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T X. BY REQUEST. A TRUE STORY. Founded on facto which occurred in one of the interior Counties of North Carolina. ' WRITTEN FOR A FRIEND. THE ACCEPTED PRAYER. All is bc?t, though we oft doubt What tho unsearchable dispose Of highest wisdom brings about And ever best found in tho closo. Milton. 14Good morning, Mr. how is your father?" said 1 us a tall, handsome looking youth rode on horseback up to ine House 1 resided in. 1 had been anxiously expecting hint? and the question was spoken in the soft accent of kind regard and touched the heart of the youth, veil to tears. "No better?never will be I am afraid; do go over and comfort my mother, she is distracted with grief, my sister is a sorry comforter. They have sent for you." It was but a short mile, and without any farther conversation, I accepted the invitation and soon reached the house of mourning. In the time of the war, it was a a hous3 formerly occupied by Cornwallis as a fort. It was curiously formed.? Made of logs, of very heavy timber, destitute of windows, and one cnornions chimney occupied the entire side. Many a time have 1 seen the good Dutchman smoke his pipe in one corner, and in the opposite corner his vrow imitate his example. They were once poor, but by their honest industry had accumulated a competency. Their plantation was well stocked with cattle, and their house furnished better than the most of their neigh1 * " dots 01 meir grade in society. They had toiled together in the house and field and their interests were inseparable. Such deep affection I never observed, even in the higher walks of life, and I am tempted to believe that the polish, the improved mental acquirement is, after all, no acquisition to the purity of deep affection. Sickness had laid prostrate the strength and reason of the old man, and the following night was the crisis of the disease. The physician gave 110 hopes and I found Mrs. D ? exhausted with grief. At the sight of my approach, she broke out in aj deeper wailing. I bade her trust in the mo*'/* ? ' h? ^1!/v 1 1 * wi wiu gntr ui niu, ouue ncr nope j that her husband would be restored to her, and above all, to resign every desire to liis Almighty will. "Accuse me not of selfishness/' said she clasping her hands in agony. "It is for my son I grieve. Who will be his guide when his father is dead? Witness my offering." And she fell on her knees in the attitude of prayer. " As Abraham offered his pure boy for a sacrifice, so do I, oh, my God! to save tli3 soul of my child. Accept this frail body in lieu of. his father; if death is decreed to visit us,j let me be the victim." She arose comforted, for she believed, what the heart in the bitterness of its agony did require;, would be accomplished^. And strange to relate, the father recovered?lived to, watch, to administer the prescriptions left the wife?but mental malady, and who ran ^ administer to a mind diseased? JS!m was convinced she was a victim, and she wn? resigned that her prayer had met acceptance. A week from the day I visited \Tr.! , I was called to the house of the civ- i ing wife. The summons was so urgent1 that I rode on horseback, but to my great J disappointment, the vital spark had (led. j I found her husband sitting in his corner smoking as usual, and the deep grief pictured on his visage was heart-rending to behold. I sought the daughter. Sue was n p a girl I loved for her affectionate heart. I found her immersed in grief. The heart of woman is peculiarly adapted to sorrow; not so with man, he is supported by a phisolophy which forbids him to yield to grief. Association is the great bond that keeps affection constant; without it memory is but a poor substitute. The daughter knew that she had lost a friend that never could be replaced, a daily adviser and comforter The son for whom this great sacrifice had been made was a wayward boy and given to intemperance, and it Wft this fear, bereft of his father's care, that caused Mrs. D. s to express so much in favor of her boy. She did not consider the power" of female influence to win the straying heart?the battle is not always awarded to the strong?the timid mother relied on the effect of example, and the stern precept of his father, to reclaim him. Alas! was it ever known to profit? The burial day came?I bad taken the household