St.
THE CAMEL AND THE NEEDLE’S EVE.
Mathew, xix-24, St. Mark, x-26. St. Luke,
x-viii-25.
[t k ea.ner fo'r n camel logo through tht eye of a needle
than fora rich fnan to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
I can scarcely romembor he tirin; in niy early
youth when this text Hid not excite my curiosity
and wonder. In tlie day.s of the^Evangeli.st, as
well as our own, needles were of various sizes.
There are the large needles, such as St. Palil
used in making teut‘», and such also a.s are em
ployed in making the broad sails of some great
admir il. There are the tinest points of steel used
in ancient and modern times in the most delicate
kijuis "f needle-work, fit to deck the perscm of a
Queen at her coronution.
The camel i.s a beast of burden much used in
K:istern countries. It is aljout the size of the
largest ox, with one or two bunches on his back,
with long iK’ck and Ieg.s, and with feet adapted
to ttie hot and sandy desert. Such is the gene
ral understanding of the two more prominent
terms of the passage of Holy Writ now under
consideration.
Some liave supposed that a slightly varied
reading in the original word, whicb is translated
“camel,” might be adopted, by which the phrase
would be made to mean a “cable,” such as is
used in anchoring ships in the roadstead. Then
the text would read, “it is easier for a cable tc
enter the eye of a needle,” fee. But the former
satisfied with the I is probably the most correct reading, for the
mind of man to , whole figure seenjd to li.ive been a maxim quite
SOMETHING ABOU'^‘^ gelatinous
Look at an oyster! ^ ot vitality and quiet
body lies a wholestyled fossiliferous
enjoynieut. Mits of the felicity of past ages."
roeks “nvurbed oyster-bed is a concentration of
Ai^„hess in the present. Dormant though the
several creatures there congregated seam, eacli
individual is lead’mg the beatified existence of an
Epicurean god. The world without, its cares and
joys, its storms and calms, its passions, evil and
good—all are indifferent to the unheeding oy.ster.
Unobservant even of what passes in its immediate
vicinity, its whole soul is concentrated in itsi-lf,
yet not sluggishly and apathfti»‘:‘Hyj tor its
is throbbing witli life and enjoymout 1 h*
mighty ocem is subservient to its pleasuie.s.
Tlie rolling waves waft frrsh and ch»ic«'
within its reach, and the How of the eurrout feeds
it without requiring an oSort. Kach armn o
water that eome.-^ in contnct with its doliciite gills
evolves its iniprisonod air, to freshen and invi
gorate the creature’s pellucid blood.
Invisible to human eye, unless aided, by the
wonderful inventions of human science, countlcss
millions of vibrating cilia are moving incessantly
with synchronic beat on every fibre of each
fringing Wnflet Well might old Leeuwenhoek
exclaim, when he looked through his microscope
at the beard of a shell-fish, “The motion I saw in
the small component parts of it was so incredib’y
great that 1 could not be
spectacle; and it is not in th(
conceive all the motions which I beheld within j prevalent in the Last.
the compass of a grain ot sand.” And yet the j Among the Babylonians, in whose country ele-
Uutch naturalist, unaided by the tiner instrumentK i phants were not uncommon, the phrase was, “an
of our time, beheld but a dim and misty imiication | i lephant passing through a needle’s eye.” Hut
of the exquisite ciliary apparatus by which these | the elephant was a stranger in Judea, while the
motions are etfected How strange to reflect that i camel was well known, and therefore the latter
all this elaborate and inimitable contrivance has , was used by the .Iew.s instead of the former to
been devi.sed for the well-being of a despised shell- ; give force to the maxim. Obviously the object of
fish! ^^or is it merely in the working members this form of speech was to express a thing abso-
of the creature that we find its wonders comprised, lutely impossible.
There are portions of its frame which seem to serve But T have met with another explanation of
no essential purpose in its economy, which might | the striking figure, which, to say the least, adds
be omitted without disturbing the course of its | to its beauty and force. All the imporaautcities
daily duties, and yet so constant in their presence of the East, in ancient times, were surrounded by
and position that we cannot doubt their having had high and massive walls, and so they are, as
their places in the original plan according to tho modern traveler informs us, at the present day.
which the organization of the mollusk was fir.st At certain points these walls were perforated by
put together. These are symbols of organs to be large pass-ways for the exit and entrance of the
The following lines upon the death, in rapid j
succeasioD, of all the three children of a family,
are beautiful:
THEODORE, CHARLIE, AND'gRACE.
Died, at Brooklyn, January 9th, THEODORK SW AN, I
aged 6 months and 10 days; March •'*th, CHaRLKS j
H.VI>DO’K, ajjcii ■' years and 4 mouths; March 23d, j
QK.\CE WBB8TEII, aged 2 years and 7 months, only
children of Theodore aud Grace VV. Hinsdale.
