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SELECT POETRY.
I . From Ilia New York Sunday Courier.
THE CONSUMPTIVE'S PRAYER. FOR SPRING.
T O. O. POSTER.
Lifa brealhinjf spirit ! why Ibjr spell delay,
VailiiiL' thy radiant foirn in mist and cloiidt
How, through the winter hours, so numb and
gray, '
My graepiiu; heart for thee has called
aloud
Strutriiliiig- iti fiery pain beneath the shroud
Already binding up my limbs in dealh,
, While yet my veins wiih life's rich blood
endowed.
Tingle with exqliioite sensation, and my
breath
Wiih iis voluptuous pants my brain bewilder
ethl Ah fragile frame, that once was fair and
sironir,
Thrillimr with life, asbrnvn caihedral ainles
Th'ill with the spirit of lienvenwiiiniiig song
F.iil me not yet ! TillspriiijriTentiVG imilei,
B iloiy wiih life-hreaih fromathnnmnd isles.
S'i'l the fiiinl warfare hour by hour nrolonir!
Perrhaiu'e the pnweHhnt wins wiih swt)el
est wiles
The roso from winter's deulh, and bids
renin v
ll perfiime-haiinted life, will let me also slay!
Oh God ! That I should die and love not !
pass,
With th full fountain of my heart un
sealed. Into the rp.tlnis of milhincness. Alas!
That life to me xhnnlil e'er have been re
vealed, If nnen jovecl the rnnt must be repealed.
A'as! That I must die, while nil aionnd,
I ,-e protected by some viewless shield,
The middle-aued, the old, w iih white haiiS
crowned.
Amid Death's arrowy storm stand safe with
out a wound.
'Tis but a horrid dream a phantom fiend,
Drkouing wiih gnsley hand my trignled
soul
To thoughts of madness. Henceforth I am
weane.l
From such weak baby-visions, that once
stole
The color frm mv cheek and the control
Of my own hems from myself. Away !
For me not yet the clamorous bull shall
toll
Death's pulse, whose beating heralds but
decay
For me still throbs the life of many a golden
day.
Ah me ! What sudden pangs dart thiongh my
liame,
WrtMichiuif eai-lt wasted nerve to torture !
slow
A'oii!! my veins, like an expiring flame,
I feel ihe lliirkblnod faintly coma and go,
While over tne, like flakes of slincini; snow
A choking vapor falls. My eyes are dim
My weary heart stands still ! and faint and
low
With dying agony my senses swim
Farewell,' oh eari h and life ! God calls me
unto Him !
a Skctcl).
A FEARFUL APPARITION.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
In a wild and remote region of the Scot
tish Highlands, there stood on a rocky
height, an old fortress.
One stormy evening, in harvest, its lord
looked from his window into the darkness,
and over the well guarded court ol the
castle, towards the opposite hills, where the
tops of the trees, still visible, rustled and
waved in the dark blue heavens. The
rivulet in the valley sent forth a wild and
strange sound, and the creaking; weather
cocks clattered and bawled as if chiding
the storm.
The scene and the hour were congenial
to the mind of the lord or the castle. He
was no longer the mild and indulgent mas
ter. His only daughter had fled from the
fortress with a handsome youth, far inferior
lo her in birth, but a sweeter singer and
harp-player, than any inhabitant ol the
wild Highlands; and soon alter their llignt,
the lover was found dashed to pieces in the
bottom of a rocky valley, into which, in
he darkness of the nisht, he had fallen.
Thereupon the daughter, by an unknown
pilznm sent a letter to tier latner, saying
that, night having robbed her of her lover,
er eves were owned to ner fault ; that
she had retired to a convent, to do tho most
severe penance, and that her father would
never sv her more, i-rom mis event, ine
lord of the castle had become almost as ob
durate as the surrounding rocki, and unfeel
ing as the stony pavement of his fortress.
As he now looked from the window, he
saw in the yard a lantern, moved back
wards and forwards, as if in the hand of
some one who with tottering steps, stole
across the area. Angrily he called out
"Who goes there 1" for his domestics had
g'rict orders to admit no one within the
walls: and since the flight of the young
ladv. these commands were so rigidly obey
ed. it seemed as if lifeless statutes alone
dwelt within.
