3 IE 03LLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE..
TOWANDA :
Thursday Morning, December 20, 1860
Original |ktni.
For the Bradford Reporter,
STANZAS!
The paltry things of earth.
How they engross mankind !
As if they were of worth,
Or ever could give birth
TQ fasting j.>ys for mind !
But men go forth, they toil
From morning's dawn to eve,
Xor ever once recoil,
! ilid each sad day's turmoil.
Though ne'er their good receive!
And thus til! all is done,
They labor still in vain ;
The setting of life's sun,
That well its course bath run
Leaves them with nought but pain 1
Sad that a life should close.
With energies so high,
And have lor its repose.
In time unending, woes
And deathless agony!
Ah ! better toil by Tar
In works or righteousness,
Than from the breast debar.
That bright and Morning Star
The Day-spring of all li'.D-
Laddsburg, Pa. ' Mm* E. REDE. j
J9 is ctlls area s.
First Battle of the Revolution.
The following description of the bottle of
kcxinirt"" '* fi'"m Bancroft's seventh volume
Lithe history of the Uuited States :
I On the afternoon of the 18th of April, the |
I'-rr. which the Provincial Congress of Mas- ;
[ 11s adjourned, General Gage took the I
' _-!.t infantry and grenadiers off duty, and
wretlv prepared an expedition to destroy tlie
ninny's stores at Concord. Bat the attempt
hud for several days been expected ; a strict j
n..tcl had been kept; and signals were con- '
wtcd to ntmonuee the first movements of
mops fur the country. Samuel Adams and
il i-ieork, who hid not vet left Lexington for !
Philadelphia, received a timely message from
U'aireu, and in consequence, the Commiitee of
Nifty removed a part of the public stores and
Kcreted the cannon.
On Tuesday, the ISfh.fen or more sergeants
di-guise dispersed themselves through Cam
-1 ><- and further west, to interrupt all coin
lr. nations. In the following night, the gren
ft -saiaklight infantry, not I ss than eight
■ Jin number, the flower of the army at
Hi ■' co n n inde I by tin* incompetent Lieut.
W viiitli,crossed in tiie bouts of the transport
I [r n the foot of the Common to East
ft bridge. There they received a day's pro
ft-'iis, and near midnight, after wading wet :
Perthes, that are now covered by a stately j
I they took the road through West Cam-
I' ge to Concord.
"They will miss their aim," raid one of the
arty who observed their departure. " What
;:n ?" a>ked Lord Percy, who overheard the
tmark. " Why, ihe c annon at Concord,'' was
• answer. Percy hastened to Gage, who in
untly directed that no one should oe suffer
-Ito Lave th" town. But Warren had id
.niv.at ten o'clock,dispatched William Dawes
• rough Roxhury to Lexington, and at the
one time desired Paul Revere to set off by
l.e way of Chariest own Revere stopped only
oengage a friend to raise the concerted sig
s, and five minutes before the sentinels got
jr'wrs to prevent it, two friends rowed him
past iheJbimmer?ett man-of-war across Charles
ii rer. All was still, as suited the hour. The
f !> was winding with the young flood; the
r •'•'tng moon just peered above the horizon ;
fr *u a couple of lanterns in the tower of
'-tli Church, the beacott streamed to the
1 : boring town as fast as light could travel.
"Je beyond Charlestowii Neck, Revere was
'"""pted by two British offi.-ers on horse
\ h".t being himself well mounted lie turn- !
'' M ifieiily. and leading one of them into a
"""d. lie escaped from the other by the
•') M-dford As lie passed on, he waked
' "Captain of tin* minute men of that town,
L i twinned to rouse almost every house on 1
' " way to L wiiigton The troops had not 1
" oititTtl far, when the firing of guns and the
I -of bells announced that their expedi- 1
bat hpfii heralded before tlietn; at.d am".th 1
' '-k to d< imind a reinforcement.
o "be morning of the 19th of April, be- 1
1 ' hours of twelve and one,the message J
reachen n " (i ~:U,r° ': k. who '
nt once the object of the expedition.— '
' - "c,therefore,and Dawes, joined by Samuel j
1 won, "a high son ol liberty" from Concord
1 i forward, calling up the inhabitants as i !
