~: OJ[ LIW PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
—
* fhursday Morning, December 2, 1858.
"" r -.-^== r
Original |lottrj.
WRITTKS FOR THE REPORTER.
EMPRESS EUGENIA, OF FRANCE.
B •
■ _ , , n! impress ! Fair and lovely as a painted model.
I y> r vision of the wildest poet's dream !
j- ,! blossom.' Rivaling in magnificence
U v pireeens sister flowers whose
1 \ ; blooming, lading hours, have passed
Mrtth the sunt>Y skies of France.
3 - i; varied thoughts suggest themselve concerning thee!
j has formed thee passing fair. In loveliness
- n - 4 cmient. And destiny has crowned thy lofty brow
i j., ; iare l wreaths of Fame.
Si rourtiers press to touch thy silken robes,
J *" and princes bend the willing knee
"PI ( ~ to thy beauty. Garlands are gathered
Wt ij e ToH ng and innocent, and cast beneath thy feet,
a is heralded from north to south, from east
~~ • rt *t and nature's stores and art's inventions
1 subservient all to thee. The choicest webs from
N . the finest pearls from Ocean's briny depths
■ .veeie-: perfumes from the Orient climes, and most
1 . as fruits fr >m southern isles, are sought for thee !
V jury from any land but ministers to thy delight!
- oue"ra so coveted sits gracefully upon thy crowned
I v The rcsal ceremonial, and imposing rite,
*aled thy name in conjunction with
ninowledged sovereign of the vine wreathed realms
Fnnce. Gar. sunny yet capricious, false,
3 -jwy France! whose national respiration
• a series of convulsive throes, resembling much
s *y sortings of the mighty deep, now sleeping
! urirssly in its solemn majesty : and anon lashed
• ! y„i:'arv bv the thundering of the storm, God's
I j*sjl voice. Beneath thy costly robe, proud Empress !
1- & bosom covered o'er with gems and laces.
I ' heart? A woman's gentle, loTing
1 i-t' Ah me !—and through tliy brain.pressed heavily
| welled crown. sweeps there a woman's thought ?
H Tin anrth and revelry are o'er, and pomp and
I bffirt.-y are laid aside, and tired and weary nature
[j die calm and sweet repose, as grateful and as
u.cearv:.' the high and lofty, as to the humble peasant;
: v ;;t with thee ? Is peace a dweller in thy bosom ?
;.h*lmy. tranquil sleep, rest on thy eyelids? And do
ii-sfsidreams entrance thy wakeful spirit?
-(there no sad and mournful faces to keep night
".- .-rsjnd thy royal couch ? Faces of chisselled
.Vasty, nude ghastly wan with dreadful anguish!
Ewaditn with sorrow's tears ! Disordered streaming
:i> blanched white with sudden terror! And
ht* of mortal paleness, whispering dread tales
alUagcrowns, of tottering thrones, of
-i-t 3 i*. and deeds of violence and blood !
lad does lore for him, the partner of thy greatness,
- -eibv breast? And he, a wav-worn voyager
- that sea. whose polluted waters, never
Jttsm w.th pure affection for thy sex ? And
r ;ec the little " King of Rome " disrobed of
?*•. trappings, and all the cumbering forms
'a: rex his tree young spirit, is gathered to
is Mother's heart; comes there no yearning wish
*• y him far away from party animosities,
?: :;ca! vexations, intrigues, and bloody feuus ?
ud:s some quiet, safe retreat, lead his young
: -t in paths of pleasantness and peace ?
is:-?s> of France! we envy not thy greatness.
V vret not thy honors ! Bnt to the God of
Us.- oi. lift our voice in fervent invocation !
"V he may keep thee, in the hollow of his hand,
ix that thy <un of life, may not go down in
I*M! But when the scepter falls from thy
itgrasp, ami earthly glories vanish
: - c thy -ight. may he who reigns the King
' Sings, lead thee with loving hand, into His
rberitance. and place upon thy head
1 Urrv crown, whose brightness fadcth
Jatway.
gftisctllantons.
[From the Philadelphia Public ledger ]
AFFAIRS IN JAPAN.
iteresting Letter from Japan—Proceed
ings of Mr. Harris—Progress of the
Japanese.
