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THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL. WILMINGTON, N. C., FEBRUARY 15, 1866. There Is Something Rotten In Denmark." Our readers have no doubt been as much aston ished as ourselves, at the exhibition of such won derful love for the "inevitable nigger," as is mani fested by the radicals in and out of Congress. One would suppose, from reading their speeches and resolutions, that the negro was the dominant race on this continent; that the government of right belongs to him, and that he has been defrauded of his birthright by white interlopers. They seem to think that all the virtues, natural or acquired, that should dignify human nature, find their pro per lodgment beneath the black skin of the Ethi opian; that high-toned morality, chivalric honor, and delicate refinement, ore only to be looked for among those who can neither read nor write; who have no regard for the sacred obligation of the marriage tie, or the solemnity of an oath, but whose sole claim to notice is the color of their skin. We have been at a loss to understand, and unable to account for, this marvellous infatuation. It cannot be that the whites at the North are real ly willing to admit the equality of the races; that they are really in earnest, when they say that the negro is as good as a white man. Do they fully comprehend the meaning of that expression, so frequently and flippantly used, "as good as a white man ?" In the name of heaven, in what single respect is there the faintest shadow of an approach to equality ? We will not insult the in telligence of our readers by argument on this point, but we may be allowed to offer some reflections upon what we think would be the na tural results of such an equality. And first, the right of suffrage. Will any one pretend to say, that the negro, as a class, is capable of appreciating that inestimable privilege of freemen ? Is he mor ally fit to be trusted with it ? Do we not all know that, as a class, they are totally devoid of moral principle, and can be swayed at will by the arts of the designing and the unprincipled ? Perhaps it is this very fact this peculiarity of their organ ization which may account for the determined effort of the radicals to give them the elective franchise. They want their votes for their party, and it may be their wish or intention, to neutralize a portion of the foreign vote by theirs. The Dutch and Germans, in the Northern and Northwestern States, generally vote tho republican ticket, under the lead of Carl Shm-z, but the Irish almost invariably vote with the democrats. And they are a power which is generally felt in the election. To overcome this power, is doubtless the wish of the dominant party, and the means by which they expect to do it is, as usual, the "inevitable nig ger." Hence their great desire to invest him with the rights of a freeman, to make him a power in the State. They argue that as the negro is in debted to them for his freedom, ordinary gratitude would induce him to follow their instructions and be guided by their counsels. He probably might be governed by them, but not from any feelings of gratitude, for in our humble judgment no people that ever breathed, either before or since the de luge, ever exhibited such a total want of the above-mentioned virtue, as this same negro race They do not know the meaning of the words grat itude and affection. It remains to be seen whether our ideas are cor rect in regard to the motive which prompt the action of the radicals, as to universal suffrage. If correct, then, the "milk in tho cocoanuf'is readily accounted for, and it is not so much the love for the negro as the accomplishment of theii own party purioses, the maintenance of the re publican party in favor for all time to come. If the right of suffrage is granted, it follows that the right to testify in our courts must also be allowed, and as a natural consequence, there must be no social distinctions, for is it not the cardinal prin ciple of the party in power that all men are equal, and that "the negro is as good as a white man." Having given this declaration to the world, with what show of consistency can they close their doors to any application for admittance by members of that " heroic race," as they delight to call them ? Can any one conceive of a greater degradation man me eniorceu commingling oi the two races on terms of social equality ? and are there any, North of the Potomac, who, in reality, desire or would consent to such an amalgamation? We can not believe it; tho bare idea is too abhorentand re volting to any civilized comm unity. Every instinct of our nature revolts from such obscene alliance; from the contaminating contact with such a seeth ing and festering mass of moral putrefaction. We will have none of it; better be " Where the extinguished Spartans still are free, " In their proud charnel of Thermopylae" than consent to such a hideous degradation. In our day and generation it can never be; and while we are willing to concede to them certain privi leges, yet "so far may they go, and no farther." The hand of God has stamped the distinction be tween the races, mentally, morally and physically, m language too plain to be misunderstood. Art cannot improve nature, " the leopard cannot change his spots, the Ethiopian his skin," or a negro become the equal of a white man. Mir. Jones Report. In publishing the report of the joint select com mittee on Banks and Banking, submitted a few days since by Mr. Jones, of Columbus, in the Sen ate, we must, with due deference to the committee, enter our protest against doctrines so demoralizing in their tendency and so completely subversive of our rights. We cannot assent to the proposition that our country has passed under the centralized dominion of a conqueror. The Constitution is still the supreme law of the United States and the States, and with President Johnson, we hold that the Union will be as effectually destroyed by the destruction as by the secession of a State. We are firmly laying the foundation of monarchy, so much desired by some, if the President in the exercise of his sovereign power can, with a conqueror's might, destroy the legal existence of corporations and all the mur. intents