The Columbia Democrat. (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, December 28, 1839, Image 1
Til 5 mMmrf.f,. . . , , . ...... , , - 1 a worn upon tlio Altar of God, eternal hostility to every form of Tyranny over the Mind of Man." Thomas Jefferson. PllINTED AND PUBLISHED BY If. WEBB. y iohimc IIg BfrOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COMTY, FA. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1839. Number 35. OFFICE OF THE DEMOCRAT, Optomte St. Paul's Church, Main-st. TERMS : 77ie COLUMBIA DEMOCRAT will be published even Saturday morning, at TWO DOLLARS per annum, payable half yearly in advance, or Two Dollars Fifty Cents, if not paid within the year. No subscription will be taken for a shorter period than six months; nor any discon tinuancc permitted, until all arrearages are discharged. JJD VER TISEMENTS not exceeding a square will be conspicuously inserted at One Dollar for the first three insertions, and Twenty-five cents for every subse quent nwrtlon. CTA liberal discount made to those, who advertise by the year. LETTERS addressed on business, must be post paid. MATIIBWS AND THE FRENCHMAN. Among the many foreigners with whom Mr.Mathcws was intimate was a M. P lie, who frequently visited us after our mar riage, Monsieur P lie and his wife a pretty English woman, had been married several years, but no child had blessed the otherwise happy couple. At the time we became acquainted with them, in York, the lady had given promise, and in due time, the critical period had arrived which was to complete their happiness, as they believed, by a more powerful bond of union. On the evening when the event was expected, and Monaieur P lie hoped to become a father, he invited himself to dinner with us, desir ing to divert if possible, the intensity of hit feelings front the little less than agony of suspeuce which he experienced lest his dearly belovod wiTo should fall a sacrifice to het situation. It was almost impossible, even, while witnessing the husband's suff ering, not to smile at the ludicrous expres sion he gavo it. Mr. Mathews urged him to tako more wine than the habit of the abstemious Frenchman would have allowed him to drink at any other time, but now ho seem ed glad to use any artificial means to sus tain himself. A second bottle of port had produced aV'ter dinner before any intelligence from homo t cached the anxious husband, wheu lo ! is he was sipping a second glass of newly opened wine, a servant from home was admitted, almost breathless with haste, and announced that his mistress was " put to bed with a fine boy I" The rapture of the father was as whimsical as had been his dread. Ho was flying off to sec his first born; when a prudent message fiom the doc tor was added, recommending Mousieur P lie not to return immediately, but to wait, satisfied with present intelligence un til summoned. To this he reluctantly sub mitted; and reseating himself, indulged in his futuro prospect of added bliss. Noth ing had been wanting but a son lo perfect the interest of hi life; one child was suffi cient for their mutual wishes; indeed, as he observed, a largo family would not be de sirable, or consistent with his means; and, as he and his wifo wore no longer youthful, it was not probable that any very serious ad dition to hia family circle could be expected -ho was, in fact, the happiest of men. After a short interval, the servant appear ed once more, to acquaint Monsieur his master, that, since his first message, "Mis tress has got another bairn !" Surprising was the news, and somewhat damping, we thought, to the happiness and satisfaction which the first intelligence so indisputably occasioned. However, after tlio first ejaculation of surprise, Mons P He inquired how his wife was, and on being assured there was nothing to fear, stid that he would soon bo allowed to sco her, bo appeared to tesign himself to hit two-fold blessing observing : " Well, well, it cannot be prevented it is one more den I expect rnais I not repine two shildrtn a" ono time i rather inconvenient el very e pensive '. mais n'tmporte, I cannot help f 'm-1 moost bo resign to it." In this manner he philosophised while he sipped his wine, looking into the fire at tho samo time, in a musing attitude; now and then, however, taking out his watch, and again expressing his anxiety lest his " dear wife" should be in danger. We had some difficulty in preventing him from appearing at his house before the ruling powers there thought proper. A third time his messenger rushod in, mora agitated and pale than at the first. He appeared to bring fatal news, for his eyes seemed almost bursting from their sockets, and his whole appearance was tru ly alarming to us all. Well 1" wo simultaneously exclaimed, " how is Madame J" "She's as well as can