YOL. 4 NO. 13.
BY S. B. EOW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 18-57.
1
SHANNON'S FUNERAL.
To tbo lion. P. C. Shannon, of Pittsburgh, broth
er to the late Thomas Shannon, these lines are
regpecuully inscribed. j. 8. B.
Beauty's eye now dimmed with weeping,
For the lost one silent sleeping,
As the sister knelt to pray
By her brother's lifeless clay.
But the hour at last had como.
And the clock was tolling one.
t ' A the carriers raised the bior
Of that loved and lost one dear.
Flow the mournful funeral train ,
Wending o'er the grave-yard, came,
At their head in white robes trod,
r ad. two grey-haired men of God.
Hound the grave, they silent bow.
While the holy men avow :
r ' Ashes to ashes ; dust to dnst
, This we are return we must."
" The writ was o'er the task was done
And sadly they turned away,
- Leaving behind that heedless one.
To moulder and decay.
, MAJOR GENERAL STARK.
' AN HISTORICAL 8K.ETCU.
, The fortunate issue of the war of the Revo
lution was indebted greatly to the French and
Indian war. In this latter contest, the lead
ers of the American lorces, while serving un
der the British flag, were schooled in warfare,
and experienced in the battle field. Had a
long interval elapsed between the two wars,
the officers who had imbibed their skill in such
terrible scenes, would have died off, and all
military knowledge have faded from the minds
'of the people. Such a position of affairs
w.ould have, undoubtedly, ltd to the defeat of
Ihe cause. This fact clothes the earlv wars of
the provinces with greater interest, and, in
their annals, we look for the early manifesta
tion of those powers in the heroes of the Rev
olution, that, at a later date, shone cut so
brightly for the cause of liberty. Among
those who fought and served in these conflicts
was John Stark, lie was a strong and active
youth, full of fire and energy, fearless, and
lond of adventure.
- On one occasion, accompanied by his elder
brother, and by two young men by the names
of Stinson and Eastman, he started on a hunt
ing expedition into the vast wilderness near
the north-western part of New Hampshire.
'While pursuing their vocation in those soli
tudes, they came one day upon a trail of ten
Indians, which induced them to make prepa
rations to leave. John, while collecting the
traps, a little distance off, was suddenly sur
rounded and-seized by the savages, who asked
him where his other companions were. For
getting himself, and thinking only of the safe
ty of his friends, he pointed in a wrong direc
tion, and succeeded in leading the Indians two
miles ont of the way. He would havr entire
ly b-iffled their search but for the signal guns
of his fellow hunters, which they, alarmed at
his long absence, fired for his return. Guided
by the sound, the savages retraced their steps
and came upon them moving down the river
Stark and Stinson in a boat, and Eastman on
the bank. The latter they immediately seiz
ed, and ordered John Stark to hail the other
two, pnd bring them ashore. IIo obeyed, but
.instead of asking theni to share his captivity,
lie told them of his peril, and advised them to
pull with all their might to the opposite shore
They sprang to their oars, which the Indians
no sooner saw, than four of them loaded their
guns and fired. Young Stark, who watched
their movements, suddenly leaped forward and
knocked two of their guns in the air. The
others then lifted their pieces and fired, but
the intrepid arm of the young hunter again
Interposed, and struck the barrels aside from
their aim. One bhot, however, took effect,
and young Stinson fell back in tho boat dead
John called out to his elder brother to fly, for
the guns were now all unloaded. He did so
and escaped. The ludians, maddened at their
lailure, fell furiously on Stark a"nd beat hi
cruelly.
"When the party returned to St. Francis,
the two prisoners were compelled to ran me
caimtlet. Eastman first passed tnrougn me
lines, and was terribly bruised, but Stark had
Intention nf beinsr tamelV Iioggeu. -o
. n , -V-
no
sooner did he approach the fearful avenue of
warriors, with their uplifted rods and blud
geons, than he snatched a club from the near
est one and sprang forward. With his eye
glancing defiance, and his trusty club swing
ing in rapid circles about his head, falling,
now on the right hand, and now on the left,
he cleared a terrible path for himself through
the throng, scattering the warriors in affright,
and dcalinz far more blows than he received,
in his passage
IIe remained three or four months with the
Indians, who found him rather an impractica
ble captive. When ordered to hoe corn, he
cut it up, and left the weeds standing ; and,
vben pressed still farther, thrw his hoc into
the river. Instead of being exasperated at
this defiant spirit, his captors were pleased
with it, and adopted him as a young chief iu
to their tribe. At length ho was ransomed."
