one dollar per annum, invariably in advance.
TOWANDA :
Oiitnriian {Horning, fllarrlj 1, 183 U.
jsektieb fjoetrn.
MAROH.
BY WILLIAM C. BRYANT.
The stormy March come at last.
With wiutl. aud cloud, and changing skies ;
1 hear the rushing of the blast,
That through the snowy valley flies.
Ah. passing few are they who speak,
Wild stormy monthin praise of thee :
Yet, though thy winds are lond and bleak,
Thou art a welcome month to me.
For thou, to northern lauds again.
The glad aud glorious sun dost briag,
And thou hast joined the gentle train.
And wearest the gentle name of Spring.
And, idfhy reign of blast aud storm,
Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day,
When the changed winds are soft and warm,
And heaven puts on the blue of May.
Then sing aloud the gushing rills
And the full springs, from frost, Fet free,
That, brightly leaping down the hifls,
Are just set out to meet the sea.
The vear's departing beauty hides
Of wintry storms the sullen threat;
But, in thy sternest frown abides
A look of kindly promise yet.
Thou bringst the hope of those calm skies,
And that soft time of sunny showers,
When the wide bloom, oa earth that lies,
Seems of a brighter world than ours.
ijljl^Bl-INTOX-^lll^TOliY.
AN.VO 1838 —MARTIN' VAN IK'RF.N, PRESIDENT.
Bebate between Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun, Per
sonal and Political, and leading to Expositions
and Vindications of Public Conduct which be
long to History.
For seven years past, Mr. Calhoun, while
disclaiming connection with any party, liuil
acted on leading- measures with the opposition,
headed by Messrs. Clay and Webster. Still
disclaiming any such connection, he was found
at the extra session co-operatug with the ad
ministration. His co-operation with the op
position had give* it tire victory in many event
fa! contents in that long period ; his co-opera
tioti with the Van Buren administration might
turu the tide of victory. The loss or gain of
a chief who, in a nearlv-halauced state of par
ties, could carry victory to the side which he
espoused, was an ercnt not to be viewed with
out vexatWß by the party which be left. Ke
sc'trr.mt was as nateral cu uac side a* grutifi
caticu was ou the other.
The democratic party had made oo re
proaches—(l speak of the debates in Con
gress)—when Mr. Calhoun left them ; they
debated questions with him as if there had
been no cause for personal complaint.
Not so with the op}>osition new, when the
ronrse of his transit was reversed, and the
same event occurred to themselves. They took
deeply to heart this withdrawal of one of their
leaders, and his appearance on the other side. !
It created a feeling of personal resentment j
against Mr. Callionn, which had manifested
itself in several small side-blows at the extra j
session : and it broke out into systematic at- '
tack at the regular one. Some sharp passages I
place bctweeeu himself and Mr. Webster, !
'mt not a kind to lead to anything historical,
lie Mr. Webster) was but slightly inclined j
towards that kind of speaking which mingles !
personality with argumeut, and lessens the j
weight of the adversary argument by reduc-1
mg the weight of the speaker's character.
Mr. Clay had a turn that way, and certain
ly a great ability for it. Invective, mingled
with sarcasm, was one of the phases of his or
atory. He was supreme at a Phdlipic (taken
in the sense of Demosthenes ami Cicero,)
where the political attack on a public mail's
ffleasare was to be enforced and heightened by
personal attack on his coudnct. He owed
asch of hi.- fascinating f>ower over his hearers
to the exercise of this talent—always so cap
bating in a ywpalar assembly, and iu the gal
leries of the Senate ; not so )nueh so in the
Senate itself: and to him it naturally fell to i
Wcouie the organ of the feeliugs of his party
Wxardj Mr Calhoun. And very cordially,
**l carefully, aid amply, did he make prcpar
tfifot for it
Fee storm had been gathering since Septera
it burst in February. It had been evi
4Mly waiting for on occasion : and fouud it,
"'e first speech of Air. Caihouu, of that
in favor of Air. Van Bur en's recom-
Eetidation for an independent treasury and a
wleral hard-money currency. This speech
*** delivered the loth of February, and was
fltMly argumentative aud {mrliameutary, aud
Mkkiy confined to its subject. Four days
hereafter Mr. Clay answered ft ; and altlio'
at an extemporaneous speech, he had the
&T it. when timo permitted, of considering
'"'i tatu the matter aud the words of what
to deliver.
