:-. XT W W Visa P U W W W dbP MkiVJI&HT BY S. B. BOW. CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1860. YOL. (T.-JT0. 52. LIGHTS AND SHADES. Tbe gloomiest day hath gleams of light : The darkest wave hath white foam near it. And twinkles through the cloudiest night, Some solitary star to cheer it. The gloomiest soul is not all gloom ; The saddest heart is not all sadness, And sweetly o'er the darkest doom There shines some lingering beam of gladness. Despair is never quite despair, 'or life, nor death, tho future closes; And 'round the shadowy brow of care Will Hope and Fancy twine their roses. K02NING AND AFTERNOON. It was the freshest of April mornings, with a soft wind that bad rifled all manner of sweet scents from dimpled hollows, purpled over with young violets, and solitary brook-sides, fringed with white anemone stars, and wafted them into the city streets to revive many a weary dweller among. paving-stones. Mrs. Arden, standing at her window, looked down at tho few feet of earth that city people dig nify by the title of "garden," and felt the suni.y spring influences even there. "What a lovely morning," she said to her self; "this is the very time to put my dahlias into the ground, and take care of tbe roses, how fortunate that to-day will be a compara tively leisure time tome! Women don't of ten get released from the domestic treadmill, and what with spring sewing, company, and house" cleaning, I have been literally a slave fur the last three months. Once out in the open air, among the flower roots, and I shall feel as though I were entering a new life." Ignorant Mrs. Arden. Had she lived to be Cl) years old, without knowing that a married woman ought not to breathe, without first asking her husband if it's perfectly proper and convenient ? Mr. Arden had laid out an entirely different programme for his lady-wife. Jn he came,discontentedly eyeing a new over coat he had been buying. "Nelly, can't you fix this coat somehow ? There is something hitchy about the collar you can tell where the trouble is, you're so niart with your needle !" Mrs. Arden took it out of his hands and looked at it despairingly there was full three hours work about it. "And, Nelly if you wouldn't mind alter ing these shirt bosoms they're all in wrinkles " the p'attefn was a bad one." "You insisted on having them made accord ing to that pattern entirely against my advice." 'rtVell, l'know I did," replied Mr. Arden rath?r sheeplslriy. "Martin said it was a good . on", but Martin don't know everything.'-" "I wish you had "found that out before the ihirts were made," said Mr. Arden petulantly. . "i say," interposed her spouse, apparently rather desirous 1 1 changing the subject, "what are you going to have for dinner ?" "I don't know, I'm sure," was the vexed reply. "I believe men arc always thinking about eating no sooner is breakf ast over than dinner begins to disturb them."- - . , , "I wish you would make one of those pud dings I like make it yourself, for Susan al ways mangles it. We haven't had one for a long time now. . , . '4 "There goop the day of leisure that was to Miave put my garden in such beautiful order," sighed Mrs. Arden. - 1 O, pshaw," said her husband, contempla ting his whiskers in the glass, i what do you care about garden work ?. A woman ought to find her chief happiness in; domestic duties. 1 don't approve, of this everlasting fidgeting about flowers."- . . ' . , . "Harry," said his wife, "yon would not bo at all contented' if your office "work was so t ndless that yon nevcrgot a moment's time to "N no," replied Mr. Arden hesitatingly, t'bnt then you are not a man.", , , . "No I knovrl'm not," said. Mrs. Arden qniekly ; "if I were, mvife should have a little leisure to breathe" occasionally.". Mr Arden went ont, shutting the door with some vehemence behind him. - -' . "I never did see such a complaining set as women are," was his internal reflection as he walked rapidly down tho street. : Two or three hours steady work soon dis posed of the press of office business awaiting him, and he threw himself back in a chair to rest and look over his newspaper. But tho balmy wind fanned bis forehead like narcotic incense, and the sensation of dolce far nicnte wis inexpressibly delightful, the closely prin ted columns became a mere confused blur, and the first Mr. Arden knew, he was not ex actly asleep, perhaps, but certainly not very wideawake. Something carried him back to the time nhen Nelly had been a bride fresh and bloom ing as a rose. How well he remembered the blue light of her eyes and the satin bright ness of ber complexion. She had grown wan and weary looking since those days. Was it possible that he had been lacking in care and tenderness? It was rather an tneasy twinge of conscience, for he did loye her, rattle-brained and thoughtless as be was.. He thought of her, sitting