To the lord of the castle there came a
soft voice :
"An old, old woman," it said, "begs
some food, noble knight."
But the humble demand was impetuously
refused.
"Spy vagrant witch!" were the appel
lations showered upon tne tieggar; ana,
because she did not immediately retire, but
reiterated hvr petition with a fervent
though weak voice, the kniiht, in the wild
ness of his wrath, called on his blood-hounds
to bunt the beggar-woman away.
Wildly did the ferocious dogs rush forth
but scarcely had they approached the old
woman, when she touched toe strongest
and 6ercel with a slender wand. . The do
mestics who had come out, espected that
the savage dog would tear her in pieces,
but, howling he turned, and the others laid
themselves down, whining before tbc beg-rr.
: Again the lord of the castle urged them
on ; but they only howled and moaned, and
lay still.
A strange shuddering seized him, which
redoubled when the old woman raised her
lantern on high, and her long white hair
appeared waving in the storm, while, with
a sad and threatening voice, she exclaim
ed "Thou In the heavens, who seest and
hearest !
Trembling, the knight retired from the
window, and ordered the people to give
her what she demanded. The domestics,
frightened at the apparition, placed some
food without in a basket, and then secured
the doors all the while repeating prayers,
until they heard the strange old woman
carry awp.y the food. As she stepped out
of the castle gates, the hounds moaned mys
teriously after her.
From this time, regularly, every third
eveinng, the lantern was seen in the castle,
yard, and no sooner did its strange twink
ling begin to be visible through the dark
ness, and the light steps to be heard to fot
ter softly over the pavement, than the lord
of the castle hastened back from the win
dow, the domestics put out the basket of
food, and the hounds moaned sorrowfully
till the apparition had vanished.
One Hay -it was now the beginning of
winter, the knight followed the chase in
the wildest part of the mountains. Sud
denly' his hounds darted up a steep height,
and, expecting a good capture, at the risk
of imminent danger, he forced his shudder-
ins horse over the slippery, stony ground.
Before a cavern, in the middle of the as
cent, the hounds stood still; but how felt
Ihe knijrht when the figure of a woman
stepped to the mouth of the abyss, and with
a s ick drove back the do?s! From the sil
very locks of the woman, as well as from
the restless and low moaningsof the hounds,
and his own internal feelings, he soon per
ceived that in this dread spot tin; lantern-
bearer stood before him.
Half-frantic, he turned his horse's head,
buried his spurs in his sides, and gallopped
down the steep, accompanied by the yell-
rig hounds, towards the castle.
Soon after this strange occurrence, the
lantern was no longer seen in the court of
the castle. They waited one day seve
ral days a whole week passed over, but
the apparition was no longer seen.
Kits first appearance had alarmed the
lord of the castle and his domestics, its dis
appearance occasioned still more consterna
tion. They believed that the former prognosti
cated some dreadful event, which the latter
betokened lo be near. On the knight this
anticipation had a terrible effect ; he be
came pale tnd haggard, and his countenance
assumed such a disturbed appearance, the
nmates of the castle were of opinion that
the apparition gave warning oi his death.
It was not so.
One day, as was his custom, the knight
rode the chase, and in his present distrac
tion of mind he approached, unawares, that
part ol the country where the old woman
with the white hair had appeared to him,
and which he, from that time, had with
great care avoided. Again the dogs sprung
up the height, howling, and looking fear
fully into the cavern. The affrighted
baron in vain called them back. They
stood as if fascinated on the dreadful spot :
but on this occasion, no one appeared to
chase them away. They then crept into
the cavern, and from its dark bosom the
knight still heard their moaiiings and cries.
At last, summoning resolution, he sprang
from his horse, and, with determined cour
age, clambered up the steep height. Ad
vancing into the cavern, he beheld the
hounds crouched round a wretched mossy
couch, on which the dead body of a woman
lav stretched out.
On drawing near her, he recognized the
pure white hair of the formidable lantern-
bearer.
The little horn lantern stood near her,
on the ground, and the features were those
of his only child !
