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IT P0S1 142 COMMUNICATIONS. METROPOLITAN COEEESPOKDEHCE. .1 tETTXS Will. New York, August 5, 1854. ? - A mutiny letter August 71 CholeraMurder qf Colo nd Lna at th St. Nicholas 7 Ch-eytownfarce GUmore Simms, L.L. D.-Dr. Gristeoldand Mr. Uet Sandwich Island Notes-Rotprint of famous menr History of Ctiba.' Mt Dear Post : Your paper of the 29th ul timo, came to hand in due season, but I was surprised to find that it did not contain my let ter of the 22d, which I posted duly upon that day. I mailed another letter upon the 29th ult. and both of them may appear in our paper of this date, or you mayj print but one of them, supposing that both finally reached you. As I cannot determine the question, I will simply discharge my duty, which is to send you a letter every week, independently of post failures not your, but Uncle' Sam's pout, I mean ! August continues to us the fervent heat of its predecessor, though we have had two or three cool nights, which afforded us an opportunity to sleep a little. The mosquito season has fair ly set in, and those who do not take the precau tion to sleep beneath a net find it exceedingly difficult to sleep Sat all. What with the heat, the mosquitos and the cholera, New York is quite an uncomfrj-table place for the time being. Of the latter affliction I have not much to say md mar as well sav it at once. The disease is more manageable than it has ever been before. Few cases terminate fatally, when the aid of a physician is obtained before the death-tokens appear. The hospital cases are chiefly composed of victims in the last -stage of the disease, and that so many of them recover, is a proof of the wonderful tenacity of life in the laboring classes. Our newspa ers contain a great many chapters on the cholera, and great pains have been taken to impress upon the public mind, the necessity of avoiding excesses in eating and drinking and in exercise, whether of the body or of the mind. It seems to be pretty well established that chol- , era makes few victims except of the impru dent, and there is. truth in what one of our city physicians published this morning, that the chol era is the most magnanimous of nil the scourges which visit mankind, ' It never strikes without warning.' It may be that this remark has ex4, ceptions, but I am satisfied that in ninety-nine case s of a hundred, the warnings are decided and unmistakeable. We need not apprehend danger wnihs we are temperate and on the look out for the first approach of the foe, who comes without disguise. You have doubtless conveyed to your readers the tidings of the melancholy tragedy at the St; Nicholas Hotel, which occurred on the morning of the 2d instant, and by which Col. Loring of California, was foully "murdered by Dr. Graham of New Orleans. I use no equivocal phrase in describing this homicide, for the simple ,reason that I think it deserves the name I have-given it. It is a most melancholy affair. The wife of the murderer, it is said, is plunged into a state of distress bordering upon insanity, and every heart bleeds for her unutterable woe. There is another sad object otour sympathy the wid ow 1 of the murdered man who had but recent ly been re-united to her husband after a long separation, occasioned by his' official duties in California. "Dr, Graham occupied a respectable position iu New Orleans. He is described as a man of fierce impulses and irascible temper, which are so greatly aggravated by intoxication that he ha of late habitually avoided drinking stimu lating liquors. This abstinence he unfortunate ly violated, and became greatly intoxicated, in. which state he committed this fearful murder. There is no excuse for him, not the, shadow of extenuation that I can discover, notwithstanding I it is currently reported that he rests confidently in the expectation of acquittal upon the plea of a justifiable homicide. , Such a plea in the cir cumstances seems preposterous, but what may be the result of his trial it is impossible to say. I can only say, earnestly, " Ja&titia fiat " The Greytown affair excited us a little for a few days, and I must say I heartily relished the wit of the down East editor, who said of it that "the United States Government wanted to get up a fight with some foreign power and so they magnanimously, concluded to take one of their own "size." A smaller affair, taken altogether, has not marked a day of the United States Cal endar, and Mr. Borland's grievances, and Capl. Hollins', prowess will not be speedily forgotten, however much they deserve to be ! Among the ' distinguished visitors in our me tropolis at this moment, is Dr. Simms, of South Carolina, the, South's most able literary expo nent" He comes among us jaded with the fa tiguing duties of his profession, chief among which is the arduous editorial panagement of the Southern Quarterly. Mr. Simms has many ardent friends and admirers in this city, and his sojourn here is always a succession of hospitali ties and courtesies freely lavished upon him. I regret to notice, in the papers, a paragraph originating in the Charleston Courier, iujurious to the private character of Dr. R. W. Griswold of this city. It states that Mrs. Ellett a female author of some celebrity, has commenced a pros ecution against him, on the charge of bigamy. Not only is this statement false without a shad ow of mitigation to its unblushing effrontery, but it is also impossible in the nature of things. Dr. Griswold was divorced from his former wife (for sufficient reasons) by the Pennsylvania Courts, an. I