In the French war he served as a lieutenant,
and was engaged in many of the conflictsjhat
deluged the frontiers with blood. In 1757, he
served under Major Rogers, in an expedition
down Lake George, on the ice, to Lake Cham
plain. As they approached Ticonderoga they
learned that a large body of French and In
dlanj were waiting for tbem. They immedi
ately ordered a retreat through the country,
iuiuujh m
and proceeded in single file through the snow,
when they suddenly came upon a largo body
of the enemy. So unexpected was the meet
ing that a rapid volley was discharged into
their ranks before they were scarcely aware of
the danger. They were immediately formed
in order of battle to repel the attack of the
enemy. A desperate contest ensued. Rogers
was wounded, and the command devolved on
Stark. Darkness was now coming on, and
some proposed a retreat, when Stark, who
knew that their safety depended upon keeping
their situation until the darkness would cover
their retreat, declared that he would shoot the
first man who attempted to fly. Fighting in
the thickest of the battle, a bullet struck the
lock of his gun and s battered it to pieces. At
that moment a Frenchman, not many yards
from where he stood, staggered back with a
shot through his body, when Stark sprang for
ward and seized the gun from his relaxed
grasp. Desperately and obstinately the con
flict continued, with the snow four feet on the
ground, and a January night rapidly approach
ing. Darkness Laving settled on the scene,
the enemy ceased firing, and Stark ordered a
retreat. All night the fatigued and wounded
company continued their course, and when
morning came, halted on Lake George, it be
ing utterly impossible for the wounded to pro
ceed farther. The nearest fort was forty miles
distant, and Stark volunteered to go for aid.
'Nothing can show more strikingly the pro
digious energy of the man, th3n this expedi
tion. Wearied as he was, and not having had
any sleep the night before, he set out and ac
complished the forty miles, on snow shoes, by
evening. Without waiting to rest himself,
and too noble to send others in his stead, he
immediately started back, and travelling all
night, reached his companions next morning.
Hastily placing his wounded in sleds, he set
out again, and, in his anxiety to relieve their
sufferings, pushed on with such rapidity that
ho reached the fort again that night. Few
men of our day could stand such a prodigious
strain on their physical energies as this. Af
ter having marched and fought all one day,
then retreated all night, he travelled on foot,
without stopping to rest, a hundred and twenty
miles in less than forty hours
When the war of the Revolution broke out,
and news was brought to him of the battles of
Concord and Lexington, within ten minutes'
time he was in the saddle hastening to Boston
In the Battle of Bunker Hill he was present
and fought courageously ; was with Washing
ton at Trenton, and in the Battle of Benning
ton won for himself undying glory. When,
on this occasion, the enemy first appeared be
fore him, he pointed them out to his soldiers,
saying, "Sec there, men ! there are the red
coats. Before night they are ours, or Molly
Stark's a widow." The battle was one of the
most desperately contested of the whole war
Stark's horse was shot under him in the early
part of thengagement, but with his sword
his hand he continued to pass through his
ranks on foot, cheering on his men, and direct-
in the progress of the battle. The victory to
the Americans was most decisive and glorious.
After the war, Stark retired into private life,
and lived to the good old age of ninety-lour,
and long enough to see the mighty growth
and increasing greatness of the country whOso
independence he had helped to form
As Irishman's Definition or Mtstert.
Chancing a!ong where a number of the .Em
erald Isle natives were assembled, we happen
ed to hear the following dialogue : "l say
Murphy, what's the maning of mistery?"
Faith, f t:i radinsr the paper, and it said
it was a mystery how it was done .'"