charge and endeavored to conduct every thing I had observed Mrs. D, to perform. - - ! ? - f : ,1., 1 he (lissausiaciion ui arranging m? room where poor Mrs. D. was 1 ;>i<l, waf evidently expressed on one of her ser vant's countenance; and after great per suasion to tell me how I was in fault, she exclaimed. "You quality have youi fashions, and we have ours, if you wil unlock the big chest and give me tin towels and sheets I will arrange thing: better." To gratify so simple a request atkvn th*? ?l<>nirod nrtieles in her charge with which after proem ing nails and fork* she decorated the death apartment ii white drapery. It was a singular mode but the impression it produced on m] feelings sanctioned the propriety of thi fashion' The funeral was conducted will solemnity. The neighbors attended will sorrowful countenances. Mrs. D. wo kind to the poor and they mourned thei benefactress. She was laid in Iter grav watered by the tears of her household. Twelve ycarsclapscd! what a filling u of time! One year discovers the vicissitudes of life, what then must be the revolution of twelve bring forth? I became a wamlerer over the watery deep, visited strange places, experienced many vicissitudes allotted to all mortals, and by the freak of destiny once more returned to the scenes of my childhood. Memory still retained a green spot for the family ot the good Dutchman. The next morning after my arrival at the village where 1 sojourned, 1 ordered my horse and rode to his plantation. The distance was about four miles, and as I again retraced the scenes of childhood I had ample leisure to observe the inroads of time. The forest of majestic oak and pine had been cut down by the woodman, and fields of grain hod usurped their place?some few i it ?i - 1 * ' - - 1 * ii vt-s nuu iivi*ii uuuiveu in rviiiiiiii, nun uisplaycd their gnarled and rotten branches, and hollow trunks, looking like skeletons of death. Decay was written on all familiar things. The old school house had rotted down, and saplings were growing lip like youth that usurps the place ol age. The teacher of that rude abode, where was he? Decay had. long fastened her fingers upon his lordly visage, and he was gone' to his long home. The road that was heretofore safe and pleasant fo the traveller, had now changed into washed gulleys and broken hills. As I journeyed 011 the house of the good Dutchman came to view. The same antiquated dwelling house and out-buildings, but they retained their uniform neatness and preservation- It appeared as if old time had stood still, and 1 was again the playful favorite of the inmates of this abode* The otvngr was at home and I received the same warm welcome as of yore. The prayer had been accepted, the mother was taken, ami the father left; but had the end desired met the accomplishment? My inquiries brought out the following tale from the lips of 1I10 bereaved father. " I am alone," said he, ' none to greet yon hut myself. My daughter has married and gone 10 the far West, and my son is dead! The grave has closed over the remains of owe who lived a life of impiety and given to debasing intemperance. The death of his mother caused a suspension in his 'ucked career [ for a season, but as time wore on, he b"camc accustomed to his bereavement, and his heart became scared, and dried up Mite the sea-weed exposed to n summer's sun. My admonitions were unheeded, and he died the death of a drunkard. 1 mourned not?I rejoiced; the relief it gave me cannot be express-fed. The task of guiding and warning him. was wearing my own life away, ami the sacrifice mv beloved wife, had made was ever present; to my imagination. I had not the gift of I persuasive power, my admonition oli'lcd! into reproaches. I a now eonvinc. d if ; was not the im?*t cflVoiive maun'?: to wi-? j hack .1 ayi.ig h?-r?. 11? became liar-f i|(mikI, ami s't i'iie.5 niv c<< panv. \s ciatioo. the nl\ . ie that biro's life hm a i j h-art, was ri ?w lv f 11 I'll! Ill n?<? smxirtx x . I .lire- u??n. Alas! li s 0*^mi a'???-lH'cl i* the ihir? of ar-, ili*iil s|.I"i?s. V ?n know 1 r was faine-i i r( <ri ace n ; -mm v, .in-' h s !rnpr? veil i ?t I li ct 11;i<-?