was perfectly free to marry again. His present wife is a most amiable and talented woman. Mrs. Ellett's hostility to Dr. Griswold is explained by her intimacy with his former wife ; but however bitter it maybe, it is not probable that she will commit the folly of at" tempting to set aside the decree of the Pennsyl vania Courts. It is worse for Mrs, Ellett that this ridiculous paragraph is floating about, than for Dr. Griswold. I notice it simply because it is infamous and reprehensible in the last degree. Dr. Griswold occupies a high position in this city, and is now convalescing from an illness which it was thought recently, would have car ried him into the grave, and thus put an end to his long, honorable and useful labors in the field of American Literature, where no one has sur passed him in his acquirements and toils. He is now engaged in revising completely his cele brated collection of the Female Poets of this country, though this is but a moiety of the en gagements bow upon his hands. Of recent new book I have time and apace enough to notice only two or three. . " Sandwich Island Notes, by a Haole," is a very entertaining volume from the press of Har per & Brothers. , It is a picture, physical, social and moral of that famous group of islands as they appeared to an American traveller last year. I have not had leisure to read it with at tention ; but I have gained from my cursory ho tice of it an impression of its general candor. am pleased to say that it treats the missionary operations in those Islands with dignity and re spect -elements entirely lacking in the books of some late travellers in that quarter. The morals ef the Islanders are represented as degraded in the extreme, but the christian portion of the pop ulation are exempted from the censure. The author thinks that the Sandwich Islands should be " annexed " to the United States, and reasons the point with a show of argument and sense, There is much in the book that is valuable, and the narrative is very lively and pleasing. The Footprints of famous men, is a book for boys, reprinted from the London Edition, by Harper & Brothers. It is full of noble and un exceptionable examples of.greatness. I have been remiss in not having before com mended to your readers, a new work by thet au thor of " Margaret Maitland of Sunny Side." ; It is entitled "Magdalen Hepburn'''' and repub lished by the enterprising house of Riker, Thorne fc Co. To those who are familiar with the ten der and exquisite pathos, and with the simple earnest piety of " Margaret Maitland " the pres ent book will need no recommendation, beyond the fact that it is from the same pen. To others let me say that it is a story of the Scottish Re formation, abounding in vivid scenes, admirable delineations of character, unaffected piety, irre sistible power and pathos and pure lessons of truth and wisdom. Need I say more to make it welcome as a household book ? The history of Cuba is the title of a very handsome volume just published by Messrs. Phillips, Sampson & Co., of Boston. It is a vol ume compiled from the notes of the author Mr. M. M. Ballore, during his residence upon the is land. The book is full of interest at this mo ment, and I am glad to say that it is not disfig ured with the -spirit of filibusterism, so rife at this day. The author concludes his very enter taining account of the physical and social aspects of the " Queen of the Antilles " with a chapter of Retrospective thoughts, and of anticipations, in whicli latter he indulges in hopes for Cuba, should she be ultimately and honorably incorpo rated with our own happy and prosperous land, in which view there are few perhaps who will not heartily coincide. But I will not extend this epistle to an unwar rantable length, and will only add the familiar sign-manual of COSMOS. For the Southern Weekly Post. THE PILOT MOUNTAIN" " All shadowing Pilot ! high and lone, and cold, Thou rear'at thy form in grandeur, and the light Which gilds thy brow at sunset a of old, Shall be to thee a 'diadem all bright Amid the ages distant and untold." J. B. Shepaed. Who of those whose eyes glance at this have ever beheld this wonder of nature called the Pilot Mountain ? Say who has ? You have undoubtedly heard of it often through the public prints, but which one of you has actually stood on it and looked at the beau tiful Yadkin river winding along a hundred or two miles from the mountains of Wilkes through wide stretching woodlands, by farms and ham lets without number ? Go up, reader, to this place, pause a day for rest at the excellent hotel kept by a fine family, and as the sun rises or sets, go up sixteen orj eighteen hundred feet, and look South and be hold South Carolina, turn to the North, and look at the Bjlue Ridge of Virginia ; after which gaze at the Bald Mountain which skirt Tennes see, f - - Do this, and then if you are not better em ployed, write out your emotions, if you can, for the most widely circulated journal of the day, so that your friends can partake to a slight ex tent at leat in the enthusiasm of your soul. It is a calm and grand feeling which the soul experiences when nature is viewed fr m this mountain height. It is a memory which will go with the visitor for a life time. Reader, again be urged to visit the Pilot. B. For the Southern Weekly Post. East Bend, N. C, Aug. 5, 1854. Editor of the Post : There is at this place a flourishing Institution for educating the rising generation, under charge of J. H. Kinyoun, a graduate of Union College, N. Y., and it is as well conducted as any in this section of