Huntingdon journal. (Huntingdon, Pa.) 1843-1859, June 18, 1850, Image 1

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    BY JAS. CLARK.
CHOICE POETRY
From the Knickerbocker Magazine.
THE OLD MILL.
Don't 3iou remember, Lily dear,
The mill by the old hill side,
Where we used to go in the summer time
And watch the foamy tide;
And toss the leaves of the fragrant beach,
Or its breast so smooth and bright,
Where they Coated away like emerald.,
la a flood of gulden light ?
Lily, dear!
-And the miller, love, with his slouchy cap,•
And eyes of mildest gray,
Plodding about his dusty work,
Singing the live-long*day
And the coat that hung on the rusty nail,
With many a motley patch,
And the rude'old door, with its broken sill,
And the string, and the wooden latch 1
LilY, dear !
And the water-wheel, with its giant arms,
Dashing the beaded spray,
And the weeds it pulled from the sand below,
Arid- tossed in scorn away :
And the sleepers, Lily, with moss o'ergrown,
Like sentinels stood in pride,
Breasting the waves, where the chinas of time
Were made in the old mill's side.
Lily, dear
Lily, the mill is torn away,.
And a factory, dark and high,
Looms like a tower, and puffs its smoke
Over the clear blu e sky ;
And the stream is turned away above,
And the bed of the river bare,
And the beach is withered, bough and trunk,
And stands like a spectre there--
Lily, dear
And the miller, Lily, is dead and gone !
He sleeps in the vale below :
I maw his stone is winter' time,
Under a drift of snow :
But now the willow is green again,
And the wind is soft and still;
I 'et" you a sprig to remind you, love,
Of him and the dear old mill,
Lily, dear !
MISCELLANEOUS
The Almond Blossom.
"Dear mamma," said a little girl to
her mother, as they were walking to
gether in the garden, "why do you have
so few of these double almonds in the
garden 1 You h.,ve hardly a bed where
there is not a tuft of violets, and they
are. so much plainer. What can be the
reason 1" .
"My dear child," said the mother,
' , gather me a bunch of each. Then I
will tell you why I prefer the humble
violet."
The little girl ran ofr, and soon return
ed with a fine bunch of the beautiful al
mond, and a few violets.
"Smell them, my love," said her mo
ther, "and try which is the sweetest."
The child smelled again and again,
and could scarcely believe herself that
the lovely almond hud no scent, while
the plain-violet had tt delightful odor.
Well, my child," asked the mother,
"which is -the sweetest 1"
6.0 dear mother, it is the modest little
violet."
' , Well, you know now, my child, why
I prefer the plain violet to the beautilul
almond. Beauty, without fragrance, is,
in my opinion, something like beauty
without gentleness and good temper in
little girls. When any of those who
speak without reflection, may say to you,
'What tharming blue eyes ! what - bean•
tiful curls! what a fine complexion !'
without knowing whether you have any
good qualities, and without thinking of
your defects and failings, which every
body is born with, remember then, my
little girl, the almond blossom ; and re
member also, when your affectionate
mother may not be there to tell you,
that beauty without gentleness and good
temper is worthless.
How to be Rich.
Getting rich is usually thought to be
a hard, up-hill task—especially in these
times. A modern philosopher, however,
has shown that nothing is easier, provt.
•ded one Will only take the right steps.
'lt is only to trust nobody—to befriend
none-- to get everything, and save all
we get—to stint ourselves and everybo
dy belonging to us.--to be the friend of
no man, and have no man for our friend
—to heap interest upon interest, cent
-upon cent—to . be mean, miserable, and
despised, for tWenty or thirty years, and
riches will come, as sure us disease and
disappuilittnent. And when pretty near
ly enough wealth is collected by a dis
regard ut all the charities of the human
heart, and at the expense of every en.
joyinent save that of wallowing in filthy
meanness, death comes to finish the
; the body is buried in a hole, the
heirs dance over it, and the spirit goes—
wherel Echo inswers—where I
EDUCATION—the twilight that ushers
in the rising sun of liberty.
5
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) 2 ) 1 14
- Att-re'
No.
MYSTERIES OF MESMERISM.
A Scene at a Social Party.