More slowly than the faithful hounds,
who Irom the beginning had known their
young mistress, did the unhappy kni?ht
become aware whom he saw before him ;
but, to dissipate every doubt, there lav, on
the breast of the dead body, a billet, on
which, with her own blood, her hand had
traced the following words:
"In three nights the wanderer's hair be
came white, through gri f for the death of
her lover. she saw it in the brooks. Her
hair he had often called a net, in which
his lite was entangled. iNet and hie were
by one stroke destroyed. She then thought
of those holy ones of the church, who in
humility had lived unknown and despised
ueneatn tne parental root, and, as a pen
ance, she has besought alms from her fa
ther's cattle, and lived among the rocks
from which her lover fell. Rut her pen
ance draws near its end tne crimson
stream fails. -Ah! fath "
She would have written "father," but
the stream was exhausted, which, with un
speakable sorrow, the knight perceived
had issued from a deep wound in her left
arm.
lie was found by his servants near the
corpse, in silent prayer, his hounds moan
ing beside pim. He buried his daughter tn
the cavern, from which be never after
wards came out. The unhappy hermit
forced every one from him; his faithful
dogs alone he could not drive away ; and
mournfully they watched together by the
grave of their young mistress, and beside
their sorrowing lord; and when he also
died, their tad howling first made it known
to the surrounding country .
A Hindoo law says : "Strike not, even with
a blossom, a wife, though shs be guilty of a
thousand faults." The English law wonld
let vou 'hit her agaiu" . who what th blo
som grows en. Some difference, eh f
REMARKS OF
Mil. J. 13. PACKER,
Of NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY,
On the proposed amendment to the Constitution,
providing for the election of Judges by the
people ; delivered in the House of Represen
tatives, February 15, 1850.
Ala. Speaker: I liad long since ceased to
look upon the adoption of this amendment to
the Constitution, as a question upon which
there could be any doubt, and had supposed
that it would have met with but little, if in
deed any, serious opposition, in its passage
through this House.
But, sir, regarding the change proposed in
the fundemental law of the Slate as one of
he most vital importance to the interests, the
happiness, l!ie prosperity, and, sir, it may
ven be, as gentlemen predict, to the liberties
of the people, I cannot regret that tho opposi-
lon has been made in Ihe high-toned and
honorable spirit which uniformly governs the
gentlemen from whom it emenates ; and their
able and eloquent remarks could not have
failed to have entertained and instructed all
who were fortunate enough to hear them, if
they did not succeed in convincing a majori
ty of the members of this House, of the cor
rectness of the positions they assumed.
Although I am, Mr. Speaker, warmly at-
nched to the principle ofan elective juilicia-
ary, yet, if it can be shown that the proposed
monument is radically defective in form or
substance, no one could be more willing than
myself to adopt any measures that may be
ecessary for tha coned ion of its imperfec-
111.
What then, sir, are the objections uiged
gainst the form of the amendment as ori"i-
rally pioposed, and which it is the object of
he amendment offered by the gentleman
from Northampton, (Mr. Porter,) to remove ?
The first and principal objection I believe
is, that the bill goes too deeply into the minu-
is of the subject for a constitutional enact
ment, and embraces provisions which should
be left for legislative action.
I am sorry to differ so entirely with my
earned and esteemed friend from Northamp
ton, a regret deepened not a little, by the
fact that his views ipon this subject have
been endorsed by several other gentlemen
upon this floor, for whose opinions I entertain
a very high respect ; but, sir, it is this very
particularity, this very tiiij ue if ss of detail
complained of, which most commend it to
my approbation, and will secure for it my
vole.
The action of this Legislature will not, sir,
be final and conclusive upon the adoption of
his amendment. We are but preparing it
to pass a more scrutinizing ordeal, to stand
he test of a tribunal infinitely higher than
his one to which all must bow, and one
which is now, and I trust in God may ever
be, with us, Omnipotent !
Is this amendment then in a proper shape
for the action of the popular will?
Our people, sir, are watchful of their inter
ests, and guard their rights with that untiring
unceasing vigilance, which experience has
taught them to regard as the price of liberty.