-111 in >n for one so youn and i whose advantages of ? ducaii> n w ore so 'united. Tin- sv-etest and most lovely flower of inttire hears a hidden sting.? I TI.e r,oni|)iii'i< -a is a Inn* one for him who was our pride i > 1 hoa-t. The mildew ol intemperance Idighlcd his hpaniy, and paralyzed ' is intellect. My wife sinned through hto alloction to pray for death and spare my agency to guide arid win him to a virtuous path. I have sinned too much in prizing the I gift, from heaven so as to make me forgetful of the Great Giver. It was a sod night lie was brought home to die! I had not seen him for weeks and knew not his dwelling place. My eyes were strained to almost blinbness in watching for him through the day, and ears ached in listening till mid-night for his step. When he dr> did rr?mn home I was comforted to know that he was not committing some evil deed or suicide. Rut this comfort had long left me and I was a prey to devouring suspense. I could hear how he did congregate with beings of debasing mould, and I dreaded evil from such companionship. At last I became weary, and wished in mv heart, for an end to my misery, cither in the closing of my own life or his ?I had no choice, he was all that attached me to life, and the mere pleasure of animal life had lost the attraction. We i wish secretly for things we dare not acknowledge in publicity, hut God will not f he mocked, and my anxiety had a period. As if in mockery to my excited feelings, , the evening was beautiful and calm as the musings of an elevated and peaceful mind, f sat gazing upon the road that led to my * house. Soon there appeared several men " ' 1 ? ft man iirwwi ihr J warning smwiy, ui-uimg ? ...... j litter, and that man proved to he my son > I received them with a distracted mind r lie was laid upon a cot and then I per 1 eeived he was wounded. Have you heart! 2 <>f steel, said f to them, that you bring hin s thus 10 me without a physician? I woul< I havp paid him amply for his trouble. De , lay no time, fly for one immediately pro , cure one ere it is too late. 44 llold Fathc 1 in mercy to yourself," said my son , "They are not to blame, they have don< i me an act of kindness. I am in custod1 e ?I am guilty of murder?save me frori i the stigma of a halter! a gibbet! let m i die quietly in your house and blest wit s your forgiveness. I know I do not de r serve your pardon, but grant me the onl e and last favor 1 shall ask of you on earth. God knows how sincerely I forgov p hirn all past offences. lie raved the whol V * night, tn the interval of strong convul-l , sions he was sensible of his evil life, and ! approaching end. In vain I implored him i to allow tne to send for a physician to1 ' soothe his sufferings.?The proposition maddened him. He said my kindness was not what he merited, and to lengthen | his life was only to add to his misery. The sacrifice his mother had made for him was seriously recalled to his memory, and the idea of eternal separation haunted him. The pure, and impure, have no companionship in the world without cn<\ said he, and what hope have I to meet her hereafter? Intemperance had been his t bane, and there wa3 no antidote to this ! upas to human life, and eternal ruin.? j The morning sun rose in brilliancy, but' the rays greeted his corpse! Years have pa-std away since that j event hut the wearing tin.light will haunt > mo I lift t l?*f limo .1-111 I fttvwv-lt# I ?uv iiiiii mj miMi y mi'uiiai i mi^nvj have saved him, and through the crucible , of his great affliction wrought in everlas-i ting reforni. The man he dangerously wounded recovered and yet lives u monument of my neglect. The sin of petition has been upon us, and 1 patiently await my exit from the cares and sorrows of ny life " With a sorrowful heart I left the he-' reared old man, ami whenever I would question the afflictions and disappointments I experience in my path of life. I remember the accepted prayer, and secretly whisper, Father; tin will be done on earth, as it is doncln heav?n.M Ei.OISE. Item*. Virtue is the queen of laborers; Coin ion the mistress of fools; Vanity the pride of nature, and Contention the overthrow of families. No man ran he truly happy here, without a well grounded hope of being happy hereafter. We pittv the man who ran harborenmitv against his (ellow;?he 'noses half the engo\meet of life;?he embitters bis own existence. Loss nf Honor.? 1 bad rather (said Fonts the Twelfth) s' ffcr the loss of a kingdom, w hich oa\ he retreivrd, than the loss uf honor, w! 'eh ever can. Ladies, like tulips, in the sunshine show? 