JUL
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BY S. J. R0:
CLEARFIELD, PA., VEMESDAY, MAY 22, 1861.
YOL. 7.-JVO. 38.
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THE GRATE OF. WASHINGTON
In the saffron-tinted morning.
With Potomac's antneni swell,
Where our honored Chief is sleepig,
Mingles deep the passing bell. -Slowly
glidea the passing vessel.
By Mount Vernon's hallowed shades,
And that mournful, mellow cadence,
Echoes through the dewy glade ;
Tis Columbia's tender tribute,
Offered to her noblest son ; 5 ;
Tis the free heart's fervent homage,
At the grave of Washington !
tm the slumbrous bush of noontide, .
With Potomac's anthem swell,
Where our honored Chief is sleeping, .
Mingles deep the passing bell.
Never marble mausoleum
Might such majesty impart,
If or the loud acclaim of millions,
As this homage of the heart;
Tis Columbia's tender tribute,
Offered to her noblest son ;
Tis the free heart's fervent homage,
At the grave of Washington !
In the ro?y flu ah of evening,
With Potomac's anthem swell.
Where our honored Chief is sleeping,
Mingles deep the- passing bell.
Never King in regal splendor
Won a tame so true and pare,
For his name shall be a watchword
While his country shall endure ;
Tis Columbia's tender tribute, . .
Offered to her noblest son;
'Tis the free heart's fervent homage,
At the grave of Washington ! -
In the blue and starry midnight,
With Potomac's anthem swell,
Where our honored Chief is sleeping,
Mingles deep the passing bell.
Dear the spot to patriot pilgrims :
What a thrill his name creates !
Ti the signet of the Union !
Tis the Mecca of the States !
Meet such true and tender tribute,
To Columbia's noblest son ; '
'Tis the free heart's fervent homage,
At the grave of Washington !
THRILLING CAVE ADVENTURE
1 was born and brought tip in the neighbor
hood of the salt works of M . My father was
second engineer, and I tilled the situation of
assistant. The scene of our mining opera
lions, at the time of the event which I am go
ing to narrate, was in a narrow valley, lying
close to the foot tf a perpendicular cliff of
r"c!t about one hundred feet high. On its
bare sides neither grass nor shrub was to be
seen, and scarce any inequality was visible,
whereon the foot of. the climber might find a
resting place. In fact it was considered un
scalable for a distance of two miles when it
sunk down gradually at either end to. the lev
el of the plain. Ascending the clilf, one be
ll eld on the summit a wide plain, stretching
cff in the distance from the sharp edge of the
precipice, and from that dizzy point could
look down upon the works of tbo miners be
low, close under its sides.
Upon the top of the cliff which I have boon
describing, I was strolling listlessly, late one
Sunday afternoon, thinking of a strange and
sad circumstance which bad happened about
a year ago in our family. My only brother, a
lad of fifteen, had gone out early on a summer
morning to shoot plover on the heights, and
fmm that hour had never been heard of.
When last seen, he was mounting the cliff
from the eastern - side, and though (when a-
urnied at his long delay) we made immediate
search ar.d inquiry, we never gained further
information. To speak of our family distress
and n.y own heart grieving for my well be
lovfd young brother, is not now my purpose ;
hut it was the only subject of my thonghts on
that quiet summer evening, when a) the noise
from the works was hushed, and the stillness
seemed tenfold by contrast.
I approached very near the edge of the
cliff. I was now at its steepest part, and look
ing down its smooth sides. I thought how
terrible the fall would be; but my brother
could not have fallen down. In that case his
mangled body, at least, would have been found
I at recalled to mvself by a strange sink
ing ct uiy feet. My first confused idea was
'at the soil bad given way from the edge of
' -?'ifr upon whose utmost verge I stood, and
' at I was about to be precipitated to the bot
tom. I became dizzy with horror, for I felt
: once that 1 conld not recover myself, so
tucacn was the caving in of the earth beneath
wie. I made one stumble forward, felt a ring
"mg and crushing in my ears, and then I lost
all further sensation.
It must have been many boors before I was
suflideutly conscious to know that I still exit-ted.
Sick and bruised, I was long unable
to raise myself from the prostrate position in
which I became aware at last, that I was liv
ing. It W88 quite dark, and every portion of
esrtn or stone that I touched was wet ; and a
saiell of damp salt pervaded the close atmos
phere. I thought I had fallen into an ex
hausted salt mine, but soon remembered that
Hud been standing on the edge oftheclifl.