We arrived from Nagasaki on the 25th ult.,
tier a parage of 67 honrs. The distance is
Jtff 600 miles. We found the Mississippi at
Bcbor in the inner harbor and came too near
' hoping for a few days of qniet and lonsr
T > i? back into the country. Our anchor was
rtreely down, however, when the captain of
I'usnssippi pulled alongside, bringing with
' >or Consul-General .Mr. Townsend Harris,
ti his Secretary, Mr. Henry Hueskin. The
nsul was at once closeted with the Commo
;and after an honr or so, it began to be
'->pered around that we were to leave, in two
tor Yeddo Bay, and possibly for Yeddo
This was great news, and we talked
~wd!y lor seme hours as to how long we would
in Yeddo, Ac., until suddenly another
-per parsed around that we were only going
- Kaoagawa to talk aboot a new treaty. Ka
naka is seventeen miles this side of Yeddo,
as we could not land there, onr trip did
: promise to be sogrand after all. Wethere
lit cigars and tried to blow away our dis-
UAointment in smoke. In the meantime we
heen boarded by several boat loads of Ja
officials, who were equally sociable and
well met, as had been those of Na-
We gave them sherry and Constan
-10 their heart's content, and after they had
not a list of all the fresh provisions that
*" -eaired. saw them iuto their twat and bow
-j tbcm a polite adieu. After diuner a party
dropped on shore for a Sunday evening
* li ip d among other places visited the ba
*here everything Japanese was collected
? sa.e It beiug Sunday, we admired them,
PMred on.
a °ow two years since we sent onr first
Japan, in accordance with a provi
treatv otKanagawa, made in 1854-5
Commodore Perry, lie was brought here
f S steamer Sa* Jacinto, and "left
hi glory," to the infinite disgust of the
who told him to go away for a year
come back, by which time they should
f° r Being tbas una
ieft their hands, they made the
( 4 bargain, howerer, gate him a
- .empie to live in. servant* to attend npon
. " htm with everything in the Japa
fiae, and finally began to look up-
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
on him and his secretary as rather pleasant ad
ditions to their society. Messrs. Harris and
llneskin now began to look aronnd them for
amusement. They found the golden pheasant
plentiful among the neighboring hills, and,
when satiated with gunning and long walks,
the former tnrned his eye in the direction of
\ eddo. After a while he received permission
to visit that city in his official capacity, and
the first thing that we know, he has obtained
the signing of an important Convention, and is
again at Simoda. This Convention was publish
ed in the United States, in January of this year,
and so I shall let it pass. The manner in
which Mr. Harris and his secretary went to
A eddo is interesting. The Emperor sent him
a body guard of 120 men, and had comfort
able houses put up along the road to pass the
nights in. He also sent him a large sedan
chair, carried by twelve bearers, and so roomv
that he put a matrass into it, and reclined at
full length when he was tired of sitting. It is
only about seventy five miles from this place to
Yeddo ; but the country is so rugged, and the
roads so bad the first part of the way, that
they were seven days accomplishing the dis
tance. Every night they stopped at one of
the comfortable houses, which had been pre
pared expressly on his account, and after an ear
-1 ly breakfast, resumed their road. Upon reach
ing Yeddo, they were lodged in the most com
: modious quarters, treated with the greatest re
; speet aud attention, and granted interviews
with the Emperor. The reader is, of course,
1 aware that every one, foreigner or Japanese,
who has heretofore approached the Emperor,
has been required to do so upon one knee. This
custom they determined to adhere to in the
present case ; but, somehow or other, it had
never before been so difficult "to bell the cot."
" 1 Vho was to speak to Mr. Harris about it ?"
that was the question. Finally, a Japanese
Douglass stepped forward, and offered to brace
his hnge shoulders to the task. This gentle
man was not the most determined man in Ja
pan ; but then be was upon the most intimate
: terms both of social and political interconree
with " the American Legation." He therefore
. called opou Mr. Harris, and commenced the
attack by begging that he would not be offend
ed by what he was going to say.