"a this occasion he had ample time ; for the
K* i: of M r Calhoun could not be essential
s-rent from the oue he delivered ou the
subject at the extra sessiou; and the
J act which excited his reseutuieut was
, iht same date. There had been six mouths
and fully hud preparation been
-j' The whole sj>eech bore the impress of
'-Maturation au( j especially the last part;
'listed of two distinct parts—the first
aud addressed to the measure
ll e Senate ; aud was in fact, as well as
a reply. The second part was an at
{ r 'Qder the name of a reply, ami was ad
-10 l KrsoUa l conduct of Mr. Cal
. him with bus desertion, (as
blunting him with the com
;g r f",!f*d S Ol into—taking care to remind
>. his own former sad account of that
'*"* '• and then, launching into a wider
* threw up to him all the imputed po
i i': iicies of by Jifc for near tweotv
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
r t L t - -WW J (Ml ge<ititig # W JUH taliwQ L w*A mtojwiy • jTa '* * "* P S<.itWitl|Nwi'ad ♦ * . .•?'!(. , ... , • 1*.
years—skipping none from 1816 down to the
extra session ; although he himself had been
in close political friendship with this alleged
delinquent dnribg the greater part of that long
time.
Mr. Calhoun saw at once the advantage
which this general and sweeping assault put
iuto his hands. Had the attack been confined
to the iflefe circumstance of quitting oue side
and joining the other, it might have been treat
ed as a mere personality ; and, either left un
noticed, or the account settled at once with
some ready words of retort and justification,
j But in going beyond the act which gave the
offence—beyond the cause of rescutiuenf,which
1 was recent, and arraigning a member on the
! events of almost a quarter of a century of
; public life, he went beyond the limits of the
j occasion, and gave Mr. Calhoun the opportu
: nity of explaining, or justifying, or excusing
all that had ever been objected to him ; and
i that with the sympathy in the audience with
J which attack for ever invests the rights of dc
] fence. He saw his advantage, and availed
i himself of it. Though prompt at reply, he
' chose to make none in a hurry. A pause en
! sued Mr. Clay's conclusion, every one deferring
Ito Mr. Calhoun's right of reply. He took the
floor, bnt it was only to say tIU he would re
i ply at his leisure to the senator from Ken
tucky .
ne diil reply, and at his own good time,
which was at the end of twenty days ; and in
away to show that he had " smelt the lamp,"
not of Demades, but of Demosthenes, during
that time. It was profoundly meditated aud
elaborately composed : the matter solid aud
condensed ; the style chaste, terse and vigor
ous ; the narrative clear ; the logic close ; the
sarcasm cutting ; and every word bearing up
on the object in view. It was a masterly ora
tion, uud, like Mr. Clay's speech, divided into
two parts ; but the second part only seemed
to occupy liis feelings, and bring forth words
from the heart as well as from the head. And
well it might 1 He was speaking, not for life,
but for character ! aud defending public char
acter, in the eonduet which makes it, and on :
high points of policy, which belonged to bis- j
tory—defending it before posterity and the ,
present age, impersonated in the American i
Senate, before which he stood, and to whom
he appealed as judges while invoking u B wit
nesses. He had a high occasion, uud he felt
it ; a high tribunal to plead before, and he re
joiced in it; a high acensser.aud he defied him;
; a high stake to contend for, his own reputa
! tiou : and manfully, earnestly, and powerfully
did he defend it. He had a high example
both in oratory, and the analogies of the oc
casion, before him ; and well had he looked
into that example. I happened to know that
in this time he refreshed his reading of the
Oration on the Crown ; and, as the delivery j
ui hie speech showed, not without profit. Be
sides its general cast, which was a good imita
tion, there were passages of a vigor aud t r.-e
-ness—of a power and simplicity—which would |
recall the recollectiou of that masterpiece of j
the oratory of the world There were points j
of analogy iu the cases as well as in the !
speeches, each case being that of one eminent j
statesman accusing another, and before a na
tional tribunal, and npon the events of a pub- |
lie life. More happy thau the Athenian ora
tor, the American statesman had no foul im
putations to repel. Different from „E-chines
and Demosthenes, both himself and Mr. Clay
stood above the imputation of corrupt action
or motive. If they had faults—aud what pub
lic man is without them ?—they were the taulu- j
of lofty natures —not of sordid souls ; aud .
they looked to the honors of their country — j
not its plunder—for their fair reward.
