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Tl?? buiuiiiij^s Wees occupied hy CotifederaVe
hospitals, whare some three hundred invalids
and convalescents found harborage. Thc yel?
low lhig would have proved but little protec?
tion tor them. Out tor the efforts of these gen?
tlemen, aud, perhaps, because of other const
derations. They held forth no promise, of
pluuder, were remote from those parts of the
' city where the tim pt arion s were most numer?
ous, aud the professors of colleges are not
usually hoarders, or even gentlemen of gold
and aifVer vessels. These generally occupied
the dwellings of tile College; they escaped with
...some petty losses. Professor John LeConte
was made a prisoner and carried off ; but why
he was selected thus, is not very apparent.
After a few days in durance, he wa? suffered to
. depart, and left the army on its march. In A
conversation with the Rev. Mr. Porter regard?
ing the safety ol the College library, General
Sherman indulged in a sneer; "1 would rather,'1
said he, "give you books than destroy them. 1
am sure your people need them very much.'
To this Mr- Porter made no reply, suffering
the eloquent General to rave for awhile, upon
a favorite text with him, the glories uf his lau
and ihe*perpetuation of the Union, which ht
solemnly pledged himself io maintain ,against
all the fates. .
Thal his own people did ii?t value books, ii
any proper degree, may b*c shown by their in
variable treatment of libraries. These wen
almost universally destroyed, tumbled into tin
weather, the streets, gutter?, hacked and hew:
?nd trampled, even wheir the collections wen
of the rarest value and in immense number?
Libraries of ten thousand volumes-books sud
aa cannot again be procured-were sacrifice*
? in the hope of procuring a few hundred dollar
worth of plunder, lt will suffice to illustr?t
the numerous losses of this sort in Columbia
to report the fate of the fine collections of Di
R. W. Gibbes. This gentleman, a man of let
tera and science, u virtuose! busied all his life ii
the accumulation of worker of art and literature
and rare objects of interest to the ama' eur an
Student, has been long known to the America
world, North and South, in thc character of
savant Pefehaps no other person in South Care
lina has tsRu-o distinguished Himself by hi
scientific writings, and hy the indefatigabl
research which idustmled them, by the acci
mutation of proofs from the natural work
A friendly correspondent gives u?> a monrnti
narrative of the disasters to his house, h:
home, his manuscripts and his various an
valuable collections, from which we condell.
the following particulars:
"Besides the fini mansion of Dr. Gibbes an
ita usual contents of furniture, Ilia rei
estate on Main street, eke, his scientific collei
tiona and paintings were of immense valu
occasioning more regret than cou id arise"froi
' any loss of mere property. His gallery coi
tamed upwards of two hundred painting*, anion
Which were two pictures by Washington Al
etea, of inestimable value; several by >ully-ar
luman, and "mauy admirable landscapes by
Charles Fraser. ' Tlie earliest and )atc.-t. works I
of DeYeaux constituted treasures of infinite1
value, which the /uture would have rejoiced to
study; ami many originals and copies. I?y ihi
ropean hands, wen? highly-prized from their'
! intrinsic excellenoe and..interesting associations
-each having its own history. There was an
j original portrait of Garrick, by Pine, und one
j of the "Seven Ages" of Shakspeare, pam ted
fdr Alderman Boydelli there were portmits of
.Washington Allston. Gen. Z: Taylor, Col. ^Tade
Hampton-all friends pf the proprietor, and
(Tom the hands of the best artists. Thc family
.portraits lu the collection were also numerous
;-some ancient, all vuluable; and several ad
mirable busts graced bis drawing room. Iiis
, portfolios container collections of the be>t en
, gravings. from the most famous pictures of the
old musters and by the most excellent en
I gravers of the age. These were mostly a* be
; quest from the venerable C. Fraser, wi* was
; ono of those who bi;.?t knew what a good en
: graving or picturX- sliould be, nud who hud nil
! his life, been engaged in accumulating the most
! valuable illustrations of thc progress of art.