And first of all the Baby went, sweet messenger! to
throw
Wide open heaven’s golden gates through which they ]
all must go! ' |
So little time has passed away since down the earth he ,
flew, j
That all the path which upward led, right easily he j
knew; i
■\rid so he closed his violet eyes one still and starry |
even, j
And, glad to spread his augcl wings, flew quickly back j
to heaveu! j
Aud ho, the Boy of noble brow, and earuest, manly
ways,
for whom, with nameless hope and pride, we hailed
the coming days.
What moved him to lie down so young upon a couch
of pain.
And fold his hauds in sleep from which he ne’er could
wake again?
How well we loved him! All we prized we would have
Hung away
With joy, to lure that blessed child awhile ou earth to
stay—
But the Ooad Shepherd wanted him, and so, with ten
der tears.
We gave into His bosom the hope of future yearsi
-\nd Grace, sweet Grace, the pensive, the quiet little
girl,
(They should have called her Margaret, her mother’s
purest pearl,)
It is not strange that she should go so lightly from
us all.
For o’er the crystal battlements she heard her brothers
call;
So, peacefully she closed her eyes as they had done
before,
And passed at holy midnight through Eden’s radiant
door!
With hands upon her bosom, and parted auburn hair.
Our tears were half of gladness that the three the Lord
had given.
Away Irom earthly sorrow, were safe with Him in
Heaven! De.\n.
developed in creatures higher in the scale of being I iuhabitants. These passage-ways in times of i And as she lay at morning so tranquil and so fair,
—antitypes, it may be, of limbs, aud anticipations peac'^ were open by day, bul at night they were
of undeveloped senses. These are the first | closed by massive gates, capable of resisting any
draughts of parts to be made out in their details common assault. Now, by the side of these large j
elsewhere, serving, however, an end by their entrances were very much smaller ones, used by |
presence, for they are badges of relationship and i foot passengers and by those who had occasion to |
affinity between one creature and another, la go forth or enter the city by night. They were '
them the oyster-eater and the oyster may find called “the needle’s eyes,” as Lord Nugent, an I Prominence, popularity and exalted station are
seme common bond of sympathy aud distant English traveller of modern times, when at He- ! no shields against sorrow,—no insurance against
cousinhood. Had the disputatious and needlo- bron, was directed to go out by, the‘needle’s eye,’ ' the strokes of adversity, although they may, per-
witted schoolmen known of these mysteries of that is by th.. small side-gate of the city. The haps, distract the miud from dwelling too iu-
vitality, how vainly subtle would have been their camel can go through the noodle’s eye, but with , tently on its private griefs We see by the very
speculations concerning the solution of such difficulty, and hardly with a full load nor without : latest papers that Mr. Buchanan has been called
enigmas! stooping. I home to Lancaster by the death of a favorite
But the life of a shell-fish is not one of unvary- I think this expresses the just idea of the pas- ! nephew, being forced to leave abruptly a crowd of
ing rest. Observe the phases of an individual sago, “It is easier for a camel to go through the | visiters. But what care these visiters—mostly
oyster from the moment of its earliest embryo- needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the
life, independent of maternal ties, to the consuni- gate of Heaven.” It is not impossible for a rich
mation of its destiny, when the knife ot tate .shall luan to enter heaven, for we may believe
sever its musclar cords and doom it to entomb- there are many already in the paradise of
ment in a living scpulchre. How starts it forth (’^d who consecrated their wealth to the service
into the world of waters? Not as unenlightened of their Redeemer, and trusted in him always for
people believe, in the &hape of a minute, bivalved, salvation. But just as the camel must be re-
protected, grave, fixed, aud steady oysterling, lieved of part of his load before he can pass
No; it enter^upon its career all life and motion, through the ‘needle’s eye,’ so the rich man must
office seekers—for the private feelings of James
Buchanan;—thet/ only see the Presidenl; of the
United'States—the dispenser of patronage.
WV/. Journal.
Avi lability of the Irish Character.—Dr. Dixon,
the talented editor of the Scalpel, told the follow
ing anecdote in a recent lecture. “The drunken
Irishman is always ready for a murdering row. I
flitting about in the sea as gayly and lightly as a divest himself of large portions of his wealth in received a capital illustration of this a few years
butterfly or a swallow skims through the air. the walks of benevolence in order to enter the ago, that showed forth in a very ludicrous light
gates of glory. Our.Savior seems to have refer
ence to the .same idea when he .says “straight is
the gate.” And as the camel was compelled to
stoop in order to enter by the low and narrow
Its first appearance is as a microscopic oyster-
cherub, with wing like lobes flanking a mouth
and shoulders, unincumbered with inferior crural
prolongations. It passes through a joyous and
their grand failing; the unfortunate character of
my professional pursuits at that time compelling
me occasionally to visit their aromatic abodes. 1
had been officiating on one of those occasions
vivacious juvenility, skipping up and down as if gate* of the city, so must the rich man learn hu-' which culminates in adding another citizen to the
in mockery of its heavy and immovable parents, rnility if he would “^ee the Lord” in fullness of republic, and, overcome by sleep and the de-
It voyages from oyster-bed to oyster-bed, and, if joy.”—Chn'.-it/an Hitnrx'i.
