1 0:114'ittantlitOnette PIIICIAM. FEHRUART.22. Viol AMERICAN LITERATURE - lanelt la said, to a vague and general way, - in praise of the universality and comprehensiveness of lerirning in the 'United States. If these extravagant pre ' tensions are subjected to practical tests, of any appropriate sort, they are found to be unsubstantial and fallacious. The most natural and decisive of these 'tests . is the condition of our Literature. This may be divided into' two depart ments What may be termed Perms. neat Literature, gets minted in books, and runs to one or more editions. What `airy be termed Evanescent Literature, includes speeches, pamphlets, reviews, newspapers, sermons, and the like. . Our Permanent Literature bears no comparison with that of Eiailand, FraiMe, Austria, Belgium, or PRISSitI. In the higher ranges what we have can scarcely be called a Literature. Nor do we even borrow and domesticate among us the European of the highest grades. In all the advanced, nations of Europe works of a superior rank are published, and run through several. editions, which are never seen hero except , in a few se lect libraries, and are scarcely beard of otherwise than through the medium of the foreign Quarterlies. If all valnble Literature should be measured by an as cending scale of ten degrees, it would be found that up to three or four there is considerable Permanent Literature here; above, very little. Nor is this the worst of it. Our Per - manent Literature can be called Ameri can only by courtesy. It is not fructi fied and emboldened by the national I spirit. As a geaeral thing it is super- Ada], tame and weak. It dries not em body that contempt of authority which - grows out oPthe character of our polit ical institutions. It' is destitute of our peculiar philosophical turn. It fails. to exhibit even that uncertainty in respect „to first. principles, which is our standing ishame. It lacks our national intensity, our spontaneous hope, and our fresh in tuitive perceptions of truth. Above all, there Is little genuine love of Freedom ,in it. Why? Simply because it is not - original, but borrowed, Much more of what is really Ameri can is found in speeches, pamphlets and newspapers. Between these three there is not much difference, but the last may be taken as representing the cast of the American mind moat accurately. If this be so, no flittering pic,ure of our morals or manners is presented. For, while public journals can be . named which are 'aenducted not only with smartness but with ability; - which handle all questions they treat of with under standing and fairness; and preserve their own dignity while extending due respect to others; the great majority are of other sorts. Vulgarity, rant.; and bragging 'violence, recklessness of truth and jes• tice; disregard of right and duty; what ..are these but the representation of the every day life of thenationt ' The war and the discussiors corm ' quent thereon, have had a beneficial and' . elevating tendency in this regard. For while ample incitements to violence havi been furnished by stirring events, ' :occasions have been developed for calm, searching and exhaustive investigroions. First principles are not at the discount they once were, Still, it will require many years before, in the order of _ growth, we shall have reached that lit entry eicellence of which we even now proudly boast as among our national attainments. ARAIIDONECI CHILDREN All tax-payers, at \east, are aware how _ . considerable portion of the aggregate levies is devoted to the public education orthe people. In all the larger towns from a sixth to a fourth of the taxes paid Make this direction. Yet it is a matter of astonishment how many idle and vagrant boys and girls there are in the streets.- We do not here include truants, - and oc camped absentees;' but children who do not go to school regidarly, if at all. It is difficult to inake a precise estimate of the number also getl about all the educe tion they, Lava' iu the streets, but it is so great as to go far toWarda explaining the increase of crimeshich appals all who are familiar - with the penal statistics of courts and prisons. I - It is evident shat must become of these neglected children.. Conceding that some are so adMirably organized as * not to receive a permanent taint from surrounding corruption, that some have •so excellent a genius that they will ob tain learning under the most disadvan tageous circumstances; . it is evident that the greater part will remain