! 2Cor was the library of Dr. G. less rich in stores
I of b-tters and science, ort and medicine. His
? historical collect iou was particularly rich, espe
'. cially iu American and Sooth Carolina history.
I Ilia cabinet of Southern fossil* and. memorials,
I along tfitfi those brought from ?he remotest
i regions, was equally Select un . extensive. Ii
[contained wo less than ten tho'Aand specimens.
; The collection of shark's teeth was prououueed
I by Agassiz to be the finest in the world. Iiis
collections of historical documents, original
correspondence of the Revolution, especially
that of South Caroliua, wus exceedingly larg?
and valuable. From these he bad compiled
and edited three volumes, and had there
arrested thc publication, iu carder to transfer
his materiel to the Historical. Society of South
Carolina. Ail are now lost, bb, aleo, was hit
collection' of autographs-the letters of ?miuent
correspondents in every department of letters.
I science and art. Maay relics of our aborigines,
others from the pyramids and tombs of Egypt,
of Herculaneum, Pompeii aud Mexico, with-nu
merous memorials from.the Revolutionary and
recent battle-fields of our country, shared thc
same fate-are gone down to the same abyss o
ruin. The records of the Surgeon General*!
Department of the State, from its organization,
nd longer exist. The dwelling which contaraet
these inestimable treasures was deliberately
fired by men, for whose excuse no whiskey in
fluence could be pleaded. Tney were quite ai
sober as in a doused other cases where they
sped with the toretrfof the incendiary, lt wa:
lire I in the <->wneT's presence, and when In
exposttftated with them, he was lnughed t<
scorn A friend who sought to extinguish tht
tire kindled in his very parlor, was seized bi
the collar and hurled aside, with tbs ejaenla
tion, *'I.et thc d-d house, burn."
[rosTixinsn ix ova NKXTV] '
Saturday Morning, April 1, 1865.
Foraging Sherman.
"If," fays .Sherman to Hampton-"if the
civil authorities will supply my requisitions, I
will forbid all foraging." Cool, this, ami won?
derfully .logical, in the cane of one whose chief
performances have been found in destroy ing
all the forage and provisions in the country,
and every possible public and private means of
transportation-wagons, vehicles of all sorta
and railways. In his insolent flippancy^-Alus
ravager shows himself a fool. "I must collect
directly from the people." His collections and
methods of making them are characteristic
enough. But foraging and destroying are
surely different things. "I have :io doubt this
ia the occasion ot much mubeltao'tor on the
part of my men." Misbehavior! the innocent
lambkins! What an epithet applied to Sher?
man's lambs! A pistol ata woman's bosom
demanding her money, is merely a play fal
piece of levity. To hang a citizen up-an ol3
man of three score-to extort from him a con?
fession of the place where hie* money is hidden,
ia a misbehavior, or a thoughtless impulse; and
to lire the dwelling over the heads of-mother?
and sucking babes, i- certainly a sort of, horse
play .which muy be said to amount to an-in
discretion! These misbehaviors; levities, horse
playa and indiscretions, Sherman "cannot per
mit au enemy to judge and punish." Oh! no
Y ou must grin and bear it, lest you suffer worse
Tux OATUI I?I?: OATH!-Much virtuous swear
ing is said?to be going ou m Charleston sinei
tile Yankee? have concluded to aduuuistei th
oath; aud men who claimed to have tired tin
first gun at Fort Sumter, have rushed headlout
to take the fiist oath to Lincoln. So eager i
the competition among these loyalists, th st ni
man's corns, are safe in the struggle. Their con
sciences are in no danger, being of that mora
caoutchnc which accommodates itself to au'
grasp. \,_ ^
JOHNSTON'S Aap Y.-According to the Carali
mun, Johnston's army has thc inside track o
Sherman, and is in a position to command th
first move on the political chess board. Sher
man hus effected a junction with Schofield
near Goldaboro, but they are reported to b<
entrenching there-a tacit aekuo wWgsa?at o
temporary inability to keep the-fi^id.
