LDOUAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
T 0W33 A.:
ftlorninn, Utorcl) 25, 1858.
r~~ Stlerltb |Mrn.
A MOTHER'S GIFT—THE BIBLE.
Remember, love, who gave thee thU,J
When other days shall corae !
When she who had your earliest kiss
Sleeps in her narrow home ;
Remember, 'twas a mother gave
TUe gift to one she'd die to save.
That mother sought a pledge of love
The noblest of her sons ;
And from the gifts of God above
She chose a goodly one-
She chose for her beloved boy.
The source of light and life and joy ;
And bade him keep the gift, that when
The parting hour should come,
Thcv might liave hope to meet again,
Iu au eternal home.
She said his faith in that would be
Sweet incense to her memory.
And should the scoffer in his pride
Laugh that fond faith to scorn,
And bid him cast the pledge aside
That he from youth had borne.
She bade him pause and ask his breast,
If he. or she, had loved him best.
A parent's blessing on her son.
Goes with this holy thing ;
The love that would retain the one
Must to the other cling.
Remember! 'tis no idle toy—
A mother's gift—Remember, boy.
UJisttllaotoits.
A POLITICAL PICTURE.
JOHN w. FORNEY'S ACCOUNT OF THE AD
MINISTRATION AT WASHINGTON.
(From the Philadelphia Press, March 13.)
WASHINGTON, Friday, March 12,1858.
1 left Philadelphia on Wednesday on a hur
r'*i visit to some friends here, and will return
God willing, by this evening's train, carrying
with me this hurried letter, which must take
the place of my usual word in the Press, of
t>morrow. What a difference between March
K7, and March, 1858! I dwell upon it
with surprise and grief. One year ago the
country was fall of content, and at peace with
i'n-lf. The hearts of all our people beat res
tioiisiveiv to a noble inaugural, and the hands
of men of all parties were uplifted to support
and to strengthen our venerable President.—
The Democrats were united and joyous, and
|gazed hopefully into a tranquil and victorious
future. The Republicans were dismayed, and
new political combinations were abandoned
[ before the prospect of a wise and patriotic
policy. Mr. SEWARD, in the Senate ; Mr.
GASTON, in the House ; Mr. GREELEY, iu the
Tribune, instead of preparing new weajKins of
attack upon the Administration, were turning
'heir thoughts to those substantial questions
upoa which all men agree iu this happy coun
try. Eveu the Americans, few in (Amber,
c.vjhl see no profit in faction, and were quiet
ly considering their plans. The extreme South,
to apt to chafe into a passion, was as calm as
a Summer's morning. Conservatism, in its
is very best sense, had taken possession of
the Government. An experienced President,
a safe and sagacious Cabinet, a ready Senate
iu session, and a still more willing House pre
paring for its new term—these constituted the
Herliug superstructure of au enduring coadi
hoii of national prosperity.
And what a change has one year produced?
I can hardly believe mv senses thut I am writ
ing from the Capitol of my country, aud that
ffiy old friend—he to whom I have borne al
most filial relations from my boyhood—he to
whom I have confided my few hopes and fears
—he for whom I dared the frowns of foes,
a:ul for whom, during four long years in the
ioer House of Congress, the patronage iu ray
eft was fearlessly bestowed, and he knows
how gladly ai.d how spontaneously, too —I
can hardly believe my senses, that this is the
city of Washington, aud that JAMES BUCHAN
AN' is President.
b\ hat is the aspect now ? One vide reign
<1 Terror. A test is erected here, tike some hor
rid instrument, r.f torture, upon which Democrats
ore tried and executed for their opinions. The
#, ork of decapitation has ceased against life
time foes, and is now waged upon old and
cherished friends. Men are removed and ca
lumniated, not for being opposed to Demo
nic principles, but for being too much in fa
ror of them. The humblest clerk, with his
■ 'tie family, who struggles along on his thou
fnd dollars a year, must hide his sentiments
ot leave his place, lor the bold and upright
Tbift, crat who dares to think aloud, there is short
lf he has an office he must be ready
' 0: the ominous cartel of dismissal on the iu
Uant. If he is an independent citizen, he is
hided from the Departments and from the
"bite House like a common lejier. An army
I yf spies are ou the alert, hunting for victims.