"Certainly not !" says that gentleman. Bnt
he has an inkling of w hat is coming, and a look
' of sndden aud unusual gravity causes Douglass
to tremble. Instead, therefore, of broaching
! the subject—he begs once more that "His Ex
cellency will not be offended at something,
which he, Douglass, has been ordered to say,"
and then—coughs, and looks behind him.
I "Certainly not?" and an increase of gravity
in the Consular face. Corresponding increase
; of nervousness on the part of Douglass. Great
! tableau, in which the American Eagle is sup
posed to dominate Final desperation of Doug
lass, and out-bursting of the secret.
Mr. Harris listemled quietly and kindly to
all he had to say, and then replied with his
usual judgment and firmness of manner He
told him that he was anxious to do everything
that was consistent with self-respect to do hon
or to the Emperor, but that this thing was
out of question, and had better not be referred
to again. "Were NIP Sto send a Minister to
my country," he said, " he might approach the
President in any manner he saw fit. He might
kneel and knock his head against the floor, or
he might bow to him and shake hands. There
we allow every one perfect liberty ; and it is
but right, therefore, that I be allowed the same
here."
"Very well ! Very well ?" replied Douglass,
haif apologetically. And thus was settled this
question for ererr remarked Mr.H.
Mr. Harris has beeu twice to Yeddo since
he was landed by the San Jacinto, and remain
ed some three months each time. He speaks
in most flattering terms of the primitive sim
plicity of the Imperial habits ; of the absence
of everything like " magnificence " about his
palace ; and of the general kindness towards
him. He mentioned the case of one old lady
in particular, who was even now engaged in
the motherly task of making him some wadded
silk shirts, to protect him from the approach
ing winter. These acts are trivial, but they in
dicate very plainly the nature of the Japanese
feeling towards Americans. Even the Empe
ror has loaded him down with kindness. When
he was lying sick at this place, a special mes
senger arrived daily from Yeddo, to ask after
his health, and to bring him some present, ex
pressive of the interest that was felt in his re
covery The Impereal doctor was also sent to
attend npon him. Such things as these have
never before been known in the hi-tory of Ja
i pan. Our able Consnl-General has a- very
poor opinion about the majority of books which
been written about the country. " When," —
he queries—" when will writers learn to write
only that which they see ? A man has no need
of imagination hert —truth is strong enongh !
We lire in a world of romance, simply because
| (referring to writers in general) the truth is
not in them!" He, however, speaks in the
highest terms of Commodore Perry's coarse
while oat here, and mentioned many good re
sults which are now flowing from it. "He
was a man of great-good judgment, and accom
plished as much good as any one oouid possi
bly under the circumstances." He said: "L p
on one occasion I thought differently myself,
but accepted his judgment as more likely to be
correct [throngh persoual observation) than
1 mv own."
Speaking of Commodore Ferry, I asked him
how the Japanese bad treated the expensive
preseuts which that officer had presented them,
on the part of the Government, three or four
years back. "Well, I knew I'm going to sur
prise you now," he replied " Yoa know that
Commodore Perry gave tbem, among other
things, a circular railroad, an engine and tend
er, and a brass howitzer—one of the Pahlgren
guns. They bTe a large house built for the
safe-keeping of this railroad, and every now
then take it out, lay the track, get up steam,
and then away go a dozen or more high officers
upon a circular pleasure trip. Jap'infseevgtnters
kart chargt of ertrytking, and are never at a
loss in the discharge of the duty. I suppose
that they will soon have a track laid from Ka
uagawa to Yeddo, but I doubt if a railroad
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
will pay in any part of Japan ; the country is
too broken. As for the " boat-howitzer," they
have had one thousand cast exactly like it, and
mounted them in the forts of their different
ports. And now here is something else that
will surprise yon. Upon both Fourths of Jnly
that I have passed here, and once opon Wash
ington's birth-day, they fired a salute of twenty
one guns with these howitzers. Mr. Hueskin
and myself attended, with the American flag
flying, and the people exhibited the greatest
good feeling and enthusiasm. One might have
almost imagined them Americans."
" What have they doue with the eclectrie
telegraph that was presented tbern?" I asked.
" Little or nothing, I think. But lam not
certain. They are making astounding head
way, however, in the ground work for future
intercourse with the world. Five or six mouths
since, they asked me, as a great favor, to be
allowed to send a Minister to the United States."
