The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume], June 24, 1864, Image 2

About The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
b —r^r
VOL XV-NO 51
MY WESTERN ESTATE,
I have just returned from u visit to my West
ern F. tate.
How do I come to have au estate at the West?
'File question is a reasonable one, aud 1 proceed
o answer it.
About a year ago, my pood aunt Deborah—
bless tier generous soul—being under the ne
cessity of leaving the world, bequeathed me iu
her will the sum of live hundred dollars.
“ Let that serve as a nest egg,” recommeud
ed one of iny prudential friends; “your salary
is quite sufficient to support you. There is no
reason why this should not be invested, 60 that
by the time you have occasion to use it. instead
of a paltry live hundred dollars, you will have
twice or thrice the sum.”
The advice seemed sensible. I had uo pres
ent use for the money, anti there was some
thing exhilarating in the idea of being a capi
talist—with money to invest
M y friends were very hind in the matter.
No* less limn twenty-live, at the smallest cal
culation. ottered to take charge of the money
for me and |ay legal iuterest. But, after all,
at six. per cent, or even t ight, some years must
clap.-e before my money would even double. I
accordingly thanked my friends for their con
siderate kindness, but told them I had other
views—that 1 regretted exceedingly uot being
able to uva 1 myself of their geuerous propos
als at under other c rcumstances I should
promptly have done. When pressed upon ttic
subject of my plans, I maintained adiscreet si
leuee—for the very good reason that they were
not defined as yet in my own miud. I was
waiting, like Micauber, for “something to
turn up.” Something did turn up.
One morning, on entering ray place of bnsi
ness, I found waiting for me a sick personage
with sharp, restless eyes.
“Mr. Hint?” heioqui.cd.
“ That, is my name.”
“And mine is Lynx. I cm happy to make
yotir acquaintance, sir,” aud he grasped my
hand with fervor.
“ Thank you ” 1 replied. In some surprise at
this cordiality from a stranger.
After a few preliminary remarks about the
weather, which if 1 remember rightly, were
not particularly original, Mr. l ynx gravely
reii atked:
“lain informed, Mr. Flint, that you have
some money which you arc desirous of in
vesting.”
“But a small amount.” I answered mod
estly.
“It is precisely those sm.ll sums which so
often serve as the foundation of large for
tune#,” returned Mr. Lynx with great anima
tion.
“ But, really, live hundred dollars,” I con
tinue i, being desirous of drawing out my new
visitor.
• ‘ Five hundred dollars, sir! Think of Whit
tingtonaud his venture What n scat to five
hundred dollars? And yet we are told, sir,
that he made a colossal fortune, aud even be
came Lord Mayor of Loudou.”
“I always regarded that story as apocry
phal.” said I smiling.
“ Possibly it may be so. Bat what of that?
Is it not the illustration of a great priueiple?
Since you object to this illustration, however,
let me give you another which came under my
own observation. A friend of mine had two
huiKlr.d dollars—a mere bagatelle, lie came
to me and asked inv advice as to the mode of
investment. I gave it. What is the resuit?
Two years have pas.-eJ, and he is woith to-day
twenty thousand dollars—all through a lucky
investment ”
“ Indeed,’’sail I. pricking np mv ears, aud
considering that at any rate my fifty hundred
dollars would have become fifty thousand—
“ May I inquire how the money was invested
to pioduce such a happy return?”
“C« ria'nly ; I was about to tell you. With
tho two hundred dollars I purchased lor
him. a quarter lection of laud, it one of our
Western tov.Ts. 01 course >on have heard of
their astonishing growth. This laud was cen
trally located. trad va* requiud for building
lots. It ru-e in value astonishingly, and my
friend made a rung little fortune, us I have
said.”
My imagination v.as fired at once. No mote
chance of Jetting out my money at a paltry six
percent., win a such goidcu harvests were to
K- bad for the gathering.
“I suppose," said i hesitatingly, ‘* that such
opportunities arc of rare occurrence.”
“ Hire occurrence., my clear sir. Not all I
admit that it requires tact and judgment to
make choice of such ns arc most eligible. Of
course, otv who is familiar with the business
ha- great advantages.”
“ But I am not.”
