- • .* v
bv :e\l:ls* & bi;.\fokd.
WHOLE NO. 27 66. VOL 53.
Select p o e t r5.
r """-
VA ( ' V". :
V
Fro n the I'r<;s-'.
Tilt: SHOOTING STARS
! From IStt ratil -*r. ]
BY CIIARLK-i I>. rSAKDETTK.
'•Savc-t thou, Shepherd, that each star
Is arbiter of human fate ?"
,-Aye, ch:iJ! I hus Heaven has placet! them fur
From human passion Love and Mute!"
"Shelf eril, men say that thou car.'st read
The skies' t'retn! secrets! whose career
.-••ts in that -tar, that, with mail speed.
Doth downward stream, anil disappear/"
"With that -tar's exodus, my child,
A mortal s briet existence ends :
With Bacchan wine ami wa<-uil wild,
lie drank to life, amid his friends !
I nconscious. bv the bowl be drained,
He lies! In- grief'--, bis hopes, his .cars'"—
"Hold! Shepherd ; one more-tar hath waned; j
Waned- Jownward stieams—and disappears !"'
"That meteor, my son, is blest !
The Lite it h id was umtefileil,
Scare was oia.blossom pret
I'poll b r lir.nv; —:t iovir.e child—
bestow ' on him srie'it loved so ion;— i
A virgin sjne -e—the altar near—"
"Hold ! Shepherd!—from amid the throne
Another star doth disappear !"
"Ala- : my ' T!. that direful glare
A (Oiirlly c H ;axy deplores!
A Diplomat, whose richest share
Ol wealth treamed it.io' oppression's poies! j
Those ev/'i <)/'/••• i. this idol wept,
A "re In-, portrait with their tears—"
•-Hold! Shepherd! down yon misty cleft
A new star stream—and disappears ! "
••Mv -oi . the Poor Alan's grief is keen!—
77.-1- makes Ins hope of mercy dim :
From othen Charity we glean —
Wen.', /and hirmtrtl from him'.
This very iii^lit toward his rool,
For n.ariy a wtinderer -teers—"
"Hold' '-riepherd, thro' the sparkling wool*
A star still streams —and disappears !
"'Tis a great Monarch's star, my son !
Ah! ke p thine humble station still !
And neier let thy star be one
J'he thorny heights of Fan.* to fill!
For stioiild'st thou with an usele-s spark
time thy Life, Mail will hut sneer,
i.i.i rtv vrhe/t ail thy lamp is dark— "• " i
it tr tilth —ft" ■"
C fll'l, 1837.
A Michigan BetHlng Story.
Tib'editor id the Gram! Rapids Eagle litis a
friend who ha* been stopping, as he allege*,at
naeol'lfie hotels at Kalamazoo. His s!rv is
• .vttv fasi'lv < .hi, and he possesses talent tit til-* ,
way 'il'spinning 1 'yarn 1 lliat would do credit to|
ore who has entertained it is mess in the {ore
cast oi a whaler, or relieved the tedium ola :
wa!< it on deck:
"V at see I went to bed pretty all fired used
up, ah- r a iii.il day on the road before the plank
was iaid, caikaiatm'on a >-1 soon/.". Wuai
just as the shivers began to ease oli, I kind' r Mt
siitinn Irvin'to pull oil mv shitl, and diggiu'
their t'eet into the small ol my back, to git a
gnod Itnid. Wriggled and twisted, double I and
puckered—all oi no use—k< ; t agoiigit like all
sin. Bitm bv got up and struck a itgl t to lonic
around a spell—found about a peck ol hi-d-bugs
scattered around, and more dropping oil mv shirt
and tunnin'down mv leg every n.init. Swept
offa place on the iloor, shook out a quilt, lay
• iflw :i & kivered up tor a nap. ,\o use they mount
ed : :ght oti me like a parcel <d tats - on a iiwai tub;
dug a hole in thekivetlid am! crawled tl rough
ariil gave me tits for trvin' to hide. Gut up again
and went down stairs, got a slush bucket from
Ln* wagon, mode a circle ol tar on the ti ><>r. lay
tinw it on th * inside, ami felt comfoi table thai
time anyhow. I left the !:ght burn in", and
wat c lied 'em, see 'cm get together and have ;t
camp ttieetin' snout it, and thev went o.'l its ;i
squad, with an old grev headed one on lite top,
tight up oil the wall an'to the ct ihn 1 , 'til they
got to the right spot then dropped tight into my
tac<! Fact, bv thunder! Vv .uti 1 swept 'e;n up
again, and made ;i circle on the ceiling 100.
