Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Xcw kind of Wheat. To the EJitors of tho Chruleatown, Va. Free Pre*?. Having aoen n late article in your valuable paper, which culls the attention of the ngricolturists of our county to a wheat which 19 denominated the "Rock Wlieat," I have thought thai it was in my power, to advance rhe farming mteres's, hy statin? a few facts in relation to a dcscripiion of Wheat introduced unto litis county by Mr. Samuel McPherson, from the State of New York. The wheat is called **The White Bearded Wheat." Its productiveness, i should think u)!l exceed, if possible, that of the Rock Wheat, as the heads contain a much larger number of gTains than that wheat is represented to contain. Sixty is a very common number of grains to be contained in a head mid as high as eighty odd is not uncommon. 1 h*ve frequently found contained in the *r?p?h?s fine trains abreast. Last year Mr. McPherson raised one hundred and forty bushels from five and a half sown. And this year in a field on ihe sime farm, (which is the thinnest land on the farm,) the average has been thirtv-two bushels to lite .acre. It bus another advantage which is, that it has a very stiff straw, and does not grow tail, and will stand erect when other wheat is prostrated around it which 1 had an opportunity of observ. ir.g this sejson. In enumerating the od vantages of this wheat, it is proper 10 state the disadvantage w hich attend >!? The) are these : It is p one to shatter, and toe early a wheat to make it prudent in a far.flier to sow his whole crop of this wheat. These reinaks are not intended to disparage the merits of t4The Rock Wheat," a? it ts doub less a valuable wheat, (and with thai belief I shall endeavor to proenre som of if, and will be substituted in place of th< Blue Stem," which is acknowledged b) the majority of our farmers to have degen crated. I neglected to mention above, tha fhe White Wneatio which I refer is sup< posed to be a different wheat from tha introduced into the country by Mr. Wi lian HotF, as bis is a iate wheat, and I understand came from the Slate of Ohio. If you think the information contained it this note of sufficient importance to the far mers of the county, to occupy a place it your columns, you have my permission t< give it publication. R. S. Blackburn. P. S.?To prevent needless application! for this wheat, I will state I have engage' all I have 10 spare to my neighbors one friends, nnd could have disposed of thou, sands if I had them, as every one is enrap lured with the wh'-ai who has either seen ii grow, or seen it af er it has been cieamc tip. It is possible that some of my neighbor! snay have some oi the Wheat to spare. R. s. 8. Bow to ''Stop that Horse." Almost every one knows what vexatior it is to have a horse that is " hard to catch1 when in the pasture. We well remember the many u secrc rcu.cs" that we have had with a venerabh old mare that belonged to the family wher we were "in our teens." She seemed tc consider it a signal of a trial of speec whenever any of the boys approached hei with a bridle in their hands. We have learned better since, than to waste so muct lime or breath, in such pursuit, for we verity believe (hat a horse that can't outrun ui ia'nt worth catching. We saw a contrivance the other day adopted by Mr. Joe Savage Augusta, which we consider as ? sort of self slopping machine. He has i horse which had rattier run than be caught He put a strap round her neck to which h attached a common trace chain and let i drag. This is no incumbrance to tin horse except when he begins to run. Hi will then invariably s'ep upon it and brinj himself to a dead hail by his own strength Maine Farmer. Cheap mode of Raising Water by j traterwheel and Band. In conversation the otherday with Mr, Blako, of Augusta, upon the various plam and modes that are now in use for raising water, he suggested the idea of attaching a b ather band around the shaft of a waterwheel, to which should be attached tir elevator* like those used for carrying uj meal and flour in flour mills. The lowe; part of the band might dip into the water receive a supply and passing over a pullej ut any required height, carry it up ant empty it in'o a cistern at the top, Ironr whence it cc uld be conveyed by tubes to an} distance and to as high an elevation as the cistern. In many places this cheap systcn would do as well or better than a forct pump. The cost would not be great anc the chances of getting out of repair woult he very few. Ibid. COLORING WALLS. It may not be generally known, partic. ularly in the country, that blue vitriol wher mixed with lime, forms a very beautiful a? well as exceedingly cheap coloring mottei for walls. Take good iime and slack it as usual, one and a half pounds of blue vit riol. dissolve the chrystals with boiling wa tor, when dissolved mix it with the white, wash, and add one pound o! glye welt dis solved. This should be prepared in a g!uf pot if possible, to prevent its being burner or scorched. When well mixed the firsi coat must be put on horizontally or from aide to side, and the second coat vertically or up and down. The wall will be of a bright blue color, resembling the blue boL