They take no step, sir, in so important a pro
ject as the alteration of their organic law;
the chango of any of the provisions of the
Constitution which they hare always been
accustomed to cherish and revere, without
first examining the proposed change in all its
bearings and all its details.
They want to see, and to fee clearly, too,
all the terms of the amendment how it is to
be carried out and what are to be its effects.
This they can do from the amendment as
originally proposed. It forms in itself a
complete system, designating the manner of
he election ; the lime when, and the place
where it shall be held j the term of office,
ajid all other provisions necessary for carry
ing it into complete and successful operation.
Irs terms are plain and simple, easily un
derstood, sir, and not capable of misconstrue
.... ... i . ..
non. "tie mat runs may reau, ami reading
cannot fail to understand precisely the ques
tion presented.
Every man in the Commonwealth may
comprehend its provisions, and when he goes
to the pull to vote upon its final adoption or
rejection, he will know exactly what it Is he
is voting for, or what it is he is voting against.
But how different, sir, would be the case
if the amendment of the gentleman from
Northampton should prevail 1 It provides
that the "Judges shall be elected by .the peo
ple in such manner as shall be directed by law,"
leaving it to the legislature to regulate ihe
manner of the election, and arrange Iho de-
tails of the system.
What a fruitful source of doubt and uncer
tainty Who. sir, let me usk, would be bold
enough to even conjecture what mode and
manner the Legislature wt Id adopt 1 Who
could tell how soon the plan decided upon
by Ihe first Legislature, would be demolished
by a succeeding one"; or when the slructuie
erected by it. upon ine ruins oi ine lormer
system, would in its turn be set aside to make
room for a favorite scheme of another Legis
latureT
" Dark mystery, lr(
Doth hang 'round aotbing pure,
Save God alone.'1 .
Adopt the amendment to the amendment
and the whole question will be involved in
doubt and mystery; no one could vote under
standingly upon the adoption of the amend'
ment at the polls; and amkl the perplexities
with which theaubjeot would be surrounded.
the friends I mean the true friends of the
measure would become disheartened and
discouraged, and the amendment itself would
be banded over to the teuder mercy of its
enemies; defeated, killed, sir by Ihe foster
ing kindness of the gentlemen from Nor
thampton. ; :
But, Mr. Speaker, there is another objec
tion, a constitutional one, which I cannot but
regard as equally fatal to this and any other
amendment that may be proposed lo the
nrigjnal amendment. It has been already
adverted to by several of the gentlemen who
have preceded me, and I allude to it now
merely for the purpose of referring to an au
thority I have at hand in supporting it, and
of expressing my own conviction of its cor
rectness. The tenth article of the Constitution, upon
the subject of amendments, provides that:
"Any amendment or amendments this
Constitution may be proposed in the Senate
or House of Representatives, nnd if the same
shall be agreed to by a majority of the mem
bers elected to each House, such proposed
amendment or amendments shall bo entered
on their journals, with yeas and nays taken
thereon ; and tho Secretary of the Common
wealth shall cause the same to be published
three months before the next election, in at
least one newspaper in every county in which
a newspaper shall be published; audit in
the Legislature next nftcrwaids cjgsen, such
proposed amendment or amendments shall be
agreed to by a majority of the members
elected to each House the Secretaiy of the
Commonwealth shall cause the tame again to
be published in manner aforesaid, and such
proposed amendment or amendments shall be
submitted to the people in such a manner
and at such time, nt least three months after
being so agreed lo by the two Houses, as the
Legislature shall prescribe; and if tho peo
ple shall approve and ratify such amendment
or amendments by a mujority of the qualified
voters of this Slate voting thereon, such
amendment or amendments shall become a
part of the Constitution," iic.
Mr. Packer then commented upon this
article at considerable length, contending
that the original amendment having passed
the last Lezislattire, nnd having been pub
lished three months previous to the last elec
tion, as required by the Constitution, the
present Legislature had no authority to alter
or amend, but must vote directly upon it.
The authority to which I desire to call tho
attention of the House, is to bo found upon
the 378th page of the February number of
"The American Law Journal, edited by an as
sociation of gentlemen learned in the law," Ihe
acknowledged head of which has long occu
pied an enviable position in the fiont ranks
of his profession, and has for many years
beeti one of the brightest lights in the judi
ciary of our State, enjoying a reputation as a
uwyer and a Judge, which but few can hope
to attain, and which, deservedly acquired,
entitles his opinions to the highest respect,
both in courts of justice and elsewhere."