" IJ to the unguarded gentleman who, in the
I Presence of one of these eager eavcs-droppers,
| let fall a free opinion. It is at once
* u ?ht up ami carried, with no lack of exag
geration, to the ear of power. If there is on
round globe a race more despised in eivil
ifd society than any other, it is the race of
r n ers. The noblest invective of the no
'*st of lri>h orators has made them immor
j*"J infamous. These mercenaries now hold
ul ri> service iu Washingtou. I could uame
'-'cral of them from our own State, bat I for
for the honor of Pennsylvania. They
fy iu their shameless trade. Broken in
'°duae, reckless of their own fame, laughing
in others and rejecting it for
thej swarm here anxious to earn
, ' guilty wages. The most of these crea
ind ' are l ' ,e men w h° k* ve pursued
, ' routed the President with the same
tkey now display towards those
poliev.
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
It is their vocation to make public opinion
here against the intrepid sentiment of the peo
ple ; to bully in the hotels, to infest the rooms
of members, to " pump " the new arrivals, to
coax the doubtful, to intimidate the weak, to
supply false motives for honest differences, to
fill the towu with rumors of defection among
the friends of the right, to flatter power, and
to applaud to the echo everything that falls
from the lips of greatne.ss. " Sir," said a wise
and good man to me on one occasion, eeveral
years ago,"the President rarely hears the truth: 1
He is surrounded with sycophants, who say
only what pleases him." How often this pro
fonnd truth is illustrated ! It is said that
FREDERICK the Great—l think Lord BROUG
HAM'S short sketch of him contains the state
ment—would sometimes demand of his minis
ters to talk to him boldly ; and when they
did he would lose his temper, and beat them
for their candor. There are many good, brave
men in Washington to-day, who would give
their worst of thoughts the worst of words, if
they had the chance. But the eye of great
ness has no welcome—the ear of greatness no
hearing—for such men. If they attempt to
speak out, they are turned away, or left stand
ing " alone in their glory." Let me give you
the last instance of the way things are done
here. One of the best men ever sent from
Western Pennsylvania to our State Legisla
ture was MAXWELL M'CASLIN. His very name
was a hou>ehold word in Washington, Fay
ette and Greene. Everybody liked him dur
ing his loiig residence in the latter county. —
Holiest, faithful, iutelligent and brave, he was
a fine specimen of that Scotch-Irish element
which has infused so many sterling traits into
our Pennsylvania character. Well, MAXWELL
is not over-rich ; and so, after having served
his constituents with honor, for many years,
he asked for and obtained an Indian Agency
in Kansas about two years ago from Presi
dent PIERCE. He had been a Buchanan stan
dard bearer in Greene County for, I think,
some fifteen years, fighting our excellent friend
JOHN L. DAWSON, in many a hard contest,
when the latter led the Anti-Buchanan column
in the West. It was natural that such a man
should feel free to speak the truth without
tear, especially to save his old chief, Mr. BU
CHANAN, from harm. MAXWELL M'CASLIN saw
the wicked and merciless tyranny in Kansas.
His honest nature revolted at it. He saw the
man he had labored for about to be damaged
by the authors of this bold villainy. What
did he do ? Did he wait to think of himself?
No ! Like a man who sees his brother in
peril—for MAXWELL M'CASLIN is about Mr.
BUCHANAN'S age —he rushed in to save him.