A merry party was assembled to the
parlor of a good friend of ours, not long
since, and a merry time had the guests,
if we may judge from the continual ex
citement which was kept up by the prin
cipal spirits of the occasion. Many a
good joke was perpetrated, and many a
bad one was enjoyed at the expense of
some one present.
Athong the fairer portion of the gnests
was one Miss Sarah H-, who is be
loved nod admired by all for her accom
plishments and natural kindness of heart,
while she is dreaded for her keen satire,
and her aptness at the execution of cru
el and practical jokes.
Miss FL- had reigned supreme du
ring the evening, and nearly every guest
present had sulibred from her wit. A
mong those whom she had treated in the
most cruel manner, was Charley E-,
who was not bad at such innocent amuse.
merits himself, and who resolved to pay
Miss Sarah in her own coin.
The conversation turned upon mes
merism. Charley said he had pat to
sleep any quantity of pretty young la
dies and strong-minded gentlemen, in
his day, and facetiously remarked, that
he flattered himself on being as good at
it as Parson
"With a pair of plates," said Charley,
"1 can accomplish as much in the put.
ting•tn-sleep line, as the Parson can with
one of his dullest sermons."
"Nonsense!" cried Miss H-.
"Nonsense!" echoed Charley, assum
ing.a sudden earnestness; "perhaps you
think 1 can't put you to sleep."
"Perhaps I do !" laughed Miss H.
"I think I could convince you in a few
Iminutes,"
"There! I've withstood this long e
nough. Now I'm going to kuow what
there is to laugh at!"
"Look in the glass! Look in the
glass !" cried the mirth-suffocated spec.
"That you could put me to s l eep tutors.
"Yes," - exclaimed Charley with admi
rable enthusiasm. "And if you will let
me try, I pledge myself to accomplish
the task, or to furnish the oysters for
the company."
"The oysters V' cried Miss H-. "I
take you at your offer.
"And you will give me a fair trial V'
"Yes."
•
"Agreed, then."
And Charley, to the delight of the whole
company, who were fond of fun and oys
ters, commenced making preparations
for the apparently hard task of putting
the bright eyes of the wide awake Miss
11— in a mesmeric sleep.
Charley said that be operated with
plates. He also remarked that some
plates were better than others, and that
lie roust go with Mrs. S--, the lady
of the house, to her pantry, to choose
such specimens of crockery as would
best suit his purpose.
Charley was occupied some time in
making his selection of plate's, and the
company, whose appetite for fun and
oysters was becoming more acute, began
to grow impatier.t.
At length, however, Charley re-ap
peared, with n very sober face, and said
in a serious tone—
"l couldn't find any plates to suit me
exactly, but 1 mean to have a trial at any
rate. The best I could find were some
dirty ones, piled away in a corner, which
Mrs. S- is washing for the purpose.
While she is producing them, we may
as well make. choice 01 a good position,
Miss 1-1-----."
“Siri” said Miss H-, pertly.
"You can hold your countenance,
believe V'
"I rather think 1 can."
Well you must, or I cannot put you
to sleep. If you laugh, the charm is bro.
ken. The company may laugh at the'
oddity of my motions, and 1 presume
they will, but you tnust riot, for it you
do, 1 shall be under no obligations to
produce the oysters."
Miss thinking the whole trick
consisted in this, arid supposing Charley
felt sure of making her laugh by the lu
dicrousness of the scene, readily entered
into the arrangement.
Charley then placed two chairs facing
each other, directly in the centre of the
room, took his seat in one of them, and
requested Miss H. to occupy the other.
"According to my improved method
of mesmerising," said Charley, with im•
perturbable gravity, "you will be re
quired to look me intently in the eye,
and to imitate my motions invariably."
"Yes, sir," raid Miss H-.
Charley then took hold of tier wrists,
and looked her in the eye, while the la
dies and gentlemen gathered about them
eager for the fun.
"The plates I" exclaimed Churley,and
Mrs. S-- came forward with a pair of
the required articles. Charley took one
and held it on his hands in his lap. Miss
H- made a similar use of the other,
still looking Charley in the eye.