Thought I had Via foul this time- but I swan to
rnati, if thev didn't pull straws out of the bed,
am! built a bridge over." Seeing an incredible
expression on our visage, he clenched lus story
thus:
"It is so whether you believe it or not, and
v ine of them walked across on stilts. Bedbugs
ar- i .utiou? critters,"and no mistake—especially
the Kalamazoo kind."
"Dr. Franklin in England in the year
177A, was asked by a nobleman what would
rat is! v the Americans'? lie answered that it
might lie compromised in a few "lie's," wnich
he immediately wrote on a piece ol paper—
thus:
10-call your forces,
lie-store Cast!" William.
Re-pair tiie damages done to Boston,
iie-pt-ji your unconstitutional acts.
Ho-ttounce your pretensions to taxes.
Re-fund th*- duties you have extorted.—*•
After this,
Re-quire and
Re-ceive payment for the destroyed tea and
with the voluntary grants of the Colonies, and
then
Re-juice in z happy
Re-conciliation.
£7~"Billy, how did vou lose your fin
ger?"
"Easily enough," said Billy.
"I .-appose vou did, but how ' '
"I gaess vou'd a lost yourn, if it had been
where mine was."
"That don't answer my question !"
4 • VV"ell, if you rrusi know," said Billy, 'I hud
to cut d rdT, else steal the trap-"
MR. GEORGE WILLIAM Ci RTIS' RE
CENT ADDRESS ON PATRIOTISM.
Some three or lour years since Air. George
j William Curtis amused the readers of light lit
erature with some clever sketches of New Y'urk
society, HI the manner of fbackerav, first pub
lished in Putnam's Monthly, and lli'n collected
into a little book under lite Utleoi the " t'otiphur
I upt/s. Air. Curtis had previously to tins
appeared beiore the public with ins " Uoicudji
in Syria, ' a dreamy hook of travel, not alto
gether without iiieiii ot a certain kind, though
; wanting substance, and, like the sound ol bells,
I wearying the ear with its monotonous music.—
! Subsequently to tins he printed hi s "Lotus Eut
< nil y' a "Summer Jjuuli• 1 why so calleu we
could never guess, unless its merits as an opiate
! were regarded as peculiarly in keeping w an the
j sleepiness ol the dog-days. YV'e always regard
, ed tne dollar we paid lor it as so nu.cn lost cap
ita!, and all our t.eighbois who bought it slept
over its pages and sorrowed ior their cash just
as u e did. Ihe latest oi Air. Curtis's lileiary
eiibrt.s is a little hook o I sketcin-s en 111 jed "Pruts
and J, winch ate very good m their way, and
iiiucii Letter HI every respect than anything the
'•Summer Book"' contained. i ms, we confess,
is iat her small praise.
VVith all their faults, iunvever, these early ef
forts ol Mr. Curtis gave generous promise ol an
liouo; aide career in the world ol letters. Then
faults ot imitation were lauits common to young
authors, and likely to be outgrown and left t>e
iiind in the course of years. Their met us lay
ui a scholarly choice ol words, m a certain mu
sical adaptation ot the sound to liie sense, and a
charming continuation ol the music when ihe
sense feji short; with, here and there, a passage
of clear, manly, vigorous wining on winca our
hopes of Air. i. .'s future chie;:y hung. But it
, was tlie sad misfortune of U.is young mail to be
come connected with Putnam's Monthly. A
Certain little company ot Yankee stnoiars,
poets, and college pioh-saois conceived the idea
: ol ruling America Ihiuugh the columns of mat
magazine. 1 hey ascended to so large a con
ception of their own power, and ol the plastic
so Itu ess of the American puuiic, that ttiey lancu
ed that theories of society, elaborated in college
closets, and smelling all uverot the lamp, could
be made to supplant the organized wisdom ot
the sages who liamed our constitution. Instead
ol Conlining themselves to a province which, by
virtue ot tneir scholarly strength, they mignt
have swayed as lords, tney crept into fields of
[discussion, where their poverty ol practical
wisdom made ihem rank as beggars.
