Opelousas Courier OPELOUSAS. . LOUISIANA. LONGFELLOW'S LAST POEM1. Mtr. Tongfellowj a poen, in the current Atlantic lonthii', is called a '"A hutch Pictlure." and de- scribes Simon Danz. a bold old bccanecr. who. ha'ving "singed the liuard of thte king of Spain," and sold the d,.,n of.laen Is a s aye. to an Aigerine buyer, has retired from active lbusiiess as a pirate to etnoy the wealth hte has won. In his house by the Maese, with its roof of tiles, And weathercocks lying aloft in the air, 'There are silver tankards of antique styles, Plunder of convent and castle, and piles Of carpet rich and rare. In his tulip garden there by the town, Overlooking the sluggish stream, With his Moorish cap and dressing-gown 'Ihe old sea captain, hale and brown, Walks in a walking dream. A smile in his grey mustachiolurks Whenever he thinks of the king of Spain, And the listed tulips look like Turks, And the silent gardener ashe works Is change. to the Dean of Jaen. The windmills on the outermost Verge of the landscape in the haze, ' o him are towers on the Spanish coast, With whiskered sentinels at their post, Though this is the river Maese. iuat when the winter rains begin, lie sits and smokes by the blaziag brands, And old sea-faring men come in, Coat-bearded, gray, and wi:h double chin. And rings upon their hands. They sit there in the shadow and shine Of the flickering fire in the winter night; Figures in color and design Like those by Rembrandt of the Rhine, Htalf darkness and half light. And they talk of their ventures, lost or won, A id their talk is ever and ever the same, Wht'; they drink the red wineof Tarragon, Flot,, the cellar of some Spanish Don, Or convent set on flame. Footless,. at times, with heavy strides tHe paces nis parlor to and fro; He is like a ship thatat anchor rides, And swings with the rising and falling tides, And tugs at her anchor-tow. Voices mysterious, far and near, Sound of the wind and sound of the sea, Are calling and whisperingin his ear, "Simon Danz! Why stayest thou here? tcme forth and follow me!" Fo he thinks he shall take to the sea again For one more cruise with his buccaneers, To singe the beard of the king of Spain, And capture another dean of Jacn, And sell him in Algiers. MY FLIRTATION. I had plenty of beaux when I was young, and liked that very well. How- ever, I had heart enough at bottom, and when Stephen Lashley asked me to marry him, in the end I consented, though I kept him in suspense along at first. Neither Steve nor I were rich. My father had sufficient income to keep the family in a good style of living; but he saved nothing, and I could expect noth- ing from him when I married. Steve had just begun to practice'medicine, and was s, ruggling as young doctors must. There was a pretty house just outside the town that Steve and I had our eye on for a long time, and I had promised to become his wife as soon as he could call it his own. By dint of such struggling and econ- omy as I never could have guessed, he had put by enough for thefirst payment, and was plodding patiently on toward the second and last. I can see now what a selfish creature I was, what a wretch, indeed, to please myself with the flatteries of others while Steve was working so faithfully for me. That sounds as though I wasn't going to marry Steve for love, but I was. Our town was something of a fash- ionable resort for summer boarders; and many of the people were in the habit of taking boarders then. Father had al- ways objected to our doing so; but this summer of which I speak he fell in with a stranger, as he was retur-nilg from a long ride in the country, who having shared his phaeton with him during the homeward drive, succeeded in so in- gratiating himself with my father that he allowed him to board with us. The stranger was very much in my line--distinguished looking, possessing an eloquent pair of eyes,.nearly the color of my own, and having a vropen- sity to saying "pritty things" that was just delicious to a girl of my turn. It was such fun to draw him out, and then g laugh at him; to pretend pleasure then shyness; to invite and repulse in the same breath. It was a genuine flirtation, as much so to him as to me. Steve came often to see me, but he did not see me alone, and he never stayed late. Steve's sister Marian and I were inti- mate, and spent much time together. Poor Steve enjoyed my visits to Marian much bettrr than he didaeeing l any- where else, and I liked it too, as much because of seeing him as Marian. It was then aqniserable piece of heartlemsnes• for me to permit Mr. Fordyce, the "stranger," to accompany me thither, thus rading, as it were, my conquest, and te accomnplishmentsand attractions of Steve's new rival, in the mest dis- agreeable manner possible. Steve was good-natured, and kept this disappointment tohimself, butbe did not like Mr. Fordyce, and he was quite alone in that. Everydady liked Mir. Fordyee but Steve. He was an immensely popn- lar man in our small community, enter- ingas he did with such genuine seal into all our interest. and bearing himself genially towards all. When Parson Hammond, who lived nearest to us, lost a valuable horse from his stable. and came over to our house to me about * the thief, Mr. Fordye, thou hao just got home from a jaunt with somne friends which ket him almost of th night, insisted on being one of the puuing party, and, indeed, quite led It. It was the ame when Mr; Dudevant's shop was broken open and robbed. Mr. Fordyee went over and over the ground,and gave shrewderguesses s to how the robbery had been muanaged than sayee else When other thefts of a similar arture, and also of lesser degree, continued to vex and puErle us fromltime to time, it was Mr. ]~ordyee who insisted on severe measures, prevailed on the authorities to olr large ewards for the apprehen- ioh tif the ondexs, and made-himself so active in the matter as to win the gratitude of thewhole town. He often joined our social gatherings ad be t aM tlseIfe iof tbhesa. I was aeendled i n h avigs his eucort so td• the: rwaor was very fieve aadt e hs words onthuesu jeCt ; and becamuse it was aownssal insi in suct