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II
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THE BLESSINGS OF GOVEENEIEKT, LIKE THE DEWS OF HEAVES", SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED ALIKE UPON THE HIGH AND THE LOW, TEE EICH AND THE POOR.
ebensburg; mrch 22; isss.
STEW.- SERIES.
VOL. 2. NO. 25.
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in ? tt- - its ita - r
TBH5IS:
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; . NO GOD!
The following verses by that sweetest of Amcri
can poetesses, Mrs. Lydia Huntley Sigourney, sug
gested by the words in the 14th I'salm of David,
The fool hath said in bis heart, There is no
Ood," is cue of the finest things in the languago:
" No Cod! No Co l !" The simplest flower
That on the wild is found,
Shrinks, as it drinks its cup of dew
And trembles at the sound : -'Xo
God " astonished Echo cries
From out Ler cavern hoar,
And every wandering bird that flics
Reproves the Atheist lore.
The solemn forest lifts its head,
The Almighty to proclaim, .
The brooklet, on its crystal urn,
Doth leap to grave his name.
Uow swells the deep and vengeful fea, -
Along his billowy Uack,
The red Vesuvius op-ni his mouth
To hurl the falsehood back.
The pJm-lrec, with its princely cres
The cocoa's leafy shade.
The bread fruit bending to its lord,
' ,- In yon fur-Island glade; .
The Ringed seeds, that, borne by wiuJs,
The roving sparrows feed, ' t
" The melc.n. on the desert samta,
- Cantate the scornera creed.
' No Got! !' "With iaaignatlon high, :
The fervent Sun is stirr'd
" And the pale Moon tunu paler still, -
At eu-ih an ina pious word ;
And from xha'r buruiug thrones, the Star3
Lok d-.'wn with angry eye,
That thus a worm of dut should mock
Etern.d majesty.
' ' from "Cluck wood's Magazine-.
THE BATTLE OF 1NXERMANN.
Few of those who were roused from their
sleep by the Russian volleys at daylight on
the 5th of November, will cease to retain thro'
life a vivid impression of theseeua which fol
Jowed. The alarm passed through the camps
there was mounting in hot ha.-?t3 of men
scarce yet awake, whose late oteams mixeJ
with the stern reality cf the summons to battle
many cf whom, hastening to the front, were
killed before they well knew why they had
been so hastily aroused. Drealhless servants
opened the tents to call their masters scared
grooms held the- stirrup and fta.T-offieers,
.galloping by," called out that tho Russians
wera attacking in force.
It was a oark foggy morning, the plains
miry, and the "herbage dank. Cold mists rose
from the valley, and hung heavily above the
plains. During the darkness the enemy had
assembled in force ia the valley of the Tcher
naya, between Inkeriuaun and the harbor. A
marsh renders this part of the valley impassa
ble except by the Worouzofi" road, which after
.winding round the sides of the sleep bluffs,
tretchea level, straight, and solid, across tl
low ground. - The Russian artillr-ry had very
probably crossed this in the night, and been
brought with mufded wheel?, to a level point
t the road where, concealed by the jutting of
the hill, it waited tilt the repulse of cur oui
posts should a!Tord it the opportunity of ad
vancing to its destined position.
