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RALEIGH REGISTER,
Second Floor of Fisher Building, Fayetteville
Street, next to Market House.
VOL. I.
RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1884.
NO. 26.
ij j i Ji rr
TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.
Pnkenham Beatty in Spectator.
By thine own soul's kw learn to live,
And if men thwart thee take no heed.
And if men hate thee have no care;
Sing thou thy song and do thy deed,
Hope thou thy hope and pray thy prayer.
And claim no crown they will not give,
Nor bays they grudge thee for thy hair.
Keep thou thy soul-sworn steadfast oath.
And to thy heart be true thy heart;
What thy soul teaches learn to know,
And play out thine appointed part;
And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow,
Nor helped nor hindered in thy growth,
To thy full stature thou shalt grow.
Fix on the future's goal thy face.
And let thy feet be lured to stray
Nowhither, but be swift to run.
And nowhere tarry by the way, T
Until at last the end is won,
And thou may'st look back from thy place
And see thy long day's journey done.
STATE "mAXCES.
THE HI IN W ROUGHT HERE BY
Republican Financial Rnle.
Raleigh Register April 16, 1884.
;No party, in any country, ever left more
enduring traces of wrong than the Repub
lican party during its brief ascendancy in
North Carolina. The period of its ascen
dancy is universally pointed to as a period
of shame and disgracejn our history. That
party has been condemned by the people
in every election for years past; and yet in
each succeeding election it comes forward
with unblushing effrontery to .demand of
the people that the great trusts inherent in
the great offices of the State, trusts involv
ing the supreme interests of liberty and
property, should be reposed in it again.
It presumes upon either an utter indiffer
ence on the part of the people to those
interests, or it reckons on the effect of
time in effacing the memory of its mis
deeds. The possibility of the former, no
true North Carolinian will harbor for a
moment: its reliance on, the latter may
nut be altogether vain. Every election
for State officers, and to a less degree for
the General Assembly, brings to the polls
a large number of young men who can
have no personal knowledge of the acts
and doings of that party when it con
trolled the State. They have heard of
them in a general way, but one which
leaves but a slight conception of the de
signs of that party when in power, and of
the methods pursued for their accomplish
ment. It is necessary that the history of
some of the schemesof that day should be
retraced from time to time, embracing
such facts and circumstances as space ad
mits of. in order that the young men .of
the State may vote-with some knowledge
of the record of the Republican party.
The conduct of the people, in view of the
acts of that party at that time will consti
tute to no small degree the measure of
their patriotism and public virtue. When
they forget, or remembering shall condone,
the outrages upon person and property of
which the Republican party was guilty
when it had control of the State, then the
end of our present system of government
is near: for the perpetuation of sound
government there would be no principle to
appeal to. "When the preservation of the
rights of person and property shall cease
to prompt men to active exertion, all is
lost.
The Republican party is already organ
izing for the coming campaign, and will
soon be soliciting the people to surrender
the State Government into its hands. Let
us look to its stewardship of the finances
of the State when that party had rule,
lwaring in mind, that the Republican party
is to-day made up of identically the same
clement that it was then.
Alter the War,
The prospect before the people of North
Carolina immediately after the war was as
.dark and forlorn as could well be con
ceived. It is known that a vast number of our
male population fell victims to the war, in
the ranks, in the hospitals, and in prison.
The garnered, wealth of generations had
leen invested in our banks; and every
dollar so invested had been lost. Our ag
ricultural and mechanical industries had,
to a large extent, been carried on by slave
labor; and slavery wa& abolished by the
military power of the Federal Government.
Nothing of material wealth was left but
land, and what live stock had escaped the
ravages of war. But desolate as the
prospect seemed, there remained the
means, when judiciously employed, not
only of subsistence, but of some humble
measure of prosperity. As long as the
jr nltivation of the land could be carried
.on, there was a hope of better things near
or remote: and as long as the kindly rela
tion between the: white and the black man
which had grown out of the patriarchal
system of slavery which had existed here
was preserved, labor could be obtained.
When the Confederate armies surrendered,
I he cherished hopes of those who sus
tained its flag went down forever: They
ic cognized the result in its fullest signifi
cance, and loyally renewed their allegiance
to the Federal Government. "With manly
resignation they turned to the duties which
the changed situation demanded. The
lirst duty of all was to repair the desola
tion which had spread over the whole
country; with but too many Jo maintain
a struggle with that dire poverty which
had in vaded their homes and their hearths.
Favoring circumstances were not wanting.
After a short season of civil anarchy, a
government in unison with the feelings of
our people was established here the ad
ministration of Governor Worth. Our
people went to work with that stern re
solve which never flagged through years
of unequal strife. In concert, and with
mutual good will, the negroes cooperated
with them. Tillage was extended over
much of the land which was thrown out
of cultivation during the latter years of
the war. The prospect was encouraging,
the hopes of our people rose high, and
those'wonderful energies which they put
forth in war were now turned to the pur
suits of reace.
The Convention of 1868.
But this fair dawn was speedily over
cast. The return of peace had brought
the whole white population of the South
to the polls, and they being Democrats, it
was seen by the Republican leaders' that
such an accession of strength would en
danger the ascendancy of their party. To
prevent this result a measure was resolved
on, so radical in its;nature, that it gave a
name to that party. That measure was to
give the right of suffrage to the negro.
Thehegro was there utterly ignorant, and
had not the faintest conception of the duties
of citizenship, but for that very reason he
would be only the more pliant tool. Such
a measure would reverse the fundamental
conditions of our government, for its fra
mers had bottomed it upon the intelligence
of the people ; buj; the partisan power cared
nothing for the government in comparison
of party success. To carry out this design
the Reconstruction Acts were passed. The
effect was to blot out the civil government
then existing In the State, and to put it
under absolute military rule. From every
Eosition of honor or trust, men who had
een freely elected on account of their
qualifications were thrust out, and men
too often their very opposites w.ere put in
their places. From corporations in great
part private as railroad corporations
their Presidents were put out, and men
put in their places, some of whom left
names that are synonymous with all that
is Vile.