the State. Mr." Joseph R. Creel, is assistant teacher; and every thing connected with it shows an improv ing tendency. It is situated in a heathen section, truly there being only twenty-one Still-houses within a circle of six miles around still the efforts of good men will overcome their evil influence, and eventually do away with the necessity of their continuance. There are some noble gentlemen residing in this section, and they have resolved to have an Academy here with every thing necessary cost ing ten thousand dollars or more for the building- Oue gentleman of enlarged liberality, (Mr. Glenn,) has freely subscribed five hundred dol lars, and will, if necessary, double the same. The necessity of schools in sections where Still-houses flourish is surely too obvious to need any comments. In view of the Pilot Mountain, with a fine spring of water near, there is everything con nected. with the Academy except the Stills above referred to which, should induce the growth of one of the best schools in North Car olina. B. Outrage at Coney Island. On Thursday evening, while a party of respectable citizens of .Brooklyn were enjoying the luxury of a se i bath at the above named place, three rdffians, armed : with clubs from six to eight fWet in length, com menced an asault by using very indecent lan guage to the ladies, of which the company was partly composed, and finally using their huge clubs over the heads of the remainder of the party in a most brutal manner inflicting serious wounds upon some of them ; all of-which trans pired without the least provocation whatever. MISCELLANEOUS. ' From the Leeds Mercury. WANTED A WIPE! A CAPITAL HOAX. An advertisement appeared in a recent pub lication of the Leeds Mercury, setting forth mat rimonial views and intentions of a gentleman of twenty-seven. The proffered engagement was taken up by some parties resident in Leeds, and ajcorrespondence, which covered a period of sev eral weeks ensued, the ideal fair one writing tinder the assumed name of "Hey." More than twenty letters one containing the dupe's photograph passed through the post office upon the all-absorbing theme, in course of which the gentleman, who resides in London, and whom in mercy we shall call Mr. Simple, made great efforts at the sentimental, one of the letters closing with a rhapsody irresistible in its effects upou the risible faculties of the hoaxers. The correspondence showed, as might le ex pected, that the motive of Mr. Simple in adver tising was mercenary. The attraction in his in stance was said to be 110 per annum, and this Mr. Simple deemed '"quite satisfactory" and induced him "to pledge his wurd " to be faith ful. A few days after this explanation of his views, Mr. Simple entered upon a correspon dence with a Miss Emily B , of Halifax, little thinking, that this supposed young la dy and Miss Hey, of Leeds, were one and tUg same person. The bait' in this instance was a clear income of 200 per annum, and Mr. Simple accordingly declared his intention in fa vor of the 200. Miss B. was now all his aim ; but, alas! his hopes were soon quashed iu that quarter. " Miss Hey 's" star was consequently again in the ascendant. " The course of true love never did run smooth," so it happened in this instance. Mr. Simple's hopes and fears were now alternately swayed till the climax of the affair, when delicate hints at an elope-nent were proposed by his now "Dear Louisa," and most warmly responded tc. This was the pre lude to the meeting which came off with all due eclat at Kirkstall Abbey, notwithstanding some sleepless nights were passed by Mr. Simple. The thing was now effected, however, without the selection of a second resort of peculiar re tiracy which Mr. Simple's foresight dictated to him in case of accideLt. "The Oaks near Kirk stall," was accordingly sent him. By the side of the river they were engaged to meet, and long before the appointed hour (5 p. m.) the lover could be seen perambulating its banks with pocket-handkerchief in hand, which was previously agreed upon as the signal of recog nition. His " dear Louisa " soon made her ap pearance, accompanied by her supposed father and brother. The introduction now took place, and Mr. Simple was duly apprised the " storm was over." The so called Mr. Hey now assum ed his position as father; an interesting conver sation ensued, Mr. Simple descanting largely upon his views, prospects and intentions. Op portunity was now given to the two to walk alone. This Mr. Simple eagerly embraced, and now the words of fondness and endearment so natural unoer such circumstances began to pour foith. He was now hastening to the most thril ling of all questions. Mr. Simple wished the nuptials to be eel -brated within a week ; but no, it could not be, a ladies require time for prepa ration. An hour and a half was thus spent, when adjournment for refreshment was propos ed and carried. Mr. Simple said he would take anything, it did not matter what, for now he had got all he desired, for if he searched the kingdom over he could not have found one to surpass, his " dear Louisa." The moment was now approaching when all Mr. Simple's dreams were to vanish, and the startling reality to be revealed. A very large company of " Heys" had assembled in another room, as Mr. Simple had already been informed and were waiting to receive him. He was ac cordingly introduced amidst profound silence. A flash of suspicion seemed to cross him as he entered, but he quietly took his seat. His health was then drunk with all the honors toasts and sentiments were showered upon hinr His feeling