of very dif ferent sorts. They, will take the color ing of their lives from the condition into which they are launched. What have these forsaken or misgov erned children to help them? Nothing, or next to nothing- ~ ,With an intense craving for activity, they have no .ine to • start theta . in the right direction, and man) to give them an impulse the wrong way. They are poor, \wretchedly clad and ill—fed. There is nothing in their surroundings to foster se f-respect; noth ing to awaken and nak sensitive the conscience; nothing to ukken or it, spire their ambition. Tey find them selves begfirs in the mitts of opulence, and idlers in the brisk o -goings of trade and manufactures. . ',ln centers of popattion li with all classes, becomes intense. The man of '• 'business, the student), the:timanita , "-- all feel this. ilelnce tit passions - ppetites of these' aiserable children towns are stronger and more ac ' • - thee in corresponding' grades ~,.,ht up-in the country. Moral and cultivated people spurn them as instinc tively as they do peini eu - d e. Theyare left to herd with thii hasest of f men and take new lessons in vice and crime ' ' ' none to give them wilier andbet . with I el' coun sels or to lead them into safer course s , . It is hard enough to be poor In the country, where social position is not . so sharply defined; vtritere 'wants are few; - where all live plainly; and) where artifi cial wants do not prt.lis and.elamor grail. fication. But in towns unreal a ante are created and .become ' , more Imperious in their demands than n tural ones. To be . _ hungry and ragged sail dirty, in the midst of luxury and wantonness - and retire ment, le a lot sad beyoud the power of r] expres.don; and the ystery is not that this adverse fortune wr4cks many, but that any are found ho escape destruc tion. Take one of Ethic miserable ones. Born, unwelcome, eirtiid wretchedness and destitution, his coming increased both- His struggles through infancy, if natural strength of «mediation holds out, less tended and cared for than the offspring of beasts. is he becomes a boy, and takes a surve'y of the 'World, • and of his case as connected with it, eve rything repels him. Commonly he is \ - dressed in rags so squalid so to prevent him seeking honorable employment with any hope of success. Clouds end thick darkness arc about him, barring his steps in every proper direction. lie is young in years, but old misery. His companions are wo begone as him self. Is it strange that he easily be comes initiated into crime, and rapidly sinks past reclamation? • Who is responsible for all this? Let any man, the proudest in his assured Po sition of social respectability, ask him self what he would have been had it been his fortune to be thus conditioned. It would certainly seem that somebody is more to blame than these outcasts are, and yet it is exceedingly difficult to de termine who, and to fix the precise meas ure of responsibility. This much, how ever, i: clear, that society at large pays a heavy penalty. The cost - is not simply to bo measured by what it takes to maintain constabulary, courts, Jails and penitentiaries. This is the smallest part of the reckoning, vast as it is in itself. Besides this, there are the losses suffered through actual dep redations, and the yet more serious and crowning sacrifice of men lost to indus try, to usefulness, to virtue. It is easy, when a man's capacities are understood, to compute his value as a material pro ducing-force. By a kindred process it Is Possible to approximate the average of pecuniary mischief a bad man will in flict upon the community. But it is im possible to weigh a virtuous life in scales and compute itsirilue in gold or green backs. It is just as impossible to tell what loss a life miscarried and spent in vicious or criminal courses entails upon the offender and society. • Tbis is manifest. It is much cheaper to educate than to punish; more econom ical to sustain schools, and compel at tendance, than to support jails and State prisons. • The remedy cannot be found in additional harahnesses, but in ame liofations tleit shall lift up the lower classes of town population. RECONSTRUCTION OP GERMANY • Some 'days ago We adverted to the strong disposition evinced by the Ger man kingdoms and principalities situa ted on the south of the river Main, and designed by the treaty of Prague to be Included in the South German Confeder acy, to become attached - to Prussia, and of the refusal of the application of Baden