The General Commanding was ordered
to take steps for the establishment of a
new government, and to that end a Con
vention was called. As an effectual se
curity for the accomplishment of the de
sign a large portion of the white people of
the State were disfranchised, while all the
negroes were admitted to the polls. f
Socially and industrially no measure
could have been more disastrous. Its ob
ject was to obtain control of negro suf
frage, and to secure that object the Re
publican party stickled at nothing. By
every agency that could be employed the
mind of the negro was poisoned, and his
passions inflamed against the white man
and Ithe Democratic party to which he be
longed. The negro was plied with every
insidious suggestion. He was led to be
lieve that the government of the Demo
cratic party would cut off his race from
education and from every means of im
provement ; nay, that it would be fatal to
ineir. n Denies, such representations en-
f entered in the breast of the more evil
ispbsed a tierce hatred which broke out
in many communities in crimes of the
most inhuman nature. Great numbers of
the better disposed, partly . inspired by
fear, and partly by a desire" to assert their
independence, w ithdrew from the employ
ment of white men, and settled upon bar
ren tracts without any means of carrying
on profitable cultivation, or flocked" to
towns until they blocked up the streets
with their idle and often lawless throngs.
From this cause the agriculture of the
State sustained a great shock ; the produc
tions of the State fell off proportionably.
There was also a deep feeling of insecurity
resulting from the general lawlessness of
the-negroes. It is necessary to bear these
things in mind to appreciate the conduct
of the Republican party when in power.
-o sucu irignnui experiment was ever
made upon any people. We can under
stand how a scheme so full of wrong could
have been concocted by those who hated us
with a bitter hatred, but to the end of
time, it will be ah unsolved mystery how
any Southern man could have joined in its
execution.
The Convention was held and a Consti
tution was framed in which it is hard to
say which predominated, a contemptuous
disregard of the needs of the State or of
the wishes of the people. From a Conven
tion constituted as that was nothing else
could have been expected. It was made
up, first, of men who had dropped from
the Federal army as it passed through the
State, as a stream deposits its mud in its
flow mere adventurers who had nothing
at home, and who remained here to share
in the plunder of a prostrate people. Next
were the negroes; ijj general mere passive
spectators of the proceedings, though
prompt to give their votes when the nod
wasgiven them. Of native born white
men cooperating with these, there were
two classes. The one, men of talent and
prominence who had chosen the hour when
the State was lalJoringin the utmost agony
to turn and rend her : the other, men of
obscure and often cttrty antecedents, who
found their way into that body because the
voice oi tne real citizens or the btate was
silenced by J military authority. Lastly,
there were a few men, braye, able and
loyal to the State men whose names are
never mentioned without a sentiment of
gratitude who maintained throughout a
dauntless though unavailing contest on
behalf of the State and her true interests.
Besides making a Constitution the Conven
tion went into general legislation, and
added a million to the debt of the State.
The Legislature of I868-'69.
It was ordained by the Convention that
on the same day when the Constitution
should be submitted to the popular vote
for ratification, the election for members
of the Legislature should take place, and
an early day was fixed on. This arrange
ment was recommended by many consider
ations, one above all. There were then
few newspapers in the State nothing was
to be feared from that source. All the
men to whom the people were accustomed
to look for council on public affairs were
under the ban; yet, if time had been al-
lowed, it was feared that the weight of so
much talent, probity and character might
be exerted with formidable effect. The
Constitution was ratified and the members
of the Legislature elected at the appointed
time.
When the Legislature met together in
the summer of 1868, the good people of
the State who saw it iu session stood
aghast. They were divided between feel
ings of the keenest indignation on the one
hand, and th& most melancholy forebod
ings on the other, when they saw a great
State delivered over to such a body. Ihey
had viewed the Convention with a mixture
of scorn, loathing and contempt. Yet
they found every evil element in the Con
vention intensified tenfold in the Legisla
ture. The principal leaders of the Republican
party viewed the prospect presented by the
Legislature with unbounded gratification.
Versed as they were in all the arts of guile
and fraud they saw in a body composed of
such materials the most inviting field for
plunder. There was a vast mass of ignor
ance which could be moulded at pleasure
by those w ho had the will and the skill.
A conspiracy was formed by the leaders to
make the most of the opportunity. The
high credit of the State was a splendid
capital to bank on. Her bonds would sell
readily; it was only necessary to devise a
way of putting them oh the market. The
way was soon found.1 The building of new
railroads, and the extension of .old ones
formed the pretext. Railroads were pro
iected in everv direction without regard to
the needs of the section through which
they were to run, or the possibility of their
future support. The granting of railroad
charters was made a monopolv in the
hands of a few. They fixed a regular
tariff upon them ten per cent on the
bonds. Upon these terms they were grant
ed without pause or stint. Millions upon
millions were voted away. At length the
bonds were voted with such prodigal pro
fusion tBat a feeling of apprehension was
excited; a doubt began to be entertained
whether the credit of North Carolina even
which had always stood so high would
sustain them. There was no thought for
the resources of the State it was well
known they were exhausted. There was
no thought for her. impoverished people
they were to most of the conspirators aliens
and strangers; by the others theywerc
looked on a fair game. The only ques
tion was, Would the State credit float the
bonds? Apprehension and doubt soon
deepened into alarm. A rush to New York
was made by those who had control of the
bonds. There was a struggle between the
railroad presidents which should first get
their bonds printed and signed ; the print
ing presses groaned under the task exacted
of them. There was a race which could
first put their bonds on the market ; the
offices of the brokers were besieged by
them. The bonds were hawked from one
end of Wall Street to the other. While
the presidents were pressing the sale, the
bonds were freely used in the gambling
halls and in the brothels of the city. The
competition between the sellers brought
about a sort of Dutch auction, and at last
they were bartered away for a mere frac
tion of the face value. Of the sums that
were realized from- the sale of the bonds
scarce a dollar was appropriated to the
purpose for which they were ostensibly
issued. Such purpose was from-tho begin
ning a mere pretext, and with the conspir
ators the day for all disguise soon' passed
away. Much of the proceeds was profli
gately squandered a large part went into
the pockets of the conspirators.