'Tis to variety their charms tlwy owe. Passion.?A " an in n passion is like Vesuvius in an eruption, vomiting forth flames and red hot stones, which d?sccnd immediately into its own bosom, till chance directs it over the edge of the crater, to deal destruction to others. "\h h.vt . voi* (li i!1! Inol as ham'soivm ns con'i. on, la'. I*. "I h .o\v i , h..i iiu c*,? one i.fiord 'o 1.1 :I - * - "' i H H' . ? 1.1, -VHf ^ ^ > , 11 ;t r ' " I \ t'ijf., ;, "vnman't, spunk like f ?she els i it heck ri*r}?t [1 up like *i rat when h sinioge dog 'conies ii.-n lu'r; -he is all ryes, ?laws, and hrist!' K. * is a fea?t where 'he grace is sometimes heller thai, the dinner. Rcmn^kahle Phenomenon.?There is a man in Vermont who sneezes so hard, cv rv time he commences lie pitches a somerset. Happy Marriages.?Miss Landon says T'h only happv marriages I ever heard of, are those in some Eastern story I once read, where the king marries a new wife every niyht and cuts off her head in the morning." A nlircioinn nttonilinff a man nfflirtPil '* 6 wiih inflammatory rheumatism, reports that he whs some part of the time suffering under such sharp pains, that those who attempted }o turn him in his bed, were severely cut in the hands and arms. A woman with a beaming face, But with a heart untrue, Though beautiful, is valueless As diamonds form'd of dew! I Which is the best, to he over head and 'ears in lo"e or in water? In the winter, in love; in the summer, in water. Past Love.?I have loved another; and in that thought, as in an urn, lie the ashes of all affection. Eloquence is vehement simplicity. The following Rules" are posted in a New Jersey school room: "No kissing girls in school time. No , licking the master during holytlays." Connvhialities,?A woman that has hut one lover thinks herself no coquette; ! she that has several, concludes herself no ' more a coquette. , It is the hardest thing in love, to feign . it where it is not, or hide it whete it is; , but it is easier counterfeited than conceal. ed. Absence is to love, what fasting is to 3 the body; a little stimulates it, but a long | abstinence is fatal. A man is more reserved on his friend's concerns than his own; a woman, on the r contrary, keeps her own secret better than another's. ? p Love is the poetry of human nature. n The most rational and therefore truest remark that has been made with respect l( to the great question, "Which is the better, the married or the single state?" is the following:?Whichever resolution you ,, come to, repentance will follow. Economy.?"My dear, you use tos c much butter on jour bread," said a lady I who had been Carried late in life, to her husband; they will not make butter for less than 25 cents a pound now-a-days." ! "I do not know what they make'xi for," answered he, "but I buy it to eat upon my i bread." j A sailor's description of hunting "Going to see my father t'other day, he ax'ed me to take a voyage a hunting with i him; so, when the swabber had rigg'd the horses, they brought me one to stow myself on board of?one that they told me was in such right trim, she would go as fust on any tack as a filkstone cutter; so I got aloft, and clapt myself athwart ship and made as much way as any on 'em; audio the windward of a gravel pit was spied a hare at anchor; so I weighed and bore away, and Just as 1 had overtaken her, my horse came plump ashore upon a rock-?the backstay broke?she pitched me over forecastle, came keel upwards, and unshipped my shoulder; and hang me if ever I sail on land privateering again." From the Texas Telegraph. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, ) \ February 12, 1838. ) Dear Sir?In reply to your enquiries of this date, respecting the situation of the financial department of the government, over which 1 preside, in which you offer some apology for giving me so much trouble. I can assure you sir, that so far from considering it a trouble, that it affords me infinite pleasure to have an opportunity through your laudable inquiries to lay before the public, a fair statement of the situation of the financial department. This is a duty which, as a public officer, I feel^bnund to perform, and do it the more willingly, inasmuch as the reports from my department, which have been regularly and faithfully made to each session of the general congress, have