of suspicion seemed every moment to be increasing, when one of the company with a knowing look, asked Mr. Simple " if he had yet been up to the Oaks ?" He said he had not. " Then (replied the tormentor,) allow me to inform you sir that you are at the hoax now." A scene of laughter and confusion followed which beggars all description, "and during which Mr. Simple mad several ineffectual attempts to get away. Order was, however, partially restored, and as soon as the shouts of laughter had sub sided, he was addressed by several of the parties upon his duplicity and meanness, as exhibited in several portions of the correspondence : ater which the lady who had personated "Miss, Hey " that evening with such admirable tact, was introduced by her husband. Poor Mr. Simple. He appeared utterly dumbfounded and speechless. Miss Hey kindly gave him some excellent advice, and to which he responded with evident feeling, and upon making his exit remarked ; " Gentlemen this will be a lesson to me as long as I live." Fortunately for Mr. Simple, a train was now due for Leeds, and twenty minutes after its arrival saw him on his way home to London, where it is to be hoped he arrived in safety, and will be a better and a wiser man when he has read this paragraph. - A Constantinople correspondent says that the Turkish ladies are progressing rapidly, and in proof, remarks that their veils grow thinner and thinner every day. They are also growing more and more sociable, according to the same au thority, especially with their eyes. One pf them, on, a recent occasion, even went further than this she presented her handkerchief and a bou quet to a handsome young ensign of a British regiment, who happened to be strolling about that fashionable resort of the Turkish ladies, the Sweet Waters of Europe, at a time when it was crowded by hundreds of the fair sex. The poor eunuchs, Bent out to guard the damsels, are kept in a continual stew of uneasiness ; they dare not strike, or even complain, if an English or French officer goes so far as to smile or kiss his hand at any fair one committed to their charge. The old Turks dislike all this exceedingly, and scowl at the foreigners as they pass; but the women are fond of the attention paid them, and seem to have lost all terror of sacks and deep sea bathing in tfxo Bosphorrjs. THE ELEPHANT OF THE EAST. A person who had never Been a wild elephant can form no idea of his real character either mentally or physically. The unwieldly and sleepy looking beast, who, penned up in a cage in a menagerie, receives a sixpence in his trunk, and turns with difficulty to deposit it :in a box, whose mental powers seem to be concentrated in the idea of receiving buns tossed into a gap ing mouth by children's hands this very beast may have come from a warlike stock, j His sire may have been the terror of a district, a pitiless highwayman, whose soul thirsted for blood, who, lying in wait in some thick bush, would rush upon the unwary passer-by, and know no pleasure greater than the act of crushing his victim to a shapeless mass beneath his feet. I have heard people exclaim, upon; hearing anecdotes of elephant hunting, " poor things !" Poor things, indeed ! I should like to see the very person who thus expresses his pity going at his best pace with a savage elephant after him ; give him a lawn to rjin upon, if be likes, and see the elephant gain a foot in every yard of the chase, fire in his eye, fury in his headlong charge ; and would not the flying gentleman, who lately exclaimed " poor thing!" be thank ful to the lucky bullet that would save him from destruction ? There are no animals more misunderstood than elephants ; they are natural ly savage, wary and revengeful, displaying as great courage when in their wild state as any animal known. The fact of their great natural sagacity renders them the more dangerous as foes. Even when they are tamed, there are many that are not safe for a stranger to ap proach, and they are then only kept in awe by the sharp driving hook of the mohout. Elephants are gregarious, and the average number of a herd is about eight, although they frequently form bodies of fifty and even eighty in one troop. Each herd consists of a very large proportion of females, and they are con stantly met without a single bull in their num ber. I have seen some small herds formed ex clusively of bulls, but this is very rare. The bull is generally mtich larger than the female, and is generally more savage. His habits fre quently induce him. to prefer solitude to a gre garious life. He then becomes doubly vicious ! He seldom strays many miles from one locality, which he haunts for many years. He then be comes what is termed a " rogue." He then waylazs the natives, and in fact becomes a scourge to the neighborhood, attacking the in offensive without the slightest provocation, carrying destruction into the natives' paddy fields, and perfectly regardless of night fires or the usual precautions for scaring wild beast. Tha daring pluck of these rogues is only equalled by their extreme cunning. Endowed with that wonderful power of scent peculiar to elephants, he travels in the day time down the wind : thus, nothing can follow upon his track without his knowledge. He winds his enemy as the cautious hunter advances noiselessly upon his track, and he stands with ears thrown for ward, tail erect, trunk thrown high in the air, with its distended tip pointed to the spot from which he winds the silent but approaching danger. Perfectly motionless does he stand, like a statue in ebony, the very essence