He wrote imploriug letters from the Territo
ry, telling the powers here that they were de
ceived. He begged them to halt in their ca
reer. nc told them that the people of Kan
sas never would submit to Lecompton, and
that it was cruelty to ask them to submit to
it. He appealed to the friends of the Presi
dent to drive off the vermin from that Terri
tory, who were here beseiging power, and de
luding and deceiving the Executive. These
letters, written in all the ardor of old friend
ship, and in the credulous belief that no one
would question their sincerity—alas ! vain
hope ! —cost hiin his head. One of them got
into the Press through Mr. KINCAID, of Greene
now a member of our Legislature. It doomed
the writer. On Tuesday last he was removed
from his little place, and his successor appoint
ed. I can realize how this act of grace will
be received in Greeuc County, and all along
that rebellious frontier. My regret is deep
that, by act of mine—by the publication of
that unfortunate letter—l should have been
the innocent cause of his removal. How he
did write, let the following extract from oue
of his last letters (which cannot injure him
nf>ur) speak to the reader : " If the Lecomp
ton Constitution is adopted, and the election
of Jan. 4 is given to the fire-eaters under CAL
HOUN, it will not only make a dark day in
Kansas, but all the Union." "If the Presi
dent had stood his ground with Governor
WALKER, amidst the millions of conservative
men vho irould have rallied around him, both
North and South, all would have been veil.
TIIF. GREAT AND GLORIOUS DEMOCRACY WOULD
HAVE MAINTAINED ITS CONSISTENCY, AND STOOD
UPON THE PILLARS OK ETERNAL TRUTH AND JUS
TICE " This fatal letter is dated on the 16th
of February, and as JOHN CAMPBELL, my Irish
neighbor across the way, is not ouly a first
rate bookseller, (as well as book-reader.) but
is also fond of autographs, I will give this let
ter to him if he will come and get it. "So
much for Buckingham."
You will see that I am committing a great
imprudence by writing so plainly. I certain
ly do so with no personal purpose. My frank
ness may disturb some sensibilities —and may
give some greedy and aspiriug gentlemen a
good chance to help themselves by abuse of
mc ; and, if so, I shall not sorry. But I claim
the right to speak out on this grave subject.
Ido it more in sorrow than in anger. 1 feel
that wc are on the verge of a frightful abyss ;
and in my vocation as an independent jour
nalist, and as one who would to-morrow serve
JAMES BUCHANAN if I felt he was right, with
all the ardor of the olden time, silence would
be a crime.
But there is a cheerfnl side to the picture.
Yesterday was a bright day for the people.
There was a gorgeous sunshine in the sky and
on the earth ; and Spring seemed to be break
ing from the clouds of Winter. There was
also a glorious gleam of hope in the House.
The great principle of the will of the majority
asserted its majesty, and seemed to be strong
enough to wrestle with the gigantic influen
ces that have fettered it so long. Those who
differ from Mr. BUCHANAN SO regretfully on
this issue, and who have been traduced by his
flatterers for this difference, felt measurably
compensated by this new victory. I hiard
one of the most gifted of these gallant fellows
say last night : " Would it not be a proud
satisfaction if * we few, we happy few, we band
of brothers,' could save Mr. BUCHANAN and
the party from this calamity !"
But I must stop, or you will never get ibis
iu to morrow. J- W. F.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FCLOU ANT QUARTER."
The Leviathan.
(From the Londou Times, Feb. 24.)
Though nothing worth speaking of in the
way of work has been done about the Levia
than, a very great deal has been perfected, and
we believe the arrangements are being made
for her final completion and fitting for sea.—
The total cost.of completing her fittings, put
ting on board stores, &c., and making her iu
all respects ready for sea, will not exceed JE120,-
000, and the time required to do this will cer
tainly not extend beyond the month of July.
Fonr months is estimated as being the utmost
time necessary to fit her, but circumstances
have arisen, such as the company being oblig
ed to give up possession of the yard at Mill
wall, which may occasion hindrances that will
probably deluy her completion to the time we
have stated. In order to insure the work be
ing done in the shortest space of time, and at
the lowest rate consistent with good workman
ship, it has been decided to subdivide what re
mains to be done about the vessel among sev
eral contractors.
No less than ten anchors are now required
to hold the monster vessel at her present moor
ings—five at the stem and five at the stern,
and each with lengths of cable attached vary
ing from 40 to 160 fathoms. When first an
chored in the river, eight sufficed to hold her,
but during half a gale which blew shortly af
ter her launch, she dragged at the stern in such
a manner as to swing more into the tide-way,
and required two of Trotmau's largest patent
anchors in addition to the others, since which
she has been brought up effectually,and now ap
parently nothing short of a hurricai e would be
sufficient to remove her. As the fittings of the
ship progress, a pair of powerful shears will be
fitted on the deck for the purpose of hoisting in
the iron of the masts, the intermediate shaft,
heavy boats, standing rigging, and other por
tions of her equipment which are too ponder
ous to raise by ordinary means.
