Wbt 3fttottiteT.
p F McNEIL. Editor and Proprietor.
£be IPtdford jfaqaim
IS PUBLISHED
Every Friday Morning on Juliana Street,
OPPOSITE THE SEN6EL HOUSE,
BEDFORD, BEDFORD COUNTY, PA.
TERMS:
92.00 a year if paid strictly in advance,
82.25 if not paid within three months, $2.50 if not paid
within the year
Rates of Advertising.
One square, one insertion SI.OO
One square, three insertions 1.50
Each additional insertion less than three months, 50
3 months. 6 months. 1 year.
One square $ 4.50 $ 6.00 SIO.OO
Two squares 6.00 9.00 16.00
Three squares..... 8.00 12.00 20.00
Half c01umn.................*> 18.00 25.00 45.00
One column 30.00 45.00 80.00
Administrators' and Executors' notices, $3.00. Audi
tors' notices, if under 10 lines, $2.00; if over 10 lines. $2.50.
Sberiffs's sales, $1.75 per tract. Table work, double the
above rates; figure work 25 per cent, additional. Estrays,
Cautions and Notices to Trespassers. $2-00 for three in
sertions, if not above ten lines. Marriage notices, 50 eta.
each, payable in advance. Obituaries over five lines in
length, and Resolutions of Beneficial Associations, at half
advertising rates, payable in advance. Announcements
of deaths, gratis. Notices in editorial column, 15 cents
oer line, jf&t~ No deduction to advertisers of Patent
Medecinea, or Advertising Agents.
PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS CARDS.
HPT H. A LSI P.
ATTORNEY AT LAW, BEDPOKD, PA..
Will faithfully and promptly attend to all business en
trusted to his c&re in Bedford and adjoining counties.
Military claims. Pensions, back pay, Bounty, Ac. spee
dily collected.
Office with Mann A Spang, on Juliana street, 2 doors
louth of the Mengel House.
April 1, 1864.—tf.
J. R, DL'RBORROW,
ATTORNEY AT LAW, BEDFORD, PA.
Otiice one door south of the "Mengel House,"
W- 1 attend promptly to all business intrusteato his care
Collections made on the shortest notice.
Having, also, been regularly licensed to prosecute
Claims against the Government, particular attention will
be given to the collection of Military claims of all
kinds; Pensions. Back Pay, Bounty, Bounty Loans, Ac.
Bedford, apr. 8,1864 —tf.
ALEX. KING,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
And agent for procuring arrears of Pay and Bounty
money. Office on Juliana Street, Bedford, Pa.
April 1, 1864—tf.
KIMMELL A LIN'GEXFELTER.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW, BEDFORD, PA.
Have formed a partnership in the practice of the Law
office on Juliana Street, two doors South of the Mengel
House.
April 1, 1864—tf.
JOHN MAJOR,
■II'STICE OF THE PEACE, HOPEWELL, BEDFORD COUNTY.
Collections and all business pertaining to his office will
be attended to promptly. Will also attend to the sale or
renting of real estate. Instruments of writing carefully
piepared. Also settling up partnerships and other ac
counts.
April 1, 1864—tf.
JNO. MOWER.
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BEDFORD, PA.,
April 1,1864.—tf.
JOSEPH W. TATE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW, BEDFORD PA.
\\7TLL promptly uttend to collections and all business
V V entrusted to his care in Bedford and adjoining coun
ties. Money advanced on Judgmen Notes and other
Claims. Ha* for sale Town Lots, in Tatesville, and St.
Joseph,* on Bedford Railroad. Farms and unim
proved land in quantities to suit purchasers.
Office oppositethe Banking House of Reed A Schell.
apr. 15, 1864—10 m.
JOHN LUTZ,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
AND
Regularly licensed agent for the collection of Govern
ment claims, bounties, back pay, pensions, Ac., will give
prompt attention to all business entrusted to his care.
Office with J. R. Durborrow, Esq., on Juliana Street,
Bedford Pa.
August 19th, 1864.—tf.
M. A. POINTS,
ATTORNEY AT LAW, BEDFORD, PA.
Respectfully tenders his professional services to the
public. Office with J. W. Lingenfelter, Esq., on Juliana
•'.reet, two doors South of the "Mengle House."
Bedford, Dec. 9, 1864-tf.
DENTISTRY.
I, N. BOWSER, Resident Dentist of Wood
bury,
II rILL spend the second Monday, Tuesday, and Wed
t V nesday, o. each month at Hopewell, the remaining
three days at Bloody Ran, attending to the duties of his
profession. At all other times be can be found in his of
tice at Woodbury, excepting the last Monday and Tues
day of the same month, which he will spend in Martins
''org, Blair county, Penna. Persons desiring operations
-houla call early, as time is limited. All operations war
ranted.
Aug. 5,1564,-tf.
N. HICKOK. J. G. MINNICH, JR.
DENTISTS,
BEDFORD, PA.
Office in the Bank Building, Juliana Street.