The conduct of the Assembly faithfully
reflected the character of the body. To im
prove their understanding and to assist
their deliberations a bar-room was opened
in the Capitol. The proceedings were
characterized by drunkenness and riot.
Votes were venal and the contemptuously
low price at which they were sold
showed their sense of their responsi
sibility as legislators. One or at most
a few drinks of whisky could carry any
measure. Outside of the Capitol the mem
bers took a pride in trampling upon all
decency. The community were shocked
and nauseated by the public display of the
most shameless debauchery. For the suf
ferings of our down-trodden and impover
ished people they manifested a brutl in
difference; they protracted their session
through ten mortal months at a jer diem
more than double the rate which had ob
tained before the war, when the State was
in the highest prosperity. At the end of
the session they crowned their infamy by
voting to their own use every dollar that
had been placed in the Treasury for the
education of the children of the State.
The Debt Created.
In speaking of the obligation, whether
moral or legal, of this debt, first that cre
ated by the Convention will be remarked
upon; secondly, that created by the Legis
lature. Of the Convention itself it is obvious to
remark that it was an anomaly in Ameri
can institutions. A Convention called by
a power ab extra by another, any power,
indeed, than that of the people to be af
fected by its acts and ordinances; is un
known to our constitutional system. If
the State had been in a condition of an
archy, that would have been, not, indeed,"
a justification, but an apology for this
great violation of popular rights. But the
fact was the very reverse. Government
was established here ; all the machinery of
justice was in full operation ; and law and
order pervaded every part of it. The call
ing of that Convention was an act of un
disguised, unblushing partisanship. Its
sole object was tp make voters. Doubtless
that class of our population which was
thus brought to the polls would have been
invested with suffrage at no distant day.
It could, however, and should have been
done without trampling on all constitu
tional rights, and without exposing society
to those shocks the strain of which is felt
even now. It must be admitted, if our
svstem of government is anything but a
name, that a Convention so called could
not constitutionally create a debt upon the
people could not constitutionally vote
away their property.
But passing by this aspect of the case,
there is another consideration which is
decisive upon this point. Whatever power
that Convention possessed it derived from
the Reconstruction Acts. The object of
these acts was avowedly to establish a
government here in accordance with their
provisions. To this, the power of the
Convention was limited ; all else was ultra
rire. It had, therefore, no more power to
fix a debt upon the State, than it had to
divide the "State or do any other thing not
specified in those acts.
Secondly, -with reference to the debt
created by: the Legislature :
If there be any proposition more indis
putable than another, it is this : that no
State can be bound to the payment of any
debt except by a legislature legally consti
tuted. The requirements of such a legis
lature are two: First, That its members
should be eligible to seats in it; second,
that they should have been elected by vo
ters possessing the proper qualifications.
Now, tried by cither of these, tests, the
Legislature of 1868, and that of '68-'C9,
which created the larger part of the debt,
was not a legally constituted body.
In truth, the whole proceeding which
brought that body into existence, was vio
lent and revolutionary. It was not elected
under the old Constitution or under the
new. It rested upon no constitutional
basis, and was, therefore, a sham Legisla
ture. It will be remembered that the new
Constitution was submitted to the popular
vote for ratification, and the members
elected to the Legislature on the same day.
There was no provision in the Reconstruc
tion Acts annulling our old Constitution
that is the Constitution of 1776, as amend
ed in 1835. It is clear, therefore, that the
old Constitution was and continued in
force until the ratification of the new Con
stitution was duly proclaimed. The elec
tion for members of the Legislature oc
curred under that Constitution, and the
qualifications of members were those pre
scribed in it. JNow, according to mat
Constitution, no negro was eligible to a
seat in the Legislature, and no white man,
unless he were a citizen of the State; and
yet that body was filled with negroes and
with northern adventurers who were not
citizens who ba$4ndeed, not indicated
by deed or word theJfc.gurposc or wish to
hprome citizens "Nr h as thev were.
did the people have any eT44nce that,
they had received, a majority of ,e votes
cast at the election. The ballots iwWC not
counted on xne qay or the election, o"i
were taken possesion of by the military
as soon as they closed the noils, and car
ried to the capital of anothe State. Who
should sit in the Legislature was deter
mined by the fiat 'jf the Commanding
General. In the plenitude of Ids power
las in all cases where arbitrary powejv ex
ists he became capricious, unablef de
termine his own inind; for he is kutfwn to
have altered his determination after it had
been publicly proclaimed. Sueh a Legis
lature possessed no more power to bind
the people of this State to a redemption of
its promises, than any other body of men
who should go into tiie Capitol to-morrow,
and, observing the forms of legislation,
should authorize the Treasurer to issue
bonds, in the najne of the State.
If we turn to the elections, the outrage
upon the Constitution, and upon constitu
tional modes of proceeding, was still more
flagrant. Tens of thousands of white vo
ters who possessed and had exercised the
right to vote were thrust from the polls by
the bayonet. The entire black male pop
ulation twenty-one years old, and a great
number under that age, were freely admit
ted to the. polls. Moreover, a great num
ber of timid white voters the number it
is impossible to estimate were kept away
from the polls, though they were not
banned, by the terrors of confiscation then
held out as imminent. It would be hard
to imagine a more criminal contempt of
the sanctity of elections in our system
regarded as the palladium of human rights
than was manifested in this proceeding.