At dawn they madu their rush npoa our
advanced posts of the second division on the
crest looking down into the valley, which fell
back fighting upon the camp bohinl the crest,
1200 yardj in rear. ' The outposts of the divi
sion were well accustomed to skirmish with
.the enemy on the 6anie ground ; but Captain
Robert Ilume of the 55th, whom I met going
out in command of a picket the night before,
"-and who was ehot through tbeknes in the ac
tion, told me that the Russians had ceased to
molest us there since fchair repulse on the 2Cth
October. A picket of the light division, in
the ravine oa the left, was captured with its
oSicer. .... " "
. The outpost driven in, the hill was imme
diately occupied by the enemy's field artillery
and guns of position. These latter are so na
med, because they are of too large calibre to
be moved from point to point with ease, and"
are "generally stationary du.ing a battle in
some portion which has been previonsly seleo
ted for them. Their range is greater than
-that of field artillery; at t,horter ranges thir
v aim u more accurate, and the shells they throw
are more . destructive. The hcaviePt guns
were placed ou the highest points, where they
remained throughout the day, and the field
guns spread themselves down the slope, ovoo-
' site our right. Oar field batteries, coming up
' the slope in succession, a they wera more or
less distant from the second division, found
themselves exposed at once to the firo of pieces
answering' to our - 18-poacder guns and i2
. ' pounder : howitzers, eo placed oa the crest of
. the opposite bill that only their muzzles were
. visible. Over the brow and along the face of
the gentle acclivity, shot came bounding,
dashing up the earth and stones, and crashing
; through the tt left standing lower down thu
- slope, while shells exploded in the miety air
(with an angrv iar. -Mmv
were tilled betore they the euemy . , Captj f
Allix of Geu. Evans' etaff was gashed from his
saddle, not far from Lis own tent, by a round
shot, and fell dead. ." s
At the first alarm the crest in front of the
tents had been occupied by some troops'of the
1 second division. To their left extended the
47th and two companies of ' the 49th; which
were immediately joined by. Buller's brigade
of the light division. Arriving on the ground,
these regiments and companies found them-,
jse-ves cloee to a Russian column advancing up
the ravine,' which they at once charged with
the bayonet and drove back. The 41st, with
the remainder of the 49th, -hadbeen sent to
the " right - witli Diladier Adatn nuiirTaTi-
ced to the edge of the heights looking upon
Inkermann.
On arriving at the front, I was sent to-lhis
part of the ground with three guns, which
opened on a column of the enemy, apparently
about 5000 strong descending the side of a
steep hill on the other, side of the WoronzoflF
road, and pursued it with their fire till the
side of the ravine hid it from view. Soon af
terwards the enemy swarmed up our tide of
the ravine, euch force that the 41st and
49th fell back ; but the.Guards, "marching up
by companies as they could be mustered, came
on to that cart of the ground in succession,
aud, passing on each side of our guns, cheeked
the enemy's advance. -
Hitherto all that was known had been that
there was an attack in force ; the numbers and
design of the enemy were now evident. The
plan of the Unssians wa3, after sweeping the
ridge clear by their heavy concentrated fire to
launch some of their columns over it, while,
others, diverging to their left, after crossing
tlia marsh, passed round the edge of the cliffs
opposite Inkermanu. and turned our right.
The artillery fire had not continued long be
fore the rush of infantry was made.- Crowds
cf skirmishers, advancing through the coppice
(which, as before mentioned, everywhere cov
ered the field.) ; came on in spite of the case
shot,' which tore manjT of tnem to pieces al
most at the muzzles of our guns, and passed
within our lin, forcing the artillery to limber
up and retire down the slope, and spiking a
half-battery which was posted behind one of
the small banks of earth mentioned before as
the beginnings of aa, entrenchment. Two
companies of the 55th, lying down there re
treated as the IVusilans leapt over it, firing as
they went back, and halted on a French reg
iment that was marching'.'' up the bill. The
Russians retreated in their turn, and the
French, arriving at the crest, were for a mo
ment astonished at the fire of - artillery which
there met tuern while the Russian infantry
halted, as if about to waver : but Gen Penne-
father riding in front and cheering them on,
they went gallantly down the slope under the
tremendous fire, driving the enemy Ijcforc
thc.a. It was a critical moment, and the
French regiment did good service to the army
by its very timely advance. "
Almost simultaneously with this attack on
the centre, and as part of it, a body cf Rus
sians had passed round the edge of the cliff,
and met tho Guards there. There was a two
gun battery, revetted with gabions and sand
bags, on the edge of the elope opposite the ru
ins of Inkermann," which had been erected for
tli? purpose of driving away some guns which
the Rassians were placing in battery near the
Ruins. This effected, our guns had been re
moved. Into this th-2 Guards threw them
selves, the Grenadiers extending to tho right,
tho Fusiliers to the left of the battery, and
the Coldstreams across the slope towards eur
centre. The Russians came on in great num
bers with extraordinary determination. "Many
were killed in the embrasures of the' baftery,
and the Guards repeatedly attacked them with
the bayonet, till having exhausted their am
munition, and lost nearly half their number,
they were forced to retire before the continu
ally increasing force of the enemy. They left
one of their officers, Sir Robert Newman, ly
ing there wounded by n bullet - Deing rein
forced they returned, drove the, enemy out of
the battery, and found Newman there dead
from bayonet wounds. He, as well as many
other disabled men, had been savagely killed
by the enemy,
Townseud's battery of thcfocrth division
arrived at the left of the position daring one
of the rushes made by the enemy. Four of
the guns were taken almost as soon as they
were unlimbered, the Russians being close to.