of at trition, every nerve of sense and hearing stretch ed to its cracking point, not a muscle moves, not a sound of a rustling branch against his rough sides; he is a mute figure of, wild and fierce eagerness. Meanwhile, the wary tracker stoops to the ground, and with a practised; eye pierees the tangled brushwood in search of his colossal feet. Still further and further he silent ly creeps forward, when suddenly a crash bursts through the whole jungle: the moment has arrived for the ambushed charge, and the eleph ant is upou him. The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon. A Point op- Space. The diameter of the earth's orbit is, as it were, the pocket rule of the astronomer, with which he measures dis tances which the mind can no more grasp, than infinity. The star-measurer is one hundred and ninety millions of miles in length. This the astronomer lays down on the floor of heaven, and drawing lines from the extremities to the nearest fixed star, as a centre, he finds the angle thus subtended by this base line to be not quite one second ! By the simple rule of Three he then arrives at the fact that the nearest fixed star is 21,000,000,000,000. From another simple calculation it follows that, in the space around our solar system devoid of stars, there is room in one dimension or in one straight line, for 12,000 solar systems ; in two dimensions, or in one plane, there is room for 130 millions of solar systems ; and in actual sideral space of three dimensions, there is room for 1,500,000,000,000, of solar systems, the size of our own. Nay, good father, do not look so unbelieving ly. Your boy need not graduate from the dis trict school to prove all this. One and a half million of solar systems, as large as ours, might be set in the space which divides between it aud itstnearest neighbor. And if we might assume the aggregate populaiion of our solar system to be 2,000,000,000, then there would be room enough for thirty thousand millions of human beings to live, to love, and labor in the same starless void. Nay, good man of tow frock, hold on a mo ment longer. Our sun is but a dull hazy speck of light in the great milky way, and Dr, Hers chel says he discovered fifty thousand just such suns in that highway of worlds, in a space ap parently a yard in breadth and six in length. Think of that a moment and then that no two of them all are probably nearer each other than twenty billions of miles ; and then that the star less syece between their solar systems, might contain 500,000,000,000 of similar systems Multiply these spaces and these systems by a hundred millions, and you will have numbered the worlds that a powerful glass opens to your view, from one point of space. Again, multiply these systems by twenty thousand millions, and , you will have three billion trillions of human beings, who might dwell in peace and unity in that point of space which Herschel's glass would disclose to your vision. And you ask despairingly ; What is man ! We will tell you what he is in one respect. The Creator of all these worlds is his God. Elihu Burretft Thoughts and Things, From the Scientific American. HEBBUTG PISHING AT THE SOUTH. A correspondent of the New Haven Register, gives an interesting account of the herring fish ery, as practiced in the eastern part of the Car olinas. The herrings which are taken there, he says, are of a different species from those which are used in New England being larger and less savory. They make their appearance shortly after the run of shad commences, al though their grand run, as it is termed, does not take place until considerably later in the season. They always go to shoals, and unlike the shad, do not confine themselves to the deep water of the river, but enter the shallowest branches of sluices emptying into it. The fact of the herring taking to the branches, where they may be easily caught, induces the inhabi tants to watch the waters pretty carefully throughout the fishing season, and when a shoal enters a branch or inlet, the news is soon spread from house to house, and a motly assemblage of all ages and colors soon gather on the banks, eich individual being armed with his deep hand net. As soon as the main body of the shoal ap pears to have entered, they fail to work and fill up the mouth of the branch with brush, or throw logs across the more shallow places, to keep them from returning ; and the poor fish have no alternative but to submit gracefully to their un enviable fate, death in the present and a frying pan in the prospective. Sometimes several thousand fish are captured thus in the course of a single hour. It is customary when the herrings enter the branch, for the person making the discovery to spread the news among his neighbors, so that all may stand an equal chance. Social Evils Woman to Blame. The New York Times has a very good article about the social career of that city, and exposes the cancer of extravagance that is festering upon the very vitals of society : " A great part of this tremendous evil is due to our women. It is hard to think it it is harder to write it but, nevertheless, it is plain, honest truth. They are the money malestroms they and their silks, wines, carpets, hangings and equipages and in them are swallowed up the millions that are reported in our financial disasters. Psalms for their souls liturgies of sorrow requiems of death anything in the way of thunder and lightning, would be, just now, the next thing to a gospel, if it could arouse our women to arrest the enormous drafts they are making on the exchequer of the