of title throughout the land. It is much to be regretted that such a document should have the sanction of any Southron; it certainly cannot have the approval of any believer of 'democratic institutions or a constitutional union. - At another time we will show the fallacy of its objectionable propositions, and how illusory are the hopes of gain to the State to be derived from their adoption. Negro Testimony. A letter from Gov. Graham, dated Hillsboro Feb. 6th, addressed to Messrs. J. Holderby and J. W. Burton, Commoners from the county of Caswell, expressing his opinon upon the question whether negroes shall be allowed to testify before Courts of Justice, appears in this mornings Jour nal This letter coming from the source it does, -will receive, as it deserves, the thoughtful consid eration of all reflecting minds. Now and Then. . When Mr. Bates, as Attorney General-of Mr. Lincoln, delivered an opinion sustaining the con stitutionality of tho suspension of the writ of, -habeas corpus, tho Black Republican partisans wens loud in their paregy ricks and unstinted in their tributes to his sagacity as a constitutional lawyer, and his profundi ly a- a statesman. Are they equally pleased with his recent opinion on the text oath, which contains among other expes sions the subjoined : " Test oaths, odious, oppressive and cowardly always, are alwavs the result ol desperate partie who (as violent as timidity can niaKe lueuij upon this method to weaken their adversaries, whom they are afraid to meet in fair and . open controversy. It was of frequent occurrence uur iug the French Revolution ; and of its experience m that period me puuospiuu uwnuuuu . This formahtv of an oath, so lrequenu v employ ed by parties, never could be considered as a guar antee ; it has never been any tiling oi i"uur ance of the conquerors, who have taken delurUl in forcing the conquered to perjure tnemseives. The Council of General. We learn from the Richmond Examiner that the council of Generals recently held in Washing ton City, has finished the business for which it assembled. The report of their proceedings will be submitted to Congress in a day or tw . It is said they will make the following recom mendations in regard to the Senate army bid : They approve the number of men for which the bill provides and the proportion to bo taken from each arm of the service. They also recommend that, in addition to the Major and Brigadier Gen Generals now in the regular army, five Major Gen erals, ten Brigadiers, and a number of Adjutant Generals be appointed from the volunteer forces, these offices to cease with the death or resignation of the first incumbent The only recommenda tion of importance in regard to the militia bill is that the commander of the army shall have power to order inspections. They also report in favor of taking the Superintendent of West Point from the army at large, instead of confining the appoint ment to tho corps of engineers. Admiral Stmrnti. The New York News thus speaks of the letter addressed on tho 15th of January, by Admiral Semmes to the President. Frank, fearless and able as is this letter in all it parts, it is the concluding paragraph which im presses us most deeply, and which will linger long est in the thoughts of most men. Right bravely and worthily does the proud old Aniiral, speaking as an American citizen to the Chief Magistrate of the American Republic say : .: ; We live in times of high party excitement, when r i i 1 1 A A. 4.. men, unioriunaieiy, are uui iuu prune- to wtc counsel of their passions ; but passions die, and men die with them, and after death comes his tory. In the future, Mr. President when America shall hare a history, my record and that of the gal lant Southern people will be engrafted upon mid become a iwirfc of your history, the pages of which you are now acting ; and the prayer of this peti tion is, that you will not permit uie uonor oi me American names to be tarnished by a periidy on those pages. In this paper I have stood strictly npon legal defenses ; but should those barriers be beaten down, conscious of the rectitude of my conduct throughout a checkered and eventful career, when the commerce of half a world was at my mercy, and when the passions of men, North and South, were tossed into a whirlwind by the current events of the most bloody and terrific war that the human race had ever seen, 1 shall hope to justify and defend myself against any and all charges affecting the honor and reputation of a man and a soldier. Whatever else may be said of me, I have at least, brought no discredit upon the American name and character. We ftni upon our table the Richmond Medical Journal for February, being No. 2 of Vol. 1. We don't know that we could do Drs. Gaillard L McChesney better service than to allow them to introduce themselves to the public in their own way. This Journal is published aa a Monthly octavo of eighty pages. A respectable number of the heat writers iu tins country have promised their suiMrt, (au e tent a tarn display of names i avoided,) and aa the Editors oner to pay, at the highest journal rates, for article, es.-mys, con enpondeiice and rcvirwa of recent- works, it in hoped that the original department of the Jouknal will be entitled to respect and confidence. The pagea of the Journal will lc devoted to original articicM, foreign and domestic correspondence, a retro spect f Medicine and Surgery during th- late war, an Keleetic I epartmeiit, (whi h will be a chief feature of the Jot: UN ax,) report of societies, associations, hospitals and clinical lectures ; reviews and bibliographical notict-s, med ical news, editorials, miscellaneous matter, etc. Without making special promises, tho Editors will en deavor to make this Journal acceptable to its support ers. The Tax on Cotton. The New York yews of the 2d inst., contains what we think quite a sensible editorial on the subject of levviiifr a tax of tire cents per pound on 1A.11 nlf-.j-tn lviiviod in fli Wniifli WTa tia-v Mi-vi-ifl-i for cotton is not raised elsewhere on this continent. The following is the article alluded to. We would commend it to the attention of our members in Congress, but we have not that privilege. We have no representation in that body. From the New York