Raftsman's journal. (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, May 30, 1860, Image 1

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    BY S. B. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1860.
VOL. 6.-NO. 40.
J
I LIKE AN OPEN, HONEST HEART.
I like an open, honest heart,
Where frankness lores to dwell,
Which has no place for base deceit,
Nor hollow words can tell i
But in whoso tbrobbings plain re Seen
The import of the mind,
Whose gentle breathings utter nought
But aocents true and kind.
I scorn that one whose empty act
And honied words of art,
Betray the feelings of the soul,
With perfidy's keen dart;
Kt more kind friends fn euch connde,
Nor in their kindness trust,
For black ingratitude but turns
Pure friendship to disgust.
Contempt is but ft gnntle word,
A feeling far too mild,
For one who confidence betrays
And guilt has sore beguiled ;
That bate which hellish fiends evinco,
When in dark torments toss'd,
Is not more loathsome to the soul,
Than one to honor lost.
Then give me one with heart as free
And gen'rous as the air.
Whose ready hand and greeting kind
(Jive proof that Truth is there.
Whose Finiling countenance well shows
Affection warm is found,
And springs, pure as saints, whose notes
Through Heaven's vaults resound.
BACHELOR'S LOVE-MAKING.
You would have known it lor a bachelor's
den, the minute you put your head in the door !
Blue, spicy wreaths of cigar smoke circling
tip to the ceiling newspapers under the table
Castile soap in the tiny bronze card-receiver
slippers on the mantle piece, and confusion
everywhere. And yet Mr. Thornebroke poor
deluded mortal solemnly believed that his
room was in the most perfect order! For
hadn't ho poked the empty champagne bottles
under the bed, and sent the wood-box to bear
them company, and hung his morning gown
over the damp towels, and dusted the ash
sprinkled hearth with his best silk handker
chief! He'd like to see a room in better trim
than that guessed he would ! And now he
was mending himself up, preparatory to going
calling, to call on the very prettiest girl in
New York. Not that he was particularly fond
iI the needle, but wlien a fellow's whole foot
goes through a hole in the north-east toe of
his stocking, and there lns't a button on his
shirt, it's time to repair damages.
Now, as Mr. Thornebroke's whole stock of
industrial implements consisted of a lump of
wax, an enormous pair of scissors and one
needle, the mending didn't progress rapidly.
II is way of managing the button question, too,
necessarily involved delay ; he had to cut all
these useful little appendages from another
shirt and sew them on,and next week , when the
- ithirt was wanted, why it was easy enough to
make a transfer again ! See what it is to be a
bachelor of genius ! it never occurred to him to
buy a few buttons extra !
"Buttons are not much trouble," said Mr.
Thornebroke to himself, as he wiped the per
foration from his hrow, "but when it comes to
coat sleeves, what the duce is a fellow to do 1
I havn't any.black thread either," and he look
ed dolorously at a small tear just in his elbow,
where some vicious nail had caught in the
broadcloth. "A black pin may do for to-night,
and to-morrow I'll send it to the tailor. The
fact is I ought to be married ; and so I would,
if I only dared to ask Lillian. Ob! dear, I
know she wouldn't have me and yet I'm not
so certain either if I could only muster the
courage boldly to put the question ! But just
as sure as I approach the dangerous ground,
my heart fails me ! And then that puppy,
Jones, with his curled mustache, and hair
parted in the middle always hangiug around
Lillian, and quoting poetry to her if I could
have the privilege ot kicking him across the
street, I'd die happy ! IIo isn't bashful, not
he! If somebody would only invent some
new war of popping the question something
that wasn't quite so embarrassing !"
Our hero gave his black glossy curls an ex
tra brush, surveyed himself critically in the
glass, and then with a deep sigh, set forth to
call on the identical Lillian Raymond, revol
ving, as he had a thousand times before, that
if perhaps may be
Oh ! the bashfulness of bachelors.
When Mr. Thornebroke arrived within the
charmed precincts of Mr. Raymond's hand
some parlors, velvet carpeted", chand6liered
with gold and ormolu, crowded to the very
doors, with those charming knick-nacks that
only a woman's taste provides, Miss Lily was
"at home" in a bewildering pink merino dress,
edged with white lace around the pearly shoul
ders and a crimson moss twisted in among the
rippling waves of her soft brown hair. She
never looked half so pretty ; and.thank Prov
idence, Jones wasu't on hand, for once in his
life. But what was almost as bad.Lily's cousin
was there a tall slender,black-eyed girl, with
arch lips, and cheeks as red as a Spintzberg
apple. O how Thornebroke wished that Miss
Esther Allen was at the bottom of the Red
Sea, or anywhere except in that particular
parlor. And then her eyes were so sharp he
hadn't been doing the "agreeable" more than
four minutes and a half before she exclaimed:
"Dear me, Mr. Thornebroke pray excuse
nic but what on earth is the matter with your
elbow ?"