AVlien Mr. Calhoun finished, Mr. Clay in- !
stantlv arose, aud rejoined—his rejoinder al- I
most entirely directed to the personal part of
the discussion, which, from its begiuning, had
bceu the absorbing part. Mucb stung by Mr.
Calhoun's reply, who used the sword as well
as the buckler* and with a keen edge upon it,
he was more animated and sarcastic in the
rejoinder than in the first attack. Mr. Cal
houn also rejoined distantly. A succession of
brief and rapid rejoiuders took place between
them (chiefly omitted iu this work,) which
seemed running to infinity, when .Mr. Calhoun,
satisfied with what he had done, pleasantly put
an end to it by saying, he saw the scuator
from Kentucky was detenniued to have the
lust word ; and he would yield it to him. Mr.
Clav, in the same spirit, disclaimed that desire,
and* said no more. And thus the exciting de
bate terminated with more courtesy thau that
with which it had bceu conducted.
In all contests of this kind there is a feeling
of violated decorum, which makes each party
solicitious to appear on the defensive, and for
that purpose to throw' the blame of commenc
ing on the opjiosite side. Even the one that
palpably throws the first stone is yet anxious
to show that it was a defensive throw ; or at
least provoked by previous wrong. Mr. Clay
had this feeling upon hiin, and knew that the
*!* of making out a defensive case fell upon
him ; and he lost no time iu endeavoring to
establish it. He placed his defence in the
forepart of the attack. At the very outset Oi
the personal part of his speech lie attended to
this essentia! preliminary, and found the justi
fication. as he believed, in some expressions of
Mr. Calhoun in bis sub-treasury speech ; and
iu a couple of passages iu a letter he had writ
ten ou a public occasion, after his return fiom
the extra session—commonly called the Edge
field letter.
In the speech, he believed lie found a re
proach upon the patriotism of himself and
friends iu not following his (Mr. Calhoun's)
" lead" in support of the administration finan
cial aud currency measures ; and in the letter,
an impeachment of the integrity and patriot
ism of himself and friends if they got into
power ; and also an avowal that his change
of sides was for selfish considerations. The
first reproach, that of lack of patriotism iu j
not following Mr. Calhoun's lead, he found it
hard to locate in auy definite part of the
speech, and had to rest it upou general ex
pressions.
The others, those fuuudvd upon pa-sages iu
. ?'■ kJP *SJC
■kis£ titiit ***('
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" RESATTDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
the letter, were definitely quoted, and were in
these terms :
" I could not back and sustain those in such
opposition in whose wisdom, firmness and patri
otism I had lio reason to confule —"It was
dear, with our joint forces (whigs and nulliji
ers,) we could utterly overthrow and demolish
them; but it teas not less dear that the victory
would enure, not to us, but cxdusively to the ben
efit of our allies and their cause."
These passages were much commented upon,
especially in the rejoinders ; and when the
whole letter produced by Mr. Calhoun, and
the meaning claimed for theai fully stated by
him.
In the speeches for and against the crown
we see Demosthenes answering w hat has not
bceu found iu the speech of J&schines: tho
same anomaly took place in the earnest debate,
as reported between Mr. Clay and Mr. Cal
houn. The latter answers much which is not
found in the published speech to which he is
'< replying. It gave rise to some remark be
, tweeu the sjieakers during the rejoinders. Air.