be expected, doc tor says; but " " But what I" asked the agitated hus band. But she's .gettin another bairn !" re plied the messenger. Annosserc shild.W' cried the astonished Frenchman, starting from his chair, and pushing his hair back from his forehead, with a " Wheugh !" as if sudden heat had distressed him. In truth he looked less in sorrow than in anger at this unseasonble augmentation; and after a second pause in seeming reflection, ho suddenly assumed a resolute manner, as if from stiong effort of mental decision; buttoned up his coat rap idly; called for his hat; forced it with a blow down upon his forehead; drew in his breath; and 111 a calm yet determined voice, as he hastened out of the room, oxclaimcd, as if in soliloquy, " I must put a stop to dis bu siness I" Memoirti of Mathews. From the Washington Metropolis. WHERE ARE WE. This is a question every true lover of his countr', and ofits.fr'ee De-noeratic institu tions, ought to put to himself. Arc we where the Revolution put us have wo ad vanced in Republican principles, and retain ed tho simplicity of our form of govern ment or have we lost sight of the funda mental principles which alone can sustain a Democracy ? These are serious matters for consideration. True is it tint "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Mankind are naturally ambitious, and prone to usurp power not belonging to them and the hon est and unsuspecting portion are constantly in danger of being the tools and dupes o! the crafty and knavish. Hence it is that those who are so desirous of obtaining great wealth, often, are not scrupulous, to a very great extent, as to tho means by which they attain their end ; and so they but enrich themselves, they care not how many they impoverish. If they can keep within the lino of the law, they consider themselves free from all moral censure, and this is the reason why moneyed incorporations are so extremely dangerous to a community. A Republican Government is one very simple in its operations, plain to be understood, and needs no aid of foreign ornament to show its beauties or usefulness. The fun damental principle of our government is.lhat "all men arc created free and equal." We repudiate the doctrine of the divinity of King's, or that one man in society is, ex cept by his own conduct, better or worse than another Democracy and Aristocracy are antagonistical, and whithersoever one goeth, there the other cannot come Where are we in relation to these matters ? Is there no Aristocracy among us ? No dan gerous moneyed oligarchy that is sapping the very foundation of our free government? Are wo all free and equal ? Is tho hard working mechanic, who toils from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, in the enjoyment of the same privi leges and immunities as the merchant, stock-jobber, and bank director if he is not, then is there something radically wrong then is our government departing from the true principles of Democracy with which It first started into existence, and it behooves us to ask, where are we ? Is thero not throughout our republic an J aristocracy of wealth mora ignoble than the family aristocracy of Great Britain 1 Is no our country filled with tyrants who oppress and grind he poor to tho very dust; and is not the power which belongs to.tho people gradually stealing from the many to the few ? 13 not fraud openly and violently attacking, day by day, those sacred palla diums of freedom, tho ballot boxes; and are not moneyed incorporations gaining supre macy by the basest briberies and corrup tions ? Can these things go on quietly, and our form of government still remain that of a democracy, or in other words, can its constitution continue healthy with such diseases preying upon its very vitals? Is it not time for every freeman every man who loves his country and its glorious in stitutions every man who would not base ly be- a slave to rouse up in the majesty of his might, and crush beneath his feet these foes to his peace and his happiness Is it not time for every man to put the question to himself, and ask as recards republican form of Government Where are wo I MEIIEMET ALT (From 'Letters on Egypt,' by Prince Puokler Muskau) At our evening meal the viceroy related many interesting ance doles of tho timo when ho first assumed the sovereign power in Egypt. When I expressed my regret that he had not taken measures to preserve thorn as matters of history, he made this remarkable reply : "Why should 1 do this ? I look back with no pleasure on that period of my life, and what would it profit the world to be made acquainted with a soiies of struggles, of privations, of artifices, and of bloodshed? It is enough if posterity shall know that Mehemct AH has neither birth nor favor to thank for what ho has become ; my history shall