them in the coppice unawares; but some of
the 88th and 49th retook them before they bad
been many seconds in the enemy's hands-r-Licut,
Miller, R. A., taking a loading part in
the recapture of one of the gun3 of , his own
division of the battery 1 In all these attacks
on pur left, the Russians were prevented from
turning that flank of Codrington's brigade of
tho light division which posted on the further
bank of tho ravine, skirmished in and across
it with the enemy's infantry during the day.
Four guns had been detached early in the bat
tle to support this brigade; but they were met,
whenever.they came into action, . by so heavy
a lire, that they were compelled to remain in
active, for tho most part, under the shelter of
a large mound of earth. -
When the Russian infantry was driven back,
a cannonade recomeneed along their whele
line to which our guns replied warmly, though
overmatched in " metal and numbers. - The
Russians were computed to have sixty pieces,
! of which many were guns of position : while
we had eix u-poundcr ; batteries of six guns
cacu ; but our gunners continued the fire with
admirable stea liners. . ,
Soon after the Guards came up on the right,
the three guns first sent there bad been with
drawn tor fresh ammunition, havivg fired
away all in the limbers, and being separated
from their wagons I had , then gone to the
ridge,1 where the road crossed it. The duel
of artillery was at its height thera was not a
moment when shot were not rushia" or shells
exploding, among tho guns, men and horses
going down before them. -Graneshot. too. oc
ca3ionally showered past, from which it would
appear.- tti.it. the Kupmns had, brought pome
iron guns ' into position, as grape fired from
brass pieces would destroy the bore from the
softness of the metal,. . The ships in the har
bor, and the battery at the Round Tower, also
threw shot and shell on the slope.'. j; if- '
. This cannonade was the preface to another
infantry attack," which again , threatened our
right, and a battery was ordered to that flank.
While I was delivering the order, a round hot
papsed through my horse close" to the saddle,
and rolled us over, :: He had shortly before
been struck by a musket ball in the .haunch,
which did not disable him ; and had been
wounded by a cannon-ball at the Alma being
Tner tf this few" liorses that ever survived feuch
an event; ' This Nvas he ' poor fellow's, last
field ; while on the ground an other; cannon
shot passed through him. A sergeant of. ar
tillery a- very fide youngs fellows -named
M'Keown, ran. to extricate me ; he had just
lifted me from jmder the horse, and Fwas just
in the act of steadying myself on his shoulder,
when a shot carried olf his thigh, and be fell
back on me, uttering cries as if of amazement
at the suddenness of his misfortune. I laid
him gently down, resting on a bush, and look
ed at the wonud ; the leg was smashed, and al
most severed." Calling two men to carry him
to the rear, I then hastened to the right after
the battery. " - i
Advancing in tho thick bushes beyond the
spot where the battery had come into action,
I turned about and saw it retiring. It was
already some distance, and the movement was
explained" by the appearance of a line of Rus
sian infantry suddenly extending along the
upper edgp of the slope, between me and our
alignment,' and at'about forty yards' distance.