1 IH J pa>sed along, till in Lincoln tliey fell up- | ?
' a party of British officers. Revere and 1 (
were seized and taken back to Lexing- I
, • w ''ere they were released ; but Prescott j *
Ppdover a low stone wall, and galloped on i
r Concord j 1
I b't-re nt about two in the morning, a peal i
[ un iii ; belfry of the meeting house called
F "'luihitaiitg of the place to their town hall j 1
["."•nae forth, old and young, with their!
■. ready to make good tlie resolu e ! i
I '•* of tueir town debate. Among the most 1 i
hif.a*w- 8 Emerson, with his gun in ; i
hut '' S ' K) * (k * r orn u,| d pooch for balls t
- (l *er his shoulder. By his sermons and <
L- . '- ' H ' lut'l s<> hallowed the enthusiasm of ,
" ,)C k that they held the defence of their f
? u< a put ol their religion, and his pre- l
-6 *, 'harms proved his sincerity andstren 1
their sense of duty. Fr P , T , day break <
anriie the summons ran from house to i
MvJ c~ h Acton - Ex P reBß messengers
from minute men spread the alarm. '
n Ul5, may have had 100 in i
-J. - form ' n S oae parish, and having for
minister the learned aud fervid James i
—* w. lIUJIM J JJL J. JILUUH OOHMMMniM _ _
Clark, the bold in liter of patriotic papers that
may yet be read on their town records. In
December, 1719, they had instructed their re
presentatives to demand a radical redress for
their grievances,for "not through their neglect
should they be enslaved." A year later litey
spurned the use of tea. In 1774, at various
tov n meetings, they voted to increase their
stock of ammunition, "to jeneonrage military
discipline, and to put themselves in a posture
of define against their enemies." In Decent
ber they distiibuted to "the train band and
alarm list.nru s ai d ammunition," and resolved
to supply the training solders with bayonets.
At two in the morning,under the eyes of the
minister, and of Hancock and Adams,Lexing
ton Common was alive with the minute men;
i and not with tlietn only, but with many old
men also, who were exempt except in eases of
immediate danger to the town. The roll was
called, and out of the militia and alarm men,
about one hundred answered to their names.
The captain, John Parker, ordered everyone
to load with powder and hall,but to take acre
not to be fust to fire. Messengers sent to look
out for the British regulars reported that there
was no signs of their approach. A watch
was therefore set, and the company dismissed
with orders to come together at beat of drum.
Some went to their homes; some to the tavern
wear the Southeast corner of tite Common.
Adams and Hancock, whose proscription
had already been divulged, and whose seizure
was believed to be intended, were compelled
by persuasion to retire towards Woburn.
The last stars were vanishing from sight—
when the foremost party, led by Pitcairn, a
Major of Marines, was discovered advancing
quickly and in siience. Alann guns were fired
and the drums beat. Less than seventy —per-
haps less tl an sixty—obeyed the sun icons,
and in s'ght of half as many unarmed men,
were j arahd in two ranks, a few rods north
of tlte meeting house.
The British vain, bearing the drum and the
alarm guns, halted to load ; the remaiaing
companies came np, and halted '.o load ; and
at half an hour before sunrise the advance
party hurried forward at double quick time,
aimost upon a run, closely followed by the
grenadiers, Pitcairn rode in front, and when
within five or six rods of the minute men cried
out "Disperse, ye viliians ; ye rebels disperse!
Lay down your arms and disperse J" Tite main
part of the countrymen stood motionless in
the ranks, witnesses against aggression ; too
few to resist, too brave to fly. At this!
Pitcairn discharged a pistol, and with n loud
voice cried " Fire!"' The order was instantly;
followed, first by a few gnns, which did no ex
ecution, and by a heavy,close and deadly then
discharged of musketry.
In the disparity of numbers, the Common
was a field of murder, not of battle ; Parker,
therefore, ordered nis men to disperse. Then. !
and not till then, did a few of them, r.n their
own impulse, return the British fire. These
random shots of fugitive or dying men did no •
harm, except that Pitcairn.s horse was perhaps
graz-d and a private of the 10th light infantry
was slightly touched on the leg.