All operations pertaining to Surgical or Mechanical
Dentistry carefully and faithfully performed and war
ranted.
TERMS CASH.
jan6'6s-ly. #
DR. B. F. HARRY,
Respectfully Anders his professional services to the
citizens of Bedford and vicinity. Office and residence on
Pitt Street, in the building formerly occupied by Dr. J. 11.
Hofius.
April 1, 1864—tt.
J. L. MARBOURG, M. D.
Having permanently located respectfully tenders his
ok-sstonal services to the citizens of Bedford and vi
nity. Office on Juliana Street, oppositethe Bank, one
door north of Hall A Palmer's office.
April 1, 1864—tf.
DANIEL BORDER.
PITT STREET, TWO DOORS WEST OF THE BEDFORD HOTEL,
Bedford, Pa.
Watehmaker * Dealer in Jewelry .Npeetaclea, Ae
HE KEEPS ON .HAND A STOCK OF FINE GOLD
AND SILVER WATCHES, SPECTACLES OF
Brilliant Double Refined Glasses, also Scotch Pebble
Glasses. Gold Watch Chains, Breast Pins, Finger Rings,
best quality of Gold Pens.
He will supply to order any thing in his line not on
'land.
pr. 8, 1864— it.
U. S. HOTEL,
HARRISBURG, PENN'A.,
CORNER SIXTH AND MARKET STREETS,
OPPOSITE HEADING R. R. DEPOT.
I). H. HUTCHINSON, Proprietor.
ian6'B3-3w,
UNION HOTEL.
V ALENTINK STKCKMAN, PROPRIETOR,
West Pitt Street, Bedford, Pa.,
(Formerly the Globe Hotel.)
| HE public are assured that he has made ampe ar-
I rangeinentx to accommodate all that may favor him
vuh heir patronage.
4 plj <N LPery stable attached. Up'rfiL
A LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWSPAPER, DEVOTED TO POLITICS, EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND MORALS.
BRITISH PERIODICALS,
viz.
The London Quarterly Review (Conservative).
The Edinburgh Review (Whig).
The Westminster Review (Radical).
The North British Review (Free-Church).
AND
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (Tory).
The American Publishers continue to reprint the above
named periodicals, but as the cost of printing has doubled
and the price of paper nearly trebled, they are compelled
to advance their terms as follows:
Terms for 1865.
Tor any one of the Reviews $4.00 per annum.
For any two of the Reviews 7.00 "
For any three of the Reviews 10.00 "
For all four of the Reviews 12.00 "
For Blackwood's Magazine 4.00 "
For Blackwood and any one Review... 7.00 M
For Blackwood and two of the Reviews 10.00 "
For Blackwood and three of the Reviews 13.00 "
For Blackwood and the four Reviews.... 15.00 "
These works will be printed on a greatly improved
quality of paper, and while nearly all American Periodi
cals are either advanced in price or reduced in sixe—and
very generally both—we shall continue to give faithful
copies of all the matter contained in the original editions.
Hence, our present prices will be found as cheap, for the
amount of matter furnished, as those of any of the com
peting periodicals in the country.
Compared with the cost of the original editions, which
at the present premium on gold would be about SIOO a
year, our prices (sls) are exceedingly low. Add to this
the fact that we make our annual payments to the British
Publishers for early sheets and copyright in Gold—sl
costing us at this time nearly $2.50 in currency—and we
trust that in the scale we have adopted we shall be entire
ly justified by our subscribers and the reading public.
The interest of these Periodicals to American readers is
rather increased than diminished by the articles they con
tain on our great Civil War, and though sometimes ting
ed with prejudice they may still, considering their great
ability and the different stand-points from which they are
written, be read and studied with advantage by the peo
ple of this country of every creed and party.
LEONARD SCOTT A CO., Publishers,
No. 38 Walker Street, New York.
Jan. 27, 1865.
THE NEW-YORK TIMES.
The price of the Tines (Daily) is Fova CENTS.
To Mail Subscribers per annum $lO OO
Including Sunday morning edition, sl2.
TUB SEMI-WEEKLY TIMES.
One copy 1 year 93 00
Two copies 1 year 5 OO
THE WEEKLV TIMES.
One copy 1 year 92 OO
Three copies 1 year 5 OO ,
Fresh names may at any time be added to clubs, both
of the WEEKLY and STMI- WEEKLY, at Club Rates.
Payment invariably in advance.
We have no authorized traveling Agent*.
Address
H. J. RAYMOND <fc CO., Publishers.
Dec.23,'64-2m.
DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULAR
OF THE
HOPEWELL OIL COMPANY.
Capital.—s299,ooo. Shares.—2o6,ooo. Par Value,sl.oo.
Hon. JOHN ROWE, President.
J. SIMPSON AFRICA, Secretary and Treasurer.
DIRECTORS:
W. S. FLETCHER, McConnellsburg, Pa.
JOHN ROWE. Greencastle, Pa.