"My dear Sirs," I replied, "do not ask me this
as a favor ; it is your right. Send a Minister,
with as large suite as you choose, and you may
be certain of a friendly reception."
"And would the United States furnish us
transportation from here to the Isthmus ?" he
asked.
"Certainly," he replied " and treat yon with
the greatest attention and kindness during
your whole stay."
" Yes," I remarked, laughingly, " I can
imagine a Japanese minister and suite in the
hands of the New-York City Fathers ! YY'hat
I a time they would have of it 1 How every
theatre would throw open its doors for them,
and the crowd they would draw; and how Japa
nese reserve and love of quite would be driven
to desperation by the attentions with which they
would be surrounded. Are these Officers and
and Princes rich enough to make a grand dis
, play, or would they carry along with them
their simple dress and tastes !"
" They would be just as yon see them now,"
he replied. " YVe have no idea of the sound
common sense, and want of everything like
I pretension, peculiar to these people. Take the
Emperor himself, for the instance. He is, as
yon may suppose, very rich, and yet I am
positive that his table and clothing do not
cast him SSOO a year. YVhv that sum would
not more thau pay for the gloves of a Broad
, way dandy, with us. You have doubtless
seen the thick, soft matting with which the
floors of their houses are covered ! YY'ell, the
floors of the palace are covered in the same
way, and this matting serves as the Emperor's
| bed, as well as that of the poorest house ser
ves as the bed of the poorest subject. He stretc
j hes himself out, with a wooden pillow under his
I head, and sleeps a sleep rarely grauted to his
brother Monarch?. To see a Japanese thus
1 sleeping, with his head abruptly raised five or
i six inches, you would predict a stiff neck or
, future spinal affection as a general result; and
yet there is not a more healthy people living."
" YY'hat does the Emperor look like ?"' one
of as asked.
" Quite a fine looking man, with a soft voice
and pleasant smile. I suppose he is some
thirty-five years old. In fact, I know he is,
for as it is considered polite in Japan to ask
one his age and how many children he has, I
was, of coarse polite. Poor fellow ! He has
what one of ns would consider a miserable life.
He does not leave the palace but once in two
years ; and then as he passes through the town
every one must leave the streets and close the
doors and windows of their houses. The custom
does not allow them even to look at him. This
is the temporal Emperor at Yeddo, of whom I
now speak : the ease of the spiritual Emperor
at Miaco, is even worse, for he never leaves his
palace, ne is venerated so much that they
cannot even run the risk of his being locked
upon by the crowd."
" How long has it been since yon received
your last mail, Mr. HARRIS ?" asked another.
"Oh ! as for the mails, we are not bothered
wijh them. If we get files of papers and our
letters once a year, we think ourselves fortu
nate. As for my correspondence with the
State Department, I do not know what to
make of it. Mr MARCY sent me to Siam,
where I made a treaty, and sent it home. I
came here, and, alter much difficulty, got them
to sign a convention—a very important ore—
which I also sent home. One day, while I
was in the weekly exj>ectation of hearing from
the Government, a special courier arrived at
Yeddo, where I then was, bringing me a bun
dle of papers from Mr. RICE, our Y'ice-Consnl
at H ikodadi. This man had been nearly a
month on the road, during which time he had
traveled over five hundred miles. Mr. RICE
had read the papers,and forwarded them tome.
Now bow do you suppose that he became pos
sessed of them ?"
" It is hard to imagine !" we answered.
" He got them from an American whaler.
Fortunately the captain was found of reading,
and so when leaving Ilonoluln, S. I , for a
cruise aftersperm whales, he filled his lociers
with the latest papers. During his cruise, he
touched at Hakodadi. and having then gone
over them at least twice, passed them over to
RICE. Through these I first heard of the death
of Governor MERCY, and began to understand
whv I bad not heard from bim. Now yon tell
me that my convention with Japan was publish
ed in January of this year—that is pleasant
news, but I should like to know whether the
State Department are satisfied with it."
Shortly after Mr HARRIS arrived at Yeddo
the second time, he was followed by Mynheer
DOSKER CcßTiors, the Dutch representative
from Nagasaki. I asked him if that gentleman
had, as osual. gone upon his knees when ap
proaching the Emperor, and he said no. That
custom might he considered as extinct now,
tbongh DO.VKER Ccwnoca was the first Dutch
man who had escaped. Thus is Japan be
coming more liberal daily.