The magazine, which it was boldly avowed
at fne stair, oi .... ..., -
meiican power of thought and speech, became
the organ of a mere political clique, ot a clique
small m numbers, small in influence, wanting
patriotism, hungering lor jwwer. Everybody
leiiK inbeis the wretched essays vviiich these ai
t ihcers oi loiiv hammered out mouth aliei month;
we Lave not lorgotleii their flippant attack up
on 'or JV'tit? li isidcnt,' vv hen Air Pierce caiue
into power, HI which they gravely leproached
hi a, in making his foreign apfHJintiuents, with
having passed ovet "young men ui i.'te old la
iiHiies' —a charge, in a country i cognising no
such tiling us an old family, auogaui and super
cilious beyond tolerance.
it is needless to sav that the sentiment v. hu.h
! united these philosophers with hooks ot steel
was an intense hatred to the institution ot s.av
,.j y—to tne master, to the States wfi.cn saiic
llulled it, n> the mti mal government, whicti re-
CoaiHsed l.'ie right of the master to leCiallll his
fugitive. In aii possible disguises, and oil en
openly, t'liey gave their views upon tins dulling
t .pic. i heir aim evidently was to broaden the
! boundaries of the abolition paiiy—to inspire in
the northern mind a hatred to every thing south
ern, and s to intlame the sentiment ot the
I uorliwrn lepteseiitulion in Congress that hattie
might come of it, and then disunion. W c don I
think that since printing was invented there
was evei such elaborate lolly garnered into
vv i ltten essays ami given into t \ pe.
When Air. Fremont v\us nou.mated foi tne
presidency, the political milieuumm seemed to
iliese philosophers very r.igh at hand. l'hey re
ally tnought that tile cucmn .-is were gm_ to
vjrid buiiiifHiiis without auy iuitiuT tlcixy
i'hev iUucu-d tiiat tut' Auiv-'i'icaii .id,
the agency ol their essay s, had been regener
ated ami redeemed, and as liley WaH lie,i toe
waning ot their subscription M '• tney cfieeieti
V.'B Willi llit' l .'.'it liit- : 4U; V
would soon lam its doilais into then urouthy
pockets. .No men ever taonred as iney mi —in
speaking, in writing, through the columns of tne
Tribune, from the rostrum of B>- Melodeon,
aided by tin* watching;. ami tastings and j rav
ers of three thousand ciencai allies to sanctity
trie briber v and falsehood ol theirou'd ' I lUOOI,
ttie counti v trembled to its centre wdii then
traitorous thunder.
At this crisis, Mr. George William Cuitis,
whither ol" his own good judgement, or by the
persuasion of his brother sages we have not
learned, conceived trie idea that lie was culled
tube a statesman, and forsaking his pen, and
leaving ".'.lrs. i'otiphur'' and the "iJ"i-'adji tc
look after themselves, mounted the stump, and
became an apostle ul the new doctrine. 11*
spoke at New York; he spoke atJgjladelphia:
he spoke, indeed, wherever let hiti
speak. We remember seeing hiMwme upon ai
enormous poster, in gigantic 'capitals, prefixed
with the adjectives "distinguished, " "eloquent?
"brilliant,''dec., with an unlimited accompani
ment of notes of admiration. Now and tix-i
"the Tribune" gave the public a synopsis ol tin
"Howudji's" arguments, flattering the younj;
man basely, and describing his audiences as "in
telligent," "briiiiaiit," &.C., when everybody
knew that thev were gathered up from' the out
skirts of the metropolis, and were composed
chiefly, of* "lewd fellows of the b;iser sort."
As might have been expected, Mr. Curtis,o
rather the people who went to hear him, soul
discovered that the talents which lit a man t
write "summer-books," or water-place sketches
FRIDAY IVpNlNfi, BEDFORD, PA.. OCTOBER l(i, 1857.
- do not necessarily involve a genius for govern
ment, a power of eloquence, or the strJn-'th ot
a popular leader. .Nevertheless, we must do
. Curtis the justice to own that his theories, wnut.
ever eUe they wanted, had at least the merit of
novelty. VVe if member one address of his enti
tled " file American Scholar," delivered before
some college or other, in which he gravely laid
down the proposition, that the material prosperi
ty ot a nation was at war with the growth ot
poetry, oi heroism, of the finer feelings ot the
soui—that Holland lacked poets because it
abounded in fat larins and mil barns—that
America was hastening to the same tuiuous con
dition, and that consequently, until the national
e I now s Were out, we must wait in vain for a
Ilomer, or the heroes to give maj. sty to an Jliad.