The masts are, at present, being made at
Millwall in pieces, and a good deal of the main
masts has already been completed, though of
course, they will not be put together uutil
they are actually on board. There are to be
six masts in aU—three square-rigged, and three
with fore-and-aft sails. All these masts will
be composed of plates of wrought iron one
inch iu thickness, and riveted together in the
same maimer as the sides of the ship, or a
steam boiler of the strongest description. They
will vary in height from 180 to 170 feet from
the keel to the truck, each will be three feet
four inches iu diameter at the deck, and each
will weigh from thirty to forty tons, exclusive
of yards or rigging. Each mast rests in a
square column of plate iron, which reaches di
rect from the keel to the upper deck, and is
riveted and built into all of the successive decks
through which it passes. In case of it ever
becoming necessary to cut away the masts, at
the base of thein all, at about three feet above
the deck, will be fixed a peculiar apparatus,
which, working by means of a powerful screw,
is made to compress two sides of the masts to
gether in such a manner as to completely crush
them iu, and let the masts full over the sides
immediately.
As, however, all the masts will be stayed by
the usual standing rigiring, which iu the case
of the Leviathan will be all of wire rope and
of the most massive kind, other precautions
have to be taken in order to get rid of the
masts when necessary. To effect this, then,
ail the shrouds aud stays are fastened at the
ends through iron rings in such a manner that,
as far any exertion of strength or skill is con
cerned, a single man would be sufficient to cast
loose all the fastenings of each mast in live
minutes, though until the rings are opened the
sides might be torn from the ship before they
would yield au inch. All the main and top
mast yards of the square-rigged masts will be
also of iron plates. The main yard will be 180
feet long, or about 48 feet longer than the
main-yard of our Inrgest-!ine-of-battle ships,
about four times the strength of any main-yard
yet constructed, and several tons lighter than
if it was made of wood, as is usually the case.
The Company are about to remove their
plans and materials to another yard on the
Surrey side of the river, and all the works at
Millwall are in the chaotic state which usually
portends a change of location. We believe no
attempt will be made to draw out any of the
many hundred piles driven into the earth for
one pu"pose or another duriug the conrse of
the launch. More with a view of satisfying
scruples on this subjet t than with any other ob
jects, some one or two have been " extracted"
but the efforts required to draw them involv
ed such heavy labor that the wages of the
workmen employed amounted to more than
double the value of the pile? themseles. They
will therefore be suffered to remain where they
are, only sawing off the uppermost parts level
with the earth.
In one poition of the yard the men are em
ployed night and day in turning the monstrous
immediate shaft for the paddle-engines. This
shaft is probably, for its size, the finest speci
men of forged iro* that has ever been produc
ed at any works. It was made at Glasgow,
and in the rough weighed some thirty-four tous.
This is the third that has been forged for the
paddle-engines of the Leviathan. In both the
former ones, when the manufacture was almost
completed, such flaws was discovered in their
substance as made them worthless ; aud from
the immense size of the shaft, and the necessi
ty for its being of the most perfect strength
and solidity throughout, considerable anxiety
was at one time eutertained as to the possibil
ity of getting one made at all in time for the
starting of the vessel uext Autumn. All
doubts, have, however, been set at rest by the
arrival of the present shaft, which is now be
ing completed in the turning lathe.
With regard to the future of the Leviathan,
there is,perhaps,no question more freqneutlyask
ed by the public than that of where she is
to be docked in case of ber wantiug repairs, or
her bottom requiring cleauing. This question
has, however, we are glad to say, been satis
; factonly decided, though not quite as regards
docking her There are some dock;, we be
| lieve, iu Liverpool which are long enough to
take in the Leviathan if their entrances wore
only wide in proportion ; but as they fail iu
this latter important particular, the vessel,
when she wants cleauing, will have to be grid
ironed, as the screw colliers are—that is,
run aground on rows of piles laid along the
river's side for the purpose, and the tide of
course will leave her dry at each low water.