by that body been neglected and not laid before the people as was expected by me.? I I nve a right to expect that the representatives of the people would not only know, but perform their dutv towards their constituents. In this however, I am j sorry to say I have been entirely disap-j pointed. Why that body have so acted and nc- j llected to give to the people that information which is ever sought with avidity, I \ am entirely unprepared to say. Of one ! thing however I am satisfied, that the fault ; has not been mine. Many difficulties must necessarily be overcome before the financial department of a new government like ours, can be property systematized and settled down upon anything like a 'air basis I flatter myself however, that the time is not far distant when this department will be enabled to make a shewing that will certainly be considered as an anomaly in the history of civilized nations. You will find, that in the estimate which nllnws, the expenditures of the govern-*' nciitare estimated to the 30 th of Ji:uo] icxt. linount of audited claims unpaid, $>851,277 Military claims undrawn for about 182,000 4 Fay of Military up to the 3'Jth June next, 00,000 , 4 Civil and contingent expenses of the Government up to the 30th June, about 125,000 4 Indian appropriations probably 22,000 4 Promissory notes of the Government issued, .700,000 J 4 Interest on funded debt after 30th June, 20,012 4 Interest on loans effected in United States 25,000 81,785,311; CONTRA, Amount due from foreign ajrrni!?, 250,000 Revenue from customs, up to the 30th Juno noxf, 217,G50 4 District taxes, 200,000 j 4 Duo on land hcrctoforo granted 200,000 4 Salo of Galveston Island and other property, directed by law, 150,000 81,0-17,050 737,000 Leaving this amount due on the 30th of June next, S73G.GG9 It is proper to remark here that the sum of 8240,500 has been funded and redeemable at the convenience of the Government, at any time after the expiration of five years and as such the interest alone is estimated in the above account. Thp amount estimated as arising from Customs has been predicted on the returns of the two last quarters. I feel well assured however, that the ensuing quarters will very nearly, if not quite double the last. In as much, therefore as the estimate was taken from the lowest possible base it would be safe to conclude, that an increase rnther than a diminution might reasonably by expected from that source. The amount estimated arising from direct tax has been taken from returns made from various counties. Little doubt remains however, that a much larger amount might safely be estimated The. returns being as j*ct imperfect from the various districts, it is impossible co asccrtnin with precision the amount due or? lands heretofore located. The estimate, however, which I have here used, though somowhat uncertain, may, notwithstanding, be considered within reasonable limits, in as much as the members of Congress representing the different districts, and professing a knowledge of the facts, estimated the dues on lands here tofore granted, a half a million, i In estimating tho product arising from the sale of Ghlveston Island, and other III I *y" ' \ .. . v .JFP* : ? ?r* v. I properly directed by law, I bare made mV | estimate from sales already made, which j will be resumed and completed during the | ensuing spring. I consider tlic estimate at least within bounds, as the property directed to be sold is worth at least half a million. MESSRS. CALHOUN AND WEBSTER. Yesterday Mr. Calhoun replied to Mr, Webster's speech of personality, levelled at him some days before. Both Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster seem to have considered it a duty to revenge on Mr. Calhoun the cause of the defeated money despotism, as Anthony and Augustus did that of the fallen Roman Dictator, on the person of him to whom they ascribed his fall. The business of the Senate has been suspended for successive days, that the champions of the bank dynasty might prove that Mr. Calhoun had sinned most grievously; mid in so far as they succeeded in showing' that the Senator from South Carolina had acted with them, we admit?indeed Mr. Calhoun himself admitted?they made out a had ease for him. I3ut of all the parallels which Messrs, Clay and Webster attempted to run out for themselves, with the lines of