a adid; sad mid miotebe wroag, apologized for his part the next day, but I listened cooly and retained my anger. I flirted with Mr. Fordyce more des- perately than ever after that, but the affair had really lost all its relish for me. I went reckleesly on, my foolish course till Mr. Fordyce in so many words asked me to marry him. I do not know what it was about the man that allr at once struck me as insincere. I knew that he did not mean what he said; and yet he wore a very love-like air, and he would have clasped and kissed me if I had not shrunk swiftly away. I answered him, however, as though he had spoken sincerely, and told him, what I do not often acknowledge, I was en- gaged to Steve Lashley. No man likes to hear "No" from a woman's lips when even his petition is an idle ene. For the frst time I saw Mr. Fordyce's face dis- torted with a sneer of mingled anger and dislike, and I knew that my poor Steve's strange feeling toward Mr. Fordyce was reciprocated by that gentleman with equal intensity. One night there was a party at Steve's father's. It was Martins birthday. Mr. Fordyce took me over about 8 o'clock. It was a gay party. We had dancing, which we do not always have, and the music and supper were good. I danced with Steve several times, and, being in good spirits, found it rather difficult to maintain the distance I had lately adop- ted towards him. His eyes, toe, had such a soft, tender light in them, and his lips such brightness. "Come into the garden a minute, Bell," he whispered to meat the close of a dance; "I have something to say to you ;"-ana for the life of me I could not say no. When we were in the bright moonlit garden he stopped where a clump of lilac bushes hid us from the house, and drew from his bosom a roll of notes. "I shall finish paying for our house, to-morrow dear," he said in a voice that exclusive happiness made tremulous. "I drew the money from the bank to-day -twenty-five hundred dollars. Ah, how I have worked for this hour !" I should have been harder than a mill- stone if I had not forgotten all my fool- ish anger at that moment, if I had not melted rather from my coldness; for I was as glad as he was, and I dropped my head on his shoulder there in the moon- light, and cried happy, happy, remorse- less tears. "Steve," I said, "you shall let me keep the money till morning. I shall think I have dreamed if you don't." Steve laughed, but let me have my way. Ah, what a foolish whim it was! Few women would have dared to take charge of such a sum of money; and fewer men would have permitted them. But Steve knew it was as safe, to all common calculation, with me as with himself. As we turned toward-the house for a single instant I thought I saw the shadow of a man across our path; but, looking back, I saw nothing but the lilac bushes tossing in the summer air. "What's the matter ?" said Steve, noticing my backward gaze. " I thought I saw the figure of a man crossing the path," I replied. "Nonsense !" said he; and we were indoors. Well, Steve and I were the happiest pair there that night.: and Mr. Fordyce saw, and could not quite keep his eyes from saying that he hated us both for it, or I lancied so. The party broke up at twelve o'clock; that was late for us, and Mr.Fordyce, having brought methere, took me home. On the way he told me of another rob. bery that had taken place the night be- fore at one of the hotels. A person had been robbed of five hundred dollars, which he had just received at the bank. Perhaps it was that story that made me, tired as I was, bestow some thought on a hiding place for Steve's money. I pondered very seriously as I took down my hair and arranged for the night; then with a laugh at my own ingenuity I tucked the roll of notes in my luxurant tresses, and drew a net over to hold all in place. I was asleep almost the instant my head touched the pillow. The United States Senate After March 4. The election of Judge Davis to suc- ceed Logan enables the Republican to state definitely the political complexion of the United States senateon the foruth day of march next, and nothing indicates more strikingly the wonderful victory achievedlastfallby thedemocracy. With seventy-five seats filled in the senate to- day the republicans have a majority of seventeen, while with the entire seventy- six seats filled they will lawfully be entitled to but two majority on the fourth of March. What majority they will actually have depends, of course, to a great degree upon the extent to which they can use the majority they will have in the portion of the senate holding over March 4, 1877, in seating the republicans returned by the pretended legislature of Louisiana and South Carolina, and deny- ing admission to democrats from other states. It will be interesting to note, however, the changes which will occur in the senate during the next six years, which covers the period of office for which the new class of senators have been chosen. By adopting the phraseology used in college catalogues and classifying the senators according to the years in which their terms expire, these changes can be easily marked. The first changes in the composition of the senate occur on March 4, 1877, and will be as follows: CLASS OF 1877. Democrats. Republicans. Alabama.....Goldthwaite Arkansas.........c..Clayton Delaware.........Saulabury Colorado................ Teller Georgia............Norwood Illinos ................. Logan Kentucky......Stevenson Iowa..... ...... Wright N. Carolina ...... Ransom Kansas...............Harvey Oregon..................Kelly Louisiana.............. West Tennes•ee............Cooper Maine..................Blaine West Virginia........Davis Massachusetts... Boutwell Virginia............Johnston Michigan...............Ferry Mississippi........... Alcorn Recapitulation. Minnesota......... Windom Democrats............... 9 Nebraska........ Hitchcock Republican.............17 New Hamp•hire...Crarin - N.Jersey..Frelinghu raen Total.................26 Rhode Island.....Anto y c. Carolina......Robertson Texas..............Hamilton The names placed in italics indicate the senators who have been re-elected. To make the change more apparent the result may be summarized in this form: SENATOas. 