F. BENEDICT, Bedford, Pa.
J. H. SETUOCR, Hagerstown. Md.
J. C. EVERHART, Martinsburg, Pa.
JOHN J. SCHELL, Somerset, Pa.
C. P. RAMSDKLL, Oil City, Pa.
The property of this Company consists of 200 acres of
land, in fee simple, situated on the west side of the Al'e
gheny river, a short distance above 'he mouth of Scrub
Grass Creek, in Scrub Grass Township, Venango county,
Pa. It has a frontage along the river of one mile, wilh
good boring surface for the whole distance. Two good
oil wolls arc now in operation on the oast side of the river,
immediately opposite the property of the Co.
The following in regard to an adjoining tract, is taken
from an editorial in the Philadelphia Price Current, oi
December 17:
"The geological relation of this property to Oil Creek,
is such that the oil-bearing strata, which supply the wells
on the Middle Section of Oil Creek (from the Washington
McClintook Farm on the north to the Buchanan on the
South) most pass under this property; the range of the
strata certainly bringing the two localities into this mutu
al relation. Other data, obtained from an investigation
of the conformation of the ground, and the underlying
rocks, lead to the same conclusion, viz: that the main
belt of oil. which extends down from the north-northeast
and supplies the wells on the Washington, McClintock,
Egbert, Stone, Tar, and Buchanan Farms, sweeps down
still farther on the same south southwest direction, cor
responding with and controlled by the inclination of the
strata, and underlies this property. It is well ascertain
ed by the testimony of aged and respectable residents that
the Indians, years ago, gathered oil from the surface of
the ravines on this property and used it for rheumatic af
fections.
In later times the teamsters of Bullion Iron Furnace,
gathered and used the oil for the purpose of applying it to
galls and bruises on their horses. Oils for years was seen
to exude at a number of places; among others, at the root
of an old stump on the bank of the Allegheny river, and
in the ravine alluded to.
A few years ago, the then owners of the tract, with one
or two of rheir neighbors, bored a well, a few feet above
the old stump. The first vein of oil was struck at the
depth of 286 feet, and the second at 460 feet; an experien
ced man from Oil Creek was employed to tube the well,
which produced a stream of oil three quarters of an Inch
in diameter. The owners of the well, not satisfied with
its production, pulled out the chamber, and drilled
some feet deeper, when they struck salt water in large
quantities and of great strength. Believing that the man
ufacture of salt would, at the time, yield them a bettei
profit, they arranged their seed bags in the well, so as to
enable them to exclude the oil and pump the salt water.
Still oil was pumped along with the water, in such quan
tities as to gather upon the top of the water-tanks, from
whence it was collected, barreled and sold."
There is every reason, therefore, to believe that the pro
perty of the Company is rich in its supplies of oil. The
inclination of the Strata proves, conclusively, that those
supplies of oil on Oil Creek have a higher level than the
oil-bearing rocks on this property; and that, consequently,
the supply will be more permanent than that of Oil Creek
itself. The large extent of boring territory, equal to that
of half a dozen companies on Oi) Creek, a boat-landing on
the Farm, with the advantage of a navigable stream for
the transportation of oil, and the certainty of the exis
tence of large quantities of coal upon the tract, makes the
property of incalculable value.
The Company are about, preparing to sink several wells,
avid confidently expect the early development of oil in
paying quantities.
The plan of organization adopted by the Company com
mends itself to public approval, from the fact that it places
no fictitious value upon its stock, hut confines the sale of
shares strictly to their par value.
A limited number of Shares can be had by applying to
the following named gentlemen :
F. Benedict, Bedford, Pa. .
Jacob Reed, " "
B. F. Meyers, " "
J. Henry Schell, Schellsburg, Bedford County, Pa.
James Lowther, Altoona, Blair County, Pa.
S. S. llarr, Holliduysburg, Pa.
('. W. Asheom, Hopewell, Pa.
1. H. Kauslcr, Hagerstown, Md.
S. H. Prathcr 4 Co., Greencastle, Pa.
J. liostetter t Co., " "
I. J. Phillips, Waynesboro, "
John S. Miller, Huntingdon, •
Samuel Henry, "' ••
W. D. McKinstry, Mercersburg, "
And at tne Office af the Company, No. 435 Walnut Bt.,
hiladelphia.
dec.23,'64.
Blanks.
Blank, judgement notes, deeds, bonds and mort
gages fcc. SX., for sats at ths INQUIRES Office.
BEDFORD, Pa., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1865.
Ifottrg.
THE MANTLE OF ST. JOHN DE MATHA.
A LEGEND er "THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE," A. D.
1154—1864.
BY JOHN G. WHITTIER.
A strong and mighty Angel,
Calm, terrible, and bright,
The cross is blended red and blue
Upon his mantle white.
Two captives by him kneeling,
Each on his broken chain,
Sang praise to God who raiseth
The dead to life again !