A spot has been chosen for this purpose, in
the Mersey, between Woodside and Birken
head, to this place the Leviathan will be taken
as often as she needs repairs or cleaning. It
is almost a pity, however, that no " grid-iron"
is of sufficient length could be formed or made
in the Thames, or iu any other river in the
Kingdom but the Mersey, which is one of the
most rapid and dangerous, aud in which,
we should think, the Leviathau, even with all
the aid which Trotman's anchor give her, must
run more or less of risk either in navigating or
staying at auchor.
THE FIGHT IN CONGRESS—ONE OF " ABE"
LINCOLN'S ILLUSTRATIONS. —When the news of
the late great battle in congress reached spring
field, a coterie of congenial spirits assembled
in the Governor's room at the State House for
the purpose of talking the matter over. After
it had been pretty thoroughly canvassed, and
just as a portion of the company were about to
retire, a well known ex-Congressman—the one
who is to be elected to the U. S. Senate next
winter as Douglas'successor—dropped in. Of
course every man in the crowd desired to know
his opinion, for he always has au original way
of illustrating it.
" Well," said Gov. 8., as the gentleman ad
dressed familiarly doubled himself into a vacant
chair, " what is your opinion of the knock-down
in Congress ? We have just beeu talking it
over a little."
" It reminds me," said , "of a case I
once had up at Bloornington."
" Let's hear it," all said.
" Two old fanners li dug in the vacinity of
Blooiuingtou hail, from time immemorial, been
at loggerheads. They could never agree except
to disagree ; wouldn't bnild divisiuu fences, and
in short, were everlastingly quarrelling. One
day one of them got over on the land of the
other, the parties met, and regular pitched bat
tle between them was the consequence. The
one who came out second best sued the other
forjassanlt and battery, and I was sent to come
up and defend the suit.
" Witness," said I, " you say vou saw this
fight."
" Yes, stranger, I reckon I did."
" Was it much of a fight ?" said I.
" I'll lie darned if it wasu't, stranger, aright
smart fight."
" How much ground did the combatants
cover r"
" About an acre, stranger."
" About an acre," I repeated, musingly.—
" Well, now, just tell me, wasn't that just
about the smallest crop of a fight off of an acre
of ground that you ever hea'd of /"
" That's so, stranger ; Til be go/ darned if
it wasn't"
" The jury," added , giving his legs an
additional twist, after the crowd had finished
laughing at the application of the anecdote,
" the jury fined my client just ten cents I"
BIDDY. —The latent instance of the aristo
cratic notions of domestic servauts that we
have heard recently occurred not a hundred
miles from the Brooklyn reservoir. One Irish
girl left her situation as soon as she discover
ed that the house was not supplied with wa
ter pipes. She said —" she could not remain
iu a family that were so old fashicned as to
pump the water they used."
I u another instance a foreign maid left a
good place because she said "she had always
been accustomed to live with people who used
their silver tea set everyday." She therefore
declined a place where the silver set was only
used on extra occasions.
A WESTERN SIMILE. —A Western college
thus " illustrates " an important brauch of u
young lady's education :
" Besides this there is the piano, where the
fingers are compelled to travel more in one
day than the feet do in one term ; and the
mind must be kept on the stretch over spidei
tracked music till the reason reels, and the
brain swims, and the notes on the page before
her carry no more idea to the mind than so
many tadpoles trying to climb over a five-barred
rail fence.' 1
fikjyA clergyman in a country village, de
sired his clerk to give notice that there would
be no service in the afternoon, as he was going
to officiate with another clergyman. The
clerk as soon as the service was ended, called
out, " I am desired to give notice that there
will be no service this afternoon, as Mr. L. is
going a fishing with another clergyman."