'Dem. Rep. Vac't Total. lPresentt enate...... . 29 I 46 i 1. Class of 1877 ............... 9 17 . Holdover 1877.......... 20 I 29 1 50 It will be seen that the republicans only have a majority of nine in that portion of the senate holding over March 4,1877-so that a charge of five votes will prevent them seating republican instead of democrats lawfully chosen. There is only the remotest possibility, therefore, that they will keep Bulter from South Carolina, Eustis and the democrat yet to be chosen in Louisiana, out of their seats. Eustis is entitled to his seat now, and he will probably be admitted as soon as thq presidential dispute is settled, and certainly if the decision of the arbitration commission be in Tilden's favor. In that event, the fifty senators who hold over will stand twenty-one democrats and twenty-nine republicans, a majority of only eight for the republicans. Of the tweny-six new senators, sixteen will be democrats, counting democrats from Louisiana and South Carolina; and the account will, therefore, stand thus: Dem. Rep. Total. Hold over 1877 .................. 21 29 Casa of 1883..... ...... 16 10 24 27 39 7i Of these seventy-six senators,the terms of twenty-four expire March 4, 1879, of twenty-six March 4, 1881, and of the re- maining twenty-six March 4, 1883, as will be seen by the following statements: CLASS OF 1879. Democrats. Republicans. Connecticut ..... Barnum Alabams........... pence Georgia...........Gordon Arkansas............ Dorsey K.ntuecky........McCreery California...........Sargent Louisian..............Eutis Florikd..........C.. onnover Maryland...... Dennis Illinois...............Oglesby Missouri............ ... Bog Indiana......... ..... Morton N. Carolina.....Merrimon Iowa............ ..... Allison - Kammse.............Ingalls Recapitulation. Nevada................Jones Democrats................. N. Hampshire. Wadlegh Republicans .............. 1 New York ....... Cnkling -- Ohio.................•herman Total.......................24 Oregon..............Mitbhell Pennsylvania....Cameron 8" Carolina......Patterson Vermont ........... Morrill Wisconsin............Howe CLASS OF 1881. Democrats. Eepublicans. Connecticut..........Eaton California.............Booth Delaware............Ba•ard Colorado............Chaffee Florida..................Jones Maine................ Hamlin Indiana ....... McDonald Massachusetts......Dawes Maryland............ Whyte Michigan.....Christiancy Missouri.......... Cockrill Minnsola.......MeMillan New Jeraey.....Randolph Mississippi ............ Bruce New Yo, k.........Kernan Nebraska..........Paddock Ohio............... 'hurman Nevada...............Sharon Peansylvania.....Wallace Rhode Island....Burnside lennessee............ailey Vermont.........Edmunds ",au ......... e.......Maxey Wisconsin ..... .Cameron Virginia .......... Withers West Virginia.Hereford RECAPITULATION. Democrats.............. ........... ..... ..... 14 Pepublicanp .. ... ... 12 Total................................... .............. : CLASS OF 1883. Democrats. Republicans. Alabama ..... Morgan Colorado............... Teler Arkansas..........Garland Iowa.............Kirkwood Delaware ........... 8aabury Kansas nrgi o........... Hill M. ne.DHu....... ae llnois...:...........D a Massachusetts....... Hoar Kentucky ............. Bek Michigan ............... Ferry Louisiana Minnesota......... Wisdom North Carolina...Raearo Nebraska..........Saunders Mississippi......... Lamar New Hampshire.Rollins New Jersey...McPnerson Rhode Island....Anl.hny )regon .............. Grover South Carolina.....Rutler Tennemee ........... Harris Texas....................Coke West Virginia......Davis Virginia......... .J.dston RECAPITULATION. Democrats......................... ............. 16 epubilcans .................. ..... ........... 10 Total............................................................. 26 GENERAL BUMMARY. SClasi f Class Class I 7 9 '81 '83 t Total. I eaiocrate....... 7 14 I6 37 Republicans..... 17 12 10 39 Aggregate. 24 26 26 76 Nothing need be plainer than that the republican majority of two will instantly vanish when Tilden takes his seat, so that his administration will begin with a good working majority in both branches f congress, which will be greatly in- ocreased after March. 4, 1879.-St. Lou Republican. Eminent Counsel. The counsel employed to represent the craes-of the rspective high contending parties before the great court of arbitra tion are men of distinction, and yet the harters of the gentlemen selected on the diferent sides ame in some sert typical of the ehamracter of the ases. On the dem- oeratic aide the ease will be in the hands ofJere 8. Black, the ablest lawyer now at the s•peme conrt, a democrat of the Buchanan school, and a keen, incisive reasoner apon facts as well as principle. we will be misted by Lyman Trumbull, who has no superior as a clear-headed constittaoal lawyer; Matt Carpenter, the brilliait but erratic lawyer of the northwet, wh ise one of the most cogent _manras at the bar, amasingly well tsla in # stitutional a, keen in logic am4aveMtiaana ;Jude sam.p- bell, bo hms been himel~ an anociate- justice of the supreme court, and Ben Butler, whose peculiar powers and ex- cellent knowledge of the ins and outs of Louisiana politics, of which he himself was in some .ort the founder, eminently fit him to cross-examine the Louisiana returning board. What Butler fails to extort from Wells, Kenner, Anderson and Casanave will probably net be worth knowing. This line of counsel shows plainly that the democrats intend to present the law before the court in the strongest shape, and sift the facts in the minutest manner. In a word, they mean business, and wish everybody to know that they think they have a case, and intendt to present it in the best possi- ble form. On the other hand, the re- publican case is to be confided to Mr. William M. Evarts, the eminent coun- sel who led the forlorn hope to the de- fense of the late Henry Ward Beecher to Mr. Stoughton, of New York, who has taken Edward Pierrepent's position as the thick-and-thin advocate of Grant- ism in its last and first phases; and to Mr. Bob Ingersoll, the corrupting sky- rocket of fly-up-the-creek republicanism, he whose flowers of oratory spring up from seeds borne to inaccessible shores on the bubbles of bosh. In other words, the democrats mean to present their case in a legal way, and the republicans in a rhetorical way. One side will take to the supreme court; the other side will magniloquize to the select audience of confederate X roads. One will hold up the constitution; the other wrap itself once more in the bloody shirt.