in luck so as to escape the watchful voracity of
the thousand enemies that lie in wait or prowl
about to prey upon youth and inexperience, at
length, having sown its wild oats, settles down
into a steady, solid domestij oyster. It becomes
the parent of fresh broods of oyster-cherubs. As
pressing assurance of the certain loss of my fee,
I fell asleep in a chair, the closed shutters alone
of an old rickety cabin intervening between me
and the alley-way which led to the other tene
ments. Footsteps were indistinctly heard at
intervals of my slumber, and the neighbors seem
ed amicably seeking their domiciles under varied
A few years ago a meeting of ministers of the
Methodist denomination was held in this city,
and the constitutionality of a recent law of Con
gress was discussed. All the clergy (with one
exception) express^,-'! their opinions with great
such it would live and die, leaving its shell, freedom, and decidedly in condemnation of the amounts of the influence of the ‘craythur.’ I had
thickened through old age, to serve as its monu- lnw as fragrantly i;i conflict with the constitution slept some time, when L suddenly awoke at the
ment throughout all time—a contribution towards of the United States. The celebrated Dr. Olin sound of several violent kicks and cuffs accom-
the construction of afresh geological epoch and a was present, a man of acknowledged superiority panied with suppressed gruntings and puffings,
new layer of the earth’s crust—were it not for in intellect, learning and judgment, but he re- without a solitary word on either side; the exer-
the gluttony of man, who, rending this sober niained silent during the discussion, until he was cises continued till perhaps a full dozen violent
citizen of the sea from his native bed, carries personally called upon for his opinion. Then he blows had been given, when an interval of pro-
him unresisting to bu.sy cities and the hum of modestly remarked:— found silence occurn.d, and I was preparing to
crowds. If a handsome, well-shaped, and well- “Brethren, I have not directed my studies open the window and see if the blows had not
flavored oyster, he is introduced to the palaccs of specially to the constitution of the United States been mutually fatal; at this moment however, the
aud am not qualified to give an opinion in a ques- parties arose, and after several powerful inspira
tion like this. The interpretation of the consti- tions and nose-blowings, the conqueror, as it ap-
tution has been left to the Supreme Court, a body
of jurists sel(H;ted for their learning, wisdom and
the rich and noble, like a wit, or a philo.sophcr,
or a poet, to give additional relish to their sump
tuous feasts; if a sturdy, thick-backed, strong-
tasted individual, fate consigns him to the
FROM THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
The immense donations of public land made of
late years by Congress to corporations within the
new States have awakened the attention of the
people of the old States to the subject, and of
Virginia especially, where the burden of taxation
for internal improvements has been greatly in
creased. It strikes us, therefore, that a brief re
currence to the history and conditions of the
tenure of the public lands may be of general in
terest at this time.
At the commencement of the Revolutionary
war there belonged to some of the States large
tracts of wild and unappropriated lands, whilst
in others none such existed. Tiie States possess
ing no such lands claimed that, as the war was
waged with united means and equal sacrifice.*!, the
waste lands which might be conquered from the
enemy should become common property, and,
under the recommendations of Congress, 10th
October, 1780, “that the unappropriated lands
which might be ceded to the United States by
any particular State, pursuant to the recommen
dation of (ingress of the 6th of Septv>mber last,
shall be disposed of /or the common benefit of the
United.States.”
Virginia promptly made a cession of her vast
domain north of the river Ohio, out of which six
States have since been formed. The condition
of her cession, (adopted substantially by other
States) was, that all the lands conveyed “shall
be considered as a common fund for the use and
benefit of such of the United^ States as have be
come or shall become members of the confederacy
or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia in
clusive, according to their usual respective pro
portions in the general charge and expenditure,
and .^hall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of
for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose
whatever.” Thus were the lauds ceded, accepted,
aud held in trust. How they have since been
disposed of, in total disregard of the conditions
of the trust, the history uf the country tells in
the annals of Congressional legislation.
lu disregard of the plain obligations of the
trust, President Jackson, in the early days of his
admiuistration, proposed to cede the lands thus
acquired, aud all subsequently purchased, to the
States in which they lie, gratuitously or for a
nominal price.
To counteract this movement, which at that
time met with no favor in Congress, but which
has since been substantially adopted in the system
of partial grants, Mr. Clay introduced his well-
known distribution bill, which was passed by
Congress on the 2d day of March, 1833, by a
vote of 2-4 to 20 in the Senate, and 9G to 40 in
the House of Representatives. This bill Presi-
I dent Jackson refused to approve, and it did not
I become a law, the popular will, as indicated by
j the vote of the House, to the contrary notwith-
’ standing. Some of the Westein members did
I not hesitate to avow the purpose of eventually ap-
' propriating to the States in which they lie all the
I public land.«!, aud one of the most eminent of them
i declared that after the census of 1850 the power
j to do so would be irresistible. The fulfilment of
! this menace is almost complete, and after the cen-
j sus of I860 the old States will be utterly power
less unless they unite cordially for their common
I protection.