VVe don't pretend to say what tne sentiment oi
our iiei. hours may be; nut, fir our own part, we
blush to confess a vulgar partiality fur tne reign
ot good clothes and guod (ituneis, and a horrible
snrmking from this poetic millennium—this
tiiuusaud years oi glory and starvation.
VVe all remember how Kiemont leil—how
hai'J tie lei:, how tlat, how fow. t iie "/foui-Ar
ji" leil witii him. Wherever he had spoken,
the IJuchanan vote, it vvasu served, was unusu
ally large. He retired to tie- walks of private
lite. I here was no hope under the '"slave pow
er" for the "young men of the old families,"
and so iVJr. Curtis wedded what little cash lie j
had with tile declining furton .>* i'utnuin, and
lost it, il we are correctly informed, by the de- !
ccjac ol t/.at jh*rioliiu . l i oeo
j>lf wouldn't stand it any longer. Tin- t-xp-ru
ment was a failure, and ttie ;Vi.ic.;.'.m>- ha> oem';
remodeled on another plan. VVe nave laid some
curiosity to know wl,at mid become of Curtis !
since this disaster. VV e lancied that perhaps he
had gone to Syria again, or was compo>in r an-'
nthet "Summer Book" down ut Newpuit, or j
was eating some rich man's dinneis in the filth
avenue, with tlie harmless design c>! saiui/.iug
his iiost as a "snob in some prospective Putnam
or tnat, perhaps, he had linked ins fortunes with
"the great I'aitilinder" himself and, in company j
w it!) that illusti tons man, w as engaged in eating
mule meat, and grass-hopper pies, and pfottmg
another presidential light in latiO.
In ail these conjectures vie were wrong. Air.
Curtis is again delivering orations, not tins tune
before the vulvas poputi , nut 1:1 open lots, or
from tavern porticoes, but before the scholarly
gentlemen who graduate at tne Yankee colleges 1
the incipient philosophers who to mould
the next age, as Curtis Cn. Co., tried to mould
this.
lcLliif, St. Lawrence Republican of Septem.
anybody who has tlie cut iosiiy to look w ill hud
some four columns ot close print with the I 1-
lowing title:
"PATRIOTISM—AN ORATION:
"Deliveied at 1 nion College, N. V., July
•JO: at Dartmouth College, .N. 11., July 'ill:
at the Norma! School Convent tnu, V\ ->ttield,
Ma>>., July 31; and. at Brown 1 niveisity, R.
1., September 3. l*->7, ; y
"(iEOIUin WiLLIA.'i CURTIS."
VVe were quite ce1..011 that this oration must
be a very good thing, or a man <l M • Curtis's
taste and judgment would not : ave delivered it
lour times in as many w • ks. Its title was at
ractive. VV' Haltered ourseln-s thai tlie auspi
.:inus da wrung ol .Mr. I'm mm an s ad mi nist 1 at ion
and its steadv progros to this horn m l!ie path
wav of right and glorv, had won tin* ->ul ol
Curtis brn k to .1 sense of in tice, and a broad Jove
:>l tlie whole land.
"Patriotism," Webster tells us, "is the pas
sion which aims t" serve on* s country,' and we
thought it possible that the college oi.ilor meant
lo serve ins, by unsaying somew hat of his for
mer filly, and doing justice w here he saw it
was owing. VVe exp"Cted, withal, that m a
studied production like this, all that could he
said of patriotism would he said s-> elegantly and
n.usicaliv, with such power and grace, that his
f fid ores on lite f'remont slump would be
fo: "ottea altogether, or forgiven, for this bright
production of Ins later genius, in all these ex
pectations we o 11 ourselves wretchedly disap
pointed. The iiterary graces for which, at least
we had a right to look, w'e seek in vain. I' low
ers of rhetoric are not wanting, it is true: but
they do not spring gracefully from fields of
thought, nor clothe tile idea with a natural bloom
but resemble, tatlter, in their awkward adjust
ment tlie wiper posies 011 a tavern mantelpiece.
One specimen will suffice t<> prove what we
sa v:
"Gentlemen, amid the jargon ol corrupt poli
ties, and the shivering sophistries oi timidity and
iiiilifo-rence ami ease, which blow upon every
g. neration of young hearts, as the Mtilocatmg
sirocco blows over springing grain, remember
steadily that laws are of two kinds," xc.