-Baltimnore Bulletin. Pithy Political Points. This is a bad year for the apostles of the bloody shirt. Boutwell, Logan, Hitchcock, Morton-where are they.- Pitt4burg Post. The Louisiana situation is described exactly in the old college song. "A boy he had an auger, that bored two holes to once." When Morton declares "upon his honor as a senator," then look for a clean indorsement of some radical villainy. It is certain to follow every time.-In- dianapolis Sentinel. Simon Cameron asks, " What next?" Well, Simon, you could make your for- tune by walking along the Union Pacific railroad and picking up the empty cans. -New York Herald. "To-day," says Forney, "we compare Oliver Perry Morton, of Indiana, to Daniel Webster of Massachusetts." You :may do it, Forney, and do it safely; for Webster is dead.-Chicago Times. If the proposed settlement involved dishonor, or a humiliating surrender of a right or a principle, it could not be adopted. It involves neither. It is fair and right and ought to be sustained.- Boston Advertiser. Morton fell off the fence yesterday in the very middle of his speech, and peer- ing wistfully through a knot-hole, ex- claimed: " Great mercury ! was I over on that side last year?"-Brooklyn Air- gus. The "compromise bill," so-called, pre- .sented in both houses of congress, is not a compromise at all, but simply proposes a method to count the electoral voteswhich shall allay the popular excitement and quiet apprehension.-Boston Trans'rilt. Nobody can say that Mr. Logan has not rendered his country an important service. He has staid away from the senate in an emergency when his pres- ence would in all likelihood have been an infernal nuisance.--Chicago Times. Senator Sargent obiects to " bringing the supreme court judges down to the muddy pool of politics." Of course Sar- gent doesn't want any clear water or clear sailing. His party has too long fed on ditch-water.-- Courier-Jonrnal. It is now ascertained that of the four judges chosen on the commission of arbi- tration, but one is a republican--Judge Miller. Judge Strong was called to the supreme bench from the Pennsylvania supreme court, to which he had been elected as a democrat.- Toledo Commer- cial. 'J he Circulation of the Blood. Physiology was destined to receive more substantial contributions from Cesalpino than either botany or min- eralogy. The circulation of the blood, that is its passage from the right side of the heart across the lungs to the left side, had been known to Galen, who also knew the arteries and veins in their ultimate ramifications communicate with each other across an "anostomosis" of minute vessels in every part of the body. This knowledge was vitiated by the hypothesis that the blood passed from the right side of the heart through the intervening septum of the left, an hypothesis of which Julius Caesar Arantius, of Bologna, ex- posed the absurdity. The next and final step in the discovery belongs, according to the Italian physiologists, to Cesalpino, who in 1569, demonstrated the passage of the blood fromithe arteries'to the v~ins, across the capilaries througl~out the sys- tem, and applied the term "circulation" to the perpetual movement of the blood "from the veins to the right side of the heart, from this to the lungs, from the lungs to the left side of the heart, and from this to the arteries." In 1593 he published the "Quistioni Mediche," in which he illustrated the circulation by constricting any limb of the body With a bandage, whereupon the vein swelled in the interspace between its capilliary organ and the ligature, so that when cut with-a lancet the black venous blood flowed out; and after it the red arterial blood. "Cesalpino moreover" (says his recent apologist, Dr. Ceradina, of Genoa, to whom I am indebted for many of the above mentioned facts), "recognized that the blood is contained at a higher pres sure in the arteries than in the veins, and that in its passage from the former to the latter the capilliary anastemoses in- terpose a greater or smaller obstacle ac- cording to the degree of their dilation. "All these facts," continues Dr. Ceradini, "Cesalpino taught first from the chair of medicine at Pisa, and subsequently at Rome, where he died in 1603. All that was left for Harvey to do was to strength- en Cesalpino's discovery by assigning to the valves (of which Fabricio Di Ac- quapendente first pointed out the ex- istence) the function of opposing the centrifugal movement of the blood. In fact, Harvey's merit really and only consists in having successfully sustained a struggle against the prejudice and ig- norance that impeded the acknowledge- ment of Cesalpine's discovery." It is old that, after such proofs of scientific acumen Cesalpino should have written seriouslyonwitchcralt; but such is the fact. Some nuns of Piss were reputed to be possessed by demons, and the archbishop of the diocese convoked the theologians, philosophers, and phy- sicans of the university td investigate whether the phenomena manifested by the nuns proceeded from natural causes. Cesalpino's contribution to the subject judiciously refrained from denying the existence of evil spirits. He said that these unseen aencies makes use of phy- sical means, dffusing a subtle poison which causes fascination, enchantment, and other signs of demoniacal possession. These phenomena, however, can be cured by physical means like another disease; though, he cautiously adds, religious ministrations will Zenhance tne efficacy of the remedial agent. In this recog- nition of the church