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raising her eyes to his with an imploring gaze, she said:

"Mr. Gibbon, will you marry me?"

Gibbon was so astonished that he bounded from his seat; but recovering his presence of mind he replied:

"Marry you dear child? Why I am old enough to be your grandfather."

"Well, sir, if you are old, I am too young,

and that makes our ages balance."

"Marry you!" repeated Gibbon in his excess of wonder.

"Do you refuse me ?" exclaimed Germaine rising.

"No, indeed," said Gibbon, putting her tenderly back in her chair. " would be a dolt not to accept such a pretty little hand. But do tell me to which of my personal attractions I owe the honor you intend to confer upon me. Do you think me handsome ?" asked he, rising, and parading his clumsy, fat person up and down the room.

Germaine laughed so heartily at the picture that she could only shake her head with emphatic denial.

Then it must be the sourd of my voice," replied Gibbon, speaking more than usual through his nose.

Germaine laughed still louder, but made out to say, "No, no indeed."

"Then you are charmed with my conversation ?"

"No, Mr. Gibbon, no," said Germaine, becoming serious, "I do not enjoy your conversation; for many a time, sitting on my footstool, listening to you talk with papa, I have almost fallen asleep. I hope you are not of. fended," added she, with pleading eyes, and sweet, deprecating gesture.

"No, dear child, no. I love your innocent simplicity."

"It only proves my want of taste"" replied she.

"Not at all; I am just as you see me; ugly, with a nasal twang, and heavy in society. Now, then, why have you, so bright, so clever, so attractive-why have you chosen me ?"

"Because, Mr. Gibbon, papa loves and admires you above all his friends; because he enjoys your society, if I do not; and if, when I am old enough, you will consent to marry me, he will never be obliged to part with you, and you will love him even more than You do now."

Gibbon was touched to the heart. Taking the little hand that was extended to meet his, he pressed it reverentially to his lips, exclaiming :

66

Incomparable child! how you must love

your father."

At that moment Mr, Necker entered the

Yes, dear papa," exclaimed Germaine, unning towards her father, and clasping him round the neck, "when I am old enough to e married, I am to marry Mr. Gibbon."

"Marry Mr. Gibbon !" echoed Necker, look. gfirst at his friend, who was perpetrating succession of nods, and then at his daught , whose beautiful eyes were fixed upon him sedith an expression of infinite tenderness. And was this the great mystery ?"

the

Yes papa; forgive me for not having said ything to you until it was all arranged," All arranged without my consent, Miss ?" "Listen, dear, darling papa," said Germaine, axingly. “I knew how much you loved Mr. bbon, and a gentleman whom I consulted to bow we could manage to have him alys at home told me that the only way was me to marry him. Now, you know that must always do our duty, whether it be reeable or not, and-"

going to sacrifice myself for your happiness' you would have opposed me," replied the child, emphatically.

"Indeed, Miss," cried Gibbon, "do you mean to insinuate that you sacrifice yourself by marrying me ?"

"Yes, Mr. Gibbon," returned Germaine, with an almost imperceptible sigh, “do you suppose that, if it had not been for my father, I ever would have thought of you as a husband?"

"Yes, Miss, I did think so," replied Gibbon, disconsolately. "I am by no means flattered, and shall have to decline the honor."

"Mr. Gibbon," cried Germaine, vehemently, "you have pledged your word-your word of honor."

"Not so fast, not so fast," interrupted Mr. Necker, "neither your mother nor I have given our consent."

"I am afraid that when the time arrives for the fulfillment of her engagement, Mademoiselle Necker will find it quite as impossible to obtain her own consent as yours," observed Gibbon, putting on an air of great chagrin.

"Mr. Gibbon," replied Germaine, with dignity, "I beg you to believe that I will not for. get our engagement."

"And I, dear chid, will never forget the filial love that prompted you to choose an ugly and tiresome old man for your husband. Some of these days you will be an excellent wife, as you are already the best of daught

ers.

ex

"She is indeed my treasured child-my glory, my fortune, my chiefest blessing," claimed her father, covering her face with kisses.

"You are so good to me, dear papa," murmured she, in return. "You will give your consent, will you not?"

"One word on the subject, from me Made. moiselle," interposed Gibbon. "Since your father is so kind as to express a preference for my society, suppose I promise that without becoming your husband, I will make my home in Paris, with him, and be just as devoted to him as a son-would not that be more agreeble ?"

"I cannot deny it, Mr. word has passed.'"

A COMFORTABLE INCARCERATION. Writing of prison life, a few days ago, we were reminded of one of those causes celebres that were peculiar to the Southwest forty years ago. The punishment of crime there was an exception, and murder was one of the lightest in the catalogue of offenses. We knew of a case of deliberate murder to be pun ished in Alabama, in 1839, with a fine of $250 and six months in jail. While living at Shreveport, La., we made a list of twenty-one persons killed in that town in the space of fiiteen years, and of all the murderers but a single one was hanged! In Hinds county, Mississippi, a man was tried eight times for murder, and at last acquitted. This much by way of preface.

In 1831-2, there lived in Monroe county, Miss., a planter named Wooley. He was a half-breed-at least there was a good deal of Cherokee Indian about him. He owned about two hundred slaves, and had all the worst habits of the old-time planter-drinking, gambling, and horse-racing. These pursuits, alternated, formed his sole occupation, the plantation being managed by an overseer.