! Caihouu said he was replying to the speeeh as
I spoken. Mr. Clay said it was printed under
• his supervision—as much as to say he sanc
[ tioued the omissions. The fact is that, with a
! commendable Feeling, he had softened some
parts and omitted others ; for that which is
| severe enough iu speaking, becomes more so in
1 writing ; and its omission or softening is a ta
■ tit retraction, aud honorable to the cool reflec
tion which condemns what passion or heat hud
prompted. But Mr. Caihouu did not accept
1 the favor; aud, neither party desiring quarter,
i the one answered what had been dropt, ami
! the other reqwoduccd it, with interest. In his
rejoinders, Air. Clay supplied all that had been
• omitted —aud made additions to it.
This contest between two eminent men, on
a theatre so elevated, in which the stake to
. each was so great, and in which each did his
! best, conscious that the eye of the age aud of
1 posterity was upon him, was an event in itself,
and iu their lives. It abounded with exempli
fications of all the different sorts of oratory
of which each was master ; on one side—dec
lamation, impassioned eloquence, vehement in
vective, taunting sarcasm ; on the other—close
reasoning, chaste narrative, clear statement,';
keen retort. Two accessories of such contests
[(disruptions of friendship), were missing, and
well—the pathetic and the virulent. There
was no crying, or blackguardism in it—noth
ing like the weeping scene between Fox aud :
Burke, when tho heart overflowed with ten- j
derncss at the recollection of former love, now
gone forever ; nor like the virulent one when
the gall, overflowing with bitterness, warned
an ancient friend never to return as a spy to
the camp which he had left as a deserter.
There were iu the speeches of some remark- !
able passages, such only as actors in the scenes [
conld furnish, and which history will claim.— •
Tims : Air. Clay gave some inside views of the '
concoction of the famous Compromise act of |
1833 ; which, so far as they go. correspond
with the secret history of the same concoction, i
as given in one of the chapters on that subject I
in the first volume of this work Air. Clay's
speech is also remarkable for the declaration
that the protective system, which he so long j
advocated, was never intended to 1*? j>erma-!
nent ; that its only design was to give tem- j
porarv encouragement to infant manufactures ;
and tiiat it had fulfilled its missiou.
Air. Calhoun's speech was also remarkable
for admitting the jtower and the expediency
of incidental protection, as it was called ; and
on this ground he justified his snpport of the i
tariff of 1816—so mn"h objected against him.
He also gave his history of the compromise .
of 1833. attributing it to the efficacy of milli- '
ficatiou and of the military attitude of South
Carolina : w hen brought upon him the relent
less sarcasm of Mr. Clay, and occasioned his
explanation of his sap{>ort of n national bank
in 1816. He was chairman of the committee i
which reported the charter for that bank, and
gave it the support which carried it through ; i
with which he was reproached after he became
opposed to the bank. He explained the cir- ;
cumstances under which he gave that support i
—such as I "-have often heard him state in con
versation ; rind which always appeared to mc 1
to be sufficient to exempt him from reproach. |
At the safiie time, (and what is bnt little
known.) he had the merit of opposing, and
probablv of defeating, a far more dangerous
bank—one of fifty millions (equivalent to one j
hundred and twenty millions now.) and found- !
ed almost wholly upon United States stocks— j
imposingly recommended to Congress by the j
then Secretary of the Treasury, Air. Alexan
der J. Dallas. The analytical mind of Mr.
Calhoun, then one of the youngest members, ;
immediately solved this monster j>roposition iu- j
to its constituent elements, and his power of j
generalization ami condensation enabled him I
to express its character in two words— lending
our eredif to the bank for nothing, and borrow
ing it back at sir per cent, interest.
As an alternative, aud not as a choice, he
supj>orted the national bank that was charter
ed, after twice defeating the monster bank of
fiftv millions founded on paper ; for that mon
ster was twice presented to Congress, and twice
repulsed.
The last time- it camo-ns a currency measure,
as a bank to create a natioual currency : aud j
as such was referred to a select committee on .
national currency, of which Air. Calhonu was
chairman. IU opposed it, and fell into the j
support of the bank which was chartered.— j
Strange that jn fhis search for a national j
bank, the currency of the constitution seemed j
to cuter no one's head. The revival of the
gold enrrenev was never suggested : and in
that oblivion" of gold, an l still hunting a sub
stitute in paper* the men who pnt down the
first national bank did their work much less
effectually than those who put down the sec
ond one.