Cesalpino betrays the dread common to Galileo and ether contemporary savans, of offending the spiritual authority; and, though he was accused of materialism and atheism by Dr. Samuel Parker, archdeacon of Can- terbury, and the French physican, Taurel, he never lost the favor of the Rome Curia. In fact, the cardinal who presided over the press, in allowing him to publish his "De Metallicis," declared the treatise worthy of its author, "Che fu scnpre dliligenliSimono s8cqae dei dogmi peripatetiche" (who was always a very diligent follower of the Aristotelian dog- mas). Another point worth noting in Cesalpino's career is the fact that he was past fifty when he began to write, and he was eighty-four when he published his last work, an appendix to his earliest ("The Quistioni Peripatetiche"). At that age he died, leaving behind him a world-wide reputation for versatility, sagacity, and learning. The Moon and the Tides. As the moon revolves around the earth from west to east, says professor Ran- dolph, she advances eastwardly in her orbit about thirteen degrees in every twenty-four hours. Hence, when any part of the earth in its revolution comes under the part of the heavens where the moon was the evening before, the moon is not there, but has gone eastward thir- teen degrees, and, therefore, the earth must turn on its axis as much longer as is necessary to bring that part again under the moon, which requires gener- ally, not always, about fifty minutes. The same thing occurs the next evening and the evening after, and thus the moon rises most of the year about fifty minutes later each day. Now, as the tides are produced mainly by the moon, it will at once beseen from this eastward movement and the later rising each day why they must occur about fifty minutes later each day. While the lunar tide is thus daily lag- ging, the solar tide occurs at the same time. Hence these two tides always begin to separate after new moon, being further apart each day, until they again coincide at full moon, when there is, as already stated, a higher tide than usual, called spring tide. Then again they separate, until new moon occurs, when they once more unite, producing another spring tide. It must not be supposed that the whole body of the ocean to its profoundest depths is equally moved by the tides. The tides are mainly super- ficial, and, except where the water is of moderate depth, the lowest parts are only slightly disturbed, but to what depth the tidal current extends can never perhaps be satisfactorily determ- ined.-- Washington Star. Loss of Life from Fires in Public Buildings. Dr. J. M. Toner, of Washington, has compiled a list of theatres, churches, and other public buildings which have been destroyed by fire within the memory of man. He goes back to the year 348 B. C., when the temple of Delphi was burned, and the year 336, when " the aspiring youth" tired the " Ephesian dome. The table includes the following notable con- flagrations, with the dates of their occur- rence and the number of lives lost in certain cases: Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople, 532 A. D.; St. Paul's, London, ]137; St. Paul's and sixty oth- er churches, London, 1666; Drury Lane theatre, London, 1672; the Flemish theatre. Amsterdam, 1772, 700 lives; Trinity Church, New York, 1773; Sara- gossa theatre, 1778, 400 lives; the thea- tre at Mbntpelier, 1783, 500 lives; Lon- don bridge, 1812, 3,000 lives; Chestnut street theatre, Philadelphia, 1820; Park theatre, New York, 1821; Bowery thea- tre, New York, 1828; theatre in Canton, China, 1845, 2,300 lives; Niblo's theatre, New York, 1846; church at Santiago, Chili, 1863, ever 2,000 lives; Niblo's Garden, New York, 1872; Saragossa theatre, 1872, 600 lives; and the (Fifth avenue theater, New York, 1872. The latest repor! gave the number of the lost by the Brooklyn theatre fire at 284. -Boston Trancriplt. The Stage and the Pulpit. Without entering any comparison with other means for educating mankind to a higher standard of morality, it is im- possible to deny that the theater is a powerful lever for good or evil. The tendency of the modern stage to melo- drama, to buffeonery, to indecency, can not be too harshly condemned. Black Crooks and blood-and-thunder dramas, with no moral, no idea, no sentiment, but appealing only to the eye or to the more sensuous emotions, are productive of as much harm as the most bitter op- ponent of the stage can denounce against it. In this category may also be in- cluded that peculiar species of drama known as the French school, wherein so- cial vices are depicted in attractive colors, and the sympathy of the auditor is aroused for the impure when clothed in a false sentimentality. This may be' candidly admitted without any reflection upon the stage, or those who ,belong to the actor's profession. Vice, unfortu- nately, is not confined to any one class or calling. The stage is no more respon- sible for having loose characters upon it, than is any other profession. No one dreams of condemning a whole class of persons because some fall by the wayside. If so, then from the very city from which Dr. Talmadge inveighs against the stage would come the most flagrant attacks upon his own sacred calling. Trains Meeting at a Speed of Sixty Miles an Hour. The two trains, propelled with -ll the speed possible, met in a cutting tily feet high, at a few yards from the entrance of a tunnel, and in a spot where the line describes a curve so share that it is not possible to see more than one hundred feet ahead. The two engines, weighing some eighty tons each, literally pene- trated each other about three feet, be- coming as it were, riveted together. The tenders were, on the other hand, so upset that one of the stokers was subsequently found buried under the coal. Propelled by a joint impetus of upwards of sixty miles an hour, the carriages, naturally much lighter than the engines, continued their headlong route, mounting over the locomotives, and forming a huge pile of wreck, or shattering into a thousand splinters, which I cannot compare to anything better than what might be im- agined had the whole been