Mark turned scarlet the traitorous black
pin had deserted its post.
"Only a compound fracture In my coat,Miss
Allen," said he feeling as though bis face
might do the duty of Raymond's chandeliers
both, put together, "you know we bachelors
are not expected to bo exempt from such
things."
"Hold your arm, sirfand I'll make it all
right in one nirment," said Esther, instantly
producing from some secret recess in the
folds of her dress, a thimble and needle,
threaded with black silk, and setting expertly
to work.
'There now, consider yourself whole."
"How skillful you are," said Mark, admi
ringly, after he had thanked her most sincere
ly, "But then you have so many nice little
concerns to work with. I have only a needle
and some wax, besides my scissors !
"You ought to have a house-wife, Mr.
Thornebroke," ,'6aid Miss Lily, timidly lifting
np her long lashes in bis direction. Lily nev
er conld look at Thornebroke witnout a soft,
little rosy shadow on her cheek. '
"Awhat?,'demandedMark,turning very red.
A housewife." '
" Yes," said Mark, after a moment's awkward
hesitation, "my my friends have told me
o very often and I really think so myself,
yon know. But what sort of a one would you
recommend, Miss Raymond ?"
"Oh, any pretty little concern. I'll send
yon one in the morning if you'll accept of it,"
she added, with a rosy light on her cheeks
again.
"If I'll accept !" said Mark, feeling as if
he were in an atmosphere of gold and pearl,
with two wings sprouting out of his broad
cloth, on either side. And just as he was o
pening his lips to assure Miss Lily that he
was ready to take the precions gift in his arms
then and there,without any unnecessary delay,
the door opened and in walked Jones.
Mark was not at all cannibalistic in his pro
pensities, but just then he could have eaten
Jones up with uncommon pleasure. And there
the fellow sat, pulling his long moustaches and
talking the most insipid twaddle sat and sat
until Mark rose in despair to go. Even then
he had no opportunity to exchange a private
word with Lily.
"You you'll not forget
"Oh, I'll be sure to remember," said she
smilingly, and half wondering at that unusual
pressure he gave her hand. "Ladies often do
provide their bachelor friends so !"
Mark went heme, the happier t individual
that ever trod a New York pavement. In
deed.so great was his felicity that he indulged
in various gymnastic capers indicative of bliss,
and only paused in them at the gruff caution
of a policeman, who probably had forgotten
his own courting days "Come, young man,
what are you about 1"
"Was there ever a more delicate way of as
suring me of her favorable consideration ?
Was there ever a more feminine admission of
her sentiment? Of course, she will come
herself an angel breathing airs from Paradise
and I shall tell her of my love. A house
wife, oh I the delicious words! Wonder in
what neighborhood she would like nie to en
gage a residence how soon it would be best
to name the day 1 Oh ! if I should awake,
and find it all a blissful dream !"
Early next morning, Mr. TlTornebroke set
briskly to work, "righting up things." How
he swept and dusted and scoured the room
was aired, to get rid of the tobacco smoke, and
sprinkled with cologne, and beautified gener
ally. And at length, when the dust was all
swept in one corner, and covered by a care
lessly disposed newspaper, he found the win
dow glass murky, and polished it with such a
vengeance that his fist, handkerchief and all,
went through, sorely damaging the hand, and
necessitating the ungraceful accessory of an
old hat to keep out the wintery blast for the
time being. However.even this mishap didn't
long damp his spirits, for was not Lily coining.
Long and wearily he waited, yet no tinkle
at the bell gave warning of her approach
'It's all her sweet feminine modesty," thought
he, and was content.
At length there was an appeal below, and
Mark's heart jumped up into his mouth, beat
ing like a reveille drum. He rushed to the
door, but there was no one but a little grinning
black boy, with a box. '
'Miss Raymond's compliments, and here's
de housewife, sir."
((Tha li rkii emvtfa r An littln imn at Fpnlina
"Yes, sir, in the box, all right."