I The whole amount of money which would have
I gone into the Treasury of Virginia, under the
! provisions of Mr. Clay’s laud bill, from 1832 to
I 1839, a period of seven years, would have been
jybwr million three hundred and sixty nine thou-
! sand one hundred and sixti/ nine do'la'rs, or for
! each year seven hundred and twenty-eight thou-
j sand one hundred and ninety-four dollars.
I On September 4, 1841, an act was passed to
appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public
lands amongst the several States. The first sec
tion provided that from and after the 31st De
cember, 1841, there should “be allowed and paid
I to each of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
i Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ar-
[ kan.sas, and Michigan, over and above what each
of the said States is entitled to by the terms of
I the compacts entered into between theu aud the
I United States, upon their admission into the
I Union, the sum of ten per centum upon the nett
! proceeds of the sales of the public lauds, which,
subsequeut to the day aforesaid, shall be made
! within the limits of each of said States respec
tively.”
After deducting the said per centum, the resi
due of the nett proceeds was to be divided
amongst the then twenty-six States of the Union
and the District of Columbia, and the Territories
of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Florida, according to
their respective federal representative population,
but bitter, very bitter, on “interest,”—as we shall
Boon see.
On “principle,” her Democratic organs are
pushing her people to go to Kansas,—when Vir
ginia itself is full of Kansas fields,—unploughed,
uncropped, unfenced, unshorn of old gra.sj!, &c.
There is a “Kan«a.s” all the way from Richmond
to Accomac.
On “principle,”—her organs are also urging
her not to touch nor take her share of the public
lauds, for public improvements in the State, or
for other purposes. True, her State debt is
large. True, her taxes are enormous, to pay the
interest ou it! True, also, the Federal govern
ment has given away to Railroad Companies in Il
linois, Mis.s»uri, Alabama, .Mississippi, Louisiana,
Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and Wiscon-
20,787,959 acrcs, worth 851,259,282, at 82 50
per acre,—but Virginia scorns “the interest,” and
clings to the “principle.”
Virginia Democracy, we fuar, however, is a lit
tle behind the age, both on “principle” and ^‘in
terest.” There is ver}' little “principle in hurry
ing off a Virginia People into Kansas, when there
is not half enough of them at home, and, less in
an old State’s refusing her share of public lands,
on a general division,—and more especially when
Virginia contributed to the Union that vast North-
Western domain.
Nevertheless, while we in other States pluck the
old Virginia goose, not only of her feathers,—
COMMU-\ICATIO:
live in and myself are to be deprived of the I,. ;,
but even of her golden egg,—if she is willing,— | efit of, by a systematic effort of duplicirv .[..j
loa THE OBSKRVER.
March tuk 2Sth, Isr*;
Editors of the Observer: Gentlemen: TheOl
server of Thursday .March the 26th comes tn m
with two and a half columns of Editorial iriti
cism and personal abuse, which you say is “s .m,
required notice from you of a long and luhrtr, il
handbill signed Another tax payer.”
I am held up first to the surpri.«e of the ()!,
server as the last man from whom such a pp,
duction should come! Now if the Ob.'^erver ivij.
publish my answer entire, I will try to rolji.vo j-
of some of its surprise, and show how a
straightforward way has marked my cour.se, ,i
well as put myself right before the public.
And first I say that I have not changed fr .m
what I have declared about any road, nor a. tni
absurd or inconsistent. Mind if anotln r
does not wear that saddle or the cap fit sctm .,i„
else better, before we get through, than me
I am the author of the article in qu s j,,; ]
told a number of gentlemen in Favcttrvi;!, I’t;..,
I should both vote against the County -ul -, t::.,
tion and write against it. Though ofiier gintlf.
men agreed to pay for the printing, I am n .p...
sible for every line of it.
I have no idea, sirs, of being compoll' ■! to
a dollar to a Rail Road which the eoicniunirv ■
what is that to us?
The President of the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad Company, we see, has issued a circular,
in which he alludes to a rumor, that the proprie
tors of the steamer Great Eastern have expressed
, if
wold be
treachery! I expect to jnit wh:it little t ca:
spare where it will help to carry out wli it I li;,v
advocated for the last seven years, viz: the
Central line,—not where it is to be used agnit,.
it. I am where I was; you, sirs, or .
any 1 all Fayetteville, have set yourselves against v
I .1 _ 1 _ .1 til*:* I ftkik Ilf
a desire to send her to Norfolk, Vti
assurance could be given, that she wold be : solemn pledges in the Conventions of rayittt.
freighted back from that port. He proposes, j ville, Ksnansville and Salisbury, as steci! I j,
therefore, that a Convention be held at Bristol, plore this thing, have deplored it since it 1). ,i
Tennes.see, on the 15th of April next, by all the i and did all I could to avert it! But yun w .