“ Certainly not. Permit me to say, howev
er Unit i am and tit it 1 shall be ltappv to as
sist you to the best of my ability. In fact I
devote the chid part of inv time to au agency
of this description and 1 have the groat salls
faction of knowing that I have placed more
than one young man of small mcaus ou the
road to fortune.”
I began to have a high idea of the abilities
and benevolence of Mr. Lyux, which was not
materially diminished when he acknowledged
tliqt he was in the habit of receiving a certain
commission—say ten per cent—lor effecting au
investment.
•• Have you any favorable chance# for invest
ment uow oa Land?” I iuquh&d with some
auxie'y.
“Tempting fir, tempting,” was tho reply of
Mr. Lynx. "1 have some lots now iu Con
stantinople."
“Conctantinoplel" I repeated, in some un
certainty. The associations which the name
recalled were of a certain city lying between
the Sea of Marmora and tho 80-pborus Of
course Mr. Lynx couid not ineau that, or if he
did, I had too little confidence in the Turks to
venture my money there. My doubt was
now temoved by the further remarks of Mr.
Lyux.
“Constantinople,” faid he, “is a town in
Mimmerota. which. I venture to say. in course
of ten years will contain twenty-five thousand
inhabitants ”
■ I do not think I ever heard of it.”
“ That is not surprising Thirty years since
Chicago was a mere trading post, amid the
wigwams of Hie Indians. Now it bids fair to
rival our largest, eastern citias. I might point
you to many. ther examples, but it is needless.
You. sir, do not need to be informed of the nl
moot magical g owth of our Western towns
and cities. Never was a tiuer stanza penned
than this by Bishop Berkely :
‘ Westward the course of empire takes its way!
' *•« f l * ur to* already passed,
The fifth shall close tlffe drama with the day—
Times noblest oflspriug is iig la*t.'
Of course you are familiar with it.”
I replied in the nffimativc and ventured to
inquire more particularly respecting the town
of Constantinople.
“ Fortunately.” replied Mr. Lynx,” “I have
aplau of the town in my pocket."
He drew out a large sheet containing the
plan of a town regularly laid out into streets,
lots, &?., with hero aud there a public building
radicated.
“ There.” lie said indicating tho central part
with his finger, “are two churches, Methodist
and Baptist, aud it is proposed to offer the lot
contiguous to the Congregationalists, on con
dition of their erecting a handsome cnurch
edifice upon it. In the immediate vicinity
somc ten acres are reserved, as you perceive,
for a public park. This is a thing which ought
never to be forgotten in laying out a town.
I looked out of my office window upon the
brick wall opposite, and cordially agreed with
Mr. Lynx in this remark.
“This little black mark.” he continued, “in
dicates the bank. Near by is the Constantin
ople Hotel. Tnosc little dots 6tand for work
shops of various kinds By the way, I forgot
to say that the name proposed for the lot set
apart is Hyde Park ’’
“ Isn’t it rather an imposing name for a vil
lage common ? ” 1 ventured to enquire.
“ Well perhaps so,” said Mr. Lynx, hesitat
ingly ; but our principle is to take good names
whenever we can find them. For that reason,
knowing that the place was destiued some day
to become a large one. we give it a higli
soundiug name. Years hence (of course Ido
not pretend to lix the time,) I believe the Con
stantinople of the Eastern continent willdwiu
dl • into insignificance by the side of that in our
Western world.”
“ You are sanguine, Mr. Lynx.”
I uecd not detail the conversation which fol
lowed. It is sufficient to say that the elo
quence fel not up m et >nv (albeit uponJFlinty)
ground. Within one hour I was made the le
gal possessor of otic hundred and sixty acres
situated in Constantinople. Forty acres were
in the centre of the town—the remainder on
the outskirts These, together with commis
sion to pay Mr. Lynx, just swallowed up my
aunt’s bequest
When 1 walked home it was with a proud
consciousness that I was a landed proprietor,
and on the high road to wealth.
“In two or three years at most.” I reflected. I
shall be able to sell my land foi such a sum,
a#, with my moderate desires, will place me
above the world. I shall at once resign my
situation, bu Id a cottagr-omee somewhere on
the bank of the North River, and, being then
qui'e able to give lier a competent support. I
Shull off ir myself to the adorable Eliza.”