world. " The wasteful expenditures in domestic life are telliDg fearfully on other aspects of society. Thousands of young men are now prevented from marrying because of the extravagant scale of living. Happy those who were " married twenty-five years ago thrice happy such as gained social position and comfortable ease be fore Mammon undertook to guard the portals of society ! They could do well on a few hun dreds of dollars, but in these days thousands have to take their place. The next step is to provide substitutes. What these are, the world knows. Alas, for the victims. The waters of that Dead Sea which rolls over Sodom and Go morrah are daily engulfing them among the li centious generation that sunk before them. Where are we to stop ? Every season there must, be a score of fathoms added to the line that measures those abysses. A fine house pro vokes a finer. A gorgeous drawing room and a splendid entertainment beget a more magnif icent show. The steps are short from brick to sandstone ; from sandstone to marble ; from a silver service to a gold service. Ingenuity is hard at work. Genius is pledged to gay women. A while longer, and be sure we shall light our cigars with ten dollar bills, and drink dissolved pearls for a dinner beverage." Prayer to the Point. The complaint of drought made by many papers throughout the State, brings to our minds an anecdote told of an old fellow who use to have " local habitation" in Andover, Ohio. The year previous to the incident had been one of unusual drought, ac companied with hot days and chilly nights, and there was especially a failure in the corn crops The old chap, on Sunday evening, dropped into the Presbyterian church while a prayer meet ing was in progress. There were but few in at tendance, and those few mostly grave and rever end deacons, who, with a fault too common, went prayer gathering all over the world. It immediately struck the old chap that such long prayers were intolerable, and that he would in struct them how to pray briefly and to the point So he popped up his pegs, and Breth ren," said he, "you pray too long. Five minutes are long enough to make five prayers ;" and before anybody could recover from the sur prise of such an abrupt intrusion, he was down on his knees jabbering out at railroad speed 4,Oh Lord! give-us-good-long-ears-of-corn this year, and-none-of-your-nubbins Amen !" The effect of the prayer was magical, and an audible snicker relieved the solemnity of the occasion. Binghamton Republican. History of the Word Esquire. The word is from the French escurier, (shield-bearer) and originally signified nothing more. It was app lied to the armor-bearers of knights and barons, who were second in rank to them. The esquire was a gentleman, and had the right of quarter ing arms on his shie'd, as also of wearing a sword, which denoted gentility though he was not girted with the knighty belt. This was es quire of chivalry, of whom we have an amusing burlesque in the person of Sancbo Panza, tha valorous attendant of that famous knight errant, Don Quixotte. Another class, feudal esquires, consisted of those who had a right to claim knighthood, but had not been dubbed. The sons of younger sons of dukes and marquises, the younger sons of viscounts, earls and barons, and their eldest sons, with the eldest sons of baronets and knights of all orders, are regarded iu England as esquires by birth, though their precedence, which differs widely, is regulated by the ranks of their respective ancestors. Officers of the Queen's court and household, her army and navy, down to captains inclusive, doctors of laws, barristers, physicians, are reputed es quires. A justice of the peace is only an esquire during the term of his office: but the sheriff of the county holds the title for life. In this coun try it is used almost indiscriminately as an ex prewicrn of respect. A Cttkious Devick An exchange vouches for the truth of the following : There is a bridge over the Rhine at Basle. Between the two towns, it is said, there was much contention and jealousy, of which there is still a .most laughable monument. In the tower di rectly facing the bridge is a public clock, and a carved image of a human face, whose perpetual business seems to be to make faces at Little Basle. TheTmage has its mouth a little open, and is furnished with a long tongue of a fiery red color, which is so connected with the pen dulum of the clock, that every vibration in one direction runs it out in a scornful, venomous brandishing: towards Little Basle, aud the return stroke draws it in. The device is so queer, so expressive, and at the same time so ludicrous, that I could scarcely refrain from laughing right heartily in the publie thoroughfare when I saw it, and my mind has often reverted to the per petual spitting out of that spiteful red tongue towards the insulted and scorned town of Little Bask. RALEIGH, AUG. 12, 1854. WILLIAM D. COOKE, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Terms TWO DOLLARS FEB AJTNTJM, in Advance. ; CLUB PRICES: Three Copies, $5 full price, $6, Eight Copies, 12 " 16, Ten Copies 15 " 20, Twenty Copies, 20 " 40. (Payment in all cases in advance.) JKT Where a club of eight, ten or twenty subscribers is sent, the person making up the club will be entitled to a copy extra. ter Postmasters are authorized to act as Agents for the Southern Weekly Post. Mr. H. P. Douthit is our authorized agent for the States of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee SECRET SOCIETIES. Some of the high authorities of the Roman Catholic Church have recently