Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The South's Greatest Orator. SaTgent S. Prenths Three miles from dm historic old cily of Natchez, Miss., which, from iib high bluff*, bus for nearly two cen turies looked ll )W'i upon the father of water* a* it Hows oil us eoaseh >s course to the .sen, i* located the grave of Sargent Smith l'renliss, the great Southern orator, lawyer and scliolu who in the ante helium (lays elcetrilled the world with his matchless eloquence. A half century ago Sargent Smith l'reutiss occupied a position in the world of oratory unsurpassed by that held by any man in the present day. A half century ago his name was on every lip in the Southland, ami hi* lame wus known lo almost every citi zen of the United States. The boltl be possessed on the hearts of bis country, men was nothing short of idolatry and the country has not since produced his etpml as wizard with word* ami a liter ary genius. I'm now his name and fame are al most forgotten except among those few who lived during the days < 1 his eloquence, or who from hearsay si ill cheensh a reverence for the man akin to that which is occasionally found to exist for Henry Clay and other great orators who were in the public mind during that period. The drive from Natchez to the grave of Prentiss is short and pleasant. Going southward through the narrow lanes and afreets of the quaint old town, past little cottages with vines hanging over the doors, imposing anto bellum mansions which yet stand as relics of past glory, the visitor teat lies Uie country and drives along the old Woodville. road, deep and SUuken With two hundred years of travel, on past the Duleith mansion, the grandest of its kind in the country, with white granite walls and wide galleries sup ported by great round columns of atone, and which stands now as a silent monument in perpetuation of the memoiics of a past u^e. on through a forest of patriarchal oaks with wide spreading brandies festooned with moss, through green pasture lands where the sound ol cow bells with mellow tinkle come up from the valley below, until is reached the Glmceslor mansion, a lordly looking place, once the home of the Sargent family, where the wife of l'reutiss was born and reared, and which is "now occupied only by au old negress, a family ser vant who refuses to desert the old place, and who, by some remarkable tenacity and vitality of life, has past the four score year mark by nearly a decade. Almost opposite the Gloucester mansion is a sn ail enclosure about fifty feet square, inclosed with a wall of old-fashioned masonry. The only entrance is a small iron gate once made fast by a lock and chain, but which have now rusted away ami only a shove of the foot is necessary to se cure entrance. There are several graves within the enclosure. The first to meet the eye is a Weather-Stained tombstone bearing the fame of Winthrop Sargent, Ihe first governor ol the Mississippi terri tory. The lettering on this stone is almost impossible to decipher and a vagrant vine lias placed its coils around the shaft and spread its foliage in such a way that it is necessary to push bach the leaves before the slowly fading inscription can be seen. A few feel further ou is a square monument of white stone scarcely six feet in height, on which appears the following: 8. S. PRENT 188. Horn at Portland, Maine, September 30th, 'SOs. Departed this li'e at Natchez, Miss., July 1st, 18.r)j. 1 am the resurrection and life, he that believctb on mc, though he wore dead, yet shall he live. On the right side of this grave is a little mound that marks tho resting place of his son, and on the left is the grave of his wife, both marked by stones of equal simplicity. Ami this is the grave of the man who made one of the greatest speeches ever delivered in the hulls of Congress) ?an address that brought him national fame and called forth unstinted eu logies from such men of eminence ns Clay, Calhoun and Webster. A word in passing regarding this speech, de livered nearly seventy years ago, may be of interest. 11 was made in an epoch of eloquence and when oratory was the power that moved the people and was, at one and the same lime, both the lever and the fulcrum of Ar chimedes. I'renti8s, thcu a young man who had barely passed his twentv-lifih year, and a man named T. J. Word, "were claiming scats in the lower House of Congre88, nnd the contention was ?et up by J. P. II. Claiboruo I hat the election of l'reutiss was not legal. Word was contesting for the seat of a man named Gholson, who had been Claibornes' running mate. Several technicalities became involved, both in the State and ui the proceedings be fore congrese, which nrc not necessary to rclato. In brief, the question finally narrowed down to whether Mississippi was entitled to choose her own representatives, and in conclud ing his three day's speech, Prenlias used the following words, which have since been enshrined in literature as a modei n classic, equalling, if not sur passing anything uttered by either Clay or Webster: "Rescind that resolution which de nies Mississippi representation and which presses like a foul incubus upon the constitution. Von ?it here twenty-five soverign States in judg ment of the most sncrcd right of a sister State?that which Is to a State what chastity is to a woman or honor to a man?should you decide against her you tear from her brow the richest jewel which sparkles there, and for ever bow her head iu shame nnd dis honor. But if your determination If taken, if tho blow must fall, if tin constitution must bleed, I have bm one request in her behalf to make When you decide that she canno choose her own representation, at th< same moment blot from