Tii - prospect was an agreeable one decidedly
so, aud I could not avoid wishing that my for
tune were alread v mad-.*. However, two years
would pass rapidly, aud then my castle iu the
air might assume a more substantial form. I
tli.l not acquaint iny friends with the precise
nature of my investment, but intimated in a
mysterious in-iuuer, that I had made au ex
ceedingly fortunate disposal of it. Naturally,
their curiosity was excited, but, as I intended
by and by to surprise them. I was proof against
their inquiries.
Some weeks since, having a brief respite
from business, I prepared, as usual, to take a
summer trip. Where should I go? To Sara
toga, Newport. Natural?
This question was propounded by my friends,
“ I shall go to neither of these places,” I re
plied.
“ You goto the White Mountains then, or to
Niagara?"
“Still wrong.’’
“ Where then are you going? ’’
“To Constantinople,” I replied firtnlv.
My friends looked at each other in blank
amazement, and, I believe, had serious doubts
as to my sanity, until I assured them I did not
mean the ancient Byzantium, but a flourishing
town in Minnesota. They manifested consid
erable surprise at the singularity of my taste
I gave no explanations, reserving those to a
future time.
Traveling in cars and steamer ats I found to
be somewhat fatigui. g. I employed u;e leis
ure which it afforded in studying the plan of
Constantinople, of which Mr. Lynx had obli
gittgly given me a minute copy. I indulged
in conjectures as to the probable appearance of
the place.
Ttic picture which my fancy painted was
something like this; a town'of four or live
thousand inhabitants, with churches, schools,
stores, workshop>s, a beautiful park neatly
feuced, and a Link; at (me, just such a town
as we often sec in New England, with a gen*
end air of thrift aud prosperity pervading it.
There might be a newspaper, lor aught I
knew, in which case I was determined to put
down my name as a subscriber at once. This
would be no more than my duty as a public
spirited citizen.
The reader will be kind enough to suppose
me within twelve miles of my destination. I
posed the night in a miserable little hamlet of
some dozen houses, of the rudest possib.c ar
chitecture. 'I he hotel was built of logs, and
the tare and accommodations were equally in
different.
“Never mind,” thought I. “we shall find
quite a different state of affairs at Constanti
nople. ’
So I did, but I’ll not anticipate.
After spending the night iu battling mosqui
toes and another class of in.-ects bearing a
very plebian name, which I do not care to re
peat, I rose eaily aud instituted inquiries as to
the practicability of procuring a conveyance to
Constantinople.
“U there no stage that goes there?” I in
quired.
The landlord laughed, quite unnecessarily,
as I thought, and a sured me that there was
not.
“ You want to go there. I reckon ?” he said.
:. t Jo Swered . in t,ie affirmative.
‘ v-e'l,” said lie, “work’s rather driv’njest
at present, but if you’re a mind to pay me, I’ll
harness up and take you over myself.”
The price was finally fixed at three dollars,
which a slight hint induced me to offer in ad
vance
VVe were scon on our way. The road, if it
daserves the name, which I seriously question,
was the most wretched with which I ever
made acquaintance. Occasionally one side of
the vehicle was raised high in the air while
passing over a stump, which I am obliged to
say always disturbed my equilibrium very con
siderably. Ouce it woa lilted eo high as to pro
duce an overturn. My companion who ap
peared to be expecting such a catastrophe
adroitly leaped to one side. I was not so for
tunate. contriving to fall with my shoulder un
der the wheel and bruising it very uncomfort
ably.
SAINT PAUL. FRIDAY. .JUNE ‘24, 1854
After riding some hours and finding to my
surprise that the roa l continued as wild as ever
I ventured to enquire if wc were prettv near
Cons’antimple.
“v\ o’re iu it.” was the reply.
“tn It!” I exc’aimed. “in the outskirts I sup
pose you mean?”
“No, I don’t The-e is the village.’*
Following ihe direction ol his linger, my attention
was drawn to three miserable log houses. In front
of one a pig was rooting very composed y.
“There must he some mistake,” said I hurriedly.
“ Constantinople is a large town, with churches,
Echools, a bank "
Mv companion absolutely shouted with laugh'er.
“ You sec'em all be ore jou." he said. “Them
log houses is a 1 the school houset and banks you'll
lind in Const*ntinop’o. So \ou got look in vt ith the
rest I reckon you own laud in town don’t 3’oit ?”