' s an impossibility. Then came the idea
-it I niust have fallen to the bottom and the
logo earth and stoaes had fallen over me.
TKt too, I soon fonud equally unlikely, and,
fter groping about some time on my bands
knees, (every movement one of intense
ig.'nvj I became sure that my prison was a
:s7o (,( some extent. Too weak to move fur
I lay down and endeavored to think of
-7 position. It seemed a hopeless one. 1
"s certainly in one of those caves formed in
2!e salt rocks, and sometimes found by mi
3ers, running far below the earth's surface.
1 had no idea how far I had fallen j it might
he hut a few feet, ft mrght be many hundred.
As yet I conld find no trace of the passage
jhrough which I had dropped, but I remem
t ihat a case of matches in my pock
et, and it was not long before I succeeded in
aagging them out, though it was excrucia
te pain to my bruised limbs to move them.
Having no taner. f determineI tn h vetrv
refulof the matches, and to improve the
'liort
"mem or neht. aurfne which one
cn!d last, I rubbed it very carefully against
sole of my boot, then harder, then furious-
' , ul would not ignite ! Then I tried
t, with no be"" success. They were
')lamp-every thing was damp; ibe matcb-
-er9 useless. With a faint hope of drying
, ,n time, 1 1 ut the box into my breast,
''"-'-oned my vest over it. What with my
t i Procur5Dg .light, and the pain of
--uses, added to my terror and bewilder-
01 ffiind. I suffered tntPni.lv. Thrnnoh
u became clear to me that instead of fall- !
, .eori I had fallen through the cliffBtrane- I
Bail that hollow ground should occur so
, - eaga without the external wall of the j
cliff caving in towardsit. The space through
which 1 had fallen must have been narrow,
lor my body was - bruised and the skin torn
from my side with strips of clothing; that I
could feel. Oh t for a light to examine better
into my miserable position; but after all, I
did not feel without hope. I could not lose
the idea that I was to hit upon some means or
way of escape, if I only could get the match
es to ignite, and show me the size and form of
the cave. : . , ;
Worn out with pain and thought, I must
have slept. I awoke with a raging thirst, and,
almost at the same time, I became sure that I
beard the dropping of water. I dragged my
self towards the sound, stretched out my band,
and drops from above fell upon it; eagerly I
swallowed a few which burned my throat; they
were distilled brine salt as any impregnation
of water could possibly be 1 ,
This disappointment crushed me terribly.
Ishoulddie of thirst ere I had found a mode
of exit. I thought of the matches, and tried
them again, in vain ; this lime, however, they
gave forth a light smoke. In time the beat
of my breast would dry them that was a tope.
I had no idea of time, save that my watch
had run down while I slept. I wound it up
again, knowing that when it again stopped
eight and twenty hours would have gone by.
Again, on my bands and knees, I crept around,
feeling by the damp walls, and as I coutiuual
ly approached and receded from the spot
where the salt water dropped from a project
ing rock, I discovered that the cavemust.be
nearly round, and not many yards square.
Having discovered ; this, I became more col
lected and resolute, and forced myself to a
calm review of my position. I had to ac
knowledge to myself, that my only chance of
escape seemed the hole or crack through
which I had fallen ; but no ray of light betray
ed that spot earth and stones must have fal
len in and choked it up. Parching with thirst,
and faint from bodily injuries, I was almost at
the point of despair, when a distant sound fell
upon my ear. I listened with intense atten
tion; Soon, more and more distinctly, I rec
ognized the noise of machinery, the rumbling
of carts, and the voices of men ; then a bell
rung, and, with a throb of joy, I recognized it
as the morning summons to the laborers in the
works. A night only could have passed since
my leaving the outer world. Had they miss
ed me 1 Alas! there was nothing to lead them
t: suspect the spot of my captivity. I thought
of the strange disappearance of my young
brother this double bereavement would kill
my poor mother ; iut still I was comforted by
the knowledge that only a partition of rock
separated me from rny fellow men. .Now
could almost distinguish their voices. I felt
that it was vain to hope that my calls and
shouts could be heard by them, yet I could
not forbear shouting till I was quite exhausted
Then I reflected the means I could find of
digging away the barrier of rock. It could
not bo thick I knew that by my facility m
hearing sound, and concluded that, as I had
fallen close to the edge of the cull, 1 bad sunk
straight down to the level of the valley at its
foot, and possibly the wall of my prison was
not more than two or three feet in thickness
But I had no implement, save my knife, and
that was a slender one, quite inadequate to
cutting a passage through even the soft and
damp salt-rock which formed the partition.