The speech of each of these senators, so far
as they constitute the personal part of the de
bate will be given in a chapter of its own ;
the rejoinders, being brief, prompt, and respon
sive each to the other, will lc put together in
another chapter. The speeches of each hav
ing been carefullv prepared and elaborated.
uiTtv be considered as fair specimens of their
speaking powers—the style of each different,
but each a first class sjieakcr in the braueh of
oratory to which he belonged. They may be
read with profit by those,who would wish to
form au idea of the style aud power of these
eminent orators. Marnier, and all that is com
prehended under the head of delivery, is a dif
ferent attribute ; and there Air. Clay had an
advautage, which is lost in transferring the
speech to paper.
Some of Mr. Calhoun's characteristics of
manner may be seen iu these [speeches. He
eschewed the studied exordiums and perora
tious once so much in vogue, and which the
rhetorician's rules teach how to make. A few
simple words to announce the beginning, and
the same to show the end of his speech, was
about as he did in that way ; and in that de
parture from custom lie conformed to what
was becoming iu a business speech, as his gen
erally were ; and also to what was suitable to
his own intellectual style of speaking. He
also eschewed the trite, familiar, aud unparlia
mentary mode (which of late has got iuto
vogue), of referring to a senator as "my
friend," or " the distinguished," or "the elo
quent," or " honorable," Ac. He followed the
written rule of parliamentary law, which is
also tiie clear rule of propriety, and referred
to the member by his sitting-place in the Sen
ate, and the state from which he came. Thus,
" the senator from Kentucky who sits farthest
from me which was a sufficient designation
to those present while for the absent, and for
posterity the name (Air. Clav) would be put
iu brackets. He also addressed the body by
the simple collective phrase, " senators aud
this was, not accident, or fancy, but system,
resulting from convictions of propriety ; aud
he would allow no reporter to alter it.
Mr. Calhonn laid great stress upon his
speeches in this debate, as being the vitwlica- [
tion of his public life ; aud declared, in one of
his replies to Air. Clay, that he rested his pub
lic character upon it, and desired it to be read
by those who would do liirn justice. In jus
tice to him, and as being a vindication of sev
eral measures of his mentioned in this work,
not approvingly, a place is here given to it.
This discussion between two eminent men,
growing out of sup{x>rt and opposition to the
Jcadiug measures of Air. Yau Baron's admin
istration, indissolubly connects itself with the
passage of those measures ; and gives addi
tional emphasis and distinction to the era of
the crowning policy which separated bank and
state—made the government the keeper of its
own money—repulsed paper money from the
federal treasury—filled the treasury to burst- j
ing with solid gold ; and did more for the
prosperity of the country than auy set of
measures from the fouudatiou of the govern
ment.
A II AI'PV HOME —In a happy home there
will be no fault-fincling, no overbearing spirit—
there will be no peevishness, no fret fulness.—
Uukindncss will not dwell in the heart or be
on the tongue. Oh, the tears, th" sighs, tlie
wasting of life and health, and strength and
tine—of all that is most desired in a happy
home, occasioned merely by unkind words.—
The celebrated Air. Wesley, remarked to this
effect, namely, that fretting and scolding seem
ed like tearing the flesh from the bones, aud
that we have uo more right to be guilty of this
than wo have to curse, or swear or steal. In
a perfectly happy home all selfishness will he
removed. Even as " Christ pleased not him
self," so the meniliers of a happy home will
not seek find to please themselves, but to
please each other.
Cheerfulness i* another ingredient in a hnp
pv home. How much docs a sweetness ema
nating from a heart filled with love and kind
ness, contribute to render a home happy.—
How attracting, how soothing is that sweet
cheerfulness that is borne on the countenance
of a wife and mother, llow the parent and
child, the brother and sister, the mistress and
servant, dwell with delight on those cheerful
looks, those confiding smiles that beam from
the eve, and burst from the inmost soul of
those who are near and dear.