News. TheTaxou Cotton. The Commissioners appointed by the Congress of last year to consider the question of taxation, have included among their recommendations on the subject, that of a tax of five cents per pound on raw cotton. The gentlemen who have made that report appear to have been actuated by a bit ter spirit of hostility to the prosperity of the South; and to have shown it, in the teeth of the principle that taxation has an enconomical limit. That cot ton, the great source of Southern wealth, should have been selected for so enormous a tax, while wheat, corn, and the immense basis of taxation made up of the staples of the North, go free of excise, is a clear indication of the conclusion that the Commissioners were actuated by feelings of bitter sectionalism. That the tax proposed should be so enormous as twelve per cent on one special branch of agricultural industry an annual tax on the gross value of the production leads to the conclusion which we have stated above, that the gentlemen are ignorant of the fact that industry cannot carry an indefinite load of taxation. . , Statesmanship would have suggested to the tax commission inquiry, that public policy should foster those interests which are placed under ex ceptional suffering. The cotton culture of the South is, this moment, pining for want of capital; and languishes at less than half its usual energy, for want of seed, tools, buildings, stock. And besides these heavy discouragements, it is bowed down by political uncertainties, and almost crushed by the derangement of its system of labor. With its fences gone, its fields overgrown with weeds, social necessities leave it but doubtful hopes, save in the importation of white labor; and to meet a condition of things so discouraging, its pockets are empty ! And at this point the fos tering hand of the Federal Government, is told to come in to mulct it of an eighth of the gross re suits of its industry ; and they place an effectual barrier between it and the last hope of its restorav tion to activity capital ! Ihe government which would sustain such a policy, can certainly claim no longer to be paternal; but, on the contrary, proves itself destructive of the best interests of its citizens. If any great branch of the industry of this country should be dealt with at this moment wuuwyi .rj , J , ties, it is that of the golden yield which has so T long balanced our accounts with Europe cotton. Five cents per pound on raw cotton 1 Urdinanly the market price of that staple has been but about ten cents! And when in those days of hard cur rency, and cheap food and low tariffs, and nom- . . . - i 11, T A X 11. - 3 l uuu taxation, it iexi oeww ten cents, me proaucaon , fell off. It had ceased-to be profitable. Corn or hogs took its place. Does it occur to tho Com missioners, wlms? report -we object to here, that then? is a net profit at which cotton industry may still ec-ane lo pay, and at which it will, therefore, decline ,r disappear? That commodity is, it is true, juoi.-d in the market ut from forty to fifty cent- i-r pound; and will, we grant, continue to carry some such price, for a greater or less length of time to come. But flour, pork, beef, are double now what they were tnifore the war; coffee, sugar, clothing, and 'other elements entering into the net cost of cotton 'production, cost, compared with these lsnppy days, treble. So far as these items of its cost emit 'Ic us to judge, cotton cannot be held to be more than ordinarily profilible now at the. rate of about twenty-live cents per pound. But special circumstances of its cultivation at present, suggest that to reach its ordinary profitabless, the price of the staple must be set still higher. The capital which the planter had sunk former ly in its growth cost him nothing, whereas now that which lie employs burdens him with an enormous interest, which aim units to a tax on every pound he grows. And the labor now at his disposal, may be fairly held to be less steady, less active, and, therefore, very seriously less productive in its yield. His heavy taxes to the Federal Government and his probably equally heavy taxes for restoration of the ieck of public things ju his State and coun ty, constitute other items of special burden which represent, iu effect, a certain rate per pound on his cotton. All these taken into consideration as ad ditions to the rate of twenty-five cents per pound deduced from the price of the necessaries of labor, there is, at least, some doubt whether, under the present circumstances around it, the cotton indus try of this country can be maintained at a price much below that which it actually bears. What then, though all that remained on hand since the time of slate labor may have borne very well the burden of two cents, if thatwhich we might other wise expect next year, shall sink under theloac1 of five cents. But, assuming the profit on cotton culture at its present rates to be even twenty cents on the pound, the proposed tax is actually one of twenty five per cent, on income ! A rate of taxation so high has never yet, in the experience of public financiering, been borne by any industy in any country. The general objection to the exceptional policy of taxes upon exports, applies with unusual force to that proposed on raw cotton. As a protection to industry of the same character in foreign coun tries, the five cents proposed to bo levied on our cotton is, neither more nor less, than a protective duty in France and England in favor of the culti vation of that staple in Algeria, Egypt, Brazil and India. It places a bonus of five cents additional profit on the labor of the ryot who toils in his cot ton field in the East. Now, there is nothing bet ter known among gentlemen who understand the subject, than the climate and the soil are not the reasons which have given American fibers control of the market, so much as their cheapness. All the companies in England concur in the statement that staples equal to the oest American can bo grown in many parts of the globe, but that their production in these parts cannot be main tained at the American prices. The world's depre ciation of our fibers during the war, led to a large expansion of the culture in foreign countries ; but that result was checked