Suddenly I remembered having picked up a
heavy iron ox shoe, on the wagon road, du
ring my Sunday walk, it was still in my
pocket. With what joy I pulled it out, and
commenced eagerly my work.
I will not detail the agonies of those days
and nights, when I worked on in the daric
ness, sometimes encouraged, sometimes near-
ly hopeless. I could not find that I had made
any visible progress ; the sounds were nearer
than at first, and I was growing hourly more
exhausted from fatigue and burning thirst
The salt air of the cave inflamed my eyes,
parched my skin, and excoriated my throat,
and often I had a horrible idea that I should
go mad ; but I worked on. I had wound up
my watch five times, therefore it must have
been the sixth day deliverance as far off as
ever. 1 had been trying to loosen a fragment
of rock which seemed somewhat detached
from the strata, (this I could only judge of by
feeling). If I succeeded, I should much reduce
the thickness of the barrier at that point, but
I had to stop and rest before the final trial.
I again tried my matches. 1 bad constant
ly done so hitherto, but without success, and
few remained ; but now the third -one that I
tried gave forth a light smoke, then a blue
flame, and finally a clear red light. I held it
carefully, and beheld the cavern in which I
was immured. It was a small one, and spark
ling from the saline crystals, as if studded
with gems. . Opposite to mc was a dark ob
ject, on a projection of the shelving rock, and
bearing a similarity to tbe outline ol a human
face. In a frenzy of impatience, I tried the
few remaining matches, in vain ; the last one
was in my nana; more careiuny J. urew it
over the sand paper; it burned only for an in
stant; but in that instant, holding it directly
even with the body, I recognized the dead,
pale, but unchanged face of my poor, lost
brother Henry.
I was again in darkness, with the dead body,
and my frenzied thoughts. After a time I re
sumed my labor fiercely at the rock. A few
blow loosened it ; a few more and the large
mass rolled inwards and from a fissure in the
rock which lay behind it, came a narrow streak
of daylight. I was all but mad, or I would
not have had sufficient strength to effect my
purpose. 1
By tho aid of ny ox shoe I soon increased
the bole till it was large enough to admit my
bead. My shouts soon brought assistance from
the works, to which, as I had supposed, 4 was
very near, and soon from that fearful tomb
were drawn the living and the dead bodies.
No one knew me till I spoke. The body of
poor Henry had been preserved by the salt,
and was also partly petrified. That , he had
been killed by , the fall was evident, and had
never moved from the ridge on which he fell.
I never entirely recovered from the effect of
the salt, which left my eyes and nose constant
ly red, and rendered my flesh ever aJer simi
lar to corned pork. " - ; '
A patriotic Ohiogiil, an assistant teacher
in one of the public schools of New Orleans,
expressed . ber antipathy to the traitors, the
other day, and was consequently dismissed
from ber position. With ber relatives, she is
dow on her way to her free native Stale.
"Sir, you have broken your promise." "Ob,
sever mind, I can make another just as good."
PUSH ON A PLEA FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.
'Push him on, Mr. Lee push him on : that
is all you have got to do. I don't mind terms
only you push him on, and keep bini well up
to the mark. And don't be afraid of giving
liim plenty ot lessons, Mr. Lee ; he's a clever
active boy, and that's the only way of keeping
irnn out ot mischief. JNo use in sending chil
dren to school to idle their time away that's
my view of the case. Education is a fine thing
Mr. Lee, a very fine thing, and I mean Frank
to be a scholar. Hard work and plenty of
it that was the way when I was a boy. , I was
kept at it morning, noon and night ; and see
what it has done loi roe. Tes, Mr. Lee. push
bim on, and I shall be proud of bini some
day." And having thus given his view of the
case, Mr. Denton took up his hat, and wishing
the teacher good morning, went to his ware
house.
Mr Denton was a wealthy merchant in the
town of II , a man very much looked up to
and respected a man who paid the best price
lor everything, and consequently expect the
best article; no better material in all the
country than that which came into his mill to
be manufactured ; no better goods to be met
with any where than those turned out of . his
warehouse at II He also paid the best price
for education, and in consequence expected
the best article, and plenty of it, too. road
vocate he for sendiug children to schools
where they left at four o'clock, and had holi
days three times a week, lie was quite right
when he said that education had done a grea
deal for him. "Hard work and plenty of. it'
had laid the foundation of his present stan
ding ; it had placed him at the head of one of
the most flourishing enncerus in II ; it had
moulded his rough, firm nature, into a form
somewhat mure befitting the elegancies ot the
sphere in which he moved ; to uso his own
words, "It had made a man out of him.'f
What it should do for the delicate, excitable,
sensitive little Frank, was a question notj'et
answered.