The article referred to, after alluding brief
ly to the fact that it was feared an attempt
would be made lo alter Iho proposed amend
ment at the present session of the Legislature.
proceeds: "The two Houses, in this matter,
are not acting under their general legislative
powers. . They are merely taking the preli.
mmary steps necessary to submit an amend
ment of the fundamental law to the people.
The present two Houses have only a special
and limited authority. They must either
agree or disagree to the proposed amendment,
as it came from the two Houses of last session.
Nothing else is submitted to the two Houses
of the present Legislature. They have no
right to amend the proposed amendment."
Then if the amendment tothe amendment
does not prevail, how stands the orijinal a-
mendment ?
Shall it be agreed to, or not 1
It appears to me, sir, that the true'queation
presented to us for our decision has been, in
a great measure, lost sight ot in the discus
sion of a question which can only present it
self properly to the people, when they corne
to vote upon this proposed amendment at the
polls. The question for us to decide is not,
sir, whether this amendment shall be made,
but wheiher We will give the people an op
portunity to say, through the ballot box whe
ther they desire this change er not.
Sir, gentlemen may talk as they please
about their confidence in the people. They
mny honestly believe they have a firm reli
ance in the integrity of the masses, but, sir,
they jleccive themselves when they endeavor
lo persuade and convince their own minds
that they have confidence in Ihe people, and
yet at the same time are afraid to trust them
with the decision of this question. It is, sir,
a direct and palpable contradiction in terms.
Il is said, loo, sir, that if we require Ihe
Judges of the courts of Common Pleas to re
side in the district for which they are respec
lively elected, we will have them deciding
very frequently in cases between llieir friends
and associates: that they will come upon the
bench with their minds filled with out-door
atatemenis and a neighborhood decision of
the cause.
Experience hasshownthat there is nothing,
sir, in these objections. The amendment
does not require the Judges to live in the
district previous to the election, but merely
to reside there during their continuants tn of
fice. This i the case now, sir, in perhaps a
large majority of the districts in Ihe Slate
In the district in which 1 live, the several
Judges who have presided over it for many
year, have resided wilhin its bound during
the whole period of their respective terms.
In the pamphlet laid upon our tables, con
taining "soma objections" to the adoption of
this amendment, ; the writer attributes the
error of our present system to the irrespoasi-
bility of the judiciary and it tacessiv num
bars. Thesa are the texts upon which the
greater part of his argument is founded. I
agree with him, sir. entirely in these posi
tions. . Our Judges are, as ho says, too ires
ponsible and too numerous) and I would re
medy the first of theso defects by passing
this amendment, making them responsible to
the people, the only power to which they
should be responsible, and thus, at the same
time, secure both their proper independence
and a true responsibility ; and I would say,
let the Legislature remedy the other defect
by re-districting the State, making a smallet
number of districts, and consequently fewer
Judges.
The author of the pamphlet turn to Eng
land, and institutes a comparison between
the English judiciary and our own, for the
purpose of showing that we have too many
Judges for the labor they perform. We,
plain republicans, sir, always like to count
the cost, nnd perhaps it might have been as
well for the writer of the work to have given
us some idea of the expense of tha system
which he holds up as a model ; it might have
been as well for him to havo informed us
that one incumbent alone, upon the English
Bench, (the Lord High Chancellor.) recaives
nearly as much per annum as the whole of
our "vast retinue of Judges."
The annual salary of the Lord High Chan
cellor is 14,000
Annual salary of threrj Vice Chan
cellors, 18,000
Annual salary of Master of the
Rolls, 7,000
Annual salary of Lord Chief Justice
of the Court of Queen's Bench, 10,000
Annual salary of four Associates, 22,000
Do. of Lord Chief Justice
of Common Pleas, 8,000 j
Do. of four Associates, 22,000
Do. of Lord Chief Baron
of Ihe Exchequer, 7,000
Do. of four Barons, 22,000
Making a total of 130,000
Which, reduced to our currency, makes the
imposing sum of S572.000 !