tho star ?paugled banner of this union tin I hright situ Hint ?litten lo tho name of Mississippi, I.ut leave thai red stripe behind, a ir emblem <?f her dogrndd 11011." This was before '.he days of tele graphic communication, but tho speech went like wildfire from end of the country to the other. Lu wild en thuoiasm l'rentiss was proclaimed the grcntesl orator that ever lived, and from then on until the day of his death, he was in constant demand as a public speaker, and in the interest of vat ions presidential c andidates, but never lo further a great political ambi tion of bis own, he stumped the COUUtry from one end lo the other, speaking to multitudes that were un equalled until the meteoric appearance of William .1. Bryan live years ago. I'lcntiss was scarcely eighteen years of ngC when he left his home in Maine to try his fortune in the Southwest. He tarried nearly a year in Cincinnati, Btudying law in tho ollice of .Judge Nathan Wright. Durlug the latter part of the year 1827 ho was intro duei d by Hon. Bellamy Storcr to two prominent Mississippinus who were io Cincinnati nt tho lime, and he then decided to come lo the South. On the 2d day of November, 1827, l'rentiss landed at Natchez., after a tedious trip down the Ohio and Mis sissippi rivers. He had hut live dol lars in his pocket, but with the finan cial recklessness which characterized bis life in later years, he went to the bar of the old '?Mansion House" and ordered a box of cigars and a bottle of Win : sent up to his room. In later years when twitted by his friends for this act of improvidence, be retorted: "You don't understand human nature; that live dollora established my credit, and 1 never had any trouble with my landlord afterwards.'' Alter loitering abi ut ihe town for nearly a month he was dually offered a position as tutor in the shields family, and for nearly eighteen months he devoted his tune to leaching the children of the household and pursuing his study <.>!* law. lie was an omni vorous leader ami a man of remarkable memory. Lt is said that he could re I e;it without reference almost tl.e en tire Bible and nearly every passage in Shakespeare's works was at his tongue's end. His mind was ever ac tive and iuquisitive, and n thousand dories are told of these features of his bent of mind. . l'rentiss was not a ladies' man. Al though ol handsome face and fascinat ing manners, wii.li a voice that vibrated like music, he seemed to shun the com pany of women. His biographers at tribute this to the fact that he was undersized, and very sensitive of his physical Infirmity, a short leg, which necessitated the constant use of a cane. He could not dance attendance on the Indies at festive occasions and sc the airy trillings that Hitter lor the. moment in the sunbeams of pleasure, and he was loo diffident at other timer to intrude himself on their society and the relaxation he sought was then fore io the society of men, ami which accounts for his reputation as \\ thorough going Bohemian. lie drank steadily during the early years of his life, occasionally to excess, nod was accounted as one of the most expert pistol shots in the South, as his several duels fought during the prime of lifo amply proved. After being admitted to the Missis sippi bar the ascent of l'rentiss was rapid. He had completed a matchless education and it was during a time when the literary sky was blazing with stars of the first magnitude. Bulwer, in rapid succession, was throwing off his brilliant novels, James was draping history In the garb of fiction, Sir Wal ter Scott was both charming and puz /.ling the world with his prose and verse, Moore was scattering his melo dies, and Byron had just sunk beneath the sun at Missologhi. Io this age of prose and poesy production and halcyon days of eloquence l'rentiss commenced to demonstrate the fact that he was an orator and scholar without a peer in the union. Shortly after moving to Vlckshurg, and having served several terms in the Legislature, l'rentiss delivered the famous speech in Congress, closing part of which Is quoted above. Many stirring Incidents of State history with which he was connected occurred in the meantime, but which are needless to .-elate. Once before the public, l'rentiss assumed leadership and he was a leader of men until the day of his death. A stanch Whig, he was met on the platform by many of the most formidable men of the opposing parly In joint debate, but the instance is not recorded where it is nckoow Iedged that he was worsted. In com mon with other men of those times, his oratory led him into personal dilli CUltios and he fought two or three duels with men who opposed him in matters legal and political, chiclly the latter. It was a day when a younr man who displayed any forensic ability the political party to which he belonged seized and dragooned him into service, and the young man himself was led away by the applause ol tho people, full knowing that it would lead to his ruin, l'rentiss was at one lime quite wealthy, hut through mismanagement and misforluno ho died poor. The first duel fought by l'rentiss was with General Poote, his most for midable opponent at the bar, and one of the most lluent speakers the South has ever produced. His irony was sharp and cutting and was thrown with the skill of a matador. In Oc tober, 1833, Poote and l'rentiss were engaged in a legal case as opposing counsel. The lan?uage used by Poote was offensive, and l'rentiss resented it by slapping h;s face. A challenge followed and the patties met, accom panied by their friends and seconds, on tho famous Duelling island, just across the river from Vicksburg. It was a raw, damp morning and the ' affair consumed but a fc?v