"Xow, my dear, where are your books 1
You must work hard to-night, for we are late
with tea, and if you don't mind.you will not
have your lesson ready for Mr. Lee by to-morrow
morning."
"Oh, mamma, mayn't I just go into the
garden a little first ; it does look so fine,.and
I haven't had time to go in all day. Mayn't I
go in, mamma r"
"A o my dear, yon must wait till the lessons
are done. You know you must push on, and
have them perfectly done. Lessons first and
play afterwards, you know that is the way to
oe a scnoiar."
1 rank looked with a sigh at the crass plot.
and his hoop, lying' so temptingly there under
tne elm tree ; then, fetching bis books out of
the hall, and cleaning his slats, commenced
operations. , ' . . . .
"What lessons have you to-night, dear ?"
"English history, mamma: parsing,; and
geography, and composition, and Latin gram
mar, and French verbs, and then this sum in
fractions to prove !" and the little fellow sigh
ed again, and looked at his hoop. There was
no play to-night, at any rate.
"There, I think I know it now," said ho;
and laying his tiny hand on ttio page, soasto
hide the wcrds, he began to recite his geo
graphical lesson. The reader will not be sur
prised to learn that his"childish pronunciation
of the alien words was mich as Mr. Lee'a Ger
man professor would hardly have comnieuded;
neither will we inquire too impertinently into
the value and permanence of the ideas they
conveyed.
"The Thurigian states comprise the grand
duchy of Sachausen, Weimar, Eisenach, the
three Sachausen duchies of Coburg, Gotha,
Meiningen, and Altenbnrg, the two Keus prin
cipalities of Greitz and Schleitz, and the two
Sch'warzenberg principalities of Kudolstadt
and Sondetshausen. Their united areas are
4,934 square miles, with a population of 970,
000. There, I'm glad I've doue with that.
Now for the sum."
For a while nothing was heard but the
scratching of the pencil, and a gentle rustling
sound, as the breeze blew the long flower star
red jessamine branches across the window.
"Oh mamma, my head does ache ; can't I
finish this sum to-morrow, or ask Mr. Lee to
excuse it ?"
' "No, dear ; it must be done. You know
papa wishes you to push on, and learn as much
as you can." And Mrs. Denton put another
leaf into her Berlin work, and went on with i
'Quecchy." . '
The little fingers closed over the pencil once
more, and the" sleepy eyes bent down over
their task. BuVJirue conquers most things;
and when eight o'clock struck, the last lesson
wa9 mastered, the last verb learned "good
night, mamma,'? and a confused conglomera
tion of Sachausen duchies, verbs, fractions,
parts of speech and Latin numbers, ' Frank
went up stairs to bed.
"Lessons ail prepared ?" said Mr. Denton,
as he came in from business and stretched him
self out in the great easy chair.
"les allot them. Don't vou think, my
dear, Mr. I.ee pushes Frank a little too fast 1
You know he is but a child yet not nine
years old
-and he does not seem well ; be-
sides ". ' ;
"Nonsense, my dear, nonsense. Why,
when I was a boy, I did ' twice as much. I
mean to ask Mr. Lee next quarter about his
learning Greek. He's a clever child, and it's
a pity he should not be kept up to the mark ;
besides you know, he'll never get on when he
goes to grammar school without a good knowl
edge of the classics, and I'm deiermined to
make a scholar of him nothing like keeping
childrerrup to the mark.
So the subject passed. Mr. Denton was a
way on business all day,, nnd when ho cime
home Frank was generally gone to bed, so he
did not notice tho heavy eye and flushed
cheek, nor the pale forehead and trembling
hand ; he only knew that bis little boy had
begun to construe Caesar &ud work sums in
fractions, that he bad taken the first prize in
history, and.' could match his compositions
with those of the biggest boy in schobl; he
was going to be a scholar, a credit to the fami
ly, as Mr. Denton bad made up his. mind he
should be, and that was quite sufficient.. '
"From the centre A, at the distance A B,
describe the circle B C D-," murmured little
Frank, as the tides of sleep drove back life's
weeds and pebbles on the bright shores of
dream land. Yes he was "pushing on," but
where ? That was another question altogether.
" Mrs. Dale, tho lady who lived at the cottage,
a little beyond Mr. Denton's, was a woman
who also Lad ber own views of education, And'
always paid tbe best price for it. jjhe expec-
ted the best. article j too, though not so particu
lar as Mr. D. about having plenty of it. So,
though Harry Dalo was more than eight years
old, he never went to school more ' than two
hours in a day, and the rest of the time was
spent in roving with his mamma and sister
through the glens, and woods, and meadows,
mat cluster so closely round tne town of H ,
garnering wild flowers, ferns, and mosses, and
arranging them in vases at home (Mrs. Dale
was not so fastidious as some ladies are about
having flowers litter the parlor.) learning their
names tne while, or examining their delicate
structure, and listning with eager interest, as
his mamma told him stories ol distant lands,
their trees, and birds, and flowers, and then led
him on from this to the kind and loving Fath
er wno gave the forest its trlowins tints, the
birds their voices of music, and all natflre its
loveliness. , '
People laughed at Mrs. Dale for calling this
education, and expatiated largely upon ihe
folly of parents who sent their children to
school only a quarter. of a term, and yet paid
full terms. Divers were the shrewd predic
tions as to tne harvest that, would bo reaped
lioni a seed-time so irregular, and many the
forseeing hints which were' dropped on the
subject. They knew what would become of
Mich vagaries." "Talk of educating children
in fields and meadows such nonsense.' "Sure
to make the boy idle and useless." But Mrs
Dale went quietly on ; she had her own views
of the case, and acted according to them. So
at eight years of -age Harry had ' never seen
inside of a Latin crammer ; could not, for the
life of him, get further than the second col
umn of tho multiplication-table; was ignor
ant of geography, except from his mamma's
conversation and the stray books he had pick
ed up on the parlor table ; parsing, dates, and
dictations, were strange words to him ; and he
knew nothing of French, save the little songs
Mrs. Dale somo times sang to him, with an
accent so pure and true. But Harry had a
fresh, bright, intelligent soul within him. He
would listen, with quick appreciation, as you
told him of the wonders of nature and art, of
the great men who lived in distant oses. of
the strange inventions of genius, and the no
Die results worKea out by patience, and perse
verance, tie was learning to enjoy life, that
when the time came he might use it wisely
and well. There was a rich promise of future
energy and vigor in those clear, honest eyes
of his, the firm, bounding step, the guileless,
unsuspecting confidence, the fearless inno
cence with which his glance met yours prom
ises which alter years failed not to be realized.
So much for Harry Dale. And the pushing
on- wither had: that tended? There was &
nother grave in the II cemetery, and the
neighbors as they read on the marble head
stone the touching insciiption, "Jlged eleven
yeu-fif said. Very astonishing, isn t it, how
soon these clever children always die ?"
i n i ,
More Sodtoeex Brutality. There seems
to be no limit to the infamous outrages of
which the traitors at the South are capable
In one of the New York papers we find anoth
er shocking illustration ot the treatment to
which men from the North are exposed in
southern cities. Mr.. Charles Welden,
who was for seme time Deputy Collector, went
to Savannah about a year ago with his family,
ana engaged in business as a custom-house
broker. A few weeks since he went with his
wife to Montgomery, leaving at home his two
sons, Charles and Lionel, tbo former twenty
one and the latter about eighteen, together
with two or three smaller children. Soon af
ter his departure tho two boys were called up
on to enlist in the secession armv. Thev e-
vaded the requisition from day to dav, until.
finally finding there was' no escape, Charles.
the eldest, escaped secretly from the city, and
came, by way of Memphis and Cairo, North.
arriving iu New York on Tuesday. On
Wednesday he received a letter from his fath
er, still at Montgomery, stating that a body of
men ca'Ied on Lionel to impress him, and on
his. resisting they, killed him on . the snot
The details of this barbarous brutality will, of
course never he known. Charles and another
brother have joined the New York Thirteenth
Regiment. They have private wrongs to re
dress as well as public outrages to punish.
nt RRiED Devotions. Probably many of us
would be discomposed by an arithmetical esti
mate of our communion with God. It might
reveal to us the secret of much of onr apathy
in prayer, because it might disclose how little
we desire to be alone with God. We mieht
learn from suob acomputation that Augustine's
idea of prayer, as "the measure of love," is
not very flattering to us. We do not grudge
time given to a, privilege which we love.