only begin with the moment when I first awakened this countiy from her sleep of centuries, and commencid for her a pe riod of now existence. It is strange, con tinued he, 'that of 17 children, I should be the only one left. Nino of my brothers died in infancy, and this was the cause of my parents bringing me up in an unusually tender manner. I was often laughed at by my comrades, who used to cry 'If his pa rents should die, what will become of Mc humet All, who has nothing, aud is good for nothing ?' This made a deep impress ion on me, and, as a boy of 15 years of age I determined to conquer mysslf I often fasted for days together, slept as little as possible, and had no rest till I excelled all my comrades in bodily exercises. I recol lect once, in stormy weather, rowing for a wager lo reach a little island, which is to this day my property. No one succeeded but myself, aud before 1 did so, all the skin was torn from my hands ; but the pain did not abate my ardour. In this manner I endeavored to strengthen both mind and body till, in the little war of our village, I found moro serious employment. In my 19th year my father died, and a wider field soon opened itself to me. Some great ex cesses had been committed by Greek pi rates in our neighborhood, and my uncle received orders, at the instigation of sever al powerful Turks, to take the command of a small vasscl of war of the Sultan's and go in search of them. He could not refuse obediency but represented to tho Pacha that ho should be entirely ruined by being obliged to leave his homo at this time, as he had no one to whom he could entrust the management of his affairs. At the samo time he pointed out his incapacity for such a command, and took occasion to mention me as an enterprising young man accustom ed to war. He succeeded in convincing the Pacha I desird nothing hotter, and had tho good fortune not only to defeat the pirates, but after a short pursuit to board their vessel, and take as prisoners all who remained alive. For this action I was, in my 20th year, appointed a captain in the Turkish servce. Snch a rapid rise occa sioned of courso much envy, and even awak ened the jealously of my uncle, who, some time after, I know not with what intention, cot me sent off to Egypt. How litllo did I anticipate the destiny awaiting me there," " BETTER LAUGH THAN CRY I" So says wo. There's no use in rubbing one's eyes and blubbering over all " the ills that flesh is heir to." Red eyes caused by any thing but brandy, or its kindred, are scandalous looking affairs. The best way s to " stand up lo tho rack," and take tho good things and tho evil things as they come along, without repining always cheering yourself with that philosophical ejaculation, ' better luck next time I" Is dame fortuue as shy as a weasel ? Toll her to go to thunder, and laugh her in the face. Tho happiest fellow we ever saw slept upon a plank and hadn't a shil ling in his pocket not a coat to his back. Do yon find disappointment lurking in many a prizo ?" Then throw it away and laugh at your own folly for so pursuing it. Does fame elude your grasp? Then laugh at the fools that arc so often her votaries. She's of no consequence any how, and nov cr buttered a piece of bread, or furnished a man a clean dickey. Take our advice in all circumstances to laugh " dull care away !" Don't be in hurry to get out of the world. It's a veiy good world, considering the creatures who inhabit it, and is just about as full of fun as it well can be. lou never saw a man cut his throat with a broad grin on his face, it's a grand preventive of suicide. There philosophy and religion too, in laughing it shows a clear conscience and sincere graV titude for the good things of life, nd ele vatcs us above the brute creation- So here goes for fun and we'll put in for our shaie while the ball is rolling. Goshen Democrat THE BETRAYER'S DREAM. BY B. L BULWEK. For weeks he know nothing of this earth he was encompassed with the spectres of a terrible dream, All was confusion, dark' ncss, horror a series and a change of tor ture ! At one time he was hurried through tho heavens in a womb of a fiery star, girt above, below and around with unextinguisl: able but unooasuming flames. Wherever he trod, as he wandered through his vast and blazing prison, the molten fire was his air. Flowers, and ttccs, and hills were in that world as in ours, but wrought from one lurid and intolerable light; aud scattered round, rose gigantic palaces and domes of the living flame, like the mansions of. the city of Hell. With every moment there pissed to and fro shadowy forms, on whose countenances was engraven unutterable an guish; but not a shricK, not a groan rung through the red air; for the doomed, who fed and inhabited the flames, forbidden the consolation of