Our own system cost during the past year,
including all expenses, but about $94,000
not one-sixth of tha expense of the English.
I trust, sir, that the tn.t-payers of Pennsyl
vania may never bo cursed with such a
change.
The principle, Mr. Speaker, of an elective
judiciary is not with us an untried experi
ment. At least twenty of tho States of this
Union already elect their Judges, either by
their Legislatures, or directly by the people ;
and in all of them the system has more than
realized the highest expectations of its
friends. Why should Pennsylvania lag be
hind ? She has already taken one step, in
the election of her justices of the peace, who
are literally Judges, and by the very terms
of the Constitution form a part of the judicial
power; and although we had many good
justices before 1839, yet taking them as a
class, no one doubts that the change has been
a decided improvement.
We are asked by the opponents of this
amendment upon this floor, where we have
tho . evidence that the people desiro this
change? 1 would point them, sir, to the
proceedings of the State Convention ; the
resolutions adopted at almost all Ihe county
and township meetings of both parties, thai
have been held since Ihe last session of the
Legislature ; I would ask them to look into
that truthful mirror of the public mind the
Press; I would request them to read the
instructions given to, and pledges exacted
previous to the election, from members oc
cupying seats upon this floor; and if these
evidences would not suffice, 1 would beg
gentlemen to turn to the people themselves,
and ask then what they desire. There will
be no difficulty, sir, in discovering their sen
timents they demand this chango, and lhy
will have it.
MARRIAGE IS DIFFERENT NATIONS.
In Ctylon, one of the principal ceremonies
consists in lying together tho clothing of tha
bridegroom and bride, fb signify that ihey
are bound together for life. This ceremony
is performed in the presenco of their friemlsj
and with such festivities as the means of the
parties will admit.
In Java there are three kinds of marriages.
The first and most common is where the
paities are to equal condition, or the bride
groom is tho superior of the bride; tho sec
ond is, when the wife's station is much high
er than that of the husband ; and tha third is
a kind of half marriage, the offsprings of
which are not admitted to an equality with
other children. This marriage is quite un
ceremonious, but the two other modes are
celebrated with some display. The first
wife is always the head of the family.
Girls in Java, aro married at so early an
age thai a single woman of iwenty-lwo is al
most unheard of. A price is always paid bv
the bridegroom .-The groom, splendidly moun
ted, accompanied by bis friends, with music,
goes to salute his bride. She comes out and
meets them with a low obeisance. They sit
logethor on an elevated seat, and eat out of
the same dish, after which they go to ibe
mosque, and the nuptials are celebrated ac
cording to the Mahommedan ritual. Then
ensue a wedding procession through the
village, a wedding feast, and at the end. 0f
five day another procession, In which the
bride is conducted lo the presence of her hus.
band. In some place tho spinning wheel
loom, and kitchon utensil are carried in the
biidal proeession. In others, (he brkla wash,
as lh bridegroom' feet, in token of subjec.
In Sumatra, the Battashave as many wives
they please, generally five or Fix, who all
live m tha same apartment with tlieir com.
mon husband, but each has a separate fiie
place. Husbands purchase their wives of
their father-in-law, and gamble tbcm away,
or sell them whenever they please.
Among the Kedjaug:, another tribe, besides
the purchase of wives, a man is sometime
adopted by the girl's father as a son-ih!aw
and both aro subject of the parent ; and there
is another marriage, where both men ond
woman pay an equal price, and aro on per
fect equality. The ceremonies are very sitn
pie.
In Borneo, no man is allowed to solicit a
damsel in marriage until ho has cut off tho
head of an enemy. When thia condition is
fulfilled, the lover makes presents to his mis
tress; if they are accepted, an entertainment
is given by her parents, and on tho ensuing
day by his parents. Aftcrtlio feast the bride
groom is conducted home to the house of the
briclo. At'tho door a friend sprinkles him
with tho blood of n coek, and her with the
blood of hen ; and tho parties then give each
other their bloody hands, and from that time
they live together. If a man loses his wife,
he cannot marry a second, until ho cuts off
tha head of another enemy.