But we might possibly have lancied we dis
cerned some iragrance or beauty in these pre
tentious weeds, which Mr. Curtis womd have
us take as flowers, if they had been twined with
manly thoughts and brave hopes, such as become
a theme like this. L- t us see what tins man s
ideas of patriotism are.
The first column of his address concludes wt.h
the following deduction:
"Thus •fentlt inen, we see that a man s conn
(r, is not a certain m of jand-"l
rib,-, .10,1 woods—but it is a principle, and
fill riot ism loyally "> ,tat lnc.[.lr .
VV.- never supposed ltal "y!dv thoogld
that love of country is • al.achmrtal to so
nani acres of wheal potatoes,
, h: ,.";hkl the elaborate argument -1 r <■ • '•
prove tint it isn't gives us no I.v M? Mo l <
1;,.. intelligence ot ills college auditors. "e
(rusl however tiiat this propositron was rstab
,| el loth" '■" lie satisfaction ol the young
„ of Dart mouth, whose love of COUP.
T i we are led to infer, up to the bearing ol
his' addre' s , was KW >'>'
1 latch, ortheep walk, on the Connect.cot or
having clearly Shown what pa-
Freedom of Thought aid Opinion.
triotism i.-n't, proceeds, in his lucid order of
arrangemetf, to tell us what it is:
'-.Now, as I conceive it, gentlemen, patriotism
in an American, is simply fidelity to the Ameri
can idea."
"Fidelityjto the American idea." So far we
entirely agree with Mr. Curtis. If we can on
; ly ascertain what the American idea is, we shall
i know exactly whereto fi>: our lovaltv, how to
he patriotic, and have a standard bv which to
measure the patriotism of others. What, then,
is the American idea? The idea, we think
, clearlv wjiiout which Ameiica could not lie,
n hich has jnade us a united nation, and which
: keeps u- .'.'liter! to-day. The organized senti
ment of America, wheresoever it is to be found,
constitutes t> our thinking this American idea,
loya'tv to which is patriotism. The place to
find it seen s to us to be in the constitution train
ed Jiy our fa tiers, sanctioned by the country at
that day, and'at this hour unchanged in a single
feature, not because the people have not the
power to change if, but because they like it
■st as it is. Where, if not here, is the great
idea oi the nation to be found? If''we, the
people of tile l otted States, in order to tin in a
more pet feet union, establish justice, insure do
:ne>tic tranquillity, provide for the common de
fence. promote the genera! welfare, and secure
the blessings id liberty to on-s> Ives and our
; posterity," say what shall be the great ideasol
our government, wh > shall impeach our power
to say so, or deny that this deliberate utterance
imbodies the American will? Loyalty to the
. constitutions we conceive i- patriotism;
ami in so lac 'as any th>-ory or sentiment, how
ever line-spun or subline-, refuses to conform
to that instrument, just so far is-it from the pro
per standard.
But hear Mr. Curtri: "And your dutv aspa
j triots is to understand clearly that, by all its an
ti cedents, your country is consecrated to the
cause of freedom: that it was discovered when
the great principle of hurt.an liberty was about
to be organized into human institutions; that it
was settled hymen who were exiled by reason
of their loyhlty to that principle; that it separ
ated politically from lis mother country because
that principle i>.<en assailed: and that it be
gan its peculiar existence by formally dt daring
its faith in human freedom and equality: and,
therefore, that whatever in its government or
policy teiufsuo limit or destroy that freedom and
-quality is aofi-Ainericaii and unpatriotic, be
cause America and I ibei inseparable
This is plausible enough*. hiV shameless
falsehood li>-s conceajr #ttt. "much fair
• styech "•W'bateve'frn our government ->'■ *avici
equality is ante American and urfpatrioVic, be
cause A met ica it Liberty an- inseparable ideas."
The "freedom and equality,'' to the destruction
of which .Mr. Curtis alludes as "un-American
and unpatriotic," are the freedom and equality
of the black race. The context shows that this
is what he im-ans—evety line of his address
shows it —and we must do him the justice to
say that he :s not at any pains to conceal it.—
: .Now, Mr. Curtis very well knew when he
wrote this fine paragraph that African slavery
existed in this country long previous to the
rwoiuti ■that it existed hen- when the Con
stitution was firmed : (hut it was recognized by
that instrument as an existing institution, and
the right <! the master to reclaim Ins fugitive
expressly-'rovided tor. Me knew, too, very
well that he Union could have been formed on
no other Urms, and must die whenever they
cease to bt observed. Here, then, within the
very boson ol the expressed thought of the land
m the ery inner sanctuary of the temple,
where til' Ameiican ii; .1 is enshrined, if it be
enshnnf.. at ail, ts tlie recognition oi u doctrine
which Ifr. ( urtis tells us is " un-Jlmericun and
itnjxitrptic ." l\ e begin to see where lie and
wedillr. Tlie idea to which he exhorts men
to be hjal, hedoes not seek in the letter oi the
constitifion nor in its spirit. He ignores the
old pri-osition which lies at the foundation of
our ir.si't tit ions, and is, indeed, tlie American
1 iea. "i;t! the will of the majority shall gov
ern." But tlie measure of patriotism with him,
isloyav to an abstract and impracticable theo
ry ot uiversiil equality: and 111 so far as tlie
cons id ion and the majority of the nation are
I at wa with that theory, jm-t solar are they
j on-African and wrong. No honest man will
do an'deed of which a patriot need he ashamed.
The jfireme law of tin- land, inasmuch as it
! diileilrom g.li . ( urtis tio-ory, and conflicts
with i- judgm.!)!, is unpatriotic. flu* conclu
sion Stows that it must be dtsobeved : and so
he tes his Uarmouth hearers :
•''} ii are not to suppose that a law is, under
all cbumstances, to be obeyed : vuu would be
pootTiildren ot seven years' aimed disobedi
ence) laws if vou believed that. A civilized
and it lligetit society opens the law. When
the |v begins to grin;), timt community changes
it, it makes its own laws, or protests if it does
not. If protest is of no avail, and the law
slilflinds, the community changes the law
malts, at whatever cost of time and money
andiood."
id, again, after alluding to the law re
qufig tile return of fugitives, In- tells lis ;
uch laws Uod and man require of vou to
defy, for upon a people who, under any pre
tef, could yield to them, there is no tyranny
sojrrible tfi.it a might not he imposed."
(linking it possible that some of his hearers
it lit be disposed to covet the honors of a rnar
•\<>tn, he gtves them a precedent to cheer
IJi on :
When goo ! men ate sent to jail lor refusing
t. > wrong, it there be any public conscience
re will Soon lie a change. James II sent
bishops to the tower, but to put them in the
fer was not to put them in the wrong, and
?r a little while the people of England drove
'nes II across the sea."
ft is a common trick of the abolition party to
iresent the government at Washtugton as a
stile government, and to seek analogies be
een the workings of our law and the tyren-
1 nous grasping of the kingly power in other j
tim p s and in other lands. But they forget, or !
wilfully shut tneir eves to the fact, that this is j
"a government of l/ncs, and not ot men;" that j
if a ruler exceeds his power, he is punished for
the usurpation ; and that if he don't exceed it, j
he does but execute the will of that majority j
which, while the "American idea" lasts, must
govern. But Jet .us „ hear Mr. Curtis once
more ;
"Will you obey, under the plea that it is law,
and that you have no right to judge the law, hut •
must try and alter it by-and-by ? By-and-by ?
But Cod is God to day, and to day a child is
bom 10 von : he is under two years old : to-day
tlie thirsty wretch falls parched and panting at j
your feet : to-day the captive from these indians j
red as murder crouches on vour hearth-stone,
and the law is knocking at your door : 'Give \
me that child, give me that thirstv wretch,give
me that frightened fugitive : I am the law!'—
Yes, and Cod is knocking at your heart: 'Who
soever doeth it unto the least of these my
brethren, doeth it unto me!'"
With the working of a man's conscience, or
the play of iris mind, as long as they do not j
ma nitest themselves in open resistance to the ;
law, we have nothing to do. But when an in- j
dividual picks his neighbor's pocket, or cuts his !
neighbor's throat, or raises a defiant hand a- \
gainst lawful authority, and then tells us that his I
conscience told him to do so, and that he o- !
he veil a "higher law," we have a right to show i
him that, while he may spurn the obligation, J
he must yet feel the power of the lower law ; ;
that though he may think, and moralize, and |
theorize as much as he pleases in defiance of
its commands, his "daily walk and con versa- J
tion" must be shaped by its precepts, and bow j
to its m?j sly.