to that end. Bavaria has taken a new step. Its Prime Minister announces that no South German Confederacy will be formed, end that, "for ill preservation of Germany, and the unity of all the German tribes," she would ally herself, in caao of war, with Prussia, and that, meanwhile, the Bavarian army would be so organized as to facilitate such cooperation. • A Conference of all the South German governments is to be held at Stuttgardt, to make the same arrangement. This done, all the German troops, in case of a foreign war, except those belonging to Audtria, would be placed under the lead ership of Prussia. This will create a force fully equal to that which France can bring into the field._ These movements are of high moment, and cannot fail of ending in the consoli dation of Germany into one Govern ment. Parliamentary rule has been de creed in PrusSind if "all has not been granted that is desirable, improvements will be certain to follow speedily. There may be some uncomfortable fric tion in the working of the machinery for a little while, but the Germans have abundant learning, intelligence and lOve of liberty to maintain, in Central Eu rope, a system in-which all the inherent rights of matishall be respected. = t..—lndiana is troubled with "milk sick. neon." E EIE —Tha Lt Paris. 333 a —Thy eat Scotch pony in some parts of France. —A live seal was captured on the river near Bangor. —Marl persona ia'Norfolk refuse to be vaccinated, —The "mad itch" is 'raging among Ohio cattle. —Drops of gresee caused the great -fire qt yokohoms. —England trembles beneath the foot steps of Reform. —The philosopher of the Traune has been done in marble. —They have the "black measles" i some parts of Maine. —New Hampshire has $900,000 loves ed in school houses. —J. G. 8., Jr., has received • third medal from the French. —Buffalo has caged a professional swindler of long standing. —A. line of steamers are to ply be tween Baltimore and Bremen. —There Is not trade enough . to make the Spanish railroads profitable. —A. 'Harrisburg lady unconsciously roasted two cats is • kitchen range. —The damp is playing havoc with the frescoes in the Houses of Parliament.. —Several thousand tons of Table Rock, at Niagara 'Falls, fell the other day• —A fire at Fairfax Court House, week before last, was successfully fought with snow. —The grape crop on the Ohio lake shore has tailed Lily four , times in forty years. —A. jeweller in New'York imported $3,000 worth of diamonds in a quantity of cork. "Speech is Mlver, but silence is gold en." hence the expression, hush mon ey.—Punch. —Two hundred additional omnibuses have been built in Paris, in view of the coming Exposition. —Coleus° has written a letter to prove that primitive Christians offered no prayers to Christ. —Ail the Memphis schools are over. flowing, and the opening of additional ones is contemplated. -11111' a dozen gentlemen in New Bed ford dined together, the other day, who are worth $2,0014000. —Panel& suggests th atlif ter dinner eon. • eratition.shutud be called post bragUlal instead of post prandial. —Jul:nu CI. editions's old homestead, a South Carotin's, is to be sold at sue lon on the 4th of March next. —Tilton d Barnum supports 1 1) supports Barnum _ f ll or ion Con; advertising in the Independent. --Ono of the first features of the next tenaod at Covent Garden will be the p pro duction In Verdi's "Don Curio." — Grace - Greeuwood is in favor of giv k" [Le Lal lot w , ry won= wit° owns sewing machine Or n Wll.ll tub. gera by a planing machine, A. Lay. fu Cincinnati loot three ga t:owl den anding $O,OOO damages. Lind goes into —John Chinaman in Parte furnishes a meal at every losi price to workingmen. but -there la an unhappy suspicion of rata - -A lady correspondent having fallen in love with 31r. Leonard Jerome, tpy s that gentleman la the "noblest looking man in New York." —The New York Stock Exchange Sine given 430,000 for the puichaee ot food tor the poor of the South, by the South. ern Relict Committee. —There must be a "tea-room" in the Buffalo poorhouse. The. Ititst 'year's bill of expoises includes an item of ;997 for whisky and cigars. _7.1. THE New York 17Pred does not put a high estimate either inimac• ut i “ienei.s. or ON 11112 0.11.11,1i11 , 5 of In- i vcsl 'O'n'tihi'dgerCa°lr L o ß' i n a r g ' Made in the State Legislature over alleged cor- I ruptions in the management of the ca. , nals, and a committee of the Senate and I ' Assembly has been appointed to ihresti , gate the matter. These