After a pause, Charley withdrew his
right hand from beneath the plate,
and
with a slow mystical motion, passed his
' fingers across his face,
HUNTINGDON, PA., TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1850,
Miss H— gravely imitated the mo
tion. As she drew her delicate fingers
from her brow to her chin, a yell of
laughter burst from the spectators.—
Without smiling, Charley replaced his
right hand under the plate, and rubbed
the left over his face. Miss I-I—, as
gravely followed his example, and an-
Other burst of !slighter followed. Char
ley then turned the prate around in his
hands, and with his fingers made passes
across, his brow, crosses oil his chin, a
long line down the iniddle of his nose,
circles about his eyes, and all sorts of ' ,
grotesque figures on his cheeks, chang
ing his hands occasionally, as if to in
vest the ceremony with additional mys
tery. Miss 1-I. imitated him with
scrupulous exactitude and imperturbable
gravity, while the mirth of the specta
tors became more and inure excited, and
it seemed that some of them would die
with laughter. Some rolled upon the
sofas, some hung powerless over the
chairs, almost dead with mirth, and oth
ers fell upon the floor and held their
sides.
Charley continued to make the mys
terious passes across his face, and Miss
H— to imitate his movements, until
the mirth rose to such a pitch that the
poor girl began to suspect that it was
occasioned by something besides the
mere oddity of Charley's motions. She
grew uneasy. She feared some trick
played upon herself. The mirth increa
sed. She could endure it no longer.—
She resolved to forfeit the oysters. Amid
roars of laughter from the spectators,
she cried out—
Miss 11- was before the mirror in
a moment. A cry of despair and shame
burst Irom her lips. Her fare ! her
pretty, bewitching face! it was covered
with black streaks of every imaginative
character. Over her nose, around her
eyes, across her forehead, up and down,
'diagonally and crosswise, on every pot.
lion of her face, were the marks of her
own fingers, just as she had touched
them on — herdelicate skin. The bottom
of kir plate had been smoked.
While Miss H—, covering her face
with her handkerchief, retreated to an-
I other room, and while the company was
near giving up the ghost in a perfect ec-
Stacy of laughter, Charley said without
a smile--
"I. won this time, but I think I can af
ford the oysters at any rate."
The oysters were brought in at Char
ley's expense. Charley said he could
not think of tasting his until Miss H—
re-appeared, and sent a committee of the
girls to bring her in. These reported
that the fair victim had not yet succeed
ed in getting the paint off her face, upon
which Charley bade them return, and
bring her in at any rate.
few minutes the committee once
more returned, accompanied by Miss H.
The smoke still showed itself upon her
face iu spots, and her eyes glistened with
tears; but she advanced With admirable
frankness and a cheerful smile, end ta
king Charley by the hand, acknowledged
the fairness of the joke, and compliment
ed his ingenuity and sk ill.
The merry company then sat down to
the oysters, which none enjoyed with
a keener relish thnn she who had con
tributed so much to the amusement of
the guests that night.
How Italian Ladies Dress.
The ladies of Milan dress themselves
much propriety. Their chief attn
appears to be to emulate each other in
•The gay colors so common
to Jouthern 1:uly are seldom worn by
them. They are accustomed to brush
their hair completely from the forehead
and temples. his practice causes them
to appear as neat as Quakeresses. Capei
Of lace are worn fitted neatly to the bust,
with a narrow neck-collar, hid by a plain
pink or azure colored ribbon. During
the revolution, it was the tr,•color. The
hats are of the cottage form, rather
small, and cut in a very modest style.—
The favorite flowers among the ladies
are the camelia'and the dahlia. Their
hats have generally upon the left side a
large full blown cainelia or dahlia, with
out any other accessory. The hoquets
for ladies are principally formedof these
flower:, and thegarlands and florakiffer
ings cost upon the stage to popular ac•
tresses, are of the same composition.—
Speaking about hair, it may not be amiss
to say that the ladies of• Sorrento, the
birth-place of Tasso, braid their tresses,
and then arrange them in the form of a
wreath, such as artists are wont to place
upon the brow of their favorite bard.
(]7 The western papers state that the
Mississippi river has raised one foot.—
VN , hen it raises the "other foot," it will
probably "run."
The Head and the Heart.