Dropping his cross wrought mantle,
"Wear this," the Angle said;
"Take thou, 0 Freedom's priest, its sign,—
The white, the blue, and red."
Then rose up John de Matha
In the strength the Lord Christ gave,
And begged through all the land of France
The ransom of the slave.
The gates of tower and castle
Before him open flew,
The drawbridge at his coming feii,
The door bolt backward drew.
For all men owned his errand,
And paid his righteous tax;
And the hearts of lord and peasant
Were in his hands as wax.
At last, out-bound from Tunis,
His bark her anchored weighed,
Freighted with seven score Christian souls
Whose ransom he had paid.
Bat, torn by Payniin hatred,
Her sail in tatters hung
And on the wild waves, rudderless,
A shattered hulk she swung.
"God save us!" cried the captain,
"For nought can man avail;
0, woe betide the ship that lacks
Her rudder and her sail!
"Behind us are the Moormen ;
At sea wc sink or strand ;
There's death upon the water,
There's death upon the land!"
Then spoke up John de Matha;
"God's errands never fail!
Take thou the mantle which I wear,
And make of it a sail."
They raised the cross-wrought mantle,
The blue, the white,the red;
And straight before the wind off-shore
The ship of freedom sped.
"God help us !" cried the seamen,
"For vain is mortal skill;
The good ship on a stormy sea
Is drifting at its will."
Then up spake John de Matha;
"My mariners, never fear !
The Lord whose breath has filled our sails
May well our vessel Bteer!"
So OH through storm and darkness
They drove for weary hours;
And lo! the third gray morning shone
On Ostia's friendly towers.
And on the walls the watchers
The ship of mercy knew, —■
They knew far off its holy cross,
The red, the white, and blue.
And the bells on all the staples
Rang out in giad accord,
To welcome home to Christian soil
The ransomed of the Lord.
So runs the ancient legend
By hard and painter told;
And lo! the cycle rounds again,
The new is at the old !
With rudder foully broken,
And sails l v traitors torn,
Our country, on a midnight sea.
Is waiting for the moru.
Before her, nameless terror;
Behind, the pirate foe;
The clouds are black above her,
The sea is white below.
The hope of all who suffer,
The dread of all who wrong :
She drifts in darkness and in storm,
How long, 0 Lord! how long?
But courage, 0 my mariners !
Ye shall not suffer wreck,
While up to God the freedman's prayers
Are rising from your deck.
Is not your sail the banner
Which G6d bath blest anew,
The mantle that De Matha wore.
The red, the white, the blue?
Its hues are all of heaven, —
The red the sunset's dye,
The whiteness of the moon lit cloud,
The blue of morning's sky.
Wait cheerily, then, 0 mariners,
For daylight and for land;
The breath of God is in yoar sail,
Your rudder is His hand.
Sail on, sail on, deep-freighted
With blessings and with hopes;
The saints of old with shadowy hands
Are pulling at your ropes.
Behind ye holy martyrs
Uplift the palm and crown ;
Before ye unborn ages send
Their benedictions down.
Take heart from John de Matha;—
God's errands never fail!
Sweep on through etorm and darkness,
The thunder and the hail!
Sail on ! The morning cometh,
The port ye yet shall win ;
And all the bells of God shall ring
The good ship bravely in !
Atlantic Monthly for February.
POEMS UNWRITTEN.
BY ALFRED TENNYSON.
There are poems unwritten and songs unsung,
Sweeter than any that ever were heard—
Poems that wait for an angel tongue,
Songs that but long for a paradise bird.
Poems that riple through loveliest lives—
Poems unnoted and hidden away
Down in the soul where the beautiful thrives,
Sweetly as flowers in the airs of May.
Poems that only the argels above us,
Looking down deep in our hearts, may behold,
Felt, though unseen, by the beings who love us,
Written on lives as in letters of geld.
Siag to my soul the sweet song that thou livest J
Read me the poem that never was penned—
The wonderful idol of life t)at thou givoat
Yrofc froth thy epL-tfc Oh, bcQßtffnl frhui
the cheat west.
A trip of four thousand miles through the
heart of the West awakens a kindling thought of
the greatness of the Republic. The West is the
Empre: a wet unacknowledged at the East,
j because the East knows not the West. But an
impartial traveler soon perceives that the East is
not the country. New York and New England
are but the thumb and forefinger; the West is the
I rest of the hand.
j A Western visit in summer is best for seeing the
country; in winter, best for seeing the people.
And are they not the hartiest, friendliest, most
hispitableot the human race? What a "Scotch
may be, we know not; but if better
than a >* estern welcome, it Is better than a plain
man deserves. Jostle a Westerner in the street,
and at once you are acquaintances: meet him the
next day, you are old friends. A shake of the
hand in the West has more grip in than between
New York ami Bangor. Child of the East, the
West is the chief crown of the parent. The uni
versal New England element westward is not on
ly the best part of the West but the best part of
New England: for only the courageous, the ener
getic, and the conquering have had the will to
quit Eastern homes for Western prairies. Thus
the early Pilgrims to New England have their
truest sons in the later Pilgrims from New Eng
land. A Yankee; therefore, does not come to
his fullest stature in Yankeeland; the growu Yan
kee is the Westerner. At the East he is a gerani
um in a pot, thrifty and prim : at the West, a ge
ranium in a garden, where he grows rank, exuber
ant, and generous. New countries greaten men's
souls.