The Buffalo Erpress tells a good story
of a Quaker who was charged the exorbitant
sum of seventeen dollars for a horse ami buggy
for a short drive, and, upon beiug presented
with the bill, simply remarked, " Thou niis
takest me ; I do not wisli to purchase thy ve
hicle, but only to hire it."
is au individual in Cincinnati
blessed witli a wife who has run away froin
him four time vithin the last two years.—
When she experiences an inclination to deport
he permits her tp go, and when she becomes
weary of abseuce. he takes her to his bosom
again. He is a philosopher.
A CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK. —Lord Broug
ham's son, who was yet a minor, and conse
quently dependent upon his father for support,
has beeu uoted somewhat of late for his at
tentioc to a young actress in the French thea
tre. His father recently wrote the following
laconic epistle : "If you do not quit her, I'll
stop your allowance." To which the son re
plied : "If you do not doable it, 111 marry
her." The son will eujoy a seat in Parliament
when he becomes of age.
A CHINESE BANQUET.
Ancrnow we sat down to the serious busi
ness of the day. Each guest was supplied
with a saucer aud a porcelain spoon ; they had
brought their own chopsticks. A folded towel,
just saturated with hot water, was placed be
side each sancer ; this is the Chinese napkin ;
and two tiny metal cups, not so large as egg
cups, were allotted to every guest. At my
side, to share our feast, and see that the "rites"
were properly jierforraed, sat the gravest of
Chinamen. He wore his mandarin summer
cap, for he was the iuterpetcr at one of the
consulates.
Bird's Nest Soup. —The first dish was iu ac
cordance with ail proper precedent, the bird's
nest soup. I believe some of us were ratiier
surprised not to see bird's nests bobbing about
in the bowl, and to detect no flavor of sticks,
or feathers, or moss. What these bird's nests
are, in their natural state, I do not know ; for
I have no book on ornithology, and have nev
er been bird's nesting in the straits. Their ex* i
isteuce at table is appareut in a thick mucilage
at the surface of the soup. Below this you
come to a white liquid and chicken's flesh. It
was objected that this was a fade aud delicacy.
But remark that these two basins are only the
suns of little systems. The same hands that
brought them in scattered also an outrage of
still smaller basins. These are sauces of every
flavor and strength, from crushed fresh chillies
to simple soy. Watch the Chinaman. How
cunningly he compounds 1 " But, sir, you do
not mean to say that you ate this " mucilage"
with your chopsticks ?" " No, madamc ; we
scooped it with our saucers, aud ate it with
our porcelain spoons."
The next course was ex'pected with a very
nervous excitement. It was a stew of sea-j
sings. As I have seen them at Macao they
are white ; but as served at Xin/po *hey are j
green. I credit the imperial academician's &s i
the orthodox dish. They are slippery and i
very difficult to be handled by inexperienced ■
chopsticks ; but they are most succulent and ,
pleasaut food, not at all unlike in flavor to
the green fat of the turtle. If a man cannot
cat anything of a kind whereof he has not!
seen his father and grandfather eat before, we j
must leave him to his oysters, aud his peri-!
winkles, and his crawfish, aud not expect him i
to swallow the comely sea-slug But surely a
Briton who has eaten himself into a plethora
upon muscles, has no right to hold up his
hands and eyes at a Chinamen enjoying his
honest and well-cooked stew of leches de mer.
Sturgeon skull-cap and Shark stev. —The
next dish was sturgeon skull-cap—rare and
gelatinous, but I think not so peculiar iu its
flavor as to excuse the death of sevtral royal
fish. This"dish being taken from its brazen,
lamp-heated stahd, was succeeded by a stew
of shark fins and pork. The shark fins were
boiled to so soft a consistency that they might
have been turbot fins. The Chinaman must
have smiled at the unreasonable prejudices of
the occidentals when he saw some of us tast
ing the pork but fighting shy of the shark.—
He, probably, however, did not know that the
same occidentals would eat with relish of afi.-li
which they themselves enticed to their angle
hv a worm or maggot. Next in order came a
soap composed of balls of crab. I have tasted
this better prepared at Macao. It as.-uines
there the form of a very capital salad, made
of crab aud cooled vegetables. Meanwhile
the ministering boys flew and fluttered round
the table ; forever filling the little wine-glasses
with hot wine from the metal pots. There
were three kinds : the strong samshu, for
every occasional " spike the medicated wine,
for those who, having onceexperieuced its many
flavors, chose to attempt it a second time ; and
the ordinary wine, which is so like sherry ne
gus, that any oue who can drink that prepa
ration may be very well satisfied with its Chi
na substitute.