voice. Above there sat, fix ed aud black,a solid and impenetrable cloud, Night frozen into substance 1 and from the midst there hung a banner of a pale and sickly flame, on which was written " For ever." A river rushed rapidly beside him. Ho stooped to slake the agony of his thirst the waves were waves of fire I and, as he started from the burning draught, he long ed to shriek aloud, and could not I Then he cast his despairing eyes above for mer cy, and saw on the livid and motionless ban ner " For ever." "A changocamo o'er tho spirit of his dream." He was suddenly borne upon the winds and storms to the ocean of an eternal win ter. He fell stunned aud unstruggling up on the ebbless and sluggish waves. Slow ly and heavily they rose over him as ho sunk : then camn tho lengthened and suffo cating torture of that drowning death the impotent and convulsive contest with the closing waters the gurgle, tho choking, the bursting of the pent breath tho flutter of tho heart, its agony and its stillness 1 He recovered. Ho was a thousand fath oms bsncath the sea, chained in a rock round which the heavy waters rose as a wall' Ho felt his own flesh rot and decay, perishing from his limbs piece by piece; and he saw the coral banks which it requires a thousand ages to form, rise slowly from their slimy bed, and spread, atom by atom, till they bacarao a shelter for the levithain; their growth was his only record of eterni ty; and ever, around and above him, cam vast and mishapen things tho wonders of the secret deep; and the sea serpent, tho huge chimajra of the north, made its rest ing place by his side, glaring upon him with a livid and death like eye, wan, yet burn ing as an expiring sun. But over all in every change, in every moment of that immortality, there was pre sent ono pale and motionless countenance, never tur.iing from his own. The fiend of hell, the monsters of the hidden ocean, had no horror so awful as the human face of the dead whom he had loved ! The words of his sentence had gono forth. Alike through that delirium and its most fearful awakening, through the future, through the vigils of the joyless day, and the broken dreams of the'night, there was a charm upon his soul a hell within him self, and the curse of his sentence was never to forget ! TRUTH. " As for the Truth, it endureth and ia always strong. It livcth and conqueretb, for evermore." 1st Esdras iv. 38. Theories which thousands cherish, Pass like clouds that sweep the sky ; Creeds and dogmas all must perish ; Truth herself can never die. From tho glorious heavens above her, She has used her beams abroad, That the souls who tiuly love her, May become tho sons of God. Worldlings blindly may refuse her, Close their eyes and call it night; Learned scoffers may abuse her, But they cannot quench the light. Thrones may totter, empires crumble, All their glories cease to be; Whilst she.Christ-liite, crowns the humble, And from bondage sets them fret. God himself will e'er defend her, From the fury of her foe, Till she in her native splendour Sits enthroned o'er all below. YOUNG MECHANICS. There is no class of the community upon whom the future welfare of the country more essentially depends, than upon the ris ing generation of young mechanics. If they are intelligent, sober, industrious, and consequently independent, able and accus tomed to judge for themselves, and govern ed in their own conduct by an enlightened view of their own best interest if they aro men of this sort, (and it is for their fathers to make them such) the mechanics will form the strongest bulwark of our free in stitutions, and the best hope of the Repub lic. Try. " Let a man sit down at the foot of a great mountain," says Dr. Johnson, " to contemplate its greatness, and he will be ready to say, 1 can never go over it; tho attempt is futile." Yet on a secondary thought, he concludes the task can be per formed, not by one mighty leap, but by suc cessive steps, and by tho simplo process of putting one foot beforo the other Again: "The chief art,"says Locke, "is 10 attempt but little at a timo. The widest excursions of the mind aro made by short flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabrics are formed by the accumulation of simplo proposition." Drops of water con stitute an ocean; sands make a mountain, and lha rooks arc not worn away by a sud den force but by continual droppings. Death From a Cornstock. On Monday last, near Shuylkill Sixth and Lombard streets, as a lad of fourteen years of age, named Pollock, was engaged in some ac tive play with some other boys, in getting over a fenco in a hurry, he accidentally fell upon a sharp upright corn slock, which en tered his groin, ami caused his death in twenty-four hours after. A more singular cause of death we have seldom heard. U. S, Gazctlt.