alone through the glorious April day, bending over the work he had assigned to her, until the pallor deepened on her cheek, and the eyes grew dim and lustcrless he remembered the many, many days shohad spent in the same wearisome oc cupation. No wonder that the little garden was a sunny, spot to her no wonder that she loved tbe flowers whose freshness seemed to revive her whole nature. - A man may be very crnel to a woman with out either beating her or denying ber tbe ne pessaries of life. Suppose she should drift away from him, like a delicate leaf upon a, swift rushing stream! He shuddered at the ; mere idea. She was not trong the : time might, corue when a narrow grave and a white headstone would be all that remained of hii - little wife. And then should he not remember all these things ? " He started up from the troubled net-work of 'ancy that had woven itself into a vague dream ; the sunshine lnv iri-v.Mt sn tu fl and tbe fingers of the cl "ur at wnich he usually went home to dinner. ine pudding was made the coat in prime CrCTthe "Satisfactory shirts ripped apart, and Nelly, though pale and tired looking, came to the door with a smile to greet her uu&oana. th'erVy' 1Iarry' .wl,at on earth have you got -waimeu, as mr. Arucn came up or th fctaggering under the weight of two Mkeu 880m,DS geraniums and verbenas r-rt i ?ad oug11 fro down town with in c.editio difficult yT ' ' - "Thought you'd like some flowers for your garaen, my dear," explained ho ; and Nelly straightway gave him a good old fashioned kiss that amply sufficed for porterage fees "Ana now," said he after dinner, "there isn t mucn to do at the office to-day suppose you ana i aevote the afternoon to garden work. . We can make the little place as neat as a pinK. "Oh, Harry, that would be so delightful ; exclaimed she, with brightening eyes: but those shirts " "O, hang the shirts, Jet 'era wait, I want to see your cheeks a little render, my love ! Mrs. Arden wondered in her secret heart what had wrought this agreeable change she didn't know anything about her husband's dream ! Texas. 1 here appears to be an actual panic in xexas, resembling the John Brown panic in Virginia. The 'laveholders are forming vigi lance committees all over the State, resolving to expel white persons suspected of abolition sentiments, reprobating giving slaves general passes ana selling liquor ana arms to slaves, and recommending to all ministers of the Gos pel to abstain from preaching to the slaves du ring the present year. The Gospel is put un der the ban as incendiary in Texas! The Vig ilance committee of Dallas have made discov eries "under the lash" so says the Texas Ranger implicating nearly all the negroes of x. His and adjoining counties. The negroescon fessed that they had deadly poisons to be ad ministered to the families of their masters in their food, and have gone to the kitchens and produced the poison. Meals must be taken with misgivings in Texas! An attempt to burn the town ot Austin is reported, and in Fayette county a bard of runaways was thought to have organized to make a break for Mexico. Tho town of Quitman as well asAus tin was guarded by a night watch. It is also stated that a large amount of arms and ammu nition has been discovered in the possession of negroes, and a white man who was impli cated at Fort Worth was hung on the neatest tree. The plan of raising was to have been executed simultaneously in several counties, and in the same way in all. All this seems senseless, and doubtless is so. All the dis coveries made have been extorted under the lash, from negroes who have invented stories to suit the wishes of their tormentors, in or der to escape torment. The recantations ex torted by the Inquisition under tho pressure of its tortures aud cruelties were analogous to these confessions. No other evidence has been found to coroborate the confessions, and nothing but the scare into which Texas has resolutely worked herself could make her peo ple put the least faith in them. When the end comes, as it soon will, they will find that they have made bigger fools of" themselves than the Virginians did in the John Brown af fair. Gagette. Killing Larger Game ! One of the an thors of Mr. Lincoln's biography relates an interesting instance of tho lattcr's political sa gacity. lie had tmtmphantlv answered that set of interrogatories which Mr. Doughs cal culated would crush him, and in return had made up his mind that his antagonist should be presented with a collection. His plan was to compel him, by public interrogation, to re pudiate the Dred Scott decision or the doc trine of unfriendly legislation in the Territo ries. Before the discussion commenced at Freeport, Mr. Lincoln informed his friends of Ins intention. They unanimously counseled him to abandorThis purpose ; "for," said they, "if you put that question to him, he will