiimjik^iivu uuuuiu ww
worthy of the nature on which they are
stamped, and the writing such as would
pass the scrutiny of the Eternal eye. She
should culture morals with a gardener's
care, and the high securities of her approbation
and example should enclose the precious
interest as a wall of defence. No
charge of fastidious feeling ought to check
her zeal when she utters her rebuke of sin.
No indelicacy imputed when she levels her
frown on popular vice. No boldness
overstepping the limits of prudence should
be set down to her account when she disdains
the acquaintance and courtesies of
the vicious and the dissipated. No- it is
the majesty oi' Virtue in her gentlest form,
guarding individual and collective character
and the world should do it homage. It,
is the cmbodyment of purity?a tutelar divinity
rebuking the rage of passion and
pronouncing upon vice the sentence of
outlawry from the sympathies and endear- j
ments of life's most cherished ministry. It
is woman loved, and loving, protecting her
homestead from the footstep of the ruthless
villain?guardingthe Edenofherheart from
the blight of the serpents breath and the
poison of the serpent's fang.
I would that the ladies throughout Christendom
were combined inflexibly and sys-1
tematically to refuse their friendship and j
society to the profligate and the vile. W hy
soould a female be compelled by popular
judgment to treat with respect a man
whose moral character she despises?deal
out the courtesies of life with equal hand
to the good and to the bad, to the pious and
to the profane ? It is unjust?a compliment
to sin?a compromise with wickedness,
in which virtue suffers?an uncondi- :
tional surrender without reservation or
even the promise of mercy from the foe. <
It is thus that society nurses the disease
that is destroying her. Some vices taint
and outlaw a man, while others to which 1
the temptations are more frequent and i
powerful, and which are equally subver- I
sive of right, good order, and general hap- i
[ainess, serve only to classify the individual i
without operating any thing like social at- i
ainder. The hospitalities of the table? t
:he invitations of the family?the assemblies |
)f pleasure?the offices of honor, the alii- <
inces of friendship and love are all open I
rrespectively and without discrimination, i
rhcre is no forfeiture of privilege?no in- (
:erdict of familiarity?no scowl of con- '
i
tempt nor even look of disapprobation.
Moral courage quails before example and
yields its recuperative energies to the force
of numbers. , Public sentiment and private
feeling are right, but general practice is
most wofully Wrong. The discrepancy
annihilates the influence of opinion, and
reduces the community to a state of moral
atrophy in which the aliment that might
act as nourishment to health, becomes in
realitv the food of the disease.
To correct this state of things, women
can do more 'than Legislatures, or even
Churches. They give tone to sentiment
?regulate manners and customs, hold
the reigns of social government, and have
the will to choose the path and the power
to direct the forces. Let them
sound principles, right dispositions. Christian
moralsas adjuncts in the labor of philanthropy
and the corrective will be felt,
and the benefits wi U follow. Let the work
of reform begin in every department, from
the nursery to the marriage scene. Let
conscience, truth, opinion, practice correspond
fearlessly, impartially; be sustained
by the old, the settled, the influential,
and a change will go out upon the
world bright as a sunbeam, and reviving
as the dew.
Very few men would, surrender the
pleasures of female society, the expectation
of domestic bliss, and consent to live
despised and outcast for the sake of those
degrading enjoyments that now tempt, npt
only from their adaptation to' the grosser
appetites, but from the fact that tney do
? * ?.?i-ii?cc?* L:,, J:?
j noi materially aiieui ma suuiuuig ui owis,
ty or his chance of acceptance and prei
ferment. Thousands upon thousands
; there are who have nerve and hardihood
' enough to brave the anger of God and
; the woe of the bottomless pit, who yet
(lack the courage to confront public opinion
and brave the thunders of fashions's vai
tican. The caustic wit of offended digni,
ty comes upon their nerves like a convulsion
of galvanism. These Sybarites quail
with terror at the very idea of expatriation
from the realm of their adoption, and
many of these sons of pleasure who have
grown so effeminate that they cannot sleep
with a rose-leaf doubled under them, may
be stretched upon a bed of thorns by the
decree of. a woman. The tortures of anticipated
exile from the worship of their
;idol and the glory of the temple .will
wring from them a -pledge of ^formation
and secure from them the execution of
the promise. The inducements to virtue
become objects of sight and sense. Time
anticipates eternity. The thunders of
? T . tv? i ? -.L. .i j '
me jL<asi uay nave an ecuo in mts uincisions
of society and the fires, of retribution
are presaged by the scorching contempt
of independent and indignant virtue.
.
! There is nobleness of mind, generosity
of sentiment, honesty that may be i
trusted, tenderness that will not fail, away j
from religion; but in the fear of God and
with affection for my race I charge you? i
confide not the fortunes of your body, nor i
the peace of your soul to the drunkard's
mercy, nor to the gambler's honor. Re- i
ject, despise the man who makes fellow- 1
ship with the licentious, or pollutes his 1
lips with the dialect of blasphemy, Link j
not your heart and your destiny with him 1
who, too indolent to seek honorable em- <
ployment, consents to trespass on the <
kindness of friends for his daily bread, i
sells his birthrigt to purchase the ease of I
a lounger?immolates the independence of i
a man for the worthlessness of a drone. <
Shun the alliance of the fop?the fool in I
the court of fashion, who is indebted to <
the tailor's skill for the grace of his figure i
and to chemical extracts tor nis Dest re- <
commendations?whose altar is the dres- i
sing chamber, and the worthless mass of f
flesh and blood reflected by the mirrcr, t
the god of his idolatry. g
I do not mean bv this, that you can t
work the mighty change. I would not s
have you set up for reformers. But I f
would that your personal influence were i
on this side of the question. Let your t
opinions, your manners, your associations, e
all declare your abhorrence of vice, and g
your utter separation of sympathy from
the sins of fashion, and the errors of the v
multitude to do evil, Identify yourselves v
with the refined, the intellectual, the be- f;
nnnoUnt nnrl tlino (olio ttlO ni'dllfl nnqltinn 11
u^vuicui) auu iiiuo tanv mv j/i w>v* j^x/wiViv?i
to which your circumstances ana claims ii
entitle you, and which a discerning public e
will not fail to award to you. a
Whatever the lords of creation may a
have arrogated to themselves of prc-emi- si
nence in intellect, or whatever may have p
been, or may still be the defects in the ti
systems of "education, or however ungc- a
icrous and restricted may be the arrange- ti
nents of society, it is nevertheless true, 01
:hat any deficiency of influence?any ap- w
Dearance of mortifying inequality?any c
:ustom apparently recognizing compara- aj
ive mental imbecility, is after all to be ai
ittributed rather to the crininal negligence >f
the sex, than to any inherent or en- a<
grafted defect in the framework of socio- fa
/
ty. No error has existed which a wise
adjustment of means, and profitable use.