moments. , Poote received a bullet through tho , shoulder, but his wound was not ? serious. l'rentiss was untouched. ? General Poote afterwards insinuated i that l'rentiss had used his enno as a > support while firing and l'rentiss I promptly challenged him for a second combat. t Tho second battle occurred on the 3 river bank below Natchez. The duel - ists took thcii positions and a lnrg< a crowd was present, ecveral boys heio| petched ID the tree lops, and to whom l'reutiss jocularly remarked: '?Hoya, you'd heller come down. General Foote Bhoots wild, you know." As the 1111 tngonists faeed each other 1'rcntias smiled, tossed away his cane, and ele vated his weapon. The word to the was given. Foote flrcd lirst, his h?llet striking the ground near the feet of I'rentiss, who neither blanched nor quivered. Pulling the trigger of his own weapon, the percussion cap failed to explode. The Moloch of honor was not satisfied. The patties again took their stand and l'reutiss was tin scathed, hut Footc fell with a serious wound. Several years afterwards they reconciled and became fast friends. Prentiss was a stanch supporter of Henry Clay in his three races for tli9 presidency, and it was during these memorable campaigns that he attained to the zenith of his fame at) an orator. He spoke to multitudes throughout the North and South, and, more thau any thing else, hu marvelous xertions on tho platform during this twelve year period caused Hie disease that resulted in his death. Once, in reply to the question of a friend as to bow he treasured up so many beautiful tlgures of speech, he said: "I'll tell you how it is, Win chester. When I gel to speaking and become excited, 1 am like a little boy running through the meadow, when he sees a beautiful buttertly, with its gauzy wings of gold, and ?iuris in pursjit, ea^er to capture the glittering prize. Then come more butterflies, until the whole sky is tilled with bril liant colors, every new one brighter than the other. So it is with me? every fancy stints a new one, till in the pursuit my whole mind is tilled with beautiful butterflies." In 1843 Henry Clay paid a visit to the South iu the interest of his can didacy for president. He was given a public reception at Vicksburg and Prentiss introduced htm in the follow ing language; "Your philanthropy has embraced in its bencvoleut grasp the Jcause of human happiness throughout the world; your eloquent breath fanned the fame of liberty as it burst forth simul taneously in two continents. Along tho classic shores of Greece the votary I of freedom. ( H was at Nashville during the presi dential campaign of 1844 that l'reutiss ' made one of lue greatest speeches of < his life. The campaign was a battle t of giants. The Whigs had lost the i fruits of their victory of 1840 by the I death of General Harrrison, and the Democrats had gained ground until the parties were nbout equally matched. Tennessee was the home of l'olk and one of the buttle grounds in the big light. Prentiss accepted a ptessing invitation to deliver an address at Nashville, and tho occasion of his visit was one of great excitement. His 1 fame had preceded his coming and i thousands upon thousands v?cro j gathered, many being from adjoining i States. The crowd was estimated by | acres and tho effect of the address was i overwhelming and it placed the cap- i stone on his pyramid of fame. Men ] of prominenco afterwards described it i as the most magnificent display of in* tellectuid power, beauty of thought and eloquence that had ever fallen j from mortal lips, and it thrilled their , souls and lingered around their hearts like the expiring strains of some en- i chanting melody. As tlio great address was being brought to a close and the gifted orator was in the midst of atranscendatit effort, he was taken with one of the strictures of the chest to which he was subject and fell back, apparently fainting, into the arms of Governor Jones, who in his enthusiasm, exclaimed: "Die, I'rentiss, die, you will never have a more glorious opportunity than now!" Tho six years following t'uht speech at Nashvillo were spent by I'rentiss alternately between politics and law. In 1847 ho made a grave mistake by moving his residence to New Orleans, where he hoped to widen his law prac tice and secure money to pay off his debts, many of which wore largo and pressing. He made a memorablo speech in the Crescent City in 1847 in welcome to General Taylor's troops, who were returning though that city from their victories in Mexico, ami his words on this occasion were tho acmo of sublimity and grandeur. But tho star of I'rentiss was waniug. Hie gradually failing health rendered it impossible for him to accept invita tions to deliver addresses, and pre vented close attendance to his law practice. His last public speech was in defense of Lope/., the Cuban patriot, who was accused of violating tho neutrality act. This speech was de livered on tho 7th day of June, 1850, and nt its conclusion I'rentiss was taken to his bed. He expressed a wish to din in the old Sargent home at Natchez, whore his wifo and child ren wcro spending tho summer, nnd thither he was tenderly borne, whore ho passed away on the afternoon of the ilret day of July, being hardly forty-two years of age. The termina tion of his brilliant career was proma lure, and what might have been his destiny had ho lived cannot be foretold. His seething brain was a laboratory of language For him tho fountains bubbled up anow, tho rivulets mur i mured, the rivers swelled, tho oceans i roared. All n tturo seemed his hand I maiden. From tho fragrant flower to the mighty tree, from tho meteor's ) glaro to tho lightning's flash and the - sun's overpowering