Does the West seek a heraldic sign? Let it
choose a shock of corn. O bounteous land of
small houses and big barns! So fertile is the
Great Valley that, as Jerrold said of Australia,
' Only tickle the earth with a hoe, and she laughs
with a harvest!" Though beaten down from
their full higbt by snows, corn-stalks are yet stan
ding in January so high that one riding among
them on a tall horse, and rising in the stirrups,
j cannot touch the tops! The prairies—common-
place. sad, and sublime—are the garden of the
world ! May they ever make farmers rich, and cat
tle fat !
Trade, the marker of cities, has amphibious op
portunities in the West. The Mississippi and its
tributaries yield forty-eight thousand miles of wa
ters angered by steamboat wheels—a channel of
navigation to twice gird the globe! Already the
great lakes are partners with the Atlantic in a di
rect trade with Europe. The railroads are wear
ing out their tracks with hard work, and paying
State debts with their profits. Chicago counts
250 trains coming and going daily at her depots,
and says to a New Yorker, "Sir, you have not
half so many! And a New Yorker mast sav to
this wondrous water-lily of Lake 3lichigan, "A!i
hail Chicago,—bazaar of the West, and miracle
of cities !'
The daily press of New York scatters its leaves
very thinly through the West. Mr. Greely's
Weekly Tribune goes everywhere, but the metro
politan dailies set westward only until, like a tide
streak. they meet the counter current of the Cin
cinnati press, chiefly the Commercial and the Ga
zette; which, in turn, cover the country as the wa
ters do the sea. till they meet with the wide
spread Chicago Tribune; which in like manner,
divides the South west with the St. Louis Repub
lican and the Missouri Democrat. All these jour
nals are able and influential—growing rich faster
than their brethren in New York. The great in
fluence which the New York press undoubtedly
exerts upon the whole country is, in the West, an
innTiooce not directly uptm tlic jftrcrpfc, but
the journals. But even this influence is diminish
ing, not increasing. New York perhaps will al
ways remain the metropolis of the Union; but it
can never become like Paris to France.
Western churches, Sunday-schools, and day
schools thrive like saplings. " An Eastern man.
hearing habitually of Western churches as "fee
ble," seldom hears of any as being strong. And
yet many, like young lions, shake their locks for
I very strength In St. Louis, on a single Sunday,
we saw two church debts killed, each at a stroke
—a Methodist church paving $15,000. and a
Presbyterian $30,000. Perhaps no other city in
the Union canceled $45,000 of a church debt on
that day. The largest Sunday-school in America
judged by attendance, not the roll-list) is west of
r.he Mississippi—found by Brig.-Gen. Fisk, who
equally well commands an army, administers a de
partment, or conducts a children's meeting. In
Chicago, a mission-school, originating iu a rail
road-ear, is now larger than any in New York.—
And the largest depository of Sunday-school
iiooks is neither in Philadelphia nor New York,
but Chicago. Of two millions of population in
Illinois, half a million are in day schools —a larger
proportion of school-going children than in Con
necticut or Massachusetts. But not to color our
picture too highly, we eagerly say that a thou
sand. Western churches, and a score of Western
colleges, are piteously pleading to be helped into
strength, and the sooner their plea is heeded, the
better for the whole country. Of all our strug
gling theological seminaries, the one most impor
tant to be speedily equipped is the Congregational
Seminary at Chicago. Nusery of churches, shall
itself go unnursed r Looking now like a Jog-cab
in. who volunteers to build it in marble?
With sorrow we confess that the Legislature of
Illinois is a body of finer looking men than the
Legislature of New York—better heads for a pho
tograph. And if Washington should he captur
ed by rebels, the Missouri Constitutional Conven
tion would he no bad exchange for Congress—for
then we would get the Prohibitory Amendment
without further delay. Throughout the West,
patriotism burns lifie a flame—as if it caught ex
tra fire from the sunset. We may he pardoned
for mentioning that a good woman now living in
Abraham Lincoln's home at Springfield planted a
handful of morning-glory seeds at the foot of a
pillar by the rear stoop, and was surprised to find
the mass of growing vines flowering into three dis
tinct stripes of color —red, white and blue; a pa
triotic freak of nature, made as if to give a beau
tiful proof of tne indigenous loyalty of the West
—the very soil of the President's garden testify
ing what flag ought to wave oyer the land! Rest
ing our feet at the grave of Elijah Lovejoy, mar
tyr of liberty, and looking forth from that historic
dust mouldering in one of the hundred hill-tops
of Alton, we gazed on a majestic landscape where
in the Mississippi and Missouri join their far-com
ing floods. These mighty rivers flow in the self
same channels now as when that grave was new
made, but thoughts of a mighty people flow iu
how changed a course since then! Twenty-seven
years ago, Illinois and Missouri clasped guilty
hands for that assassination; but new it is no
prophet secret that Illinois, before Washington's
next birth-day, will blot her Black 1/aws from the
statute-book, and Missouri has already filled the
world with the shout of her freedom!