We have chosen to touch at this length up
on the leading idea of Mr. Curtis' oration—to
which all the rest of his statements are but ac-,
cessory—not because we regard his individual
importance as giving any weight to what he
says, but because he is the exponent of a sect,
not numerous in our midst, but numbering in
New Kngiattda vast body of the people. It is a
rmewhat singular, and very suggestive fact,
that the course bv which, in Mr. C.'s view, pa
triotism is the best exemplified, consists in a re- ;
sistance to the law of the land, which in any j
other country would amount to To
that large liberty of speech which the despised i
constitution of the country guaranties, Mr. C. is j
indebted for the safety with which he utters-his \
traitorous counsels. We might, if we choose, j
expose still further tlje fallacies ou which he j
tires th s.iphis- j
We give at length his eloquent comparison be
tween the dissolute cavaliens who settled the
southern States of the f 'nion, and the godly pi!- !
grims who were driven by persecution, or lured !
by the CO i-lisheries -history cat A' exactly de
cide which—to the shores of Massachusetts
bay. The historic portions of the oration are,
indeed, the only portions of it which have j
much claim to originality, and impress us rath
er favorably, we must admit, with Mr. Curtis'
power of invention.
\\ e had supposed that the Kansas panic had
faded out ot memory long ago, but Mr. Curtis
gives us one more shriek which our readers shall
hear :
"During the last year we allowed our broth
ers and friends and fellow-citizens to be cruelly
murdered fordoing precisely the same thing that
we this year build statur-s on Bunker Hill to
nn i) for doing eighty y. ars ago."
We should like to see any authority for this!
hold assertion to be found outside the" columns
ul the New York Tribune, which honest peopie
very generally agree is just no authority at ail.
In some of his statements, however, Mr. Curtis
is more correct, giving them tire sanction of iris
own word :
'■' l he theory of our institutions is our pride.
But it is a pitiful truth that our public life bas
become synonymous with knavery. If a poli
tician is introduced, you feel of vour pockets.
It is shameful tout it r* universally conceded '
that the best men—tlie men -.j intelligence ami \
probity—generally avoid politics, and that the !
word itseii has come to mean something not to i
be touched without defilement. Consequently, '
what good men will t touch, bad men will.— '
It is understood that bribery carries the elec- ■
tion, and the presidency is the result of an a
ilroit process of financial engineering, i have!
myself been shown a handful of bank-notes, j
publicly displayed in the ante-room of the legis- !
lature, and sagaciously told, "That is the
for legislators.' "
we may as well add a little circumstance i
which the orator, in the hurry ol composition,
doubtless, forgot to mention—that the lour black
sheep who were scourged out of Congress for '
bribery and corruption were all apostles of that !
pure and sublime theory of politics which Mr. ,
Curtis delights to preach, and which he hopes I
to make universal. \V e were not aware, how- ■
ever, until this startling confession of Mr. C.,!
that he himself was in the ante-room, and an' i
actual witness of these corrupt transactions. 1
What precious evidence the " Howadji " could
have given beiore the corruption committee, if !
he had only told them all he knew !
The last quotation we shall make hom Mr. |
Curtis is fearfully ominous :
"Gentlemen, you will not be surprised when
you discover, as will, that, notwith
standing the cummn prosperity of our coun- !
try, there are wise metf who shake their heads
already, and good men who despair."
We hope the young gentlemen of Dartmouth
am. the other colleges before whom Mr. Curtis
has delivered and means to deliver this address, !
wi.i keep heart. For our part, instead of feel- 1
ing alarmed that these "goo</ men" anion* j
whom we presume Mr. C. of course includes!
brother kalloch are t hvir herh," we 1
fit. d- lighted that they are so hanrisumelv j
emp; .yen, and iV doing amjthin* vorvc
And now we must close. " We~ „,i -ht say
. much more ol the narrow hate, the frothy de- j
TERUS, SO PKK Yl'.ftK.
NEW SERIES VOL I, NO. 11.
I clamation against slavery, tie* read outcry n
■ gainst things as they are, without anv feasible or
practical suggestions tor u.aking them better
jin a word, ail the filthv ingredients of a Fre
mont speech, which are here gathered into a
| college oration and called "pati int'ism." lint
iwe forbear. We cat)not, however, hut believe
that among the young gentlemen who listened
Ito Mr. Curtis there were some hearts which re
! vol ted at his sentiments and sickened at Ins
i folly. We cannot hut believe that there were
some there to whom patriotism did indeed seem
ito be "the passion which aims to serve one,s
| country who deemed it to he a prouder thing
:to he the servants of the constitution than the
: slaves of a prejudice : and who, turning indig
j r* .'illv from the traitorous counsels of him who
spoke to thern, burned with a bright ambition to
be worthy children of united America, "the
bountiful, the beautiful, the endeared, the impe
j rial, and general parent."