On my left, lower down the slope, as I turned
towards our position, men Of different regi
ments, principally guardsmen, were retreat
ing from the two-gun battery. The Duke of
Cambridge galloped past me, calling' to the
men to fire, and ran the gauntlet of the whole
Russian line, escaping with a bullet through
his fcleevc. . . - . . . . -. .. - .
Deing lame from a recent injury, I consid
ered myself lost the bullets cut the branches
and leaves on every side, and all attempts to
rally were met by the unanswerable reply that
their ammunition was spent. At that moment
the right of the position was absolutely with
out defence, and the enemy by advancing res
olutely must have turned it. Dut from pauic
or some other cause, they most fortunately re
tired instead of advancing a friendly dip in
the ground afforded a shelter from their last
shots, and the men who bad retreated rallied
and laid down under , the low iatrenchment
already spoken of, while their officers distrib-
lntrenchment a heavy hre ot artillery was
directed, which - continued nearly an hour.
An officer whom I met here, to whom I was
lamenting the logs, of . my horse, told me he
bad placed his in a hollow close at hand, where
he was quite secure but going to visit him
presently afterwards, he found that a shell
had penetrated this admirable retreat, and
blown him to pieces. I saw a 1 magnificent
team of chestnut gun-horses prostrated here
by a single destructive sbll,' and five of the
six did not rise again.
Many of the men of the fourth division bad
but j u.st returned fiom the trenches when the
attack of the Russians commenced. They as
well as those who had been on duty during
the night, were at once marched to the scene
of action a mile and a half distant. : Arriving
at the touts of the second division, they recei
ved contradictory orders, and' the regiments
were separated. Part of the 20th and GSth,
and two companies of the 46th, passing to the
right of the position, were ordered to support
the remnant of the two gun battery. These
fresh troops at once charged the enemy, routed
them and pursued them to the verge of the
heights, when, returning victorious, they found
the battery, as they repassed it, again occu
pied by Russians, a fresh force of whom had
mounted the cliff from the valley. It was
while collecting his men to meet this new and
unexpected foe that Sir George Cathcart, who
had advanced with this part of bis division,
was shot dead. i i - -
At this juncture the remainder of Dosquet's
division, except his reserve, came up on the
right, and passing at once over the crest.. threw
themselves into the combat, and, fighting side
by side with our regiments, pressed the Rus
sians back. A parte drtijycau (ensign bearing
the colors) of a l'rench battalion, displayed
gallantry in this advance, leaping on the bat
tery and wa ing the colors, amid a shower of
bullets, from which he escaped unhurt. Some
Trench cavalry were moved up at this tiuie;
but the ground '. was unfit for this arm, and
they were withdrawn, having lost some men
and horses. Shortly after the French regi
ments came to support ours, we received other
efficient aid. ' ' .
Seeing that our field-artillery was unequally
matched with the Russian guns of position,
Lord Raglan had despatched an order to the
depot of the siege train, distant about half a
mile', for two iron 18-pounders, the on'y Eng
lish guns of position landed from the ships
which were not already placed in the defen
sive, works at Dalaklava and elsewhere.
These were at once brought up by Lieut-Colonel
Gambier, the commander of the siege
train, who, as ho asceuded the hill, was wound
ed by a grapeshot, which contused his chest
and obliged him to leave the field. The guns
were then brought up and placed in- position
among our field batteries by Lieut-Colonel
Dickson, who directed their tire with admira
ble coolness and judgment, which he' contin
ued to display till the close of the battle, un
der a cannonade which, at these two guns
alone, killed or wounded seventeen men.; , In
a short time, the Russian . field-pieces, many
of them disabled "were compelled to withdraw ;
and a French fijdd battery coming up shortly
after the 18-pounders opened their fi re j posted
itself on the right' and did excellent seivice,
though exposed, like our own guns, to a tre-
mendous cannonade, which killed many of
their men and horses, and also blew up an am
munition wagon.
Between these two opposing fires of artillery
a fierce desultory combat of ekirmishers , went
on in the coppice. , -
' Regiments and divisions, French and Eng
lish, were here mixed ; and fought hand to
hand with the common enemy, who 'never
agained succeeded in advancingnor in ob
taining, in.', any part of tho field, even a par
tial success. . . ; : '. .'..'" '.
r About'noon the fire of the Russian guns
slackened, as was surmised, from want of am
munition. ." After a time they reopened, though
not with their former fierceness. Their in
tended surprise, supported by the attack of
thetf fulKfor, hvod utterly "failed ; their loss
"bad been enormous, and the Allies bad been
reinforced. The battle was prolonged onlv
by he efforts of their artillery I o cover the re
trejt of the foiled and broken battalions
: during the battle Rir De Lcy Evans, who
haJ been sick on board ship at Ralaklava, rode
up to the field with his aid-de-camp, Boyle,
and calling me by name, bagan to question me
about tho battle. - Ho looked extremely ill,
hut' was as cool and intrepid as he always is
in action. While I was speaking to him, a
tshell, crashing through some obstacle r close
by, ros from the ground, passed a foot or two
above our heads, and dropping amid a group
a few yards behind us, exploded there, wound
ing some of them but Sir de Lacy did not
turn hi? head. ;- ,'
Officers and men fought the battle fasting.
About two o'clock a group of us being near
General Pennefather's tent, he told his ser
vant to bringmt wine and biscuits, which
were never more welcome. A shell bursting
Ov4i the hill sent its freight of bullets through
and through the group without even touching
"anybody. - ' '
About three o'clock the French and English
generals with their staffs passed along the
crest of the disputed hill. The enemy's guns,
replying to ours, still sent a good many shot
over the ridge,Tut this Eurvey of the field
showed it free from the presence of the enemy,
-whose 'infantry had withdrawn behind the op
posite hill. At half-past three, their guns
also withdrew, and the whole force of the en
emy retired across the Tchernaya, pursuod by
the fire of a French battery supported by two
battalions, which, being pushed forward to a
slope of the heights commanding tho cause
way across the marsh, converted their retreat
into a flight.
- At the commencement of the battle,' Li
prandi's force had moved forward, threatening
two distinct points of our line while a sally
was made in foice on the French trenches,
which was repulsed, with a loss to the enemy
MMce. tbousand.men, thelireacJa pursuing
them within their works.
- Until the arrival of the fourth division aud
the French the ground was held by about
5000 of our troops. In all, 8000 English and
6000 French were engaged. . The Russian
force was estimated by Lord Raglan at 60,000.
Few great battles require less military knowl
edge to render them intelligible than this
The plan of the enemy was, after having suc
ceeded in placing their guns unopposed in the
required position, to pour on one particular
point of our line which they knew to be in
adequately guarded, a fire which - should at
once throw the troops assembling for its de
fence into disorder, and then to press on at the
same point with overwhelming masses of in
fantry. Our position oace penetrated, the
plains afforded ample space for the employment
of the columns, which might then - attack in
succession the different corpse of the allied
army scattered oa the plateau at intervals too
wide for mutual and concerted defence.
The Russians succeded in posting their ar
tillery, iu sweeping the field selected with a
tremendous fire, and ia bringing an enormous
ly superior force to a vigorous and close attack.
According to all calculation they were justi
fied in considering the day their o"wn. Dut
the extraordinary valor exhibited by the de
fenders of the position set calculations at de
fiance. At every point alike the assailants
found scanty numbers but impenetrable ranks.
Deforo them everywhere was but a thin and
scattered line opposed to their solid masses and
numerous skirmishers, yet beyond it they could
not pass. No doubt to their leaders it must
long have appeared iucredible they could fail
Again bravely led, they cajue bravely totlie
assault, and with the same result unwilling
ly, they at length saw that if the allied troops
could resist successfully when surprised, no
hope remained of defeating them, now that
they were reinforced as well as oa their
guard
. On our part it was a confused andjdesperate
struggle. Coloaels of regiments led on small
parties, and iougut like subalterns, captains
like privates.. . Once engaged, every maa was
his own general. .The enemy was ia front ad
vancing, and must be beaten back. , The tide
of battle ebbed and flowed, not in wide waves,
butinbrokea tumultuous :billows. , At one
point the enemy might bo repulsed, while at
a little distance, they were making their most
determined rush. ;t : ? r. -, .r
, To stand on the crest and breathe awhile,
was to our men no rest, but far more trying
than the close combat of infantry, where there
were human fos with whom to match, 'and
prove strength, skill, and courage, and to call
forth the impulses which blind the soilders to
death or peril. But over that cre6t poured
incessantly the resistless cannon-shot, in whose
rush there seemed something vindictive, as if
each was bestriddeu by some angry demon ;
crashing through the bodies of men and horses
and darting from, the ground on a second
course of mischief. ; The musket-ball, though
more deadly,', and directed to an. individual
mark, ' bears nothing appalling in its sound,
and does not mutilate or disfigure where it
strikes. But, fronting uncovered and inactive
a range of guns which hurl incessantly those
iron masses over and around you, while on all
sides are seen their terrible traoe, it is difficult
to stave off the thought than," in the next in
stant, yoar arm or leg may be dangling from
your body a crushed and bloody mass, or your
spirit driven rudely through ahidecua wound
across the margin of the undiscovered country.
Rarely has euch an artilery fire been so
concentrated, and for so long on an equally
confined space. The whole front of the battle
field, from the ravine on the left ia the two
gun battery on the right, was about three
quarters of a mile. " Nine hours of such close
fighting, with such intervals of cessation, left
the victors in no mood for rejoicing. When
the enemy finally retired, there was no exul
tation, as when the field of the Alma was won :
it was a gloomy though a glorious triumph.
Neither our loss or that of the enemy was
fully known that day ; but a glance at any
part of the ground showed the slaughter to be
immense. -
A few of the enemy were dead within our
lines ; along the whole front of the position they
lay thick in the coppice. , Every bush hid a
dead man. aud in some places small . groups
lay heaped. -In a spot which might have been
covered by a common bell-tent, I saw laying
four Englishmen and three Russians. All
the field was strewn : but the space in front of
the two gun battery, where the Guards fought
bore terrible pre-eminence in slaughter. The
sides of the hill, up to and round the battery,
were literally heaped with bodies. It was
painful to see the noble Guardsmen, with their
large forms and fine fces, lying amidst xhe low
browed Russians. v One Guardsman lay just
in advance of the battery extended on his
back, with his arms raised in the very act of
thrusting with his bayonet ; be had Veen killed
by a bullet entering through his right eye.
Ilis coat was open, and I read his name on
the Guernsey frock undemeath-an odd name,
Mustow."- While I was wandering why
his arms Lad not obej-ed the laws of gravity,
and fallen by his side when he fell dead, a
Guardsman came up and told me he had seen
Mustow rush ont of the battery and charge
with the bayonet with which he was thrusting
at two or three of the enemy when he was
shot dead. In their last charge the Russians
must have unavoidably trodden at everv step
on the bodies of their comrades - In the bush
es all around wounded men were groaning in
such numbers, that some lay two days before
their turn came to be carried away. I passed
a Russian with a broken leg, whom some
scoundrel had stript to Lis shirt, and calling a
soldier who was passing, desired him to take
a coat from a dead man and put on the uufor
tunate creature; at the same time directing
the attention of a party of men collecting the
wounded to the place where he lay. . Passing
the same spot the next day, the Russian, still
stript to his shirt, lay motionless, with bis eyes
closed, i told a r rent n soldier wno was near,
to see if he was dea-A-; the Frenchman, strol
ling up with his hands in his pockets, pushed
Lis foot against the Russian's head ; the stiff
ened oody moved altogether Irko a piece of
wood, and the soldier, with a shrug and one
word " tivirt" passed on.
Large trenches were dug on the ground for
the dead ; the Russians lay apart ; the French
and English were ranged side by side. Few
sights can be imagined more strange and sad
in their ghastlincss than that of dead men lying
ia ranks, shoulder to shoulder, with upturned
faces, andlimbs composed, except where some
stiffened arm and hand remain pointing op
ward. ' . . - : .
The -faces and hands ofthetdain assume
immediately after death, the appearance of
wax or clay ; the lips parting show the teeth
the hair and moustache become frowsy, and
the body of him who, half an hour before was a
smart soldier, wears a soiled and faded aspect-
Down' the ravine along which the Woron
zoff road runs to the valley, the dead horses
were dragged and lay in rows ; the English
artilery alone lost eighty. - v
The ravine, like all those channelling the
plains, is wild and barren ; the f-ides have beea
cut down steeply for the sake of the limestone
which lies close to the surface, in beds of re
markable thicknaes A lime-kiln, about ten
feet square, afforded a ready made sepulchre
for the enemy left on this part of the .field,
and was filled with bodies to the top, on which
a layer of earth was then thrown.
While I wa3 on the ground, a 4ay or two
after the battle, several Bhells were thrown
from the ships ia the harbor, some cf which
pitched amongst the parties collecting the
wounded. . General Peuncfeather, finding I
was going to headquarters, defcircd to deliver
a message stating the fact. Next day a flag
of truce was sent into the town to complain of
this, and further to say that, both ia this bat
tle aad the action of Balaklava, Russian sol
diers had been seen killing our wounded on
the field : demauding if the war was to be
carried oa ia this manner. . TL answer of
Prince Menschikoff was that the shells had
been directed, not at the parties engaged in
clearing the field, but at those intrenching the
position; and that, if any of the wounded had
been put to death, it could have been only in
a few particular instances; in excuse of which
he remarked, that the Russian soldiers were
much exasperated in consequence of the fire
from the French trenches having- destroyed
oue ofthe churt-L.es of Sevastopol.
Wfxl Answered. Uncle BUI Tiid was a
drover from Worcester County. Bciug ex
posed to all weather, his complexion sufferod
some ; bat . at the best he was none of the
whitest, . . ; , 1 ; , : ';
..Stopping at a public house ucsir Brighton,
a aian rich in this world's goods, but of noto
riously bad character, thought as Undo 15131
came in, ho would make him the butt of a
joke." -; ; ,; , .
, As the black face of the weather-beaten man
appeared in the door-way, he exclaimed
. "Mercy on us! how dark it grows!" -
Uncle Bill, surveying him from Lead to foot
coolly answered ' ,
Yes, sir ; j our character and my complex
ion are enough to darken any room.". . '
. ,g3TAn old bachelor, on seeing the words
''Families supplied," over the doorof an oyster
saloon, stepped in,' and sai l he would take a
wife and two children. . .', "
Marriage Under DiSlcultiea.
A few days since I was present at a marriage
which . had some things about , it ,. so new, and
romantic that I am tempted to give you a short
description. For a day and uight preceding
the appointment, tber had been an incessant
fall of rain, which added to the deep jow ia
the mountains, caused a rapid rbe of tha
water. Parsoo B , of Bath county. Lad
been invited to perform the ceremopy. Anti
cipating difficulty and, perhaps, remember
ing defeat in days of yore, he set out from
home early in the'monucg, with the hope, of
passipg the water-course before they were too
fuil ; Vain bope. " When be reached the
neighborhood", he was told that the rivpr' was "
swollen beyond Any possibility of crossing with
any safety. It is often Lard to start a a wed
ding, but when started, uia a great deal haider
to stop it. The p&rton having secured tha
company of a friend in the neighborhood, de.
termined to make every effort to accomplish
his missionT and if Jbere must be a failure, let
it be after a fair trial. ' By a circuitous route,
he and bis companion succeeded in reaching
the bank of the river, cpposjte to and only1 a
few hundred yards distant from the bouse.'
A loud Lalloo soon brought the wedding party
to a parley on the bank of the rirer. . TLr
whole difficulty was before them ; the parson
could not advaaco a.ftep further without
swimming a dangerous, mountain torrent,
covered with huge sheets of floating ice.
But where there is a will there i a way,"
though there be neither bridge uor beat.