No man who has entered the horn-book of
constitutional knowledge will contend
that the voice of the people was collected
by such an election. And if that election
didr not express their full consent, then
that Legislature was a bogus one, and the
bonds issued by it were void.
But "undeniable as these positions at the
bar of impartial public opinion are, it is
to be feared that they would have availed
us little before the legal tribunals, consti
tuted as they then were. Fortunately un
der the system of moral government that
rules the world, it is so ordained that
fraud, by its own contrivances, often pro
vides the means of defeating its guilty de
signs. By a clause in the Canby Consti
tution of 1868 it was provided, that "un
til the bonds shall be at par, the General
Assembly shall have no power to contract
any new debt or obligation un
less it shall in the same bill lew a special
tax to pay the interest annually." The
acts, authorizing the issue of a large num
ber of the bonds, were passed by the Leg
islature in the summer of 1868, held but a
short time after the Convention adjourned.
In the eagerness of the conspirators to
grab the loot they overlooked the provis
ion in regard to the special tax. The
prodigality with which these bonds were
voted had excited and alarmed the people:
the omission, therefore, was noted with a
feeling of intense satisfaction. But the
conspirators became aware of their over
sight, and bent upon the accomplishment
of their purpose, they, at the session of
1868-"69, hastened to rcenact those acts
and incorporate a provision for a special
tax. They now deemed themselves se
cure. But here again that fatality, inhe
rent in crime, proved the salvation of our
people. The change of the Constitution
just cited contained this further provision :
"And the General Assembly shall have no
power to give or lend the credit of the
State in aicl of any person, association or
corporation, except to aid in the comple
tion of such railroads as may be unfinished
at the time of the adoption of this Consti
tution, or in which the State has a direct
pecuniary interest, unless the subject be
submitted to a direct vote of the people of
the State, and be approved by a majority
of those who shall vote thereon."
In the opinion of Chief Justice Pearson,
rendered in the case of Galloway v. Chat
ham Railroad Company, he said "that
most of the public debt created by these
bonds was incurred in three modes: 1. By
subscribing for stock in railroad compa
nies and issuing bonds to pay for the stock,
the State becoming a member of the corpo
ration. This is the heaviest item, and
amounts to, say $ 8,000,000. 2. By issuing
bonds of the State, and exchanging such
bonds for a like amount of the bonds of
the corporation, the State not becoming a
stockholder, and taking collateral security
of more or less value. This is the next
heaviest item, and amounts to about $3,-
000,000. 3. By endorsing the bonds of
corporations and taking a mortgage, or
some other collateral security. I his item
amounts to about $2, 000, 000."
The case of Galloway t. Jenkins and
the Chatham Railroad Company arose out
of an act passed in August, 1868, direct
ing thq Treasurer to deliver to the Com
pany coupon bonds of the State not to ex
ceed two millions of dollars. In the act
as originally passed there was no provision
for a ipecial tax an omission as men
tioned above supplied at session of 1868-69.
The professed object was to aid the
Company in completing their Railroad
from the coalfields to Cheraw. This was
inserted to bring it within the provision of
the second clause of the article of the Con
stitution already cited tb.at in regard to
unfinished roads. Putting this railroad in
the act in the category of unfinished rail
roads was a snggestio falsi; for the termini
specified in the act chartering the Chat
ham Railroad in 1854-'5, were the "Deep
river at or near the Coalfields in the coun
ty of Chatham, and the city of Raleigh."
The despicable subterfuge answered well
enough in the Legislature, but was aban
doned by counsel when the case came into
the Supreme Court. As the case stood it
was clear that the first clause of the sec
tion under consideration had been com
plied with there was a distinct grant of
the bonds and a provision to levy a special
tax. If the first clause of the section
should be construed separately and inde
pendently, the court would hold the bonds
to be valid ; the requirements of the Con
stitution having been complied with. If
the two clauses of the section should be
construed together, and the second be
taken to be superadded to the first with a
view of milking a further restriction upon
the Assembly, then the court might hold
the bonds to be invalid; the provisions of
the Constitution not having been complied
with. The other two branches of the gov
ernment, the Executive and the Legisla
tive, were known to be intensely partisan ;
the Supreme Court, where political ques
tions were involved, had exhibited strong
party feeling; it remained to be seen to
what extent this feeling would sway them
when the property of the citizen and the
credit of trie State were involved. Fortu
nately upon questions of this character the
Chief Justice was thoroughly conservative.
By the force of his learning, logic and
commanding ability he carried a majority
of the Court along with him, though a
bare majority only. Such was the narrow
chance bv which our people escaped ft
crushing burden of taxation. The opinion
of the Court was that the two clauses of
the section must be construed together.
They held that the statute under consider
ation, though containing a provision for
levying a special tax, was unconstitutional
and void ; and that the General Assembly
had no power to. pass it, without submit
ting it to a vote of the people. This de
cisioniisposed of $2,000,000 of bonds di
rectly, and of $1,000,000 more which fell
within the same class. This case was de:
cided at January Term, 1869.
At the June term came on the case of
The. University Railroad Company c. Hol
den, Governor, and Jenkins, Treasurer.