hurled down a deep mountain precipice. I myself saw half the roof of one of the carriages, not to speak of fragments, in the adjacent field, fifty feet above the level of the rails, while pieces of planks strewed the slope of the cutting. Both the engine. drivers, the two stokers and the two guards perished in this collision. Some travelers who had already suffered in the collision at Montereau a few hours b> fere, were again wounded or contused. Mr. Matheys, of London, and his servant were killed in the most frightful manner possible, and in the other train a traveler residing at Macon. Mr. Hume and Sir - Stewart escaped death by a true mir- acle. The former had a laceration of the foot, and the latter had his thigh broken. A sprightly young American named Torcey had his thigh in a like manner fractured; and when I left I understood that the surgeons of Aix les-Bains, where he was conveyed, feared lest it should be necessary to make an operation. One poor woman was found with her head severed clean from her body, and pre- sented such a ghastly spectacle that the man who found her was perfectly over- come. A little girl wandered about Aix alone, her mother having had both her legs cut off. The guard at the tail of the train, sitting in his box, on seeing the catastrophe in all its details, at once lost his mind, and on being questioned by a person at the station of Aix, where he was taken, began to dance and sing. Poor fellow, he was put into the mad asylum at Chamberry. Numerous pas- sengers were most seriously wounded, and those who had simple contusions re- ceived the most violent nervous shock, besides a sort of concussion of the in- testines, predisposing to inflammation; they also complained greatly of pains in the head. SPECIE PAYMENT. Message from the President-If Currency and Col. Should Reach Equal Val- em. It Way Become Advisable to Direct Resumption. The following is the president's message to congress on the subject of specie payments: To the senate and house of representatives: By an act of congress, approved January 14, 1875, to prove for the resumption of spe- cie payments, the 1st of January, 1879, is fixed as the date when such resumption is to begin. It may not be desirable to fix an earlier date when it shall become obligatory upon the govern'ment to redeem its out- standing legal tender notes in coin, on pre- sentation; but it is certainly most desirable, and will provide most beneficial to every pe- cuniary interest of the country, to hasten the day when the paper circulation of the coan- try and good coin shall have equal value, it might become advisable to authorize, or di- rect the resumption. I believe the time has come when, by a simple act of the legislative branch of the governmient; this most desirable result can be attained. I am strengthened in this view by the course trade has taken in the last two years, and by the strength of the credit of the United States at home and abroad. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, the exports of the United States exceeded the imports by $120,213,102, but our exports include $40,569,621 of specie and bullion in excess of imports of the same commodities for six months of the present fiscal year. From July 1, 1876, to January 1, 1877, the excess of exports over imports amounted to $10,544,869, and the imports of specie and bullion ex seeded exports of precious metals by $6,192,147 in the same time. The actual excess of exports over imports for six I months, exclusive of specie and bullion, amounted to $113,737,040, showing for the time being the accumulation of specie and bullion in the country amounting to more than $6,000,000, in addition to the natural product of these metals for the same period, a total increase of gold and silver for six months not far short of $60,000,000. It is very evident that unless this great increase of precious metals can be utilized at home in such a way as to make it in some manner remunerative to holders, it must seek a for- eign market as surely as would any other product of the soil or manufactory. Any legislation which will keep coin and bullion at home will, in my judgment, soon bring about practical resumption, and will add the coin of the country to the circulating me- dium, thus securing a healthy inflation of sound currency, to the great advantage of every legitimate business interest. The act to provide for the resumption of specie payments authorized the secretary ot the treasury to issue bonds of either ot the de- scriptions named in the act of congress ap- proved July 4, 1870, entitled "An act to au- thorize the refunding of the national debt" for not less than par in gold. With the pre. sent value of 4, per cent. bonds in the markets of the world, they could be ex- changed at par for gold, thus strengthening the treasury to meet the final resumption, and keep the excess of coin over the demand pending its permanent use as a circulating medium at home. All that would be re- quired would be to reduce the volume of the legal tender notes in eircuh tion. To ac- complish this I would suggest an act author- izing the secretary of the treasury to issue four per cent. bonds with forty years to run before maturity, to be exchanged for legal tender note4 whenever presented in sums of $60 or any multiple thereof, the whole amount of such bonds, however, not to ex- ceed $250,000,000. To increase the home de- mand for such bonds I would recommend that they be available for deposit in the United States treasury for banking purposes under the various provisions of the law re- lating to national banks. I would suggest further that the national banks be required to retain a certain part of the coin interest received by them from bonds deposited with the treasury to secure their circulation. I would also recommend the repeal of the third section of the joint resolution for the issue of silver coin, approved July 22, 1876, limiting subsidiary coin and fractional cur- rency to $50,000,000. I am satisfied that if congress will enact some such law as will ac- complish the end suggested they will give re. lierf to the country