brightness, from ? the deep solitude of nature to the ? humming ot man's abodes, n dhing escaped tiis observation and all things were made subservient to the calls of his eloquence. "As Rome vast river of unfading, source, Kupid, exhaustive, deep, his language Mowed, And opened new fountains in the human heart. Whore F aney halted, weary in her (tight. In other men, his, fresh aa morning, rose And soared untrodden height and teemed at borne Where angels bashful looked . Standing 11 the grave of l'rentiss and remembering how in one of his speeches he had depicted a lit resting place for Lafayette, the visitor uncon sciously calls to mind how propheti cally ho had described Iiis own: "Let no cunuing sculptor, no monumental marble deface with its mock dignity the patriot's grave, but rather let the unpruned vine, the wild flow 31 and the free song of the uncaged bird, nil that speaks of freedom and of poaco, be gathered about il." A. SENATOR'S QUAINT HUMOR The Ship Subsidy Debate En livened by Unique Arraignment of Democrats. Senator Pellus, of Alabama, has de livered a notable speech on the ship subsidy bill, which was replete with quaint humor, and was a imiquo ar raignment of Democrats who would vote for the hill, which he urged ought not to pass because of the millions it would draw from the treasury by violating a principle imbedded in the constitution. Mr. l'ettus spoke in part as follows: Tho sums demonstrate the wonder ful intellectual force of the framcra ol this bill and their clear comprehension of commercial advantage.", resulting from having your own lawyer to write Ihe laws for you, so as to lit the awl to the facts and circumstances of your case. The moral part of the transaction, if any, may well be referred to Dr. l'aley i>r ono of his successors. 1 will only say it might be a little like the com ment on nn ex-Senator from Alabama, who was then io the law practice with ? partner?both great lawyers and good men?real leaders at the bar. They practiced iu the wire-giasH eoun Lios of Alabama. In the summer ISGo cotton was selling as high as ' SO cents per pound. " The Yankees" : ,1 merely quote) wanted tho cot ton and they look the cotton, From me old farmer they took over 100 1 laleB, merely on the plea that they needed it in their business. The ex- ! Senator and his parlnei (t'olonel C,) ?/ere. employed to recover the cotton. Ilut about that lime Colonel C. went ' iff on business and the ex-Senator was ' left to manage the case alone, lie ! ivas equal to the task, or almost any 5ther, if ability was tho thing needed. There were no couits. So the ex Senator went to the head military ' jfllcer of that "province" and recover- < I'd tho cotton and received his he. If I ou had ever heard his voice (deep as ' a church bnll, earnest almost to ad- I jurat ion, with will power in every I tone) you would know why that cotton I lid not go into the dive for "captured I tnd abandoned properly." Colonel C. ! returned, sad and poor, repeating over i .o himself, to keep up his courage? ? Is there, for honest poverty, That hangs its head, and n' thai? The coward slavo, we pass him by, We dare he poor for a' that! | For a' that and a' that; Our toil's johscure, and a' tiiat; The rank is but tho guinea's stamp ; 1 The man's the gowo for a' that. This Colonel was not accustomed to I jciog poor, nor did he have any ??long ing" for tho beauties or blessings of I poverty. lie went io his oflice and net his partner, who handed him $2,500 without saying a word. "What t im I to do with ull this money ?" de manded tho Colonel. "That is your lialf of our fee in tho cotton cmc," inswercd his partner. The Colonel counted over the money with great gravity, yet solemnly smil ing, and shen ho had finished the count he turned to his partner and with philosophical solemnity remarked, shaking his head: " Well, well, we have escaped tho poorhouso, but are wo not rubbing up against the walls of Ihe penitentiary?" [Laughter.] 11 r. President, " I tell tho talo as it was told to me." It is old, and there are other versions. Tho beneficiaries under this bill, if it passes, can never bo in danger of the poorhousc. There is a very unusual and crafty method in this bill; the subsidy must first bo contracted for, and the con tract is to bo made by the United States of the first part, acting by the Secre tary of the Treasury, and tho ship owner on the other part. The purpose in framing the act so as to operate by contract and not U.rectly is twofold. The first purpose is to prefer favorities, whose ships are distinctly pointed out by description, partly tinished and with an established trade, and partly to be built in foreign shipyards, will contracts for their building, tiled two years ago, illegally, in tho otllce of tho Secretory of tho Treasury, as 1 have heretofore explained. The second purpose is to fasten liability on the United States by a con tract which, tho shipowners claim and this bill provides, can not he changed or violated without impairing the obli gation of the oontract. This is a radical departure from the ordinary courso of legislation. For example, the Congress for \ears has been engaged every cession in granting authority to railroads and other corpo* rations to build bridges across the navigable waters in tho States aud Territories. These grants of authority to build bridges always amount to a contract between the United States and the bridgo owner, becnuso tho United States always requires that tho government shall havo the right to use the bridgo as a post road and highway, so that there, is a consideration for (ho grant. These bridges are very costly, some of them costing over 8100,000 and Home, of them costing over $1,000, 000. Yet