And what of the West beyond the West? The
Mississippi is the center, not the edge, of the
country. The map of the Union has an empty
half. Shall not a multitude of cities crowd it full?
Seeds of century-plants are in its soil. Nations
follow the sun, or, ceasing to follow die. The
Great Republic is on its march across the conti
nent. Freedom, lover of mountains, sits in the
Sierra Nevadas, uttering the cry of the ages,
"Westward Ho!" Whereunto God adds his own
command, "Cast up, cast up the highway?"— Th
eodore Tilton. in Independent.
Two bon-mots have already been made upon the
Universal Safety Match, which can be ignited only
on the box. One suggests as a legend, "Strike
but here /,' The other thinks the invention
"beats the Old Scratch."
The first decision of Chief Justice Chase, in the
Supreme Court of the United States, was that
West Virginia is legally a State. The decision
was given on the question of placing the name of
that fkatti on the tjat wbotj {tolling tqo docket.
BANEFUL INFLUENCE OF IIOLLIDAYS.
It is very common for those of our countrymei
who have resided or traveled in Europe, to becom
enamored of the frequent holidays of the old eoun
tries, and to advocate the multiplication of sucl
lays among us. The late President Felton, in hi
delightful little volume of 'Familiar Letters fron
Europe," does not join in this preference of for
eign customs to our own.
''lt is a great misfortune to the Greeks," h<
-ays,'"and to the Athenians in particular, tha
they have so many saints in their calendar
and so many festivals in their honour, to interrup'
"he usual business of life. Ehey lose a quarter oi
a third of the time in putting on their best clothe
adding about the streets, gossipping in. the cof
fee-houses. getting tipsy on execrable wine, an<:
-inging noisy songs in the streets, in honour of th<
Messed saints and martyrs who swarm in their ec
clesiastical history. The sensible men here an
gradually diminishing the number of their idi<
lays, and the sober part of the tradesmen an<;
men of business find their advantage in attending
to their affairs, while the rest are dissipating tinn
slid drachmas, to the impoverishment of then
purses and the damage of their health, in baceha
nalian orgies. I cannot share in the regrets o:
'hose persons who lament the absence of festival
and amusements in our country. What I hav<
een of their effects in Europe, east and west, ha
given me a strong distaste for them, and the wors-r
possible opinion of their influence upon the moral,
mental, and physical well-being of tne people.
"In the next place, the waste of money, in small
sums to be sure, but swelling in the aggregate to
immense amounts, helps to keep the people poor
and make them poorer. Ami finally, the frivolity,
dissipation and low habits, every where cncoura
ged hv these festivals, crown the climax of grave
•bjections to their observance, which I think mas
strike every reflecting person who travels with his
eyes open through these countries. You will nev
er again hear me lamenting the want of amuse
inents in America, or finding fault with the serious
countenances of our American people. The week
ly rest of Sunday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, the
anniversary of our Independence, and one or two
other holidays, for the interchange of friendly sa
lutations and the re-union of scattered families,
are infinitely better than all the festivals in the
i alertdars of the Catholic and Oriental countries."
This testimony has all the more weight as com
ing from one who cannot he suspected of any Pu
ritanical strictness, and who was himself, moreo
ver, formerly of a different opinion.
SOME OF THE PROFITS OF GRAPE-GROWING.—
Having had correspondence with many grape
growers, says the Cleveland Plaivdealer , respect
ing the profits thereof we propose to publish from
rime to time, some of the most important items :
T. 11., Rootstown, Ohio, writes that in 1862 he
sets out 120 vines, half of Catawba and half of
Isabella. In 1863 he gathered over 300 pounds,
and in 1864 over 500 pounds of grapes. He does
not advice the Catawba for that section, because
of its late period of ripening. 11. S., Blooming
ton Illinois, writes he has eighteen acres of vine
yard. that returns are all he could desire. Thinks
the Delaware, Concord and Hartfort Prolific are
among the best kinds for that section. Says he
grows strawberries among his vines, and last sum
mer sold of strawberries grown on four acres of
vineyard land, 526 bushels of fruit for over S3OOO.
Has over 200 varieties of grapes under cultivation
in order to test their comparative value. R. 8.,
Cincinnati, writes that the average yield of wine
per acre, on seven acres, during a period of eigh
teen years, has been 308 gallons. Many grapes
were also gathered from the same vines for table
purposes, hut no record kept of them. 8.. Ham
ilton county, has one and a halfacres planted with
Morton's Virginia grape, and last year his receipt
were $2,300, J. E. M., has one and a half acres
of Delaware grapes, from which he last year sold
$1,200 worth of wine. Many of our correspond
ents give also receipts from sales of cuttings, etc..
made from the vineyard. In one instance the a
mount was over S4OOO from a little over one acre.