Here is a beautiful thinz from the pen
Of Mrs. Cornwall Barry Wilson :—• •
" Please, my lady, buy a nosegay, or
bestow a trifle," was the address of a
pale, emaciated woman, holding a few
withered flowers in her hand, to a lady
who sat on the beach at Brighton watch.
ing
,the blue waves of the receding tide.
" t have no pence, my good woman,"
said the lady, looking up from the novel
she was perusing with a listless gaze;
"If I had, 1 would give them to yon."
" I run a poor widow, with three help
less children depending upon me; would
you bestow
.a small trifle to help us on
our way I"
" 1 have no half-pence, reiterated the
lady somewhat pettishly. .Really,' she
added as the poor applicant turned ineeli
ly away, 'this is worse than the streets
of London : they shiiuld have n policy
on the Afro to prevent annoyance."
They were the thoughtless dictates of
the head.
" Mamma," said a blue-eyed boy, who
was playing on the beach at the lady's
feet, flinging pebbles into the sea,-"I
wish you had a penny, for the poor wo
man does look hungry, and you know
that we are going 'to have a nice dinner
and you have promised me a glass of
wine."
The heart of the lady answered the
appeal of the child ; and with a blush of
shame crimsoning her cheek at the tacit
reproof his artless words conveyed, she
opened her retticule,•placed half a crown
in his tiny hand—and i s another moment
the boy was bounding along the sands
on his errand of merry.
In a few seconds he returned, his eyes
sparkling with delight, and his features
glowing with health and beauty. "Oh !
mamma, the poor woman was so thank
ful, she wanted to turn back, but I would
not let her; and site said, `GodPhelp the
noble lady, and you too my - pretty lamb;
my children will now have breed fur
these two days, and we shall go on our
way rejoicing.' "
The eyes of the lady glistened as she
heard the recital of her child, and her
heart told her that its dictates bestowed
a pleasure the'cold reasoning of the head
could never bestow.
Only One Brick on Another.
Edwin was looking at a largetailding
which they were putting up, just Oppo
-site his father's house. He watched
the workmen from day to day, as they
carried up the bricks and mortar, and
then placed them in their proper order.
His father said to him, "my son, yon
seem to be very much taken up with ,he
bricklayer; pray what might you be
thinking about 1 Have you any notion
of- learning the trade 1"
".No,- sir," said Edwin, smiling; "but
I was just thinking • what a little thing
'a brick is, and yet that great home is
built by only laying one brick on snout-
" Very true, my son. Never forget
it. JIIS!, 60 it is in all great works. All
your learning is only one little lesson
added to another. if a man could walk
all around the globe, it would be by only
putting one foot before the other. Your
whole life will be made up of one little
moment after another. Drop added to
drop makes the ocean.
Learn from this not to despise little
things. Learn also not to be discour
aged by great labor ; the greatest labor
becomes easy if divided into parts. You
could not jump over a mountain, but
step after step, takes you to the other
side. Do not fear, therefore, to attempt
great things. Always remember that
the whole of yonder lofty edifice is only
one brick on another."
KrFont races between ladies are be
coming fashionable at Hudson. The
Star gives the particulars of a moonlight
trot that canto ofl on Saturday night
last, between two pretty girls. How we
should have been delighted to see the
dear creatures under fall speed ! How
their eyes joust have sparkled, and the
rose bloomed on their cheeks! We
shouldn't mind playing "groom" for
such trotting horses.
[["When the British soldiers were
about to march out and lay down their
arms at Yorktown, Washington said to
the American Army—"My boys, let
there be rio insults over a Conquered foe!
When they lay down their arin, don't'
huzza—Lposterity will hitzza for you !"
[[j MrWillis speaks of a handsome
girl whom he met in an omnibus in New
York, as one "the dimples at the cor
ners of whose mouth were so deep, and
so turned in like inverted commas, that
her lips looked like a quotation."
FOUND —The man who stares at the
ladies. He wears a pair of bright yel-
low pants, a "painfully shiny hat," and
carries a small yellow cane which has a
delicate Ivory head in the shape of a la
dy's foot.
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Adventure with a Texas Belle.
