THE STAR OF THE NORTH. .. - - ■ ■ . ■ • ■ •■■'•-- , i , - ■ - -- : : .v .1 h . ' ;. B. f. Weaver, Proprietor.] VOLUME 7. THE STAR OF THE NORTH IS PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING BY R- W. tVKAVEIt, OFFICE— Up stairs, in (he new brick build ing, on the south side of Main Steeft, third square below Market. TERMS Two Dollars per annum, if ipaid within six months from the time of sub scribing.; two dollars and fifty cents if not phid within the year. No subscription re ceived for a less period than six months ; no discdnfinntnce permitted until all arrearages are paid, unless at the option of the editor. ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square will be inserted three times for One Dollar and twenty-five cents for each additional in sertion. A liberal discount will be made to those who advertise by the year. JHARIOII'B DINNER. T REV. E. 0. iZ5fU> A British offieeV, sent to negotiate an **" change of prisoners, Was conducted into Ma rion's encampment. There the scene took 1 place which is here commemorated. The young officer war so deeply a fleeted by the ' statements of Marion, that he subsequently ' resigned biscommission and retired from the 1 British service.— Grimshuw's History. Tbey eat on the trunk of a fallen pine, And their plate was a piece of bark, And the sweet potatoes were superfine, Though bearing the embers' mark; I But Tom, with the sleeve of his cotton shirt, The embers had brushed away, And then to the brook, with t step alert, He bied on that gala day. The British officer tried to eat, 1 Bui his nerves were out of tune, < And ill at ease on his novel seat, j While abseot both knife and spoon. Said he, you give me but Lenten fare, Is the table thus always slim 1 ' Perhaps with a Briton you would not share, I The oup wi.b a flowing brim! I Then Marion pot his potato down, i On the homely plate of hark— , He had to smile, for he could not frown, ■ While gay as the morning lark ; : Tis a royal least I provide to-day, Upon roots, we rebels dine, And in Freedom's service we draw no pay, i Is that code of ethics thine ? ( Then with flashing eye and with heaving , breast, He looked '.o the aznre sky, And, said he, with a firm undaunted crest: Oar trust is in God on high. The hard, hard ground is s downy bed, And hunger its fang forgoes, And noble and firm is the soldier's tread, In the face of his country's foes. The officer gazed on that princely brow, Where valor and genius shown, Ami upon that fallen pine, bis vow Went up to his Maker's throne: I will draw no sword agaitfil met: like these, It would drop from a nerveless hand, And the very blood in my veins would fieeze, If 1 faced such a Spartan baud. From Marion's camp, with a sadJened mien, He hastened with awe away, The son of Auak, his eyes had seen, And a giant race were they. No more on the tented field was he, And rich was the truth he learned, Tbat men who could starve for Liberty, Can neither be oru>hed nor spurned. LIFE IN THE CHIME*. DV S RETURN EN SOLDIER. Itm just home invalided. Dysentery has done for me more than the bullet and the sword ; and I have returned to my native shore a broken and shattored man. I have, however seen strange things, and have earn ed something for myself beyond half-pay— namely, the right to talk about what every body is glad to listen to. One of the most surprising pieces of ex perience I hsve picked up whilst living amidst scenes of conflict and violence, is the extraordinary indifference with which men soon come to regard personal risk when dan ger ia continually around them. It seems to roe, however, that there is some spice of bar barism in this indifference. I do not think it te so readily entertained by those who have a high sense of the privilege and value of lile, as it is by those who have few ob jects in view beyond the gratifications of sense. To the former, courage becomes a matter of calculation. Men, when they prize their lives highly on aocount of the capacities they feel to be within tbem, are capable of acts of great bravery, provided an aim ol high ambition is betore them) but tbey will not encounter the chance of de struction for a straw; those, on the other hand, who have not learned to cast up ac counts with themselves, will as soon face the cannon'* mouth for the most trifling object as for the highest and grandest achievement. Thie, no doubt, is coolness; my own obser vation has induced me to hesitate aa to whether I would acoord to it the more dig nified appellation of courage. In the major ity of ease* in which it occur* in the ranks of the Briteh army, I'am convinced that cool nets £ born of indifference rather than oi bravery j ami iff support of this opinion, 1 adduce aome incident* I Jl*e witnessed my eelf. Soon aftertbe allied armies had taken up their potitont on the south of Sebastopol, green ooffe began to be served out to the British troop*. After a few days of hesita tion and consideration, some adventurous fellows, in the intervals of their assaults up on the earthworks of the fortress, and of their labor* at the trenches, planned an attack up on the scarcely ISM formidable green berries. They contrived to roast them in the topa of their canteens; and then set up extempora neous ooftee-millt, by rolling round shot over the dried berries laid upon pieces of stone 1 — Ia this way lhay managed to Imr to crush the coffee as to maka it defancalsst to hot water; bat so soon as the rnmor of this cu linary success was noised abroad, cannon balls suddenly rosa in valoa; and when a Russian shot bat been hurling through the pit, I hsve known a dozen stalwart fellows BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY. DECEMBER 27, 1855. start for it, their eyes fixed upon it durina its descent, as if it had been a cricket-ball,, rather than a messenger of destrnotion and death; and lucky did he think himself who was nearest to it when it buried itself in the - ground, perhaps just beneath his feet. At first, in their"ha* Dresen ' themselves unsought. But they atill'mi"* little of them when they did, just casting (tidm"" 1 '" J ° wn on the ground until the explosion was OTsr > * nd 'h* fragments were scattered. There *.*• °" e huge shell, however, tbey never couin £•=- ! used to which was fired from one particular f | mortar, tbia abell measured sixteen inches acros, and contained eighteen pounds of . gunpowder in its mischievous cavity. It was emitted from a raft that lay iu the bar. bor, and occupied some forty seconds in its flight j first, a very perceptible whiff of white smoke burst out in the raft, then, on came the ponderous missile, turning over and over . in its flight—whish—whieh—whifeh—with i 'an intermitting whistling sound; at last' down it pitched on the ground, with the j force of fifty tons concentrated in its impact,' | bursting witb a tremendous explosion at (he ' , instant. The fragment* of this shell were 1 , scattered, when it burst, more than 300 yards j | in all directions, it therefore aever could be , looked upon in the light of an agreeable [ | neighbor—a quarter of a mile was by no < means a respectable distance from it. In ' j consequence of its whistling note, this mon- ' i ster horrendum mirabile wai christened Whist- ' ling Dick, and watchmen were set to look , for the white whiff of smoke from the float- i ing raft, whenever parties were engaged up- I i on the works within its range. The instunt . this was noticed the alarm was raised, and ' the men rushed to the shelter of the nearest hole or embankment within their reach. A hole or pit dug hastily into the ground is the first rudiment of a protective work.— ' Several such lodgments are made during | the hours of darkness, in advance of the forerroat trench, and from four to six rifle- | men are sent to occupy each. One of these mer. are kept constantly on the look out, j above the edge of the pit, ready to take aim : at any chance object that is presented to his eye, the rest of the party while away the ' hours, in the absence of any stirring excite- | ment got up in their behalf by the enemy, the j best way they oan. They are completely sheltered from the effects of round shot, and j even shells fall and burst within * yard of their lurking place without working them any harm. If, however, one of these explo sive spheres lights, by any unlucky chance, qnite within the pit, it ia certain destruction to the whole. Yet the watching the descent of the shells that fly in their direction, seems to afford rather a pleasurable excitement than otherwise. I have often heard remarks of a speculative kind ventured with the most perfect nonchalance, which for their point the probable safe arrival of one of these deadly missiles, that seemed to be coming straight for the speculator down from the clouds. It is no unusual thiug foi small beta in tobacco to be laid as to how far off some shell will fall. Wagers as to the course over head of round shot were amongst the com mon rest uices to which the little garrisons of these tifle pits turned for amusement— Tne passage of a ball to the right or the left of the vertical often determined the pipe in which a last charge of the precious weed should be smoked. The scenes in these boles are, however, sometimes of the most painful kind. I remember once to have made one of a party of fonr in a pit as large as a round table,and six feet deep,and which was entirely isolated from all friendly aid daring the continuance of daylight. Of this party, two were suffering from a severe dyt entery, a third waa supporting a shattered arm, and the fourth had hie eye knocked ont by a splinter produced by a cannon ball. Upon one occasion I chanceed to be ir. it pit advanced to within 80 or 100 yards ol one of the Russian works. At this lime our behavior was so carefully watched, (bat the top of a feather could not be shown for a mo ment above the embankment without a doz en rifls-balls whizzing past it. There was an officer with the party, but ha was suffer ing so severely from dysentery, that he lay for " long lime in a fainting state, with bis head on the knees of one oi the men. While in this sad predicament, the fancy seized him that il be could have some hot coffee it would at once revive him. He expressed his wish ; and it waa found there was ooffee in store, but no wood at hand for the fire.— Observing this difficulty, one of the privates remarked that he would soon furnish the wood. He seized a pickaxe which had been used in the construction of the pi:, and in an instant jumped from the hole. Without the slightest hurry in hi* deportment, he took his way to • tree that was prostrate on the ground about forty yards to the tear ol the position, and, with hit back to the Russians, began leisurely to pick off ehips with his sxe. The enemy eppesred to be staggered at first by the coolness of bis bearing, but very soon • leaden storm waa whistled around him in all direction*. With perfect onconoem, howev er, he continued bit opersiiout; and, woo deHM to say, was Untouched by the missiles. The Russians became more angry ami eager, and most probably fired with lees than their usual 'care and precision. At length they laid a large gun Upon the adventurous wood peoker, and three times a round shot rushed within a few inches ef him. By this time, he conceived that be bad madeehipe enough for hie purpoee; so he stooped down and gathered them together in the skirt* of bis long greatcoat, ssuntering back through the leaden hail-storm, and dropped into the pit witb hie treasures unscathed, to the great suprise and infinite relief of his comrades, not seeming to have the slightest idea that he had done anything out of the usual way! and, indeed, I do not think the notion had ever been clearly presented to his mind what the risk was that be had volunteered towieei. AH the World know* that the naval service is quite a* much marked by gallantry as the army. Tbey also share With h the mat ter-of-fact indifference to personal risk 1 am just now particularly alluding to. On board ship, matters of ordinary routine often go on under fire, just as if the vessel was hundreds of miles away from the enemy. Immediate ly before the attack upon the forte of Sebas topol i'Z ~le fleet bore a part, an offi cer of the Ritlb* who w " inT,li^ d ' hd been sent on board on* ' lh ■"■jf *■; ers to recruit. One of the Dili i2 c, o® n,i ™ his repose, hewever, was his going vT.' l h Ik® vessel into the engagement. She wasplacea in circumstances of peculiar risk, for she hud on board a large quantity of shells, which she had recently brought for the general ser vice of the fleet, and she was near the Aga memnoti when the red-hotshot were striking her sides. She bore her share in the action and was at last oplered out of the fire by the admiral. The invalided officer was standing by the bridge when the captain of the ship came down Iron, his station on the paddle box, whence he had been directing bis man oeuvres. The steward came up to him at the instant, and touched his hat with the an nouncement: "Dinner is on the table, sir." The announcement was received with all due honor, and afterwards the officers were at '.able discussing the merits of a fine boiled turkey, with the appropriate ac companiments, all of which had been pre pared amidst theballs at the redoubtable fort ress of Scbastopol. Oetslde Glitter nod Inside Gloottt- Many homee are elegantly furnished, with small additions to domestic comfort. In this fast age, the Mrs. Potiphars often live in pa latial residences, overlaid with gorgeous dec orations for the eyes ol fashionable visitors, while Ibe home-loving Mr. Potiphar sighs for the quiet ease of the humble old home stead. The Maryaville Tribune gives an amusing sketch ol the inner life of one of these comfottless householde: "I do declare, Mr. Smith! this is too bad I Here you are stretched out on the sofa, mus sing it up, and my nice carpet is all spoiled by the liamp of your ooarse boots. I shall be ashamed to bring any one into the parlor again—and 1 have taken so moch pains to keep every thing nice! Ido think, Mr. Smith, you are the most thoughilesr man I ever did see—you don't appear to care bow muoh trouble you give me I It 1 bad DO more care than you have, we would aoou have a nice looking house—il would not be long till our new funiiute and house would be just as the old," said John Smith's wife to him, as she saw him in the parlor taking a nap on the sofa. Mr. Srr.ilh rose up eagerly and answered, "I waa tired snd sleepy, Mary, and the weath er is so hot, and this room so quiet and cool, and the sofa looked so inviting, that I could not resist the temptation to snooze a little.— 1 thought when we were building a new house, and furnishing it thus, that we were doing it beeause the old house and furniture were not so comfortable and desirable, and that 1 and my own dear Mary would indulge ourselves in a little quiet leisure in these nioe rooms ; and if we chose, in lounging on the sofas and rocking ill these cushioned arm-chairs, away from the noise ol the fami ly and the smell of the cooking-stove. I did not dream of displeasing you, Mary, and I thought it would give you pleasure to see me enjoying a nap on the sofi this warm af ternoon. 