per ceive that an answer giving practical force and effect to the Dred Scott decision in the Ter ritories inevitably loses him the battle, and he will therefore reply by affirming the decision as an abstract principle, but denying its prac tical application." "Hut," said Mr. Lincoln, "if he does that he can never be President." II is friends replied. "That is not your look out you are after the Senatorstip." "No, gentlemen," .said be, -" ant killing larger game! The battle of 1860 is worlh a hundred of this!" From tho day that Mr. Douglas promulgated this doctrine of "unfriendly le gislation" to save himself in Illinois, he was a doomed man in all tho South, and the "bat tle of,, 1860" was won for the Republicans, though Mr. Lincoln of conrsc could not know that ho was to be their gallant leader. . A neat and charming maiden in Indiana, the fortunate possessor of a considerable property, became engaged for marriage to a green, un attractive, clumsj boy of 18 years. The diy for the wedding was fixed, and the course of rustic love was running smoothly enough. One day the groom-expectant appeared before his mistress with wrinkled brow, quivering chin, eyes filled with tears. "My father says I shan't marry unless I first pay him lor my time.". This was all ho said. The woman at once sent him to the sharp parent with instruc tions to learn the lowest rate of exchange at which the time could be transmuted into mo ney. "I will sell you" said the father "for $200, and not a cent less." "And I will buy you," returned tbe damsel, when the offer was cooimuuicated to her. She paid the money, married the property, and has since so assidu ously cultivated it, that a great improvement, personally, morally, and intellectually, has taken place. The New Orleans papers of recent dates con tain the particulars of an unexpected return to life. It appears that Mr. Fleury, a merchant of that city, was on board the steamer Arc tic, and was supposed to be lost.no trace of him appearing. His wife, young and attrac tive, mourned for him, then married the chief clerk of the late husband. Together the pair lived happily for several years, and to their family three children were added. On the 4th of the present month' the wife received from New-York a letter written.by her former hus band. ,;ile had been picked tip from a piece of the wreck, with five other survivors, and, being taken on board a whaler, had gone on a long voyage- with her. This ship was subse quently sunk, and fifteen of those aboard sav- ed themselves upon the island from which they were taken by another whaler, which was just commencing her cruise, and which only returned to New York a week or two ago. A man named Watts was recently arrested near Sacremento, Cal., for murder, and after being handcuffed was placed on a wagon and accompanied by three men to jail. While on the way be slipped his cuffs and stealing a re volver from one of the guards with it shot and killed tbe three men who had charge of him. THE AMERICAN "DESERTS." in a nook just published, called "The Cen tral uoid Region," the author, Wm. Gilpin, who has spent twenty years in the wilderness, presents a view of what is commonly called iue ueseri,- widely differing from the popu- iai uuHuiia, ue says : mi - iiiero is a radical misapprehension in the popular mind as to tho true chaiacter of the "Great Plains of America," as complete as uiai nuicu pervaaea Europe respecting the At januc ocean during the whole historic period prior to Columbus. These plains are not des erts, but the opposite, and are the cardinal ba sis of tho future empire of commerce and in- austry now erecting itself upon the North A- niencan continent. They are calcarious, and lorm tne pastoral garden of the world. Their position and area may be understood. Tire meridian line which terminates the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa on the west, forms their eastern limit, and the Kocky .uouniain crest their western limit. Between these limits they occupy a longitudinal naral lelogram of less than 1,000 miles in width, ex- lenamg irom the Texas to the Arctic coast.- lliere is no timber upon them, and single irees are scarce, iney have a gentle slope iram me west to the east, and abound in riv ers. iney are clad thick with nutritious grasses, and swarm with animal life. The soil is not silicious or sandy, but is a fine calcari ous mold. They run smoothly out to the nav igable rivers, the Missouri, Mississippi, and St. Lawrence, and to the Texan coast. The mountain masses toward the Pacific form no serious barrier between them and that ocean No poition ol their whole sweep of surface is more than one thousand miles from the best navigation. The prospect is everywhere irent- jy unuuiaung ana graceful, being bounded, as on the ocean, by the horizon. Storms ore rare, except during the melting of the