11Y FINK THS ROVER,
During a portion of the three years
spent on the liken frontier, I served as
one of Jack flays' Rangers. On one oc
casion 1 was employed to carry an ex•
press from Sun Antonio toe company sta
tioned on the Rio Borgne, which is• one
of the tributaries of the Brazos, above
the falls. My route lay front Austin,
some two hundred miles, through a coun
try almost entirely without inhabitants
with no roads or guides; and, pursuing
a small hidian path, which was frequent
ly crossed by buffalo trails, more clearly
defined than those of the Indians, it was
not to be wondered at that I got lost, and
wandered about for some time, without
knowing where I was, or whither I was
going. Whilst in this agreeable prod ie
ament, meditating upon the pleasant
prospect of sleeping out all night, in a
country infested with hungry wolves,
who would no doubt like to make a slip
per of my lean carcass, and with sav
age Indians, who would consider my
yellow scalp a beautiful ornament to
wear at their war dances. 1 happened to
come upon a trail which looked, as Saw
Slick would say, as if it would "lead
somewhere, if not somewhere else." So
I followed the path, which led through
a rugged pass in the Colorado hills, and
soon emerged into a delightful prairie
valley, some four or five miles in extent
through which meandered a beautiful
stream. The banks of this stream were
studded, here and there with a luxuriant
growth of hackberry, hve oak, and pe
can., To my delight, I soon discovered
a little cabin, far down the valley, and I
lost no time in steering my course for it.
As I approached the cabin, I observed
great quantity of skulls, of various
animals, and the scalps and hides of buf-
Woes, bears, panthers, catamounts,
wolves, deer, &c., which convinced me
that 1 Was in the neighborhood of one
of the frontier hunters. I rode up to
the little fence wholl surrounded the
cabin, and hallooed. No person answer
ed. I hallooed again, when out Caine a
bonnie lass, dressed up in a medley of
fabrics, froth striped calico to dressed
buffalo skins, with her hair matted and
flowing down her back, as free as the
mane of a mustang. Ido not believe
that a comb had ever invaded its pre
cincts. Oh ! for the pen of Hogarth
to describe her figure. She was a per
fect Venus in form, and did not
4 , Haire recourse to artificial bustles,
To compensate the loss of nature's muscles."
But to my story. Our heroine threw
wide open the door of the cabin, and
with the air of an empress exclaimed—
" Hello, yourself!— how do yeti like
to be called hello'? Wont you get dowel"
[Jere were two questions asked at
once, and I concluded to answer the ea
siest one, and let the other pass ; so I
replied, ' ' No, I thank you, Miss—where
is the gentleman of the house 1" At
the. word gentleman, she turned up. her
nose in derision, and answered rather
pettishly, "We don't have no gentlemen
here, but dud is around here somewhere
though ; but I guess I can tell you any
thing you want to know."
" Well," says I, "I wish to get diree•
Lions how to go to Georgetown."
"Oh, I can tell you that, sure. You
must go down by the Cuppin and jest
wider the. hill, you'll see a big waggin'
road turn oil; but don't notice that ; and
_directly you'll sea a double tile horse
track turn off, take that—it's the George
town road."
" Well, how .fur is it to Georgetown V'
inquired 1, confused and bewildered by
tier directions.
Oh," said she "it is but a little way,
seven or ten miles, I reckon, but it ain't
fur, for I have been thar with daddy a
huntin', matiy.a mornin' before bre:Li:fast.
Are you goin' to live at Georgetown 1"
" No, said I, "i um carrying an
express back to Ross's company, on the
Brazos."
" Wall, are you 1 Why'l have got a
brother in that ar company."
" Have you indeed 1" said 'l, "and do
you want to send word to your brother'!"
" Nothin' perticler—but you can tell
him we are all well, and his old hound
slut has got nine of the purtiest pups in
the world, and is doin' as well as could
be expected."
I could stand no more, so wheeling
my horse, 1 rode away in double quick
time, whistling the popular air of "Buf
falo Liu ls."
Pat~rt~c.—"Ai►! " said a mischevious
wng to a lady acquaintance of an aris
tocratic caste, "I perceive yon have been
learning a trade." "Learning a trade !"
replied the lady, indignantly, "you are
very much mistaken." "Oh ! I thought
by the looks of your cheeks that you
had turned painter."
[l:7- Ladies of fashion starve their
happiness to feed their vanity.
VOL, XV, NO,
111USIIROON ARISTOCRACY.