SINGULAR CUSTOM.— An auction for unmarried
ladies used to take place annually at Babylon. In
ever}- district, says the historian, they assembled
>n a certain day of the year all virgins of a mar
riageable age. The most beautiful was first put
up, and the man who bid'the highest or the lar
gest sum gained possession of her. The second in
personal appearance followed, and the bidders
.Tatified themselves with handsome wives accord
ing to the depth of their nurses. But, alas ! it
seems there were in Babylon some ladies for whom
no money was likely to be offered, yet these were
also disposed off, so provident were the Babyloni
ons. When all the beautiful women weresolii, the
crier ordered the most deformed to stand up, and
after he had openly demanded who would marry
her with a small sum, she was at length adjudica
ted to the man who would be satisfied with the
least ; and in this manner the money arising from
the sale of the handsome served as a portion to
those that were of disagreeable looks, or that had
any other imperfection. This custom prevailed
about four hundred years before Christ.
GROWING OLD.— It seems but a summer since
we looked forward with eager hope to the coming
year. And now we are looking sadly back. Not
that the dream has passed, but that it ha" been of
no more worth than those around us. As the
growing hopes and ambition of early years pass;
as friend alter friend departs, and the stronger ties
which hold us here are broken, our life seems but a
bubble, glancing for a moment in light, then bro
ken, and not a ripple left on the stream. Forty
years once seemed a long and weary pilgrimage to
tread. It now seems but a step. And yet along
the way are shrines were a thousand hopes have
wasted in ashes ; foctprint-s sacred under their
drifting dust; green mounds whose grass is fresh
with the watering of tears : shadows even, which
we would forget. We will garner the sunshine of
those years, and with chastened step and hopes
push on toward the evening, whose signal
light will soon be seen swinging where the walers
are still and the storms never beat.— T. PP.
Broicn.
PRINTERS' MISTAKES— During the Mexican
war one of the newspapers hurriedly announced an
item of news from Mexico, that General Pillow
and thirty-seven of his men had been lost in a bot
tle (battle). Some other paper informed the pub
lic. not long ago, that a man in a brown surtout
was yesterday brought before the court on a charge
of having stolen a small ox (box) from a lady's
work-bag. The stolen property was found in his
waistcoat pocket. An English paper once stated
that the Russian Generel Backinoffkosky was
found dead with a long word (sword) in his month.
It was, perhaps, the same paper that, in giving a
description of a battle between the Poles and Rus
sians, said that the conflict was dreadful, and the
enemy were repulsed with great laughter (slaugh
ter). Again : A gentleman was recently brought
up to answer the chaige of having eaten (beaten)
a stage-driver for demanding more than his fare.
POPULATION AND AGE OF THF. WORLD.—Ac
cording to the calculations of Professor Caralis de
Foudence the present population ol the world is
1,300,000,000. Allowing for increase in popula
tion at an annual rate of 1,292, it is shown that
the present population wouid be reached in 5,863
years. This is putting the increase at a low rate,
in France, it is 1,227 annually. Calculated on the
latter basis, the present numbers would be reach
ed in 4,207 years from Noah, allowing that ho loft
the ark with three sons and three daughters.—
Thus another proof is added to the chronological
accuracy of the Seriptural record, and the founda
tion laid for a successful urgument against one of
the many iufidel theories respecting the antiquity
of "the bunas race.
THE DRKD SCOTT DECISION.— The fearful events
through which we are now passing, are breaking up
the great deep, and perhaps upheaving the founda
tions of the constitution itself, so far as slavery is
i concerned. What will be the future opinions of the
country as to ihe legal or constitutional basis on
' which slavery has hitherto rested, we need not at
tempt to predict. They may be very different frotn
those now generally received. Or it may appear, as
many are now coming to believe, that it never had
any legal or constitutional basis at all. Nor are we
! disposed to interpose any objections to such a con
clusion. In any event, this much may be said in
defense of Taney's orinion in the case of Dred
j Scott : that slavery had somehow or other a consti
tutional and legal existence in this country ; and
that however he may have differed from others, or
even from the great majority, as to the particular le
gal foundation on which slavery stood, it has as yet
been found impossible for any one to suggest any
other ground that is intrinsically more reasonable
or plausable than that given by Taney. Those, there
fore, who persist in condemning that opinion, will
probably some time find themselves driven to the
necessity of adopting, as the only alternative, the
idea that slavery has no legal existence at all. It
certainly cannot with reason be suspected of Taney,
either that he did not know, or was unwilling to put
forth, the strongest grounds, in support of his con
clusion, that the nature of the case admitted. If that
ground be a weak one, so much the better for liberty;
but Taney could hardly be expected either to make,
or to announce, so revolutionary a discovery as the
one we have suggested as the only reasonable alter
native to his own opinion. The grounds on which
Taney held that persons of African descent could
have no right under the constitution, were these:
that at the time the constitution, was adopted, that
race was treated as property, and that it teas the
general sentiment of that time "that a black man
had no rights which a white man was bound to res
pect." He does not himself, as so many have erro
neously supposed, justify that sentiment; on the
contrary he deplores it. But he says that it was,
nevertheless, a fact; and he thence concludes that
the constitution must be interpreted in conformity
with that fact. He candidly confesses that the same
language as that used in the constitution, would not,
if used at this day, authorize any reference against
the citizenship of the African race. This confession
does honor to his frankness and courage ; and the
confession itself, may one day be worth more than
many battles for the rights of an oppressed people.