The Chinaman had drunk with each of his
convives almost iu English fashion, but in strict
obedience to the Chinese rites, and very ungal
lantly challenging the mule part of the compa
ny first. And now we became clamorous for
bread or rice After a succession of not by
any means gross, but certainly nutritious and
mucilaginous dishes, the palate and the stom
ach craved some farinaceous food. Nothing
was easier to procure. The boys, our own boys
accustomed to wait at our English dinners,
brought in loaves at the slightest intimation ;
bat our arbiter edendi interposed. Bread at a
Chinese feast is contrary to the " rites." We
consoled ourselves by throwing at him a de
cisive and unanimous opinion that this was the
weak point of Chinese gastronomy.
Fish and meat entree —The porcelain bowls
in their courses, like the stars in their courses,
continued in unpausing succession. The next
named was " The Rice of the Genii " —mean
ing, I suppose the food of the genii, for there
was no rice in the composition. It was a stew
of plums and preserved fruits, whose sweets
acids were au agreeable counteq>oise to the
fish and meat dishes already taken. Then we
had a dish of boiled hairy vegetables, very
like that stringy endive which they call, iu
France, " Barbc de Capuchin, 11 then stewed
mushrooms from Manchuria. Then we re- \
lapsed into another series of fish and meat i
entres, wherein vegetables of the vegetable J
marrow species and roo's somewhat between a j
horse-radish and a turnip were large'y used.—
There was a bowl of duck's tongues, which
are esteemed"an exquisite Chinese dainty.—
We were picking these iittlc morceaxont with
our chop-sticks, (at which we had now become ;
adepts, tor the knack is easily acquired,) when
we were startled bv a loud Chiuese "Ku
Yah. 11
This imprudent exclamation drew our at
tention to the open front of our apartment. — j
The opposite honse, distant perhaps across the !
street abont eight feet from us, presented the \
spectacle of a small crowded playhouse, seen ,
from the stage. It was densely crowded with
half-naked Chinamen. They were packed in |
a mass upon the gallery, and they were sqaat- !
ted upon the rool. I believe they had paid I
for their places. They had sat orderly and si- j
lently all this time, to see the bariariuns din
ing We might have dr mped tb" gra -> hlinue
VOL. XVIII. —NO. 42.
but it would bare bven ill-natured ; the Chi
nese did us no burin, and the blinds would
have kept out the air ; BO we went on eating,
, like Greenwich pensioners or Blue-cout boys
in public.
Duck's tongues and dctrs' tendons. —So we
continued our attentions to the ducks' tongues
and passed on to deers' tendons—u royal dish.
These deers' tendons come from, or ought to
; come from, Tartary. The Etu|>crora make
i presents of them to their favored subjects.—
' Yeh's father, at Cuuton, recently received
! some from his sovereign, und gave a feast in
honor of the present. These must have been
boiled for a week to bring them down to tius
state of softness in which the came up to QH,
Exhausted, or rather repleted, nature could
no more. When a stew of what the Chi
nese call the our shell fish was placed upon the
tuble, uo one could carry his experiments fur
ther. An untouched dish is a signal for the
close of the feast. The ma it re dfhcltl protest
ed that he had twenty more courses of excel
lent rarity, but our Chinese master of the cer
emonies was imperative, and so were we.—
IMain boi'ed rice, the rice of Szcehucn, wan
brought round in little bowls, and of this
all ate plentifully. Confectionery and candied
fruits, acanthus berries steeped in spirits, fol
lowed ; and then tea. No uncooked fruits
are allowed at a Chinese dinner. They have
a proverb that fruit is feathers in the morning,
silk at noon, and lead at night. I was as
sured by competent authority that nothing had
been placed upon the table which was not in
the highest degree wholesome, nutritious, and
light digestion. We certainly so found it ;
for, adjourning to the house of the cenvsvos,
we made an excellent supper that uight.