Mark slunk back into his room and opened
the box, half expecting to see a full-dressed
young lady issue from it, a la Arabian Nights ;
but no it was only a little blue velvet book,
and full of odd compartments in azure silk,
containing tape, needles, scissors, silk, thim
ble, and all the nice little work table accesso
ries. "And she calls this a housewife !" groaned
Mark, in ineffable bitterness of spirit at the
down-fall of his bright visions. "But I won't
be put off so."
Desperation gave him courage, and off he
hied to the Raymond mansion, determined to
settle the matter if there were forty Joneses
and Esthers there.
But Lillian was alone.singing at her embroi
dery in the sunshiny window casement.
'Dear me, Mr. Thornebroke, is anything the
matter ?"
Perhaps it was the shadow from the splen
did crimson cactus plumes in the window that
gave her cheek such a delicate glow perhaps
but we have no right to speculate.
"Yes." And Mark sat down by her side,
and took the trembling.fluttering hand. "You
sent me a housewife this morning !"
"Wasn't it right ?" faltered Lilian.
"It wasn't the kind I wanted at all !"
"Not the kind you wanted ?"
"No ; I prefer a living one, and I came to
see if I could change it. 1 want one with
brown hair and eyes something, in short,
Miss Lilian, just your pattern. Can't I have it?"
Lily turned white, and then red, smiled.
then burst into tears, and tried to draw away
ner hand, but Mark held it fast.
"No, no, dear Lily ; first tell me can I have
the treasure I ask for."
"Yes.V she said, with the prettiest confusion
in the world; and then, instead of releasing
the captive hand, the unreasonable fellow
took possession of the other, too. But as
Lily did not object we suppose it was all right.
And that was the odd path by which Mark
Thornebroke diverged from the walk of old
bachelorhood, and stepped into the respecta
ble ranks of matrimony.
Raise Carrots. We have so often urged
upon farmers the value of root crops, that we
hope they will awake to the real value of the
same. Among the many valuable and profit
able roots we may name the carrot. Every
farmer that keeps milch cows and horses,
should surely raise carrots. This fino root is
also excellent for milch cows; it not only in
duces a greater quantity of milk, but much
richer. And it is also very beneficial for the
cow, giving her a fine glossy appearance and
materially benefits her in flesh and in general
health. For horses there can be nothing bet
ter; and all who wast to see their horses im
prove and look well, as also to give them vi
gor of muscle and a lively and cheerful action,
let them have carrots, at least a peck three
times a week. Carrots wiil pay the farmer
well. Twenty to thirty tons can be raised on
"an acre. The land for this crop should be well
and thoroughly plowed and made fine, and
planted in rows by a seed-sower.
The muscles of the human jaw produce a
power equal to four hundred and thirty-four
pounds. This is only what science tells us ;
but we know the jaw of some of our lawyers
is equal to a good many thousand ponnds a
year to them.
The question is discussed in some of the
Missouri papers, whether raising hemp is good
business. A much better business than being
raised by it.
. SKETCHES OF METHODIST BISHOPS
At present there are six Bishops : Rev.
xuuiuaa x. iu orris, oi iincmnati, elected in
I8dl; Kev. E. S. Janes, in 1844 ; and Rev.
Matthew Simpson, of Chicago ; Levi Scott, of
nujingion, juei., Kev. U. U. liakei, of Con
cord, N. II., and Rev. E. R. Ames, of Indian
apolis, Ind.. all elected in 1852.
BishopMorris is a native of Kentucky, where
he grew up to manhood, and commenced his
ministry. His education was good, though not
iiDerai, out by diligence and god natural
parts, he soon attained to eminence. Having
served as circuit preacher and presiding elder,
he was made Book Agent at Cincinnati in 1828,
Editor in 1832, and Bishop in 1836. lie is now
nearly seventy years old, the senior Bishop, a
porny ana well-to-do old gentleman, taciturn,
out genial, a gaod but not brilliant preacher,
and a decidedly respectable rather than great
man. His Southern proclivities are supposed to
be pretty strong, and he has a son who is a
preacher in the Southern Methodist Church.