the Congress always puts into these bridge acts the clause rcsorving the right on the part of tho govern ment to amend or repeal tho grant at any time in the future. We are all accustomed to see tho bridge bills reported by the junior Senator from Missouri [Mr. Vest], and he, with the eye of an eaglo and ; courage unlimited, ???? at a glancs the omission of the repealing clause, at well as the vices in oilier liills, nnd points out such vices so clearly that the I>11ixl nre made to see them. Last Saturday a Senator from Nortli Car Una, with? optics keen To see what is not to he seen ? found where the Senator from Missouri mid slipped up and omitted to put in the clause for the repeal, ns he sup posed or guessed nt. in consequence, the hill was amended so as to put in the repealing clause. In I hat way we had two repealing clauses in the same bill, and this morning tho Senator from Missouri modestly suggested that he did not think two repealing clauses ought to he in the same bill, and by a legislative turn back the bill now lias: but one repealing clause. These biidges are considered of vast importance to commetCO in Stales and Territories, and lo the United Slates ns a government; but Congress has manifested an absolute determination not to a low any of these bridge acts to be make irrevocable; so Congress can at any lime repeal any bridge act nnd thus make the bridge an unlawful Structure, and force the owners lo pull it down. Here, however, ttiese favorites,ship owners, are to be protected and made secure by an irrevocable contract in tended to secure lo them this must ex travagant bounty through the long years named in the bill. Now, suppose the Congress should deem it wise to rcppul this act. and had reserved tho power to do so, what would the shipowners lose ? Nothing in the world but the subsidy. Their ships would still be their own, to be used as they chose to use them in any lawful trade; they would have no cost-j ly structures destroyed by the repeal of the bill, as the bridge owners would have if their bridge acts were repealed after the bridges were built. So it is made manifest that the bene ficiaries under this bill, if it passes, are to be declared prime favorites of the nation?far more dear than even the transcontinental railroads. Mr. President, there is something radically wrong with this hill. The junior Senator from South Carolina, with very marked ability and with the enthusiastic heal of a convert, distinguished himself over all his as sociates in advocating the passage of this", bill. South Carolina has never been famous for the graceful ease with which she surrenders her rights or her opinions or the gtound on which she had taken her stand. I call General Jackson to pieve that South Carolina maintained her rights, as she claimed llicm, with a ilrmncss amounting to obstinacy. Calhoun may testily that tier opinions were never surrendered I by his State in his ?l*ty and generation. And let Elliott, on Ihe ruins of Port Sunder (whose modesty and brave en durance will I rever honor South Caro lina), and let the patriot soldiers, the 'Palmetto ltcgimc.nl " (the equal, if I not supctior, of any other regiment Lhat ever fought for the United Stales), marching " the road to death as to a festival" under General Scott?let all say how South Caroliua held the ground on which she had taken her stand. But times change and men chaugc with the times. There was a time when no Democrat could vote lo make this lull a law, because thai parly de clared such measures repugnant to the Constitution, and declared for "fair play," for equal rights to all and special privileges to none. The junior Senator from South Caro lina in advocating this bill gave as a beautiful and Interesting pietire of the improved and still improving condition nf the South in certain industries, and we all rejoice that these industries are prosperous and multiplying. The farmers and their business arc not so J fortunate, for though not as miserably encumbered as they have been, the mortgage curse is still upon them, und 1 the tax curse ingrowing from hail lot worse?especially the Federal taxation which has been growing larger and larger?for the plain purpose of en abling the Congress to pass measures like this, which gives J0,< dO.UOO each year for twenty-live years, amounting in tho aggregate to 9226,000,000, to coiporatiotia and other shipowners. Every dollar of nil these millions must come out of the pockets of the people. Yet, so far as I can understand, no farmer, ns such, will he benefited lo the amount of one cent by this mon strous extravagance. The only right to enact this bill is tho fact stated by the wise man, " The lich rttlelh over I the poor." It has been a fashion of some thirty years' standing, when a statesman in our part of the world has made up his mind to turn his hack on his party and his people he begins by praising trade and commerce and manufactories as more important than all other branches >f industry, and this leads lo the con clusion, in his mind, that all other in dustries and mankind generally should be taxed for the " protection " and support of thceo most important in dustries, ns he calls them. Then it is I i n easy Ihing for him lo convince him self that tho opinions of the protected classes are of moio value than the opinions of " All ihe world and the rest of mankind." Finally he an nounces that he has abandoned all his provincial prejudices and become a broad-minded American, and intends thereafter to follow the broad way of a statesman. Air. President, if a Presbyterian pastor should pi each to Ids congrega tion to the effect that the only safe road to the promised land went through baptism by immersion, some