In Celebes, the husband receives no other
dowry with his wifo than tho presents she
obtains before the ceremony. As soon as tha
young conplc aro marrieJ, they are shut up
in an apartment by themselves fur three days ;
a servant brings thcra the necessary food,
whila their friends aro entertained with great
merriment by the bride's father. At the end
of this time they tire liberated, receive the
congratulations of their friends, and arc con
ducted home.
The marriage customs of tha natives or
New Holland nro rather mora curious than
agreeable. Befoie a girl is given to her hus
band, her two front teeth are knocked out.
The lover then throws a kangaroo skin over
her shoulder, spits in her face several times,
marks her with printed stripes of different
colors, and orders her to march to his hut
with the provision bag; if she does not walk
fast enough to please htm, he administers a
few kicks by the way. These savages gene
rally steal wives from the tribe with whom
they ore at enmity. As soon as they percoiva
a girl without any protector, they rush upon
her, stupify het with blows of a club, and
drag her through tho woods with tha utmost
violence- Iler tribe retaliate merely by.
committing a similar outrage. Thore are no
other wedding ceremonies among these sa
vages.
The Moors marry at a very early ago;
wives are always purchased ; and the faiher.
of the gill cannot refuse an offar, unless there
is some stain upon the young man's character.
The bridal tent is adorned wiih a small white
flag, and the bridegroom's brow is encircled
with a fillet of thesame color. The bride is
conducted to the tent of her parents, where
tho lover presents her with garments, and
jewels according to his wealth. A grand en
tertainment is given, and the women danca
all niyht to the sound of musical instruments,
while the spectators regulate their motions
by chipping their hands These dances are
not very decorous. Tho marriages among
the negro tribes nro conducted with but very
little ceremony, except an abidance of pas
time and dancing.
Among Iho Jereref, when the lover secured
the consent of lelations, he summoned his
friends to assist him in carrying off his brido
who bhuis herself up in a hut wiih her com
panion, where they maintain an obstinate
siege beforo they concluda to surrender.
In Brammuk, iho brido conies to tho hut
of her husband with a calabash of water,
with which sha washes his foe!, and wipes
thorn with her mantle.
la Congo, the negroes lake llioir wive; for
a year on trial; if at the end of that timo
they aro satisfied, the wedding is celebrated
with a feast. The missionaries endeavor to
abolish this custom without success; the mo
tilers declaring they would not risk the happj.
nes of their daughters by urging them into
in indissoluble union with persons with whoso
tempers and habits they were una 'quainted.
In Abyssinia, there is no foim of marriage
ceremony. Parties live logolher as long as
they choose, and thoso connections are dis
solved and renewed as often cs the paities
may think proper.
Afi icun princes havo on unpleasant way of
furnishing duvviies for their daughters. When
the Sultan of Madura married his daughters
lo an Arab Sheikn, "tha nuptials were cele
brated by a great slave hunt among the
mountains, when after a dreadful struggle,
three thousand captives by their tear and
bondage, furnished out Ihe materials of a
magnificent marriage festival."
In Diliomey, all tho unmarried fema'es
throughout the kingd- m are considered th.
property ef the sovereign. Once a year iho
flrrt ttrmtifVit l.hf.im kin. . L... . I .
w.u.u w mi, , ,m BCieCVS til
engaging for himself, and soil ib
mas:
high prices to hi subjects. N
lowed the purchaser. Ha
4 rest n
choice j al
sand dowries, and rer- wcn,jr thou
the king choose.' . Jlv" u a .if.
as.
to appear v ,r "ru ",n Wn oblige
ev.r mb;:Sf'tlJw"h "8 election, what-
mo- r I I V aSpeCt f cond"i"'. This
,np..arch has i ,ree wive. v.,.. .u. . . .
ha. exactly thrVIhousIn '' U
mndrtxUnd.huty.three, and Iho Mfely f
hi. country is .upposed lo depeud m his.
keeping up iLi. mystical number
..T-EScrwro. Ba.toum, celebr.t.a In
he world f art, died m Florence u th. to
January, , hi. 77ib year, .f,er .a illness of.
'nr.. rlav. ,