snows upon tho crest of the Ilocky Mountains. The climate is comparatively rainless ; the rivers serve, like the Nile, to irrigate rather than drain the neighboring surface, and have few affluents. Thev all run from west to east, hav ing beds shallow and broad, and the basins through which they flow are flat, long and nar row, lhe area of the "Great Plains" isequiv alent to the surface of the twenty-four States between the Mississippi and tbe Atlantic sea, nut they are one homogeneous formation. smooth, uniform, and continuous, without a single abrupt mountain, timbered space, des ert, or lake. From their ample dimensions and position they define themselves to be the pasture jieids of the world. Upon them pasto ral agriculture win become a separate errand department of national industry. lhe pastoral characteristic, being novel to our people, needs a minute explanation. In traversing the continent from the Atlantic Beach to the South Pass, the point of ereatest altitude and remoteness from the sea, we cross successively the timbered region, the prairie region of soft soil and long annual grasses, and finally the great plains. The two first are irri gated by the rains coming from the sea, and are arable. Tbe last is rainless, of a compact soil, resisting the plow, and is, therefore, pas toral. The herbage is peculiarly adapted to tne cnmate ana the dryness of the sou and at mosphere, and is perennial. It is edible and nutritious throughout the year. This is "gram ma" or "Buffalo grass." It covers the ground one inch in herght, has the appearance of a delicate moss, and its leaf has tho fineness and spiral texture of a negro's hair. During the i i . . . . melting oi me snows in the immense moun tain masses at the back of the great plains, the rivers swell nice the Nile, and yield a co pious evaporation in their long, sinuous cour ses across the plains ; storm-clouds gather on the summits, roll down the mountain flanks, and discharge themselves in vernal showers. During this temporary prevalence of moist at mosphere, these delicate grasses grow, seed in the root, and are cured into hay upon the ground ty the graauai returning drouth. It is in this longitudinal belt of perennial pasture upon which the liuilalo finds his winter food, dwell ing upon it without regard to latitude, and here are the infinite herds of aboriginal cattle peculiar to North America bufialo, wild hor ses, elk, antelope, white and black-tailed deer, mountain sheep, tho grizzly bear, wolves, the hare, badger, porcupine, and smaller animals innumerable. Tho aggregate number of this cattle, by calculation from sound data, exceeds one hundred million. No annual fires ever sweep over the great plains; these are con fined to. the prairie region. The great plains also swarm with poultry the turkey, the mountain cock, the prairie cock, the sandhill crane, the curlew; water fowl of every variety, the swan, goose, brant; reptiles; the horned frog! birds of prey, ea gles, vultures, the raven, and the small birds of game and song. The streams abound in fish. Dogs and demi-wolves abound, and buf falo are found in great numbers. The im mense population of nomadic Indians, lately a million m number, have, from immemorial an tiquity, subsisted exclusively upon these ab original herds, being unacquainted with any kind of agriculture, or the habitual use of veg etable food or fruits. From this source the Indian draws exclusively his food, his lodge, his fuel, harness, clothing, bed, his ornaments, weapons and utensils. Here is his sole de pendence from the beginning to the end of his existence. The innumerable carniverous ani mals also subsist upan them. The buffalo a- lone have appeared to me as numerous as the American people, and to inhabit as uniformly large a space of country. The buffalo robe at once suggests his adaptability to a winter cli mate. The plains embrace a very ample pro portion of arable soil for farms. Tbe "bot toms" of the rivers are very broad and level, having only a few inches of- elevation above the waters, which descend by a rapid and even current. They may be easily and cheaply sat urated by all the various systems of irrigation, azequias, artesian wells, or flooding by ma chinery. Under this treatment the soils, be ing alluvial and calcarious, both from the sul phate and carbonate formations, return a pro digious yield, and are independent of the sea sons. . Every variety of grain, grass, vegeta ble, the grape and fruits, flax, hemp, cotton and the flora, under a perpetual sun, and irri gated at the root, attain extraordinary vigor, flavor and beauty. Tbo great plains abound in fuel, and the ma terials fordwellings and fencing. Bituminous coal is everywhere interstratified with the cal carious and sandstone formation ; it is also a bundant in the flanks of the mountains, and is everywhere conveniently