"Well," said Murphy, "Pat, I'll teach ye
v whin I lived wid me rather, a nttie
gossoon, they gave a partby, and me mother
wintto market to buy somethin' for the par-
thy to ate, and among the let of things she
bought a half iv a barrel of pork, ye see
yyeu snc put it down in the cellar, bless her
, f sa(e tapper, till the party came on
me mother sent me down cellar to get some
of the pork, dy ye mind well, I wint down to
the barrel and opened it, and fished about;
but divil ft bJt of pork coul(t i fined; sol
looked around about the barrel to see where
the pork was and found a rat hole in the
bottom of the barrel, where the pork had run
out anu leit ino onuo suumj, uv jwo .
. . ... 1 ; ..J Zn. An. BOO
"Hould on Murphy hould on ! wait a bit
r, ma how could all the pork git out of
the barrel and lave the brine standing ?
"Well. Pat," said Murphy, "that's what I d
like to know mcsclf, do you see ; there's the
mystery.
Kansas. The members of the Kansas Con
stitutional Convention in session at Lecomp
ton, have held a caucus, in which the majority
resolved to submit the Constitution to a popu
lar vote, with two clauses to be separately
voted upon, for and against slavery. The
,itrae ivk so bitter against this that it was
supposed they would go home before the work
was done, and thus leave tne onveuuun wnu
nut a nnorum. Lane has resigned his com
mand as General of the Free State Militia.
The official certificates issued to the members
elect of the new Legislature, show that the
nn, will stand 24 Free State to 10 i,cu,ocrai
3 ,l. o Free State to 4 Demo-
1C, aim i" vui
.. - nwns'hin offiO.M-!
u i th recent election, have come for-
chown at the wcet elect , that fop
. h ii tnA f ( n ! 1 1 1 anu "
wara ana iaiw - wl of-
the first time, Kansas u "-j
ficers of recognized autnorn. .
NORTHERN EUROPE.
Bayard Taylor's Letters, published in the ST.
r. Tribune, are highly interesting. His last
s from Vossevangen, in Norway, "a compaet
little village, half buried in trees, clustered a
bont the massive old church, with its black,
pointed tower, and roof covered ith pitched
shingles, in the centre of the valley, while the
mountains around shone bald and bright thro'
floating veils of vapor which had risen from
the lake."
"Leaving tho valley,we drove for some time
through pine forests, and here, as elsewhere,
bad occasion to notice the manner in which
this source of wealth has been drained of late
years. The trees were very straight and beau-
ifui, but there wer none of more than mid
dle age. All the fine old timber had been cut
away , all Norway, In fact, bad been despoiled
in like manner, and the people are but just a
waking to the fact that they are killing a goose
which lays golden eggs. The government so
prudently economical that it only allows
$100,000 worth of silver to be quarried annu
ally in the mines of Kongsherg, lest the sup
ply should be exhausted, has, I believe, adop
ted measures for the preservation of the for
ests, but1. 1 am not able to stat6 their precise
character. Except in valleys remote from the
rivers and fiords, one now finds very little ma
ture timber." .
Crossing "the Hardanger Fiord, a broad,
winding sheet of'water, with many arms,"
they reached Vik, at the head of a bay on the
southern side.
"We were now but eight miles from the Vo-
ring Foss, and set out betimes the next morn-
ng, taking with us a bottle of rjd wine, some
dry bread, and Peder Halstensen as guide. 1
mention Peder particularly, because he is the
only jolly, lively, wide awake, open-hearted
Norwegian I have ever seen. . . We walk
ed across the birch-wooded isthmus behind
Vik to the Eyfjordsvaud, a lake about three
miles long, which completely cuts off the fur
ther valley, the mountains on cither side fal
ling to it in sheer precipices a thousand feet
high. . ; By this time, we had reached the
other end of the lake, where in the midst of a
little valley of rich alluvial soil, covered with
patches of barley and potatoes, stood the ham
let of Sasbo. Here Peder procured a horse
for my friend, and we entered the mouth of a
sublime gorge which opened to the eastward
a mere split in the mighty ramparts of Har
danger fjeld. Peder was continually shouting
to the people in the fields : 'Look here ! these
are Americans these two and the other one
is a German ! This one talks Norsk, and the
others don't.'