instantaneousin its effect and for which they will receive the gratitude of the whole people. U. S. GRANT. Executive Mansion, Feb. 3, 1877. The secretary of the treasury says he has sufficient silver to meet legitimate demands, and declines to re-exchange United States notes for silver brought to the department in sums varyihg from $10 to $500. UMICLE REMU8S' REVIVAL r rT"'.N I. Oh! whar will w, go w'en de great day Comes. Wid de blowin' uv do trumpets an' de banugt' nv deldrumns? How many po' hinners '11 be cotched out late, An' tine nc latch to de golden' gate ? No use fer ter wait 'twell to-morr, r LD sun mnus'n set on yo' aerrer, Sin's es sharp ez a ibamlroo brier- Oh, Lord ! fetch the mao'ners up higher' II. W'eu de nashuns or de eart in a stalnin' all aroun' Who's gwine ter be choosen for tor war de Glory crown ? Who's agwino fer ter stan' stifl kneed an' Iol' An' answer to dere name at de callio' uv de roll You better come now ef you comnl'- (tle Satan is lotmoeans a hummrn'-- Dle wheels uv distrucehun Is a bummi, -. CG, come along, sinners of you cornln'. III. De song uv sa'vation Is a mighty sweet song, An' de Paradise win' blow fur an' blow strong An' Aberham's buzzum is saf' an' it's wide. An' dat's de place whar de sinners oughter hide No use tobe stoppin' an' a lookin', Ef yoa fool wid ratan you'll get took in. You'll hang on de edge an' get shook In. Ef you keep on a stoppin' an' a lookin'. IV. De time is right now an' dishere's de place-- Let de salvashun sun shine wqiar' in yo' face, Fight de battle of de Lord, fight soon and fight ,ate An' you'U allera fine a latch on de goldin' gate ' No use fer ter wait 'twell to morrer-- I-e sun mus'n't set on yo' sorrer. Sin's ez sharp ez a bamboo brier- Ax de Lord fer ter fetch you up higher. -Atlanta Cnrstfitit. FACI'S AND FANCIES. WHENEVER a lot of men undertake to crowd women out of a legitimate calling they make St. Paul responsible for it. CAPTAIN BURNABY was asked by his Turcoman guide which an Englisman likes best, his horse or his wife, but the author answered diplomatically, " -That depends on the woman." THE Moors, after occupying Spain over seven hundred years, and making it during the middle ages the home of agri- culture, as other arts and sciences, were expelled in 1492, the same year Colum- bus discovered the new world. AMroNG the most recently discovered population of savages, the cannibals of New Ireland, in the South seas, there is a custom which requires that a chief's daughter shall Je kept in a cage within her father's hote until her introduction into society. The cage scarcely gives her room to move, and she cannot leave it during anypart of the day. though she is allowed to take a stroll with near rela- tives after nightfall. A WRITER in Fraser's Magazine says eyeglasses ought never to magnify much, but merely show the objects clear and exactly as they are. Every person ought to be able to read with their spectacles at :he same distance that he was accus- tomed when his sight was unimpared. Pebbles are preferred on accout of their I clearness, never becoming dull from moisture, but they are dearer. To test true eye-glasses hold them obliquely over print, when, if the glass is correct, the letters will preserve their true character. THE artistic scene painter may now pack up his pots and brushes and learn another trade. Theatrical managers no longer have need of him. Science, the magic lantern, photography, and oxyhydrogen lights have extinguished them. By these appliances some of the London theatres are producing their scenery. A blank curtain at one end of the theatre, a man slidinga bit of a'pic- ture in a grooveatthe other, and temples, prisons, landscapes, dungeons, cities, or dark glens for murder, beautiful brook banks for love making chase each other across the stage like the phanta- sies of a dream. Worse even than this, the parties on the stage who have no part but that of simply putting in an appearance-the armies, the ghosts, the street lounger, the walking but not the talking wentlemen-may in time all be supplanted by shadows. A little sinful ventriloquism thrown in, and even these could be made to perform small parts effectively. A simple stage, six or seven good stock actors, one g, od ventriloquist, a grst-class hand organ for the orcnestra, a spectroscope, and we have the principle adjuncts of the coming theatre. mu un What Will Surprise an Indian. The Indian has actual and common experience of many articles of civilized manufacture, the simplest of which is as entirely beyond his comprehension as the most complicated. He would be a sim- pie exclamation-point did he show sur- prise at everything new to him, or which he does not understand. He goes to the other extreme, and rarely shows or feels surprise at anything. He visits the states, looks unmoved at the steamboat and locomotive. People call it stoicism. They forget that to his ignorance the production of a glass bottle is as inscru- table as the thunder. A peice of gaudy calico is a marvel; a common mirror a miracle. He knows nothing of the com- parative difficulties of invention and I manufacture, and to him the mechanism of a locomotive is not in any way more matter of surprise than that of a wheel- barrow. When things in their owldaily experience are performed in what to them is a rermarkable way, they do express the most profound astonishment. I have seen several hundreds of Indians, eager and excited, following from one telegraph pole to another a repairer, whose legs were encased in climbing boots. When he walked easily, foot over foot, up the pole, their surprise and delight found vent in the most vociferous expressions of applause and admiration. A white lady mounted on a side-saddle, in what to the Indian woman would be almost an impossible position, would excite more surprise and admiration than would a Hoe printing press in full operation.