Internal Improvement Companies of the South j have it so. You have made a high wall and it-i
and that Delegates be appointed by that Conven- i ditch between your plighted faith and the c r
tiou to proeeed to England, and make the ; you have followed, and your Rail Road tVi
necessary representations on the subject.
But, iu the meantime, Congress has given
public lands over 850,000,000 to build Western
and other Railroads, which concentrate upon New
York the trade and commerce of these States,-
and hence, thus helped by Uncle Sam, we can
transport to Europe Virginia tobacco, breadstuffs,
Ac. cheaper via New York, than any great ‘Eastern
steamer’ in the direct trade.
New York, it is very true, is as badly off as i been adopted by Fayetteville with resniutiHii
Virginia iu the direct participation in the State | strong as plain English eould i.nakc tliei’i; .
plunder of the public lands, but when Congress ^ based my claim on the following evuleriee: S sut
give them away,— we looked and smiled, time during the canvass of ’51 I believe 1 '
—invested in Illinois, and everywhere,—and dressed a note to Col. A. Murchison, th ii •!:.
rejoiced that t\ie commi»sions in all the trade was j didate for the Senate, and ILm. J (’ I? 1 ii,,
to be ours,—in our own port. If Virginia would candidate for the Commons, for Cuiuberiaml ( o .
only have helped us,—our State itself would have j telling them that I should vote for them an ;
j in the East, in the West, in the North
in I the South, are few aud far ’oetwcen. If, lii,
fore, sirs, Fayetteville does not always go' vd
she expects, let her blame herself, iiisf. ,i l
■ abusing those who look out for themselvus
much for my course, and then to your abuse.
I put in niy claini as the projector of tlu
central line of road from Beaufort Ilarb rr tin u
Fayetteville and West, after, I btdievf. \
a hand iu common picking.—N. V. Express.
The Public Lands.—The People of Alabama
and their Representatives iu Congress do not seem
to be afBicted with the strict construction scruples
in regard to land distribution which weigh so
heavily upon our more iiumediate neighbors, the
good people of the Olu Dominion. The former
take more practical, and, as we think, wiser views
of the subject of land grants, and the rights of i jor'buucan'G. McRae you then .«aid th
the States to an equal participation. Accordingly, | belonged. I let it go. But now you ar
hoped they would go for the >jreit (\iitnil /•„,
from Beaufort Harbor throu'jh Faypltpvi’} m.
West. This is what I claim as prijectii.L' 1
never claimed the spectral ghost of a n a.i l.i
miles long, which should never cross the (' )
Fear on the East and go 43 miles west, as :ii ■
advocated by the W. K. 11, managers, aul > n
tained, I am sorry to say, by Fayetteville.
But, sirs, you then denied my claini! To .'I t
■. ,
capacious tub of the street-fishmonger, from judicial fitness to determine important questions
whence, dosed with coarse Hack pepper and of this nature, and I should have far greater con-
pungent vinegar, embaluied partly after the fidence iu their judgment than in my own.”
fashion of an Egyptian king, he is transferred to
the hungry stomach of a costermonger, or becomes
the luxurious repast of a successful pickpocket
W'estmin»tcr Review.
peared from the nature of the dialogue, addressed
his opponent:
“ ‘Well, Dennis, are ye sathisfied?’ ”
“ ‘Terry, I am perfectly sathisfied.’ ”
“ ‘Thin, I can do nothing more for ye, Dennis?’ ”
“ ‘Nothing more, Terry, thank ye, at this
time.’ ”
“ ‘Well, Dennis, will ye take a drink?’ ”
“ ‘Terry, I will.’ ”
newsnaDer anr)eariny renriil-irlv before the > i ^ xjj And both parties walked amicably out of the
P - PP c e y ron s life. Whatever human imagination shall , alley to the croc shoo What the cause of the
people, and sustaining a character for promptness i,oro-,ft..r .. u- t i ii i lo me grog suop. w Udi tne cause ot tne
..„.i c..-. hereafttr picture of a human being, I shall be- quarrel was I never knew, and I think it doubt-
lieve It all within the nounds of credibility. By- ful if they did.
ron’s case shows that fact sometimes runs by all i
fancy, as a steamboat runs by a scow at anchor. | Anecdote of a Georgia Judge.—In 185—there
I have tried hanl to find something in him to i was tried in the Circuit of Georgia, a case
like, besides his genius aud his wit, but there was i of involuntary manslaughter. In the expressive
no other likeable quality about him. He was an j language of a witness, the accused, while drunk.