The former case fell under the second
class mentioned by the Chief Justice an
exchange of State bonds for the bonds of
a corporation. This latter case leu under
the first class a direct subscription by the
State. The object of the statute in the
first case was to lend the credit of the
State to a corporation for the building of
a railroad ; the object of the statute in the
latter case was that the State itself should
engage in the work of construction direct
ly. The bonds in ttlis latter case had
never been issued, and after the former
had been decided, the Treasurer refused
to issue them. A writ of mandamus was
applied for, which having been granted
there was an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The principle of the two seemed to be so
different that those interested jn this class
of bonds were sanguine of success. The
case was fully argued at the bar, and elab
orately expounded by the bench all the
judges delivering opinions. Here as be
fore the weight of the reasoning of the
Chief Justiee was decisive. The opinion
of a majority of the court may be given in
his own language: "It is decided (Gallo
way r. Jenkins and the Chatham Railroad
Company) that the General Assembly has
no power to contract a debt, without a
vote of the people, to aid in the construc
tion of a new railroad. If the General
Assembly has no power to contract a debt
for the purpose of building a new railroad
with the assistance of contributions by in
dividuals, county subscriptions, and sub
scriptions by other railroads, it would seem
it cannot have power to contract a debt to
build a new railroad out and out. A pro
hibition to contract a lesser, surely amounts
to a prohibition to contract a greater debt
for the same object." The bonds were
accordingly declared "invalid" by the
court.
The amount of the bonds directly in
volved in the decision of this case was
small only three hundred thousand dol
lars. But the principle decided was of the
utmost importance; for it included all the
bonds of the first class mentioned by the
Chief Justice, which, according to him,
amounted to about $8,000,000.
There was much in the course of the
Chief Justice at this period to provoke
adverse comment, but the service rendered
by him to the people of the State by his
masterly exposition of the Constitution in
its bearing upon those bonds shcfuld ever
receive the most grateful recognition.
Without him the State would have been
buried under the 'weight of a debt which
would have crushed her.
A heavy blow was given to the special
tax bonds by those decisions. They lin
gered, howeter, for a long time upon the
stockboard, constantly sinking in price,
until at length the price became merely
nominal.
The question of the constitutionality of
the bonds issued in the third mode men
tioned by the Chiet Justice was never
tried. Indeed, this class was so clearly
embraced within the principle of the two
former, that it was plain what the decision
of the Supreme Court would be.
It will be observed that the broad prin
ciple laid down by the Supreme Court was
that the Ueneral Assembly oould create
no new debt for building railroads, until
the bonds of the State are at par. The
peoplemust sanction bonds issued for that
purpose; they are the ultimate tribunal.
In 1879 it was" deemed wise by the Demo
cratic party to submit the whole of the
special tax bonds to the vote of the people.
I o that end an act was passed by the Le
islature of that year, suggesting an amen
ment to the Constitution bv inserting a
clause prohibiting the General Assembly
from paying, or authorizing the collection
of any tax to pay any part of the special
tax bonds until the act proposing to pay
the same shall have been ratified by the
people at the polls. The act was duly
submitted to the people, and approved by
an immense majority; indeed the majority
approached unanimity. The act now forms
a part of our Constitution, and was incor
porated in it by the Code Commissioners
Thus these bonds the loathsome legacy
of party corruption were disposed of for
ever. But let it be noted and impressed upon
every mind that the constitutional prohib
ition upon the Legislature continues only
until the bonds of the State shall be at par,
When once that point is attained the re
striction is removed ; the Legislature will
have full power to issue bonds to any
amount. The six per cent bonds of the
State are above par ; the four per cent, bonds
are rapidly approaching that standard
They may reach it any day. What will
be the fate of North Carolina when this
Constitutional restriction is removed,
should the Republican party again get
control of the State? The same machinery
that was employed then, can be employed
now. The party is composed of the very
same elements. Let those who love the
fair fame of the State, and who value their
property, ponder these things.
WANTED BADLY
A 1223 Pound North Carolinian!
New York-Sun.
On July 31, 1809, died Daniel Lambert
at the early age of 39. What his actual
weight was at the time of his death is not
exactly known ; but three years before that
melancholy event, when he exhibited him
self at his house, 53 Piccadilly, he weighed
according to one of his exhibition bills.
1,222 pounds, London weight. The coffin
enclosing his remains, which was with
gome difficulty deposited in St. Martin
Church-yard, contained no less than 112
superficial feet of elm, was six feet four
inches long, four feet four inches wide,
and two feet four inches deep.
An Enterprising Western City.
"Yes, sir," said an enthusiastic citize
of a new Western town, "we've got
right smart town, stranger. Why," he
continued, impressively, "it s only six
months old yet and it's got two hotels
forty-eight beer saloons, twenty-seven
gamblin' places, four drug stores, to say
nothin' of grocery and clofhin'"stores, and
the best half-mile track west of the Mis
souri."
"Any churches?" asked" the stranger.
"Any what?"
"Churches."
"You mean them buildings with a long J
pint sticking up in the air?'
"Yes."
"No, we haint got any of them. Thar
was some talk about buildin' one, but we
finallv allowed it would look too dudish."
A School Item.
Texas Sittings.
Colonel Percy Yerger could not under
stand why his son Tommy did not want
to go back "to school on Austin-avenue.
Perhaps the following conversation be
tween Tommy and his teacher the day pre
vious had something to do with it :
"I can't understand why you, a big boy,
should fight that little fellow," said the
schoolman to Tommy, who had pounded a
small boy.
"Well, then, why do you meddle with
things you don't understand?" replied
Tommy, as he passed out through the open
! window.
THE MINISTER'S WIDOW.
Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life.
The dwelling of the Minister's Widow
stood within a few fields of the beautiful
village of Castle-Holm. In the heart of
the village stood the Manse and in it
had she, who was now a- widow, passed
twenty years of privacy and peace. On
the death of her husband, she had retired
with her family three boys to the pleas
ant cottage which she now inhabited. It
belonged to the old lady of the Castle,
who was patroness of the parish, and who
accepted from the minister's widow a mere
trifle as a nominal rent.