- " The Hu nting Groun.rd of the Great T t.t." Hard Upon the New York tiamblers. The outlook for gamblers in New York city is unfavorable. The period of their new tribulation may be short, but it promises threateningly for them at the outlet. The keepers of a faro game close to Madison square, a section of the city where most of the heavy gambling is done, went from judge G ildersieeve's court last Monday to the penitentiary for six months. The significance of this is that heretofore convicted gamblers of that class have simply been fined. The judge intimated, too, that longer terms would be imposed in future cases. Be- sides, the grand jury has prepared a statute for the legislature to pass, mak- ing pool selling a misdemeanor; andeuch a law, enforced, would stop most of the sportmen's fun at the horse races. Pretentions Pests of the Period. Our expendit.tres must be made more productive; the dignity of labor must have more recognition, and the gentility of various counterfeits of work rather less. The country yields enough for all, and we must learn to make all earn their share of its abundant wealth. The able bodied tramp who lives on the earnings of honest toil is no more of a social pest than some more pretentious members of society, who live by various ingenious devices for levying toil on capital and labor. A good many such have found their nat u ral level of late, in our progress toward sound business method; many more gamblers, speculators and superflu- ',us middlemen must fall by the way.- New York Thmes. I ought to have s ept soundly and dreamed happy dreams, but I did not. Some counter influence seemed to ruffle my slumbers and I awoke. Some one was in my room. I knew it as well as though I could see, and the room was too dark for that. There was no sound either, but for all that I knew I was not alone. I tried to scream, to raise my voice. I was frozen with ter- tor. I never thought once of the money, or robbers, or anything that I know of. I was only frightened so that I could not move hand or foot, or make a noise. I drn't know;but Istopped;breathing. I can remember yet how cold I felt, though thenight was warm. Saddenly, without the warning of a breath I was conscious that a hand was creeping steadily about my pillow. I did not think of money even then. as terror had stolen my senses, so now it brought smine of them back. I gave one scream antsprang from the bed, or tried to. Two strong hands dropped me; a firm hand held me, while the other hand vainly sought to loose myhair. The net, more obstinate than nets usually are, would not come off probably because, in his hurry, my. mysterious assailant was unconscious of its pliant meshes. He pulled my hair in his awkward astempts horribly. The pain was like a spur to me. As his arm- lay acroesmy arms, I bent my head swiftly, and fastened my teeth upon it with a vicious snap that only a woman in my situation would have been capable of. The unexpectedness. of the attack dissolved my bonds. With an audible oath he let me go, and I darted away with winged feet, and met father in the passage. Of course I fainted then and there; and by the time anybody got in- to the room my robber had made good his escape. Alas, however, he -should not have al- lowed himself to swear, above all, to a woman of such acute ears as I ad. I had heard the voice, and I kne~iit be- longed to Mr. Fordyce. Father fairly turned pale when I told him; but he cautioned me not to betray that I suspected any one present, and he took Steve's money under his a charge. Wtb t•atbreakfast. Isld bavenrad thatMr. ordyce had made his ae e te•boutthesmelmeas the rest the whommy Wom my , cesms had aroused, and in themost atudl manner. He came down to breakfast now, smiling, and just interested enough in my adven- ture. Father went -'away into town after breakfast, and Mr. Fordyee sat in the garden and smoked. The offlees who came to arrest him stole upon him from mhe bek way and send ed hiimbefore he thought of resistance. It was a pla•a case. y found prootenough of robberies he een at the bottom of halle, bid away in his trunksd be ned thm at last, with mlflu nonchalance turning back his -. how e the prvats ids a tb dhea A Game with Living Chessmen. Most persons who have any acquain- tance with the literature of chess have heard of the games said to have been played in the "middle ages with living chessmen. Lord Lytton recently re- vived this amusement in India. During his visit to Mooltan, last month, his lord- ship, after receiving and replying to an address from the municipality of the city, engaged, we are told, "in a novel game of chess with Co!. Millet. The chess board, if such a term may be al- lowed to a carpet of red and white calico with checkers a yard square, having been spread in front of the hall, chessmen, men and boys, dressed in opposing red and white uniforms appropriate to the various pieces, were marched in and took their places. Then by word of command each piece moved to the square indicated, and a very lively game ensued, ending in an easy victory for the viceroy. An emperor of Morocco who once indulged in a similar amusement is said to have added a terrible realism to the game by causing all the pieces taken during its progress to be beheaded. A Monopoly to be Feared. Under the above heading a corres- pondent of the Scientific American says: The monopoly to be feared by farmers is the brains of other professions. While the farmers number 6,000,000 in thiscoun- try, there are only about 41,000 lawyers yet one of our best writers on political economy says that he can select one hun- dred lawyers, wh exert more influence in public affairs, than all the farmers put together. The same is true to only a slightly less degree of manufacturersand transportation companies. Yes, they have a monopoly of brains. Farmers ourselves, we are sorry to confess it, but confess it we must. Who control the affairsofnine-tenthsofour country towns? Usually the second-rate lawyers, other professions and trades at the "center." Yet, it they but awoke to it, the farmers too might do a little of the public think- ing. The first step in the uplifting of this class to a place of power in society is to place its men and women on the same plane, intellectually as the others. In education is the farmer's bulwark against encroachments and usurpation of power by the few over the many.