Bishop Jans is a native of Connecticut, but
his early life was passed in New Jersey, where
ne nrst entered the Methodist ministry. He
continued the regular pastoral work only a
few years, relinquishing it to act as an agent
for Dickinson College. About 183G, be was
transferred to New York, where he remained
in the pastoral work for four years. He was
afterwards made one of the secretaries of the
American Bible Society, in furtherance of a
plan, inaugurated some years before, to bring
the Methodist denomination fully to the sup
port of the American Bible Society, which
previously had not been the case. This work
ho successfully accomplished. He is about
hfty-four years of age, a man of medium
height, a little inclined to corpulency, and
generally of a good physique. Ilis voice is
peculiar a kind of double falsetto, which,
however, becomes deeper and more sonorous
as he grows warm and animated in his dis-
conrse. As a preacher, he is earnest and
zealous, yet not eloquent. Ilis sermons are
distinguished for their hortatory style. As
an administrative officer he is diligent and
pains-taking in labors abundant." He is
constitutionally careful, and on all stirring
questions is generally found on the conserva
tive side.
Bishop Simpson, a native of Western Penn
sylvania, was a student in Allegheny College
In 1835 he entered the Pittsburgh Conference,
ana was stationed successively at Pittsburgh
and Wheeling. In 1839 he was chosen Presi
dent of Asbury University, in Indiana, where
he remained till 1848, when he was appointed
editor of the Western Christian Advocate at
Cincinnati. Four years later he was chosen
Bishop. He is rather above the medium size
with heavy shoulders, and stooping, brown
hair, and sallow complexion. His voice, at
the beginning of his discourses, is flat and
whining, but it soon deepens and becomes
muscal. His elocution, though violating all
the rules of the masters, is both pleasant and
vigorous, and he exerts that peculiar magnetic
power, by means of which other minds will
ingly yield to his influence. As a preacher, he
ranks in the first class, both as to matter and
manner. Bishop Simpson, accompanied by
Dr. McClintock, visited Europe in 1857, as
olhcial visitors to the English Wesleyan Con
ference. They attended the meeting of the
Evangelical Alliance, at Berlin, and with Rev.
Dr. Nast, of Cincinnati, fa native German,!
and Governor Wright, the American Minister
at Berlin, (who is a Methodist,) gave quite a
Metbodistic character to the American delega
tion to that body. He then extended his tra
vels through Greece and Palestine, returning
by way ol Constantinople, the Black Sea, and
the Danube. For nearly a year after his re
turn he was prostrated by sickness. He is
constitutionally a " progressive," but the Ep
iscopal office holds him in check. In 18-50-51,
when the t ugitive Slave Law was first promul
gated, as editor of The Western Christian Ad
vocate, he uttered strong words against its ini
quity, and generallyihas been recognized as an
anti-slavery man. In private he is genial and
communicative, and as a presiding oiheer he is
able, ready, and pleasing. He is by many es
teemed the most able man on the Methodist
Episcopal bench of Bishops.
Bishop Scott was born near Wilmington,
Del., about the beginning of the present cen
tury. The field of his ministerial labors has
been chiefly in the city of Philadelphia and the
surrounding region. He is a man of medium
size, with sandy hair and beard, pale complex
ion, and a calm and dignihed expression, lie
is a good speaker, and an able minister.
Though usually in rather delicate health, he
performs a great amount of labor, for besides
a fair share of the duties of attending annual
conference at home, he has in the eight years
of bis Episcopate, visited Africa once, and the
Pacific States twice. Personally, he is not old
fogyish, and it is believed that on the subject
of slavery his instincts and judgment are on the
birth and residence, as well as his official po
sition, exercise a constraint upon his naturally
spontaneous disposition.
Bishop Baker is a native of New Hampshire.
He is about fifty years old, five feet ten inches
in height, slightly corpulent, with dark hair,
florid countenance, an acqmline nose, gold
spectacled, and a small and ' closely shut
month. He was educated at the Wesleyan
University, at Middletown, Ct., and during his
earlier years was a teacher in Vermont and
New Hampshire. He held the pastoral office
one year, and that of presiding elder two years ;
and when the Theological School at Concord
was organized, he accepted one of its profes
sorships, f rom the chair of which in 1852, he
was called to the office of Bishop. As a prea
cher, Bishop Baker is rather scholarly than
oratorical. His sermons are all finished pro
ductions, often delivered from the manuscript,
or memoruer, clear and pointed in style. As
presiding officer he excels in his knowledge
of Methodist law and precedents, and his ready
recollections of passages.