"We ascended the defile by a rough foot
path, at first through alder thickets, but after
ward over immense masses of rocky ruin which
bad tumbled from the crags far above, and al
most blocked up the valley. In silence, deso
Iation and awful grandeur, this defile equals
any of the Alpine passes. In the Spring.when
the rocks, split by wedges of ice, disengage
themselves from the summit and thunder down
upon the piled wrecks of ages, it must bo tcr
rrbly sublime. A bridge, consisting of two
logs spanned across abutments of loose stones,
and vibrating strongly under our tread, took
us over the torrent. Our road, for some dis
tance, was now a mere staircase, scrambling
up, down, under, over and between the chaos
of sundered rocks. A little further, and the
defilo shut in altogether, forming a cul de sac
of apparently perpendicular walls from two to
three thousand feet high. 'Ilow are we to get
out of this V I asked Peder. Yonder,' said
he, pointing to the inaccessible summit in
front. But where does the stream come from ?
That you will soon see.' Lo ! all at once a
clean splij from top to bottom disclosed itself
in the wall on our left, and in passing its
mouth we had a glimpse up the monstrous
chasm, whoso dark blue sides, falling sheer
three'thousand feet, vanquished at the bottom
in eternal gloom and spray.
Crossing the stream again, we commenced
ascending over the debris of stony avalanches
the path becoming steeper and steeper, until
the far-ofl summit almost hung over our heads
It was now a zigzag ladder, roughly thrown to
gether, but very firm. The red mare which
my friend rode climbed it like a cat, never
hesitating, even at an angle of 50 dcg., and
never making a false step. The performance
of this noble animal was almost incredible,
should never have believed a horse capable o
such gymnastics had I not seen it with my
own eyes, had I not mounted her myself at
the most difficult points, in order to test her
powers. You, who have climbed the Mayen
wand, iff going from the Glacier of the Rhone
to the Grimsel, imagine a slant higher, steep
er, and composed of loose rocks, and yon will
have an exact picture of our ascent. We
climbed well," and yet it took us just an hour
and a half to reach the summit.
"We were now on the great plateau of the
Hardanger Field. 2,500 feet above the sea.
wild region lav before us great swells, cov
ered with heather, sweeping into the distance
a n tn solitude and silence. A lew
insolated peaks, streaked with snow, rose from
this upper level, and a deep break on our left
revealed the top of the chasm through which
the torreut made its way. At its extremity,
mile or more distant, rose a light cloud of va
por, seeming close at hand in the thin moun
tain air. - The thick, spongy soil, not more
than two feet deep, rests on a solid bed of
rock the entire Hardanger Fjeld, in fact, is
but a single rock and is, therefore, always
swampy. Whortleberries were abundant, as
well as the multeberry (Rubu ehtememorus'),
which I have found gi owing in Newfoundland,
and Peder, running off on the hunt of them,
was continually leading us astray. But at
last we approached the wreath of whirling
spray, and heard the hollow roar of the Voring
Foss. The great chasm yawned before us : a-
nother step, and we stood on the brink. I
seized the branch of a tough pine sapling as a
support, and leaned over. My head did not
swim : the height was too great for that, the
impression to grand and wonderful. The
shelf of rock on which I stood projected far
out over a gulf twelve hundred feet deep,
whose opposite side rose in one grand escarp
ment from the bottom to a height of eight hun
dred feet above ray head. On this black wall,
wet with eternal spray, was painted a splendid
rainbow, forming two-thirds of a circle before
melted into the gloom below. A little
stream fell in one long thread of Silver from
the very summit, like a plumb-line dropped to
measure the two-thousand feet. On my right
hand, the stream, coming down from the level
of the Fjeld in a torn, twisted and boiling mass,
reached the brink of the gulf at a point about
four hundred feet below me, whence it fell in
a single sheet to the bottom, a depth of be
tween eight and nine hundred feet.
"Could one view it from be low,th is fall would
present one of the grandest spectacles in the
world. In height, volume of water and sub
lime surroundings, it has no equal. The spec
tator, however, looks down upon it from a
great height above its brink, whence it is so
foreshortened that he can only guess its majes
ty and beauty. By lying upon your belly and
thrusting your head out beyond the roots of
tho pines, you can safely peer into the dread
abyss, and watch, through the vortex of whirl
ing spray in its tortured womb, the starry co
rucations which radiate from the bottom of tho
fall like rockets of water incessantly explod
ing, iiut this view, sublime as it is, oniy
wbets your desire to stand below and see the
river, with its sprayey crest shining against the
sky, make but one leap from heaven to hell.
Some persons have succeeded, by entering the
chasm at its mouth in the valley below, in get
ting far enough to see a portion of the fall, the
remainder being concealed by a projecting
rock; and the time will come, no doubt, when
somebody will have energy enough to carry a
path to its very foot. I envy the travellers
who will then visit tho Voring Foss."
A Hard Shell. The Peninsular, of Tam
pa, Florida, is attaining a Munchausenish rep
utation as a raconteur. Its last comes un
der the head of accidents," and runs thus :
On Monday of this week, while Captain
Parkhill was returning to his camp from this
place, the horse his servant (a strapping negro
man) was riding took fright and threw the ri
der. The head of the negro, in his descent,
struck the leg of Capt. Parkhill's horse, break
ing it when it (the negro's head) glanced and
struck a tree on the side of the road, peeling
off the bark for several feet. The negro was
stupefied for an instant, but received no inju
ry ! It is supposed he belongs to the hard
shell persuasion."
Statistics of Consumption. Medicaatis
tics appear to prove that consumption, where
prevalent, originates as often in summer as in
winter, and the best authorities declare that it
is more common in hot than in cold climates
There is more consumption in the Tropical In
dies, both East and West, than in the almost
arctic Canadas. The number of the British
troops attacked with this disease in Jamaica
is annually twelve in one thousand, while in
Canada it is only about six. The British gov
ernment have accordingly resolved upon send
ing their consumptive soldiers to a cold cli
mate in preference to a warm one.
Somebody, we don't know "adzactly" who,
entertains the idea that some fast men very
slongly resemble sheep ; "for," says he, "they
gambol in their youth, frequent the turf, are
oftentimes black legs, and invariably fleeced."
What an insult to the memory of ram, lamb,
sheep and mutton !
If you don't want a woman to estray, the
sooner you provide her with a baby the better.
A blue-eyed boy will do more toward keeping
Mrs. Gabbers morals sweet, than all the ser
mons that were ever preached.
At the recent races, says the Cleveland Lea
der, an Indian named Smith ran two and a half
miles, against the horse trotting five miles,
for a purse of $20, tho Indian beating the fast
est horse over a mile. Indian's time 12.08.
Tom : "Hallo, Fred! What, you writing
poetry f " Fred "Yes l,m writing an otred
to my tailor." Tom : "What's the time and
tune ?" Fred : "Time, sixty days. It's set
to notes of mine i nhis possession."
"Julius, what part ob de ceremonies do de
ladies most admire when dey go to church ?"
"Well, Pompey , I can't tell dat. What is it V
"AVby, ob course, it's de kirns."
- Cheap Cobs. South of Springfield, III., on
the railroads, some of the farmers are offering
corn at 15 cents per bushel in the field ; others
at $5 per acre.
A TIORSE STORY.
A keeper of a botel.not fifty miles ff om Bos
ton, is, or was a famous man for horses, owned
many, and was always ready for a trade in
such cttle. ITe was sharp at a bargain, and
was never known to make a move that did'nt
count on his side, until the following happen
ed, that proved an exception to the rule. He
always had some particular horse on hand for
every particular emergency of trade, and the'
adroitness of his operations on putting ofl a
beast was a subject of delighting approval, on
all hands, among connoisseurs of that delight
ful and much abused animal, the horse. No
one ever traded with Stafile that did not con
fess himself satisfied, though satisfaction be
ing a latitudinal word did not always mean
that the satisfaction was the ultimate of hap
piness in the trade like tho same term in con
nection with the duello.
There was a jolly col bier, whoso name was
Wax, that occupied a small shop near the ho
tel, to whom Staffle was accustomed to refer in
case of any stick in a transaction, and he being
a disinterested man, would decide on the mat
ter of difference always hewever, by what
was deemed a strange fatality, deciding in the
favor of Stafile. Some, however, went so far
as to intimate that Staflle and the cobbler had
talked the matter over previously and had cer
tain signs by which they understood each oth
er.
When the stick came, then StafHe would say,
"I'm willing to leave it to a third party, and
as Mr. Wax, around the corner, knows the
value of the horse I'm swapping with yon, he
will be as good and candid an arbitrator as we
can find, and I guess I'll call him." Mr. Wax
would accordinglv come out, leather apron and
all, and after looking at the matter candidly,
would decide that Staffle should receive a smart
consideration as the difference in value, and
this would settle it in nine times out of ten
One day there came along a stranger with a
pretty good horse, and it was at once an object
of Staffle's interest. lie examined tho horse
in all its points, and determined to have him
The determination worked itself into a positive
fever bv the next morning: and when the
stranger's horse was led out to be harnessed
Staffle stepped out and asked the owner, who
was looking on, seeing that the harness was
adjusted properly, if he did'nt want to swap
horses.
Tho stranger told him that he had'nt the
least objection, provided he could make a lit
tle something out of it.
"Well, I am glad to hear you say so. John
bring out the red colt."
The red colt was accordingly brought out. I
Its name was a misnomer. It was one of those
animals that, having been called a colt when
legitimately entitled to the appellation, had
forfeited it by the offense of age, and was now
sailing under false colors. The stranger look
ed at the "colt," and gave a whistle as be saw
the discrepancy between the title and the age.
"Well," said he at last, "how will you trade?
What will you give to boot ?"
"Bool!" said Staffle, with feigned surprise,
"the boot is on the other leg, I think."
"All," said the man, well, if you think so,
we will stop negotiation. Good morning."
"Hold on," cried Staffle, "hold on don't
be in such a hurry. Suppose I offer you say,
twenty-five dollars how would that please
you ?"
It would not please me at all," was the re
ply. "I shouldn't want to take less than eigh
ty dollars."
"Well," said Staflle, "I can't do that ; but
I'll tell you what I will do I'll leave it to some
body." "Done," replied the stranger, "anything for
a trade. Whom will you leave it to 1 Some
body, I hope, that knows what a good horse is."
"Never a better, sir," said Staflle, delight
ed ; "and here's the man, of all others, that I
would like to sec, coming into the yard.
Good morning, Mr. Wax."
Wax nodded good morning back again, and
said so, and then stood with bis bands under
his apron looking at the horses."
"Mr. Wax," continued Staflle, "this gentle
man and myself are about trading horses, and
we want you to decide upon the amount of
boot that I am to pay him. You know what an
excellent horse the "colt" is, and can judge,
by comparing the two, what the difference
should be."
"Mr. Wax, are yon a good judge of horses 1
Mr. Wax nodded, and looked up into his face,
as much as if to say, I should like to' see you
find a better one. He then proceeded to
gravely examine the two horses, and, after
standing with his arms akimbo for some five
minutes, said
"I should think about seventy-five dollars
wonld be about right."
- "Good," said the stranger, "five dollars isn't
much in a trade. Give me seventy-five dol
lars and take the horse."
Staflle was red as a beet, and drawing out
his pocket book, he counted out seventy-five
dollars, and paid them over. The transfer was
made in silence, and the stranger drove away.
After he had gone, StalHo turned to Wax, who
stood there very smilingly, saying
"That waa a devil of a trick you played me.
What was you thinking of 1 Didn't you un
derstand the "colt" was mine I"
"Yes," replied Wax, "but you didn't sus
pect the other horse was mine, did you ? I
bought him yesterday on a speculation. 2?o
fgi Saturday Gazette. -
AXCIE-NT CIVILIZATION IN TI1E U.S.
A paragraph is going the rounds of the news
papers, ainrming jnai a umna
found, in Illinois imbedded in a seam oi m
tuminous coal. Without being willing to
vouch for the correctness of the tale, we think
may now bo considered demonstrated,
-
that the red man was not the aboriginal in
habitant of North America, but that a race
preceded him, far superior in point of civili
zation. The earthen fortifications oi ine,.uis
sissippi valley, the Atlantic SUtessnd the
utensils of metal found buried everywhere,
are conclnsive proofs cf this fact. In Europe,
at least, similar kinds of evidence are regard
ed as indisputable. The bronze swords which
have been dug up from the bogs of Ireland,
and which arc discovered all over ancient
Scandinavia, are accepted as certain testimony
that a race of people once inhabited those re
gions, different from those living there even
in the earliest period of history. A simi
lar bronze period, antecedent to the knowl
edge of iron, appears to have existed in tho
United States. All the oldest weapons ex-
humed on this continent are of this compo
site metal. In tho copper ruiies of the
northwest are indications ol those mines hav
ing been worked long before Father Mar
quette visited the Mississippi ; perhaps before
the red man himself was a denizen there.
The ordinary objection to this, that it would
be impossible for such a civilization to have
perished, is founded on a radical error. For
nothing is more conclusively established in
history, than that savage nations, wherever
their antecedents could be traced, have been
found to have been nations in retrograde con
dition, or the conquerors and successors of
such nations.- Tlw whole of Northern Africa,
now principally' the prey of scmi-barbarons
tribes, was once as civilized a province as any
in the world. After the Romans abandon
ed Britain, tho inhabitants, even of tho
towns, sunk into a state of comparative sav
agery, from which they emerged only after
the lapse of centuries, and in consequence of
a new importation of civilized ideas. The
great plain of Mesopotamia, once the seat of
the mighty Assyrian empire, is now almost
desolate ; the nomadc Arab, and the wild ass
of the desert, sharing between them the vast
and lonely wastes. The old Egyptain civili
zation has perished so utterly, that the miser
able Copt, the lineal descendant of that ancient
dweller of the Nile, is ignorant of its first ru
diments. All the facts of history corroborate
the affirmations of Holy Writ, that the earli
est inhabitants of the globe enjoyed a com
parat;vely high civilization, and that savage
nations are the wrecks of once civilzed peo
ple, and the fallen and degraded remnants of
better and nobler types.
Of tho character of the primordial inhabi
tants of these United States, the antochtones,
as scientific writers call such aborigines, it is
impossible to speak certainly. The various
theories which have been projected some as
signing them a place among the Mongol tribes,
some describing them as the lost children of
Isrcal, arc all alike unsupported by sufficient
proof. We know too little respecting the
ancient populations of these regions, either
to affirm or to deny what they were. From
the paucity of their remains on the Atlantic
coast, as compared with those found in the
valley of the Mississippi, it wonld seem prob
able, however, that their chief seat of em
pire was in the west, and that they entered
America, if they immigrated at all, from the
direction of Asia. Time, which will bring to
light more of their utensils, will enable inves
tigators to approximate finally, perhaps, to
the truth ; but at present it is a waste of words
to speculate as to their race, religion, political
institutions, or language. One fact alone is
indisputable, which is, that a race, superior
in the arts of life as well as in knowledge of
war to the Indians, an agricultural. or at least
a pastoral, and not a hunter race, once inhabi
ted these United States. But how long ago
this was, no man can tell. Nor whether this
primordial race was extirpated by the red
man, or declined into him through long cen
turies of degradation.
Teansfcsiox. It fs reported in an English
Journal that a woman who had suffered from
uterine hemorrhage until life was nearly ex
tinct, recovered by transfusing seventeen
ounces of blood from the veins of her hus
band into her arm. A singular case, if true-
No AccorxTi.vc for Taste." A Yankee,
who had just come from Florence, being asked
what he bad seen and admired, and whether ha
was not in rapture with the Venus de Medici,
replied, "Well, to tell the truth, I don't care
about those stone gals."
"Now, Patrick," said a Judge, "what do
you say to the charge are you guilty or not
guilty ?" "Faith, but that's difficult lor your
honor to tell, let ali ne myself wait till I hear
the ividence.'
Woman is like ivy tie more you are ruined,
the closer she clings to you. An old bachelor
adds : "Ivy is like woman the closer sbo
clings to you, the more you are ruined.'?
"You have broken the Sabbath, Jonny,"
said a good man to bis son. "Yes said bis
little sister;" and mother's long comb, too,,
in three pieces !" " -
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