Camden commercial courier. (Camden, S.C.) 1837-1838, March 31, 1838, Image 2
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