of time might not have annihilated?no
barrier over which the innate ehergies of
your character may not enable yoa to
pass?no influence is now allowed which
may not be elevated and sanctified to high
and holy ends. The public mind by Ik
beral concessions is seeking to make atonement
for the arrogant assumptions of tho
past. The sphere of woman is-constantly
enlarging as education fits her for loftier
duties, and Christian philanthrophy
multiplies her means of doing good. Indeed
all that has ever been asked has been
granted. What chivalry once surrender*
ed in courtesy, conviction, purified by
the action of Christianity, acknowledge*
as a right Privileges once wrung fromr
the reluctant hands of power, grown ob-' ,.'
stinate and haughty with its supremacy^
will be cheerfully enlarged by the enlightened
opinion,of all who have the influence
to help, or the wisdom to discriminate.
If eveiy successive year do not
witness the augmentation of female in
nuencc upon the best interests ot mankind?if
tlie dawning glories of die day.
that science and commerce and religionare
rolling onward to the zenith, do not
awake a most generous ambition--if the .
stimulants to enterprise that are now stirring
to electric motion the thoughts, longlaggard,
do not stir the desire of coequlu
progress?if all the elements of power
lodged by the wisdom of Heaven m wo*
man's hands aye not roused, combined,
directed in accordance with the enlightened
views of improvement that now prevail,
then will the guilt of a most culpable;
neglect lie at your door.
/Lest you should make an accession to
t * l a, \
me numDer already 100 large, woo evs-,
porate thought in dreams, and bury energy
in listless reverie, waste talents in idleness,
relieved only by attendance on the
calls of pleasure, or agitated by the Qtful
excitement of ignoble rivalries, I would
remind you that the popular notion of nT
finished education dates from the beginning,
and not from the goal In the technical
sense of the word, it is net essential
that you should be scholars. They am
rare in every land. Your coursebas been,
too brief, and your minds are too immature
for you to have attained this high distinction.
The knowledge of theactualwarkl
must be -ncumulated by experience^
School-books have but little to do whh
practical life, yet they are indispensable.
They prepare the way-?teach us how txflearn?supply
the materials for combitia
tion; but much, much remains to be done.
It is unfortunate that the idea ever obtain*
ed in the world, that improvement was at
an end, when the days of scholastic study
were over and that pleasure, in the abused
sense of the word, was the only legitimate
expectation and exercise of the emancipated
pupil. Past acquisitions contrasted
with the possible attainments of the future,
are as a trickling rill to the sweej*
and volume of the Father of waten.?
vv ltn proper decision or purpose ana concentration
of force, the amount of know-'
ledge that may be accumulated, not only
without wearisome labor, but actual enjoyment,
would stagger the credulity of
those who live only lor amusement. But
custom coverts the school girl of yesterday
into the lady of to-day, and so cheats
her with the illusion, thatane feels devotion
to books, to be a forfeiture of rights, and
i confession of stupidity. Many, conscious *
}f intellectual poverty, and yet resolved
to remain poor, assume the garb of wisiom
and evince the pride of superiority'
,vhen they ought to feel the humiliation
>f ignorance. Young ladies should read
nore than they do, and with mom to*'
erence to knowledge, and less to enter*
ainment Taste is invited to a feast and
granted the chief place of honor and at*
ention, while judgment is left to glean a
canty subsistence from the fragments of
ormer acquisitions. The >, feelings are
[purished, pampered upon fantastic $xo* 7 *
ic viands, while the principles are sufferid
to sleep, well nign useless either a9
HtidAN /\m n?ir?r\/N*?+0 V,*"
(UIUCS VI ouppvi 1*3.
History ought to be read with care?
nth notes to awake attention?to cultiate
the habit of writing?to improve the
acuity of memory. One fact is worth a
tiousand sentiments. " Philosophy teachlg
by example" is far better than poetry
mertaining by pictures. Human nature
s it is?without disguise?in actual life,
mid the elevations of prosperity, or the
:rugg!es of misfortune, is a far more iraortant
study than those ideal representaons
that superinduce intellectual languor*
nd teach one to dream of a peculiar des
ny, ana 10 oaso me s must uuaiuus uupnt
n casuualties, t!:at in their failure torture
itli longings never to be appeased, and
yen in tiieir occurrence blast by the disppoinunent
of tlie licart's most luxurious
iticipations. Read history?biography
-the essayists; philosophy, and I would
U oo ? iyiqit onnnrl lltVMI ?
JUj suail^vlJ tto IV uio^ owuuu UJIVM ?
shionable car, theological works. The