False Pride a Bane to Society.
A young lady of high accomplishments
(and no pride,) in the absence of the ser
vant, stepped to the door on the ringing
which announced a Visit from one of her
admirers. On entering, the beau, glan
cing at the harp and piano which stood
in the apartment, exclaimed, thought 1
heard mesh!! on which instrument was
you performing, Miss V 'On the grid.
iron, sir, with an aecompanyment of the
frying-pan replied she; 'my mother is
without help, and she says that I must
learn to finger these instruments sooner
or later, and 1 have thisday commenced
taking a course of lessons.'
The present system of domestic edu
cation has less of common sense in it
than any other arrangement in soctal
life. The false idea that it is ungenteel
to labor—especially for a lady—more
especially for a wealthy, young, town la
dy—prevents thousands from taking that
kind and amount of bodily exercise on
which sound health and firm constitution
so much depends. Those who are bro't
up to work, and make fortunes, indulge
the false pride of training their children
to despise labor, which was the birth
right of their parents, and make it n point
to decry hottest toil, in which they were
themselves reared, and to which all their
relatives are still devoted. This is
mushroon aristocravy, and the most con•
tcmptible cf all. Young men will
lingly become clerks, and roll and lift
boxes, and so long as they are clerks,
and in a mercantile house, and can wear
a standing dickey, they deepise an ap
prentice to a business perhaps less la
bbrious and for less humiliating end
subservient—all because they are Inv ,
chants, or intend to be.
The successful merchant is a labori•
ous man, but so loag as his efforts are
not regarded as labor, it does not wound
his pride. He toils 'for thirty years as
vigorously as a mechanic, but not exact
ly understanding that his work is really
labor, he feels that he has just as good a
right to despise it as does the man who
is born to a fortune; and he teaches his
wife and daughter to despise every use
ful occupation,
and goes to his store dai
ly to sweat and toil for gold, not doubt
ing the respectability of his efforts, how
ever enormous, so long as the world dnes
not brand it with the disgraceful name
of labor. For such men—for any man
to despise the enabling and God-ordain
ed institution of -honest toil and honest
sweat for an honest subsistence, is ma
king war on the natural institutions and
best interests of society, and treading
sacrilegiously and contemptuously on
the ashes of his lather or gis grandfath,
er who tilled the sod.• Young inen ! you
are fostering a false pride which will
ultimately rankle at the core of your
happiness and make you slaves indeed.
Off with your coats, and in the name of
reason and liberty rush with manly
strength into architecture, agriculture,
to the manufacture of works of utility,
and leave the measuring of tape to those
whose souls are as 'short as the yard.
stick and as narrow as the tape.' Be
men ! cease to crowd into clerkshipsnnd
starve your way through life in the vain
hope of being the fortunate one who shall
become rich out of the five thousand
who will remain poor. Ladies, if you
would be worthy of your age, of the
geniuit of a noble country, and of an ex
alted civilization, set us an example of
wisdom by employing your time on
something useful to the world. Are you
rich? thauk God, then, that you may
have your time ut your command to bless
and benefit your less fortunate sisters of
want, and there Itelpless offspring. You
can thus become angels of mercy, alto
oners of good, and merit the benedic
tions of God's poor while you live, and
their tears when you die. It is a dis
grace to citizens of a republic to foster
ideas of cove, upper circles; lower classes
etc., as constituted merely by wealth.—
lt is a distinction dictated by perverted
Acquisitiveness and Approbativet ens.—
Intellectual and mural aristocracy is less
intolerable than that based on wealth
and its adjuncts, and is the only admis
sible feature of the very questionable
feeling in a land of freedom.
We might as well caress a jeweled
mine; as to honor and embrace a base
minded and vicious millionaire, yet
wealth, vice and ignorance is respected
by these whose god is gold. This is.att
age of Acquisitiveness, en age in which
the golden idea is paramount . ; Godgrant
that its reign may be short, and that an
other, and a higher, and holier faculty
may 'take its office.'
IL7-Another Mat hemathical Wonder
has sprung up in Pittsburg, in a boy ten
years of age, named Theodore Hartman
who will respolol to the must difficult
arithmetical questions with a. few mo•
meats mental orerttion.