He had the sole virtue of possessing sort of Indian veneration for the sacredness of his word. He would not execute a note for any purchase whatever, and held all men in sovereign contempt who violated their pledged word. He had no compunction in killing a man in what he deemed a just quarrel; but his word was bis bond. This was his wellknown character, and he could have got credit for thousands on his word easier than other men could have got hundreds. At the time we speak of he had killed several persons in gambling quarrels, and was looked upon as a man not to be crossed except at the risk of life.

One night, while playing cards in Columbus, a quarrel arose about the game. His oppo nent was a known desperado, and he gave the lie to Wooley's statement about the game. Bowies flashed out simultaneously. Both were slightly wounded, when a lucky blow laid Wooley's opponent dead upon the floor. Next morning Wooley was arrested-arrested because he did not care that it should be otherwise. Wooley had carried his killing so far that the judge felt bound to commit him, in order to avoid the imputation of bing affected either by fear of his desperadoism or wealth. Accordingly, to jail went Wooley. The jailor was a weak man-weak in courage, and weak to resist the influence of a doucer. After bearing his confinement for a day or two Woolev sent for the jailor.

"See here, Jim," said he, "you know me; you know I never break my word. Now, I want to go out and have a social game with the boys. You can just leave me the key and when it gets bed time I will come, lock myself in, and it will be all right."

This argument was enforced by material considerations; and night after night Wooley used to come out and enjoy his nocturnal liberty. The court sitting soon, he got the case put off, and, giving bail in the sum of $10,000, was released

At the next term of the court Wooley was put upon trial; the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the judge sentenced him to one year in the penitentiary at Jackson. The papers were duly made out, and the sheriff proposed to start with him for Jackson, but Wooley demurred..

"You know, sheriff," said he, "that the county is poor--can't afford the trip-and so I'll just let my boy Cæsar drive me down to Jackson, and save all the expense. Got the papers ?"

The sheriff produced them, and, ere he was aware, Wooley seized them and put them into his pocket.

"All right," said he; "I shall be off tc-morrow morning."

The sheriff knew he had a desperate man to deal with, but when he reflected that Woo ley never broke his word, and had, besides, over $100,000 worth of property he could not move, he made a virtue of necessity, and left things to take their turn.

True to his word, Wooley left for Jackson and in due time arrived. Putting up at the Mansion House, he sallied out, visited all the gambling hells with which that town even then abounded, and the next morning drove up to the penitentiary. Entering the ward room he inquired:

"Where shall I find the warden ?" "I am the man," said Col Dickson. "Well, I've brought you a prisoner." "Where is he?" inquired the warden. "Here-I am the man," and Wooley handed over the sheriff's mitimus. The warden was amazed. Had he a lunatic to deal with or had the man killed the sheriff and then come to the prison to defy him? He could not tell, but he determined quickly to keep the man since he offered himself.

"Now," said Wooley, let's go through this place and see how it looks," and through they went. As they returned to the guard room,

Wooley had talked so pleasantly that the warden felt reared and said jocosely:

"Now, Mr. Wooley, what branch of the business do you think you would like best?"

"To tell you the truth, Colonel," said Wooley, "I never did a day's work in my life, and I don't think I'd like any of your cussed trades. I'll tell you how we can fix it-I'll clerk for you, just for the name of the thing, and we'll live jollily together till the year's up."

The warden saw he had a character to deal with, and concluding that a man who would go into a prison of his own accord, would not run away, he acquiesced. Wooley staid his year accordingly; a nominal clerk or companion by day, and a gambler in Jackson by night. He kept the ward room supplied with Havanas, and a sly nook in the office aiways contained the best of liquors. His year up, he left unregretting but regretted, for at heart he was a good fellow and made the warden a jovial companion.

Such was justice in Mississippi 40 years ago; but such an incident as this could hardly have occurred elsewhere.-Jackson Citizen

RELICS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA. A writer in the Natal Mercury is credited by an exchange with the following respecting the ruins of S.mbaco:

A day's march from Andowa, between two hills, at the end of a vast and fertile valley, are the ruins of Axum. To this, incredible flights of stone steps conduct the traveler up to the summits of the hills, in one of which are found deep grottoes and vast halls, cut out of the rocks and ornamented with col umns. There, according to the traditions of the country, is the tomb of the Queen of Saba. The adjoining valley, shaded by majestic . trees, is filled by the remains of the city, consisting of huge blocks of stone. Very little of the debris reveal their former purpose. There may, however, be distinguished two groups of fourteen or fifteen obelisks, tbrown down. Seven of them are covered with ornaments, and are not less than thirty-six feet in length. These master pieces of ancient architecture reveal to us the fact of an ancient civilization in the heart of Africa, which has disappeared again thousands of years since. Neibuhr tells us of a mighty Abyssinian empire existing here, mentioning, in particular, Saba, and says it was so powerful that even the Roman and Parthenian strength could not prevail against it. This last statement was taken from a Greek inscription, found among the ruins, engraved in stone. On the reverse side is another engraving, in some ancient language, which has not yet been deciphered. The tribes guard these ruins with jealous care. No liv. ing animal is allowed to be killed in them, no tree permitted to be destroyed, everything connected with them being held sacred, as belonging to a good or an evil power. A missionary who penetrated to within a short distance of the ruins, writes:-"In this country were also found some very old guns, in a hole in the mountaiu. We got one of the locks of these guns, and found that it had a wheel outside with cogs or teeth, and a tradition exists that they came from these ruins. The Basutos often tell us, when asked if they ac knowledge God, about the big stones in the Banyai, where all created things are to be seen, even sphinxes, pyramidial-shaped buildings, and catacombs."