accessible. The dung ot tho bufialo . is scattered everywhere. The ordor of vegetable growth being reversed by the aridity of the atmosphere, what ehow above as tbe merest bushes, radiate themselves deep inv 4-1 . . . iiu ine eann, ana lorm below an immense ab orescent giowth. Fuel of wood is found bv digging. Plaster and lime, limestone, free- oiuuc, ciay ana sana exwt beneath almost ev er acre, lhe large and economical adobe brick, hardened in the sun and without fire, su persedes other materials, and, as in Syria and Si pi. resists decay lor centuries. The dwel lings thus constructed are most healthy, being impervious to neat, coia, aamp, and wind. The climate of the great plains is favorable to",health, longevity intellectual and physical development, and stimulative of an exalted toneot social civilization and refinement.- The American people and their ancestral European people having dwelt for manv thousand vears eiuu!nciy in countries or timber, and within the region of the maritime atmosphere, where "liner aiituuuaies an vegetation annually for half the year; where all animal food must be sustained, fed and fattened by tillage with the piow; wnere the essential necessities of exist w-in.c iuuu, cioming, iuei ana dwellings are securea only by constant and intense manual toil ; why, to this people, heretofore, the im mense empire of pastoral agriculture, at the threshold of which we have arrived, has been a$ completely a blank as was the present con dition of social development on the Atlantic ocean and the American continent to the ordi nary thoughts of the antique Greeks and Ro mans ! Hence this immense world of plains and mountains, occupying three-fifths of our continent, so novel to them and so exactly contradictory in every feature to the existing prejudices, routine and economy of society, is unanimousl3' pronounced an uninhabitable des ert, lo any reversal of such a ludsment. the m - ro unanimous pnblic opinion, the rich and poor, the wise and ignorant, the famous and obsenre, agree to oppose, unanimously, a dogmatic and universal deafness. To them the delineations of travelers, elsewhere intelligent, are here tinged with lunacy; the science of geography is befogged ; the sublime order of creation no longer holds, and the supreme engineering of UOd is at fault and a chaos of blunders ! THE LAST DRINK. uan Jones has a wwe, an amiable, accom plished.and a beautiful lady, who loves" him devotedly, but she finds too many bricks in his hat. One night he came home tight and was not very much astonished, but rather fright ened, to find his worthy lady sitting up for him. bhe always does, bhe smiled when he came in. lhat also she always does, "lou stayed out so late," she said, "that I feared you had been taken sick." "Hie aint sick, wife; b-but dofl'tyoii thihk- rra a little tight." "A very little, perhaps, my dear, but that' is nothing you may have so many friends, as you say, you must join them in a glass once in a while." "v He you're too good the truth is, I aril d-drunk." 'Oh, no, indeed, my dear I'm sure that even another glass wouldn't hurt you. Now suppose you take a glas3 of Scotch ale with me, just as a night-cap, my dear?" "You are too kind, my dear, by half. I know I'm d-drunk." "Oh, no, only a julep too much, love, that's all ? Well, take a glass of ale at any rate: it cannot hurt you, dear; I want one myself be fore I retire." The lady hastened to open a bottle, and as she placed two tumblers before her on the side board, she put in one a very powerful emetic. Hung the glass with the foaming ale, she han ded tlial one with a most bewitching smile to her husband. Suspicion came cloudily upon his mind. She had never before been so kind to him when he was drunk. He looked at the glass, raised it to his lips then hesitated. "Dear, won t you taste mine, to make it sweeter!" said he. "Certainly, love," replied the lady, taking a mouthful, which she was very careful not to swallow. Suspicion vanished, and so did the ale, e nietic, and all, down the throat of the satisfied husband. After spitting out the taste, the lady finished her glass, but seemed in no hur ry to retire. She fixed a foot tub of water before an easy chair, for which the husband was curious to know the reason. A few minutes later, the gulp and splurge from the throat of the hus band gave the answer. The brick was gone when he rose from the easy chair, and he never after carried one home lo his wife. Skcxks have a history, as many a New York trader has learned at his cost. A year or two ago they were exported to Europe in such quantities as to promise the purification of our atmosphere from one of the most disagreeable odors, before the lapse of many years; but this demand suddenly fell off, and several found themselves "skinned" to the amount of $25,000 , and even twice that figure. Some European Isrealites, it