by the constant apprehen sion that peace would, at any moment, throw us again into the competition. The export tax, for such it virtually is, of five cents per pound, will, during its continuance, involve the same stimulus, by high prices, to the substitution that has goue ou for the lust four years of our cotton industry, by the fosterage of cotton industry in Egypt, India, et cetera. A tax of live cents is h continuance of the causes that hate thus endangered our control of the cotton markets of the world ; and if even one year of its operation do not produce such a result, will certainly transfer that control permanently to foreign rivals. The Proposed V11I011 of Churches. The overtures for a union between the Anglican and Greek Churches, and between these and the Church of Rome, though earnestly pressed by the High Church of the Anglican Establishment, are, as might be expected, meeting with violent opposi tion from the Evangelical party and their outside allies the Dissenters. The question is no longer restricted to religious controversialists, but is come to be handled with freedom by the secular press. The Manchester Guardian of the 10th, we observe, is out in an editorial leader in opposition. The editor warns Dr. Pusey and his Oxford friends "they may go too far," and stir up even within the bosom of the Establishment another reforma tion before tlieV aro awaie of it. The Guardian asks: "Can Dr. Pusey be so sanguine as to imagine that in the prospect of a union with the Anglican Church, the Pope would surrender the spiritual authority which he actually exercises over the Ro man communion in this country, or does he flatter himself that Parliament will abolish the coronation oath and the oath of supremacy? For one of these alternatives is an iudispeusible preliminary to a union with tho churches. Li-her the English Ro manists, with the sanction of the Pope, must come within the pale of the English Establishment, then recognized by the Pontiff as a sister Church, or the Anglican Church, released by act of Parlia ment from the Royal supremacy, must pass under submission to the see of Rome. Can Dr. Pusey really think for a moment that either of these al ternatives is within the bounds of possibility? By a process of casuistry, some people may, we. sup pose, succeed in convincing themselves that there is no absolutely irreconcilable divergence between the canons of Trent and the Thirty-nine Articles. With that part of the controversy we have nothing to do. But how do the Unionists propose to get. over our acts of Parliament? The Sovereign of England swears to maintain tho Protestant re formed religion as established by law, and every clergyman of the Church acknowledges the su premacy on oath and renounces the spiritual authority of auy foreign potentate whatever." Per contra, the New York Church Journal, as if speaking for the High Church branch of th a Epis copalians iu the United States, is earnestly advo cating measures looking to union, especially with the Greek Communion. The editor says: "So far V5 terms of Communion are concerned, we have : othing to demand of the Oriental churehes i the way of concession on their part. The only question is as to what they shall demand of us on their part. And in this view, the Rev. Dr. Craik, the President of our House of Clerical and Lay Deputies in General Convention, in a book just issued by him, ' The Divine Life and the New Birth,' entirely coincides with the addi tion that we ought to give up the Filioque if that that shall be found the sole obstacle in the way of intercommunion." ' Meanwhile, the Episcopal Recorder, of Phila delphiaan organ of the Low Churchmen fires a shot at what it calls Romanizing tendencies of a certain community of clerical gentlemen who have just published a volume of devotions called " The Book of Hours. It contains " offices for the sev en canonical hours, litanies and other devotions." The Recorder asks : " Have we then a community of monks of oar communion r II we have, where is it ? Do anv of our Bishops know of its existence and sanction it ? We regard the publication as a Jesuit device, to put into the hands of our Romanizincr ritualists a formula of devotion which shall foster and feed the taste for Liturgies and Litanies which are the productions of a secondary inspiration. and which cannot be satisfied with our confessed ly uninspired Book of Common Prayer." It Cubed Htm. The following story is told of the Rev. Dr. Morse: At an association dinner a debate arose as to the use of the rod in bringing up children. The doctor took the affirmative, and the chief opponent was a young minister, whose reputation for veracity was not high. He main tamed that parents often do harm to their children by unjust punishment, from not knowing the facte of the case. 'Why said he, the only time my father whipped mewas f or telling the truth.' 'Well retorted the Doctor, it cured you of it, didn't When that shipload of Massachusetts women reaches Oregon, it is proposed to found a city and call it She-cargo. The Sack of Bagdad Demolition. Pillage and Outlawry. The Matamoras Ranchero, of the 9th, thns fask ens the responsibility of a war between Maximilian and the United states on the latter country: The Federal commander, upon being apprized of the unholy and hellish pillage of Bagdad by his own soldiers left Brownsville for that place. Two days after the pillaging commenced, he croosed into Bagdad a force of three hundred men, wiui the object, we are told, of protecting the lives of the non-combatant population. But, remarkable to relate, did not restore Inqerial authority, but instead, recognizes the authority of a pack of highway robbers, who received the place from his soldiers, and who went into it from the Texas ! side. Thus he recognizes the right of his soldiers to take and stick a town of the Mexican Empire and after they had enjoved two days pihage, he sends into it a force am! commands the peace, but instead of putting the place in the hands of those from whom his soldiers took it, he virtually turns it over to Liberal robbers and makes himself and government responsible for the whole affair. His soldiers attack and take a city from the hands of the Imperial Government of Mexico ; his soldiers