A Cincinnatian recently left his family under pretence that business called him to the South, and would probably keep him absent a year. He proceeded to New Albany, Ind., tarried there and took steps to procure a divorce, he having become enamoured of a younger and fairer woman than his faithful wife. While he tarried fever and ague in its most violent form attacked him and gave him a deserved shaking. It shook him Into repentance and into an appreciation of his baseness, and on his bed of pain he longed for the attentions of his good wife. So one day he returned to his home, minus the divorce, but with something better, the fever and ague and a etermination to stick to his fi rst love,

SUPPLEMENT TO THE COURANT

-Overland Monthly.

The FLES.

California harbors a superstition against "dying in your boots," and even murderers so far regard it as to pull the boots off their vic

tims.

One of the most eminent lawyers in New England used to tell young practitioners that the finest line in modern poetry was Scott's ; "Charge, Chester, charge "

It was rather cruel to say it, but perhaps the subject of the remark deserved it, that "the fellow never showed any signs of a lawyer except the tin ones on his door."

A Chinese thus describes a trial in the Engglish law courts; "One man is quite silent. another talks all the time, and twelve men condemn the man who has not said a word.',

The Latest Style--Host: "Allow me to get you a partner? Languid Swell: "Thank you but I-ar-don't dance." Host: "Then let me introduce you to Miss Twaddle; she s a great hand at conversation." Languid Swell: "You are very kind, but I-ar-'never' converse."

Both witty and sharp was that woman o Baltimore who sent to her grocer these lines : "Mr. Tuttle-this here thing has got two much hemp in it for molasses and not quite enough for a close line, so I beg you will exchange it for a purer article."

A clergyman asked some children, "Why do we say, in the Lord's prayer, 'Who art in Heaven,' since God is everywhere?" He saw a little drummer boy who looked as if he could give an answer, and turned to hina for it: Well, little soldier, what do you say?" "Because it's headquarters."

In the house of representatives, at Washington, the other day, Mr. Knox, of Kentucky, was speaking, and was interrupted with the usual "Will the gentlemen yield?" He replied that he hadn't troubled the house with a speech for three years, and thought he should "There are some members here," said be, have his say uninterrupted. "who would have stopped the sermon on the Mount by asking the Savior to yield to them."

now

A little girl in a primary school asked her teacher how to spell "tunkin." "Pumpkin, you mean, do you not?" asked the teacher! "No, tunkin," said the little one, "But there is no such word as that," said the teacher; "you must have misunderstood." "I am sure I have heard it," said the child, and she sat down, looking rather perplexed, began to print briskly for a moment or two, and presently the slate was raised agam, Then she The teacher looked at it and read: "I love Miss Wlittle Nellie, "I want to write 'tunkin tell.' more than -" "Now," said When the sheriff asked the wife of a Quaker, against whom he had a writ, if her husband was at home, she replied, "Yes, he will see thee in a moment." time, and then suggested to the lady that she The sheriff waited some had promised that he might see her husband. "No, friend," replied the quakeress, "I only promised that he would see thee. seen thee. He did not like thy looks; there fore he avoided thee, and hath left the house He has by another path."

When Harriet Martineau visited this country, a number of the wise men and women of the East were assembled to welcome her in a certain house not many miles from Boston. One of these magi, on approaching this star, was so bewildred by the unlooked-for presentation of her ear-trumpet as the only mode of access, that he horrified himself by the utterance of a most malapropos speech "Madam," said he, "have you observed how charmingly our birds sing?"

ane to work at

VOL. XXXV.

MINISTERS NOW AND FORMERLY. A correspondent recently opened his mind to us about the clergymen of the present day. If we understood him rightly there was too much Miss Nancy-ism among them, they had too many nerves and sensibilities, were all the time complaining of dyspepsia and sore throat and overwork, too much preaching and too much parish visiting, and, in short, if the remark is not irreverent, they do not stand up to the rack, fodder or no fodder. after the typical practice of the old sturdy New England divines. Now against such a wholesale charge as this we propose to offer no defence, for it is in great part transparently untrue. We know a great many clergymen, not over strong physically either, who do their work, and bear the manifold friction of the most diffi. cult positions in the world, with not half so much whining as the majority of other people indulge in. And whatever truth there is in the charge is the result of modern forces ard circumstances for which the clergyman is no more responsible than any one else.

The Protestant clergyman of to-day (just today), next after the editor, who is, however, supposed to be iron-clad, occupies the most difficult position in the world. He is put in a position of authority, and he has (unlike the priest of Rome), no authority, His relation to his people is auomalous. He is not independent of them, and yet their shepherd, like the Roman priest; nor, as to support does he оссиру

the business relation of a school teacher to his district. His salary is made to ap. pear a sort of personal gratuity to him, and every one who contributes to it acts as if he had a real claim upon the pastor's services. The salary is neither a bargain nor a spontaneous gift. Without attempting to define what it is, we state the fact that the pecuniary relation between protestant pastors and people is the source of a great deal of friction, and of very wearing friction to the minister. The minister can neither levy as a right, nor make his bargains like the school teacher. In the nature of things he may never be able to do the latter, for in a large part of the country preaching is really missionary work, and the majority of the inhabitants do not care whether they have it or not. In this case it will not do to let the demand regulate the supply; for it is noticed that when preaching stops, the grog shops creep in, demoralization begins, the fences slant and decay, the paint peels off the houses, and before you know it, there is a democratic majority there.

However nervious or susceptible the clergyman may be he has not changed more in the past fifty years than the rest of men, not more than business mer, certainly not so much as women. The age is more highly strung, more finely organized than the last one, has keener sensibilities. There was a Hartford clergyman who carried on his distillery during the week and hls pulpit on Sunday, and who once being arrested for debt and let out of jail "on the limits," had the limits made from the house to the church where he regularly officiated. Suppose imprisonment for debt was allowed to-day, and one of our city clergymen was put in that position. He would dle of chagrin and mortification. Bronchitis would be no name for his illness. No. Society

has changed. The congregations are not the same that they were fifty years ago; they are in a different electric state, they require more, contact with them draws more on the minister. And, then, society grows more complicated and exacting. The minister (like every educated, leading man) has a thousand demands upon him, both of a private and public nature, which society did not make fifty years ago. We must recognize the fact that life has grown more complicated, and that in this highly organized and over-charged social condition, ministers are not different from other people.

Another secret of what may be called the 'worry" of the clergy may be found in what is termed the spirit of the age, meaning by this the non-supernatural and materialistic spirit of the age. It is a day of very considerable theological uneasiness. One cannot but remark a lack of faith or satisfying conviction. As Mr. Mountford says in his recent book on "Miracles," "vast numbers simply acquiesce in their creeds, and timidly recoil from even learning about them." The atmosphere of the time is an unsympathetic one. The clergyman is conscions of this. He is not himself free from the agitations of the time; he is not settled as his fathers were; he has fallen upon a time of re-casting creeds, and he is more or less unsettled. Even if he is as firm in the creed which he has professed as Calvin was in his, he is not superior to the inflences of his day and generation. As Mr. Mountford puts it; the sermon when it comes to be preached does not souud as it did when it was written. "And the words which while they were meditated in seret, were fraught with the spirit, being uttered in public, the ear of natural man, and are powerless do not reach the spiritual man, but only except as they may hance to be approved by the intellect, testing them bygic, rhetoric, history, and some of the natural sensibilities. And the reason is very simple, for the atmosphere of the world and of a worldly church is not that of 8 christian study, with its windows opening Ito. wards Jerusalem. Auu a preacher may be really in 'in the spirit on the Lord's day'; but he must be very happily constituted if he does not find that, with crossing the street, on his way to the pulpit, the spirit has been more or less quenched in him. And, from exchanging looks with his hearers, he is conscious that he is not quite what he was while in the presence of the fathers, and in sympathy with Jeremy Taylor, and in fellowship with Baxter and Doddridge, and in the communion of the saints"

The clergyman, in short, is in and of modern life, with its refiements and acuteness to all influences, quite as liable as anybody to its dis. eases and discouragements, and not more free than than the rest of us from its corroding vexations. The clergymen of fifty years ago never had the bronchitis and never needed to go to Europe! Well, neither Europe nor the bronchitis was discovered then. But he died now and then of consumption; and he went, we suppose it cannot be denied, down to Boston, to attend the spring anniversaries, which was a big thing for him in that day.

This incident comes to us only second hand. An American physician traveling in Europe, not long ago, went to Berlin, having a letter of introduction to a distinguished medical lecturer of that city. He called at the house of the professor one evening in the winter, just about dusk; the professor was not in, but would come back soon, and the servant showed the gentleman, whom we will call Dr. B., into an ante-room to await his return. The waiting room was very cold and without a light. Dr. B. saw through the glass door of the next room the light of a fire, and four men sitting before it. It occurred to him that it would not be improper, under the circumstances,

NO 8.

to his remar k

for him to make a fifth about the fire, and warm himself. He accordingly opened the door and bidding the company good evering, in his best German, drew up a chair between two of the gentlemen, and stretched out his hands towards the fire. Nobody responded to his cheerful salutation, but he supposed that was a for. eign habit, perhaps, and turned right hand neighbor with another about the very cold weather. The gentleman had nothing to reply, and indeed did not scem to hear the remark. The room was park, except for the flickering light from the fire. The Doctor made another attempt, while still warming his hands and enjoying the heat, to enter into conversation with his neighbor, but he might as well have talked to the dead; the gentleman on his right, however, at length moved a little in his chair, and Doctor B., concluding that he was asleep, turned to his left hand companion, with an observation on the comfort¡ of such a fire on such a chilly evening; but when he also made no reply, the Doctor began to feel that he had never fallen in with such taciturn fellows. Determining, however, to make talk, he addressed his neighbor again, when to his consternation, the figure suddenly collapsed and slid from the chair to the floor. The body had thawed cut, and the Doctor saw by the fire light that he had been talking to a corpse. A glance around the room showed that the other three were also dead bodies, and he left the room and the house 88 quick as was convenient. The professor had just received four bodies for experiments, which had been frozen on the way, and he had taken that method of tuwing vucm vuv pivpu ing's lecture in the dissecting room. At least, that was the explanation which the Doctor received when he got ready to call again.

THE GRAPHIC (London) March 19th has a superb portrait of General Prim, the beginning of the American Illustrations being incidents of the sea voyage, and several other fine wood cuts. The one of local interest to us, however, is a full page engraving of the Angel of Life, by Mr. Bartlett, an American sculptor, formerly of Waterbury. Of this the Graphic says:-"Mr. Truman H. Bartlett, the author of the figure called The Angel of Life, a young artist with nearly his whole art-career before him, promises to add another famous name to the already famous roll, thie, his first work of any importance, not only exhibiting signs of future eminence in his art, but being a work of great present ability. It was executed for the family monument of the Hon. David Clark, of Hartford, Connecticut, and is of colossal propor. tions, being over nine feet in height, and standing on a nine foot granite pedestal. Being symbolical, the figure, perhaps, needs a few words of explanation to render the intention of the artist clear to our readers, and this is no way derogatory to his genius; for symbols, whether in painting, sculpture, music, or simple decoration, are always the better for an accompanying key, forms and inerticulate sounds refusing to lend themselves absolutely to the allegorical. The left hand, then, is extended as offering assistance to man, the right, pointing upward, indicating the end and purpose of such assistance; the hair in the form of flames, signifies the parifying influence. Considering that before executing this figure Mr. Bartlett was entirely without the advantages of study in his art, his style will, no doubt, undergo some modification; at pres

58

ent, although showing the distinctive broadness and simplicity of American sculpture, there is also some trace of French influence. Mr. Bartett is, we understand, now studying in Paris."

BOSTON CORRESPONDENCE. From Our Regular Correspondent.

BOSTON, March 31, 1870.

ice gath

A DAY OR TWO "DOWN EAST." This is not the most auspicious part of the year for traveling, if one has pleasure in view. It has been my duty this week, however, to go to Augusta, Me., and the journey hasn't been al We in Boston had together a disagreeable one. had our most inclement winter month in March, and, with the amount of snow that had been, and was not yet gone, in and about Boston, it was natural to look for good sleighing still a hundred miles or so further north. It was not there. Boston, with the exception of the ice in the Kennebec river, shows, if anything, a little stronger evidence of wintry weather than does Augusta. They speak of the season at the latter place as the most remarkable remembered. The ice has gone out twice in the river, and the second time carried away the railroad bridge, and made tearing work with the foundations of two or three others. You find it piled up in great mounds of blocks on the banks of each side, which will not, it is believed, thaw away before July. A good many logs went down too in the freshet, and are imbedded thickly in the ice below. An old gentleman who has lived in Maine more than firty years told me in the cars that their's word fe tage gast speculative peoples ering. For fifteen or twenty miles on the Kennebec, from Bowdoinham up to Hallowell, the river is lined with ice houses just finished or in process of construction, Below this, the ice is brackish. The scarcity further south has stimulated the people to act as if they were destined to supply the whole world in the future. Their crop never fails. They harvest it very easily, though hardly more so than we in Massachusetts do on Fresh and Spot aud Jamaica Ponds. The Kennebec ice is of a uniform thickness. It freezes till it reaches the depth of eighteen inches, and never gets beyond that in the river, no matter how cold the season. But the people on the river are plainly much overdoing the ice-house business, and are destined to loose a good deal of money thereby. These towns used to be made prosperous by ship-building, which is now almost wholly abandoned. They next attempted cotton manufacturing, but with poor success. A very large and extensive mill in Gardiner, which had been built from funds raised among its people, is a failure, and stands unɔccupied. Augusta presented most extraordinary inducements to the Spragues to come up from Rhode Island, which were accepted, but I am told her people already bitterly repent their bargain. The people who were in trades and manufacturing in these river towns are gradually leaving them and going a few miles into the country, to cultivate the excellent farming land. And then again Augusta is a beaut fully situated city, and looked prosperous as well as pleasant. It has apparently good society. One or two exgovernors live there, as well as Senator Morrill and Speaker Blaine, when they are home from congress. The legislature had just left the statehouse, which is a very handsome building outside, but poorly furnished in its legislative departments within. The senate chamber has not even furnace heat, but its members are warmed by two stoves and two fireplaces. The legislature sat about eighty days this year. The compensation for this is $150 per man. The men who take care of the halls and wait upon them have considerably more. The event of po litical interest for the coming campaign is to be the choice of United States senator. There are four candidates for this office, Senator Morrill, Governor Chamberlain, ex-Governor Washburne and Speaker Blaine, though the latter gentleman is perhaps in doubt as to whether he desires the office. Governor Chamberlain is very ambitious, and the talk of starting a citizens' party, which is heard among some of the politicians, has probably something to do with his aspirations. The feeling engendered by the Hamlin and Morrill contest two years ago still exists, and many people think hard toward Hamlin for crowding

Senator Morrill out. But all admit Hamlin's power. As a political manager friend and foe alike appear to regard him as superior to any man in the country, and I should judge his influThe ence to be as great as ever in his state. famous Maine law is as much a humbug in its enforcement at home as it is in Massachu setts. Liquor is sold freely in the large towns of the state certainly, and drunkenness is as common there as it is in states which have not the distinction of being the fountainhead of prohibitory legislation. The National Soldiers' Asylum is situated at Tagus Sprine, about five miles out of Augusta. The locality is a very fine one. There is a sulphur spring at this place, whose owner put up a large hotel, hoping to make it a great resort for invalids and for fashion. He failed in this object, and, the property being for sale at a bargain, General Butler fixed upon it as the site for a soldiers' asylum, aud it was purchased to the extent of a thousand acres for fifty thousand dolThe hotel, lars by the national government. which was first used for asylum purposes, took fire and burnt, and now there has been erected a large brick edifice. There are two or three hundred soldiers in it at present. They are very well taken care of, and in food and general provisions for comfort probably no institution in the country excels it. The chief difficulty about it at present is, that the inost of the men are perfectly idle. There is nothing but the recreation of reading and a few amusements to occupy their 1ime. The place is very onely, being miles from anv habitation, and they are apt to become discontented. General Tilton, who is in charge of the asylum, is now erecting workshops, and preparing to provide that employment which so many sadly need. Perhaps this brief record of observations eastward would not be complete if I failed to mention that Portland has in the Fal mouth House the handsomest hotel that I er saw, and I think, on the whole, the wo-kept It probably does n't pay to duct it betI do recitu aru furnised on a scale altogether out of proportiou to the wants of the city. In fact, this is the condition at present of a large proportion of the buildings over the burnt district. It is impossible, as a rule, to pay rents that will give a fair interest on the outlay of money, and it would seem as if the city must be in a bad condition financially for years.

one.