It was proposed that the parson should
marry them aeross the rolling flood. 'This
proposition w as acceded to. Yet the parson
declared that it behoved them to act lawfully,
and insisted ou his warrant being transmitted
to his Lands. Happily for 'us in this free
country, the law docs not prescribe Low thig
is to be accomplished , neither does it state at
what distance the officiating ofBcer shall stand.
Iu this case the license was bound close round
jt stone of suitable size, and the whole being
wrapped wkh thread so as to make it tight
and compact, was thrown across the river.
The feat of throwing it was performed by the
bridegroom, while his young bride was stan
ding by him. And it was a throw with a
hearty good will. That man knew be was
throwing for a wife, and the only question
with him was wife or no wife. There, stood
the anxious group what suspense ! it might
miscarry it migut be turned by some over;
banging limb, and find a watery grave.
With a powerful swing of the arm it started,
and mounting high, took its onward and airy
flight. 1 bad learned long before, that
44 whatever goes up must come down," but I
felt some misgiving as to-where the come down
might be in this case. . The moment of sus
pense was soon over. . The little missile,
freighted with a document so important, sped
its way through the airio-a most beautiful
arch, high over the wide waters j End a shout
of triumph annouueed its fall upon terra firina.
To unwrap and read was the work of a mo
ment. The parties were already arranged,
with joined hands, and Parson B, with un
covered head, stood as gracefully and as light
ly too, as be could upon a quicksand at the
edge of the river, and with voice distinctly
heard above the roar of waters the marriage
was consummated. -Well pleased at so favor
able a termination of what a little before Lad
been a forlorn Lope the groups on either
bank took off their several ways. Whatever
else I may forget, I never c&a forget that
throw. . "''''.
Horrible Afiair. : , ,; i
EXKCUTIOX OF AbTES, lux Ml"BDt:m,TAT
Sxdxey. The following is one cf the most
horrible affairs that we have ever read. Wa
copy from the Dayton (O.) Gazette of the 27 th
ult: . .
, This wretched man, who aa our readers will
remember, was convicted in the Court of Com
mon Pleas, of Shelby county, a few months
ago, of an attrocious murder committed on
the person of bis own daughter, was hung
yesterday. From private sources, we learn
that the execution exhibited a scene of horror
to which it would bo difficult to furnish a
parallel. , The trial, the prison, and the pear
approach of death had failed to subdue the
spirits of the guiuy man, or reduce lum to a
submissive frame of mind. Since Lis convic
tion, his conversation has consisted principally
of expressions of defiance to the officers of the
law, varied with the most horrid blasphemies
and obscenities.- ....
As be was a very muscular man, and had
repeatedly asserted that he would not bo hung,
the Sheriff, as a matter of precaution. Lad
called in outsiders to the amount of twenty-five
or thirty to assist in the execution of the
sentence ; but such desperate resistance did
the negro make, that even this force was
hardly equal to the terrible task that devolved
upon him.; As the condemned maa was taken
out of his cell, in fpite of the heavy irons to
his arms and legs, he burst, away from those
in charge of Lim, aud for some time kept everv
one at bay by striking in all directions with
his thackled bands. At length, by the united
force of some twenty nitn, he was over
powered and dragged, to the gallows. ; But
even after , Lo was swung fff, he managed
to spring up, aud by tightly holding on to tLo
rope, to kc-p himself alive for Latf an Lour,
until there was danger that his life would over
run the time allowed by law for the execution
and the officers were obliged to choke iiru by
main force. ' : - '
Aa immense crowd had assembled to wit
ness the horrid scene, but the strictly private
character of the execution dkapptinted their
expectations. - s
T A collegiau undertook to enlighten a
substantial farmer oa the subject of animal
cule. To illustrate, the student applied hi
miarosoope to the cheese which the man was
o&tiug. "There," said he, "don't you see
them wiggle V" Well," said the old geatle
man, quietly placing the cheese in, his mouth.
, let' them icisl can stand t as Jocg . a?
they can !" '.