elder of that church whoso 11 slocking had a deep, deep tinge of blue " would be certain to say, "If our pastor is a Prcsbyteiian, ho has a baneful Baptist bias." So, if a Democrat should declare the wisdom, good policy, and impartial fairness of this bill, some plain Demo crat might be tempted to oxcla'm, " If ho is a Democrat, ho has most remark* ablo 'Radical' proclivities." Or this plain Democrat, if he was in the habit of thinking in the language of tho Bible, would probably say " Ephraim is joined to his idols. Lei him alono. Mr. President, oefore we all get int< this broad way of the broad-mindei Afuericau statesmen?of taxing ao( griudlug three-fourths of the pcoph for tlu purpose of fostering and pro tccliug a class- it would he a pruucn piecautioo lo look Into ?' the hook ' and try to learn " where we are at 1 and to what place WO are going. We cau get the needed information hj reading Matthew vii: 13,as my preach er cites it. A broad-minded American statesman some years ago was understood to mean a very great man, helping to govern this country, hut in these years it means a man too big to stand inside the (tonslltulion. Mr. 1'resident, I860 was the "Know Nothing year," and our thanks at'0 due to the Master that they never had but one year. In that year Hie Know Nothings took all Alabama?as they supposed. Winston was Governor, and lie was the Democratic candidate for re-election. Sllol'trldgo was a candidate lor Gov ernor also. He had been a Democrat; but what he was then the people did not know. We had never seen a live Know-Nothing, thought everybody ami the newspapers were mostly talk ing about them, and Sbortridge was suspected of being one. These candi dates met for the first time in Hunts Ville. Winston spoke first, and he had much to say against the Know-Noth ings and their secret way of planning and plotting, though he declared that he had never seen a live Know-Nolh inc. Shortridgo followed. He was tall and handsome. He stood looking n second -ik Winston, then said: " Gov ernor, you say that you never saw a live Know-Nothing. Look here," placing his hand on his breast, "Here is a live Know-Nothing." " Yes," replied Winston, in n sharp, ringing voice. '? a live Know-Nothing, and a dead Democrat." And the people said, " Amen." [Laughter.] BJXI, ARP HELPS THE YOUNG. They Are Asking Questions and He Takes the Place of Books. 1 feel picased and honored to re ceive letters every day from young girls and boys over the South asking for information on some subject or for help in a school debate or foi a start in a composition?just a start. These young people arc generally from the country, where, books arc scarce and their eagerness for knowledge and mental improvement is very gratify ing. I wish that I was three or four men so that 1 could respond to nil their letters and comply with their requests. I reply to as many as 1 can, but 1 cannot take time to write coin positions, even if it was right to do so. One boy begs mc to write him a speech, a humorous speech, and winds up by asking me please to write Uto, ho that he may take choice. We see that some of the good Indies of the Atlanta Woman's Club are mov ing to supply the country schools with small libraries of good books and the .Southern Railway has donated n i.t book cases tor them. This, of course, is for Fulton County, but it is a move in the right direction and will, no doubt, stimulate the ladies of other towns lo do the same thing. It is the very best thing 1 have heard of a wo man's club doing. The desire for books to read is almost universal among the young people of the rural dis tricts, and they should he encouraged. Hooks are cheaper than ever before known, and cheap bookcases can be had for a lew dollars each. I am not al all intimate with Mr. Carnegie, hut if I was 1 would whisper in liiB philan thropic car ami suggest that ho turn his attention for awhile to the towns and villages and let the big cities alone. Our Carlersvillo Woman's Club is struggling hard to keep up their little library, but are not c icouraged by the men of the town. Their books are out all the time, and arc tend and re-read by ninny of the children whose lathers do not give a dollar to help maintain the library. This may be thoughtless Hess, and so I have suggested that the ladies go around and sec who will give ,r)(l cents or 25 cents, or even 10 cents a month to keep up the supply and pay their room rent and incidental expen ses. Of course the character of the books must be thoroughly considered. Nothing sectional or trashy or sensa tional ; but only those that " point a moral or adorn a lale." Every public school should have a burning commit tee, such as they have as Forsylh, Ca. A bright boy from Alabama writes that his name is John Jones, and wants to know when and how he got it ; says his father and grandfather had the same name, but they died without telling where they got it. He says his schoolmate is named Will Iligginboth am and he, too, wants to know where his name came from. I admire their eager curiosity, for our na :ic is our [signboard und every boy ought to know who put it up and what if reads. Of course it is too big a thing to toll much about names in a letter like this, but 1 must tell Jack and Hill about theirs. John is as old as the Christian era, and means " Whom Jehovah loves." I knew a man very well who lived near Home, anil his four sons were named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, ami his two daughters were named Mary and Martha. These good old-time people had great reverence for the Hible und Bible names. One of my father's customers was named Shad* rack Began, and hi* three sons were ShadracK, Meshuck nod