" About what time do yon think they will
send us a Miuister 7" I asked, "and haTe they
anv able men who would be equal to the post?"
" As for the time, it is not yet settled opon :
but as to tb t fact of one going, that is beyond
all doubt. I suppose that vUhtna year frcm
this date a Japanese Minister and suite of
twenty or thirty will be in Washington HIGO
NO-KAM: (KAMl— princa : 'no'—of H'go
" RESARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANT QUARTER."
Higa : PriDce of HIGA) is probably as able a
man as they have and he is doubtless the one
who will be selected. Yoa will see him in a
few days—a fine-lookiog fellow."
Mr. HARRIS speaks most interestingly of the
feats of the jugglers, aud of the theatres of
Yeddo, as well as of the extensive stores, ne
says that the Prince of CINAVO, (CINANO-NO
KAMI) to whose particular care it seems the
Emperor confided his comfort and amusement,
fancying that he was having a dull time in the
immense house that had been appropriated to
him, called np some of bis jugglers to perform
him before him and help him pass it. One of
them was the" Anderson "of Japan--hisfeats
were so wonderful that I am almost afraid to
write them, I wish it distinctly understood
therefore, that I am only repeating what Mr.
Harris told us, and what we consequently be
lieve. Here are some of his feats.
No. 1. He took an ordinary boy's top, spun
it in the air, caught it on his hand, and then
placed it (still spinning upon the edge of a
sword near the hilt. Then he dropped the
sword point a little and the top moved slowly
toward it. Arrived at the very end, the hilt
was lowered in turn and the top brought back.
As usual, the sword was dangerously sharp.
No. 2 was also performed with the top
He span it in the air, and then threw the end
of the string hack toward it with such accuracy
that it was caught up and wound itself all ready
for the second By the time it had done
this it had reached his hand and was ready for
another spin.
No. 3 was still performed with the top.—
There was an upright pole, npon the top of
which was perched a little house with a Tery
large front door. The top was spun, made to
climb the pole, knock open the said frontdoor,
and disappear. As well as I remember the
hand end of the string was fastened near the
door, so that this was almost a repetition of
the self-winding feat.
But feat No. 4 was something even more
astonishing than all this. He took two paper
outterflies, armed himself with the nsual paper
fan, threw them into the air, and fanning gently
kept them flying about him as if they had been
alive.
He can make them alight wherever you
wish ! Try bim 1" remarked the kami (prince)
through the interpreter.
Mr. H requested that one might alight
upon each ear of the juggler. No sooner ex
pressed than complied with. Gentle undula
tions of the fan waved them slowly to the re
quired points, aud there left them comfortably
seated. Now, whether this command over
pieces of paper was obtained simply by cur
rents of air, or by the power of a concealed
magnet, Mr. H could not tell or ascertain
One thing, however, was certain— the power
was tht'r.
Let us turn from jugglers to theatres. It
seems that there are only four of the latter in
Yeddo, and that they are ail alongside of each
other. Hence, if a Japanese on the edge of
the city wishes to attend one of them, he must
take some foot exercise before being able to do
so. I say that he mast walk, for no one but
the princes iu Japan are allowed to ride, as a
general rule, and they must ride, either in a
chair or on horseback, as they choose. In the
latter case, the horse is led by a groom on each
side, and is never allowed to go out of a walk
YVhile passing by these theatres, Mr. H. ex
pressed a wish to attend a performance, but
his princely conductor was very much shocked,
telling him that none but the common people
ever went to such places. If the nobility want
ed see anything of the sort, they n:>de' the ac
tors come to them.
Speaking of the stores of Yeddo, Mr HAR
RIS observed that we would be surprised at
their size, at their contents, and at their great
nnmber of salesmen, each of whom had his
dozen or more shop-boys standing behind him
to execute his orders. " Upon enteriug the im
mense bnilding. you see no goods at all." he
said. " They are all stored in fire-proof build
ings in the rear. YYhen a customer enters
and asks for anything, the salesman orders the
shop-boys to apply at the fire-proof.the Keeper of
the fire-proof checks against each one that which
he takes, the salesman makes his sale, each
shop-boy returns to the fire proof his part of
what remains, and at night the salesman ac
counts to his employer for the difference.—
Thus is business conducted iu the large houses
of Janan."