capture the Imperial garrison ; assassinate Imperial citizens ; shoot Imperial soldiers ; sack the city, and turn all over to fillibusters and so called Liberals, who enter the place from the soil of the United States, Such, even, is the picture we are called upon to contemplate ; and such is not only a declaration of war on the part of the United States, but the commencement of actual hostilities by the government. Whether the Federal authorities have committed this awful crime wilfully, or whether they are guilty of the higher crime, inertia, stupidity, ig norance, we leave it for the public to determine. One thing, however, is certain, the course which the Federal commander has taken, fastens, irrevo-. cably fastens, the entire responsibility of the igno ble affair upon his government. The Ranchero of the 10th gives further particu lars of the sacking of Bagdad, from which we take some extracts : The pillage of Bagdad contains, but on a small scale iu comparison to the first few days procee ding. The negroes cross boxes of champaign and other wines and liquors, besides packages of mer chandise without molestation from Federal offi cials, but when 'the whites attempt to carry on the same work, they are picked up by the Federal custom-house officials and made to pay duties. All the principal houses of Bagdad have been gutted completely. Some firms in this c.ty inform us of their receiving houses and branches have been robbed of every article worth carrying off, including their safes, which had been taken to the Texas side and blown open. The federal commander has been at Clarksville, and has sent a force over to this side to keep or der, and was holding the place in conjunction with outlaws and filibusters. He has done nothing to ward restoring the place to those from whom his soldersi took it. He left yesterday morning for Brownsvillee, having been, and saw, and done nothing. The federal commander arrived up yesterday from below, and has ascertained that very few of his soldiers had a hand in the taking and sack ing of Bagdad. Those few he is going to have arrested. We do not understand that he computes the number of his soldiers who took part in that hel lish affair. Lest he should arrest too many of them we would inform him that not more than from five hundred to eight hundred took hand in the work of pillage. Only a few very few. We were tola that goods taken at Bagdad con-tinu-? to arrive in Brownsville, and are already affecting that market. The number killed and wounded at Bagdad, is so variously estimated that without something more reliable it would not be worth while to make an estimate. General Sherman on the Condition of the South. In response to a resolution of the Senate, the President, on Friday last, transmitted to that body a letter of General Sherman, giving a report of the condition of things in the Southwest, and more particularly in Arkansas, his observations having been taken during a recent tour in that section. The General says : The negroes in Arkansas can all find profitable and lucrative employment, and are protected in all their i ights and property by the civil authori ties. I met no one, citizen or soldier, who ques tioned or doubted that their freedom was as well assured in Arkansas as in Ohio. Governor Mur phy told me that negroes could acquire title to real estate, or any kind of property, and that the courts, both Federal and State, could and would protect them. There was an universal expression of confidence in the present condition of affairs, except on the part of some former rebels, who thought the pres ent test oath prescribed for them was too stringent and severe. A convention of them, convened I know not how, was iu session at Little Rock when I was there. A committee from it waited on General Reynolds and myself, inviting us to at tend. We agreed to go, provided no debate or proceedings were in Congress during our visit. On our entrance to the hall, the president address od us in language as loyal and earnest as possi bio, and asked our advice. I responded, and gave them the best advice I knew how, amounting sub stiutially as follows : That political matters since the conclusion of hostilities had progressed, and were still progressing, as fast as they could ex pect ; that 1 doubted if any action on their part, as a convention of the State, would be garded as the act of Arkansas, but that any respectful repre sentation of facts from them in their individual capacities, in the nature of a petition to General Reynolds, to President Johnson, or the national Congress, would doubtless receive every possible consideration ; at the same time 1 called their at tention to the poverty of their country, and how much better it would be for them to give their personal attention each to their own affairs, rath er than bother themselves with general matters of politics. After leaving Little Rock I learned that the con vention had adjourned, so that I hope things there will remain as quiet as before. Indeed, so far as my observation goes, there is perfect satisfaction felt by all classes of the people, except on the part of a very few who are looking to future combina tions involving the local and unimportant State offices. I found, everywhere in the South, a Large num ber of our officers and soldiers looking out for land and employment, and I doubt not that during the next year all the land which is cleared will be un der cultivation, a large part of it under the direc tion of energetic young men, and that all branches of business in Arkansas will be stimulated by the presence of a class of men which has not hereto fore existed in that State. Single individuals now travel unarmed from one part of the State to another, and General Rey nolds is rarely called upon to afford military pro tection to any one, white or black. I am, with re spect, your obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, Major General Commanding. Observations on the Smat-Pot Tn th TUVi. bile (Ala.) Tribune, of a recent date, Dr. E. P. (jaines gives some interesting results of observa tions made chiefly in Europe. These, he says, "go to show that, though there are some persons with whom the nreventivA offonfa nt X v v uvtiiuauuu last a long lifetime, it is safest