THE HARTFORD AND ERIE RAILROAD. The advocates of a further state loan to this corporation have had some severe testimony to encounter in the hearing of the last few days. Mr. J. W. Brooks, a railroad expert and formerly one of the Hoosac Tunnel commissioners, attacked the route on the point of its paying capacity, in sweeping language, in his testimony, and assailed it as a state investment all round. On some points, however, he went so far as to weaken the effect of his testimony, making out a stronger case against it than many of the most decided opponents of the route believe to be just. I think the more moderate testimony of John M. Forbes, the next day, had greater effect. Mr. Forbes is a remarkably able and successful business man, whose opinions deservedly have great weight, and he talked very candidly, and not at all after the manner of a mere theorist, or a partisan. The position that Connecticut, and perhaps New York, are to be more benefitted by this route than Massachusetts, is one that is likely to have more effect than anything thus far urged. Our people will do a good deal for their own state, but, with their present indebtedness, you will hardly expect them to forget self-interest in the effort to be generous to others. It is impossible to say what will be the action of the legislature on this important question. Many members who lead opinion are waiting to read the full testimony before the committee (which is to be printed) before deciding on their course. Much will depend upon the extent to which it shall appear we are already involved; for if the state can cut clear of all connection with the road without pecuniary loss, as is held in some quarters, it will be a very easy solution of the difficulty to many minds.

THE LABOR QUESTION

is before the legislature on a bill enacting that ten hours only shall be allowed as a day's work in manufacturing corporations of the state. The democrats have lost the opportunity that they had hoped for to make capital out of this. Mr. Sweetser, of Lowell, their leader, has made a

vigorous speech against it, and even Mr. Woodbury, of Boston, who has taken the position of a demagogue on almost all other questions, follows Mr. Sweetser this time. Mr. Sweetser reasons from sound principles of political economy and personal rights, but he will hardly be able to justify himself with the labor reformers, who are fixed in the idea that work for ten hours will pay them as much as will work for twelve. The rep resentatives from manufacturing towns generally favor the bill, and the most effective speeches for it thus far have come from republicans. Capital has made no effort against it in the legislature. I think many of our manufacturers are willing that it shall be tried, if the state so desires. What they apprehend most from it effects is the disadvantage under which it places us in competition with other states, and there are probably resources which would prevent us from greatly suffering in this respect.

SECRETARY BOUTWELL AND THE BANKS.

Our bank people are of course a good deal exercised over the funding bill. They have had meetings here, and have sent delegations to Washington to protest against lowering the rate of interest on their securities. If you look at the dividends of Boston banks, this will hardly be evidence that they are in a suffering condition. Perhaps it is worse with those in the country; yet take the institutions through the state, and they never were so prosperous, and there is no class in the community receiving privileges from the government which could so well afford a concession. I observe that Mr. Charles B. Hall, who is cashier of one of cur Boston banks, is the gentleman first selected to make an appeal to Secretary Boutwell. Mr. Hall ja an old friend of the secretary, and was introduced by him to our city and our politics when he (Boutwell) was governor. On Governor Boutwell's suggestion, Mr. Hale was elected state treasurer, and he made quite a figure in our state affairs in those days. The republicans rated him so highly that they nominatedbim for mayor of Boston at a time when they had large preponderance in the city. But Mr. Hall bad only lived here a year or two, and staid old Boston in those days couldn't stand anything that had the semblance of carpet-bagging, It gave Mr. Hall a mortifying defeat, and let him decline into private life thereafter. It is a singular circumstance that he should meet the friend with whom he was early associated under present clicumstances. That seems to me a silly story, by the way, that Washington correspondents are circulating about Secretary Boutwell's presidential aspirations. He is not the kind of man to be smitten with this mania, and, if he were, he has sense enough to know how fatal it would be to take the field this early. Boutwell would make a first-rate United States senator, undoubtedly, and would most probably leave the cabinet to take that position, if it fell to him easily, in the natural order of things. But it is not likely that it will, or that there will be any serious opposition to Senator Wilson for another term. Wilson, himself, is apt to be a trifle nervous at such times. His friends are less concerned, and he has a great many of them-more than any other man in the state, Mr. Sumner always excepted. Wilson probably has more apprehensions from Butler than from Boutwell. Neither of these gentlemen could dispiace him, and it is very doubtful if even Butler seriously contemplates making ary efforts in this direc TEMPLETON.

tion.

Letter from the Pacific Ocean.

COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA-THE COASTING TRADE. Correspondence of THE COURANT.