appears, had substitu ted them successfully for fitches, which com manded from one to nine dollars each in mar ket. Forthwith, from being considered worth less, skunk skins rose in prico to 1,50 each; ships were freighted with and fortunes made out of them for a few months. But an unlucky snow-storm in Russia, during which one of these collars or capes was drawn over the wear er's head, proved fatal to the trade. The dis agreeable odor leaked out! Now, it is said, as many as o0,000 of these skins are stored a- way in .London, without being able to. find a purchaser. .... By a recent Act of Congress, any person mailing a letter, who may wish to have it re turned, m case the person addressed should not call for or receive it. need only endorse his or her name and address on the letter, and then the postmaster at the office to which it may bo sent is required to return it to tho writer after thirtv days. Such letter will then remain, in the office from which it was sent for one quarter, unless previously called for by the writer. The manifest advantage of this arrangement will be that important letters, those containing money, valuable papers or other articles of value, or those of a private nature, will be secured to the writers in case the persons addressed should be prevented from receiving them, and will return to hand much sooner than when they all mnst go. to. the Dead Letter Office. - "Will you have some cat-sup?" asked a pedantic gentleman of Aunt Pricilla, at a din ner table. "Dear me, noJ she repliea wun shudder. "I'm fond of cats in their places; but I should as soon think of eating dog-boup." A REMINISCENCE OF OLD DATS. Richard Yates. Republican candidate for Governor of Illinois, delivered a speech at the Republican Ratification Meeting at Springfield, in that State, on tho 7th August, from which we take the following extracts : "I recollect the first time I ever saw Mr. Lincoln, and I have a grea.t mind to tell you, though I don't know that fought to. "Yes, go on, go on." It was more than a quarter of a century ago. A voice, he was Young Abe' then.' I was down at Salem with a friend, who remarked to me, one day, "I'll go over and introduce you to a fine young fellow we have here a smart, genial, active young fel low, and we'll be certain to have a g'ood talk." I consented, and he took me down to a collec tion of four or five houses, and looking over the way I saw a young man partly lying or resting on a cellar door, intently engaged in reading. My friend took me up and introduc ed rne to young Lincoln, and I tell you as he rose up I wouldn't have shot at him then for a President. Laughter. Well, after some pleasant conversation, for Lincoln talked sen sibly and generally, then, just as he does now, we an went up to dinner. I ought not to tell this on Lincoln. Great laughter and cries of "go on !- "go on !"J 1 ou all know very well that we all lived in a very plain way in those times. The house was a rough log honse.with a puncheon floor and clapboard roof", ahd might have been built like Solomon s Temple, "with out the sound of hammer or nail." for there was no iron it. Laughter. Tbe old lady wnose nouse it was, soon provided us with a dinner ; the principal ingredient was a great bowl ot milk, which she handed to each Somehow, in serving Lincoln, there was a mis take made, and his bowl tipped up and the bowl and milk rollad over the floor. The good old lady was in deep distress, and burst out. "Oh, dear me! that's all my fault." Lincoln picked up the 1kw! in the best natnred w.iy in the world, remarking to her, "Aunt Lizzy, we'll not discuss whose fault it was only, if it don't worry you, it don t worry me. rRoars of laughter and applause. The old lady was comforted and gave him another bowl of milk. Renewed laughter. "My friend Green, who introduced me, told me the first time ho saw Lincoln, he was in the Sangamon river, with his pants rolled up some five feet, more or less, fgreat merriment trying to pilot a fiat-boat over a mill-dam. The boat had got so full of water, that it was very difficult to manage, and almost impossible to get it over the dam. Lincoln finally contriv ea to get ner now over, so tnat it projected a few feet, and there it stood. But he then In vented' a new way of bailing a flat-boat. He bored , a hole through .the bottom to let the water run out, and then corked ber up, and she launched right over. fGreat laughter. I think the Captain who proved himself so fitted to navigate the broad-horn over the dam, is no doubt the man who is to stand upon the deck of the old ship, "the Constitution," and guide ber safely over the billows and breakers that surround. her. Enthusiastic and prolonged applause'. "I do not mention these hardships of Lin coln's early life as evincing any great merit in themselves. Many a man among you may say, "I am a rail splitter. I have done many a hard day's work, and if that entitles him to be President, it entitles me to be President, too.' All I mean to say, in regard to his haviDg been a poor, hard-working boy is, that "It don't set him back any." That's- it. As the young man who courted and married a ve ry pretty girl ; when, on the next morning al ter the wedding, she presented him wtth a thousand dollars ."Lizzie, (said he,) I like yon very much, indeed, but this thousand don't set you back any." Roars of laughter and cheers. So if Lincoln has all the other qualities of a statesman, it don't set him back any with us, who know and love him, to know that he was once a hard-working boy.