for all persons to be -w -wxvvw nuucfci iuc uiMurj urtjvaua 111 tneir neighborhood. If the system retains the effects of a prior vaccination, a new one will not take, if it does take a second or third time, this is proof that the system was liable to small-pox in some form. Records of the Prussian army show that, out of about forty thousand soldiers revaccinated, it took in about one-third of the cases ; amongst Russian soldiers revaccinated. tho J - A V XJ V4 effect a second time was about eighteen per cent, and of Danish soldiers, more than one-half took a second time. Individual cases have been known in which revaccination at periods as early as eigh teen months and three years after the first opera tion took perfectly. Some persons, however, can never be revaccinated. It is believed that vaccin ation once perfectly performed has the effect of modifying an attack of small-pox at any stage of life. And it is contended that even after small-pox has commenced vaccination will modify the dis- but the mortality in such "cases does not appear to ' have been as great as in original uttaVa ! Frottn the Richmond Medical Journal. . Cholera. Cholera, oitce more, attracts th attpnlinn. and ! excites fears of the civilized world. The approach ?of a disease s fatal should arouse all the talent j and energy o our profession, to prevent its ac icess if possible and if not to moderate its exten sion ana miugste its severity, when it does make its appearance, j My present oDjject will be, not to attempt a sys tematic treatise cm the subject, but to present such salient points, ard discuss such general principles, s will lead to practical resnlfs The history off cholera corresponds very closely with that of most other great epidemics. Like the comei, it ua iuj cycle, and encircles the earth, very much in the same track, once every sixteen or, eignieen yeai-g. gome monstrous bird of prey, it nestled for years about the mouths of the Ganges, pluming its wings, and testing their strength, by occasional flights, until at last, con scious of power, it winded its nents and oceans, when, its circuit completed, it reiwucu w xi nesT; in tne jjaslf mere to rest for a series of yeara, and again prepare for its mission of .Ueaui. -i.Taversiner ereat rivers, ovprtonnino- the highest J mountains, and crossing the widest oceans, it everywhere defied and scorned the fee ble enorts ojf man to stay its progress. In every region of country traversed by the shadow of its wings, it eic the iatal marks of its passage, and wherever, , 'enticed by the abundance of food, pre pared fot- its sustenance, it tarried for a season, e carnival of death was speedily inaugurated. Whether assisted by favorable, or opposed by ad yers winds, whether resting in sunshine or breast ingthe storm, its course was still onward ; break t At 1 1. . . . lug mrougn au Darners ana penetrating every srongnoid, designed by the ingenuity of man, for its exclusion. In considering the history of such a disease, the nrsi important questions which present them selves are, first, What is its cause ? and second, How is this cause propagated? In answer to the first question, various hypoth eses have been offered, but no one of them is ren dered even probable, much less certain by any weight of testimony or any demonstrable facts. They are all alike unsatisfactory; and it is to be feared that the mystery of its essential cause can never be revealed. Some have attributed it to anirnalculse, others to different species of fungi, whilst others have imagined it to be caused by the absence of ozone from the atmosphere. These different hypotheses are mentioned, not for the purpose of refuting any one of them, but merely as an illustration of the obscurity which attends the subject. Whilst the essence of the poison may never be determined, we can yet reach a reasona ble conclusion as to its mode of propagation, by carefully observing and analyzing the facts con nected with its history. And first, is cholera a contagious disease? This question has divided the profession, and very pro perly elicited many facts, and much able discus sion on both sides, as upon its determination de pend many points of the first practical impor tance. The propagation of animal poisons, universally acknowledged to be contagious, seem to be gov erned by different laws, in different diseases. In gonorrhoea actual and intimate contact, with pure ly local development of specific inflamation, con stitutes the general rule. In syphilis and glan ders, intimate contact, followed by absorption of the poison, and its reproduction within the blood, giving rise to local manifestations of constitution al disease, furnish some of the laws which govern their popagation. These, and many others which may conform to the same general laws, constitute a class of purely and exclusively contagious diseases. No one would contend that cholera belongs to tuis class. TJjere is another family of contagious diseases, governed by certain uniform laws, to wrhich must be accorded a wide latitude. In this are included small-pox, measles, scarlatina, and some others. Of this class Watson, in his Practice of Medicine, says: " Like different human faces, all the com plaints belongiug to this group, have the same set of features, and therefore a mutual resemblance; while the separate lineaments differ so much, in their character and relative circumstances, as to give to each disease its distinctive aspect. " It will be necessary to describe some of these features, in order to determine whether cholera presents them, and consequently whetehr it is to be included in the same category. First. The diseases of this class are capable, at all times of being extended by individual contact or proximity. The distance at which the poison thrown off from one body, will affect another, no doubt varies with varying circumstances. In small pox, the most contagious of the class, with a cool, pure atmosphere, it is ascertained to be very limi ted. Second. The poison of these diseases has the property of reproduction within the living system. They are called by authors, emphatically, blood-diseases, and as such, have well-defined periods of incu bation. The shortest time allotted to this period, after exposure, is peven, and