1 noticed when Merchant Swell, or Colouel Bigraan and their families wsre here, you appeared delighted 10 have sofas and Cushioned arm-chairs for them to sit in or louagO upon. I thought the house and the sofas Wr fe to use—that we were seeking our I own pleasure when wo paid a large earn of money (or them; but I suppose I was mists ken, and that the hobse and furniture are for strangers, and that we are to sit tu the old kitehen, and if 1 want to take a nap, or rest a little when fatigued, I am to lie down on a •lab in the wood-house; and if you want to rest, you can go to the children's trundle-bed, in the little, clove bed-room, where the flies can have a good ohanoe at you." The irony of Mr. Smith's teply only pro voked his wife, cud easing himself threaten ed with a repetition of Mrs. Smith's speech, with unpleasant additions and variation*, and knowing that be would gel tired of gaining victorias over her in argument, before she would think of gefting tired of defeat, be took himself out, and left Mrs. Smith to fix op and dost out, and look htm out of bis own bouse, and took a eeat in an old chair in the kitob en, which Mrs. Smith said was good enough to use every day, in the kitehen when no Obe cstt see it. Poor, mistaken Mr*. Smith, thought I.— And yet many am like her. They want a fine honde, and when thev get it they want an out-bouse built Wlive inland they eon- Truth and Bight—God asd our Country. 'fine their family to a few email rooms, poor ly furnished, while the main room, well fur nished, is never seen by the family, only when visitors ooroe 1 Both bouse and furni ture are too grand for nee. The carpet is too fine for the husband to walk oil— the mirrors are too fine for bim to look into—the furni ture is all too fine for him to see or use.— Just so tt goes ; we dress, (we Women, f mean, and I im aorry that many men are as foolish as we are,] to please others, or raiher to excite medicinal doses," to a man in health, it de presses the activity of the vital functions; if the dose i 9 moderately increased this effect become# still more apparent; if you Con tinue to increase it, the vital functions are still more depressed until stupor and coma indicate that the sedative power of the drug is overcoming vitality; and if convulsions supervene tliey are but the spasmodic ef forts of the Sinking vital powers to recover their natural ascendency in the system.— Push the effects of the drug a little further and the vital forces expire, driven out by the legitimate and natural action—not of the body, as Dr. Trail wduld say—but of a drug inherently antagonistic to vitality. The ac tion of opium then, must be, in all cases, destructive in its tendency. Now tho iloal question in relation to this subject comes up for solution somewhat in this form : Are reformers who profess to adopt a system of medical practice in har mony wiili the laws of vitality—who profess to assist the natural healing powers of tho system to overcome disease—who cure dis ease by assisting nature, and who condemn the dominant party in physic for professing to cure disease by destroying vitality—justi fied in the administration of remedies, the continual and only "effect of which are to depress, overpower and destroy vital activ ity.? We cannot scientifically say that we ad minister them for the control of morbid ac tion only, foi every medical man, that knows any thing, knows that there is no such a thing as morbid action independent off that which is normal. What some mbn have called morbid action, is the same, produced in the same mnnner, by the same force* and tho same organs as that which is term ed healthy or physiological action—they are, not independent, they oannot be separated, there is no evidence that they are different in their origin or course' or termination; but on the contrary the opposite theorem is de monstrable. If we reduce or depress mor bid, wo also reduce or depress heal'.'ny ac tion—they are "one and INSEPARABLE BOW and (heretofore, as well as) Ue*eafter." This then being the Ingiumate and only effect of this drug, we may ask, in conclu sion, ffo cases occur in 'which we are justi fied in depressing, counteracting off depo sing the efforts and manifestations qf vital action? We are sure that according to the principles which govern us in the adminis tration of remedies, we cannot admit this drug, and others of the same nature and . tendency, into our collection of medical materials; but whether a caw might not oc cur, in which the destructive tendency Of the drug would prove less injurious than the pain and suffOring, which ii would alleviate may be still a debatable question; for we are well satisfied that this is the only ground | upon Which its use can possibly be admit' ted among genuine reformers. For my own pari 1 can say that so far I have net found | such an one in my praotice that could not be relieved by remedies that are truly innocu ous.— Medical Rtfirmtr. Tv