The change from the Manse to Sunny-
side had been with the widow a change
from happiness to resignation. Her hus
band had died of a consumption ; and for
nearly a year she had known that his death
was inevitable. Both of them had lived
in the spirit of that Christianity which he
had preached ; and therefore the last year
they passed together, in spite of the many
bitter tears which she who was to be the
survivor shed when none were by to see.
was perhaps on the whole the best deserv
ing of the name of happiness, of the twen
ty that had passed over their earthlysiaion.
To the dying man death had lost all its
terrors. He sat beside his wife, with his
bright hollow eyes and emaciated frame,
among the balmy shades of his garden,
and spoke with fervor of the many tender
mercies God had vouchsafed to them here,
and of the promises made to all who be
lieved in the gospel. Thev did not sit
together to persuade, to convince, or to
uphold each other's faith, for they believed
n the things that were unseen, lust as
they believed in the beautiful blossomed
arbour that then contained them in its
shading silence. Accordingly when the
hour was at hand, in which he was to ren
der up his spirit into the hand of God, he
was like a grateful and wearied man fall-
ng into a sleep. His widow closed his
eyes with her own hands, nor was her soul
then disquieted within her; In a few days
she heard the bell tolling, and from her
sheltered window looked out, and followed
the funeral with streaming eves but an un-
weeping heart. With a calm countenance,
an humble voice, she left and bade fare
well to the sweet Manse, where she had so
long been happy and as her three beauti
ful boys, with faces dimmed by natural
grief, but brightened by natural gladness, i
glided before her steps, she shut the gate
of her new dwelling with an undisturbed
soul, and moved her lips in silent thanks
giving to the God of the fatherless and the
widow.
Her three boys, each one year older than
the other, grew in strength and beauty,
the pride and flower of the parish. In
school they were quiet and composed ; but
in play-hours they bounded in their glee
together like young deer, and led the sport
ful flock in all excursions through the
Wood or over the moor. They resembled,
in features and in voice, both of their gen
tle parents; but nature had moulded to
quite another character their joyful and
impetuous souls. When sitting or walk
ing with their mother, they subdued their
spi
tie
lnts down to suit her equable and gen-
e contentment; and behaved towards her
with a delicacy and thoughtfulness, which
made her heart to sing for joy. So too
did they sit in the kirk on Sabbath, and
during all that day the fountain of their
joy seemed to subside and to lie still.
They knew to stand solemnly with their
mother, now and then on the calm sum
mer evenings, beside their father's grave.
Ihey remembered well his pale kind face,
his feeble walk, his bending frame, his
hand laid in blessing on their young heads,
and the last time they ever heard him
speak. The glad boys had not forgotten
their father ; and that they proved by their
piety unto her whom most on earth had
their lather loved. But their veins were
filled with youth, health, and the electric
ity of joy; and they carried without and
within the house such countenances as at
any time coming upon their mother's eyes
on a sudden, was like a torch held up in
the dim melancholy of a mist, diffusing
cheerfulness and elevation.
Years passed on. Although the young
est was but a boy, the eldest stood on the
verge of manhood, for he had entered his
seventeenth year, and was Bold, straight,
and tall, with a voice deepening in its
tone, a graver expression round the glad
ness of his eyes, and a sullen mass of coal
black hair hanging over the smooth white
ness of his open forehead. But why de
scribe the three beautiful brothers? They
knew that there was a' world lying at a
distance that called upon them to leave
the fields, and woods, and streams, and
lochs of Castle-Holm; and, born and bred
in peace as they had been, their restless
hearts were yet all on fire, and they burned
to join a life of danger, strife, and tumult.
No doubt it gave their mother a sad heart
to think that all her three boys who she
knew loved her so tenderly could leave her
all alone, and rush into the far-off world.
But who shall curb "nature? Who ought
to try to curb it when its bent is strong?
She reasoned awhile and tried to dissuade.
But it wis in vain. Then she applied to
her friends; and the widow of the minister
of Castle-Holm, retired as his life had
been, was not without friends of rank and
power. In one year her three boys had
their wish, in one year they left Sunny
side, one after the other; William to India
Edward to Spain ; and Harry to a man-of-war.
Still was the widow happy. . The house
that so often used to be ringing with joy
was now indeed too, too silent; and that
utter noiselessness sometimes made her
heart sick when sitting by herself in the
solitary room. But by nature she was a
gentle, meek," resigned and happy being;
and had she even been otherwise, the sor
row she had suffered, and the spirit of re
ligion which her whole life had instilled,
must have reconciled her to what was now
her lot. Great cause had she to be glad.
Far away as India was, and seemingly
more remote in her imagination, loving
letters came from her son there in almost
every ship that sailed for Britain ; and if,
at times, something delayed them, she
came to believe in the necessity of such
delays, and, without quaking, waited till
the blessed letter did in truth appear. Of
Edward, in Spain, she often heard,
though for him she suffered more than for
the others. Not that she loved him better,
for, like three stars, each possessed alike
the calm heaven of her heart ; but he was
with Wellesley, and the regiment, in
which he served, seemed to be conspicu
ous in all skirmishes, and in every battle.
Henry, her youngest boy, who left her be
fore he had finished his fourteenth year,
she often heard from ; his ship sometimes
put into port ; and once, to the terror and
consternation of her loving and yearning
heart, the young midshipman stood before
her, with a laughing voice, on the floor of
the parlor, and rushed into her arms. He
had got leave of absence for a fortnight ;
and proudly, although sadly too, did she
look on her dear boy when he was sitting
in the kirk with his uniform on, and his
war weapons by his side, a fearless and
beautiful stripling, on whom many an eye
was insensibly turned even during service.