the longest fifteen days. If disease be developed either before or af ter these periods, it is deemed safer to infer an error in the date of exposure than to shorten or lengthen the period of incubation. Third. These diseases, when not fatal, pass through regular stages, in definite periods of time, to a steady convalescence. We have the chill, the three days's fever, the time for the maturation, and the time for the decline of the eruption, and finally the throwing off of the effete poison, and the end of the disease. Fourth. All diseases of this class pass through these stages, in despite of any effort made to cut them short, by the resources of our art. So uni versally is this law recognized by the profession, that any physician, who should attempt to cut short auy one of them by the use of heroic reine dies, would be considered as trifling with the lives of his patients. Fifth. Added to the property of reproduction within the blood, these poisons have also the prop erty of propagating themselves through the atmos phere, under certain unknown conditions, and of thus becoming epidemic. This would seem to eon stitute them a connecting link between the ex clusively epidemic diseases. Sixth. When not epidemic, these diseases spread gradually from some centre, and affect equally the most of those exposed to the conta- : i ii ii i I- . gion, uniess iney enjoy tne protection oi some pro phylaxis. Seventh. With but few exceptions, in diseases of i,nis class, one furnishes immunity from any sub sequent attack. Those who have the pits of small pox reflected from their mirrors, seldom fear to become nurses to persons laboring under the dis ease. Eighth. Complete isolation of the sick effectu ally prevents the extension of these diseases, whilst the neglect of this precaution insures their indefi nite propation. By successive individual exposures, a dozen subjects may extend the disease through more than a hundred days. Immunity is not se cured by change of atmosphere, varying seasons of the year, different periods of life, or strength of constitution. These are some of the prominent and uniform laws, known to regulate the propagation of this family of poisons. It remains to discuss the ques tion, whether cholera, tried by these rules, will stand the test of a contagious disease. As was before stated, cholera lingered, for a number of years, about the mouths of the Gancres. before it asserted its empire over the world. Dar ing those years, the ordinary channels of trade were unrestricted, and the same facilities existed for propagating the disease by contagion, that were found at a subsequent period, and yet it maintained its endemic character. Having once thrown off this character, it did not spread gradu ally in every direction, but taking a northwesterly course, it affected thousands of persons, almost at the same time, in every city and country through which it passed. In this general course it contin ued to go until it encircled the whole earth. Some peculiarity in the atmosphere seemed to be neces sary for its propagation, and wherever this exis ted continuously, there was to be found its steady line of march. But it has been stated, as an argument in favor of contagion, that the disease follows closely in line of communication between different countries, and between different points of the same countrv. This fact, which is admitted to be true, proves nothing in favor of contagion ; it only adds color to the view of its propagation through, an atmos pheric medium. Until the introduction of rail roads, the great lines ol communication 'were the rivers, navigated oy steamboats, and the oceans and inland seas navigated by vessels of large size. To say nothing of such rivers passing through the richest and most densely populated portion of each country, thus generating an impure state of at mosphere generally, these large vessels are ordi narily the receptacles of dirt, and the abodes of a crowded and filthy population. Nothing is more natural than that a disease, propagated by atmos pheric infection, should be found to travel along such channels. Top-Di-easlng Htado'vvi. We need more experiments in top-dressing grass lands. We must, however, remark at the outset, that scattering straw in bunches, manure in lumps, and compost in clods, is not top-dressing, or at least not deserving of the name. The efficacy of spreading manure finely and evenlyon the surface is well known. If done early in autumn it is found to be more efficient than when performed at the beginning or during winter ; and it is more useful in winter than when delayed till spring. There is no more than one reason for this differ ence One, a well known one, is the solution and washing down into the soil of the enriching parts. If the work is done early more time is allowed for the full completion of this process by the whole rains of autumn, winter and spring. Another rea son is the protection afforded to the grass plants from cold and sweeping winds by the covering spread above the roots. When the top-dressing is scattered early in autumn the protection and enriching together, and the tendency of the top dressing to preserve moisture on the surface causes immediately a rank growth of green grass ; and this rank, green growth will often render the dressed portion conspicuous from the rest when seen a long distance. This increased growth not only renders the plants stronger at the root, but gives them an additional covering against the cold of winter. So far, but little has been done in the way of top-dressing with other substances than fertilizers. 