Let it be treasured for what it is, and what it may
yet do rather than condemned for what it is not. —
National Quarterly.
WANT OP DECISION.—A great deal of talent is
lost to the world for the want, of a little courage.
Every day sends to their graves a number of ob
scure men, who have only remained in obscurity
because their timidity has prevented them from
making a first effort, and who, it they only had
been induced to begin, would, in all probability,
have gone great lengths in the career of fame.—
The f. ct is, that in doing anything in the world
worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the
bank thinking of the cold and danger, but jump
in and scramble through as well as we can. It will
not do to be perpetually calculating risks and ad
justing nice chances ; it did very well before the
flood, when a man could consult his friends upon
an intended publication for a hundred and fifty
rears, and live to see its success for six or seven
centuries afterwards ; but at present a man waits
and doubts, and consults his brothers, and his un
les. and his particular friends, till one day he finds
that he is sixty-five years of age, that he "has lost
so much time in consulting first cousins and part ic
ular friends that he has no more time to follow
their advice. There is so little time for over
squeamishness at present that the opportunity
hps away. The very period of life at which man
•hooses to ventire, if ever, is so confined, that it is
no bad rule to preach up the necessity, in such in
stances, of a little violence done to the feelings,
and efforts made in defiance of strict and sober
calculation.— Sidney Smith.
ASINGULAR TRADISION.—A mong the Semi
nole Indians there is a singular tradition regarding
the white man's oririn and superiority. Tnev say
that when the Great Spirit made the earth, he
also made three men, all of whom were fair com
plexioned ; and that after making them, he led
them to the margin of a small lake, and bade them
leap in and wash. One obeyed, and came out of
the water purer and fairer than before ; the sec
ond hesitated a moment, during which time, the
water, agitated by the first had become muddied,
and when he bathed he came up copper-colored :
the third did not leap in until the water became
black with mud, and he came out with his own
color. Then the Great Spirit laid before them
three packages, and out of pity for his misfortune
in color, he gave the black man the first choice.—
He took hold of each of the packages, and having
felt the weight, chose the heaviest; the copper
colored man then chose the next heaviest, leaving
the white man the lightest When the packages
were opened, the first wasfound to contain spades,
hoes and all the implements of labor ; the second
unwrapped hunting, fishing and warlike apparatus;
the third gave the white man pens and paper, the
engines of the mind —the means of mutual, men
tal improvement, the social link of humanity, the
foundation of the white man's superiority.
. THE COFFEE TRADE.—The two principal mar
kets where Europe procures her supply of Coffee
are the Islands of Java and the Brazils. The an
nual consumption on the globe is estimated, in
round numbers, at 1,329,000,000 lbs., of which
Quantity Europe alone takes 996,750,000. Accor
i 'g to the Avenir "Commercial," it appears that
Switzerland is comparatively the largest consumer,
the quantity being 1,359,000 lbs, or twelve pounds
for each inhabitant. Holland with her population
of two millions and a half, drinks as much coffee
as the whole of the people of France. Belgium
consumes about 2 lbs. per head, the Zollverin 4
lbs., and other countries 1 lb. The consumption
in Britain in 1862 amounted to 66,450,000. In
several parts of Europe the use of coffee has in
creased in an exhaorainary manner during the last
few years. On the other hand, the great wine
growing countries, such as Spain. Portugal, Italy
and Greece, generally consnme little. Brazil is
the country best suited to the cultivation of coffee
but the prior of manual labor there is enormous
high.
The Hudson River is. locally, at least,"quite as
often styled the North River. The latter name it
derives from the fact that Sir Henry Hudson and
his company of explorers were also the first to
discover the Delaware River, which in contradis
tinction, and willed the South River.
This year there will be four eclipses— two of the
sun and two of the moon. The eclipses of the
sun occur on the 25th of April and the 15th of
October; those of the moon on the 11th of April
and 21st of October.
A lady skater in Philadelphia lately fell upon
the ice. with hands extended to break the fall, just
as a swift skater was gliding past. He could not
check his speed, and one of bis shrp skates out
off three tit tor fingers.
Vol 38: No. 8