And, to be sure, when the congregation
were dismissed, and the young sailor came
smiling out into the church-yard, never
was there such a shaking of hands seen
before. The old men blessed the gallant
boy, many of the mothers looked at him
not -without tears ; and the young maidens,
who had heard that he had been in a bloody
engagement, and once nearly shipwrecked,
gazed upon him with unconscious blushes,
and bosoms that beat with innocent emo
tion. A blessed week it was indeed that
he was then with his mother; and never
before had Sunny-side seemed so well to
deserve its name.
To love, to fear, and to obey God, was
the rule of this widow's life. And the
time was near at hand when she was to be
called upon to practise it in every silent,
secret, darkest corner and recess of her
afflicted spirit. Her eldest son, William,
fell in storming a fort in India, as he led
the forlorn hope. He was killed dead in
a moment, and fell into the trench with
all his lofty plumes. Edward was found
dead at Talavera, with the colours of his
regiment tied round his body. And the
ship in which Henry was on board, that
never would have struck her flag to any
human power sailing on the sea, was driven
by a storm on a reef of rocks, went to
pieces during the night, --and of eight
hundred men not fifty were saved. Of
that number Henry was not, but his body
was found next day on the sand,;aloeg
with those of many of the crew, and buried
as it deserved with all honors, and in a
place where few but sailors slept.
In one month, one little month, did the
tidings of the three deaths reach Sunny
side. A government letter informed her
of William's death, in. India, and added,
that on account of the distinguished char
acter of the young soldier, a small pension
would be settled on his mother. Had she
been starving of want, yastead of blest
with competence, that word would have
had then no meaning to her ear. Yet true
it is, that a human an earthly pride, can
not be utterly extinguished, even by sever
est anguish, in a mother's heart, yea, even
although her best hopes are garnered up
in heaven ; and the weeping widow could
not help feeling it now, when, with the
black wax below her eyes, she read how
her dead boy had not fallen in the service
of an ungrateful state. A few days after
ward, a letter came from himself, written
in the highest spirits and tenderest affec
tion, nis mother looked at every word,
every letter, every dash of the pen : and
still one thought, one thought only, was
in her soul, " the living hand that traced
these lines, where, what is it now?" But
this was the first blow only : ere the new
moon was visible, the widow knew that
she was altogether childless.
It was in a winter hurricane that her
youngest boy had perished ; and the names
of those whose health had hitherto been
remembered at every festal Christmas,
throughout all the parish, from the Castle
to the humblest hut, were now either sup
pressed within the heart, or pronounced
with a low voice and a sigh. During
three months, Sunny-side looked almost as
if uninhabited. Yet the smoke from one
chimney told that the childless widow was
sitting alone at her fireside ; and when her
only servant was gpoken to at church, or
on the village green, and asked how her
mistress was bearing these dispensations,
the answer was, that her health seemed
little, if at all impaired, and that she
talked of coming to divine service in a few
weeks, if her strength would permit. She
had been seen, through the leafless hedge,
standing at the parlor window, and had
motioned with her hand to a neighbor
who, in passing, had uncovered his head.
Her weekly bounty to several poor and
bed-riddeu persons had never suffered but
one week's intermission. It was always
sent to them on Saturday night ; and it
was on Saturday night that all the parish
had been thrown into tears, with the news
that Henry's ship had been wrecked and
the brave boy drowned. On that evening
she had forgotten the poor.
But now the spring had put forth her
tender buds and blossoms, had strewn
the black ground under the shrubs with
flowers, and was bringing up the soft,
tender, and beautiful green over the
awakening face of the earth. Ihere was
a revival of the spirit of life and gladness
over the garden, and the one encircling
field of Sunny-side; and so, newjse,
under the grace of God, was these a re
vival of the soul that had been sorrowing
within its concealment. On the first sweet
dewy Sabbath of May, the widow was
seen closing behind her the little white
gate, which for some months her hand
had not touched. She gave a gracious,
but mournful smile, to all her friends,
as she passed on through the midst of
them, along with the minister, who had
joined her on entering the church-yard ;
and although it was observed that she
turned pale as she sat down in her pew
with the Bibles and Psalm-books that had
belonged to her sons lying before her, as
they themselves had enjoined when they
went away, yet her face brightened even
as her heart began to burn within her, at
the simple music of the psnlni. The
prayers of the congregation had some
months before been requested for) her, as
a person in great distress; and during
service, the young minister, according to
her desire, now said a few simple words,
that intimated to the congregation, that
the childless widow was, through his
lips, returning thanks to Almighty God,
for that he had not forsaken her in her
trouble, but sent resignation and peace
From that day she was seen, as before
in her house, in her garden, along the
many pleasant walks all about the village,
and in the summer evenings, though not
so often as formerly, in the dwellings of
her friends, both high and low. From her
presence a more gentle manner seemed to
be breathed over the rude, and a more
heartfelt delicacy over the refined. Few
had suffered as she had suffered ; all her
losses were such as could be understood,
felt, and wept over by all hearts ; and all
boisterousness or levity of joy would have
seemed an outrage on her, who, sad and
melancholy herself, yet wished all around
her happy, and often lighted up her coun
tenance with a grateful smile, at the sight
of that pleasure which she could not but
observe to be softened, sobered, and sub
dued for her sake.
Such was the" account of her, her sor
rows and her resignation, which I received
on the first visit I paid to a family near
Castle-Holm, after the final consummation
of her grief. !WeH known to me had all
the dear boys been ; their father and mine
had been labourers in the same vineyard;
and as I had always been a welcome visitor,
when a boy, at the Manse of Castle-Holm,
so had I been, when a man, at Sunny-side.
Last time I had been there, it was during
the holidays, and I had accompanied the
three boys on their fishing excursions to
the Lochs in the moor; and in the even
ings pursued with them their humble and
useful studies; so I cntild not leave Castle-
Holm without visiting Sunny-side, al
though my heart misgave me, and I wished
I could have delayed it till another sum
mer. I sent word that I was coming to see her,
and I found her sitting in that well-known
little parlor, where I had partaken the
pleasure of so many merry evenings, with
those whose laughter was now extinguish
ed. We sat for a while together speaking
of ordinary topics, and then utterly silent.