1 A few experiments have, however, proved that the mere mulching the covering of the surface for the purpose of protection, and for giving depth and strenghth to the roots, has accomplished im portant results. A. B. Dickinson's mode of spread ing a finely pulverized stratum of earth over his meadows, by irrigating with muddy water, is well known by which he has obtained three tons of hay and upwards per acre from ais large meadows. A striking experiment is mentioned in the Country Gentleman, by a correspondent at Pepperell, Mass. He spread at the rate of about a thousand bushels of muck per acre, which had been somewhat en rinched by the manure of swine. This would form a coating less than half an inch thick, if spread perfectly even. The result of this top dressing was two crops of grass in the 6ame season, both amounting to five tons per acre. The experi ments which we need in relation to this subject are the application of various substances to the surface of meadows, in order to observe the vari ous results. These substances must be capable of fine pulverization for if thrown down in lumps or heaps, so as to be several inches thick in one place and entirely absent in another, they cannot accomplish a great deal of good. Sawdust, which is abundant in some places, may be spread with great facility, but its light . and porous naturo would probably render it less valuable than an equal coating of strong soil. It is, however, well worthy of experiment. Fine peat or muck, dry enough to form into powder, might be spread with nearly as mucli faciltiy, and woidd doubtless prove more efficacious. Lastly, and much the best of the three, and only inferior to manure and compost, is alluvion, or the washings of strong, fertile soil Being free from stone, and of a fine, even, uniform texture, it may be spread evenly, when dry enough, with out difficulty. The best way of spreading it, un questionably, is to adopt the Dickinson mode of carrying it over the surface by streams of water, after excessive rains. There is another material which may be used for this purpose, the value of which experiment only can prove namely, fine or coarse sand or dry quick-sand. The writer once owned a meadow, a part of which was annually inundated by a turbulent creek, which left at every flood a thin coating of fine sed iment. This sediment did not contain any unu sual amount of fetilizing matter, for it was merely the washings from the country above. But the re sult was an annual and certain crop of at least three tons of hay per acre ; while the remainder of the meadow above high water mark, although possessing apparently as fertile a soil naturally, yielded a varying return of a ton to a ton and a half. There may be many instances in which farmers could imitate this top-dressing by apply ing the different substances already mentioned to their meadow lands, during the comparatively leisure season of winter. Country Gentleman. The Home of a Rothschild. A correspondent of the London Telegraph thus describes Ferrieres, the home of Baron James do Rothschild: ' When the Compiegne festivities are over those of Ferrieres commence. Baron James de Roths child selects the month of December as his special season for receiving his guestsj because it is tho season wherein he can best enjoy his favorite pastime of hunting, shooting, &c. As at Compieg ne, the Baron's guests are invited in four sories; and if it were possible to exceed the magnificence of imperial Compiegne, the Baron would certainly outrival Napoleon IIL The estate of La Ferriero was purchased thirty years ago by Rothschild from the heirs of Fouche, Duke of Otantro, for the sum of 2,600,000f. It has since been considerably in creased, and it now consists of 37,000 English acres. Like the great Frederick, who vainly tried to purchase the mill at Sans Souci which came twixt the wind and his nobility, the baron has vainly endeavored to buy a farm of fifteen acres which happens to be in the centre of his vast do main. The gold of the Rothschilds will not tempt the obdurate payson to part with his beloved heri tage. Curious to say, the adjoining estates belong to the mighty Pereires, the only name in Franco which in point of financial power can rival that of Rothschild. "The Emperor's visit in 18G5 to La Ferriere will be remembered. Every hour which his Majesty breathed in this superb mansion cost the host a million. Till that time no artist had been allowed to sketch the chateau ; and it being a hideous amalgamation of incorrect style, such as would give Mr. Ruskin a shiver even to contemplate in a photograph, I think the baron evinced his good! sense in not permitting his house to be seen in prints. Imagine a huge building, partly old English and partly Chinese in its decoration, sur rounded by exquisite grounds, in the designs of which Paxton had no inconsiderable part, im mense tanks well stocked with fish, and an in describable air of artificial ornament pervading the whole, which conveys to one the idea that ono of the sumptuous palaces in the Champs Elysees has been transported to the flat plains of La Brie. "The interior arrangements, however, are fault less a double staircase leads to the hall, which is eighty-five feet in height, and lit from the roof by a dome of glass, illuminated at night by 1,150 gas-burners. The gallery separates this vast hall from the dwelling-room, each of which would supply in itself enough treasures for a ery re spectable exhibition. Byzantine armchairs, pic tures by Velasqez, Joseph Vernet, Guido, Van dyke, and I know not how many more great mas ters, almost fatigue the spectator by their repeated claims for admiration. The most comfortable chair in the salon de famille was once the throne of a Chinese Emperor, presented by that Celestial to a Rothschild. A sofa in this said room is cov ered by Oriental embroidery bearing the Imperial Dragon. The baron's private study is furnished with Gobelin tapestry worked from designs by Boucher. The walls of the smoking room are en tirely covered with Russia leather, exactly the tint of a cigar, and on this costly material Eugene Laury has painted exquisite frescoes. The famiV dining room is decorated by sporting subjects, ex ecuted by Phillippe Rousseau. It opens on a snail and very plain synagogue It was in the large fac ing room that the Emperor and his suite par took of the celebrated luncheon in 1862, rved on Bernard de Palissy china and plate chiflsled 17 Goattieres." The following is the conclusion of an fpitaphon a tombstone in East Tennessee : ''She lived in a life of virtue and died of the chlera morbus, caus ed by eating green fruit in the Aril hope of a bless ed, imnaority,.. at v the early:" age of 21 years, 7 months and 16 days. Reader, go thou and do like wise.
Wilmington Journal [1844-1895] (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 15, 1866, edition 1
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