CRUISING ON THE WESTERN

SOUTH PACIFIC, OFF COAST OF PERU, Steamship Pacific, Feb. 7, 1870. When I wrote my last letter at Panama, I did not expect to write you again till we reached Lima; but as it looks now our stay in Lima will be short-not over four or five days-so that our time will be fully occupied with sight seeing and no time for letter writing. We sailed from Panama on the morning of the 1st, and ran down to the ieland of Taboga, and took in water, fruits, etc. The view of both old and new Panama was splendid. The former was once destroyed by the buccaneers, Were I to be a sea pirate, or a

shipmaster, I should certainly choose the Pacific ocean to roam in, and the bay of Panama for headquarters. This ocean is the most delightful cruising ground in the world. No stormsnothing but the long heavy swell which looks as if it came from China, In the bay of Panama we passed an island where they are still digging for the treasures buried by the buccaneers. It strikes me they have bad a long dig, and why they still continue is a mystery to me. Such pirates as Morgan, Van Horn and DeGraff were not the men to bury treasures where they could easily be found. We reached the mouth of the Guayaquil river early on the morning of the 4th. The sail up the river was delightful. It happened to be a clear day, which was something unusual, as this is the rainy season here. These wet and dry seasons are very curi. ous. At Panama, only eight degrees above the equator, it was the dry season-no rain since last fall; while at Guayaquil, just below the line, it rains almost constantly. What is still more wcn. derful, on the coast of Peru it never rains. As I understand it, the Andes mountains are so near the coast that they absorb all the moisture. The river Guayaquil and its shores are very like our St. John's in Florida. The river itself is very broad and deep. Many of our passengers say they saw the peaks of Chimborazo and Cotopaxi. It may be that their eyes were unusually strong that day, but my eye-sight is very good and I could not see them with the aid of a very powerful glass. As we came to anchor in front of the city of Guayaquil the river seemed

alive

with boats. This leads me to speak of the traffic on this coast. It is immense, and should be controlled by our own people. But our navigation laws are such that the English have nearly driven us from the ocean. The people here prefer Yankee captains.

As a case

in point the captain of this English steamer is a Yankee. He went to Washington to see what could be done, but he found it impossible to get up an American line and was obliged to return and take his place as the commodore captain of an English iiue. Here let me say a word for our captain (Hall) If you ever make this trip, be sure and make it with Captain James Hall. He is the same man that Dana speaks of in his "Two Years Before the Mast." Every schoolboy knows the story. He was promoted from the forecastle to the cabin on that memorable voyage that Dana describes so well. Captain Hall is a good specimen of a genuine Yankee captain.

The traffic on this coast is different from any that I have ever before seen. These coasting ships are really bazaars. The traders commence at Valparaiso and trade in all the different articles of commerce up to Panama and then return. As they call at over twenty ports on the coast, you can judge that there is a busy scene at every stopping place. I will try to describe it as it appeared at Guayaquil. Imagine a ship of two thousand tons, with two immense decks. On these decks the traders erect tents and you can buy of them almost every article of merchandise. As I write now I hear the clink at the money changers (bankers), as they count their hard money. The bullocks (140 of them) are bellowing, hens cackling, turkeys gobbling, monkeys chattering, parrots screeching, and many other animals making their own peculiar noises. Mixed in with all kinds of fruits, meats and other articles of trade, are about three hundred half dressed men and women, to say nothing of oLe hundred naked children, who lie about the decks, dirty and filthy as they can well be. This is the scene on one of the steamers on the Southwest Pacific coast. The people sleep on the decks and how they live is a wonder to me. In any other climate but this they would all die with yellow fever or cholera. We have about one hundred passengers in the cabin, of all nationalities, but having our own part of the ship we are not annoyed. We remained at Guayaqui! over night. I spent a few hours on shole and found the city very good for Ecuador. Never having suffered from earthquakes the houses are generally three stories, and better built than most Spanish towns. The principal articles of export are cocoa, parrots and monkeys-I think the two latter the largest, as our decks are covered with them. We arrived at Payta on the morning of the 6th inst. Again the decks were crowded with the people from the shore, all jabbering and yelling like so many demons. I spent a few hours on shore and found Payta a queer place. This shore of Peru looks like a heap of ashes. Asi.

never rains here, of course there is no vegetation, not even a blade of grass. Even the water has to be brought ten miles from the interior. One can find amusement bere, even in the cemetry. The man who adorned the burial place was a genius. Ou the board fence that surrounds it are painted weeping willows, and the color of the paint is blue. Very likely trees would be blue if there were any there. It is the worst town I ever saw. Still, the English consul remarked that he preferred it to London or Paris. People do have different tastes. I think I should prefer a comfortable prison. The town itself has a population of about 4,000, and is supported by the trade from the interior, where the land is rich, Payta being the shipping place. The houses are Even the churches built of mud and bamboo.

are shabby, which is singular, for generally the Catholics have at least decent cathedrats. If you find a man in Hartford that wants an office, ask President Grant to send him to Payta, Peru, and he will never seek another consulship on this coast; for if he did not die from heat the fleas I will say and sand flies would eat him. nothing of his chance of being killed by earth. We are runquakes which are very common. ning down the coast of Peru to-day, with the Andes mountains in sight and expect to reach Callao to morrow evening. Then for a look at LESTER. beautiful Lima. Truly yours,

Ocean Steamer Disabled. HER PASSENGERS TAKEN

OFF.

Her Captain and Crew Refuse To Leave -Their Fate Uncertain-Exciting

Experiences.