“One hundred aud sixty acres,” I replied with a
crest fdlen air.
“Well you’ll find it one-half swamp and t'other
half forest as nigh as Icm make out. Vou re the
seveu eent ? man I’ve brought out this stunner to
look at this land; but the/we e prettv much a'l di
al poin’ed in the ook# of the place. Ilow much did
you pay tor your l md ? "
“ five hundred dollars " I replied mournfully.
“If you can get five hundred cen's forit. ’ wasthe
cncoura ing reply, “ I’d advise von to take it. dhe
i nd ain't good for nothing-that's a fict. Would
you like to stay aud look around a li'tle? "
“l think we'll turn bick.” said I un omfortably.
We did turn back. 1 turned ouo last lingering,
backward glance upon the log huts with their back
ground of forest and neighboring swnnp. and as I
did so fervently invoked a Scotch ble#sing upon the
pltusible Mr. Lynx. If ever I meet him 1 shall
find mv Christianity put to a severe test
1 have recently u-turned from mv jou-ney, with my
day dreams most effectually di-'pelied lam quilt: as
fir from marrying Eliza as ever. Ihe revenues of
my Western estate will scarcely jus ifv me in as.-u
in so expensive are#pon-ibili y. 1 have on! to add
that my one h .ndred and sixty a"re# are iu niaiket
and Hta’. auv one who feels disposed may pnreha e
them on easy terms. Apply to Gregory Hint, any
day, between the hours of i» a. m. and t 5 e. m.
Closing a itlix«iirut Life,
A New York letter to the Boston Journal has
the following, which ought to lie heeded by
thousands of “ fast livers
Men will grow old— some by ago, some by
ca r e, some by premature decay brought on bv
exposure toil, or dissipation. Man can live
fast financially and physically; in either case
bankruptcy comes. I saw a crowd oa the
steps of the As tor yesterday. They were
watching the attempt of the great pugilist,
Tom Hyer, to ascend into the house. His t ill
form was bent by disease: his once firm step
tottered; i;is strength had departed. With
crutches and the aid of a strong arm of a
fiiend, he slowly and with anguish took one
step at a time, as an infant would go up. It
v.as gall and bitterness to him to cast his eyes
arouud on ttic crowd, and see how unlike their
greeting was to the crowd that cheered him on
iu his great tight with Sullivan. By a singular
coincidence Morrissey is a professed gambler.
It is his trade. He lias taken care of himself
and keeps within bounds. He is temperate,
for liis calling demands it. lie dresses in ele
gant taste—is full jewelled—and would pass for
a well to-do banker with the upper ten, or as a
professor in a college. Morrissey has taken
Saratoga under his special charge, and intends
to drive this year a larger business than he did
last. He his taken liis headquarters already,
and with an elegant exterior, smart address,
cool and adroit habit-, he will allure into liis
embrace many of our youth, and send the curse
into many homes in the form of ruined, but
once manlv sops.
An Ad venturous Voyager.
inn unit, vision of Lass than two tons
BUIiTUKN ;*UEPAi:iNO TO Cl5O-.S THE AT
LANTIC!.
At the foot of Grand street, Eist River, may
be seen the brig Vision, Captain Donovan des
tined to cross the Atlantic. She is but fifteen
feet in length four feet six inches beam, and
two feet ten inches depth of hold, and is of
one and tbree-lourths of a ton register. She is
hermaphrodite brig rigged aud spreads a la’ge
quantity of canvas. The crew of this little
craft will consist of Captain .1 C. Donovan,
mate and ail hands, Mr William Spencer of
Providence. K. 1., and Toby, a pretty intelli
gent dog of the species spaniel. The crew will
be divided into two watches, while Toby is at
liberty to do as ho pleases, lie will, however,
be expected to keep a bright look out for ap
proaching vessels. Ac.
The provisions and stores for this venture
some party will consi-t of fifty-five gallons of
water, or an allowance of three pints per diem;
and hundred pounds of bread, or three-fourths
of a pound per (lay per man ; a fpw pounds of
coffee and a little sugar. The cooking appa
ratus will be a small lamp to make the coffee
once a d iv. A few currants and a tew cans of
preserved meats will make up the list of stores.