WINE Two HL'NDRED YEARS OLD.—Theou
lv thing in the former city (Bremen) which
we had time to visit, was the celebrated Raths
keller, or crypt of the old Hall of Council.—
This is r.Miowm-d throughout all Germany for
tuns of Rhenish wine, of the most undoubted
antiquity. They are in great vaults, distin
guished by different titles. That of the "twelve
Apostles'' has been immortalized by HauSf
and Heine, but the apostolical wines arc uot
so fine as those authors would have us believe.
Each cask bears the name of one of the Apos
tles ; they contain wine of the vintage of
IT 18, which has now, 1 was informed, a pun
gent, acid flavor. That of Judas alone, rer
tains a pleasant aroma, and the sinner, there
fore, is in greater demand than all the sain? 3
together. In the " Rose Cellar " are enor
mous casks, yet filled with llochheimcr (Hock
of the vintage of 1624.) For a couple of cen
turies it was carefully treasured, hut the City
Fathers of Bremen finally discovered the lon
ger it was kept the worse it grew, and sell it
to visitors in small bottles at a moderate price.
We sat down in the outer ctllar, and had
a bottle uncorked. Think of drinking wine
which grew when the Plymouth Colony wan
but four years old—of the sainc vintage which
Ariosto might have drunk, and Milton, and
Cromwell, and Wallenstein, und Gustavus
Adoiphus! Shakspenre had been dead but eight
years when the grapes were trodden in the
vats ! and Ben Johnson may have sung "Drink
to me only with t'line eyes,'' over a goblet of
the golden juice. We filled the glasses with
great solemnity as these thoughts passed thro'
our mind—admired its dark, smoky color,
sniffed up reverently its musky, mummy like
odor, and then tasted. Fancy a mixture of
oil and vinegar, flavored with a small drop of
kreosote ! This as I afterward recognized,
was the impression made upon the palate,
though my imagination was too busy at the
time to be aware of it. We all said, "It is
not so bad as I expected," and by keeping
the face of its age constantly Itcfore our eyes,
succeeded in emptying the bottle. So pun
gent, however, was the smoky, oily, aciduous
flavor, that it affected my palate for full twen
ty-four hours afterward, and everything I ato
and everything I drank in that time seemed
to be of the vintage of 1634.— 8. Taylor.
WHERE DID THAT MAN* GO TO ?—ln a certain
hotel iu this village, there is employed a bar
tender, who is in the habit of taking his "tod"
prettv freely, but always makes it a point ne
ver to drink in the presence of his employer.
A f w days ago, while he was iu the act of
drawii g his " tod " preparatory to taking a
drink, his employer came into the bar-room
r.ither unexpectedly. Finding himselT caught
in the *act, us lie set the tumbler and its con
tents on the counter, he cast his eyes around
with a look of surprise, and exclaimed :
" Where in thunder did that man that order
ed that drink go to ?"— Xcicbnry Telegraph.
A first rate joke took place lately in our
court room. A women was testifying iu behalf
of her son, and swore " that he had worked o*
a farm ever since he was born."
The lawyer, who cross examine 1 hr. said
" You assert that your sou has worked on a
farm ever since he was born
" I do."
" What did he do the first rear ?"
" lft milked."
The lawyer evaporated. - Hartford Co-ir i nt.
THE LIMES.—A traveler in Palestine savs ;
Not far from the probable site where the ser
mon on the Mount was delivered, our gnide
plucked two flowers, supposed to be of that
species to which <>nr Lord alluded when He
said : " Consider the lillies of the field." Tho
calyx of this giant lily resembled crimson vel
vet ; and the gorgeous flower was of white
and lilac, and truly no earthly monarch COMUJ
hav? been " arrayed " more gloriously than
" one of these."
KiT* An ex hange has discovered that Schot
tische is a corruption of the words " Scotch
itch," and that the famous donee owe* its namo
to a person a filiated with tho Scotch piagoo
aforesaid. Awful !
ftaT It is an extraordinary fact that when
}xopie come to what is commonly railed li'glj
words, th'y generally low U ijnage.