Abeducgo. Another customer, David Allan, nam ed his son Absalom, and for a wonder he was a good ooy and made a good man, and his father, David, had no occasion to say " Oh, Absalom, ray son, my son I" Well in courso of lime the people in creased and multiplied so that their children had lo have two names, so as to distinguish fhom, ami so John's son wir. called Johnson in English, or John Johns in Welsh. Afler awhile it be came John Jones. The Joneses aro all of Welsh origin. The Welsh wero a brave, religious people, and fought tho i English for many centuries. They nover did submit until they were prom , iscd that no king should rule them, ox I cept one born on their soil, and he should be called tho prince of Wales, ) King Edward's son happened to b< 1 boru at a beautiful little Welsh towr named Caernavron, and the Welsh au eepted him as their future king am ended him the prince of Wales, am that is how the title Started. He wai King Edward If. Now, there was another Welsh waj of distinguishing the son from th< father. The little word " Ap " meant son of, and it used to he written John ap Jones, but in course of time the little middle word was dropped. It in a little singular that away hack in the tenth century the Welsh people who had been lighting each oilier in civil wars for two hundred years at lust made friends and chose David ap Ilowell for their king, and he had a son named Evan, Iluwasagood man, and his subjects always called him Ilowell Da?Ilowell the good. That must be|our Evan of The Atlanta Con stitution. Ho has just been hid out all these years. I see that the chamber of commerce gave a banquet yesterday and Evan Ilowell responded to the toast "Good Fellowship." That suited him exactly, 1 know, ami had I been there I would have told how his great ances tor was called the " Da " and was the last king of Wales. I called him over the telephone this morning and said "Hello Da!" and he answered "Here!" Now, about Bill Htggliibotham. That is old Anglo Saxon, anil means a mountain ark. Tho old name was hickon. Probably the old ancestor look Iiis name flora on ash tree thai shaded h<s house. Names were scarce, and people took their surnames from ob jects of nature, such as hill, fountain, dale, peak, pine, plant, oaks, chestnut, grub, twigs, branch, water, pool, moon, star, cloud and so forth; or from their occupations as baker, farmer, carpen ter, mason, millc. gardener, granger and all of the family of smiths who were the smiters of iron and Bilvcrand gold. All who were detailed to watch for an invading enemy were called Binders or smiths. John Smith was originally John, the sniiter, Captain John Smith was an illustrious type of ihat class. When names were loo long to pronounce readily, they were shortened up. Peter, who lived at the Seven Oaks, was called Peter Svnoaks; then Peter Snooks, and that's how our Atlanta friend came by his name. The name Coward was originally cow herd?a herder of cattle?and was not improved by the change. The adjutant of our brigade was named Coward, and Ihe arny had no braver soldier. He lost an arm at Chicka hominy, He always signed his name A. Coward, ad j'l gen'l, and being asked why he did not sign his full name, said : " Well, my IIrat name, unfortu nately, is Adam, and it is not quite so bad to be a coward as it is to be a-dam coward. A few centuries ago every civilised nation bad to adopt a prellx or a sullix BO as to prevent the confusion of name j. The English added son to most of their names, as Johnson, Williamson, Jack son, Thompson, elc. The Scotch pre fixed with Mac. The Irish with Mac or Mc for son nnd () for grandson. The French took De or Du. The Nor mans used Fit/, or Iiis (from I.alin of Ulms, ft son.) The Russians took vitcll from the same word. Then there arc many nicknames to he accounted for, such as !>ob: Bill, Dick, Jack, Jim, Sally, Polly, Betsy, etc. 1 don't know how these started, but some of thenicame out tlie collier ies of England aud the quarries of Wales, for every miner has a nick name of Nosey, Soaker, Shanks, Jig ger or something easy to call. I had a schoolmate whose name was Melville Young. One day he was trying to do a sum in Fellowship at the blackboard and wrote down what he intended ? To-D ?but it looked like tod, and the teacher said, " What do you mean by toil ?" That was enough for the. boys. They began to call bun Tod, and they never quit, and he was known as Tod Young all his after life. But the girls are not so much inter ested in names, for almost every girl expects lo chanjjo hers when the right young man comes along. She is not obliged to marry a man named Cruik shunks or Snoo/.lefanter or Hogg, but I've known them to do it, and they did very well. IIILL Aid". P. S.?In my last letter the types made mo to say 200,000 Confederate soldiers. It should be 70t>,000?all told from the beginning to the end *f the war. B. A. LK9SON opThk Tituits.?Bradford Peck, a wealthy business man of Lewiston, Maine, has taken up the idea that the system of co-operation in socialism taught in Bellamy's famo is book, "Looking Backward." is the true principle of civilization, and has or ganized a society on that basis al Lowislon. He says that the depart ment stores und trusts have Inught the world that carrying oil business ou a very large scale is much more econom ical than doing it in a Binall way, and all ihe little establishments trying to get the business from each other. He is trying to enlist the men of great wealth, Rockefeller, Carnegio, V under bill aud others, in ihe enterprise, and to establish a universal system of Co operation to gradually absorb the gov ernment, and in the name of all the people, carry on all lines of Imsiness everywhere. No one can own any real estate, according to his dan, but everybody will have some work to do which they can best do, and all will have an abundance of the comforts of life. It is certainly true that the trusts nre teaching tho world that the co-operative system is the economical way of doing business, and also mak ing it impossible for people with small means to carry on Imsiness success fully; and II is also true that tho ten dency is towards socialism, but we hardly think that Mr. Peck will be able to bring his system to completion in his lifetime. Such is the rapid demand for the lumber thai whito pine is reportod to be rapidly disappearing. CASTOR IA For Infants and Children. The Kind You Have Always Bought Every cotton planter should write for our valuable illustrated pamphlet, "Cotton Culture." It is sent free. * S.