The captain expects to make the passage in
six weeks, and upon his arrival iu England
will exhibit aud then sell liis craft. He is an
old sailor, the storms of over thirty winters
having bionzed liis face and nerved his heart
to the perils of the see The Vision will sail
about Monday next, lie lias had several ap
plications for passengers, but be has no room
for them. She is the smallest vessel that ever
attempted cross the ocean. — N. Y. Herald.
Commissioner of Patent*.
A large number of members of Congress
have signed a petition to the President praying
for the removal of Mr. Holloway, Commission
er of Patents, for opposing the election of Mr.
Julian the regular Union nominee for Congress
in the sth Indiana District. The petition was
last week presented to the President. He lias
not yet decided the question, but informed
some of the petitioners that unless Mr. Hollo
way ini mediately supports Mr. Julian he will
be dismissed, the Pre-ident believing the Un
ion nominations in Indiana are as binding as
those made at Baltimore. —Chicago Tribune.
Tim learned and impartial editor of the Na
tional Intelligencer devotes seven columns to an
exhaustive discussion of the Aroukllks case,
and concludes as follows:—“In the case of
Argukllks the executive has assumed all the
authority which by the constitution is distrib
uted among the treaty making power, the law
making power and the judiciary. Without
treaty, without law, and without judicial action
the executive has assumed to do what only all
three combined could lawfully empower him
to do.”
INTENTIONAL DUPLICATE EXPOSURE
A SOUTHERN VIEW.
“may itod Dcteuil the night.”
From t! . Kithnmnd Examiner, .Time 10.
Thai wonderful dispatch from the
“ HesdtiUarters in the Saddlo,” which we
published yesterday, certainly shows a most
cheerful buoyancy of disposition in the
Yankee nation. Unco more, as if nothing
of the sort had ever happened before, it is
annount ed that “ On to Richmond is now
the watchword and reply.” “ Whole army
again in motion,” as it it had never been
iu motion before; and “by night w o will
be within ’our hours’ march of Rich
mond! ” Why, they have been ere now
within two hours’ inarch of Richmond, yet
somehow failed to arrive there. Lee, also,
the same dispatch affirms, “is again out
generaled ” —by that masterly movement,
namely, from the Rapidan to the Patnun
key, at a cost of seventy thousand men,
which might have been accomplished with
out the loss of one. Nothing could be
more cheery than the jolly strategy of this
saddle-correspondent, lie says playfully,
“ Once getting Lee snugly ensconced in
his works, away wc go around his flanks
and into his rear.” Capital fun I Nor is
it the saddle-corres{>ondent alono who is so
jovial. Secretary Stanton also announces
a dispatch from Grant “ that everything
comes on liuely; ” anti another dispatch
from Washington says, “Thero are the
lies? passible spirits to night in official cir
cle*,-” Those most mercurial and irrepres
sible official circles were in just as high
spirits on the same night gone two years.
Teen, also, On to Richmond was the
watchword and reply ; and yet the tincon
qpered young Napoleon had reached, with
out tho slaughter of seventy thousand of
his troops, a position quite as close to his
predestined prey. It is now announced,
and received, doubtless, with jubilation
throughout all the North, that “ every can
non fired the last week has been heard in
Richmond; ” as if Richmond had never
heard any cannon before ! Marvellous, in
.deed, is the elasticity of that Yankee mind.
Crush it to the earth a dozen times—sink
it over and over in tho very depths of de
spondency, still it springs up again as
merry as ever, singing out, “ Who’s afraid ?