-" Them Cals. A philosophical old gentleman was passing by a new school house erected somewhere towards the setting-sun borders of our glorious union, when his attention was suddenly drawn by a crowd of persons gather ed around the door, ne inquired of a boy whom he met, what was going on. "Well," said the boy "you see Bill, that's our biggest boy, got mad tho other day at the teacher, aud so he went all over and gathered dead cats. Nothing but cats and cats. Oh, it was orful, them cats them cats!" "Pshaw! what have them cats, to do with the school committee?" "Now, well, you see Bill kept bringin' cats and cats; always idling them up 3'onder, pointing to a pile as large in extent as a pyra mid, and considerably aromatic and he piled tnem. Nothin' but cats, cats .'" "Never mind my son, what Bill did. What has the committee met for ?" "Then Bill got sick handlin' 'em, and every body got to nosin' 'em ; but Bill got madder and did'nt give it up, but kept a pilin up the cits and " "Tell me what the committee are holding the meeting for ?" "Why the school committee are going to meet to hold a raectin' to say whether they'll move the schoel house or them cats!" Tho old gentleman evaporated immediately. A correspondent, writing from Knoxvillo, Tenn., thus describes the effect upon animals produced by the meteor of the 2d inst: "A gentleman on horseback states that bis horse bounded as if he had been shot, and tried to run off; the report frightened the animal still more ; he succeeded m stopping mm at tne front door of an old lady. She had run out in her night gown, exclaiming, Gread God, stranger, has the world busted ?' ' "Potatoes." said Pompey, a learned darkey, conversing with another gemman ob color, "is a barbacious, zoological vegetable what grows all under ground 'cept de top, an' dat bears a carnivorous flower at de bottom. Potatoes is bery good biled, an' dey am better roasted ; but it you steal de lard, de bes' way ob all is to frv dem, 'kase den de potatoes am meat, drink, an' sleep. Such am de great merits ob dis 'ere escurlent." . Mr. Lincoln's appearance on the grounds where the great Republican demonstration was made at Springfield, Illinois, was the occasion of so much enthusiasm, even after be had ad dressed the crowd twice, that he was obliged to exclaim with characteristic humor s "I came here, fellow-citizens, expecting quiet, bnt as it seems -I am a great disturber of tbe peace, I wish you would allow me to depart." THE "GROUND OF DEATH." -Bladensburg, in the District of Columbia, the celebrated duelling ground, is thus des cribed by a correspondent. The place, so no ted for its polite aud refined murders, is about five miles f rom the city of Washington, fresh and handsome, in full livery of green, adorned with flowers, and should blush in its beauty for the scenes it has witnessed. Here, in a beauti ful little grass plat, surrounded by trees, forms, made after the image of God, come to Insult Nature and defy Heaven. In 1814, Edward Hopkins was killed here in a duel. This seems to have been the first of these fashionable mur ders on this duelling ground. InT819, A. T. Mason, a United States Sen ator from Virginia, fought with his sister's husband, John McCarty, here. McCarty was averse to fighting, and thought there was no necessity for it ; but Mason would fight. Mc Carty named muskets, loaded with grapashot, and so near together that they would hit heads, if thej fell on their faces. This was changed by the seconds to loading with bullets, and faking twelve feet as the distance. Mason whs killed instantly, and McCarly.who had his col lar bone broken, still lives with Mason's sister in Georgetown. His hair turned white so soon after the fight as to cause much comment. Ho has since been- solicited to act as second in a duel, but refused in accordance with a pledge he made to his-wife after killing her brother. In 1830, Commodore Decatur was killed in a duel here by Commodore Barron. At tho first fire both fell forward with their heads within ten feet of caeh other, and as each supposed himself mortally wounded; each ful ly and freely forgave the other, still laying on the ground. Decatur