Mr. \Vebster’s Opinion of Byron.—In a letter
tj a friend, Hon. Daniel W’ebster gave this esti
mate of Lord Byron:
I have read Tom Moore’s first volume of By
in the diffusion ot news and unprejudiced fairness
in expressing its views, makes for itself, and is
entitled to hold a leparate entity—a distinct
existence. It is a living, constantly speaking and
powerful influence. It gives intelligence relative
to business and events, and the public rely upon
the accuracy and, extent of its information. It
. . ,, incarnation of demonism. He is the only man ! iiulled out his knife and “sloshincr it about*'
expresses opinions on great public nuestions and J, i j i *i * u ! f oui nis Kuiie, *iuu siosuing it auout
fnmilinricM tho nr.m.r nn;f,7 Lo^lish his.ory, for un liundrcd years, Jiat hus struck the deceased in the abdomen. Theattend-
r’sician being called to the stand, to make
. , , — —^al proof of the nature and extent of the
his biographer hag termed, meanness. Lord Bol-1 wound, testified, “that the knife entered the low-
ingbroke, in his mo.st extravagant youthful sallies, | er portion of the abdomen, penetrating the peri-
aud the wicked Lord Littleton, were saints to | toneum, aud thence extending through the omen-
him. All Moore Can say is, that each of his { turn, to the vicinity of the iliac regions.” The
familiarises the comu unity with the pertinent i,,v, t,.?! nf infidnlifv nn 1 f tt »• i • strucK tne de
facts o„ *hich i„ coMlJion, nre u„d h!T/
1 1 .1 * * r *1 *. Ti 1 not inoluucii ni wlicit iUii\ 06 tcrnicu, adq whcit i tliG ususil r>re
enables them, too, to form aju.lgmont. It advo- hio.rr^nher ha« term J U.i ! 1 , ‘.P-
cates one side or the nther in a controverted issue
of policy, and the public look to it for the honest
exercise of its best jutlgment and for the ob.serv-
ance of a fair and courteous demeanor in discus
sion. These are the duties of journ-ilism, and it
is the qualities exhibited in the discharge of
them that gi%’c character and influence as the
result of their development. — fialt. Amvricnn.
The Manufacture of Bonnets.—What, becomes
of all the pins?” is a question often asked and
vices hau some virtue or some prudence near it, i clerk, to whom all of this was Greek, inquired
which in some sort checked it. ell, if that i of the Solicitor General if he desired that portion
were iiot .so in all, who could escape hanging? \ of the doctor’s testimony taken down. The
1 he biographer, indeed, says his moral conduct | Solicitor anticipating some fun, replied in the
inust not be judged by the ordinary standard. | affirmative, and requested the doctor to repeat it
And t lat is true, if a favorable decision is looked ! slowly, which he did, in language, if possible,
, — ‘ I'^ny excellent reasons are given for his ' more incomprehensible. Old Judge A., losing
seldom answered. Some facts that we learned j ^ husband, the sum of which is that, his accustomed suavity of manner, impatiently
the other day led us to ask. What becomes of all a^very bad jnan I confess I was rejoiced j exclaimed: “Doctor, stop, for God’s sake, stop; if
the bonnets? At the factory of Messrs. Carpenter, ! now, that he was driven
in Foxborough, (Mass.) more than ten thousand i ^ England by public scorn; because his vices
bonnets a day are made and thrown into the j passions, but in his principles,
market.. For more ttian twenty miles round i denied all religion and all virtue from the
about the people are engaged iu the work, aud j ' Johnson says there is merit in main-
fhey have agents all over the world collecting ; good principles, though the preacher is
-n-jfprinla->.,,1 r ° scduccdiutoviolatioHsofthem. Thisistrue. Good
materials aud disposing of their manufactures.
Portland Paper.
Beauties of Goinj to Imho.—In the Worcester
County Court of Common Pleas, a Mr. Dudley
sued a Mr. Tift, to recover 81 25, the price of
a pair of boots. The action was an apneal from
the decision of a Justice of the Peace' in favor
of the plaintiff. The costs will count up to be
tween 8100 and $125; the plaintiff therefore
recovers a dollar and a quarter, and probably
theory is something. But a theory of living and
dying, too, made up of the elements ot hatred of
religion, contempt of morals, and defiance of the
opinions of all the decent part of thp public—
when before has a man of letters avowed it? If
Milton were alive to recast certain prominent
characters in his great epic, he could embellish
them with new traits without violating probability.
Annual S-ssioi.s.—The people of Ohio are
pays his lawyer ten times the amount, besides his *^>inking of doing what many other States will
own loss of time. The defendant pays his lawyer, fi“d it necessary to do if they wigh to keep pace
los«s his time and SI25 in a foolish endeavor to progress of the age. The Legislature
save 81 25. propose.s, amongst other amendments to the Con
stitution, one to go back to annual legislative ses
sions. It has been found by experience that an
interval of two years is too great where important
interests are always arisin?.
The gentleman who “fired at random” did not
hit it; and, in disgust, he lent his rifle to the
youth who determined to “aim at immortality,”
the man was cut in the guts, say so, so the clerk can
put it down.”
The doctor has since studiously avoided the
use of technicalities in the presence of the unin
itiated.
Abernethy was sent for by an innkeeper, who
had a quarrel with his wife, who had scored his
face with her nails, so that the poor man was
bleeding and much disfigured. Dr. Abernethy,
admonishing the offender, said: “Madam arc you
not ashamed of yourself, to treat your husband
thus the husband, who is the head of allj your
head, madam, in fact?” “Well, Doctor,” fiercely
returned the virago, ‘'and may I not scratch my
own head?"
In a little town on the upper Mississippi river,
a clergyman recently married a young couple,
and after the ceremony was over, wished the
bride a pleasant journey down the “stream of
life.” “I hope so,” said she; “but I’ve heard
th;re was a great deal of fever on the river now,
and I hope we shan’t ketch none oft on the wav
down!”
when the bill making a donation of land for rail
road purposes to the Territory of Minnesota was
pending, a sensible member from Alabama moved
to add a clause to grant lands in his own State
for the benefit of railroads there, and it went
through without a word of opposition.
Aa-* Intelligencer.
Novel Trial.—A correspondent of the Peters
burg Expres.s, attending the Superior Court held
at Plymouth last week. Judge Ellis presiding,
writes that among the crowd attending court were
many drawn thither to witness the trial of a
suit between certain parties from the county of
Hertford. The political cast of the case was
what had given it interest. It seems that a gen
tleman who haci been a member of the Know-
Nothing order had withdrawn from the fraternity;
whereupon, the lodge expelled him and published
him as unworthy of trust or credence. The ac
tion is brought by the ejected member for slander,
against the publishing committee, claiming 8125,-
000 damages.— Herald.
}\agon Road to the Pacific.—Letter writers from
Washington state that the three Departments of
the Interior, War, and of the Post office are
uniting to hurry forward the construction of a
wagon road from the Mississippi to the Pacific,
j Such a road is an indispensable prerequisite for a
pr-
as ascertained by the last census, (1840,) to be War ap-
applied by the Legislatures of the said States to
such purposes as the said Legislatures might di
rect, provided that the distributive share to which
the District of Columbia shall be entitled should
be applied to free schools or education in some
other form, as Congress might direct. In the
sixth section of the act there was a proviso that
if at any time there should be an imposition of
duties consistent with the act of March 2, 1833,
beyond the rate of duty, (twenty per centum,)
fixed by that act, the distribution should be sus
pended until this cause should be removed;
The proceeds were thus divided for one year,
and accepted by all the States, we believe, ex
cept Virginia. The Legislature of that State, re
fused to receive the forty thousand dollars for
that year, (a much smaller sum than the average
would have been had the law been continued,) on
the ground that it was an attempt on the part of
Congress to corrupt the people of the State by
gifts from the*Federal Treasury.
By the operation of the act of August 4, 1842,
to provide revenue from imports, &c., the distri
bution of the nett proceeds of the public lands
among the States was suspended. The proceeds
of the lands up to and including the 1st of Janu
ary, 1839, amounted to the sum of 857,227,520.
The following sums have since been received;
propriates 8100,000, the ‘Interior’ half a million,
and the Post Office Department contracts to pay
8600,000 per annum for carrying the mails over
th« new route.
In 1839 the sum of
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
87,076,447
3,292,683
1,365,627
1.385.797
897,818
2,059,939
2,077,022
2,694,452
2,498,855
3,328,642
1,688,959-
1,859,894
2,352,305
2,043,239
1,667,084
8.470.798
11,497,049
8,917,644
Total to July 1, 1856, 8122,311,274
Of this grand total, if now distributed under
Mr. Clay’s land bill, the State of Virginia would
receive the handsome sum of nine MILLIONS
THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND
SEVp HUNDRED AND SEVENTT-THaEE DOLLARS,
(omitting fractions.) This sum, divided by thir
teen, would give for each Congressional district
in Virginia seven hundred and eighteen thousand
two hundred and ninety dollars.
VIRGINIA,
Good old Virginia,—is great on “principle,’^—
A Comet.—There is—says the National Intelli-
genccr—a telescopic comet now in the north
western part of the sky, moving eastward. It
was observed through the large equatorial of the
National Observatory on Friday night.
This comet was discovered in Leipsic February
22, by Prof. d’Arrest, and on the 26th March
at Newark, New Jersey, by Mr. Van Arsdale.
The Prospective Sugar Crop in Illinois.—Mr.
E. S. Baker, of Rochester Mills, Wabash county,
III., writes to the Belleville Advocate that he
shall plant twenty-five acres with the Chinese
sugar cane the present season. “I am convinced,”
he says, “that the State of I!linois will in five
years make her own sugar, and if I have luck I
shall make this season enough sugar, and cer
tainly with molasses, to supply my little town.
At all events I shall try.” Mr. Kroh, of Wa
bash county, who some months ago made a state
ment of the result of his experiment with the
supr cane last year, offers to bet the skeptical
editor of the Charleston Courier 8500 that he
will manufacture from one acre, “planted with
the Chinese weed ” five hundred gallons of mo
lasses, a superior article to any manufactured in
the South, and sold by the merchants in Coles
county in 1856, for 75 cents per gallon; and
further, that he will manufacture it at the cost of
ten cents yer gallon.