The terrible ocean calamities of the beginning of 1870 have received another and melancholy addition to their number-a disaster peculiarly interesting in itself and as furnishing an example of the possible fate of the City of Boston. The British mail steamship Venezuela sailed from Liverpool on the 5th of March, with thirteen cabin passengers. She carried a crew of fortytwo officers and men, and was an iron steamer, 270 feet long, with other dimensions to correspond, brig-rigged, and of 1,682 tons register. She put to sea under favorable conditions, steaming out with a general cargo and her passengers, bound for Barbados, Laguayra, Porto Cabello, Santa Martha and Colon, being due at Barbados on the 21st of March. Her course was about southwest by west, and this direction she pursued, encountering heavy weather and all the dangerous and disagreeable incidents of the month of March at sea.

Ten days out and 2,000 miles from Liverpool, right in mid-ocean, at 8 o'clock in the morning, the passengers, while at breakfast in the saloon, were startled by a sudden and tremendous crash, which shook the vessel like an earthquake and made every one tremble with fear. Instantly all hands were on deck, and a hurried examination showed that the rudder and outer sternpost of the Venezuela had been carried awaythe rudder wrenched from its pintles and the stern-post torn violently away. As the steamship was built in compartments, with strong water-tight bulkheads, the whole vessel did not fill; but through the large hole in the stern, seven by ten feet, and mostly below the water line, the sea poured in, rushing in volumes, and in five minutes the entire compartments occupied as a storeroom for the cargo and ship's provisions were full of water. The length of the store-room was twenty feet, and the ship in the brief time of five minutes had to sustain the additional weight imposed by the admission of thirty-five tons of surging and splashing water, gaining even more force than would be produced by this weight by the crowding of the external sea and the frightful rolling and pitching of the steamer, sending at each throw this destroyer of thirty five tons against the interior bulkhead, and threatening all with instant death. The scene on board the Venezuela was now one where the strongest and bravest were required to look death in the face and stand beside their own watery graves. The passengers were struck with terror. Embarking but a few days before for the sunny clime of the South, some for business, others for pleasure, and others yet to fulfil offices of piety and duty, they were appalled and filled with dismay at this sudden calamity. But there was little time for thoughts of a melancholy char

acter. It was the duty of every one to work at the pump, to save the steamer, and to do the bidding of Captain Cowell, who in all the gloomy forebodings of the hour, acted his part with hero. ism and coolness,

The ship's stores in the flooded store room were now submerged and kept up a terrible thumping against the deck above. The store room itself was situated below the saloon, the latter being below the spar deck, at the extreme after part of the ship. Directly forward of the store room was the engine room. The store room was twenty feet long, with a width of the full breadth of beam, and extending to the ship's floor below. Now the great fear was that the water would tear away the bulkhead separating the engine from the store room, break into the main body of the ship and sink her instantly. Or it was feared that the water would force up the deck in the saloon, rush through and flood this compartment, in which case all hands would have gone to the bottom.

They at once begun work, put up shores between the spar deck overhead and the saloon deck, to keep the planking down and resist the immense pressure of thirty-five tons of water, which, if admitted, would founder them on the spot. The water had already rushed into the F& loon from other passages, and they now began to bale to keep afloat, and all hands toiled like bea

vers.

In the meantime the boats were put in readiness to clear away as the last resort. They worked hours, and the water was making visible headway, rising up in the saloon and keeping every one at the buckets.

Constant watches were kept for sail, but none appeared. Nightfall drew ou, but no relief. Darkness overwhelmed the sea, but no lights cheered the suffering souls. Theirs were anxious eyes, and theirs were longing hearts. Midnight came on with desperate anxiety, but no relief came. They were as in the midst of a vast desert with "water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink." The

WEATHER WAS STILL FURIOUS,

gales, tornadoes, lashing seas, overwhelming waves, and the white forms of the crested billows and the whistle of the rigging-these had no cheer.

Unmanageable from the first crash, the sa'ls were of little service, and the steering er was of course gons. There was no time to rig a jury rud ler, all attention being required at the pumps and buckets, So the Venezuela drifted about, insubordinate to all control. The head sails would not pay off her head and the after sails could not keep her to the wind.

It is one of the most difficult things in seamanship to control a vessel with her sails aloue, especially in a violent seaway. How much more so when the stern is sagged down by thirty-five tons of furious water, anchoring, as it were, the ship to her quarters.

Matters did not alter their complexion till the morning of the 16th inst., when Captain Cowell

DESCRIED A STEAMER

coming over the horizon. He signalled in dietress. The Camilla, steamship from Palermo, Sicily, bound for New York, with a cargo of oranges, bore up. Both vessels were now in latitude 33 deg. 30 min. north, longitude 43 deg. 30 min west. It was eight o'clock, and by ten o'clock eight male, five female and two children passengers were transferred in boats on board the Camilla.

They left the Venezuela believing that she was doomed for the bottom. It was a providential escape. The captain refused to desert his vessel, and so did the crew, and thus forty-two souls were left to the terrible uncertainty it may take months to dispel. The Venezuels when the passengers left was throwing her coals overboard to lighten her by the stern and thus to pitch the ship at such an angle as to get the aperture (ten by seven) above water for repairs, to relieve the terrific strain upon the saloon deck and keep the sea away from the bulkhead separating the engine room. Forty feet of the vessel bad been disabled and calm weather was necessary to effect repairs.

The passengers left the disabled steamer be. cause they though.t she was going down; but the captain, true to his duty, remained at his poss. It is premature to speculate upon the fate of the Venezuela. She was without a rudder, with a wide gap in her stern; with no provisious but rice, beer and wine (a part of her cargo); in mid-ocean, unmanageable; her force weakened by the desertion of her passengers; in the midst of a howling tempest, and in a latitude where she could meet few sail at this season of