ties some times seen in apothecary shops. By following these directions, women can put on the coloring as smoothly and as well generally as men. The use of Spectacles. The last number of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal has the following remarks, in reference to the use of spectacles. They are "important if true," and there is no reason to doubt their accuracy. "It is one of die gross mistakes of approaching age, that people at such limes imagine a necessity for spectacles, when in f act, in eighty coses out of ti hundred, the eye-sight is positively injured by them. If we tamper with our eyes, and interpose glasses between the cornea and the object, a re modification and readjustment of the parts within necessarily follow?and when? this new arrangement has once been established, it is no easy matter to restore the organs to their former primitive condition. Age brings with it a relaxation of the tension of all the tissues, and the eye suffers tem|)orarily with the entire system, but soon ? reacts, having within i's constitution a principle of adaptation, according to the cir- i cumstances, habits and condition of the indi. vidual. From forty, five to fifty, a period when glasses are erroneousy supposed indispensable, where they are resorted to at i all, although there be a defeclive vision at the former local distance, in reading for example, the sight would soon begin to improve, and finally, to all intents and purposos, in a majority of instances would be re-established. It is a law, and strange it is that its indications are not more observed that the eye, at every period of life, will accommodate itself to the wants and necessities of the individuals?provided it is not artificially deranged. Imperfect vision, -- ! -r ?i? i mo eviis oi near.sigincuwhs, miu m.ofortune of not seeing distinctly in old ngc, 1 were never heard of as being universal till opticians h id become numerous. We do1 not deny the utility of spectacles after they 1 have been once re ortod io ; but we perfectly agree with Dr. Wallace in saying that they are rarely necessary. Near, sighted children are often kepi in that state through life bv being early furnished with concave spectacles. Withhold them alto1 gethcr, and eye would, in exact obedience 1 to the laws of its organization, adopt itself ! to the labor required. But when the g'as! ses are once put on, they must ever after be retained. Incalculable injury has been five renult of the fashionable folly of wearing qmzing ' glasses. Both gentlemen and ladies, in the I spring tide of youth, whose eyes are without 1 a single defect, peep through these useless ' appendages of supposed gentility, till a permanent and incurable d.fficuby ensues, ' which time has no power to correct, which consists in a want of agreement in the focus 1 of two organs. Unless the surface on which ) the image impinges on the retina perfectly agree in both eyes, there will be distorted > and indistinct vision?such as this kind of ' object or prospect glasses produces." ' [We know a gentleman who four or five years ago began to experience some difficulty in reading by candle light, and found it necessary, even in tho day, to seek a strong light to make a pen. Hoping that, by U6C, the eyo would accommodate itself to tho physical changes brought about by advancing age, he submitted to the inconvenience as well as he could for a year or more, when he procurod a pair of spectacles; whic' , however, he very rarely used except in making a pen, while I his daily occupation required him^to read much, ' the greater part of it printed with small type.? In doing this he found it necessary for some time [ to seek a favorable light, and he was carclul to I hold his book or paper as near bis eyes as he i could without straining them so much as la give i (pain. The result is that he has laid his ' spectacles aside and has nonopened them for more ' than six months. He makes a pen in ordinary light without difficulty, and reads the finest 1 print with ease at little if any more than the common distance from the eye. The eye does 1 net always accommodate itself to the dieianee ' as readily now as it did in early lifo. But it is ' now painful to read with the book as far removed 1 as was most agreeable twelve months since.? 1 How long ihis fovarable change may last, time ' only can determine. It is probable the same " effect would not have been produced had the eyes been less excercised in reading fine print. ' ED Chkr. GAZ.] ' From the Richmond Compiler. THE CAPTURED SLAVES. To the Editor of the Compiler, i Gentlemen?The articles which you sent mo from the Northern papers, in relation to the persons in custody for offences alledg' ed to have been committed on board a \ Spanish vessel, suggest several questions of \ a good deal of interest. Il these persons are charged with having 1 committed on the high seas the crime oi ) piarcy as defined by the luw of nations, there r> is no doubt that they may be tried before a Circuit Court of the United States. If they ' hnd been found in this country, the trial ' would have been in the Circuit for that Dis1 irict in which they were found. Being " brought into the United States, the trial takes ' place before the Circuit Court lor the dis1 tricl into which they were first brought. ' 1 apprehend, however, that the offence ' really committed is not an offence against ' all nations, and like piracy punishable by any. The fact charged seems to be murder and robbery on board of a ship belong, ing exclusively to subjects of a foreign State; ' and it appears to be an offence only against i 1 the nation on board whose vessel the mur1 der and robbery have been committed, and I ??Ivl.. A?