denounced secret societies with the heaviest censures, and in some cases have even denied the last sacraments to the members of such associations. This was only such conduct as might have been expected from the jealous spirit of that communion. It is quite natural that the Roman hierarchy, itself a great secret society without the name, should dread the influence of associations of men whose operations must lie beyond the reach of inquisitorial scrutiny. The opposition of that church, therefore, should excite no surprise ; but it is quite a different matter when Protestant churches go beyond the divine warrant under which they profess to act, and denounce these societies ;n solemn ecclesiastical conclave. The Southt-rn Synod of Ohio, lately adopted a series of resolutions of this character, and determined to admit no one into their connection hereafter who may be a member of a secret society. Within the last few years we have noticed sev eral such examples of high-handed presump tion, and we cannot forbear from expressing our hearty disapproval of them. The members of christian churches certainly do not lose anv of their civil and social ri edits by virtue of their ecclesiatical connection. is an important principle which should be care fully preserved and recognized. It is one which, we are in danger of losing sight of in this coun try, through the cunning influence of foreign ecclesiastics, and it is very unfortunate that American Protestants have sometimes been tempted to sacrifice it to a temporary expedien cy. If two American citizens have the right to counsel with each other in private,-and to hold an important secret in common, any number of citizens may properly do the same, and we can not see how such an agreement could render them amenable to any church or church officer in the country. When this right is denie'd, the claim of the church to exact every kind of con fession from its members, is clearly admitted, and the principle upon which the inquisition was founded is plainly recognized. "We cannot admit such a right in any ecclesiastical authori ty, or allow that the church may thus interfere with the secret concerns of its numbers. We maintain: a great principle when we contend for this important right, and are confident that it is one which the American people will not willing ly surrender. The right of secret conference and confidence has been recognized and acted upon from the foundation of the government. Secrecy is in fact essential to success in every private and every official business. The executive department of the government could do -nothing without it, and neither the army nor the navy could safely dispense with its aid. It is employed in every im portant enterprise of the government and in eve ry transaction of individual effort which requires its use. There are secret societies scattered all over our country, and there is not a college in the land, of any respectability, which has not one or two such associations among its students, allowed and encouraged by the authorities that preside over them. It is arrogance and pre sumption therefore, in our opinion, for a small fraction of the body of Christendom to pretend to the discovery in morals, that secret societies are wrong, and to determine to exclude from its fold all who belong to them. We are governed in what we have said by no great partiality for secret societies. The writer has no connection with any such institution, and, except at college, never belonged to one. We think we see, however, that in assailing the principle of secrecy, the foreign element of our population is assailing a sacred right of the cit izen, and denouncing as criminal the exercise of that right. We fight against such move ments in their incipiency, impelled by the sim ple purpose of forewarning our countrymen against the undermining influence of foreign ideas. Let us be wide awake to observe the operations and manceuvers of our enemies, and be prompt to counteract the mischievous ten dency of their designs. Virginia and South Carolina are both knock ing loudly at our doors to obtain the right to connect the Central road with Danville. Wait a while gentlemen. The time has not arrived to justify such a concession. Let us get Mem phis and Beaufort connected first, and then we may consider the proposition. Hoy. Georgs E. Badoee baa returned to fci reodejjc t& city. thinirs. but nnon nothiftir mr.r .1 J o- -r ---a "'unctiiv than iwiuuouun ui icuuui uuw mtersectin country. Travelers are constantly annoyed T changes of hour, of terms, and accominoc ati0 and are compelled to be ever on the wat h l some alteration of the schedule should m t .1 i i 1 j "4.1 "'tin - lUVUUIVUllll, Jl( ap, iucu aic iu uib "Overusing coluinn$ 0j- 1 newspapers long after they have been alkndo ' ed, and nothing but the most careful viUj. D" can save the traveler from being misled time that our railway officials shoultl I " . ...... V . , ; 1. . j . s more steady habits, and cease to display t. j tility of their invention in a series of ehajif -their plans of operation so painful to tlJ & taxed patience of the public. Accidents ar "ff course to be expeeted, but there is no w adding to them so many other causes of Q,jx.. j culation. The increase of travel depend, the increase of facilities for it, and ther i thing that so much facilitates it as a enra, acquaintance of the public with the airai ments of our railroad and steamboat lines.! Ti t arrangements enter into all the plans of iadivid uals for their personal movements, and so i,,nrr as they continue to be so unsettled