How it hastens the return of the father—
lightens the care of the mother—renders it
more easy for youth to resist temptation ! and
drawn bv the cords of affection, how it indu
ces them" with living hearts to return to the
parental roof.
(), that parents would lay this subject to
heart, that by untiring efforts they would so
far render home happy, that their children and
domestics shall not seek for happiness in for
bidden paths.
A St.INIIT MISTAKE. —A Lowell paper is re
sponsible for the following "good uu."
In a neighboring city, at Thackeray's lec
ture. a few evenings since, a young gentleman
—the modest man of his sex. and no less po
lite than modest—was sitting in a pew rather
remote from the light. A pretty lady sat next
to him.— Looking on the floor during the lec
ture, he espied what he thought was the lady's
handkerchief, the lace trimmed edge just visi
ble from nu.h r her dress. Turning to bis pew
mate gallantly whispered, " You have dropped
your handkerchief, madam !" and before she
"could reply, he proceeded to pick it up. Hor
ror ! He had seized the edge of her i>et
s.'irt, and did not discover the mistake until
the top of a gaiter boot stared him in the face,
and the faint sound of a laugh just nipped in
the bud by the application of a real handker
chief warned hiiu of his mistake. " I'haney
liiz pheelinks."
Moral. —Don't attempt to pick up anything
with lace to it, before you know what it is.
A COLORED CLERGYMAN in Albany, recent
ly gave notice as follows from the pulpit :
" There will be a four day's meeting every
evening this week, except Wednesday after
noon. 7
THE ARARS have a good proverb on what is
called the " lucky man." They say " fling him
into the Nile and he will come up with a fish
in hi; mouth."
A Legend of New England.
BY JOIIN G. WIHTTIER.
" Sbrickf"—fiendish vell.s, —they stab them in their sleep."
One hundred years ago !—the hunter, who
ranged the hills and the forests of New Eug
laud, fought against other enemies tflian the
brow u bear aud the panther. The hfisband
man, as he toiled in the plaiu, or the narrow
clearing, kept closely at his side a loaded wea
pon ; and wrought diligently and firmly in the
midst of peril. The frequent crack of the In
dian's rifle was heard in the still depths of the
forest—the death-knell of the unwary hunter ;
and, ever aud anon, the flame of some devoted
farm-house, whose dwellers had been slaugter
ed a merciless foe, rose redly upon the darkness
of the night time. The wild aud fiery eyes of
Lue heathen gleamed through the thick under
wood of the forest, upon the passing of the
worshippers of the only true Hod ; and the
war-whoop rang shrill and loud under the very
walls of the sanctuary of prayer.
Perhaps uo part of New Englaud affords a
wilder field for the reserches of the legendary,
than that portion of Massachusetts Bay, for
merly known as the province of Alaine. There
the ferocious Norridgewock held his stern
councils, and there the tribes of the Penobscot
went forth with song and Sance to do battle
upou the white man. There( the romantic aud
chivalrous Castine immured himself in the for
est solitudes, aud there the hearted Halle—the
mild and gifted Jesuit—gathered together the
brokeu strength of the Norridgewock,and built
up iu the great wilderness a temple to the true
Hod. There, too, he perished iu the dark on
slaught of the Colonists—perished titip.ii innnv
wounds, at the verv foot of the C'rSv which
his own hands had planted, And there the
Xorridgcwocks fell—oue after another—in :
stern and uncomplaining pride—neither asking,
nor giviffg quarter, as they resisted the white
spoiler upon the threshold of their consecrated
place of worship, aud iu view of their wives
and children.
The following is one among many legends
of the strange rencontres of the White Alan
ami the Indian, which are yet preserved iu the
ancient records aud traditions of Maine. The
simple and unvarnished narrative is onlv iriv
en :
It was a sultry evening towards the last of
Juue, 172J, that Capt. Harmon and the Eas
tern Itaugers urged their canoes up the Kenne
bec river, in pursuit of their enemies. For hour*
they toiled diligently at the oar. The last
trace of civilization was left behind, and the
long shadows of the skirting forest met and
blended in the middle of the broad stream,
which wound darkly through them. As every i
sound from the adjacent shores—the rustling
wing of some night-bird, or the quick footsteps
of some wild beast—the dash of the oar was
suspended, aud the ranger's grasp tightened ou
his rifle. All knew the peril of the enterprise;
and that silence, which is natural of jeopardv,
settled like a cloud upon the midnight adven
turers.