Victory is in our grasp at last! Once this,
or once that position gained, and ‘ away we
go! ’ ” Cne would almost begin to fancy
that the enemy is really persuaded this
time that he is indeed on the eve of tho
capture of Richmond, but fir the one tri
fling circumstance that gold has risen to
one hundred and eighty-eight. This proves
to our minds that those at the North who
know best, and alto have the most imme
diate interest in the matter, do not believo
that the Yankee army is'ever to cotne on
to Richmond at all—which is also decided
ly the opinion of Richmond herself. If
those highly excited official circles at Wash
ington and delighted newspaper readers of
New York and Boston could but see the
traDquil sereuity of these ernboweted
streets at this day ; how respectfully our
people go about their daily business; how
quietly they buy and sell, or even marry
and are given in marriage, as in the day
when Noe entered into the ark ! It is true
they know that a mighty power has gath
ered countless hosts around this place com
missioned to raze it utterly, and leave not
one stone upan another : true, they know
that accurate plans of the “ Doomed City, ”
multiplied by the hundred thousand, point
out this very moment ever) approach to
their peaceful homes, and indicate each
most advantageous method of crushing,
sacking and burning the place, drenching
these leafy shades with blood, aud strew
ing them with mang’ed bones and spat
tered brains. True, a so, that they feel in
their souls how much more blessed on that
day of doom, if it should ever dawn upon
them, w ould be the mangled dead thau the
landless, houseless living; they do hear
eve y day—the Yankee acoustics are o >r
rect—the roar of caunon flaming in front
and flank of that, enormous host, advanc
ing” with a celerity never known before ;”
they are well aware that this very night,
before the stars shine out—if only one ob
stacle were removed—there might be a
hundred thousand brigands in blue swarm
ing in every street, rampant in every
house, until the work of slaughter and
rapine were done; and then, in a pyramid
ot fire, the city of their pride and love
would rush skyward, with all its pleasant
dwellings, with the hearths at which its
old people have sat, and the cradles in
which its children have been rocked. Its
murmuring river, reddened with flame and
blood, would fljw hereafter past mi unds
of gore-clotted ciuders, which should stand
for generations a monumen; of Yankee
vengeance. Yes, they know all this; yet
to night they will lie down peacefully to
rest, trusting in Providence that the morn
ing sun will shine as serenely into their
windows, through the whispering trees, as
on any morning of the last hundred years
It is not that our people are boastful or
presumptuous, or unconscious of danger,
or insensible to the unutterable evils
and curses which would come in a mo
ment upon them and theirs in case
of the enemy’s success. They know well
that the fortnne of battle is doubt-
ful, and that each instant of time may
bring ou the great arbitrement. But they
are not demonstrative, nor by any means
histrionic. The roil of the great artillery
is in their ears; but they only set their
teeth within their closed lips; they have
sent forth their bravest and their dearest
to stent the roaring tide of fell foe#, and
can but await the awards of a just God in
Heaven. They fe.-l, too, in every fibre of
their hearts, that in the very best ovent
which can befall, many a gallant gentle
man will be low in the dust whose single
life could not be paid by a thou.-aml of
tho base rabble-rout ha holds at bay.
Yet, after all, it is also felt that this
Richmond is our city ; ami that no living
creature must be permitted to enter it
against our will; and that if any enemy
do come in, it cannot be, save over our
dead bodies; a d that now, even as in old
time, it is honorable and even delightful,
(both dulce and decorum') to die lor our
country. What a contrast is this we have
sketched between the spirit and attitude of
the two people, uow in presence upon this
toil! The one race crazy with greedine s
and intoxicated with a sense of brute pow
er in their numbers and material resources,
furiou-ly striving to crush out of existence
a people who have never wronged them,
and exultiug with loud, senseless glee, in
the near approach of the day that will
crown with success the f.ule&t national
crime in his’ory :—on tho oMier side, a
community of high spirited freemen, seek
ing nothing in the world that is uot theirs,
doing and aiming to do neither hurt nor
harm to any fellow creature, standing up
in defense of their own hearths and homes,
sternly sileut in the simple might of their
own manhood, with the antique heroism
that in all ages have impelled brave men
to endure and dare all thing# for country
aud honor. Looking upon which contrast,
r.ad deeply penetrated with its significance,
let every man sa- with all his heart, may
God defend the l ight!
From the l ichmcnd Inquirer, June 8.
Scouts report that on Saturday last the
enemy towed up Janies River, above the
mouth of Powell’s Creek, a pontoon bridge,
with sixty tents pitched upon it, Perhaps
this is the bridge upon which Grant hoped
to pass after breaking through the lines of
Gen. Lee. But as he failed to force his
way through, the afortsaid pontoon bridge
may prove useless above the month of
Powell’d Creek, which is in Prince George
county.