A Noble Servant Girl.—Mary Nugent, a hired
girl of Pittsburg, was horribly burned by the
explosion of a camphene lamp on Monday night.
She first attempted to extinguish the flames by
throwing herself into a tub of water, but failing
in this, started to reach the street. At the back
gate, however, she fell exhausted, and when the
neighbors, attracted by the light, reached her she
had only strength enough to say, “save the chil
dren, for God’s sake, don’t let the children burn.”
Such disinterested thoughtfulness in the midst
of death agonies more merits a monument than
all the deeds of Caesar.
A Hint to Planters.—The Mississippi Chronicle
very pertinently remarks:—The planter who raises
an abundance of corn this blessed year of *57
will make money largely. All the agricultural
world is perfectly wild on the subject of sotton,
and the largest crop ever known will be planted.
If the season prove favorable, it would not aston
ish us if the next crop was greatly over four mil
lions—perhaps four millions five hundred thou
sand bales. The prices will fall—money will be
tight—provisions scarce, and big corn-cribs ex
ceedingly valuable.
I ing it upon me, when a little capital is tn 1
1 made. It seems you can give it to me or t ik ;
; at pleasure. Truly others besides the vSatyr c:'..
blow hot and cold with the same mouth!
I was the friend of the W. R. R , and w-rk- :
as such with the hope of making it a p;irf ot th'
great line. And.now I find I was deceivt d, wi
part company and I act as I please, with ju>t »h'
same freedom of speech and of the press a- tli^
Messrs. Hale act.
My name was us#d for the Presidency of th'
Company by my consent and recjuest, and T '
have had it by the controlling vote of .'siul'li A.
Colby if I had not advised them to tht-
very course they did. I, sirs, would not hold aii
office against the wish of my acquaintances a:i l
at the will of strangers. I had entire coiitr.'i "t
the W. R. R. Co. at one time, did 1 do tii;i:.
sirs, which the Co. would not approve in a .sin;:;
instance? Am I entitled to your ridicule foi lin
ing what you approved, or your respect?
I subscribed 82000 at one time and a:
another, as stock to the W. R. R. If tlm? i'
any part of your article which justly entitle.m
to be called a “fool,” it was for making tlin.o
subscriptions. Those officers who tel! that I iia\
not paid all my subscription, can tell you furtii- r
that very few have paid all! Perhaps they have
met with some such life as I have seen! That
all men are liable to who own [»ropcrty. I’t-
haps they are unwilling to pay; or periiaps, iik
“Sysiphus,” they have found it was an
, “Eternal stone uphill to roll,”
as many things prove to be about Fayottevillo
But, sirs, I have helped Fayetteville t > tli’'
amount of about 88,000 in her Plank K'ta'l.', s'
the same officer can tell you, all of which I
pay in cash! Who out of Fayetteville, for Li'
means, has done as much as I have, sirs, in tini'
and money too? But soon as a day of adversity
comes it is all forgotten.
You say I was wrong as to the number of .Tu*
tices present, and carele.ss as to facts. This i~
not so. There were present 38 .Justices at th '
roll-call, 21 of which were residents of the t ’wu
I was not there during the elections, nor did 1
count after the subscriptioti business was done.
I deny ever having asserted the 43 uiilo.' "i
R. R. would pay. 5ly as.'sertions have all I"-'*?’!
based on a continuation East and West. 1
up no point made in figures till you show tla re
verse is true. If I have made u wrong statciju iit
and am convinced, I will make the amend • hdU
orable. But, sirs, I am told your 850(ji is
of first subscription, and of course you have the
stock. Can you sell the 85000 for §100? 1
doubt it.
There are no mines in Cumberland Co., where
then is the 8250,000 to come from, if not out ot
the soil and forest, and are not the men who owu
and work them called farmers?
I see no other point deserving notice in your
criticism. You cannot be more surprised at waat
I have said and done, than the friends of t-i-
Road East have been at the course of the
R. Co. to them! I say again I am sorry it is s j
I did all I could to avert it. But they would
have it so: let them take the consequences. ^ ou
know the history of the whole matter; you have
not lost your ordinary astuteness in the progrc.-!
of this thing. How comes it that you denuuiic
as fools so freely those who have stood by their
pledge throughout, and uphold those who have
not?
I, sirs, and my friends East, are not rcsponii-
ble for matters as they are. I will tell you in a
future letter who is responsible, and what bene
fit the Road will be to the farmers of Cuujber-
land Co., as you seem to be ignorant about it
. Yours, respectfully,
THOMAS R. UNDERWOOP
Alio%.Carey, in an essay on ‘insincerity,’ says:
“If our neighbor kisses our cheek, we may iufcr
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred that h; 'viU
bite our back as we turn about.” The italic let'
ters are ours. Seems to us, Alice, ‘ninety-nine ca'Cs
amount to a pretty extensive range of kissing
one woman—considering the sex of your “neig^'
bora.”