Jonas Parker,the strongest and best wrestl- 1
er in Lexington,had promised never to run for
British troops; and he kept his vow. A wound
brought him to his knees Having discliarg- j
ed his gun, he was preparing to load it again
when as sound a heart as ever throbbed for
freedom was stifled by a baynet and lie lay on
the post which he took at the morning's drum i
beat. So fell Isaac Mitzzev, and so died the
aged Robert Monroe, the same who in 1758 1
had been ensign at Louisburg. Jonathan Har
rington, .Jr., was struck in front of his house j
on the north of the Common. His wife was at
the window when lie fell. With the blood i
gushing from Ids breast he rose in her sight, 1
tottered, fell again, then crawled on his hands :
and knees towards ids dwelling ; she ran to
meet him, but only reached him as lie expired !
on the threshold. Caleb Harrington, who had
gone into the meeting house for powder, was !
shot, as he came out Samuel Hadley and i
John Brown were pursued and killed after;
tiny had left the green. Ashael Porter, of!
Wobnrn, who had heeu taken prisoner bv the \
march, endeavoring to escape,was shot within
i few rods of the Common.
Seven of the men of Lexington were killed;
nine wounded; —a quarter purt of those who!
Hood in arms on the green These are the I
village heroes who were more than of noble
.flood, proving by their spirit that I hey were j
>f race divine. They gave their lives in testi- j
nony to the rights of mankind, bequeathing to j
heir'country an assurance of success in the j
nighty struggle which tli.-y had begun. Their i
tames are held in grateful remembrance, and
lie expanding millions of tiieir countrymen j
■enew and multiply tl.eir praise from generation '
0 generation. Tiiey fulfilled their duty not •
roni accidents! impulse of the moment; their
i. i.J" was t' ,e slowly ripened fruit of Provi-
L-nce an 1 of time
Heedless of his own danger. S,;mue! Adams ,
vi.h the voice of a prophet, exclaimed, w.'Pt'
ie heard of the resistance at Lexington, ' Oli, |
vhat a glorious morning is this," for thus he
aw that his country's independence was liast
:uiug rapidly on, and like Columbus in the
empest, knew that the storin did but bear him
nore swiftly to the undiscovered world.
PICKLED ELF.FHANTS. — Old Rowe keeps a
lOtel in the northern part of the state ol New
fork,which lie boasted, was the best in "those
uirt.s, where, as he used to say, you could get
inythihg that was ever made to eat. One day
n comes a yankee, sends his horse around to
he stable, and steping up to the bar, asked
)ld Rowe what he could have for dinner—
\ nytiling sir," says Old Rowe, " anything,
rom a pickled elephant to a canary bird's
ongue. " "Wa'al," says the Yankee, eyeing
L>we," I guess I'll take a piece of pickled
ilephant." Out bustled Rowe into the din
ng room, leaving our yankee nonplussed at his
rravity Presently ho come back again.--'
'Well,sir,we've got em, but you'll have to take
1 whole one, 'cause .we never cut 'em."—The
faukee thought he would have some codfish
md potatoes. *
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY R. W. STURROCK.
The Certainty of Science.
More than once we have had the gratifica
tion ol testifying in favor of the great scien
tific attainments of Lieutenat MAURY, head of
the Hydrographieal department at Washing
ton, and of the admirable manner in which he
has practically applied them for the public
advantage. He lias literally mapped the
Ocean,and has enabled navigators to traverse
it, was as much ease as landsmen pass over
I the earth—by the shortest and safest routes
I i Where navigation, whether by sailing vessels
or steamers, was formerly pretty much a mat
• ter of guess work, it is now "almost a cer
. tuinty.
MAURY'S reputation,like that of many other
I! eminent persons here, is even greater abroad
than at home. The greatest authority, which
we quote with the deepest respect and vene
ration, has declared that a prophet has little
respect in his own country. Assuredly, MAU
RY is esteemed as highly as any scientific man,
all over Europe A recent instance, illustra
ting this, lately occured in England.