inVestigating c ommittees are very innocent, harmless affairs and seldom hurt anybody. The one in question will doubtless have a good time with the Canal Commissioners and contractors, drink a few battles of poor champagne, get well filled with , abominable Albany whisky, and make a ' report extolling the virtues and honesty of all who have anything to do with managing, repairing or running the State canals." —A.t a military luneral in Honesdale, Pa., Friday ~!aPernoun, while a salute was being tired at the grave, the cannon was prematurely discharged, and two men were fatally^ and another Slightly Injured. —Six persons employed al tho Nash ville jail were poisoned on Friday by eating sausages, in which some one had placed arsente. They were quite. sick, bat proMpt remedy relieved them. --Paris is all agog with a magnificent ball given by 3rlle Giula Darned, one of the queens of the derul-monde. She is an Iwlian. All nations now contrib ute beetles to the demi-monde of Paris. —Statistics show that the Northwest contains one-sixth of the improved land of the country, and produces one.hall of the entire bulk of tho products of the United States. 1711,11EDIATE RELIEF—A Cure At' LAJT •,It..TCALI.‘ lilnCla 111-I,IJ MATIL: MEWL fdr Rheumatism. tieura , ala. ()out, Nervuus ...Alta.:, and Ca na in th e dead ad race. This preparation is entirelynew, haelog leen in use only saew months: Yet, In no sin. le In stance hs... iteisoloown to tali Tee nest ooso (forty drops) lonart.bl elle% es the pato. sod. turlee repeated. often effects &cure. It net bulb rellevea the most exerattatlng agony; but. elicit the patient ti.• Seen coolie. to bed for tutmth.. n ar doses wilt ferqueutly enrry off 11, attack In two or three data; sod In teeny ewes of ex treme turbots, relief has been old Item.' ten hones. lo • I other costs t e soft rer has hero yerrsio. ed to Ninth r In • stunt space sodatlt m•. re chsrso o IL,LEDY is the smut . Quentin nee• flare toen•e the most violent attitets of Rheumatism, • en. raleta neut. Nervous Headaches. and 41 wel ter complaints. lo reap et It le eery d der tot to he i other numerous remees ehich are stautly bettor brought bet - re t ie t e greitberient or whlch lies In rout our sup. reris swallowing three et our quarto of ovate /hold, before the slightest Cede, I. prom darterod 11Am:telpher that • fear °censor this rm. , - medlnlue !gets Ilte magic. and IttstinttlY I alleviates the most 0nt0.% able pale. Tell tour athlete. Meats to try It and lie c wittred - A lee one doilar per bottle. Coils dealt for fill.bargh, g Gni /LP MING, Druggist._ Corner Monte& streetanal lhe .1211 J Dd. • f•ltt.Tra rat .bureh, ernes. • (dBAT HAIR, BILDIIESS, LUND- Kyr 'AN Y ••134Ante. of THE St , Al.e.—.t ISCOVERY CAN. 411•• HE Wllll •/.1) , DUN HAM CULLW RESTVILEKNL> .•• London. Our Hest As A ir Color Itcsonter•• ••Lundo Hair Odor K. ..I.naolon Physicians Hair Color Waterer" •Iroudon Hsu Color gestorcrt• ••,.ondon Use and Halt...oleo. tee..orero .•Loodon Hale Color Restorer". ••London Recommend It. Halt Color gestorer•• It never falls to Impart life, ',wet!, and eleor to the eteueat b. or, tar... sod rtottr Its fa Hue, sod Is Sure to prod ut•e a neo gruatti of Oat, eaustng It to grow tittle and strong. veal it C nts • bottle. al the hAf Ogles. • bold by SteCLA KHAN stclilEKNA.ti r lls Kerte& etre...J. HE". A. KELLY 37 Wood Ind JUS. FLEHINO, N 4 Market street, t itts. burgh. KA , E 4 I/WATT, A lento or. auZ,l3)treees /3 ,, rts Trlnunlrg 135..1 Fringe, in WI/tte.lackand Amber, Bead 'Viten tlutpure and Clcner haVP. ointe•nd APP/IPt^ t-aa , and Cape Vella. G•eoadtne a Tl•rue; klivAn't Edge and Instal:Av. A (MI Itheof LIN t• • BAN I , KIF.R , IIIErI In riot, li•dned. cbttli, Idcred and t which we are .• at 'very lon vice, IiUT I los , •r , at varlet,. eunalnlng pi,a. • el, I. er , chet. • d etterl. nILK at:43 cont. etch—something /loop tklrta Cor•rla, a .Irwer• •nd tiTRIFFII "1 . 1"...—a. large .tock Just re cel•rd of to tern.. Hain:hum all I ravelln. nage. T o il i.e.( ..1...V1b and 111.1Kra1l. UIL A arlf, up .talcs. will b e f.,011 weal ILO k .11 1 I . rat: 0 , 0. arhlcn ....Ma to the trade a: EA,TY.ItIi ruICErl. JOS. HORNE & CO ., non commenced reenacting. I have taken roar 77 and 79 Market Street. READ THE CERTIFICATE OF Rev. R. T. FLUALIN. To us. it , v3 nr. rritt : , Dear Str:—Thla If to certify that I was take Ith the deteepele a year stalest Meech, awl. kr • peeled of eight montni, was one of th ,;e: =lsere le creeturea you aver beheld. no beta( abl