expired" immediately, but Barron eventually recovered. In 1821, two strangers named Lega and Sega appeared here, fought, and Sega was instantly killed. The neighbors only learned this much of their names from tho marks on their gloves left on the ground. Lega was not hurt. In 1822, Midshipman Locke was killed here by a Clerk of the Treasury Department, nam ed Gibson. The latter was not hurt. In 1820, Henry Clay fought (his2ddne!)with John Randolph, just across the Potomac. In 1S32, Martin was killed by Oarr. Their first names are not now remembered. They were both from the South. . , In 1833, Mr. Key, son of Frank Key, and brother of Barton Key, of Sickles notoriety, met Mr. Sherborn and exchanged a shot,when Sherborn said : "Mr. Key, i have no desire to kill you." ?No matter," said Kev, "I came, to kill you." Very well, then," 'said Sher born, "I will now kill you," and he did. In 1838, W.J; Graves of Kentucky, assume Ing the quarrel of' James Watson Webb witiv J on 'a Cilley of Maine, selected this place for. Cilley's murder, but the parties learning thst Webb,' with4we' friend?,-Jackson arid Morrel," were armed and in pursuit, for the purpose of assassinating Cilley, moved toward the river and nearer the city. Their pursuers moved to ward the river but missed the parties.and then returned to the city, to which they were soon followed by Graves and the corpse of Cilley. In 1815, a lawyer named Jones fought with and killed a Dr. Johnson. In 18-51, Ii. A. Hoole and A. J. Iallas, had a hostile meeting here. Dallas was shot in the shoulder, but recovered. Tn 1852, Daniel and Johnson, two Richmond (Virginia) editors, held a harmless set-to here. which terminated in colfee. In 1853, Davis and Ridgway fought here ; Ridgway allowed his antagonist fo fire with out returning the shot. THE WAY IT TS GOING. ft is worse thau folly to attempt to disguise the fact that the popular current hns set in strongly lor Lincoln. From every section comes intelligence of pnblic demonstrations of an unusually enthusiastic character. On th 8th inst., an immense meeting of the Republi cans was held at Springfield, Illinois. The lowest estimate of the crowd in attendance was 20,000 others fixed it as high as 50,000. Tho procession was two hours and a half passing Mr. Lincoln's residence. During the afters noon Mr. Lincoln appeared on the ground in at carriage, when he was immediately seized up on by the crowd, drawn forth, and forced to respond to the cheers of a wildly enthusiastic multitude. His speech was wholly unintend ed. It was as follows : My Fellow CrrrzExs:I have appeared a mong you on this occasion with no intention' of making a speech. It has been my purposo since I have beeu placed in my present posi tion, to make no speeches. This meeting having been drawn together at the place of my residence, it appeared to be the wish of those . constituting this vast assemblage, to see nie. As it is certainly ray wish to see all of you, I appear upon the ground hore at this time, otily for the purpose of seeing you and enabling you to see me. I confess with gratitude that Ijdidnot suppose my appearance among you would create the tumult which I now witness. I am profoundly grateful for this manifesta tlon of your feelings. I am gratified because it is a tribute which can be paid to no man. It is a testimony which, four years- hence, 3ou will pay to the next man who is the represen tative of the truth cn the questions which now agitate the public mind. fChecrs.l It is an evidence that yon will fight for this cause then, as you now fight for it, and eveu stron- ger than you now fight, though I may be dead and gone. Cheers. I most profoundly and sincerely thank you. . .Having said this much, let me now add that you will hear (he publio . discussions by others of our friends, who are ' here for the purpose of addressing you, and let me be silent. Immense applause. Mr. Lincoln retired from the grounds amidst.' the wildest enthusiasm, being seized upon and carried hither and thither by the immenso crowd which filled the grounds to overflowing. No such demonstration has ever beh witness ed in Illinois. The meeting in tlVe evening was the most imposing ever assembled in the State. The square about the Sfafe House re sembled a sea of fire, through which solid? ranks of Wide-Awakes marched and counter marched by thousands. There was speaking from five stands at once, besides the immense meeting inside the Wigwam. Among the speakers were Senators Trumbull and Doolittle. The telegraph posts, as far as Los Angelos, ' California, on the Butterfleld route, are near ly all up, and in two weeks the line will bo open lo a point 480 miles from San Fracisca. The same of the present husband of the late Mrs. Burdell-Cunningham is - Sheenan, a TJniTetsalist preacher of California. ii
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers