VOLUME 1.
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN,
T8 published overy Wednesday in the borough of Butler,
by THOMIS ROBIXMOX& C. E. ANDERSON on Main street,
bpposite to Jack's Hotel—office up stair* l in tho brick ,
drmorly occupied by KM Yetter, asa star#
Tkrm* :—s| 50 a year, if paid in advance, or itbin the
first nix moutlM; or s■£ if not paid until after the expira
tion of the fin"t six months.
BATHS UV ADVKRTWNO: — Oue square non., (ten Hn«*S or
leas,) three insertions 91 00
Every subsequent insertion, per square
*Juiir«*«i cams of 10 lines or loss for one year, inclo
sing papnr, v® j
Card <A 10 lines or !<•<••« 1 year without paper WT.A w
column for six months «•'
for one year '2 00
column for six months *•' j*?
\\ column for one year X/
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1 column for one yea:-
Publishing—Before Printing.
That the Roman populace was not shut |
out from literature, and even ncwspaiWrs,
by the want of a printing press, is cer
tain. "What their newspapers may have
contained, Ido not know; but Tacitus
tells us that in the provinces, and even in
the camp, these papers were read with
great avidity, every one being anxious to
hear what Thrascas had not done—as in
our day they are to hear what Louis Na
poleon has said or has not said. The ex
istence of several well known publishers
proves the activity of the book trade.—
Dionysius, of Halicarnassus. speaks of
" the thousands of writers," on the single
subject of the early Itonian history; and
although there is, of course, hypetbolc in
his phrase, yet even as an hyperbole it in
dicates a large number. Arid there is no
exaggeration, but a statement meant to be
precise, in the notice of the two thousand
copies of the pseudo-Sibylline books which
Augustus confiscated in Home alone.—
Here, also, is a fact which points in the
name direction : Pliney laughingly writes j
to a friend that Regulous had taken it in
to his head to weep ostentatiously for the i
loss of his son ; and no one weeps like
him luyct ul nemo. "He sots sculptors
and painters to work and composes an ora- 1
tion which lie is not content with publicly
reciting in Home, but must enrich the
provinces with a thousand copies of it— j
in exempt aria trunscrijitum milled—
There is one important source of demand I
which must not be overlooked, I mean for
school books. When Juvenal says the
" verses which the boy has just conned
over on his bench he stands up to repeat,"
it is clear that the Roman boys had their
lesson books, Which they tumbled, tore
and lost, as their descendants have done. |
And it is worthy of remark, that in the
Roman schools the popular poets were
studied ; nay, Pcrsius tells us that it was
the ambition of poets to be road in school ; |
and Nero, in thorn literary vanity, as we |
know, was intense, gave express orders i
that his versos should be given to the boys, j
But perhaps the strongest indication of
this activity is seen in the fact that the
library formed an essential part of every
house, which'is far from true of houses of |
our own day, even among the easy classes, j
* * The prices tell a similar tale.—
if books had been costly, they must have i
been rare; if they had not been cheap,
tlfey could not have been common. Thus,
on theone hand, the evidence which proves
that books must have been abundant,
proves that they must have been cheap;
and, on the other, the evidence, scanty as
it is, but decisive, which proves that books
were cheap, points to their abundance.
A learned Frenchman, who has inves
tigated this point of price, comes to the
conclusion that the priced were lower than
those in our own day. Lef us hear what
Martial says. The first book of his Epi
grams was to be bought, he tells us, for
five denarii (nearly three shillings) ele
gantly bound ; but in a cheaper binding
for the people, it cost six to ten sestertii
(Is. to Is. *>d.). His thirteenth book of
Epigrams was sold for four sestortii (about
eightpeuce): and he said that half that
price a fair profit. * *
The reader, doubtless, jumps to the con
clusion that books were cheap in those
.days, because authors were not paid. But
the reader is rash, and in his rashness
wrong. Authors were paid. Ido not as
sert. nor insinuate, that they ever received
the sums which our magnificent biblio
poles pay celebrated authors—sums, the
very mention of which would, a few years
ago, have fluttered the attics of Grub
street to madness. Horace never got a
guinea a line for his odes; nor did Pe
tronius receive sixteen thousand pounds
for his romance. Livv was not so well
paid as Macaulay. But the Itonian au
thors were paid, nevertheless, and were
paid sums greater than were usually re
ceived long aftor the invention of print
ing.—Cornhil/ Magazine.
AN ltu.su GIANT.—At Dromelilily,
Ireland, recently, while digging for po
tatoes, the laborer found a coffer of sil
ver coin, and in digging for more they
found a leaden coffin about nine feet long,
that contained the bones of what had been
an Irish giant. The thigh measured two
feet eleven inches, and the cranium was
half an inch thick, showing how admira
bly heads were adopted to meet contin
gencies in the formation of an Irishman
in tho olden time. No shillalah could get
through such a scull as that.
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
FROM HARRIdftIRG.
I Correspondence of the Franklin Repository.
II ATTRISBURG, Jan. 16. 1864.
The greatevent of the week was the ap
pearance of tttfttt, of Arkansas, and
Col. Montgomery, of Vicksburg—two old
Southern Bret-ken ri&e Democrats. They
ipoTt"? fn The 11 lionse on Thurs
day evening to an immense audience, in
cluding many ladies.
Gantt is quite a young man —hardly
over thirty ; tall and slender; bearded in
SoutlJcrn style, and a nfcst
i eloquent speaker. He reviewed the war;
its causes ; its progress ; its disasters and
disappointments; and his denunciation of
the Democratic leaders of the North was
terrible. He did not mince words on the
subject. He declared that were en
couraged to rebel against the government,
by positive assurance from the Democrat
ic leaders in the North that they would
not sustain the war, and that they would
revolutionize the North, destroy our army
credit, and give tho Southern Confedera
cy Pennsylvania and such other portions
of the North as might be deemed desira
ble. He boldly charged them with perfi
dy and cowardice, and as the responsible
parties for the bloody war.
But the most startling declaration made
by Gen. Gantt, relates to Pennsyluania
Democratic leaders. He said that after
his capture by the Union forces, (he was
a. General in the rebel service,) at Island
\ T o. 10, he was brought North through
I this State as a prisoner oj' war, and he de
i dared that prominent Democrats of Penn-
I sylvania then conferred with him and as
sured him that if the rebels would hold
out a little longer they would be successful,
for the Democrats of the North would ar
rest the war by defeating the conscription
and otherwise rendering the. administra
| tion powerless to prosecute it. And he
added with withering emphasis—"l CAN
liIVK YOU TIIE NAMES IF WHAT I SAY IS
Disi'i' j'ED!" A number of Democratic
members of the legislature were present,
but they did not dare to question the
statement or call for the names. lie said
the Democrats of the North%dvtsed them
j to war, promised* to comf to tHefr assis
: tance, and then left them alone in the
I struggle and confined themselves to eow
| ardly, perfidious, stealthy assaults upon
I their own government. He said that in
j stead of Northern Democrats coming to
j their assistance, the soldiers of the Union
| came in overwhelming force and conquer
j i'd us ; but, said he. they brought oov-
KRNMENT with them and rescued us from
a tyranny more terrible than death. His
speech made a most profound impression.
He is on his way to Washington to make
, arrangements for the restoration of Ar
| kansas to the Union. Mainly through
j his efforts 6,000 Arkansans arc now in
the Union army.
Col. Montgomery followed in a speech
rcp'ete with humor and eloquence, and
at times with biting sarcasm. His review
of the course of the revolutionary Demo
cratic Senators was amusing and caustic
beyond description. He said that if Jeff.
Davis held the balance of power in all the
loyal legislatures, as he does in Pennsyl
vania by tho imprisonment of Major
White, with Davis everything would be
lovely and the goose would hang high !
The dead-lock in the Senate continues,
and all legislation is at a stand. The vote
for Governor was counted on Thursday.
Senator Kinsy went into the joint con
vention for that purpose; but all the oth
er Democratic Senators refused to partic
ipate.
Hon. Henry D. Moore was nominated
for Treasurer on Thursday evening with
out a contest. He is eminently fitted for
the financial trials we may. have to under
go during the next year. The joint con
vention for the election of State Treasurer
will meet on Monday, but it will probably
adjourn to another day. Everything is
in readiness for the inauguration of Gov
Curtin. it will be a grand demonstra
tion. HORACE.
flaT" Quite a joke happened to one of
the doctor craft some little time since.—
He ordered some powerful medicine for
a sick boy, and the father not liking the
appearance of it, forced it down the cat's
throat. When the doctor called again,
and enquired if the powder hud cured the
boy. the father replied, "No we did not
give it to him."
'• Good heavens !" said the doctor, "is
the child liviug?"
" Yes, but the cat ain't—wc gave it to
her."
The docter sloped.
SeT' Our information from rebeldom
generally all goes to show that President
Lincoln's amnesty proclamation has caus
ed much excitement among the people and
soldiers, and it was feared that many would
accept it and abandon the rebel cause. It
was believed that a large majority of the
troops, if left to themselves, would lay
down their arms, and consent to the terms
proposed.— Exchange.
" Let us have Faith that Right makes Might; and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare to do our duty as we understand it"~ A - LINCOLN.
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1864.
THE DESPAIRING SOUTH. —The signs
of want and misery at the South multiply
daily. The people are no longer able to
bear the enormous evils which have been
brought tipOb them by their guilty mad
ness. fV&m ov.v end of the Confederacy to'
the,other, tlijyjyeling of 4j*Wtyi'xtiya
with Davis and his Congress and their
war measures is threatening new rebellions
and secessions. It seems utterly impossi
ble that the chaos and confusion can ever
be moulded into an effective organization
to continue the war. And yet mere des
peration often accomplishes wonders, and
there is reason to fear that wc shall have
an example of its terrible power before
the war is over. The people of the North
should not feel too confident. Davis and
his co-conspirators know that their necks
are in imminent peril, and they can still
rally a great force by their remorseless con
scription of every man in their territory
who is capable of holding a musket.—
They intend to do it, and the true course
for us to pursue is to fill up our ranks and
pour armies into the field that shall over
whelm the most numerous and desperate
force produeeable by <he foe. The one
thing needful above all others in the pres
ent state of things is fresh and abundant
military strength on the side of the Union.
Let the South know that we are stronger
than ever; that the power and the will to
crush this rebellion are mightier than at
any previous time ; that where they raise
one man by force, we raise five orten cheer
ful, resolute volunteers, and the struggle
will soon be over. — Pittsburgh Gazette.
A FIGHT IN THE REBEL CONGRESS.—
Mr. Foote, of Tennessee, and Judge Han
ley, of Arkansas, members of the committe
to investigate charges against the commis
saries and quartermasters, came to blows
in the committee room the other day.—
Mr. Foote, it seems, laughed at some of
the evidence elicited. Judge Hanley re
plied that he (Mr. Foote) need not-laugh.
Mr. Foote said that his laugh was an hon
est laugh at least. Judge HaWey said he
doubted that. Some other belligerent
words passed, and Mr. Foote rose and
struck him. Both clenched, and blows
were given and received by both parties.
Mr. Foote laid violent claim to Judge
llanley's shirt bosom, tearing it out from
his bosom. Mr. Commissary Nov thorp
was knocked into one corner of the com
mittee room like a man of rags, which he j
is not; committee tables were overturned I
ami the recorded evidence sent hither and i
thither. More ink than blood was shed.
The witnesses present in the room obser
ved their neutrality, but strove to allay
hostilitcs by seizing both of the combat
ants by their coat-tails and attempting
their seperation. Judge llanley's coat
tail gave way in the struggle, involving
severe loss on the wearer. Finally, both
desisted, and the business of the commit
tee proceeded.— Richmond Dispatch
LUDICROUS WAGGERY —The Pioneer,
a magazine published monthly at San Fran
cisco, California, contains the following
paragraph :
" And this again reminflsus of a faceti
ous performance of the late J. P. Squibob
was, "onceon a time," while walking down
Pennsylvania Avenue, was sorely mistifi
ed by a modest little sign standing in the
window of a neat little shop on the left
hand side as you go down. The sign bore,
in gaily painted letters, the legend,
■' Washington Ladies' Depository." Flat
tening his nose against the window Squi
bob descried two ladies, whom he describes
as of exceedingly beauty, neatly dressed
and busily engaged in sewing behind a lit
tle counter. The foreground was filled
with lace caps, baby's stockings, compres
es for the waist, caps, collars and other ar
ticles of still life. Hat in hand, Squibob
reverently entered, and, with intense po
liteness, addressed one of tho ladies as ful
lows :
" Madam, I perceive by your sign that
this is the dejioaitory for Washington la
dies ; I am going to the North for a few
days and should be pleased to leave my wife
in your charge—but I don't know, if by
your rules you could receive her, as she is
a Baltimore woman !
" Oueof the ladies," says Squibob, " a
pretty little girl' in a blue dress, turned
very red, and holding di wn her head,
made the remark, "tvhe !" Jiut the eld
er of the twain, after making as if she would
laugh, but by a strong-minded effort hold
ing in, replied :
" Sir you have made a mistake ; this is
the place where the society of Washington
ladies deposit their work to be sold for the
beuefit of distressed natives of the Island
of FernandodeNoronha,"or words to that
effect.
" Gravely did the wicked Squibob bow,
all solemnly begging her pardon, and put
ting on his hat, walked off, followed by a
sound from that depository, as of an au
tumn brook, gurgling and bubbling over
it<> pebbly bed in a New England forest."
A FRAGMENT.
BY HAP.£Y JTiRtWCOD LEECH-
I listen, bat I .tear 110 sounds;
My though tf are far away.
To me the light* are dull and dead;
I hear uo play.
The aoff-rofced flute and leep baaaoon
wake harmony complete;
But what are pillow sounds to me ?
1 hoar my bearfbeat.
1 Ifc>wer*ln the marble hall
Oivaout their honey breath;
But I am crushing in my hand
A red-roae bud to death.
I smile, and dance, or even sing.
Can it be all
And is the u-oman's nature sunk
Into the thing 1 seem?
The wine Is blood, th* Jests are bold I
Men are but shadows hero,
And every woman's wnlle to me
But glasses o'er a sneer.
I see a form, I hear a voice—
It's t ones are low and sad;
Drown it, ye viols and bassoon,
Or it will drive me mad!
Poor heart! I know I eold your throbs,
Yet do not beat so fast.
One offered love, and one much gold—
OGod! I chose, the last!
But lam punished. All my hopes,
So sweet, forever fled,
And doomed like ghoats to walk apart
In places for the dead.
0 years! leap back, and let me stand
In my gay girlhood free;
Or, Sea, roll o'er th« reeking land,
And swallow it and me!
WIT AX I> wisnoji.
A BARREL of beer may be compared
to an industrious man, because it works.
IF forty rods make a furlong, how ma
ny will it take to catch a cat-fish ?
A CORD of wood is 128 feet in the Uni
ted States; in France 576 feet.
IT is exceedingly bad husbandry to har
row up the feelings of your wife.
SOMEBODY says that the best way to
keep food upon a weak stomach is to bolt
it down.
Ax old maid sometimes bites her lips in
rage at finding that nobody wants to bite
them in love.
TIMOX remarks that a soldier is supe
rior to a civilian, because the former is the
ration-al being.
ONE of the greatest robbers is temper
ance, for it robs the poor house and the
prison of their victims.
PRENTICE thinks it no more than right
that men should seize tinie by the fore
lock, for the rude old fellow, sooner or la
ter, pulls all the hair out «
An Irish student was once asked what
was meant by posthumous works. " They
are suoh works," says Paddy, " as a man
writes after he is dea'd."
" I AM going to the post-office, Bob—
shall I inquire for you ?
" Yes, if you have a mind to, but I
don't think you will find me there ?"
THE rebel government talks of paying
the soldiers liberally after the war. Its
liberality reminds us of the poor fellow's
will: " I have nothing—l owe everybody
—the rest I give to the poor."
ONE of the German Almanacs remarks:
" A young girl is a fishing rod, the eyes
are hooks, the Smile is the bait, the lover
is the gudgeon, ancj the marriage is the
butter in which he is fried.
The lond wind roared, the thunder rolled
Fierce lightning split the sky,
And all the west seemed fringed wilh gold
waa reaping rye.
I laid my sickle down to view
The grand and awful scene;
But 1 didn't stop to see it through-
Ob, no—/ warn'l to green I
A CAPTAIX of a r fle company was
guilty of an unhcard-of barbarity on a
cold day last winter. He actually march
ed his men to the very brink of the canal,
and then coolly commanded them to " fall
in."
" PA, has dogs got wings ?"
"Wings? No, child! Don't you
know better than that ?"
" Why, pa, a boy says in this paper that
a big dog flew at him and bit him. So I
guess dogs has got wings too."
Ix the days of Robert Fulton, the House
of Representatives of the United States
was refused him for the purpose of a lec
ture on steam navigation, on the ground
that it was a discussion on a visionary
scheme.
"HUMBLE as lam," said a bullying
spoutcr to a mass meeting of the unterri
fied, " I still remember that I'm a faction
of this magnificant republic."
" You are indeed," said a by-stander,
and a vulgar-one at that."
THE Buffalo Express says tho author of
this rhyme deserves to be " nipped by un
timely frosts."
Tls Winter; no more the breeze*
Bur among the treeees;
And while the boy with raggedtrowwers,
Shivering homeward drives his cowses,
Newly frost-bit are lib* toeeea.
And bleas me, how blue bis nose la?
A STINGY fellow, in making love to a
young lady, said that his affections were
" rivited upon her." She told him that
she did not want to have any dealings
with rivits or screws like him. Of course,
after that, the fellow couldn't expect to
nail her.
A LITTLE boy once said to his aunt,
" aunty, I should think that Satan must
be an awful trouble to God."
" He must be trouble enough, indeed, I
should think," she answered.
" I don't see how he came to turn out
so, when there was no devil to put him up
to it "
Critioal Condition of Europe.
The-latest arrivals from Europe furnish
intelligence of a very dubious nature bear
ing upon the future amicable relations of
the nations of that delectable portion of
the globe. Instead of meddling in the
affairs of America, where they have no
business to poke their carbuncled noses,
they will probably have their hauds full
in keeping the peace at home. Napoleon
may talk as much as he pleases about his
unselfishness—his peaceful intentions—
the good of Europe, &c. —but it will not
lull his wary neighbors into a listless in
security. They are pretty well posted as
to his quarreling and grasping disposition;
as well as that no war can occur in Eu
rope without his having a finger in it;—
He does not love the Gormans; neither
did hi 3 uncle before him, who had reason
to remember them bitterly to the day of
his death. A big war, in which England,
Russia and France would take the field in
favor of Denmark and against the German
confederation, in the hope that the Rhine,
at lea»t, might in some way by the fortune
of war mark the boundary line of France
on the North, would be very acceptable to
his imperial majesty, no doubt. But should
war come, and the signs of the times would
indicate trouble of a serious nature before
three months elapse, Napoleon will be
found on some side, actively engaged in
showing off the prowess of his eagles,—
The French people live upon glory—that
is a sort of glory of their own, in manufac
turing which they have always shown in
imitable skill; and as the supply has be
come nearly exhausted, they must seek
somewhere to fill their granaries for another
decade.
This glory is not likely to be found in
Mexico, for although their armies appear
to be over-running that Republic with but
little opposition, yet there may arise par
amount political reasons why the original
purpose of the Emperor—the founding of
a monarchy—should not be consummated.
The cloud in the horizon of Europe may
be one of them; but another, and perhaps
the priueipal onc, is the waning propor
tions of the pro-slavery rebellion in the
United States. Napoleoh kitows only too
well that with the traitor's war off our
hands, we should not look with composuit
upon his occupancy of Mexico atall, much
loss tho placing of a crowned head in the
hallsof the Montezumas, in contravention
of the ideas of Mexican liberty, and in
antagonism to the wishes of the Mexican
people. He knows farther that with all his
armies we would drive every French sold
ier out of the country in six months, and
that all his naval forces would be no match
for our own, which would be in the very
height of efficiency.
It is rather a remarkable fact that of the
parties to the treaty of London, affecting
the Schleswig-Holstein question, being the
three " great powers" of Europe, Eng
land, France and Russia, only the first nam
ed has shown her hand in maintainance of
the conditions of that treaty, and she only
in a milk-and-water protest against the oc
cupancy of Schleswig by the Federal
troops. Denmark, it appears, hasnotonly
withdrawn her troops from Ifclstein, but
was also on the point of doing so from
Schleswig, thus seeming either tacitly to
admit the justice of the claims of the Duke
of Augustenburg, or to obey the sugges
tion of powerful allies.
In regard to the Polish rebellion we have
little reliable information by the late arriv
als. From some obstacle or other, the
news as to the situation in Poland is of
the most homoeopathic description. It
comes to us in infinitesimal installments,
and then so vague, misty and unsatisfac
tory jis to leave us as much in the dark as
before. One thing is certain, that Rus
sia, with all her powerful armies, has not
put the rebellion down ; and that there are
still skirmishes, in any case hardly to be
called battles, with'varying results.
Then we have Italy, watchful as ever,
with on<! eye upon Rome and the other
upon Vonitia, awaiting the happening of
events which may promote her schemes
with regard to these coveted territories.
Garibaldi, too, is ready to unsheath his
sword with his accustomed valor when the
eventuality shall arise, to strike for Italy's
own. Being dissatisfied with the slow
movements of the Italian government in
carrying out thes# national projects, he has,
in undissembled disgust, resigned his seat
in the Italian Parliament.
Then again there is Hungary once more
in a ferment. Kossuth has emerged from
his garret in London, and through a Na
tional Committee, so-called, has issued a
proclamation to the people of Hungary,
and been placed in bis former position of
Governor of that uneonquered kingdom or
principality, whichever it may be; and he
will, thus prepared, await events in other
part* of Europe, now apparently looming
up. That there is something in this addi
tional speck of war, is to be inferred from
the fact, judging from the Vienna papers,
that the imperial authorities are consider
ably exercised at the increasing discontent
in that turbulent portion of the empire.—
Germantoicn Telegraph.
A BURST OF ELOQUENCE. —Western
eloquence continues to improve. A Wis
consin reporter sends the following sketch.
A lawyer in Milwaukee was defending a
handsome young woman accused of steal
ing from a large unoccupied dwelling in
the night time, and thus he spoke in con
clusion :
" Gentlemen of the Jury, I am done
When I gaze with enraptured eyes on the
matchless beauty of this peerless virgin,
on whose resplendent charms suspicion
never dared to breathe; when I behold
her radient in the glorious bloom of lus
trous loveliness, which angelie sweetness
might envy but could eclipse; before
which the star on the brow of the night
grows pale, and the diamonds of Brazil
are dim, and then reflect upon the utter
madness and folly of supposing that so
much beauty would expose itself in the
terrors of an empty building in the cold,
damp dead of night, when innocense like
hers is hiding itself amidst the snowy pil
lows of repose; gentlemen of the Jury,
my feelings are too overpowering for ex
pression, and I throw her into your arms
for protection against this foul charge
which the outrageous malice of a disap
pointed scoundrel has invented to blast
the fair name of this lovely maiden, whose
smile shall be the reward of the verdict
which I know you will give !"
The Jury acquitted her without leav
ing their seats.
SINGULAR EFFECT OF ELECTRICITY ON
NEGROES. —During the thunder storm of
last week, a friend relates the following:
A gentleman residing a few miles out
of town, recently carried home a small elec
trical machine for making experiments.—
As soon as he got home, the negroes as
usual flocked around him, eager to see
what their master had got. There was a
boy among these darkies that had evinced
a strong disposition to move things when
they wanted moving, or in other words to
pilfer occasionally. a
"Now Jack," saj*s his master " look
here; this machine is to make people tell
the truth, and if you have stolen anything,
or lied to me, it will knock you down."
" Why, Master, I never lied or stole
anything in my life," said the boy.
" Well, takeholdof this;" and no soon
er had the lad received a slight shock,
than he fell on his knees and bawled out,
' Oh, Master! I did steal your cigars
and a little knife, and have lied ever so
many times; please to forgive me."
The same experiment was tried with
4ikc success on half a dozen juveniles.—
At last an old negro who had been look
ing very attentively, stepped up.
" Master," said he, "let dis nigger try;
dat masheen is well enough to scare the
chider wid, but this nigger knows better."
The machine was then fully charged,
and he received a stunning shock. He
looked first at his hand, then at the ma
chine, and at last rolling his eyes, said:
" Master, it ain't best to know too much!
dars many a soul gets to be damned
knowin' too much, an' it's my 'pinion flat
de debil made dat masheen jest to ketch
your soul somehow, an' I reckon you had
best jest take an' burn it up an' have it
done gone."— Montgomery Advertiser.
SLAVERY IN MARYLAND. —Gov. Brad
ford, in his late annual message, thu3
pointedly urges the abolition of Slavery
in Maryland:
" I believe to-day, as I have for years,
that if we had long ago provided for the
gradual emancipation of the slaves of the
State, we would be—as regards all the
material elements of prosperity—far in
advance of our present position. The
products of our State and its natural re
sources are not such as arc adapted to or
can be developed by the labor of the slave.
I am satisfied that the people of the State
in their moments of calm and deliberate
reflection, have long since come to the
same conclusion, that when ihe leaders
of the conspiracy at the South lifted their
hands against the Union, and pointed to
slavery as the institution upon which their
visionary republic was to rest, they struck
a blow at ita very vitals in every Border
State, under which it has continued to
languish, and which will end in its de
struction. It becomes us, therefore, to
whom the whole question rightfully be
longs, to take immediate measures for its
removal, and which should be no longer de
layed than may be required by a proper
respect for those -industrial pursuits with
which the institution has been so long and
so intimately interwoven, and a humane
regard for the slave himself, which for
bids us to cast him, all unprepared for so
great a change, too suddenly upon his
feeble resources." — franklin Repoiitory.
®aF"'fhe in 'Couisville, have
been cloeed for selling liquor to Boldiers.
NUMBER 8.
THE READ NOTHINGS.
There is throughout this country, as
through most others, a very numerous
and highly influential party, which is des
tined to work wonders nst only at the com
ing election, but at a great many coming
elections, and not only on elections but
upon many other phases of national life.
This numerous'party may he termed the
Read Nothings, and their platforms is plain
and simple, as it merely amounts in a
greater or lesser degree, to ignoring the ex
istence of all typography in every f<®tti.
It is from this order that penitentiaries
are stocked, jails filled, engine houses
crowded with brutal loafers, and the anti
prohibition ranks enlarged. It is among
the Read Nothings that apathy and indif
ference to every public duty is cultivated,
for it is only by reading that a man at tho
present day can hope to be au courunt or
"posted up ' on the questions which are
daily becoming of more importance, and
which to neglect will be like neglecting tho
most sacred obligations.
It may be objected that we have made
more ignorance of the art of reading, or
its neglect, a too decided source of evil.—
But it is nut so ! We do not deny there
are legions of well-behaved, honest, in
dustrious beings, who plod and vegetate
onward without ever reading, and who in
nowise belong to the classes above allud
ed to But it is equally true that if a
young man is to be kept from misohief,
from vulgar associates, aad above all if it
be hoped to form for him a rising mind
which will some day give him social dis
tinction, it cannot be dono more effectual
ly than by cultivating in him a taste for
reading.
What is a man at tho present day who
does not read, newspapers ? Is he not an
imbecile at the mercy of every one who
chooses to give him an opinion or to warp
his mind 1 Is he not a social nonentity,
and when, as occasionally happens, he is a
man of wealth, fir with a family, is he not
—we ask in sober calmrioss—a drawback,
a dead weight and an anomaly ?
And yet we have met with educated
men who would tell you with a calm, sim
ple smile never read tho papers, or
thrft they had DO taste for reading at all,
and this with as cool an air as if they were
mentioning that they had no taste for ol
ives or tomatoes. In our humble opinion
no man has a right to have no taste for
reading—it is a duty which he owes to
himself and to those who educated him,
and to the country which requires a certain
medium of mental ability from every one
living in it.
There is a variety of the Read Nothings
who think that if they do read they are
quite right in being as one-sided as they
please in their literary pursuits. One of
these, on being questioned in our hearing
as to what constituted his favorite reading,
replied "prose." To him prose or poetry
were two distinct forms of mental food,
which, like the tomatoes and olives afore
said, he was at perfect liberty to like or
dislike. This 1s a free country.
Thcro is one branch of the Read Noth
ing order fur whom—when they spoak the
truth—we always have a sincere 112 ily and
sympathetic esteem. These are the ones
who would read if they had time. Theso
last occupy a compulsory place in tho or
der, and they remind us of gentlemanly,
well behaved lovers of liberty oast into an
Italian prison in company with the most
desperate ruffians and "outsiders." These
who have no time generally fly from the
order at every opportunity, and it is most
generally from whose natural love of
reading has thus at first been checked and
subsequently indulged, that the most in
telligent literati have arisen.—Philadel
phia Bulletin.
fltaj™ When Mrs. F , of Penrfeylvv
nia, was in England, she attended York
races, where she met the celebrated Law
rence Sterne. lie rode up to the side of
the coach and accosted her:
"Well, Madam, which horse do you be»
upon ?
" Sir," said she, "if you can tell mo
which is the worst horse I will bet upon
that."
" But why, Madam," said Sterne, " do
you make so strange a choice "
'■Beoause," replied the lady, "You
know " The race it not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong."
Sterne was so much pleased with the
reply that ho went homo and wrote from
the text, his much admired sermon, enti
tled " Time and Chance." _
a®-The Constitution of the United
States—Like one of those wondrous rock
ing stones reared by the Druids, which the
finger of a child may vibrate to the cen
tre, yet the migMPof an army could not
move it from its place, our Constitution
is so nicely poised and balanced that it.
seems to sway with every breath of opin
ion, yet so firmly rooted in the heart and
affections of the people, that the wildest
I storms of treason and fanaticism break#
| over it in vain