Why should we expect to enjoy a duty which
we have no time to erjoy ? . Do we enjoy any
thing we do in a burrv ? Enjoyment presup
poses something ot mental leisure. How of
ten do we say of a pleasure : "I wanted
more time to enjoy it to my heart's content."
n..i. -ii . . .
dui oi an employments, none can be more
dependent on "time for it," than stated prayer.
fugitive acts ot devotion, to be of high val-
ne, must ne sustained by other approaches to
God, deliberate, premeditated, regular, which
snail be to those acts like the abutments of
suspension bridge to the arch that spans the
stream. It will never do to be in desperate
haste in laying such foundations. This
thoughtful duty, this spiritual privilege, this
foretaste of nncorporeal life, this communion
with an unseen Friend can you expect to en
joy it as you would a repartee or dance 1
Distressing Mortality. The family of Mr.
James C liichey, -a well, known citizen of
Peebles township, Allegheny county, have
nearly all died of typhoid fever within the past
tnree weeks. . Three of the children sickened
and died there being scarcely a week between
the date of their decease- The mother died
last week, and on Sunday Mr. Richey expired.
Three moro children are, lying ill under the
same terrible disease., ' , . ; . .-.., ;
' A letter from a young lady residing 'in Sa
vannah to a young lady residing in New York,
says : ."Flour is selling at thirty dollars per
barrel, and quite difficult to get at that. Our
grocer has sent us a circular stating that he
will be compelled to close his business imme
diately, on account of tho impossibility of ob
taining supplies from the North." " ,
- Joy is heightened by exultant strains of mn
sic, but grief is eased only by low ones. A
sweet sad measure is the balm of a wounded
spirit. Music lightens toil. The sailor pulls
more .cheerily for his, song. ' v , ' ' ,
THE CATACOMBS OF EOME.
An antiquary states (writes the Roman cor
respondent of the Times on the -13 ultimo)
that a party of French soldiers, whilst visiting
the catacombs last week, discovered a gallery
hitherto unexplored, and which had altogether
escaped the ravages of the barbarians of form
er days and the profanations of tourists. The
tombs and paintings found there belong to the
first three centuries of the Christian era
i tiese subterranean passages are very narrow
(less than three , feet) in some places, some'
times ascending, at others decending and com
municating, ou the right and left with num
b jrless other passages, all of the same width
butvaring in height. In the walls on each
side are oblong horizontal niches of different
lengths, according to the stature of the per
sons buried in them and sometimes deep e
nough to contain several bodies. These niches
being on a level with the floor, and are ex
cavated one over the other to the number of
four or five, and sometimes as many as twelve
The number of Christians buried in the whole
of subteranean Rome is estimated to have been
G,00(,000. In the early ages of Christianity
the Pope, in order to facilitate pilgrimages to
the catacombs, had two wide staircases made
leading directly to the martyrs' tombs, and
which were soon decorated with marble mon
uments and inscriptions bv the crowds ot de
vout persons who came to venerate those rel
ic's. In the fifth and following centuries the
barbarians completely ravaged the city, and
did not spare even the abode of the dead. In
the most historical places of interest were left
heaps of ruins, which time covered with soil
and vegetation, till the special entrance to tbe
catacombs entirely disappeared. " In those
recently discovered many glasses have been
found entire. They are made of two thick
nesses of glass, of different degrees of fusibil
ity. Between them are designs m gold, which
have been so well defended by their transpa
rent envelope, though made fifteen centuries
ago, that they appear as distinct as when they
left the workman's hand. The outer coat of
glass is, however, rather oxydised in several
places. An original bronze vase, found in the
catacombs, is preserved in the Roman College.
From the figures it presents, it must have be
longed to the earlv ages of the Church, and is
supposed to have been used for the baptism
of neophytes.
Instant Blessixq Following a Jsoldiee's
"Grace" at Table. The New Bedford
"Standard" publishes a letter from a lady in
Washington, in which she speaks at length of
the respect and esteem felt for each other by
the New 1 ork Seventh, and the Massachusetts
Lighth Regiments : She relates the following
interesting incident: "There is a story told
by one of the Seventh, that no one can listen
to without tears and a glow or pride in our
New England soldiers, lie says : 'While en
camped in Maryland, I wandered ofF one day.