Bishop Ames is a native of Ohio, but of the
old Massachusetts stock ; aged a few years
over fifty ; of medium height and thick set ;
dark, ruddy complexion, and a fine, robust
physique. He was educated at one of the
V estern Colleges, and was for a short time
Professor at Augusta College, in Kentucky.
tvniie yet a young man he was appointed pre
siding elder in Indiana, contributing largely to
the ascendency of Methodism in that Stato,
and becoming personally acquainted with its
territory and people. Kumor has it that his
knowledge of the country has had other than
purely ecclesiastical results ; that valuable
investments in public lands, by the aid of such
knowledge, have been made by himself and
nis mends. And so generally have these
operations proved safe and profitable, that it
uas Decome, in certain circles, a proverb in In
diana, that a scheme in which the Bishop has
a hand is4snre to succeed." Settling early in
the State, when society was assuming its shape
ouu cnaracier, ne entered zealously into all its
social, and, to some extent, into its political
auairs ; ana it nas been said that m more than
one instance his personal influence controlled
the State election. In 1846 he was appointed
one of the Corresponding Secretaries of the
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, with the special oversight ot the mis
sions on the t'rontier.both among whites and In-
aians. in this capacity he traversed the whole
frontier from Lake Superior to Texas, visiting
me outposts or civilization, and the Indian
tribes. At the first session of the Choctaw Le-
gislative Council in the West he was chosen
their Chaplain, and aided them by his counsels
S it i-.
iu lunuing meir iorm oi government, t rom
1844 to 1852, he exercised the office of presid
ing elder in Indiana, still further molding the
character of Methodism in that State, especi
ally in the department of education. In 1852,
ne was elected Bishop. As a preacher he is
sound,earnest and argumentative,with a sharp
and untunable voice, and but little ornamenta
tion of style. As an administrative officer he
has few superiors, while his natural powers of
strategy, nad he been a politician, would have
made him a formidable antagonist. In his
early life, his political affinities were with the
old Democratic school, but on account of the
mutations of that party he is no longer of it,
nor in sympathy with its leading doctrine.
His instincts are clearly with the progressive
measures of the denomination, on slavery as
wen as other but Methodist Bishops are com
pelled to be prudent.
EACE WITH AN OX.
oome lony years ago me managers ot a
race course near Brownsville, on the Monon-
gahcla, published a notice of a raco, one mile
beats, on a particular dav, lor a purse of $100,
r ree tor anything with four legs and hair on
A man in the neighborhood named Hays.
nad an ox, tliat he was in the habit of riding to
mill with his bag of corn, and he determined
to enter him for the race. He said nothing a
bout it to any one, but rode him around the
track a number of times, ou several moonlight
nights, until the ox bad the hang of the ground
pretty well, and would keep the right course,
He rode with spurs, which the ox considered
disagreeable; so much so that he always bel
lowed when they were applied to his sides.
On tho morning of the race, Hays, came up
on me ground on horseback on his ox. In
stead of a saddle he had dried an ox-hide, the
head part of which, with the boms still on, be
placed on the ox's rump. He rode to the
Judge's stand, and offered to enter his ox for
tho race ; but the owners of the horses obiect-
ed. Hays appealed to the terms of the notice.
insisting that his ox had "four legs, and hair
on," and that therefore he had a right to enter
him. After a good deal of swearing, the lud
ges declared themselves compelled to decide
that the ox had a right to run, and was enter
ed accordingly.
When the time for starting arrived, the ox
and the horses took their places. The horse
racers were out of humor at being bothered
by the ox, and at the burlesque, which they
supposed was intended, but thought it would
be over as soon as the horses started.
When the signal was given they did start.
Hays gave a blast with bis horn and sunk bis
spurs into the sides of the ox.who bounded off
with a terrible bawl, at no trifling speed, the
dried ox-hide napping up and down and rat
tling at every jump, making a combination of
noises that had never been heard on a race
course before.
The horses all flew the track.every one seem
ed to bo seized with a determination to take
the shortest cut to get out of the Redstone
country, and not one of them could be brought
back in time to save their distance. The purse
was given to Hays.
A general row ensued; but the fun of the
thing put tho crowd all on the side of
ot the ox. The horsemen contended they were
swindled out of their purse, and that if it had
not beerffor Hays' horn and ox-hide, which he
ought not to have been permitted to bring up
on the ground, the thing would not have turn
ed out as it did.
Upon this Hays told them that his ox could
beat any of their horses any how, and if they
would put np a hundred dollars against the
purse be had won, he would take off the ox
hide and leave his tin horn, and run a fair race
with them. His offer was accepted, and the
money staked.
They again took their place at the starling
post,and the signal was given. Hays gave the
ox another touch with the spur, and Taurus
gave a tremendous bellow. The horses re
membering the dreadful sound, thought all the
rest was coming as belore. Away they went
again, in spite of the exertions of their riders.
v a -
"vhile Ilavs galloped his ox around the track
and won the money.
A witty young rascal, passing through the
town of A , in Alabama, -not long since, wan
ted some whiskey, and knowing it could only
be obtained by a physician, wrote himself an
order, signing it with his own name, to which
a learned M. D. was attached. He presented
it at the drugstore of a gentleman,who though
unrecognized by him proved to be an old ac
quaintance. Hallo, Frank," said he, when
did you get to be a doctor ?" 'I'm not a doc
tor." Why, what's this M. D. to your name
for, then ?" Frank saw he was caught ; but,
determined to make the best of it, put on a
very innocent look, and meekly answered :
"Oh ! that's for Mighty Dry !" Of course he
got the whiskey.
One Method of Fixing a Personal Iden
tity. Prentice, the incorrigible wag, sug
gests, in view of the notorious insecurity of
life in New York, and the great difficulty in
identitying bodies discovered in the rivers and
elsewhere, that every New Yorker should have
his name tattooed on his breast, or some other
secure place. As to marking the place of re
sidence, that would be impossible, for New
Yorkers move every May day, so that a full
grown man or woman would look like a print
ed directory.
Isaac V. Fowler. It is said that Fowler
has fled to South America. If this be true
he js destined to add another to the list of men
like Swartwout and Forsyth who have wan
dared up and down the earth for a few weari
some years and then died poor and broken
hearted. ...... . . ... ;
THE FIRST AMERICAN WITCHES.
Salem has hitherto cnioyed the bad reputa
tion of the mother of American witchcraft. But
this is an historical error,as was shown by Mr.
Hopkins in a lecture before the New York
Historical Society last week :
" The first legal enactment on the subject of
witcncralt in thiscountry, appears to have been
made by the Maryland Assembly, in 1653.
which adopted the English statutes on the sub
ject. In 1639, Maryland directly provided for
.punishing with death, sorcery, blasphemy
and idolatry." In 1641. the Massachusetts
laws were promulgated providing that witch
craft should be punished with death. Rhode
Island followed suit in 1637 ; New Jersey
about that time, Delaware in 1700, South Car
olina, in 1712, restoring the statute of James
the First, and Pennsylvania soon after. The
laws of South Carolina on the subject remain
ed on the Statute Book until 1837. Delaware
adopted the statute of James the First in 1719
He believed that witchcraft existed previous
to 1604-5. The Hebrew motto was, "the
more women the more witchcraft," but his
idea was, that they were no longer old and
wrinkled beldames," but young, and gay, and
lovely creatures." Connecticut, he believed,
had from 1641 to 1697, twenty-one trials lor
witchcraft, although a large quantity of the
State archives containing the authentic details
are destroyed. Massachusetts punished witch
craft in 1748. An anecdote is told of one John
Biadstreef, who plead guilty, but the court
knew him to be so notorious a liar that he was
acquitted. In connection with Salem witch
craft, it should be remembered that in Geneva
there were five hundred witches consumed by
the flames within three months ; that fourteen
houses in England furnished fourteen victims
to the flames, and that the Salem horrors have
been greatly exaggerated. He discussed the
Salem excitement at length, criticising the part
of Cotton Mather, and of tho witnesses whose
testimony was given in one hundred and thir
ty cases, mostly against their individual ob
jects of hatred. Up to 1665 there is no trace
of any law in Jsew lork as to witchcraft, and
when it did appear it was confined to the Eng
lish settlements on Long Island out of our ju
risdiction. The Indians said the devil would
have nothing to do with the Dutch. In 1672
Sarah Dibdin was accused of withcraft in New
Jeisey, but fled to Connecticut. In 1683 Wil
liam Penn presided over a Court in which a
woman was tried and acquitted on a charge of
witchcraft. Virginia had a like trial in 1705,
and North Carolina in 1670. Altogether there
were four hundred and sixty accusations of
witchcraft in the colonies, thirty-two execu
tions, and three more condemned who escap
ed. New York alone, or perhaps NewHamp-
shire, never condemned a witch, or passed a
law on the subject. Of the methods of dis
covering a witch, one Perkins gave eighteen
tests, seventeen of which were insufficient,
and eighteen were impracticable. In conclu
sion, the paper contrasted the horrible tor
tures,cruelties'and barbarities of foreign pun
ishment of witchcraft, and the comparatively
mild form of the delusion in the American
Colonies."
Improving: the Language. The newspapers
nave greatly contributed to enrich the English
language. We shall shortly have thanks to
the gentlemen of the press a pretty, delicate,
idiomatic turn of speech for all the principal
affairs of life. Thus a widow is "a fair relict ;"
a young woman making her debut at a police
office is an interesting female." Formerly a
criminal was to be banged, but now he is
"launched into eternity." A man was some
times drowned in old times, but it oftener oc
curs that he was "immersed in the liquid ele
ment till the fire of life was extinguished."
When a man fell down in a fit, a surgeon used
to be sent for ; but now, medical aid is said
to be in immediate attendance," and should he
die before the surgeon comes, the vital spark
has fled." In the time of our plain-spoken
ancestors, horses and cattle were sometimes
killed by lightning, but tbey are now struck
1 A W . . SI .
oy me e.eciric nuia," ana noooay but rum-
suckers get struck by "lightning." Again, a
ship was formerly launched, but there is noth
ing of the kind now; she "glides majestically
into her native element," in which native ele
ment, by the way, she never was before. In
the old fashioned times, bridegrooms and
brides used to be married. We are really
quite ashamed to say there is no such thing as
marriage now: the "bride is led to the hyme
nial altar." The wedding guests sometimes
danced in the evening, but now there is no
such thing ; we 'trip on the light fantastic toe.'
In Captivitt Thirteen Years. The Lan
caster Express says that recently Mr. George
Brubaker, a citizen of that county, returned
home after an absence of seme years. He was
captured by a band of Caraanches, while on
his way to California, in 184 , thirteen vears
ago, and had just escaped from them. After
becoming acquainted with the language and
habits of the Indians he was made a medicine
man, and in that capacity did a great deal of
good among them, preaching to them, and has
succeeded in converting over two hundred to
the Christian religion. It was only after the
most solemn promises that he would return
that they would allow him to depart, and he
will go back as soon as he has seen his family,
who have mourned bim for years as dead.
A diver who has returned to Halifax from
Cape Sable, says be descended several times
into the interior ot.the wrecked steamer Hun
garian. The scene which presented itself was
appalling in the extreme ; for although there
were no corpses in the interior of the ship,
there were nearly twenty bodies discovered
entangled in the wreck alongside, and in the
gullies close by. These frightful remnants of
poor humanity exhibited all the stages of dis
memberment of hands, neaas, arms, legs, &c.
and all more or less in a state of decomposi
tion. Those seen appear to have been up and
dressed, or partly so, as some of them were
evidently in the act of putting on their shoes,
stockings, or other clothing, when the king of I
terrors put a stop to their toilet for ever.
A Sensible Girl. A youth, smitten with
the charms of a beautiful maid, hinted bis
passion by shy looks, now and then touching
the fair one's feet with bis toe,under the table.
The girl bore his advances a little while in
silence, when she cried out, 'See here if you
love me.tell me so ; but don't dirty my stock
ings and hurt my shins?"'"
Samuel G. Goodrich, better known to mil
lions as "Peter Parley," died suddenly, week
.before last. Age, about 65 years. '
POLITICAL ITEMS.
The response to the nominations of tho Chi
cago Convention by the people and the press
all over the country has been as. cheering as
the most sanguine friends of our cause could
wish. The free west is in a perfect blaze of
enthusiasm, and tho satisfaction is general.
Especially cheering are the indications that
the ticket will form a rallying point for all sec
tions of the Opposition to the party now in
power. The evidence of this feeling is very
apparent everywhere. A most impressive in
dication of what is to be looked for in this res
pect is the fact that the Bvffalo Commercial
Journal, the organ of Mr. Fillmore in 1850,
responds heartily to the nominations, and gives
them its support. We publish the last para
graph of a long and ably written article in that
paper which indicates in an ucmistakablo
manner its position and purposes:
"With such views of the Chicago platform
and nominations, with the knowledge that the
little strength belonging to John Bell in this
State is already diminished by a considerable
secession to Sam Houston, and with old Whig
hatred lor Democracy, nursed in with our mo
ther's milk, and strong to-day as in 1844. in,
our hearts, we conceive it to be our duty to
place the names of Lincoln and Hamlin at tha
head ot onr columns, as a pledge that we will
extend to them such honorable and faithful
support as may belong to our position and in-,
flnence."