I expect thaUhe " world of mariners" w.-.uld
like to know if fresh provisions are yet to be
obtained in Japan. The answer is—yes, as
much as you a ant. At Hakodadi, fresh beef,
Irish potatoes, buckwheat and wheat flour, fine
fresh salmon, Ac At Simoda. chickens, egg*,
fish, sweet potatoes, rice, Ac. And at Nagasaki,
the same as at Simoda, as well as a few foreign
articles through the Dutch of Desirua. And
then the prices which they ask for all these
thing?! Let me give yoa an example. I haTe
jnst bought 275 pounds of the best rice in the
world (1 except that of no country ) for $2,81
a fraction over one cent a pound. In China, at
this moment, some of the worst rice in the
world is selling at 4 cents. Comment is useless
here ; but I may mentiou that China is but
four days' sail from Japan. A. W. H.
THE TRADE OF CHINA. —He mnst be a bold
man, indeed, who would ventare to estimate
narrowly and definitely the consequences of
breaking down those time-observed dogmas of
exclusiveness which the Chinese adopted for
their rule of action. When the resources of
commerce are fairly opened to a race number
ing at least one-fourth of the total bnman spe
cies—a people industrious, cumulative, moder
ately endowed, too, with the representatives of
wealth —it is probable that even the most san
guine ideas already formed as to th© commer
cial capabilities of China will be largely ex
ceeded by the result.
The vast expansiveness of China in respect
of the production of articles, either peculiar to
it altogether, or in what it excels, is illustrated
by the history of silk within the last few years.
Whilst the commerce of China labored coder
a monopoly it was tbooght to be totally im
possible to increase the qoanity of silk obtain-
Ed from that country. The annual export was
2,000, and for 150 years it was thought to Ije
the utmost that China coold supply for trans
portation. No sooner was the monopoly bro
ken up than the 2,000 expanded into 10,000.
The latter quantity increased to 14,000 bales.
AY hile the silk producing powers of Europe re
mained intact, the Chinese silk supply, already
developed more than seven-fold, was thought
to have reached its maximum. Mark,however,
the curious result. Last year the quantity of
silk exported from China amounted to the en
ormous quantity of 94,800 bales, showing that
since the year 1810 the supply had increased
forty-fold. Well might Mr. Crawford, at a re
cent meeting of the Geographical Society, sav
that in the history of foreign trades, there is
not a more remarkable fact than this.
It has been said by a celebrated naturalist
that the physiological and geological condition
of a country has more to do with its character,
its liberty, its commerce, thau perhaps any oth
er feature. The physiology of a Chinaman is
a matter not half as obvious as the geographi
cal configuration of China. A single glance
at any map of China will suffice to make evi
dent one reason of the dense population of
that land. No country on the face of the
earth is watered by so many noble rivers. In
few countries, however, have the water econo
mies been more assideonsly attended to by re
gulating irragation from main river trunks, and
by the construction of canals for purpose of in
fernal communication. The population on the
banks of the Yang-tse-Kiang alone is estimat
ed to amount to one hundred millions of souls,
or about three and a half times the population
of the United Kingdom ; and, according to the
estimate of Mr. Consul Alcock, there is a great
er trade carried on between the coasts and the
centre of China than between all Europe and
the rest of the world ! This statement is as
tounding, bnt when a member of theGeoprahi
cal Society tried to impugn it, Mr. Alocok did
not hesitate to return as follows to its defence:
" I did not," said he, "speak altogether with
out proof opon the internal trade of China. In
the port of Shangae there have been as many
as four thousand large junks at one time. It is
estimated, and has not beeu called into ques
tion for the last century, that from 300 to 360
millions inhabit that vast territory. There is
a larger population than all Europe, to begin
with, and taken as a whole, they are a commer
cial and traficking race."