and ATl ous, these movements must be greatlv mipi or retarded. We deem this matter worthy 0f serious consideration, and submit oursug4Rtions thereupon to the parties concerned. ! A Challenge. Ex-Senator Tallmadgji hav ing replied with some spirit to an article bf the Richmond Dispatch ridiculing his credulity ia regard to spiritual manifestations, the editor of that paper challenges him to procure fron the shade of Mr. Calhoun, or any other spirit with which he is in communication, a report f the operations of the belligerents in Europe, ad vance nf the. Stteiirnir cn tfiaf ita ,L.. i J ' , v .uwu 1 -j umii li tested by the facts. We do not exactly seie huw Mr. Tallmadg" can escape from such a trial-of his faith. The idea of the Dispatch is a aj ital one for testing the sincerity of his professions. In fact there is nothing easier for the spirits t0 do than to convince all mankind of the truth of their revelations by the simple method of clearly anticipating the events of contemporary historr. Their revelations have been, so far, of such! a na ture that it is generally impossible for a jiving man to test them by investigation. What we want is some bona yide prophecy, giving 'us in plain language the details of events before they transpire, or before any knowledge of them can possibly reach us by ordinary channels, j We hope Mr. Tallmadge will see the propriety of thus fairly meeting the issue, and that he will not shuffle off with the miserable and susplciuut apology that the spirits are not disposed td ven ture upon such an experiment. Let him re member that the spirits are not the respwijsible parties ; it is their interpreters whose vera.ity and honesty are arraigned and questioned. J3T We see it stated quite frequently it the papers that our government will, in all pro&hil ity "either purchase or seize Cuba," in a short time. For the honor of. our country we jiope that the suggestion has noother foundation than the imagination of its inventors. As to the purchase of Cuba, being no politicians, we have nothing to say. in regard to its propriety, j But as citizens deeply concerned for the character of our country, we must declare that a g ajtuit ous seizure of that island would be a blot upon our history which centuriesof glory could nut efface. We say this in the full confidence (that the present Administration is innocent if so shameful a design. We do not believe an vires pectable politician in the country would willjiiig- ly see the indelible stain fixed upon our natjion al character. The mere suggestion of sinih a crime is big with insult. It is enough to n lake the American eagle hide his head under bis wings, and the stars on the national flag glow dim with shame. What ? seize by force the most highly prized possession of a power with which we are at rjeace ? Tr. mio-hf La cil,la r . g, - f w.u for an unscrupulous autocrat, but is utterly liir possible for a conscientious people a people whose pride it is to show the world an example of purity, and moderation, and unsullied; ho nor. The Agony Over. The world may now re pose for a while from the tremendous agitation into which it has been thrown by the conflict between Bragg and Dockery. That questiot of questions has been decided at last, and exhaust ed humanity seeks a little rest from the thijr es of the struggle. A comparative calm begins) to spread its benign aspect over the faces of the nations who witnessed the appalling scene, ami nothing remains to break the serenity of man kind but an occasional revolution in Sou A America, or now and then some paltry victrv of the Turks on the banks of the Danube, jjt. is in Vain t.haf. SlU-ll a Am-n a rTAfrim on V, r i v..i,viv IU LUC liU."rtU Czar endeavors to ajntate the ouiet surface! of w 1 society with his petty manoeuvres, or that E-par-tero and O'Donnel breed a contemptible emepte among- the malcontents of the Peninsula. Th ?se are but harmless meteors on the tranquil hori zon, compared with the volcanic explosion tlat has just ceased to agitate the universe. Yes, history has completed another great cycle, and 3edaYher volume to her awful record. State-Agricultural Fairs. We are in debted to the Raleigh Standard for the follow ing ta-bje, showing the date of the commence ment and close, and places of holding the Stste Agricultural Fairs in the various States of the Union and in Canada ; and from which it will be seen that the North Carolina State Agricjul tural Fair commences on the 17th and ends he 20th of October next : Name. Where held. Date. Illinois, Kentucky, Lower Cannrla Springfield, LexingtoD, Quebec, Bra ttlebo rough, Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boonville, New York, Baltimore, Madison. Watertown, New Haven, Raleigh, Augusta, Sept. 124-15 Sept. 116 S?pt. 134-15 Sept. 16-22 Sept. 26-29 Sept. 2630 Oct. 24 6 Oct. 34 6 Oct. 3 6 Oct 34 6 Oct. 44 7 Oct. 4 7 Oct. 10-13 Oct. 17-20 Oct. 23-26 Oct. I Oct. 25-23 Vermont, l hio, Michigan, . Pennsylvania; Missouri, New York,: New Hampshire, Maryland, Indiana, Wisconsin, Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia, ' Tnwi. f . a m 1 1 tICJU, National Cattle Show, Springfield, Ohio, f airfield, North Carolina Elections. Sufficient Be turns have been received from the late election to warrant us in saying that Col. Bragg, tie democratic candidate for governor, has been elected bv a laro-e maioritv. The legislature is J : V J . fc? 1 alto decidedly daocrftti&
Southern Weekly Post (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 12, 1854, edition 1
2
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