-;i.l ii.um- und .t.l.ln-s i > U1CKMAN K\ll WORKS, ... Nassau St., N. Y. LAWS RELATING TO JURIES Changes Made by the Legisla ture -Of Interest to All the Peo ple. The Legislature passed three Import ant measures relating to the jury sys tem of the Stale. One of these was Mr. Dominick'8 bill, lo validate all juries for the spring term of court whether drawn regularly or irregular lY. Another was that introduced by Senator Appell to further regulate the drawing of grand jurors, etc. The law now requires six members of tho grand jury to be drawn ni the fall term of court to serve for the ensuing year. In case a judge is sick and unable to hold court, or in case of oilier contin gencies, there may be complications as to the selection of the grand jury. The act which will remedy that stale of affahs reads: Section I. That whenever for nilV cause, such as the quashing of the ar ray, or there being no court at the fall lenn, there has heretofore been, or shall hereafter In-, a failure to draw the names of six members of any grand jury for any county to serve on the grand jury for that county for the then ensuing year, as required by law, there shall be drawn, at the proper time for drawing the grand jury, IS names from the jury box instead of 12; and the said I S persons, whose names are. so drawn, shall be summoned, and shall serve, as the grand jury for the year in question, and shall be the law ful grand jury lor such jounty for that year, and until their successors be drawn, summoned and qualified accord ing to law. Sec. 2. That when the judgo, en titled lo preside, fails to attend and lo hold tho fall or last term of the court of common pleas and general sessions for any county, the clerk of the court shall have the right, and is required hereby, to make the drawing from the outgoing grand jury, that is to say, from the grand jury for the then cur rent year, of the mimes of the six membetS who shall serve as a part of the grand jury for the then ensuing year, with the same force and effect us if tlu names of the said six grand jurors had been drawn in the presence of the presiding judge. The most important change in the jury system will be that brought about by the measure introduced by Mr. Croft, of Alken. It merely regulates the method of " striking" mimes from lists prepared in trials in the couri of common pleas. This act, which was approved by the Governor Feb. l">, reads: Section 1. That in the trial id' all actions al law in the court of common pleas, and issues ordered to be trained by the judgo in equity cases in said courts, il shall be the duty of the clerk to furnish the parties or their attorneys with a list of 20 of the jurors to bo drawn and selected by ballot from the whole number of jurors who are in at tendance, the names of said lists to be numbered from 1 to 20, and be stricken off by numbers in the same manner as the regular panels of jurors in said courts have been heretofore.for med, from which said list the parties or their attorneys shall alternatively strike, until thei'O shall be but 12 left, which shall constitute the jury to try the case or issue. In all cases the plaintiff shall have the first strike, and in all civil cases hereafter tried in the courts of common pleas of this Stale any party shall have the right to demand a panel of 20 competent ami impartial jurors from which to strike a jury. When the list aforesaid is prepared by the clerk and presented to the parties or their atlorneys, objections for cause must be made before striking and if any objections aro sustained the clerk must till up the list before stricken. Sec. 2. Should the jury charged with any case be delayed in rendering their votoict, so that they could not be i res ent to be drawn from in making tin; lisi lo form a second jury, then the e'erk shall present to the parlies or their attorneys a list containing the names of "24 jurors to be drawn by the e'erk from the remaining jurors in the same manner a8 provided in section 1, from which list the parties or their attorneys shall alternately strike, as provided iu section 1 of this act, until 12 are left, which shall constitute the jury. bee. .'!. In all cafes of default, where, it may be necessary to have the ver dict of a jury, or in the trial of cases when the parties or their attorneys shall waive the right to strike ;. jury, the clerk shall under the. direction of the judge, draw and empanel a jdry, Who shall pass upon such mutters as may bo submitted to them in default cases, or the trial cf such cases, when the parlies have waived the right to strike the jury, as stated in this sec tion. Sec. 4. This act shall go into effect and be of forco on the first day of September, 1001. Sec. .r). All acts or parls of acts in consistent with this act he. and the. samo is hereby repealed. ? -amk. r?* JL JETS. JU ^CSu . jfearsth* yj ^e *ind V01J HaY9 Always Bought