In estimating the probable consequences of
throwing China open to foreign commerce, it
must be remembered that European articles of
I barter can hardly yet have beeu seen in Cen
tral China, even as curiosities. Most of the
; British goods are taken to Shanjrha- are sold
| to pedlars, who carry them on their backs.—
; That merchants on this small scale, performing
, the work of beasts of burden, should penetrate
i far, it is difficult to imatrine. The interior of
China may be regarded as a commercial terra
| incngnitvi. The Yang-tse-Kiancr is to that in
ferior what the Mississippi is to North America
What would the latter be without her steam
boats, and what might not the great Chinese
river become under the auspices of steam ?"
[From the Independent, N'ov. It.J
What is to be done with our Charley!
BV HARRIET BRSt HBR STOW It.
Yes—that is the question! The fact in,
I there seeais to be no place in heaven above, or
; earth beneath, exactly safe and suitable, except
the bed. While he is asleep there our souls
have rest —we know where be is and what he
is aboat, and sleep is a gracious state; bnt
then he wakes np bright and early, and begins
tooting, ponnding, hammering, singing, med
dling, and asking questions; in short,overturn
ing the peace of society generally for about
thirteen hours oat of every twenty-four.
Everybody wants to know what to do with
him—everybody is quite sure he can't stay where
they are. The cook can't have him in the kitch
en, where he infests the pantry to get flour to
make paste for his kites, or melt lard in the
new saucepan. If he goes into the woodshed,
he is sure to pull the wood-pile down upon his
head. If he be sent up into the garret, you
think for awhile you have settled the problem,
till you find what a boundless field for activity
is at once opened, aqiid all the packages, boxes,
bags, barrels, and cast-off rubbish there Old
j letters, newspapers, trunks of miscellaneous
contents, are all rummaged, and the very reign
of chaos and old night is instituted. He sees
endless capacities in all, and he is always ham
mering something,or knocking something apart,
or sawing, or planing, or drawing boxes and
barrels in all directions to build cities or lay
railroad tracks, till everybody's head aches
quite down to the lower floor, and everybody
, declares that Charley must be kept out of the
garret.
Then yon send Charley to school, and hope
von are fairly rid of him for a few hours at least.
Bnt he conies home noisier and mere breezv
than ever, having learned of some twenty other
Charleys every separate resource for keeping
! op a commotion that the superabundant vital
. ity of each can originate. He can dance like
Jim Smith—he has learned to smack bis lips
like Joe Brown—and Will Briggs has shewn
him how to mew like a cat, and he enters the
premises with a new war-whoop, learned from
Tom Evans. He feels large and valorous ; he
has learned that he is a boy, and has a general
impression that he is growing immensely strong
and knowing, and despises mire than ever the
conventionalities of parlor life : in fact, he is
more than ever an interruption in the way of
decent folks who want to be quiet.
It is true, that if entertaining persons will
devote themselves exclusively to him, reading
and telling stories, he may be kept quiet; but
then this is discouraging work, for he swallows
a story as Rover does a piece of meat, and
looks at you for another and another, withont
the slightest consideration, so that this re
source is of short duration, and then the old
question comes back : What is to be done with
him ?
But after all, Charley cannot be wholly
I shirked, for be ts an institution—a solemn and
> awful fact ; aud OQ the answer to the ques-
VOI,. XIX. NO. 26.
tion, What is to be done with him? depends
a future.
Many a hard, morose, bitter man has come
from a Charley turned off and neglected ;
many a parental heart ache has come from a
Charley left to run the streets, that mamma
and sisters might play the piano and write let
ters in peace. It is easy to get rid of him ;
there are fifty ways of doing that He is a
spirit that can be promptly laid, but if not laid
aright will come back, by-and-hy, a strong man
armed, when you cannot send him off at pleas
ure.
Mammn and sisters had better pay a little
tax to Charley now, than a terrible one br
and by. There is something significant in the
old English phrase, with which our Scriptures
render us familiar, a MAN child—a MAN child.
There you have the word tl at should make
yon think more than twice before you answer
the question : "What shall we do with Char
ley r
For to day he is at roar feet; to-day yon
can make him laugh, you ran make him cry,
you can persuade, coax, and turn him to your
pleasure ; you can make his eyes fill and bo
som swell with recitals of good and noble deeds;
in short, you can mould him if you will take
the trouble.
But look ahead some years, when that littlo
voice shall ring in deep bass tones; when that
small foot shall have a man's weight and tramp;
when a rough beard shall cover that little,
round chin, and the wilful strength of man
hood fill out that little form. Then you would
give worlds for the key to his heart, to be able
to turn and guide him to your will; bnt if yon
lose that key now he is little, yon may search
for it carefully, with tears, some other day, and
nerer find it.
Old housekeepers have a proverb, that ono
hour lost in the morning is never found all day.
It has a significance in this case.
One thing is to be noticed about Charley,
that, rude, and busy, and noisy as be is, and
irksome as carpet rules aud parlor ways are to
him, he is still a social little creature, and
wants to be where the rest of the household
are. A room ever so well adapted for play,
cannot charm him at the hour when the family
is in re-nnion ; he hears the voices in the par
lor, and his play room seems desolate. It may
be warmed by a furnace and lighted with gas,
but it is human warmth and light he shivers
for : he yearns for the talk of the family,which
he so imperfectly comprebeuds, and he longs
to take his playthings down and play by you,
and is incessantly promising that of the fifty
improper things which he is liable to do in the
parlor, he will not commit one if you will let
him stay there.-
This instinct of the little one is Nature's
wan.iug plea—God's admonition. 0, how
many a mother who has neglected it because it
was irksouie to have the child about, has long
ed at twenty-five to keep her son by her side,
and he would not! Shnt out as a little Arab;
constantly told that he is noisy, that he is awk
ward and meddlesome, and a plague in general,
the boy has foun 1 at last his own company in
the streets, in the highways and hedges, where
he runs till the day comes when the parents
want their son, and the sisters their brother,
and then they are scared at the face he briDgs
bark to them, as he comes all foul and smutty
from the companionship to which they have
doomed him. Depend upon it, if it is too much
trouble to keep your boy in your society, there
will be places found for him—warmed and
lighted with no friendly fires—where he who
finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,
will care for isim, if you do not. You may put
out a tree and it will grow while you sleep, but
a sou you cannot —>ou must take trouble for
him, either a little now- or a great deal by-aod
by.
Let him stay with you at least some portion
of the day ; bear his ooise and his ignorant
ways. I'ut uside your book or work to tell
him a story, or show him a picture; devise
still parlor plays for him, for he gains nothing
bv being allowed to sj>oil the comfort of the
whole circle. A pencil, a sheet of paper, and
a few patterns will sometimes keep hiin by you
for an hour, while you are talking, or in a cor
ner he may build a block-house, annoying no
body. If he does now and then disturb you,
and it costs you more thoughv and care to reg
ulate him there, balance which is the greatest
evil—to be disturbed by him now, or when he
is a man.
01 all yon can give your Charley, if yoo are
a good man or woman, your preseuce is the
I est and safest thing. God never meant him
to do without you any more than chickens
were meant to grow without being brooded.
Then let him have some place in your house
where it shall be no sir. to hammer and pouud,
and make all the litter his heart desires and
his various schemes require. Even if you can
ill afford the room, weigh well between that
safe a-ylnm and one which, if deuied, he may
make for himself in the street.
Of all devices for Chariev which we have, a
few shelves which he may dignify with the
name of a cabinet is one of the best. He pick*
up shells and pebbles and stones, all odds and
ends, nothing comes amiss; and if yon give
him a pair of scissors and a little gom, there is
no end to the labels he will paste on, and the
hours he may innocently sjiend sorting and ar
ranging.
A bottle of liquid gnm is an invaluable
resource for various purposes, nor mast yoa
mind though he vanish his nose and fingers
and clothes, (which he will do of course) if he
does nothing worse. A cheap paint-box, and
some engravings to color, is another ; aod if
you will give hire some rtal paint and potty to
paint and putty his boats and cars, he is a made
man.
All these things make trouble—to be sure
they do—but Charley is to make trouble, that
is the nature of the institution ; you are ouly
choose between safe and wholesome trouble,
and the trouble that comes at last like a whirl
wind. God bless the little fellow, and send us
all grace to know what to do with him.
He is happy whose circumstances suit his
temper; but he is happier who can suit his
temper to his circumstances