"Hush—softly men !" said the watchful
Harmon, in a voice, which scarcely rose above
a hoarse whisper, as the canoe swept around
a ranged promontory, " there is a light
ahead !"
All eyes wore bent toward the shore. A
tall Indian fire gleamed up amidst the great
oaks, casting a red and strong light upou the
dark waters. For a single and breathless mo
ment the operation of the oar was suspended,
and every car listened with painful earnestness
to catch the well-known sounds, which seldom
failed to indicate the propiquity of the savages.
But all was now silent. With slow aud faint
movements of the oar, the canoes gradually ap
proached spot. The landing was
effected in e. After moving cautiously
for a considerable distance iu the dark shadow,
the party at length ventured within the broad
circle of the light, which at first attracted their
attentiou. Harmon was at their head, with an
eye and a liaud, quick as those of the savage
enemy whom he sought.
The body of a fallen tree lay across the path.
As the rangers were on the point of leaping
over it, the coarse whisper of Harmon ngain
broke the silence :
" God of heaven !'' he exclaimed, pointing to
the tree. " See here !—'tis the work of the
cursed red skins!"
A smothered cur*e growled on the lips of the
rangers, as they bent grimly forward in the
direction pointed out by their commander.—
Blood was sprinkled on the rank grass, aud a
human hand—the hand of a white man—lay
on the bloody log !
There was* not a word spoken, but every
countenance worked with terrible emotion.—
Had the rangers followed their own desperate
inclination, they would hare hurried recklessly
onward to the work of vengeance ; bnt the ex
example of their leader, who had regained his
usual calmness and self-command, prepared
them for a less speedy, but more certain tri
umph. Cautiously passing over the fearful oK
staclc in the pathway, and closely followed by
his companions, he advanced stealthily and cau
tiously upon the light, hiding himself and his
party as much as possible behind the thick
trees. In a few moments they obtained a full
view of the object of their search. Stretched
at their length around a huge fire, but at a
convenient distance from it, lay tho painted j
and half-naked forms of twenty savages. It i
was evident from their appearance, jtjiat they ;
had passed the day in one of their revels,
and that they were now suffering under the
effects of intoxication. Occasionally, a grim
warrior among them started half upright, grasp
ing his tomahawk, us if to combat some vision
of his disordered bruin, but, unable to shake off
the stnjor from his senses, uniformly fell back
into his former position.
The rangers crept nearer. As they bent
their keen eyes along their well-tried rifles,
each felt perfectly sure of his aim. They
waited for the signal of Harmon, who was en
deavoriug to bring his long ntusket to bear
upon the head of the most distant of the sav
a ? es -
" Fire !" he at length exclaimed, a- the sight
i of liis piece interposed full and distinct between
VOL. XVI. XO. 8.
his eve and the wild scalp-lock of the Indian.
" Fire, and rush on !"
The sharp voice of thirty rifles thrilled thro'
the heart of the forest. There was a groan—
a smothered cry—a wild and convulsive move
ment araongtbesleepiug Indians ; and all again
was silent.
The rangers sprang forward with their club
bed muskets and hunting knives ; but their
work was done. The Red Men had gone to
their last audit before the Great Spirit, and
no sound was heard among them save the
gurgling of the hot blood from their lifeless
They were left unburied on the place of
their reveliug—a prey to the foul birds of the
air, aud the raveuous beasts of the wilderness
Their scalps were borne homeward in triumph
by the successful rangers, whose children and
grand-children shuddered, long after, at the
thrilling narration of the midnight adventure
* The Turpentine Tree.
The State of North Carolina contains up
wards of two millions acres of wild swampy
land, which is covered principally by a heavy
growth of pitch pine timber, I'he trees tu'e
generally of very great size, and extend iu un
broken forests for miles and miles. These for
ests are more valuable to the State than all its
mines of golden ore, for they produce immense
quantities of tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin.