But the restraint . she had imposed upon
herself she either thought unnecessary any
longer, or felt it to be impossible; and
rising up, went to a little desk, from
which she brought forth three miniatures,
and laid them down upon the table before
us, saying, " Behold the faces of my three
dead boys !"
So bright, breathing, and alive did they
appear, that for a moment I felt impelled
to speak to them, and to whisper their
names. She beheld my emotion, and said
unto me, "Oh! could you believe that
they are all dead? Doesnot that smile on
Willy v8 face seem as if it were immortal?
Do not Edward's sparkling eyes look so
bright as if the mists of death could never
have overshadowed them? and think!
Oh! think, that, ever Henry's golden hair
should have been dragged in the brine,
and filled full, full, I doubt not, of the
soiling sand !"
I put the senseless images one by one to
my lips, and kissed their foreheads for
dearly had I loved these three brothers ;
and. then I shut them up and removed
them to another part of the room. I
wished to speak, but I could not; and,
looking on the face of her who was before
me, I knew that her grief
would find ut-
tcrancc, aud that not until' she had un
burthened her heart could it be restored
to fepose.
"They would tell you, Sir, that I liear
my trials well; but it is not so. Many,
many, unresigned and ungrateful tears has
my God to forgive in me, a poor, weak,
and repining worm. Almost every day.
almost every night, do I weep before these
silent and beautiful phantoms; and wheu
I wipe away the breath and mist of tears
from their faces, there are they smiling
continually upon me ! Oh ! death is a
shocking thought when it is linked in love
with creatures so young as these ! More
insupportable is gushing tenderness, than
even dry despair; and, methinks I could
bear to live without them, and nlcver to
see them more, if I could only cease to
pity them ! But that can never be. It is
for them I weep, not for myself. If they
were to be restored to life, would 1 not, lie
down with thankfulness in the grave?
William and Edward were struck down,
and died, as they thought, in glory and
triumph. Death to them was merciful.
But who can know, although they may
try to dream of it in horror, what the
youngest of them, my sweet Harry, suf
fered, through that long dark howling
night of snow, when the ship was going
to pieces on the rocks !"
The last dismal thought held her for a
while silent; and some tears stood in drops
on her eye-lashes, but seemed again to be
absorbed. Her heart appeared unable to
cling to the horrors of the shipwreck, al
though it coveted them ; and her thoughts
reverted to other objects. "I walk often
into the rooms where they used to sleep,
and look on their beds till I think I see
their faces lying with shut eyes on their
pillows. Early in the morning, do I often
think'I hear them singing I waken from
troubled unrest, as if the knock of their
Bportive hands were at my door summon
ing me to rise. All their stated hours of
study and of play when they went to
school and returned from it when they
came in to meals when they said their
prayers when they went leaping at night
to bed as lightsomely, after all the day's
fatigue, as if they had just risen. ,Oh!
Sir at all these times, and many, and
many a time beside these, do I think of
them whom you Toyed."
While thus she kept indulging the pas
sion of her grief, she observed the tears I
could no longer conceal ; and rue sight oi
my sorrow seemed to give, for a time, a
loftier character to hers, as if my weak
ness made her aware of her own, and she
had become conscious of the character of
her vain lamentations. "Yet, why should
I so bitterly weep? Pain had not troubled
them passion had not disturbed them
vice had not polluted them. May I not
say, 'My children are in heaven with
their father' and ought I not, therefore,
to drv up all these foolish tears now and
forevermore?"
Composure was suddenly shed over her
countenance, like gentle sunlight over a
cheerless day, and she looked around the
room as if searching for some pleasant
objects that eluded her sight. "See,"'
said she, " yonder are all their books, ar
ranged just as Henry arranged them on
his unexpected visit. Alas! too many of
them are about the troubles and battles of
the sea ! But it matters not now. You
are looking at that drawing. It was done
by himself, that is the ship he was so
proud of, sailing in sunshine, and a pleas
ant summer breeze. Another ship indeed
was she soon after, when she lay upon the
reef ! But as for the books, I take them
out of their places and dust them, and re
turn them to their places, every week. I
used to read to my boys, sitting round my
knees, out of many of these books, before
they could read themselves, but now I
never peruse them, for their cheerful
stories are not for me. But there is ono
book I do read, and without it I should
long ago have been dead. The more the
heart suffers, the more does it understand
that book. Never do I read a single
chapter, without feeling assured of some
thing more awful in our nature than I felt
before. My own' heart misgives ne; my
own soul betrays me; all my comforts de
sert me"in a panic ; but never yet once did
I read one whole page of the New Testa
ment that I did not know that the eye of
God is on all his creatures, and on me
like the rest, though my husband and all
my sons are dead, and -I may have many
years yet to live alone on the earth."
After this we walked out into the little
avenue, now dark with the ' deep rich
shadows of summer beauty, and spoke of
the surpassing brightness of the weather
during all June, and advancing July. It
is not in nature always to be sad ; and the
remembrance of all her melancholy and
even miserable confessions was now like
an uncertain echo, as I beheld a placid
smile on her face, a smile of such perfect
resignation that it might not falsely be
called a smile of joy. We stood at the
little white gate; and with a gentle voice,
that perfectly accorded ith that expres
sion, she bade God bless me; and then
with composed steps, and now and then
turning up, as she walked along, the
massy flower-branches of the laburnum as
bent with their load of beauty they trailed
upon the ground, she disappeared into
that retirement, which, notwithstanding
all I had seen and heard, I could not but
think deserved almost to be called happy,
in a world which even the most thought
less know is a world of sorrow.