This constructed p ntm>n bridge will
Bran tie river, and should Grant reach the
James River at Harrison’s Landing, or op.
poMte Ciiy Point, it would enable hitn to
throw his army speedily across, and pnsh
on to Petersburg, while Gen Lee was
making the circuit around Richmond The
smith t-iiie D now the pcint for which
Grant is making. He has abandoned all
hope of taking Richmond except by siege
—-by taking possession of Petersburg, and
with his cavalry cutting and destroying the
Danville Railroad and starving the city
into surrender, ne is endeavoring to re
peat the Vicksburg campaign. His failure
to cross the Cliickahominy may materially
alter liis plans; hut thouhl he once suc
ceed in fixing himself on the south side,
either north or #outh of the Appomattox,
while hi* army would he no more b rtnida
b!e there than any where else, his cav
alry could do us much damage aud put us
to many inconveniences.
It is rumored that a cavalry command
from the Janies River crossed the Clticka
hominy yesterday at the Forge Bridge n
Charles City county, going to Grant’d
army. It is supposed to be a party recon
noitering the way for Grant to the James
River All circumstance# point to Grant’s
going over the James, if Lee will pa mit
him.
From tho Richmond i xamicer, June 8.
V* e have received a note from a person
in the city of Washington, who lias more
than ordinary intelligence, and better
means of arriving at the truth than those
through whom the news from the enemy’s
line id generally received. We think that
the statementd contained in it are entirely
in accord with the actual facts:
May 30 186k—The Yankee army numbered
one huedr d and fifty thousand cavalry and
artillery wl en it crossed the Bapidiiti They
lost sixty thousand, killed, wounded and mis
sing, m the engagements terminating at St«ot
svlvania Court House. Reinforcements *o the
number of forty thousand have passed through
F red. l u kshurg and by way of Port Roval. This
leaves their army one hundred aud thirty thou
sand strong at the present time.
The unanimousdeterm nation of L'mcoln, liis
Cabinet and the Commanding General# is to
concentrate the whole avail ffile power of the
Unreel States for the capture of Richmond,
lo t!i:s end reinlorct tnents will be sent for
weeks to come. This information comes from
the highest authority—Gen. M<-i”-s. the Qtiat
tet master General of the United States.
We repea*, this letter is an authentic
statement of the enemy’s indention hdcl
plan; also, of the three now in front of
Gen. Lee Since the battle of Spotsylvania
Grant lias lost considerably by skirmishes,
and a very much larger number by strag
glers But this loss has been fully replaced
by Butler. The army engaged with Gen.
Lee, under no supposition, can be consid
ered less than 130,000 effective men at the
present time.
NEW SERIES—NO. 851.
The Uevotioaal IPoetry of lOr. Watts.
I'r W. O. UK VAN/-.
1 hive like l Dr, Watt’s I’salma and llvmu#
ever since the time when, s arccly three vears
old, I was nude to tipcat, with Li# book ia
my hand, and with tue’n gestures as were pre
scribed to me, the psalm beginning with (ho
words:
“Come sound his praise abroad
And hymns of glory sing ” ’
The critic#. iu general have show u but stint
ed favor to Dr. Watts’devotional poetry. Dr.
John-on pronounced it unsat siactory, though
he admits that Dr. Watts “has done belter
than anybody else, what nobody else has done
well." Southey, from whom I expected tome
thiag different, iu that meagre memoir of Dr.
Waits —meagre, yet interesting, so far as re
lates to ids theological opinions, which seem
principally to have engaged Southey’s attcti
ti a—a’ludes to Johnsons opinion, yet takes
no pains to controvert it. He. indeed, ques
tions Johnson’s decision against devotional po
etry iu general; but takes uo pains to show,
as he might ea-ily have done that Watts’ book,
contained a great many very beautiful things.
I maintain, for my part, that Dr. Watts has
done admirably well what he undertook to do,
and the proof, if I wanted any other than the
pleasure with wli'ch 1 always read him. I find
in the strong hold which bis devotional verses
have lai.eu on the hearts of men tn all condi
tions of life, aud, 1 think, all varieties of reli
gious belief. No compilation of liytnns for
the public worship of any denomination
i# ever made without borrowing largely
lrom Dr. Walts lie has been iu bis grave for
considerably more titan a century, yet have la's
psalms and hymns lost none of the favor which
they had when they were first adopted by reli
gious assemblies f_r public worship, and I be
lieve are even now, generally speaking, iu
greater esteem than ever, notwithstanding that
such poets as Doddridge. Cowper, Charles
We-ley. Barbiuli and Ileber have written de
votioual vetoes of very great merit siuce his
time.