The writer of a letter to the Hampshire Ga
zette gives an interesting description of the
manner in which the rich jnices of these treci
are procured and manufactured. The first pro
cess, he says, is to cut in the trunk of a tree,
near the ground, a deep hole, or cavity, of the
capacity of about three pints. Above this, in
various places, incisions are made in the tree,
and a shulknv grove is cut in the bark, lead
ing from every incision to the hole, so that all
the sap escaping from the wounds will flow
dowu to the reservoir designed for its recep
tion.
This process of chipping is repeated every
week or two, to give a fresh surface from which
the juice exudes, until after a few years the
the trees are blazed on every side to a height
of ten or twelve feet. Lare forests of dead
trees are constantly seen, tall aud erect, with
out branch or bark, resembling a large ship
yard tilled with tall dismantled masts. Into
the boxes near the ground, the juice, a crude
turpentine, begins to flow about the middle of
March, slowly at first, but more rapidly as the
warm seasou advances, and slowly again in
autumn, uutil it ceases altogether in winter.—
The liquid, abont the consistence of honey, as
it flows, is removed from the excavations as
they arc filled, and transferred to barrels, where
it becomes a soft solid. The average yield of
these trees, as I was informed, is about live
gallons each a year.
A barrel of this sap contains usually seven
teen per cent, of oil or spirits of turpentine,
and this is distilled from it by meuns of a rude
distilling apparatus, consisting of a large iron
retort, capable of containing two or more bar
rels. The turpentine is placed in the retort,
the oil driven off by the process of distillation,
and stored away, nud rosin is left as the residu
um. But the use-: of the pine tree do not cease
with its life.
In the tree of the Jong-lcarcd pine the resin
ous matter becomes concentrated in tne interi
or layers of the wood, when its vegetation ceas
es. This dead wood, - known throughout the
south as light wood, is then selected for the
manufacture of tar. The tree is cut into billets
of convenient size, which are placed together in
a pile aud covered with earth, in much the
same manner that wood is placed in a charcoal
kilu, in New Eugiaud This stack of wood is
built however upon a mound of earth prepared
for the {impose, the summit of which declines
from the circumference to the centre, where a
cavity is formed, connected by a little canal
with a diUh which surrounds the mound.—
After the pile is ready to be ignited, tire is
placed in the centre of the top, and a slow
combustion maintained until all the resiuous
matter is melted, running into a central cavity,
aud from that into the outer ditch, where it is
collected, the tar of commerce, and placed in
barrels for exjiortation. These trees, when
cut green and sawed into boards, become the
valuable lumber so much used at the north for
flooring and other purposes. Thus, these for
ests, yielded with little comparative labor and
expenditure of money so much that is valua
ble and necessary in the mechanical arts. In
come sources of great profit: aud unattrac
tive, dirty Wilmington, North Carolina, is the
great exporting city of these staples of that
State. — Boston Weekly Journal.
An unfortunate editor in Kentucky,
thus addresses his delinquent subscribers :
" Friends, we are almost penniless—Job's tur
key was a millionaire compared with our de
pressed treasury. To-day, if the price of salt
was two cents a barrclful, we could not buy
cuough to pickle a joy-bird."
REFINEMENT.— A very refined clergyman,
who feared to offend the delicate ears of his
flock, is iu the habit of softening the Scrip
tures to their capacities. Not many Sabbaths
ago, he preached from the text, " la:t him that
is without sin among you ea-t the first stone,"
but which he very rceouditely paraphrased a
follows; " It is the prerogative of innocence
to project the initiatory boulder."
£ A MILITIA GAPTAIS out South, on receiving
from a lady revuesting the "pleasure
of his company." understood it as a compliment
to those under his command, and marched the
whole of them to the lady's house.
ECONOMY IV BEXTING ('AIIRER-. —When you
purchase your carpet.-, take care to buy one
that is infinitely superior to all the rest ; for
such a carpet will beat every other carpet you
haveiu the house.
"I A nu IRE your beautiful " crops" this year,'
as the fox said to the poultry iu the hearin
[of thv farmer.