/i)iia!ualv Ku nntinn. If puiiisi'duiu cauuonnj <*>j iiuuum. > ' would be otherw ise if subsequently the per.. sons on board the vessel had thrown of its ' national character, cruised piratically and committed piracy on other vessels. Then ' again the offenders would be persons who plight be tried as pirates in the courts of the Union. But I do not see any thing of its kind any where alleged. It is scarcely necessary to add that in the view I take of the case, the trial for piracy in the courts of the Union must result in an acquittal. When thus acquitted, they will no doubt be claimed as the property of Spanish sub. jects.?Whether or no the Courts of the United States will recognize them as property, will depend upon whether they appear to be property according to the laws of Spain. Questions of this sort are not new in this country. The stiongest case on the tsubject is that of the"Antelope?10 Wheat. 66. Tl?e material facts ofibat case were as follows : A privateer called the Columbia, sailing under a Venezulean commission, entered the port of Baliimore in the year 1810 ; clandestinely shipped a erew ofthir y or forty men; proceeded to sea ; hoisted he Arragan fl ig, assuming the name of the Arraganta; and prosecuted a voyage along the coast of Africa, her officers and thegrea. for part of her crew being citizens of the United States. Off the coast of Africa, she captured an American vessel from Bristol, in Rhode Island, from which 6he look twenty five Africans. She captured several Portugese vessels, from which she also took Africans. And she captured a Spanish vessel, called the Antelope, in which she took a considerable number of Africans. The two vessels then sailed in company to the coast of Brazil, where the Arraganta was wrecked, and her mnster, Afetcalf, and a great part of her crew made prisonersThe rest of the crew, with the armament of the Arraganta, were transferred to the Antelope, which, thus armed, assumed the name of the General Ramirez, under the command of John Smith, a citizen of the United States. On board this vessel were all the Africans which had been captured by i the privateer in the course of her voyage. The vessel, thus freighted, was found hovering near the coast of the United States b> the revenue cutter Dallas, under the command of Captain Jackson, and finally brought into the port of Savannah for ndjudication. The Africans,at the time of her capture, amounted to upwards of two hundreJ and eighty. On their arrival, ilm vess"ls and the Africans were libelled and claimed by the Portuguese and Spanish Vice Consuls, reciprocally. The case was carried up to the Supreme Couitof the United States and there argued by Mr. Berrien and Mr. Chas. J. Ingcrsol in favor of the claimants, and by Mr. Wirt and Mr. Key on behalf of the United States, The U. States asserted no property in tnemseives, i but insisted on the right of the Africans ( to freedom. The Consuls of Spain and | Portugal respectfully demanded them as slaves ; who had in the regular course of 1 legitimate commerce been acquired as prop, erty by the subjects of their respective sovereigns. Chief Justice Marshall delivered | the opinion of the Court, in which he reviewed the decisions'of tin-English Court of Admirality, nud laid itdfwn as the principle of those decisions, "that the legality of the capture of a vessel engaged in the slave trade depends on the law of the country to which the vessel belongs. If that la v gives its sanction to the trade, restitution will be decreed ; if that law prohibits it, the vessel and cargo will be condemned as a good prize." The decision in the case of the Antelope was made some years since the act of Congress making it piracy for a person to be engaged in the slave trade who is a citizen of the United Stales, or one of the crew of a vessel owned by or navigated for citizens of the United S;ates. It was considered thai the legislation of this country on this subject operated only on its own citizens and vessels?that one nation could not prescribe a rule for other nations?and of course that one nation could not make a law of nations. In the present case the persons dotaiqgd on board the vessel as slaves are said to have come from a Spanish Island, and to have been legally held as slaves by the laws of Spain. How the fact will turn out I do not know, aud therefore say nothing about it. C. R. Mr. Willis, one of the editors of the "Corsair" who married in England a few years since is now on a visit to that country, and furnishes a seri -s of letters for the Corsair. From one of th'.'sc' letters ifhich gives an account of a ball "at Alma ks" we make the following extract. The bust and neck of almost every