The secret of this popularity lies, as it seems
to ire, iu the union of strong feeling with
great poetic intuit. In what lie wrote there
at e occasional transgression.# against good taste,
as iu Lis ver-ification of Solomon's Song.
There are slovenly lines, and even stanzas, but
there is always great fervor and profound eftt
nestness. No poet has ever expressed emo
tions with greater energy. He faints and lan
guishes for tiie divine presence; lie deplores
the waywardness of the burn in heart; he ex
ults in tits divine favor; lie is awed by the de
vine majesty; he looks with transport on mo
works < I' the divine bund ; he dwells with de
light on the vision of a better life beyond tho
grave; and all these moods of ntind find full
expression in liis verse. Many of his byrnus
seem to have been dashed out in the excite
meut of the moment, as if the feeling which
had taken po.-scs.-ion of hitn conlil not bo sat
isfied without expressing itself in poetic forms.
His versions ol the Hebrew psalms arc as re
markable for this a# the compositions, which
he called hymns. He seems to have first fil ed
bis mind with the imagery of the ancient bard,
and catching inspiration from him, flung his
thoughts upon the page in a form suit'd to
the more mild and perfect dispensation of
Christiauity.
Some of Dr. Watts’s devotional verses show
that he possessed imagination iu a high degree.
What a beautiful picture, for example, is set
before us in the hymn beginning
“ There is a land of pure delight.”
In this hytuu, which is too familiar to all
readers to lie transcribed here we have tho
green fields of immortal life with their un with
ering (lowers lying in perpetual light; the
narrow river of death, dividing it liotu the
present state of being, and the timorous crowd
of mortals on the hither batik, shivering and
shuddeting at the thought of passing through
tho.-e cool waters I remember that once on
a fine Sunday evening iu the latter part of
April, coming out of the harbor of Havana in
a steamer moving easily tin the tossing waves
of the Gulf Stream, which here rush agaiust
the reefs of the northern coast of Cuba i’hatl
been driven to my berth by a strong premoni
tion of sea sickness. A party of Americans on
deck struck tip this hymn, and when they had
ended sang the scarcely less beautiful cue be
giuuiug wi li
“ When I can read my title clear,” •
As they sang, it almost seemed as if the se»
felt the influence of the gentle strain arid grew
smoother, snd the waves murmured more soft
ly before the prow that divided them.
I ouco heard a distinguished literary gentle
man instance the following couplet from one
ot Watts’ hymns, as conveying to the mind im
ages which could only occur lo a poet of no
common geuius •
“Col ! mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of his pray er.”
I was able to match them, or nearly so, with
a stanza from his version of the one hundred
aud twenty-first psalm:
“ Not-uu shall smite thy head by day,
Nor the pale moon, with sickly ray,
Sha 1 blast thy couch; no baleful star
Dart his malignant lire so far."
How pathetic is this expostulation ia theeuo
hundred ami second p-altu:
“Spare u-, () Lord! aloud we pray.
Nor let our sun go down at cooii!
Thy years are one eternal day,
And must thy ehildreu die so soon ?. ”
How magnificantlv is the cue hundredth
psalm veisiti'd. closing with tho following
gr ml stanza:
“ We’ll crowd Ihy gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices, raise,
And e’lrih, with her ten thtusaud tongues,
Shall fill thy courts with souudiag praiso."
I might refer to many other examples of like
excellence in these poetn3, but I will mention
only one more, the charming little funeral
hymn, the eighteenth of the first book begi *
uing thu*: ’ R
“ Hgar w ha*, n voice from heaven proclaim*
For all the pious dead.
Sweet is the savior of their names
And soft their sleeping bed. '
'* They die in Jesus and are blest,” &£.
I know very well that poetry of a very mod
erate degiej ot rneiit uot uufrequeutlv obtains
great popularity on account of Sts reLgious
character, h»t I d > not recollect au instance in
which it has held that popularity loug. The
dt-vqtioual ven-fti of Waits have stood the test
of time and it seemed to mo clue to him that
some of the characteristic merits by which
they arc recommended to the general mind
should be pointed out,
March 17 .h 1864.