WASUINUTOX, Sept. 27, 1857.
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.
Some years ago, during the heat of a co.Tee
1 speculation in Boston, when everybody was
I holding on, waiting tor the article to advance,
jan old merchant, keen as a razor, whose store
was [racked from the first to the fourth floor
with prime green Rio, concluded jirum signs he
well understood, that prices had reached their
; acme. He was too old a hand at the bellows
not to know that the moment he, with his im
■ rnense stock, began to sell, an alarm would be
taken, arid down would go the prices. Quietly
! sending off a pMty stilF invoice of the article
to auction, and giving the auctioneer a good
humored hint to mind Ins own bnisiness, he
i attended the sale, and bid readily at prevailing
prices for the coffee. Other holders that knew
j he had twice as much as timy had, concluded
! it was safe to buy when he did, and so stood up
| manfully and bought. While old Mr. 's
! carmen were tumbling his purchases in at the
front door'ol his ware house, five times as manv
were carrying away coffee lrom the back door.
I On the next day of sale lie bid as freely as ever,
j and this continued lor some two or three weeks.
I One day he failed to appear at a coflee sale, and
ti ost of the dealers took the alarm, and prices
, declined a little. During the afternoon, a pret
ty large holder, who had always been ready
to buv when he saw Mr. willing,
met him in the street, and asked the rate of
j coflee.
; "I don't know what its going for to day," re
plied tliejft fellow, as cool and pleasant as ice
cream.
"It declined this morning."
, with what
ifestation of indifHspeuce. M
"Yes, certain vou heard it be
j lore ?"
"No—but I suspecteit&s much."
"Why, we shall all be, ruined, if prices <ro
| down ?"
"Not all, I presume," replied Mr. ,
' with an unmoved countenance.
"Why, you're in it deeper than any of us."
"Me!" exclaimed i\lr. ,in well feign
ed astonishment, "/ haven't got a bag in my
store !''
The next day the bubble burst, and half a
dozen grasping speculators, who had been lor a
j month or twodreaming nightly over their gold
• en gains, were ruined.
DIAMOND DUST-
As snow is ot itself cold, yet warms and re
treshes the earth, so afflictions, though in them
selves grievous, yet warm the heart of the Chris
tian and make it fruitful.
When a man has the approbation of his own
mind, the frowns of the world, like the pressure
of an arch, only serve to strengthen him in his
position.
j Many friends are lost by ill-timed jests—
j rather lose vour best joke than vour worst
friend.
As nothing is so honorable as an ancient
j friendship, so nothing is so scandalous as an old
. passion .
i Prefer solid sense to wit: never study to be
diverting without being useful: let no jest in
j trude upon good manners, nor say anything that
j may offend modesty.
In love, in friendship, the dream of senti
ment is extinguished, the moment we utter a
I word which has been necessary to calculate or
■ consider before it is pronounced.
When acts of courtesy come gratuitously,
they areas acceptable as the clear brook to the
; thiisty traveller.
When the million applaud you, seriously ask
' yourself what harm you have done—when they
censure you, good !
He who would have friends, must show him
self friendly. True, and when a man com
! plains of having no friends, he ought to ask
• iiimseil the question, whether he is a friend to
•any one.— Eliza Cook.
I J
ROMANTIC FOLLY.
The lnlnn ! Daily limes, of Lancaster, Pa.,
1 chronicles ttie return ol two young women,
j who became fascinated with the atttactions of
a circus which visited that place not long
j since, and took ii into their romantic beads to
: go off with it, despite the earnest and repeated
remonstrances of their parents, <>'o they must,
j and go they did. Rut a change came over the
| spirit of their dreams. They found the tinsel
|of the arena but the trappings of a miserable
i life. They were subject to ill treatment, found
j their rough companions "arigrv, surly ami
i cross," and they took the opportunity to run
! away from the circus. In the rouise of their
wanderings they reached Harrisbnrg, and from
i thence made the best of their way home, tbm
j oughly cured of their foolish delusions. Alter
much weeping and manv promises the runaways
1 were taken into their houses once more. Both
|of these hair-brained romantic, girls are under
sixteen years of age, and very good looking.
; Having ventured so near the abvss of niter ruin
; if is wonderful indeed that they escaped.