A gentleman who has travelled through
some of the Western States since the adjourn
ment of the Chicago convention writes that
the nomination of Lincoln iudeinr from th
intense enthusiasm mapifested by the people.
everywhere, will prove a popular one. He has
in him all the elements of popularity. A man
of the people, he has worked bis way from the
lowly position of a wood chopper to that of an,
eminent attorney, solely bv his own enercv
and. industry. He has. educated himself and,
raised himself to his present available posi
tion. It is plain that we are to have a rcpiti
tion of the enthusiasm of 1840. The old fenco
rails in Sangamon county, mauled by him 30
years ago, will find endless,repetitipns in this
country of worm fences. We shall hav,e rails
in all possible shapes rail houses, rail ros
trums, rails horizontal, rails perpendicular,
rails in all possible positions : and the iRail
Mauler of 1830 tho representative man ot
honest labor is to be to us what the Log Cabin '
boy of 1840 was. It needs no prophetic vision
to see the victory in store for us. Honest old
Abe will be the next President, depend on it.
"We venture to say " declares. The Cin
cinnati Gazette, "that there is not in the whole
est a man who stands higher in popular con
fidence than Old Abe Lincoln. He is a man,
of the people. He has risen, by the force of
his own. energy from the position of a flat boat
man to the honored head of the Illinois bar.
He is a man whom no obsfacle could intimi.
date, no defeat check, no misfortune embitter.
A man whose life is a synonym of honesty,
capability, and energy, is Abe Lincoln,"
The Useful and the Orxamental. How
often you hear of such and such a person in
society, the remark, "He or she is neither nse-
ful nor ornamental." Unfortunately, "nsiifnl-.
ness" is oftener wanting than ornament "
Few people to whom God entrusts wealth usq.
it as a means of doing good ; fewer still bring
np their children with the one idea and prin
ciple always before them, that no day of.' lita
is well spent which does not witness some act
of worth chronicled against their names in. the
book of the Recording Angel, is a dav lost.
and made . an offering to the fiends that gloat
uu uuman iony ana seinsnness. it has always
appeared to us that parents make the worst of
all possible mistakes in attemntiner tn fnr
their children to be good. Goodness and force
or restraint are antagonistic, always. Persua
sion, love and confidence are the only weapons
with which to war against the influence of tho
world upon a child. Such a child, from tho
moment he can begin to comprehend the idea,
that he has something to do in the world that
he can't escape it; that every false step or
blemish will only make his work harder; that
to do good, to create something, a book, a
thought, a machine, whatever you please, so.
it be something he originates for the benefit
of society and the good ol his species.; pos
sess him with the ambition to be great some
how, no matter how, and you plant a germ
self-respect in a young heart which, no matter
though it be no larger than the smallest of all
seeds the mustard seed will grow steadily
up to a great tree, and shelter all his. future
life from the contempt of folly.
The Illinois Central Railroad, at a town call
ed Mattoon, is crossed by the Terre Haute and
Alton Railroad. Every day at about 2. P.
M., are seen fonr trains coming from four dif
ferent directions, arriving at this point at tha
same time to a second every day. They can
be seen as they approach for ten miles in each
direction, the prairies there being a smooth,.
broad expanse, stretching away to the horison
without any ineqnalities to obstruct the sight.
As they arrive their cow-catchers approach to
within twelve feet of each other, as though
exchanging salutations, when gracefully back
ing, as though bowing an adieu, two of the
trains go on to the switches, while the other
two scream away over the iron-bound prairie..
Cholic in Horses. A correspondent of tho
Southern Field and Fireside says :
1 notice, in the last number of yonr paper, a,
cure for cholic in horses, contained in a letter
from Thurmond, of Athens. Permit me, sir,
togiteyouone much more simple and con
venient. It is simply to pour cold water on
the back of the animal for fifteen or twenty
minutes. Pour the water on from tho weath
ers to the loins, so as to run profusely over
sides and stomach. I have seen it tried in
fifty instances. It will give almost entire re
lief in an hour.
A Georgia Giant. There is a man in At
lanta Georgia, who offers to fight. the Benecis
Boy" for $10,000, tho match: to come off
this summer, South of Mason & Dixon's Line.
He is six feet and one inch high, weighs 210
pounds, is in the prime of life, and is said to
be a Hercules in strength and an Apollo in
symmetry. If Ueenan will not fight bim, be
oflers to fight with any man in the world.
Long Sermons. Rev. William Taylor, In.
The Model Preacher," says : Often when
a preacher has driven a nail In a sure place,
instead of clinching it, and securing well tho
advantage, he hammers away till be breaks,
tho head off, or splits the board."
Y