policy ascribed to Mr. Calhoun, the attempt of Mr. Webster to show that his course and that of his antagonist, during (he war, were alike, was the most extraordinary. Mr. Webster assumed that because he voted with Mr. Calhoun against the first bank of Mr. Dallas, they were actuated by the same feeling in reference to the war?that because, like Mr. Calhoun, lie was a friend to the Navy, he was also a friend to the country during war. Seizing, on this idea, he intimated that all his votes against raising troops and supplies to dc! fend the frontiers from invasion, was simply because he wished to direct the whole ! energies of the nation to the ocean. lie I wished to meet Great Britain on her own t element. Napoleon, lie said, vanquished her on the land, lie wished the United States to make the contest on the seas with Great Britain. " licr march was on the \ mountain wave," and there he would arrest it--" her home was on the deep," and there " he woulc -pay her a visit" This was Mr. Webster's difference with the Administration during the war: he differed as to the place of conducting it only. This was the pretext under which he endeavored to veil every vote, and all%the hostile attacks made by him in Congress against the Administration, while the conllict raged on our borders, and even after it was brought to the Capitol. lie would not defend the frontiers?lie would not protect the Capitol itself?because Great Britain had proved her omnipotence on the ocean, and had committed the wrongs we would redress there. JIc would be content with nothing less than wresting the trident from her harms, and the bright gems from her diadem derived from her dominion of the seas. In the midst, of all . i.: i ?. " It 15> t||>|*iiiv lit lltjlillt-iL- ]>ii I I iWtiMli, V*'( sic; forgot that the party in his own New England, with which he was then and is now identified, declared that it was 4< unhtcoming a moral and religious people to rejoice" even at the victories which our infant nary was enabled to achieve in naval encounters!! He and his friends deprecated the war in every way and every where, hut especially a war at sea with Great Britain, because there, it was insisted, the irrcatcst inequality was felt; there, it' we attempted to cope with the enemy, all our naval preparations would become his spoil, and the very provocation of the attempt, was only calculated to inspire activity in the pursuit of our commerce, which would never tire until every American ship, private and public, became its prey. Although this was the unircrsal outcry of the party of Mr. Webster was a prominent member, and the organ in Congress, yet he now pretends that the thing he wanted was a naval war!! We 1 lave barely to allude to this new and marvellous explanation of the Federal policy during the war. We shall hereafter show the utter fallacy of this afterthought, by-a recurrence to some prominent proceedings, which will serve to characterize the real character of Mr. Webster's opposition to the war, and which have never heretofore been adverted to by us. We will show his truth as , a historian, equal to his truth as a politv J cian.? [Globe. Loss or ship Kutiiei.ia, or Boston, ur Fire.?We have received a letter from Capt. N. L. Thompson, late of the Ruthelia, of Boston, which states in subtancc that the ship sailed from New Ori icans on the 30th of December, with a 1 cargo of 1531 bales of cotton, bound for | Li vcrpool. 1 After sailing with light winds until the last |dny of January* she experienced a ( heavy gale from the North-west in lat. 35 30 N. Ion. 50 30 W. Wliil e scudding under close reefed fore I topsail, and reefed foresail, at noon of that .day, it was thought prudent to heave the j ship to. All hands were at work round , the mainmast for that purpose, when a Hash of lightning struck the main top gal! lant mast and descending by the tics and 1 sheets, passed through the deck, tearing i up the combing of the main hutch and j doing other damage. The cabin was filled with the clcctic fluid. Two men were slightly injured, and the whole crew more or less stunned. Shortly after the lightning had struck the ship, she was discovered to be on fire. In the meantime, such was the violence of the wind, the rnizen staysail was blown away, and the ship lay on her broad side. \ The boats wore got ready for use. tbo^j m