lady within reach of our eyes might have served as models forsculpture. From the zone 10 the chin, English women from seventeen to thirty are almost invariably superb. Wo looked in vain for a hollow chest or a bent back, or what is sometimes called a " thread unper looking girl." The shoulders full were dazzling, tind of the healthiest tint of white, and the carriage of the whole bust graceful and stately. Within these limits I think (and my friend thought with me) lie all the perfections of the English Venus. We looked at features. There was scarce a classic forehead or nose in the room At the feet?they were rather of useful than of ornamental proportion to the figure.? At the grace of the dancers?you could not find in all France so indifferent a dancer as the best at Almack's. At the complexion ?ruddy and coarse ; though for the best of reasons, that probably every lady on the floor had been on horseback three or four L j_ ? , nours every any in ine season, expuseu iu the tender mercies of a riding-hat, and such sun and wind us pleases the clerk of Eng., lish weather. We busied ourselves composing a Venus from the national beau ics. The French furnished the limbs and grace of movement; the Greeks and Asiatics the nose and forehead ; the English, hair, throat, neck, and bust ; the American, compl- xion, feet, and eyes. The mouth was still to be provided but we agreed to share the honors of that feature between us. All this of course might be disputed on individual exceptions, but it is curious how nearly universal are these perfections to the nation to which we name them. in the course of the eveuhig I found myself vis a vis in the quadrille to the Queen's most beautiful Maid of Honor. She is a daughter of Lord R-vers, rather tall, and combining a most majestic embonpoint of figure will) n slightness of limo and a slenderness and statehness of neck seldom seen in such graceful proporiion. To the ?300 ? year which Maids of Honor receive for dress, the Queen, my partner informed me, has added another hundred, thinking the sum insufficent. You know, probably that on their marriage they receive also a dowry of ?1,000. Then there are the Ladies in Wailing, who are of the highest rank of nobility, and llio Bedchamber women, who receive also ?300 a year, and are generally ladies of good birth io reduced circumstan ces. These nil take their turns of service .? for two months together. < My pretty and noble informant pave me i these household statistics very good natur- i edly between pa so rale and dos a dos ; \ and as she was closely connected with < those who had the best opportunity of ? knowing, I asked her a question or two j touching the personal qualities of her Ma. i jesiy. She thought Victoria fancied herself very beautiful, " which she was not," and a very good horseman,44 which she was not decidely," and that she was very I impatient of a difference of opinion when I in private withAer Ladies. She admitted, hpweyer, that she was generous, forgiving and cleverer than most girls of her age. When alone with two or three of her maids, she said, the Queen was no more like a Queen than any body else," and was very fond of a bit of fun or a bit of scandal, or tiny thing that would not have done if other people were present." As far as it went, I should think this might be relied on as the impression her Majesty makes upon those wiio daily associate with her. A MOST EXTRAORDINARY DISCLOSURE. The facts disclosed in the subjoined testimony, on oath, by Col. Pleasonton, of Ph.ladelpbia, are so very extraordinary, that nothing short of our knowledge of the h..,k /.! ifiwtor nnd nrrsnnnl worth of the de "'fa" - i ponent coulJ have induced us lo believe the reality of his narrative. As it is, how. ever, the facts which he relates may be safely pronounced, foratfrocity and diabolism of spirit without precedent or parallel. Nat. Intel. From the Harrisburg Chroniole. We most earnestly call the attention of the people of Pennsylvania to the horrible disclosures made below. If a baser con* spiracy was ever contemplated, we have yet to hear of it. The person giving this testimony is no partisian ; a man of much reputation and high standing, and was one of Gen. Patterson's principal officers, when that officer marched to Harrisburg to quell the rioters. A. J. Pleasonton appeared before the committee, and being duly sworn according to law, deposed as follows : Question. Please state any conversation you had with any person connected with the late dis'urbances at Harrisburg ; or a member of either branch of the Legislature in relation to the intention of the Committee of Safely, or of those who acted with them, tearing up the railroad, or any other act, so as to prevent the troops under Gen. Patterson's command reaching Harris'' urg. Ansiccr. I do not know what the intention of the committee or those connected with them was; I had no conversation with any one on the subject of the intention of those persons ; I have no knowledge of any thing done in Philadelphia, except such as is derived from common rumor. It was cuirently reported every where in Philadelphia, before the troops left for Harrisburg, that they would be prevented from marching, or would be obstructed in their pro. gress to the State Capitol, and the moan* to accomplish this was said to be the removal of some of the rails on the railway. There was much excitement in Philadelphia on the reception of the Governor's orders, and the rumors assumed the complexion of the political parlies who originuted them. I had been informed by Gen. Patterson that the persons who were to have removed the rails were prevented from so doing by the interference of some of the officers of the voIubteers themselves, who represented to them tlio innjury that would result to their friends from the execution of such an intention. /1.1/iali/ia A. i If. J?/l./<7/l<l Plonca frt V^tiro IV it try iUf x^u* ivuai/ tu state whether you had any conversation with any oflhe Van Buren members of either branch of the Legislature ns to what the Van Buren party, or any portion of it, designed to do in order to prevent the troops under Gen. Patterson from reaching Marrisburg? Answer On the 20th of January last, I called to see Col. M'Elwee, a member of the House of Representatives from Bedford, on some public business, at his lodgings, in the evening. He was undressed, and about to go to bed, but entered into conversation with mo on the subject of my business; in the course of which he referred to the character of the volunteer troops from Philadelphia, who had been in service in the preceding month of December at this place. Ho spoke very favorably of them, and said that it was well for them that so many of them were Democrats, as otherwise they would never have lived to have reached Harris burg. He then stated that on the announcem?nt here that the troops from Philadelphia 1 - - - n would obey the order ol tne vxovernor, aoa would march for Harrisburg, it was agreed by himself and two or three others whom he did not name, to prevent their arrival at this place at all hazards, supposing at the moment that, as the troops belonged to Philadelphia, they were ail Whigs, and favorable to the State Administration. To carry out this agreement, he said it was de.. termmed to remove a few of the rails on the rail road at the most dangerous part of it, and also to form a mine under this exposed part, to be filled with gunpowder, so that in the confusion which would arise from the train of curs containing the troops being overthrown by thus running off the track, the mine might be sprung, and the whole body of them be blown into the air together! For this purpose, he himself had purchased three barrels of gunpowder, and said that he had paid forty dollars out of his own pocket I for the purchase. To convince me that I he was serious in what he stated to have been their design, he further said that his associates therein were men of tried cour age, and, having been officers of the army during last war, knew how to execute the project they hod conceived. This design was abandoned by them in consequence of information having been re. ccived subsequen'ly to the purchase of the gunpowder, that the troops then on their route from Philadelphia were not all of the samo political party, a large portion of them belonging to the Democratic party, to which Col M'Elwee end his associate* in this iK sign also belong. He further said that it was to this circumstance alone that the arrival of the troops from Philadelphia at Harrisburg without injury or loss was to be attributed. The design was abandoned because it would have been impossible to have separated the Democrats from the Whigs in its execution, and protected them from [he d inger of the explosion. A.J. PLEASONTON. [Col. Plkaso.\ton, in explanation] I deem it prop1 r to state to the C mimittec. lest some person might suppose that I had been instrumental in causing my testimony on this subject to be adduced, that I have never mentioned this conversation before my exanrnafon to-day to any but to one gentleman from a neighboring S.aie, wh) was casually hero in attendance on public business, and with whom I was in the habit of daily intercourse. Wlien on the eve of his departure from llirrisburg. he incautiously repealed the substance of this conversation to a member of the S.-natc, and mentioned my name us that of his authority for his statement.? That Senator caused me to be supcenaed as a witness before this committee. When I learned for what object i had been thu9 subpoenaed, I declined to give my testimony until I had stated these circumstances to Col. M'Elwee. This I did this morning. Col. M'Elwee made no objections to my giving his conversation in evidence, and according ly 1 have answered the question which the committee have proposed to me. A. J. PLEASONTON. Since the above was in type we see it stated in an administration paper that the whole was a hoax ; that McElwce deceived Pieasonton with a false story. The following petition to the County Court of Lincoln, N. C. has been published in the Lincoln Republican. State of North Carolina, Lincoln County: Your humble Petitioners, to the Wor. shipful Court of said County : Confessedly, we acknowledge that your Worshps are vested wi h authority to grant a license to tavern-keepers to retail ardent spirits, when you think that it woiilJ he an advantage to any Community, and on application establish such a house, for the convenience of travellers and others, who might need that article for medicinal purposes. As we expect that application will bo made to you, ai ybur next court for a grant ef license to retail ardent spirits in our neighborhood } we your female petitioners have therefore resolved to send up this our counter petition to your worships, with a hope that you will tuke into consideration our remon. stranceand pl? a against such an establishment. Nevertheless, on application being j made for a license so to do, if it seem good to your Worships to set up a retailing establishment in our neighborhood, we your petitioners pray that you will require good and sufficient security for the orderly conducting of the same. Your female petitioncrs remonstrate against your grant ng a license to any person or persons to retail spirituous liquors in our neighborhood for the following reasons: I. As Wives. Such a house places somt of us in imminent danger of having th< marriage vow made with us before God ant many witnesses, brokf n. It has been prom ised that we should be loved dearer than alt if a liscense be granted, another object of i husband's love may become our rivals, t< our great grief and mortification. Chastit; of speech and behavior may be bartered a such a place, for depravity and abandonmcn of all good. The promise made for ou temporal good may be violated ; instead o pro:ection from abuse and injuries, we mat be persecuted and injured ; instend of hav ing contrioutions to our pleasure, peace ani comfort we may suffer the privation of al these. Instead of having our edificatioi and felicity promoted, our feelings may b iujured, and we made miserable, Such i house may destroy all social and domestic peace, betiVecn husband and wife. Jnstcac of ffnding a guide in a husband, we may b< doomed to wander alone in the darksomt wilderness. Instead of enjoying the bless ?..g of conversation by ourfirc^siile, the fa culty of speech may be prostituted to cursing and railing. Instead of rendering assis? tahce in the administration of domestic gov ernment in the family, all may b> come aft archy, confusion and disorder. Instead o cvciy pleasing association connected wit! the endearing name of husband, nothing er< long may be left, but the remembrance o better days, while we may be forced to dnnl the bitter draught of our suffering tears. VV< now having living husbands, and possess i name in the land of the living ; but if u li cense be granted, we may ere long be lef in widowhood, forlorn in sackcloth and bath ed in tears, and yet ashamed to give a his tory of our husbands' death. II. As Mothers. Your petitioners urge that their children may become usele i YtAmhnrc in k irinli/. It n rannol think o living, suffering and djing, and leave nove slige behind, to show how we had aciet here : we wish ro leave a monwment in oui children, to ages yet to come, that genera tions yet unborn may call us blessed. I 1,cense in this case be granted, our chddrei may be strangers to patcrn d authority an( discipline, duly administered; and thus grow up outlaws ; so thry never could serve theii country in honor. For want of means 1 our children may nercr be able to attain ar education, to qualify for usefulness in llic world ; for it may be, their hapless fathers may spend their t me and substance; in idleness nnu riot; they themselves may b<come idle drones upon society, for the want ol business fathers to direct their energies in early life. Fur-her J For want ofreligious precepts and example, our children may loiter God's holy day away, for want of a sober father to take them by the hand and lead them to the house of God, and thus ere long may rend a tender mother's heart. Our hope in our children may be indulged, only to become food for bitter grief and disappointment, if our plea prevail not with you, for they themselves may become the unhappy victims of a licensed house, and thus w* may be disgraced in the disgrace of out children, and all our dignity as mothers be sunk in degradation. III. As young Ladies. We urge before your Worships, that if license be granted to a retailing house in our neighborhood as a benefit, we shall have too great a benefit; for already there are the means ofobtaining all that may be wanted, of the article proposed to be vended, within two mik's oftho place asking license. Further :?We hat? immorality, and such a house must in its nature pro luce it. Still further. If a IL cense be granted in this case, your worships may dig up by the roots all hope ofour future happiness in this life. The consummation of human bliss i9 to be found only in the marriage relation. To this, the common centre, all civilized nations in live world gra. viiate. There is no single vice in all tho black catalogue, which carries in its train so many evils as drunkenness ; and such houses invariably make some men such. There is nothing in the character of a drunkard which promises us happiness in an alliance of marriage with him. Every drunkard is an unjust man ; in him is an utter want of meekness, charity and love. He npvtxr linns tin another's tear, he never binds up a broken heart, he never symphathise3 with a bruised spirit, he never soothes an honest pang of suffering, be injures often, but seldom forgives an itttfty done, he never subdues an evil passidnfhe never adjured sin, he never does a pious act, nor breathes a pious prayer, nor wislies a pkwswiah. He is blind to all the charms of beauty. Though we offer h m our smiles to light him through this arksome wilderness, he will reject them in disdain ; our eyes have no spelis for liim. in our steps he can seo no majesty, nor can he hear music in our voice; our smiles inspire no hop 's ?n him, nor with him have our actions grace. Our lovs, the dearest boon ever granted to mortal man, is no solace to him ; in it he has no delight. Though we be the very image ofLoVE, our tears have no power of eloquence with him, nor is there the note of the lyre found ia our tongue. We therefore pray that your Worships will not reject this our petition ; we leave our case m your hands, trusting that wisdom will guide you to act for the good of our com* munity. 03" Signed by thirty-three ladies. the croton aqueduct. This immense work almost the greatest ever undertaken in our country, is progressing rapidly. The work extends for y two miles through a foUgh and rocky country. The work has been divided into 96 sections?the last of which terminates at 144th street. Here the receiving reservoir is to be made?-rover, ing thirty acres. One hundred streets below ! this, there is to be a distributing reservoir, I covering ten acres. This reservoir is 114 feet above tide water, and will carry water to the , height of the Cupola of the City Hail near the I Park, (N. Y.) The cost will not be for from $12,000,000 before the work is all completed, so that water can be received into the houses of the citizens. Nearly five millions of dollar* hive already been expended ,upou this work. > A bout 4000 men are now employed upon the ; work. the we8leyan centenary conference. ; The Conference of the Wesley an Society, ? recently held at Liverpool, was one of nncom* j mon interest to that body. The Rev. Robert New ton, one of the most distinguished divines " ot the present day, was requested by the Con* ' ference to be its representative at the General 3 Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 3 Church, to be held at Philadelphia, in May v nori tkp centenary fund amounts to more t than one mil.ion of dollars,?of this sum four t hundred and ninety-four thounsand five bunr dred and ninety-two dollars, or nearly one-half f of the entire subscription, have been paid to the general treasurer. ' WuiTiriELD Centenary.?There was ' present at this centenary a man named Rich. ' ard Poulson, at the advanced age of 103 ye'tra, II who had heard Whitefield preach on thesarae i spot a century before, having been taken there by bis mother. ] DURHAM CATTLE. j This description of stock appears to be still on the rise. This is owning to the great de? 3 mand for the thorough-bred animals in all the 5 Western States, and tho present impossibility * of eupplying that demand by the natnral in* crease of the number of animals now in this r country. They are, without doubt, to be ?b] tained in the vicinity of Lexington in greater perfection that any other place in the United States. Atthesaleof Mr. Wm. A Warner, last ' week, his bull Frederick was struck off at 1 $1623. Several of his cows sold at prices vary3 ihg from $900 to $1100. f At the Stock Fair next week, there will be a i fine display of these beaotiful and valnable ani. male. Among the fine bulls that will probably * be exhibited are Carcass, belonging to the Fayette Stock Importing Company, Qrosvenor, - imported by the Ohio Company, and belonging t a rfl Tf PU? fl/.l A rr/1 n* IU ! n. VILiCHJ l UUlUIIUUCIi ITVIUUgllt^ iu B. Warfield, Esq., and a number of others, highly celebrated. Lexington (Ky.) Intelligencer, of 27th uh. 5 SHOOTING A RAT. s A few weeks since, while the Albany l and Worcester ra lroad was progressing at . Palmer, Massachusetts, the workmen em. 1 ployed there were in ihe habit of placing the r powder they used for blasting in a neigh. boring grist mill for safety. At one time they had two unopened kegs, and one with i the head off and the powder exposed, stand. J ing in one corner of the mill. Two meo / and a boy were* also in the mill at the time, r and discovered a very large rat, which one , of them proposed shooting with a doublej barrelled gun, which was near them. The ) others consented, and the gun was loaded 5 from i be powder kegs, but the rat had hid . himself. After chasing it round the build* ! ing some time, they at last fired an t killed the rat, took it up, and were retreating, when one of the party spoke of the powder, i Upon looking back, they discovered that they had fired at the rat behind the powder, and that the wadding was on fire, and on the edge of the open keg. With great t courage and presence of mind, the boy offered to go and remove it, which he did; but just as he turned his back from it, tho whole of the kegs exploded, blowing the building 10 pieces, killing one of the men on the spot, and wounding tho other and i the boy in such a manner that they died shortly after.?New York Suo.