and came to a farm house, where I saw a party
of those Massachusetts fellows well, no they
were Rhode Island boys, but it's all the same
talking with a woman who was greatly fright
ened. Ibev tried in vain to ouiet her appre
hensions. They asked for food, and she cried;
0, take all I have, tako everything, but spare
my sick husband." 0, darn it,' said one of
the men, we aint going to hurt you ; we want
something to eat. Uut the woman persisted
in being frightened in spite of all efforts to re
assure her, and hurried whatever food she had
on. the table. JJut,' said tbe Lieutenant,
when she Baw this company stand about the
table with bared beads, and a tall, gaunt man
rise his hand and invoke God's blessing on
the bounties spread before them, the poor
woman broke down with a fit of sobbing and
crying. . bhe had no longer any fears, but bid
them wait, and in a few moments she had made
them hot cofiee in abundance. She then emp
tied their canteens of muddy water thev con
tained, and filled them with coffee. Her as
tonishment increased when they insisted upon
paying her.' The Lieutenant tells this with
great expression. Said he, Their asking a
blessing took me by surprise, and whth I saw
this I felt that our country was safe with such
men to fight for it.' "
The Corporal. During the American Rev
olution, it is said that an officer, not habited
in bis military costume, was passing where a
small company of soldiers were at work mak
ing some repairs on a small redout. The com
mander of the little squad was giving orders
to those who were under him: relative to a
stick of timber which they were endeavoring
to raise to the top of the works. The timber
went up hard, and on this account the voice
of the little great man was often heard in his
regular vociferations of "Heave away ! there
she goes ! Heave ho!" The officer who is
spoken of, stopped his horse when he arrived
at the place, seeing the timber sometimes
scarcely move, asked the commander why he
did' not ; take, hold and render a little , aid.
The latter appeared to bo somewhat astonish
ed ; turning to the officer with all the pomp of
an emperor, saia "bir I am ' corporalT
"You-are not, though, are you ?" said the of
ficer, "I was not aware of that." And taking
off his hat and bowing. "I ask your pardon,
Mr. Corporal." upon this he dismounted his
elegant steed, flung the bridle over the post,
and lifted till the sweat stood in drops upon
his forehead. When the timber was elevated
to its proper statiou, turning to the man cloth
ed in brief authority, Mr. Corporal Command
er, said he, "when you have another such
job, and have not enough of men, send to
your commander-in-chief, and I will come and
help you a second time." The corporal was
thunder struck ! It was Washington.
The Cotton TraS e. The civil war and
blockade is likely to produce "something of a
panic in the Liverpool market, and will turn
attention moie than even to stimulate tbe pro
duction in other cotton growing countries.
At the South they begin already, to feel that
evil of an interupted business with theNorth.
The price of cotton, while it has risen about
two cents a ponnd at the North, has fallen ful
ly that amount in New Orleans. Sales are
confined to cash, and planters are shipping on
.their own account in order to save their prop
erty from destruction or forced loans. The
price of cotton will actually advance during
the unsettled state of the South. At last ac
counts, the stock of cotton in Liverpool was
abont equal to five months' consumption.
An official statement of the Charleston
Courier shows that only 897 of fh First Reel
ment of. South Carolina Volunteers would go
North to fight, while 604 remained at home.
BEIT GEAY'S HORSE TRADE.
Old Ben Gray was an old toper, and Old
Ball was bis favorite horse. 'Now old Ball was
a "famous good riding horse, and the eye -of
every jockey in the neighborhood had been
attracted by his fine points ; bnt old Ben knew
the value of old Ball too well to part with him.
When he was top-heavy what horse could
carry him so steadily as Old Ball ; or, when
entirely over-weighed, would so carefully se
lect a solt sandy spot, for the rider to fall on,
and then so patiently wait until sleep brought
sobriety? So the efforts of the jockeys to
swap or trade him out of Old Ball had been in
vain. But one day Oid Ball failed to select s
spot free of stones for Old Ben to drop on, or
became impatient for his feed and left, or in
some, other way angered his owner, who
straightway, swapped with his ncighlr Jones,
receiving as "boot' a 'mint drop" of tho
Benton stamp and the largest denomination.
But before- the day was over Old Ben Borely
repented himself ot his trade. Besides being
"chiseled" absolutely in the trade, how could
he get on without Old Ball ? ; But Gray knew
Jones, and he knew Jones knew Old Ball ; and
he futher knew that there was no chanco of
getting Old Ball back unless he played his
game "mighty sheky."
Old Ben matured his plan, and mounted his
"Jones hos," and timed his departure from
the court green so as to pass Jones just as he
was unhitching Old Ball from the tree to which
he had been tied during the day. Reining in
bis horse he drawled out .
"Oh, Mr. Jones, this morning, when I was a
trsdin' Old Ball to you, I reckon I was a little
drunk, and I didn't t-il you of one of Old Ball's
tricks. Now I don't want anybody hurt bv
anything I done; and now I jest want to tell'
you if ever you come to a river, and Old Ball
takes a notion to lie down in the water, jest
you get right off, lor Old Ball's gwine to do it
certain."
Jones, ol course, declared himself cheated
n the trade, and claimed drawbacks for dam
ages. But Old Ben said ho only warranted
Old Ball 6onnd, "an" Old Ball Is jes' as sound
as a Mexican dollar, an' jes' you break him of
that little trick, an' he'd ies' as (rood as any
man's hos." .
Finally, after Jones' proposal to "rue" had
been rejected by Gray, a new swap was agreed
on, the Jones hos for Old Ball even, Gray re
taining the X.
Accordingly, bridles and saddles were ex
changed, and each man mounted bis own horse.
when Old Ben gave Jones another piece ol in
formation about Old Ball.
"Mr. Jones," said he, "there's jesf one other
thing about this hos I'd like to tell yon : as
long as I've been riding Old Ball he never yet
did take that notion !
Thr Ear More Willing than thi Ete.
Tbe Moravian says, very suggestively : "Chil
dren hunger perpetually for new ideas, and
the most pleasant way of reception is by the
voice and the ear, not the eye and the printed
page. Ihe one mode is natural, the other ar
tificial. Who would not rather, listen than
read ? We not unfrequently pass by in the pa
pers full reports of a lecture, and then go and
pay our money to hear the self-same words ut
tered. An audience will listen closely from
the beginning to the end of an address, which
not one in twenty of those present would read
with the same attention. This is emphatical
ly true of children. They will learn with
pleasure from the lips of parents what they
deem it drudgery to study in the book ; and
even if they have the misfortnno to be de
prived of the educational advantages which
they desire, they cannot fail to grow up intel
ligent, if they enjoy in childhood and youth
the privilege of listening daily to the conver
sation of intelligent people. Let parents then
talk much and talk well at home."
The Confession. There's somewhat on my
breast, father, there's somewhat on my breast!
the livelong day I sigh, father, at night I can
not rest. I cannot take my rest, father, though
would fain do so; a weary weight oppres-
seth me, this weight of wo !
'Tis not the lack of gold, father, nor lack of
worldly gear! My lands are broad and fair to
see, my friends are kind and deaf : my kin
are real and true, father, they mourn fo see my
grief, But, O ! 'tis not a kindsman's hand can
give my heart relief !
'Tis not that Janet's false, father, 'tis not
that she's unkind; though busy flatterers
swarm around, I know her constant mind 'tis
not her coldness, father, that chills mv labor-
ng breast ; it's that confounded cucumber I've
ate, and can't digest.
A wealthy owner of real estate was about
erecting a splendid house upon a largo lot,
and was disclosing the plan to a neighbor.
I have employed," said he, "a man which has
eructated many buildings : and my design is.
fur to have ernct an edifice with a beautiful
Portico in front on the street, and a Pizarro
behind with a bath-house contazious !"
Personal. Hon.. Schuyler Collar, of Indi
ana, an eminent member of Congress, accom
panied Mrs. Lincoln from Washington to Phil
adelphia. She is on her wav to New York, to
purchase articles for the White nouse, and haa
not left in consequence of the war excitement
as has been erroneously supposed.
Closed for Some Time. "A proprietor of a
lager beer house in Richmond, Va., has closed
his establishraeut in consequence of the block
ade cutting ofi his communication with Read
ing, his source of supply. He promises to re
open on tho day Southern Independence is ac
quired and acknowledged. .
Plain talk by the W inchester (Ky.) Xation
al Union. "Bcrisb Magoffin, unless he speedi
ly changes bis conduct, will soon find that ha
has trespassed too tar on tbe patriotic forbear
ance of an outraged people, and will have the
notoriety of being the first Governor of a
State banged for troason."
Moulded glass casks are made in Belgium.
They are covered with an open wicker work,
are said to be stronger than those of wood,
and are furnished with ground-glass stoppers
and taps. The quantity of liquor remaining
in them is always visible.
A short time ago a man became so complete
ly "wrapped np in thought' that be was tied
up, labelled, and sent off on the "train of ideas."
.'.Friend should be very delicate and csrefsl '
in administering piety as medicine, when ene
miss use the same article as poison. ,
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