The prin e of Wales left Portland harbor,
for England, on the 20th of October, in the
! Hero, a screw war steamer of ninety one guns
| and large tonnage. It was expected that he
• would reach his native land some time before
j tlie 9i!i of November, which happens to be
| not only Lord Mayor's Day, in London, but
also the anniversary of the Prince's birth
day. Mail steamers from Boston and New
\ ork, which departed several days after the
Hero quitted Portland,reached England before
the above-named day. Some anxiety, if not
actual apprehension, was felt as to the safety
of the Royal squadron. At the request of
Queen \ ICTORIA, several steamers were de
spatched from * Portsmouth, by the English
Admiralty,to look out for the Hero, and afford
assistance, if reqrisite. Each returned, with
out any tidings. In this emergency, tlie Ad
uiiralty applied to Lieutenant MAURY, who had
left this country on a mail steamer, on a short
leave of absence to visit Europe, and had left
New York on the 27th of October—seven days
after the Prince of Wules left Portland.
Lieutenant MAURY immediately made the
desired report,which certainly shows how
Old Kxperit-nce doth attain
To something like prophetic vein,
for he disticliy described what weather the
; Hero hud encountered ; what part of the At
j ai.tic the winds had operated adversely on
• the voyage ; what coutse the llrro must have
been compelled to take, namely southern'? ;
1 and about w hat time the Prince might be ex
• pected, after the delay caused by this dtlovr.
! In a word, his report reassured tiie public
I mind—for Lieutenant MAURY is acknowledged
ias authority wherever white-winged Com
i merce extends her rule
Immediately after,and precisely at that time
indicated by MAURY —namely, on the ioili
November—the Prince of Wales did arrive,
j much to the satisfaction of his family and the
public
Moreover, the exact course which MAURY
said the Hero must have taken, turned out to
i have been an actuality,—indeed, a necessity
induced by the particular winds occurring
about the p'ace and time mentioned in MAU
RY'S Report. The exactitude of science—that
is of MAURY'S science—was exemplified - here, '
and MAURY stands before tlie world as a pro
phet : before and not after the fact, as is the
j case in most modtrn.instances — Pnss.
I EQUAL TO THE many years
ago two Frenchmen—one wealthy and in pos
i session of ready cash, and the other poor and ,
I pcuniitss—occupied, by chance, the same room ;
jin a suburban hotel. In the morning the j
! " seedy " one arose first took from bis pocket •
! a pistol, and holding it at his forehead and
! backing against tlie door exclaimed to his bori
i fied companion : |
" It is my las? deperate resort ; I nmpenni- '
less and tired of life ; give me 500 franees, or ,
I will instantly blow out my brains, and you j
will be arrested as a murderer."
j Tfie other lodger found himself the hero of
an unpleasant drama, but the cogency of his :
companion's argument struck hi ni "cold."—|
He quietly crept to his pantaloons, handed,
over the amount, and the other vamosed,after
locking the door on the outside.
lie cring of this, another Frenchman, of
very savage aspect, one night tried to room
with a tall, raw boned gentleman from Arkan
sas, who k I been rather free with his money :
during the day,and evidently had plenty more 1
behind. Next ruorning " Pike," awaking,dis
covered his room mate standing over him,with
a pistol leveled at his own head, aud evidently '
quaking with agitation.
" What the dnce are yon standing tlinr for
in the cold '/"said Pike, propping himself on
his elbow, and coolly surveying the Gaul. !
"I am desperate !" was the reply. " You
give me one hundred dollars, or I will blow
ont my brains !"
" Well, then, blow and be darned !" replied
Pike, turning over.
" Bote you vill be arrested forze murdaire!"
persisted the Gaul earnestly.
" Eh, what's that ?" said Pike; " oh. T see?" ,
and suddenly drawing a revolver and a five
pound bowie from under his pillow, lie sat up
right.
" A man may as well he hung for a sheep
as a lamb," he coolly remarked, and, at the
word, he started for the Gaul ; but the latter
was too nimble ; the " boss pistol," innocent
of lead, exploded in the air, and with one
frantic leap our little Frenchman was standing
in his night tobe at the foot of the staircase—
a proof that what may suit oue person will not
answer at all for another.
GAUinAt.ni has resigned his dictatorship in
to tfie hands ol Victor Emmanuel, and gone
home to his rude farm on the little Eland of
Caprera. After uniting Sicily and Naples,
with their nine millions of people, to the
Italian kingdom, the liberator returns to the
simplicity of his peaceful seclusion, refusing
both wealth and titles, and rich in nothing but
glory, and the miugled admiration and affec
tion of the world.
" REOARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
Jake Wiilard and his Blind Horse.
• ; The Mobile Register is responsible for the
following mirth-provoking incident:
' For twenty three years, old Juke Wiilard
■ has cultivated the soil of Baldwin county, and •
; drawn therefrom a support for self and" wife, j
5 He is childless. Not long ago. Jake left the j
J house in search of a missing cow. ILs route i
! led him through an old worn out patch of clay •
! land, of about six acres in extent, in the cen
tre of which was a well, twenty-five or thirty
1 feet deep, that at some time, probably, had
• furnished the inmates of a dilapidated house
■ near by with water. In passing by this spot,
an ill wind lifted Jake's "tile" from his head,
and maliciously wafted it to the edge of the
' wel', and in it tumbled.
1 Now Juke had always practiced the virtue
■ of economy, and he immediately set about re
! covering the lost hat. He ran to the well,
• | and finding it was dry at the bottom, he nu
i I coiled the rope which he had brought for the
" purpose of capturing the truant cow, and after
| several attempts to catch the hat with a noose
. I he concluded to save time by going down into
: : the well himself. To accomplish this, he
; ] made fast one end of the rope to a stump
: hard by, aud was quickly on his way down the
! we IB
It is a fact, of which Jake was no less obli
vious than the reader hereof, that Ned Wells
was in the o!d dilapidated building aforesaid,
and that an old blind horse, with a bell on his
' neck, wlio had been turned out to die, was la
-1J zily grazing within a short distance of the !
| well.
The devil himself or some other wicked •
spirit put it into Ned's cranium to have a lit- i
tie fun, so he quietly slipped up to the horse, ;
and unbuckled tlie bell strap, approached with 1
slow measured " tiug aling" the edge of the 1
well.
"Confound that ohl blind horse 1" said j
Jnko, ' lie's a-eomin' this way sure, and ain't
cot no more sense than to fall in here. Whoa, i
j Bali."
" But tlie continued approach of the 'ting
a-ling' said just as plainly as words that Ball •
wouldn't ichoa. Besides Jake was at the bot-
I torn, resting, before trying to ' shin 1 it up the
j ro Pe
i " Great Jerusalem," said he, "the old cuss
will be a top of me before I can say Jack;
Robinson. Whoa. ! C'oufound you, vehna." |
Just then, Ned drew up to the edge of the !
well, and with his foot kicked a little dirt into
it
" Oh, Lord 1" cxclamed .Take, falling upon ;
his knees at tiie bottom. " I'in gone now, ;
whoa. Now I lay me down to sleep—w-h o-a, ,
Ball—l pray the Lord my soul to—w h-o-a,
now. Oh ! Lord have mercy on me."
Ned could hold in no longer, and fearful j
, that Jake might suffer frcrn his fright, he re
i vcalcd himself.
Probably Ned didn't moke tracks with his '
heeN from that well. Maybe Jake wasn't up
to the top of it in short order, and you might
think he didn't try every night for two weeks ;
to get a shot with his ride at Ned. Maybe!
not. I don't know. But I do know that if |
Jake finds out who scut jou this,it will be the j
| last squib you'll get.
—
T.l™ ORIGIN* OK THE NAMF.S OF THE DAYS IN 1
TIIR. WEF.k. —ln the Museum at Berlin in the
j hall devoted to northern antiquities, they have '
• the representations of tiie idols from which the !
names of the days of our week are derived.— 1
From the idol of the Sun comes Sunday. This
! idol is represented with his face like tiie sun,
• holding a burning wheal, with both hands on !
j the breast, signifying his course round the
! world. Tiie idol of the Moon, from which
! conies Monday, is habited in a short coat like
n man, but holding the moon in his hands.—
! Tuisco, from which comes Tuesday, was one
; of the most ancient and popular gods of the
Germans, and represented in his garments of ,
j skin, according to tiieir peculiar manner of
clothing : the third day of tiie week was do- j ]
cheated to his worship. Woden, from which
comes Wednesday,was a valiant prince among <
J the Saxons His image was prayed to for ;
victory. Thor from whence Thursday is seat- ;
l ed in a bed, with twelve stars over his head ]
holding a scepter in his hand. Friga, from |
whence we have Friday, is represented with a ,
I drawn sword in his right hand, and a bow in |
his left. Seator from which is Saturday, has .
ine appearance of perfect wretchedness ; he is i
thin-visaged, long-haire d, with a long beard.— j
He carries a pail of water in his right hand,
wherein are fruits and flowers. ; ,
A MONSTER PRESS. —The Scientfie American •
thus describes a monster steam press, upon i,
which Moses S. Beach, who has just retired ,
from tiie New York Sun, is at work:—
"He is even now just completing the con- ;
strnction of a monster steam press, by which ,
the sheets are cut from rolls, dampened, printed
upon both sides, at the rate of forty thousand ,
impression an honr, folded up, counted and
deiicvered from the machine,ready for the car- '
rier and the mail. This macihne is as high as j
a common two story country dwelling house j
and it will, when finished, if the expectations i
I of its inventor are realized, constitute a most
' extraordinary specimen of mechanical skill i '
1 and ingenuity." j
THE meanest net we have heard of lately, is (
recorded by the Utica Telegraph. A man in ,
that city, who was requested to act as pall',
bearer at the funeral of a friend's wife.present- |
ed the bereaved husband with a bill of 50 cents ,
for his services as pall bearer, and received bis
pay. If the devil don't catch that contem
ptible chap,there's no use of havingauy devil,
♦ i
Said O'Leary to bis niece, when she made
objection to eating potatoes alone during a <
stress of straightened circumstauces : " Then
call up your sister to help you." '
B®* " Where are you going ?" asked a lit
tle boy ot another, who slipped down ou the
icy pavement. " Going to get up," was the
bluDt reply. |
WALKING A llAFT. —There was a fellow once
stepped out ot a door of a tavern on the Miss
issippi, meaning to walk a mile np the shore
to the next tavern. Just at the landing there
lay a big raft, one of the regular old-fashioned
j whalers—a ruft a mile long.
Well, the fellow heard the landlord say the
! raft was a mile long, and he said to himself,
; " I will go forth and see this great wonder,and
let my eyes behold the timbers that the hand
of man hath hewn." So he got on at the
lower end and began to ambulate over the
wood in pretty fair time. But just as he got
started, the raft started too, and as he walked
up the river it walked down, both traveling at
the same rate. When he got to the end of ;
the sticks lie found tliey were pretty near
ashore, and in sight of a tavern ; so he landed !
ami walked right straight into the bar room |
he came out of. The general sameness of
things took him little aback, but he looked at
the landlord steady in the face, and settled 'it
in his own way :
" Publican," said he," are yon gifted with a
twin brother,who keeps a similar siz°d tfiverri,
with a duplicate wife, a comporting wood |ii!c,
and a corresponding circus bill a mile from
here ?"
The tavern keeper was fond of fun, and ac
cordingly said it was just so.
" And, publican, have you among your dry
goods for the entertainment of a man and horse
any whisky of the same size as that of your
brother's 1"
And the tavern man said, that from the ris
ing of the sun even unto the going down of the
; same, he had.
Tney took the drinks, and the stranger said
j " Publican, but twin bother of yours is a fine
] young man—a very fine man, indeed. But do
| you know, I'm afraid that lie suffers a good
! deal with the Chicago diptheria !"
! " And what's that?" asked the toddy-stick-
J cr.
" It is when the truth settles so firm in a
man that none of it ever comes out. Com
! mon doctors,of the catnip sort, call it lyin."—
When I left your brother's confectionary,there
; was a raft at his door, which lie swore hi 3 lift
was a mile long. Weil,publican,l walked that
raft from bill to tail, from his door to yours.
New, I know my titne.an' I'm just as good for
rnyseif as for a boss,aud better for that than any
man yon ever did see. I always walk a mile
j in exactly twenty minutes, on a good road,and
I'll be bunted with an overloaded Injun gun if
• I've been more'n ten minutes coming here,
stepping over them blamed logs at that."
AMERICAN INVENTIONS.— CharIes Reade, in
his last book, writes as follows about Ameri
! can inventors :
" American genius is at this moment ahead
I of all nations for mechainca! invention. 1 learn
from Cory ton, the last English writer on
patents, that she took out her first patent in ;
1790 ; in 1800, took out 39 patents ; in 1810
*222 ; iu 1830, 551 ; in 1840, 452 ; in 1849,
1,075. At this last date she headed Great
1 Britain, and has maintained the lead ever
since. Europe teems with the products of her
1 mechanical genius. Her inventors draw large ;
j per centages from England, and no English-j
man grudges them,for they leave us still their
debtor. The preeminence this nation has at- j
tained in mechanical invention rests on the
rock of-statistics, and my little paitry experi- j
enee can neither contradict nor confirm statis •
tics ; still, I cannot help remarking that f am
sitting in London at this moment in a shirt'
which I happen to know was sewed by Mr. j
Singer's patent,and that there are three English
newspapers on the table, two of which—the
Times and Lloyd's—were printed by Mr. Iloe's
patent; the other was worked off either by the
Adams press (invented, I think, at Boston,
Massachusetts) or -Ise by the Columbian press
which is stili in vogue here, though long ago !
exploded in the leading nation. The construct- j
tive genius of this people,stimulated hv sound
legislation, teaches us lessens at every turn.—
Look at their hotels, the wonder of the world;
ours are only the terror. Look at their cities ;
reticulated with telegraph wires, so that nt
the first alarm of fire au engine is rung for ; ,
lure it is run for, and that is why it often
finds tiie house on the ground floor, and (
urenches tiie smoking ruins, which hiss it for ,
not managing better. Igo through the Liver- ,
pool docks, and point out the biggest and
smartest ships, and ask a sailor from what ,
pons they came. It is always ' Yankee, sir, |
Yankee !' We had been sailing yachts many
more years than they had when they sent over i
the America and beat our fleet ; and, abserve, ,
the victory was achieved by mechanical con- !
struction, and not bv an extra cloud of can- i
vas." j ,
The wonderful progress of American inven-! •
tions would appear more striking still hy com- ,
paring the number of patents issued here in 1
1859 with those of Great Britian in the same |
vear.
j
THERE is a touching beauty in the radiant
look of a girl jn't crossing the limits of youth I
nnd commencing her journey through the j
checkered space of womanhood. It is all dew- j
sparkle and mortiing-glory to her ardent,buoy
ant spirit, ns she presses forward exulting in
blissful anticipations. But the withering heat
of the conflict of life creeps on; the dew-drops
exhale; the garlands of hope, shattered and
dead, strew the path; and too often ere noon- 1
tide, the brow and sweet smile are exchanged i
for the weary look of one longing for the even
ing rest, the twilight, and the night.
" MY dear boy," said a kind-harted school
mistress to an unusually promising scholar
whose quarter was about up—"my dear boy, ,
does your mother design that you should tread
the intricate and thorny path of the profes
sion, the straight and narrow way of tiie min
istry, or revel amid the flowery fields of liter
ature ?"
"No mnrm," replied the juvenile prodigy,
" dad says he is going to set me at work iu tbQ
I ♦ a ter patch."
VOL. XXI. —NO. 29
Cfarraflml Dtp;utmeut.
Spelling and Spelling School.
The complain is rery general, that there is
not enough attention paid to spelling in oar
j schools ; this complaint is not against the
I common schools only, bnt higher institutions
| are charged with like remissness.
I It is alledged, and with truth we think,that
schools are not as good as they were twenty
years ago. There may be a partial reason for
this in the tact that, twenty or thirty years
| ago there were but three or four branches
ever taught in our common schools, conse
quently teachers had more lime to bestow
upon this important department. This may
! be a reason why it is so, but it is no excuse
! for its I ting so. It is us important now that
every person that ever expects to write for
others to read, should be able to spell cor
rectly as it ever was,- and it persons are bet
ter educated now than those were who atten
ded school a quarter of a century since, they
certainly should be able, with all the rest of
their attainments to spell better.
A person's real practical education is more
frequently estimated by his good or bad spell
ing '.han by anything else, (f he spells badly,
it will not help the matter very much, in the
opinion of community, to have it known that
instead of Orthography, he understands the
higher mathematics, the sciences, and Latin
and Greek. It is as true now as ever, " That
it is no credit to be a good speller, but it is a
great disgrace to be a poor one," and the bet
ter the scholar in other respects the greater
the shame.
If all allow that this important, this essen
tial branch is neglected, that our youth are
glowing up without knowing how to spell cor
rectly many of the most common words in the
English language, that schools of all grades
are blame-worthy in this regard, if all
agree that these things are so, will it not be
well to inquire why they are so ? No one
pretends that it is not important to be a good
speller, why then are there so many who do
dot spell well ? No teacher pretends that he
ought to neglect this branch, why then do
nearly all do it.
Perhaps one reason is the fact mentioned
above, that there are so many more things to
study now than there was several years ago.
Pupils like to studdv something beyond the
spelling book, and parents aud teachers in
dulge them, and when they become larger
they are apt to think that Orthography is too
smail a matter for them to study, so they are
allowed to pass through school without be
coming good spellers. At the time spoken of,
it was considered the highest honor of the
school, to be the best speller, and for that
honor pupils strove. So too the school in the
township that conid, on an extra occasion,
speil down all the other schools, was Ike school
! above all others.
Evening sp< llingschools were then in vogne.
j In some portions of the country the teachers
were obliged, by their contracts, to have one
such school each week, to which all tho
schools were expected to go. [Parents generally
attended, and there was, if the matter was
rightly managed, much enthusiasm excited ;
. Schools prepared themselves to spell well, and
and were expected to spell well, for the pa
rents were to look on, their favorites were
there to see their disgrace if they did not spell
well ; pupil? from other schools were fre
quently there to spell against them, and woe
betide the boy or girl, the young man or the
young woman, who did not do his or her best
when the trying time came to spell down tho
rival school. To be prepared to appear well
in the spelling battles, required study and
drilling, and studying and drilling were done.
In each house there would be a little spelling
school every evening—a sort of company train
ings preparatory to the general muster when
ail were to come together to try their skill in
the great spelling battle. Parents would
either pronounce words for their children to
spell, or would spell witli them while some of
the older ones gave out the words. Although
there are objections to these evening schools,
stiil we should like to have them brought in
to use again iu schools where they can be con
ducted with propriety, and by teachers who
can conduct them in such away as to be ben
eficial ; but if they are made the occasions
for the assembling of the young people of a
neighborhood for a sort of a good time, for a
kind of social gathering, in order to talk and
laugh and he merry, in such cases they had
better not be held. If a teacher cannot so
manage n spelling school that it shall result in
the improvement of his pupils, lie had better
not have them. We arc sure the persons who
attended these schools regularly, and participa
ted in the exercises, and all of the pupils were
obliged to do, lenrncd more about spelling
than they did in the day schools during thw
term.
COST OF DF.PRAVED APPETITES.—Few peo
ple have any idea of the immense amount of
money paid annually by this enlightened and
Christian nation, for the indulgence ot foolish
and perverted appetites. The treasury tables
for the past year present some facts on this
subject, which should set the whole country a
thinking. For instance, the fact is brought
out that we annually smoke op in imported
cigars our entire export of wheat, rye,
oats, potatoes and apples, amounting to up
wurds of $9,000,000. Our export of Indian
corn and meal, amounting to $2,114,005, is
not sufficient to pay to the French cognac
and other brandies, which we consume. It
requires all the pork we export, $3, 150,410
worth, to support our watch-fobs ; and we
annually guzzle more champagne and port and
such like mixtures of grape aud alcohol, than
all our beef and butter export, $219,820, will
pay for. No one will wonder, after this io--
feight into our national economy, that although
we sent abroad last year flour to the 7ah' -*
$l2, 000,000, this immense sum wiP ue of
two thirds of the interest Qtt lb* pi' ou 'y
I in Europe. ; -debt we <***
I -•* ,